Tagged: cubs

Why Extra Innings Aren’t Nice

“It would be nice to win this right now,” Ron Santo said in the bottom of the 9th inning with Jeff Baker at the plate, two men on and two outs. Baker popped out and Cubs reliever Sean Marshall gave up the winning run in the 10th inning. The baseball gods weren’t in a very nice mood, at least as far as Cubs fans were concerned.

The extra innings didn’t stretch out like in the Mets-Cardinals game in St. Louis on Saturday. Twenty innings, the first 18 of which were scoreless? Outfielders taking the mound? I don’t think anyone likes to see a game go to the extra innings. Players, managers, coaches, and announcers don’t get paid anything extra. Ballparks stop serving beer after the 7th inning usually, so every extra inning played feels like prohibition-era baseball. Baseball without beer is like a movie without popcorn.
The worst baseball game I saw was a 15-inning Cubs-Cardinals game at Wrigley a couple of years ago during the Sammy Sosa years. The Old Style stopped flowing after the 7th inning, and fans began to get restless as the game dragged on in the 90-degree July weather. By the middle of the 15th, my dad and I decided to leave — neither team showed any signs of life, and the sun was leaving its mark on those of us left in the bleachers. 
As we walked out of the ballpark dreaming of our car’s air conditioning, we heard the crowd roar behind us. After an 0-for-6 day in which he had failed to connect countless times with men in scoring position, Sammy Sosa had hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the 15th. We shook our heads in frustration. It would have been nice to have seen the home run, but it would have been even nicer to have had it happen in the 9th inning. But, as Santo and Cubs fans know, the baseball gods aren’t always nice.

Should the Cubs Pay Soriano to Not Play?

Alfonso SorianoThe Cubs can’t get offense out of Alfonso Soriano (hitting .214 through nine games this year, not to mention the .241 average that he boasted in 2009). Defense is out of the question (two embarrassing outfield gaffs on Wednesday alone, causing Lou to yank him late in the game; he led all leftfielders in the Majors in errors in 2009).

Will Chicago eat his $18 million a year contract and release him before it expires after the 2014 season? GM Jim Hendry, speaking to MLB Network Radio this morning, says “no.” Due to the size of the contract, a trade is out of the question….and who would want Soriano anyway?

Cubs fans thought all of the same things about Milton Bradley last year. But, lo and behold, the Seattle Mariners came calling…and so far, that trade looks to have worked out for both sides (Milton’s production is up in Seattle, although his attitude is unchanged; Carlos Silva has been outpitching Carlos Zambrano on the Northside).

If no one comes a-calling for Soriano, though, the Cubs should drop him from the 25-man roster…but not release him from his contract. I know there are clauses in MLB contracts which would prevent them from doing this, but I’m sure the Cubs could find some way around them for the amount of money involved. 

Jim Hendry should keep him around and make him work off that $18 million a year as a batboy. Sure, he Soriano wouldn’t hustle to fetch the bats, which would slow games down and make umpire Joe West angry. I could also see fans booing Soriano for every bat that he drops on his way back to the dugout… Actually, that might not work out after all. Whatever happens, don’t expect the Cubs to be content with letting their one-time franchise player drive his Bentley off into the sunset with over $60 million left on his contract.

Is “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” Sacred?

Some Cubs fans think that some of the guest conductors for the 7th Inning Stretch – most recently actress Denise Richards – are ruining a sacred Cubs tradition and that it is about time that real Chicagoans take back the 7th inning stretch before it is too late.

William Kelly, of “Sportsaholic,” on Comcast Sportsnet has officially thrown his hat into the ring to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and is taking singing lessons to show his true commitment.  He will be recruiting other Chicagoans to step up and show these guest conductor “outsiders” how it is done.

“Sportsaholic” will be tracking Kelly’s unruly 7th Inning Stretch campaign and his Chicago sports fan recruitment successes and failures at www.sportsaholictv.com. Interested Chicago Cubs fans interested in showing what it takes to sing the 7th inning stretch and making Harry Caray proud can email Kelly at sportsaholictv@gmail.com.

The Quintessential Cubs Game

ESPN needs to begin airing this one on ESPN Classic ASAP–this is Cubs baseball. The Cubs’ 11th loss in their past 15 games is an early contender for “game of the year” for a team that’s slipping from first (in ’08) to worst (in ’09) in the NL Central.


cubslflag.JPGInjured Milton Bradley?

Check.

Soriano homers…and then goes cold for his remaining five at-bats?

Check.

Marmol enters in a key spot and walks two?

Check.

A no-hitter through seven turns into a loss?

Check.

Kevin Gregg turns in his best LaTroy Hawkins impression?

Check.

Pitching to the reigning NL Batting Champion with first base open?

Check.

In a post-game interview, Wells said, “It stinks not getting the win. But stuff happens. That’s baseball.” No, Wells, that’s not baseball–that’s Cubs’ baseball.

Derrek Lee Finally Goes Deep! It’s a Rare Spring Training Miracle

Lee just hit a home run against the Oakland Athletics. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a homer (or any offense, for that matter) from the Cubs’ everyday first-baseman. The last time that Lee connected for a long ball was almost six months ago, on September 22nd against the Mets.

Not to be outdone, the Man Who Would Be Cubs’ First-Baseman, Micah Hoffpauir, hit his second double of the day following Lee’s homer. Hoffpauir is hitting .273 with four home runs this spring.

Since returning from a wrist injury in 2007, Lee has hit fewer than 22 home runs in each of the past two years–just half of the total of his career high 2005 season, when he hit 46 home runs.

Fukudome Sits in Japan’s Win Over Korea

Kosuke Fukudome, who’s batting just .235 in the World Baseball Classic, sat out last night’s win over Korea. He may have to get used to being on the bench if his offensive numbers don’t improve once he eventually joins the Cubs in Mesa.

Last April, Fukudome was the Cubs’ offensive MVP. He brought a new style of playing to the team: patience. He led the majors with most pitches seen per at-bat. He looked the best $48 million that Jim Hendry had spent. As the year dragged on, however, his performance sagged, to the point Piniella effectively benched him for the last few months of the season.

Commentators pointed fingers at the “long US baseball season” for Fukudome’s slide. That explanation always struck me as condescending, like American baseball is uniquely difficult and grueling compared to the “baseball lite” that is played in Asia. Whatever the reason for the downward spiral, Fukudome ended the season with a dreadful 1-for-10 performance in the Divisional Series.

“He probably learned a lot last year,” Piniella has said. Let’s hope he’s right. Unfortunately for Piniella and Cubs fans, Fukudome is a question that may not get answered until the season starts.

Cubs to Install Jumbotrons?

Cubs’ ownership is considering installing giant Jumbotrons at Wrigley. Not to see the action close-up, mind you, but to cater to fantasy fans who require up-to-date stats from around the league. The current scoreboard, you see, just wasn’t built with today’s fantasy baseball fan in mind.

Please, Kenney–rather than destroying its beauty bit by bit, just bulldoze the field and completely rebuild it. Let’s just get it over with quick.

From a Cubs.com story:

“The element of preserving the scoreboard and yet giving the fans more information about the game, there could be an argument that that’s a positive,” Kenney said. The Cubs would have to get the city of Chicago’s approval to install large video scoreboards.

“On the one side, you have a great number of fans who are fantasy players who crave statistical information,” he said, “and our hand-operated scoreboard doesn’t provide much, particularly about the other games that are occurring, and there’s no replay capability.”

Milton Bradley Misses Another Game

For the second time this spring, Milton Bradley sat out due to hypochondria “the flu”. He was also sidelined with “tightness in his thigh” for the first few games this spring.

Bradley, who missed 36 games last season for the Rangers due to “days he didn’t feel 100%”, has played in only 1/3rd of the Cubs’ spring training games to date. This isn’t a good omen for Chicago fans.

Of course, the upside is tremendous: Bradley hit a career-high .321 in the games he did play last year. He plays hard,” Rich Harden said. “If I’m on the mound, I definitely want a guy like that playing behind me.” (That’s if he decides he feels well enough to play when you’re pitching, Rich.)

Cubs GM Jim Hendry said, “We’re not expecting him to play 150 games. We have other good outfielders.” If Bradley continues being Bradley, let’s hope that Hendry’s not expecting him to even play 100 games in the outfield–that’s a mark that he reached only once in his career, in 2004 with the Dodgers.

Link: cubs.com