Clark-Addison Cubs Fan Blog

First Half Cubs Team Not Successful or Likeable

administrator — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:21:09 +0000

What can be said of a team that began the season with such high expectations, only to find themselves around .500 going into the All Star Break. They show little glimpses of what we all expected, and just when you think they are going on a roll… the bats fall asleep again. They looked flat losing to the Braves twice at home this week each by a score of 2-1. Then today, they were outplayed in virtually every aspect of the game - hitting, pitching, defense, basic fundamental baseball by the Cardinals. Very disappointing indeed.

The lingering feeling I have though is how un-likeable this team is. There are few story lines with this team that really excite. Sure the Bobby Scales and Jake Fox’s and Randy Wells and Sam Fulds of the world are good stories. But the rest of this squad is hard to really love. There’s been a lot of whining, tantrums, and very poor fundamental play among these guys. None of those traits are likeable.

Geo Soto gets it done behind the plate

Among my biggest disappointments is the sophomore performance of Geovany Soto. At first the talk was he was behind due to participating in the World Baseball Classic. But to my (admittedly untrained) eye, he is overweight, his bat is slow, his arm is not as sharp, and his numbers reflect that. To his credit, he has obviously handled the pitchers well, but perhaps his pot-smoking digression wasn’t an isolated lapse in judgement? He just doesn’t seem to be as hungry (as it were) as he was last year. Now he pulls an oblique that will likely put him on the shelf for a full month. Here’s a question; when Soto comes back from the DL, will his weight be higher or lower than it is now? Will he be better conditioned or will he have to work his way back? …will he be as hungry as he was in his rookie year?

Ok, now for a tiny bit of sunshine. As bad as this team has looked at times, they still are very much in the hunt for NL Central Division Championship. Maybe they can put together a few winning series and make a little run after the All Star Break. I’m a believer in stats, and guys tend to end up a season plus or minus 10% or so of their recent years performance. Usually. Unless the player is injured or at the end of his career, they usually are in the ballpark of their average lifetime numbers. If that’s the case, then this team has a heckuva ride in store for the second half!

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See Ted Lilly and all the MLB All Stars in St. Louis

administrator — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:14:39 +0000

Summer is in full swing and the ballpark is where the fans want to be. And in just a few days, the St. Louis Cardinals and Busch Stadium play host to the season’s biggest party: the MLB All-Star Game. A full lineup of events is on tap, including the Home Run Derby, Futures Game (inluding Cubs prospect Josh Vitters), and FanFest - all that leading up to the 80th Mid-Summer Classic. Check it out!

You can still get tickets for this once in a lifetime event!

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Casey McGehee making his old team pay

administrator — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:32:45 +0000

Casey McGehee's MLB debut 9/2/08 as a Cub

Brewers infielder Casey McGehee made his major league debut last year as a Chicago Cub. In October, Milwaukee claimed McGehee from the Cubs off Waivers. Casey is now 10 for 20 against his former club, in a classic case of revenge on his former organization. In his young career, I bet he’s feeling very good about himself with such success against his former teammates. In 134 at bats this year, he’s hitting .343 with a .396 on-base and .567 slugging pct. During the past four game Cubs-Brewers series at Wrigley, he had 9 hits and was a double shy of hitting for the cycle on Saturday. Tip your cap to McGehee, Cub fans, and take solace in the fact we won the series 3 games to 1.

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Sam Fuld makes it easy on Lou

administrator — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:00:54 +0000

Sam Fuld

Yet another Cubs farm hand has been promoted to the big club, and making an impact. When Lou Piniella finally sat star outfielder Alfonso Soriano yesterday, it was rookie Sam Fuld that call the call to play left field. He made things easy on Lou by going 2 for 4 with a double and a walk, as well as some very solid defensive play. He gunned down Pirate Jack Wilson at home with a great throw and made a nice sliding catch as well. I think his performace earned him another game out in left, and more importantly, another game on the bench for Soriano.

So far this season, we have seen the Phillies bench 2007 league MVP Jimmy Rollins for slumping, as well as Jim Leyland sitting perennial offensive stud Magglio Ordonez for performance reasons. Until yesterday, Lou has been running Soriano out there day in and day out with his .230 batting average and equally crippling for a leadoff hitter, his .296 on-base percentage. Finally though, Lou sat Sori yesterday in favor of little Sam Fuld. The rookie came through big time in yesterday’s win, so Lou should have no trouble at all sitting Soriano one more day to let him think about his horrible couple months at the plate.

If Lou needs any more reason, maybe he should look at Soriano’s lifetime numbers against today’s starter for the Brewers, Seth McClung. He’s 1 for 15 lifetime (.067 average) against this guy. Lou, give Soriano another day off - please!

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Lou has had enough with the tantrums

administrator — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:06:59 +0000

In the second installment of this season’s Cubs vs White Sox Crosstown Classic, tempers boiled within the Cubs family once again. Lou Piniella has apparently had enough of that, and frankly I think it is about time he took more control of this club.

After two strikeouts and a routine fly out, Milton Bradley threw his helmet and smashed yet another Cubs water cooler upon his return to the dugout. Lou had had enough of the tantrums and sent Bradley to the showers for the day. In fact, he followed him up into the clubhouse and apparently gave Bradley an earful. I think when Lou has a point to make, he does the talking and the player does the listening.

Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reported reaction from Bradley’s teammates that seems to fill in some of the story. Check out this quote from Alfonso Soriano:

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a manager fight with a player, get mad with the player,” Soriano said. “Sometimes you can get mad, but not like that.

“I hope [Bradley] comes back and he can help the team to win. If he’s not that way, we don’t need him. We have 25 players, we have to be on the same page. If he’s not 100 percent to help the team to win, we don’t need him. If he’s 100 percent and he comes and wants to play, he’s more than welcome.”

Reading this leads me to believe the rumors are true that those in the Cub clubhouse view Milton Bradley as a selfish, team-second player. I can’t recall ever seeing one star player refer to another in this manner - to question someone’s efforts or intentions is simply unheard of in Major League Baseball. Perhaps Lou sensed this seemingly growing sentiment and decided today is the day to address it. So apparently Lou tore into Bradley in no uncertain terms. He didn’t show him up, Lou followed Bradley into the clubhouse during the game to unload! I admire that. Lou handled it well. He says he’s “done” with those antics and I believe him.

Cubs GM Jim Hendry actually went as far as to reportedly have “promised” that wouldn’t happen again. Wow, I have no idea how he is going to prevent that from happening. Guys throw their helmets all the time. So clearly the Cubs brass is trying to regain control of the clubhouse, and I’m all for it. Let’s get back to baseball.

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It was 25 years ago today

administrator — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:37:11 +0000

Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg made is bones to a national TV audience exactly 25 years ago today. Then a whispy, relative unknown to most fans outside Chicago, Ryno hit not one, but two game tying home runs off of former Cub Bruce Sutter in a thrilling victory over the rival St. Louis Cardinals. According to the box score, Ryno finished the day going 5 for 6 with 7 RBIs.

Back in 1984, cable TV was still in its infancy so the only time you could see a game outside your market was on a network Game of the Week. On June 23, 1984, Sandberg and the Cubs team sent a message to the baseball world that they were a contender that season. Ryno came to bat in the 9th and 10th innings against one of the game’s premier closers, Bruce Sutter with his 1.66 ERA. He homered in both at bats to tie the Cardinals in a game the Cubs would eventually win 12-11 in 11 innings. It was dramatic, it was a hot beautiful day at Wrigley, it was a storybook ending. No one even remembers the Cards’ Willie McGee (a real Cub-killer) hit for the cycle.

This game as much as any other both solidified the Cubs as a contender and served notice that Ryne Sandberg was an all-star. He would the season as the NL MVP, no doubt due in part to his performance in this game.

Rick Kaempfer over at JustOneBadCentury.com posted his first hand account of this game on YouTube…

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Josh Vitters and the Peoria Chiefs

administrator — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:17:39 +0000

Josh Vitters

The Cubs number one pick in the 2007 amateur draft was a hitter/3rd baseman, Josh Vitters. He is presently hitting .321 with 13 HRs for the Peoria Chiefs (A-ball minor league affiliate). Last weekend the Chiefs were in Geneva IL playing the Kane County Cougars. I went to the game to take a look at the future of the organization.

The Chiefs lost to the Cougars on June 7th 7-1, mostly due to lousy pitching. Admittedly, I haven’t seen much minor league ball in person but what struck me was how much slower the game was. The balls really weren’t very hard hit. The plays not as much of a given - nothing flashy at all and even routine plays weren’t for sure. I guess I expected a higher energy level from the players too. Each inning they would walk onto the field instead of run. And basically they seemed to move very deliberately. This was all unexpected to see. The energy level in the stands seemed higher than on the field.

So I watched Vitters in action. He seemed pretty quiet, reminding me in a way of Ryne Sandberg. I did not see him interact with anyone on the team while he was on the field. He seemed to be pretty much flat footed between pitches. Vitters made a couple of routine plays at third, no big stretches, no tough throws, just very matter-of-fact. I wondered if his workman like attitude a product of the game coming easy to him.

Michael Brenly

Also on the Peoria Chiefs was rookie catcher Michael Brenly, son of Cubs TV announcer Bob Brenly. Michael is a big boy. He is listed as 6′3″, 210 but I guarantee you he weighs more than that. He wasn’t overweight, just really thick. He looks a bit like Adam Dunn to me - a big powerful guy - but perhaps not quite as tall. Brenly is a catcher and took some nice cuts at the plate even though his season average is just .242. I noticed too that Michael Brenly was the only Chief to come back on the field after the game to sign autographs for kids. Obviously, he’s a class guy.

Going to a Cougars game was really fun. I took my 6-year old son and we got to run the bases after the game. What’s not to like about that? Plus, twelve bucks a seat got me second row behind the visitors on-desk circle. Another five bucks got VIP parking. Minor league baseball is a great value.

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Cubs vs Sox - Crosstown Classic 2009

administrator — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:38:36 +0000

The Chicago Cubs will face the Chicago White Sox in the 2009 Cross-Town Classic!

When this interleague-cross-town matchup gets underway, you definitely do not want to be the only person left out of the fun. See the White Sox and the Cubs play one another, and no matter if it’s at Wrigley Field or U.S. Cellular Field, the action should be intense. This one is for bragging rights, people! Windy City baseball fans, get some Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox tickets today, before the rest of the Chi-town sports fans snag them all up!

The fan checklist:

Get your tickets for Wrigley Field June 16-18 or US Cellular Field June 26-28, 2009
Get your parking for Wrigley Field in advance from www.ParkForWrigley.com
Get your Cubs gear ready to go and root, root, root for the CUBBIES!!!
Sing Go Cubs Go after each Cubs win - on the Northside or Southside!

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The Interleague Dilemma

administrator — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:23:38 +0000

Interleague play brings about a decision point for where a fan’s loyalties lie. Enemies become friends, friends become enemies …cats and dogs living together in harmony. For example, with the Cubs playing the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians over the next ten days, are White Sox fans inclined to - gasp - root for the Cubs to win? These guys are their division rivals, so if the Cubs beat them, they are helping the White Sox improve in the standings. But can White Sox fans root for the Cubs in good conscience?

Likewise, the Sox are in Milwaukee to play the Brewers starting today and go to Cincinnati to face the Reds next weekend. So will fans of the Cubs be rooting for the - gasp - White Sox in interleague play?

I would say there is a difference between wanting your rival to lose and rooting for the team playing them to win. Really I think these games can be seen as either a win-win or a lose-lose proposition, depending on your outlook. For a team like the Cubs that have a legitmate shot at winning their division, every game counts so their fans really must pull for the opponents of their division rivals - even if that means wanting the White Sox to win. However for fans of the White Sox where their team is not expected to contend for the division title, perhaps it is more compelling to want the Cubs to lose in interleague games so fans of the Cubs have nothing to razz Sox fans about come October.

For me, I think for this season in particular every single game matters so I would like to see the White Sox sweep the Brewers and Reds on the road …however unlikely that may be. But I will stop short of the “Go Go White Sox” chant becuase I still don’t like ‘em. I will quietly pull for the Sox win and most importantly for the Brewers and Reds to lose.

How about you? Can you root for the Chicago White Sox to win this weekend and next?

As for what happens between these series, all bets (and gloves) are off! Bust out your Cubs wear and go to Wrigley Field and US Cellular Field to root for the Cubs in the Crosstown Classic!

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Carlos Zambrano announces his retirement

administrator — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 06:07:53 +0000

Chicago Cubs pitching ace Carlos Zambrano got his 100th career victory at Cincinnati on Friday. Everything about the game was quintessential Big Z. He was nearly unhittable, but walked 5 in 6 2/3 innings. He batted lefty against right handed Reds pitcher Micah Owings and couldn’t catch up to his fastball. So when he came to bat in the fifth, he turned around and batted righty versus righty, crushing the first pitch he saw for a towering home run. His team held on to seal the deal for a 2-1 final score giving Z his 100th career win. After the game, Carlos Zambrano announced he will be retiring from baseball upon the completion of his current contract in “4 or 5 years”. HUH??

I believe this man is an incredibly gifted athelete, but clearly he has some emotional issues. In the past two weeks, he has been tossed from a game, smashed the infamous dugout Gatorade cooler with a bat, and served a six game suspension handed down from the league. Then he was a no-show for the team plane to Atlanta where Z would make his return to the mound following the suspension. With the rain out, next up is Cincinnati where Z notches his 100th career win in the series opener. Followed by his retirement announcement. Carlos cited wanting to spend more time with his kids and seeing his mother on mothers day as reasons why he wants to retire after his contract runs out.

What will he think of next?

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