Raise the W Flag

Mesa Mayor lays the Smackdown on Jerry Reinsdorf

2010-02-06T15:54:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, White Sox owner and alleged tool Jerry Reinsdorf complained about the plan for the Cubs to raise money for a new spring training facility by adding a surcharge to the ticket price of every game in the Cactus League this spring. Nevermind that the Cubs are the only reason that half of America knows which state Mesa is even in, and that their crazed fans bring in lots of revenue for the area.

Mesa mayor Scott Smith is a man who realizes what an important role the team's spring training activities play in keeping his town a habitable place to live. And he's probably up for reelection sometime soon so what better way to keep his constituency happy than to slam the owner of the most hated team in Mesa?

"Is this the same Jerry Reinsdorf that skipped out on Pima County taxpayers who had spent tens of millions of dollars to provide him with a taxpayer-funded stadium, to come to Glendale, where Maricopa County taxpayers provided him a Taj Mahal spring-training facility?" Smith said.

Smith also said Reinsdorf's White Sox play in a publicly funded ballpark in Chicago, and that Reinsdorf looked into buying the Phoenix Coyotoes, who play in a publicly funded facility in Glendale.

"The irony is delicious," Smith said.

[via Chicago Breaking Sports]

Still Hibernating

2010-02-06T03:00:00.005-06:00

That napping polar bear picture below was posted over a year ago, and I haven't updated since. Quite frankly, I'm glad I made the decision to leave last season alone. And by made the decision I mean I'm glad I was too lazy to ever get around to writing things.

This year is going to be different. I'm not saying the Cubs are going to do anything spectacular, I know better than that by now. When I started this blog I was a young, optimistic fan in the middle of college. Then in the dreadful October of 2007 I had the opportunity to experience my first Cubs playoff game. I was only able to get one ticket so I went alone to the third and final game of our series against the Diamondbacks.

This is where I lost my innocence

We never stood a chance.

The highlights of the game had nothing to do with the game itself. I sat next to an old couple who were in their regular season ticket seats, and the gentleman next to me was kind enough to buy me a beer considering I was technically under the drinking age at that point. Technically. After the game I hung around Wrigley, walked over and stood behind the home dugout and watched Steve Stone give an on the field report of our great failure. That's when I took the above picture with my phone, it has served as the wallpaper on there since.

Fast forward to today. I am finishing up graduate school, I am much more knowledgeable of good beer and can even buy my own! (For the record, Old Style is a godawful excuse for beer, traditions be damned). The past few years have turned me into a more pessimistic and cynical fan, not exactly great character traits to have in life but hopefully they will translate into more interesting writing this season. You can look forward to less waxing poetic and more biting criticism of the Ricketts family and their attempt to modernize this team.

Above all, in the words of the late host of the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, Conan O'Brien: "Let's have fun on television". And by television I mean the Internet. And by have fun, I mean tell all your friends to come here so I feel like less of a failure.

Thank you.

Did I Miss Anything?

2009-01-15T00:35:00.005-06:00

So...I haven't posted anything or made any changes to this site in nearly a year. I guess you could say I was hibernating. Which works out great, since I didn't have to write about the horror that was the playoffs. But I feel like it's time to start this thing up again, cause it's winter and I've got shit else to do. I've decided to get rid of my lame pseudonym, I was never really happy with it but I just couldn't come up with anything else. So hello, my name is Ben. I'm going to write things here. I hope you enjoy reading them. There's not going to be anything substantial in this post, I'm just using it to try and get myself back into the swing of things.

In case anyone does actually read this, I'm trying to come up with a new name for the blog to go along with this fresh start. Suggestions would be appreciated. I would hold a naming contest or something but I don't have any actual readers so that would fail horribly.

Give This Man a RAISE

2008-04-21T23:43:00.004-05:00

I would like to introduce you to my current favorite member of the Cubs. His name is David Keller and he is either the recipient of very lucky timing or the most brilliant man in baseball.

University of Northern Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2006. Impressive ... I think.

Keller is the hitting coordinator for the Cubs minor league program, he rotates among the different minor league teams and works with a number of different players. Lou decided to bring him up today to work with Felix Pie to try and figure out what he's doing wrong. Pie had a respectable .301 BA when he was in the minors and in his last year with AAA Iowa he was hitting .362, so Keller came up to try and help get him back in that groove. Instead of starting today Pie took extra batting practice with Keller present and watched video of his swing. Whatever Keller told him must have worked, as he came in to pinch-hit in the eighth inning and went yard for a three run homer, turning a tense Cubs-Mets game into a more relaxed affair. Whether Keller has already made a difference this soon or if Pie just got lucky remains to be seen, but at least it's nice to know that we can beat teams besides the Pirates. By the way, without those six games against Pittsburgh we'd only be 7-6 instead of 13-6. Scary, I know.

A few years back the Northside Baseball forums had a Q&A session with Keller, which you can find here. Some interesting stuff. I just hope he doesn't have to stick around for too long and Pie gets his groove back.

Marty Brennaman is a Class A Douchebag

2008-04-21T17:57:00.004-05:00

Because I was at the Cubs game last Wednesday and got home late, I missed much of the media attention surrounding the throwing of balls into right field. Recently though this video containing the comments made on the air by a Marty Brennaman has come to my attention.

Also, because I was bored and thought it would be interesting, I've transcribed the conversation between these two old fogeys for easy dissection.

Some Old Guy: What is going on in right field? There's like 7 or 8 balls coming in here. Well I take that back, there's about 40 balls coming in here.

Your mastery of numbers here is astounding, old guy whose name I do not know. I'm sure from the booth 15 balls looks a lot like 40.

Marty Brennaman: Look at this. There are balls coming from all over the place. Left field, center field, right field.

Some Old Guy: Upper deck.

Brennaman: See this, this is the kind of thing quite honestly right now, that makes you want to see the Chicago Cubs team lose. Among all baseball fans, and I can't atte-attest to the Yankees or the Red Sox because we don't see them with any degree of regularity unless it's interleague play, but far and away the most obnoxious fans in baseball in this league are those who follow this team right here. Throwing 15 or 18 balls onto the field there's absolutely no excuse for that and that is so typical of Chicago Cub fans. It's unbelievable.

Yes, I'm sure beating your team 12-3 must get really obnoxious after a while. And I'm curious as to how this is typical of Cubs fans, as it has never happened before. You can't compare this to throwing trash on the field, which is just gross and takes 15 minutes to clean up. This took about 1 minute and was funny. Get over it.

Some Old Guy: You know, I can understand throwing a ball back that's a home run ball. But you don't throw 18 balls out on the field that's stupid.

Brennaman: Oh no, You know, throwing the ball back that's great, and that's a Chicago Cub tradition that other people have copied around baseball and I think that's fine.

Thank you so very much sir for approving of one of our time honored traditions that have been created over the past 130 years this team has been in existence. I was worried that you might disapprove and we would have to stop.

Some Old Guy: But I mean there are people throwing balls on the field from left field, that ball went in the streets in right field.

Brennaman: Exactly. It's ridiculous, it really is. Here's Encarnacion and the first pitch is taken outside a ball. You simply root against them. You know I've said all winter they talk about this team winning the division and my comment is they won't win it because at the end of the day they still are the Chicago Cubs and they will figure out a way to screw this whole thing up. Here's a foul ball back and the count is 1-1.

So...last year we weren't the Cubs at the end of the day? Cause I'm pretty sure last year there was no foot shooting going on, and we won the division. How did your team do last year? Only 72 wins you say? Did you guys shoot yourself in the pitching arm?

Some Old Guy: And then they'll no one to boo but themselves.

Brennaman: No they never blame themselves.

Ummm what? Where have you been over the past five years? We've been booing our own players ever since 2003 came and went and we realized that our $40 bleacher seats deserve to see some good baseball.

Some Old Guy: They blame that goat.

Brennaman: Blame that old billy goat.

Some Old Guy: I tell you what anybody blame a goat for that long of losing, that's silly.

Brennaman: Huh, you think so?

Some Old Guy: I know so.

I'm sure you do old man. Of course, I'm also sure that all of the 3 million plus fans that came to Cubs games last year blame us not winning the World Series on a story about a goat that came to be long before many of them were born. And I'm sure all of your 2 million or so fans who live in that hellhole we call Cincinnati have more sense than that. Yeah I went there. Step off this.

Horry Kow! Cubs Ban Fukudome Shirts

2008-04-20T02:24:00.010-05:00

When I was at the Cubs game on Wednesday night, I noticed a few new items that the street vendors were selling. Many of these products had something to do with everyone's favorite new player, Kosuke Fukudome. My personal favorite is the headbands that you see many of the fans in the bleachers wearing, but I also noticed a shirt bearing this logo.

At the time I thought "wow, that's a little racist", but I kept walking and soon forgot about it. Apparently many Cubs fans are not as forgetful as I am, as the tefam was "inundated with e-mails from offended fans" concerning the shirt. Once the team noticed that the shirt was using a trademarked Cubs logo, they contacted the vendor and he quickly complied with their demands by ceasing production of the shirt.

So I'm sure there's many of you out there right now wondering what you're going to wear to the Cubs game to show your support for Fukudome now that the Cubs won't let you laugh at asian stereotypes. I would suggest, completely without shame, one of our FU FIGHTERS shirts.

Get it? Like the band? Come on, you know that puns are the most intelligent form of humor. And by most intelligent I mean that they take little or no effort to think of, which is smart in a twisted, backwards kind of way. Also, we have Kosuke's number on the back, in case you're too drunk to remember what that is (Hint: It's 1). If that color isn't your style though, we've also got them in Cubby Blue with both red or white lettering. Or in red with white lettering. If you want even more colors, heck just e-mail me and I'll make those too. Whatever suits your fancy. Just click on either of the images above to go to our store and pick out what you like. It's that simple. You'll be supporting Fukudome and fighting racism at the same time, and who can say no to that?

THROW IT BACK.....15 TIMES

2008-04-17T00:33:00.005-05:00

The game tonight was amazing. First of all, we tore the Reds a new one. Absolutely obliterated any dignity they had tonight, and I loved every moment of it. Zambrano went 3-for-4, Derrek Lee hit yet another home run, and we scored 12 runs. Let me say that again, 12 runs. That's a one with a two after it. We weren't even trying after the 3rd inning, as we already had 10 at that point.

The weather was phenomenal, the atmosphere was great, and the insults were flowing. As I was sitting in the left field bleachers, Adam Dunn was our target of choice. As is often the case, most of the things we shouted consisted of us making sure he was aware of his level of suckiness. We were also somewhat within shouting distance of Corey Patterson, which got interesting when his younger brother Eric came up to bat. We proceeded with a chant of Corey's name, and then when Eric struck out looking someone yelled to Corey that it must run in the family. That someone might have been me. I got some laughs out of it, which is really the whole point of the heckling experience.

The best moment by far though was when Adam Dunn came up to bat in the 8th inning. He hit a solo home run, which you're probably thinking makes for a crappy best moment. The ball cleared the right field bleachers and landed on Sheffield, and the fans began the obligatory shouts to throw it back. And then something interesting happened. Not only did a ball come flying back onto the field, but two other balls came with it. Some people in the right field bleachers decided that looked like fun, so they joined in by throwing more balls onto the field. All in all, 15 baseballs found their way onto the field and play had to be stopped to remove them. I only wish my fellow left field occupants had joined in the fun, but no one seemed to have any baseballs. Probably the funniest thing I have ever seen at Wrigley, and I stood and cheered along with everyone else in the bleachers. I think our message was clear, screw you Adam Dunn. You suck. Your home runs are not welcome here.

That experience basically defined the game for me, it was fun, exciting, and a bit silly at times. Everything a good baseball game should be. If I can find any pictures or video of the baseball throwing in action I'll be sure to post them.

You can read a full recap of the game and the player's reactions to the ball throwing here.

Beautiful Day for a Ballgame

2008-04-16T16:08:00.003-05:00

I'm off to the Cubs game tonight, and the weather couldn't be more spectacular. It's currently 70 degrees with a slight breeze, and I would guess a 95% chance of win. That's right, I am boldly predicting a win against the mighty Reds and their ace pitcher...Josh Fogg? Who the heck is that?

Ok so maybe my prediction isn't very bold, but I'm sticking to it. Hopefully I'll find time tomorrow to recap my experience at the game, but I can't promise too much. See you then.

This (Two) Week(s) in Review

2008-04-14T18:29:00.015-05:00

So I've been terrible at posting as of late, and by terrible I mean it hasn't happened since opening day. I know there are thousands of you out there who have been enraged by my absence, and I apologize. Okay, maybe there were only hundreds of you enraged. Fine, there was probably a double-digit number of you that were mildly disappointed with me, but that's as low as I'm going. A man has to keep some of his dignity.

Bird made of fire. Not to be confused with a Pontiac.

None of that matters anymore, because today I am rising from the ashes like a phoenix. See that bird made of fire right there? You don't mess with that. If that bird wants to not write anything for a few weeks and then expect people to read his blog anyways, you better damn well be reading. Cause his feathers could burn your face off.

Also, my tears can heal anything. Take that Chuck Norris.

Anyways, back to baseball. I've decided, in the interest of forcing myself to post more often, to run a weekly review on how the Cubs fared during the previous week. This time I'm doing the previous two weeks, because conveniently that is exactly how long it has been since I last posted. Here goes.

MVP: Derrek Lee

This was a close one between Lee and Kosuke, as both have done outstanding jobs so far. Kosuke is tearing it up with a .434 OBP, courtesy of his ability to draw walks seemingly at will. Lee on the other hand has wowed us with an impressive display of power, something that was sorely missed early on last season. He not only has a team leading .346 batting average, his slugging percentage is at an awe inspiring .692. And his defense has been solid as usual, at least what I've seen of it so far. To be honest, I haven't been very diligent about watching the games, but I saw him make a great play the other day running backwards and to his left to snag a bouncing ground ball. I haven't seen any plays Fukudome has made so far but I'm sure they were just as astounding.

Cy Young Award: Ryan Dempster

Remember last year, when you hated Ryan Dempster? When you taped a picture of his face to your dartboard and suddenly hit your target every time? Well you can forget all those things, because it turns out he's not the worst pitcher in the world, he's just terrible under pressure. Admittedly, he's only played two games so far, but only giving up one run in 13 innings of work is impressive. If only the second coming of the second coming of Christ, Kerry Wood, was faring as well. He blew his first save 8 games into the season, and it took Dempster 30 games last year. I guess you don't know what you've got til' it's gone. I think that's a song, but I can't remember if that's true. Someone inform me please.

My Thoughts

I am content with where the Cubs are at right now. Twelve games into the season we're 7-5, compared to last year when we were 5-7. We're only a game and a half behind the Cards, and the Cards are supposed to suck this year. They're supposed to suck every year in my mind, but my mind tends to be heavily biased and usually wrong. This year however I have been told that the Brewers are the ones we're going to have to watch out for, and we're only a half-game behind them. With how last year went, I won't even begin to worry until we're somewhere around 10 games back.

The toothpick is coming to town.

This week we've got Dusty Baker's second attempt at destroying an NL Central team, the Cincinnati Reds, and then we get to have another go at Pittsburgh. That should be exciting. I'll be in the right field bleachers at the game Wednesday night (thank you college discount) trying to teach Kosuke some new english words. Suggestions are welcome.

Opening Day Predictions (Over a Week Later)

2008-04-11T17:05:00.004-05:00

Somehow I've let my job get in the way of posting here at RTWF.com. I promise to rectify this.

Anyway, here are my predictions for this coming season -- along with some notable predictions from last year:

Mark Prior Wins:

Last year: 15 (not even close)

This year: F*ck Mark Prior; put me down for 2.

Kerry Wood Pitches:

Last year: 15 (I actually wasn't too far off on this one)

This Year: However many it takes to get 40 saves, that seems like a good goal.

Barrett Punches Thrown:

Last Year: 2 (Does his fight with Zambrano count? Nailed it.)

This Year: F*ck Barrett too. Look for Zambrano to get his revenge in this category.

Lou Pinella Ejections:

Last Year: 7 (What did he get? 2? Maybe 3? Weak.)

This Year: 10 (Double digits guarantees us the pennant.)

Wins by the White Sox:

Last Year: 62 (73 is not that far off...)

This Year: 62 (still gunning for 100 losses in this category)

Fukudome for President

2008-03-31T17:25:00.002-05:00

I don't care if you like Clinton or Obama, I don't care that he's not a US citizen, I don't even care that the game isn't won yet. I'm writing in Fukudome as my choice for president this year. I suggest you do the same.

This is the most excited I've been since last September.

Ernie Banks Statue Unveiling

2008-03-31T15:13:00.002-05:00

For anyone who hasn't seen the Ernie Banks statue yet (like me), here's a youtube video someone already posted of the unveiling. Not the best quality, but you'll get the idea of what to expect next time you swing by Wrigley.

Tom Skilling to the Rescue

2008-03-31T15:02:00.004-05:00

Well I returned to a rain delay, so I have watched zero baseball so far. Apparently Kosuke has our only hit, so he seems like a solid investment so far. Of course because the Cubs game is the only important thing going on in Chicago today, or ever, WGN has the amazing Tom Skilling standing by to update us on the weather. He says that the rain should be over soon and baseball should be happening, but then again he is a weatherman. It's hard to trust someone who makes a living being wrong 80% of the time.

Personally I hope the game gets rained out so I can quickly buy tickets to Wednesday's game and that will be the true season opener. I have a friend at today's game who is rubbing it in my face via text message so that would be some sweet sweet revenge.

WELCOME BACK BASEBALL

2008-03-31T12:30:00.002-05:00

First, let's get something out of the way. I've completely neglected this blog ever since the Fukudome signing. My bad. Let's just pretend that didn't happen. We're going to pick things up like we've been writing consistently since the end of last season.

Really all that's important is that Cubs baseball starts in an hour. Or maybe two, as it's raining here in Chicago at the moment. Dan Roan is talking to the Cubs chairman and seems to think there will be a dry window from 2-6 PM so we'll see if it can happen.

Pretty much everyone's focus is gonna be on Kosuke Fukudome and how he handles the big leagues. First, let's get the pronunciation correct. Say it with me everybody: Kos-kay Foo-Koo-Doh-May. Good. Now that you know how to pronounce it, you should check out the shirts we have in the shop on the right. If you're sitting in the right field bleachers this year you're going to want a FU FIGHTERS shirt, because who doesn't enjoy ripping off a popular band's name? They also have a number 1 on the back, so just in case you forget Kosuke's number you can ask the guy behind you to read your shirt.

Also, today marks the triumphant return of Kerry Wood as the closer who can't possibly be worse than our last one. Maybe. I guess the only way he'll be in the game is if we have a one or two run lead in the ninth, but I'm pretty confident that will happen.

I would be liveblogging this thing, but I have certain obligations I must attend to. I'll be checking in periodically though, so stick around, leave some comments, send me harassing emails, whatever floats your boat. I've got a good feeling about this season. Go Cubbies.

What The Fukudome

2007-12-12T01:40:00.000-06:00

In the midst of the offseason boredom the Cubs have somehow managed to snag a 30 year old Japanese man to play in the outfield. That may not sound exciting at first, but apparently he's really good and a lot of teams wanted him and he batted .351 last year in Japan. Read more here.

While this is actually huge, it's just hard for me to get excited right now. Probably because it's the middle of December and the Bears are sucking. Talk to me again in March and I'll probably be bouncing off the walls about it.

Also, we essentially traded Jock Jones for a double-A pitcher the other week. At least Fukudome makes up for that mindboggling transaction.

Breaking News: Cubs Not as Impressive as Hockey Team

2007-11-20T14:09:00.000-06:00

John McDonough left the Cubs today to become team president of some hockey team named the Blackhawks. You can read the official press release here.

Here's what I wanna know. What kind of voodoo magic did the Hawks work to get someone to leave a team that he's worked with for 24 years and is one of the most popular sports teams in the country to go work in the stinking pile of refuse that is the Blackhawks? We almost had a World Series John, and you played a big part in that. Why the hell would you want to leave?

"...the opportunity that Rocky presented to me -- and this came together rather quickly -- was something I was quite impressed with."

More impressive than the Cubs? Whatever. We don't need you John. Lou can be the manager and the president, and then that's one less last name that I have to double check to make sure I spelled right. Good riddance.

See Ya Jacque

2007-11-12T16:24:00.000-06:00

The Cubs traded Jacque Jones today for a utility infielder from the Detroit Tigers. No, we didn't get Neifi back. We did however obtain the services of Omar Infante, a 26 year old who hasn't had a regular starting spot since the 2004 season. His name quite literally means Baby Omar. I think. He shall be referred to as this for the rest of the season.

Baby Omar is a career .271 hitter who batted .264 with 16 homers and 55 RBIs in 2004. As much as I don't like Jacque Jones, and I rank him right up there with Neifi and Roberto Novoa, I would like to think we could have gotten a little more for an outfielder who managed to hit .285 last year. Sure his arm sucks, he whines a lot, he cries about the fans not loving him, and he couldn't hit a home run to save his life last year, but it seems like we got the raw end of the deal. Maybe we did it to save money, as Baby Omar only made $1.3 million last season compared to the $5.5 million Jones gets this year, but you don't spend $300 million one offseason and then start pinching pennies the next. Jim Hendry, you have disappointed me.

Baseball Never Sleeps

2007-11-08T01:19:00.000-06:00

It's been a month since the crushing disappointment that was the playoff game, and something came up in the papers recently to remind me that there's always hope for next year.

Ryan Dempster will no longer be the Cubs' closer.

This news isn't quite as amazing as it sounds, as the idea is that Lou will move the Harry Caray impersonator to the starting rotation. But he can't possibly be worse as a starter than he is as a closer, so this is definitely a step in the right direction.

This means that Sean Marshall and Jason Marquis would be competing for the final spot in the rotation, which basically means either Marquis gets the spot or we trade him and Marshall gets is. Of course the three other spots in the rotation go to Zambrano, Lilly, and Hill.

As for who has to fill the abnormally small shoes that Dempster is leaving behind, Carlos Marmol would be the obvious choice, considering he only gave up 11 runs in 59 appearances last year. Bob Howry is a solid pick too, as even though his ERA is considerably higher and he only converted 8 of 12 save opportunities last year, he was still the second best relief pitcher the Cubs had last year. His added experience in save situations might mean at least a platoon between him and Marmol.

And then there is the wild card, Kerry Wood. Coming in late in the season he posted a nearly identical ERA as Bob Howry and there is speculation that the Cubs could use the lure of a closer spot to convince him to re-sign with the team. That might sound appealing to a player that is used to a high profile spot in the starting rotation.

Whatever Lou decides, I just have one request. Please, please never let Dempster pitch a complete game. I don't care what kind of lead he has in the 9th, take him out. Heart attacks kill enough Americans every year as it is.

All Others Are Just Pretenders

2007-10-07T02:20:00.000-05:00

There is only one true curse that you need worry about, and that is this: The Cubs will always, always choke after getting your hopes up, ripping out your heart and whatever happiness you had in the process. This is the feeling I have right now. I may find time to actually recount my experience of the game sometime tomorrow, but then again I might be spending time watching yet another Chicago sports team fall far short of expectations.

Now Might Be a Good Time to Start Panicking

2007-10-05T07:08:00.000-05:00

I think the only way to describe last night's game would be horrific. Nothing went well for the Cubs, and they've fallen into an 0-2 hole that will be extremely hard to climb out of. Hopefully playoff baseball at Wrigley on Saturday will get them fired up, because I wasn't planning on going to the last game of the season. Tomorrow has the potential to be the most depressing Cubs gane I've ever been to.

I know this might be a bad time to ask, but did anyone get NLCS tickets? Because I didn't. And I still have a slight glimmer of hope that they will be of some use.

The Aquafina Commercial featuring Lou Piniella

2007-10-04T19:54:00.000-05:00

Alright here it is everybody, the commercial everyone is talking about. An intrepid reader emailed me with the information that the video was on the Aquafina website so I worked some computer magic to rip it off of there and upload it to a video site. Here you go.

Alright that's it for me tonight. Go Cubs.

Cubs NLDS Game 2 Live Blog

2007-10-04T17:42:00.000-05:00

...is not happening. I'm going over to a friend's place to watch the game, and this friend still has dial-up internet. And he might live with his parents. So no mid-game updates for me. Basically every Cubs related blogger on the planet is live blogging these games, so I'm sure you'll have no problems finding a replacement for me.

We've gotten a lot of traffic today from people who are searching for the Lou Piniella Aquafina commercial and whoever the guy was with the blinking Cubs light in the 9th inning. If you are one of those people, I am sorry but I do not have either of those for you. Yet. To anyone out there that does find the video for the commercial or whoever that guy was with the light, please let me know. For some reason I'm showing up high in the Google search results, and the people demand answers.

I'll be back late late tonight after the game with my thoughts for you all to read bright and early Friday morning. So until then, go Cubs.

EDIT: We have the video now. Look up.

Cubs NLDS Game 1 Live Blog

2007-10-03T20:50:00.000-05:00

Alright everyone, this is where the magic is happening. I'll be updating this with my thoughts on the game, and I'm expecting anyone reading this to chime in with some comments. Don't make me feel lonely people.

EDIT: Alright on second thought I take back what I said about Lou. He explained it well at the postgame conference, the bullpen has been solid and Zambrano is coming back on three days rest. Marmol has been lights-out all year so Lou was confident bringing him in. It's easy to second guess the decision now that we see how it turned out, but at the time it was probably a good choice. And we can't win games only scoring one run, it just isn't happening.

11:42 -- No Ron Darling, this game did not show how the DBacks managed to win 90 games. You do not win 90 games by having Lou Piniella manage like he's drunk. Unless Zambrano has a horrible unknown injury, that decision is unexcusable.

That's it for me tonight. I might be doing this again tomorrow, if I think I can handle the agony. All that excitement Cubs nation had about the playoffs? Gone.

11:38 -- "Help me Alfonso Soriano. You're our only hope."

11:33 -- There's a guy behind home plate with a flashing Cubs light. Yup, the umpire just caught him. At least someone is trying to win this game for us.

11:32 -- Wow, this is it. Ninth inning. We're screwed.

11:28 -- I vote that Bob Howry pitches every inning for the rest of these playoffs. You may think he doesn't have the stamina, but if people can run marathons I don't see why he can't pitch 36 innings in four days.

11:23 -- The superstitious part of me just gave in and I put on my Believe bracelet. Two of them actually. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

11:19 -- Why can't we get the ball over the wall? We've hit three balls to the warning track in recent memory, and they all fall short. The DBacks hit two fly balls and they go over the wall. I'm prepared to start making wild accusations about turning on the air conditioning to simulate wind blowing in at this point.

11:14 -- So the question on everyone's mind right now is, why the hell did Lou take out Zambrano? I know Marmol is supposed to be amazing and all that, but Big Z was on fire! If he was cramping up, give him a damn IV and tell him to drink some water, and if you're saving him for Game 4 then you are retarded Lou. We have to win a game before we even get a shot at a Game 4.

(I'm a little upset at this if you couldn't tell.)

11:09 -- This would be a really bad time for Marmol to tell everyone that he's not actually a wunderkid, he's just been getting really lucky all season. Now we're down by two. Lou, get a handle on your pitchers!

11:01 -- I'm considering stopping talking at this point. Carlos Marmol, you're fired.

10:59 -- It's Carlos time! Of the Marmol variety, that is. This kid is amazing, so much so that I kind of wish we were saving him for the closer role.

10:53 -- I guess Piniella is taking Zambrano out. Did no one remind him to drink water tonight? Seriously, how hard is that. You work hard, you get thirsty, you drink water. A two year old knows that.

10:50 -- I'm very impressed right now about how well Zambrano pulled it back together after that solo home run. Something like that would usually rattle him, but I think he's pitched even better since that happened.

We're tied at 1 after six innings, so let's take a page out of Zambrano's book and imagine this as a new game. We're tied, Soriano is leading off, and we've got three innings. Let's make something happen, because I can't stay up all night watching baseball.

10:40 -- Zambrano needs to make better choices on when to get hits. That double he got earlier? Would have been great right now. I guess I can't complain too much, at least we're not losing anymore.

10:38 -- START THE RIOT!!

10:36 -- Webb is starting to lose it. This just got really interesting.

10:34 -- Wow. Two men on base. I guess miracles do happen.

10:30 -- Uhhhh, anyone know why Aramis didn't run to first base on that strikeout? He just kinda looked at the catcher and thought "Well I could run, but then I might start to sweat and the ladies don't love that".

10:25 -- Brandon Webb gets a taste of his own medicine, Zambrano is fired up, and the heart of the order is coming up to bat. We need something big right about now.

10:22 -- Augie Ojeda is like an electric blanket? Who needs an electric blanket in October? Pansies.

10:19 -- Beautiful play by DeRosa. Derrek Lee wasn't kidding when he said Mark could be considered for the team's MVP.

10:16 -- Five straight innings we have gotten a baserunner on, and five straight innings we have scored nothing. Would it kill us to get two hits in an inning?

10:12 -- So whoever lubed up Reynolds' hands during the commercial break, I would like to buy you a beer.

10:08 -- Alright everyone...I was just about to say something about us not panicking, but that Aquafina commercial just blew my mind. Holy Crap. Lou Piniella is pure comedy gold. Somebody please throw that up on YouTube and send me the link.

10:04 -- That was NOT what I meant when things had to change.

10:02 -- Webb has thrown just 49 pitches through 4 innings. At this rate he'll be pitching a complete game shutout. Something has to change.

9:59 -- Webb just hit MarkyMark. This means WAR!

9:57 -- So Aramis didn't get the home run, but at least we know someone on the offensive side of this game is awake other than the pitcher.

9:52 -- Alright Zambrano is starting to lock it down. I think the big guy deserves some run support this inning.

9:46 -- DLee just watched two beatiful pitches go by and he left Zambrano standing all alone at second base. Something is not right here.

9:40 -- Zambrano! This guy wants to win this game singlehandedly.

9:37 -- Theriot and DeRosa team up for a beautiful double play, and Zambrano survives through another inning. If he can tighten up his control a bit this could be a long, low scoring game for both teams. Still 0-0 at the end of two.

9:33 -- Yes Dane Cook, there IS only one October. And you're ruining mine. Go back to describing common uncomfortable situations with ridiculous sound effects and leave my baseball alone, please.

9:30 -- Well that part of the inning didn't go that well. It's alright though, Big Z gets to lead off the third. I think Lou should seriously consider using him in the clean up spot one of these days.

9:27 -- DeRosa pulls through with the first Cubbie hit. Expect to see a full recap of the at-bat on his blog early tomorrow.

9:22 -- Thank you so much for that strike call Mr. Umpire. I wasn't sure if Zambrano was getting out of that inning with his sanity intact. At the end of one, we're still at 0-0.

9:16 -- Blanco could have thrown him out. When Big Z doesn't have a good start, things get scary.

9:12 -- Lee and Ramirez go down without incident after a Jock Jones walk. Not the best start to a game, but I hear this Brandon Webb guy is pretty decent. No worries...yet.

9:07 -- Annnnnd we're underway, with a paltry Soriano groundout.

9:02 -- Dick Stockton and Ron Darling? Really? This is all you can pull together to announce a playoff game?

Also, Henry Blanco is apparently not on the playoff roster. Geovany Soto has some big shoes to fill.

8:57 -- The game hasn't even started yet and they have to bring up the Zambrano-Barrett fight. We got rid of Barrett, problem solved, I don't know how that's even relevant.

Cubs Playoff Bonanza

2007-10-03T14:14:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the night we've all been waiting for during the last four years. It's playoff time! Since I have nothing better to do and no reason to wake up early in the morning I'll be here live blogging the whole thing. Feel free to join me and give me crap in the comments, the more the merrier. Or you could add some actual useful commentary, that would be a pleasant surprise. See you at 9 PM.

Mark DeRosa Wants My Job

2007-10-02T22:21:00.000-05:00

Famous people writing in blogs is nothing new. Gilbert Arenas has a very popular one, Mark Cuban has one that makes me hate rich middle aged men who can't dance, and I have one. No, I'm not exactly famous, but if you're reading this then at least you know who I am.

Ever wished that a Cubs player had a blog though? Well call me Robin Williams, because here you go.

"I'll be wearing my regular road pants. They've been sewn up [after getting ripped in the seat] and they'll be worn tomorrow and throughout the course of the postseason."

Ohhhh MarkyMark. Some things we just didn't really need to know. With all honesty though, it's a good read and I'm excited that he's writing it. And he's getting paid more than me, so more power to him.