The Cub Reporter (TCR) | A Chicago Cubs Blog

Cubs Sale Done Just in Time for Trade Deadline

Rob G. — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:19:44 +0000

Of course, the headline is a bit of a misnomer, as the owners probably won't vote on it until August and a bankruptcy judge has to approve it as well. That being said, it appears the two sides have finally agreed for just a little less than $900M. Whether the Ricketts can or will allow for the Cubs to take on any salary to endear themselves to some of the fans remains a question mark. The Cubs two biggest needs would probably be bullpen help and a left-handed hitting second basemen(and a psychiatrist for our left fielder). I can only think of one left-handed hitting second basemen that might be available and that's Felipe Lopez and that's just a waste of time. They could seek out a right-handed hitting second sacker (that sounds dirty), but that would pretty much ruin the Cubs carefully laid offseason plans that helped get them into this mess. If they do decide to bite the bullet on that, I think guys like Freddy Sanchez, Aaron Hill or Dan Uggla could possibly be had.

Either way, for those of us in the speculating and crazy-ass rumors business, it'll keep the interest-level high through July 31st.

Three roster moves a coming before the game tonight as well with Aramis Ramirez, Reed Johnson and Angel Guzman due back from rehab assignments.

Independent Living

Arizona Phil — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:04:18 +0000

The Cubs purchased the contract of RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx from the Victoria Seals of the Golden Baseball League last week. Bibens-Dirkx is a former member of the Seattle Mariners organization (16th round pick in 2006 out of the University of Portland), who was released by the Mariners at the end of Minor League Camp this past April. He will be assigned to the Cubs Peoria affliate in the Midwest League, where he will probably work out of the bullpen.

The Cubs acquire players from independent leagues from time-to-time, and Bibens-Dirkx is just one of many players who have received a second chance to continue their professional baseball career in recent years by playing independent ball. A typical salary for a player on an independent team is $1,000 a month, so a fellow really has to love the game to spend his summer playing indy ball.

Independent leagues are located all over North America, from Canada to Mexico, and from New England to California. Ex-major leaguers like Jacque Jones, Carl Everett, Armando Benitez, Felix Jose, Willie Banks, Keith Foulke, Pat Mahomes, and Jose Lima dot the rosters, as do a number of former Cubs minor leaguers

EX-CUBS MINOR LEAGUERS PLAYING IN INDEPENDENT LEAGUES

FRONTIER LEAGUE:

Florence Freedom:
3B Billy Mottram

Kalamazoo Kings:
RHP Tommy Mejia

Traverse City Beach Bums:
1B Sean Hoorelbeke

Rockford RiverCats:
RHP John Muller

Windy City Thunderbolts:
RHP Billy Petrick

ATLANTIC LEAGUE:

Bridgeport Bluefish:
OF Adam Greenberg
1B Brandon Sing

Long Island Ducks:
INF Kyle Reynolds

Camden RiverHawks:
OF Chris Walker

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION:

Sioux City Express:
1B Luis Bautista

Ft. Worth Cats:
LHP Taylor Parker

NORTHERN LEAGUE:

Gary Southshore RailCats:
RHP Grant Johnson

Schaumburg Flyers:
LHP Carmen Pignatiello

Fargo-Morehead RedHawks:
OF Nic Jackson
LHP Scott Koerber
C Alan Rick

Winnipeg GoldEyes:
RHP Bear Bay

Among the ex-Cub minor leaguers playing indy ball, Billy Mottram (selected by the Cubs in the 36th round of the 2007 draft out of Dowling College before getting released in 2008) leads the Frontier League in home runs and John Muller (signed as a NDFA 5th year senior out of St. Thomas Acquinas College in May 2007) is 2nd in the FL in saves, Adam Greenberg (hit in the helmet with a pitch in his one and only MLB AB on July 9, 2005) and Chris Walker are 3-4 in the Atlantic League in stolen bases, while Brandon Sing is 2nd in the AL in OBP, 3rd in SLG and RBI, 4th in HR, and 8th in BA, and Nic Jackson (2000 3rd round pick out of the U. of Richmond and perennial BA Cubs Top 10 Prospect who was hampered by injuries throughout his seven seasons in the Cubs organization) is 1st in doubles and runs scored, 4th in hits, 5th in stolen bases, and 10th in BA in the Northern League.

RHP Bobby Brownlie (selected by the Cubs in the 1st round of the 2002 draft out of Rutgers and then later released in 2007) was probably one of the two best pitchers in the Atlantic League in May and June while pitching for the Newark Bears, before being acquired by the Atlanta Braves about a week ago. Brownlie is currently in the starting rotation at the Braves AAA International League affiliate in Gwinnett County, GA. (The Braves also acquired the other top starting pitcher from the Atlantic League last week, ex-MLB LHP John Halama from the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs).

And Cubs 2005 #1 pick LHP Mark Pawelek (released by the Cubs the last week of Spring Training) signed with the St. George Roadrunners of the Golden Baseball League in April before being acquired by the Cincinnati Reds in May, and he is presently working out of the bullpen for the Reds Sarasota affiliate in the Florida State League.

Independence Day Weekend Open Thread

Rob G. — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:54:38 +0000

I'm taking the weekend off from TCR to spend some much needed time with the family, although I probably will be around parachat for some of the games. We did have a decent chat crowd last night for the opener which always makes it more fun.

....Neal Cotts had Tommy John Surgery.

....Alfonso Soriano will be back at leadoff and left field today.

...Aramis Ramirez, Reed Johnson and Angel Guzman should be back Monday, goodbye Kevin Hart, Sam Fuld and ? (I assume one of Fox, Hoffpauir or Fontenot). Honestly, that Jeff Baker trade is making no sense. I assumed Ryan Freel was going to be the casualty of Aramis returning, but the Cubs created a bigger log jam with the acquisition. There's no doubt that Fox is hot and can handle major league pitching and while he sure hasn't been smooth in the field, he's made the plays so far. Ramirez isn't going to be able to play every day, so wouldn't you want Fox around on those days that he can't play and to give Bradley and Soriano some breaks (a lot more breaks)? I could see Fontenot getting sent down as he's just stunk up the joint, particularly over the last month, but that means committing to a Blanco/Baker second base platoon and having only three middle infielders which Lou doesn't seem to like. I think Blanco is safe by virtue of being the only capable back-up shortstop on the team, safe at least until Aaron Miles returns.

I guess the answers will come Monday...Happy 4th!

Cubs vs. Brewers to the DEATH!

Rob G. — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:11:48 +0000

We have the big holiday weekend coming up and the big four-game series to go with it. The Milwaukee Brewers lead the NL Central by a game over the St. Louis Cardinals and 3.5 up on our Cubs. The Brewers are fourth in the NL in runs scored...the Cubs 15th. On the flip side, they are 10th in Runs Allowed and the Cubs are third. As the saying goes, something has to give...

As you'd expect, the pitching matchups favor the Cubs the entire weekend - Seth McClung versus Dempster tonight, Suppan vs Zambrano tomorrow, Looper vs. Harden on Saturday and Mike Burns vs. Ted Lilly to close the series on Sunday.

Soriano will sit again tonight, but will be back at the top of the lineup tomorrow. Reed Johnson and Aramis Ramirez start a rehab assignment in Peoria tomorrow and should be joined by Angel Guzman in rejoining the team on Monday.

Tonight's lineup: Fuld (LF), Theriot, Lee, Bradley, Fox, Fukudome, Soto, Fontenot and Dempster.

Go Cubs!

When They Pull Out a Knife, The Cubs Pull Out Jeff Baker

Rob G. — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:06:08 +0000

The Cubs countered the Cardinals acquisition of Mark DeRosa with one of their own, acquiring 2B/3B Jeff Baker from the Colorado Rockies. It's like countering a handgun with a slingshot. Seemingly running out of players to put on the disabled list, Baker is already on it with a left hand sprain suffered back in April, so he should fit right in with the Cubs. He did start a rehab assignment in mid-June, so I presume he's ready to play again and the Rockies were just out of roster space.

The player the Cubs are sending back is unknown at the moment, most likely a player to be named later.

UPDATE: The Cubs send Hi-A Daytona pitcher, Alberto Albequerque to the Rockies. I can't tell you anything about him other than he was having a nice season for the Cubs and he had shoulder surgery back in April of 2008.

UPDATE #2: The Cubs will DFA Ryan Freel to make room on the roster. They have 10 days to try and trade him for a spare minor league part, but chances are he'll just get released.

Gimme the Sausages; Hold the Goose Eggs...

Mike Wellman — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:59:27 +0000

The Iowa Cubs haven't scored since practically before Sam Fuld got married and that was over a week ago here in Des Moines. While Fuld's big league honeymoon continues his ex-mates have been one-upping the C-Cubs in offensive futility.

Last night the team dropped its second straight 1-0 tilt, and this one went 14 innings. Post-game fireworks displays scheduled for the next two nights may have to wake up the expected large crowds if the silly between innings sideshows can't keep them alert.

Josh Hamilton's in town but the Okey City Redhawks didn't take batting practice last night [glad I got to the park early for that]. Neither did the home team. Hey, after more than two dozen zeroes were hung on the scoreboard, I can see why neither team felt the need to do some pregame hitting.

Hamilton went 1-7 as the leadoff DH. Tonight he'll play CF. I wonder what the Cubs did with the 50k they got for doing the Reds the courtesy of snatching Hamilton in the '06 Rule V and routing him to Cincy. The guy's been out for a couple months with a torn stomach muscle and still matches up pretty well with our man from the Pacific Rim in HR's & RBI's, though The Fuker does a much better pirouette coming out of the box.

Freshly demoted Jose Ascanio started last night as the organization's majors/minors/rotation/bullpen cha-cha featuring he and Samardzija [Little Z?] plays on. If he was angry at all he took it out on the Redhawks. In the first three innings Ascanio fanned seven, four of 'em looking. Apparently the plate ump was the only one who could see the ball since the pitcher was in the sun and the batters in the shadows for the first few frames. Plus, Ascanio was repeatedly registering 97 on the scoreboard radar screen, the highest number I can remember seeing posted there. It's usually thought to be 2-3 mph slow.

In the 4th he tired visibly so I finally got a chance to see Darwin Barney and his touted glove go to work. First impressions were mixed. He just did get a fleet runner on his first chance, a routine grounder to short. The next batter bounced one over the mound which Barney scooped up and then threw wide of the bag. The play was scored an infield hit but wasn't particularly impressive for someone whose glove is supposed to be their calling card. Later in the inning he made a nice dig and just late tag on a steal of second before nearly sneaking in behind the runner and picking him off of the base he'd just swiped. Suddenly Barney was getting almost as much action as the catcher.

At the plate he went 1-5 in his Triple A debut. He gets bonus points because the song they play when he bats is "Gimme Some Lovin."

In contrast to Ascanio's dart and flame throwing display were the two perfect innings of work turned in by none other than El Duque. The left leg kick isn't quite as high these days but it's still fun to watch the guy pitch. He tossed everything but the kitchen sink up there, none of it faster than 85. One especially lethargic offering finally reached the hitting area putt-putting along @ 53 mph. It was taken for a strike.

Let me just tell you that last night was a beautiful one here with temps in the 70's and a northwest breeze perfuming the whole ballpark with aromas wafting from the grills on the main concourse. The sausages went very well with the goose eggs.

Finally, remember Mitch Atkins? He took Tuesday's 1-0 loss, going the route. The start before that he took a no-hitter into the 8th. For the year he still carries a 5-8 log with a 6.14 ERA. But over his last five starts he's thrown 34 innings, allowing only 23 hits while walking four and fanning 26 to the tune of a 2.38 ERA. Guess he's back from wherever he was all spring.

Oh yeah, Neal Cotts was disabled with elbow trouble and Guzman's supposed to toss the first two innings tomorrow night...MW

Who Should Be the Cubs 2009 All-Star Game Representative?

Rob G. — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:41:30 +0000

Let me preface this entire article with a big old - who cares? With the Cubs playing the way they are, the mercy All-Star that the Cubs will get is of little importance, but I needed an article idea for the day and it's a fun discussion. And dagnabit, baseball is suppose to be fun.

So assuming the lemmings that are voting don't get Alfonso Soriano in there (currently 4th behind Carlos Beltran who is on the DL), the Cubs All-Star will be a reserve. In 2003, the All-Star process was changed and the players vote for eight reserves and eight pitchers, along with the eight starters voted by the fans. It's a 32-man roster, so the managers (in this case Charlie Manuel) gets to pick seven and the fans vote for the final player out of a pool of 5.

So who will be the Cubs representative(s)? Options below the fold...

Ted Lilly - He's probably my pick for the Cubs because if you're going to take a representative of this team, it should be on the pitching side. He leads the team in ERA (for qualified pitchers), wins and strikeouts. Has he been one of the 8 or 9 best NL starting pitchers this year? Well until that second to last start versus the White Sox he was probably in the discussion, although now he's just 14th in ERA and tied for 12th in wins. He seems to be pretty well-respected around the league, so the player vote should be strong and I assume some will remember that he was a choice for the WBC.

Randy Wells - The unqualified ERA team leader has been more than a pleasant surprise, but for the entire NL to notice, a glossy win-loss record would need to accompany it. I just don't see him getting picked over a vet.

Carlos Zambrano - Like Lilly, if the players got their vote in early in the month, he may have a shot when his ERA was 3.39. He's still considered the ace of the staff by most of the league, so maybe he'll get the reputation vote or as Joe Sheehan likes to pimp at Baseball Prospectus, the All-Star game should be a reward for the better players in the league rather than just having good first halves.

Derrek Lee - He's been the only Cub to hit decently over the last two months but his overall first half numbers are sorely lacking at a strong position in the NL. Albert, A. Gonzalez and Prince Fielder are all sporting OPS numbers over 1.000 to Lee's .834 which just ranks 8th among qualified 1st basemen. His production numbers are sorely lacking as well behind Berkman, Howard and Todd Helton.

Ryan Theriot - The shortstop crop is pretty weak in the NL once you get past Hanley Ramirez. Tejada has trailed off considerably from his hot start and Tulowitzki's surge has been pretty recent that it may have gotten missed by the players. Theriot's 4th in runs scored and home runs among shortstops and no doubt it would be a mercy inclusion if he makes it, but someone has to on this forsaken team.

Vote below for your choice

TCR Tuesday Notes

Rob G. — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:27:43 +0000

Nothing too exciting last night, Rich Harden worked out of a lot of trouble his last three innings, but did strike out 9 in 7 innings without giving up a home run. Milton Bradley went 2/4 with an RBI, a ricochet short of going 3-4. Soto and Fox continue to hit as well and the Marmol/Gregg combo actually did their job. Then we all remember it's the Pirates.

- The Southern League annouced their All-Star rosters and the Tennessee Smokies placed six: Position players Jim Adduci, Darwin Barney and Blake Lalli will join teammates Casey Coleman, Jay Jackson and Brian Schlitter.

- Barney will be headed to Triple A though along with a number of other promotions yesterday. Top picks Andrew Cashner and Josh Viiters will each move up a level, Cashner to Double A Tennessee and Vitters to Hi A Daytona. Cub Carpenter will join Vitters on the ride to Daytona. 1B John Contreras makes the jump from Boise to Daytona, 2b Nathan Samson goes to Tennessee and 1b Ryan Keedy has been released.

- I stumbled across this old Q&A with Bill James which touches on a wide variety of topics, some Cubs related.

UPDATE: Bill James and Joe Posnanski more recently talked about the age 33 fall-off. Cubs that are 33 this season: Derrek Lee, Alfonso Soriano and Ryan Freel. So is Ted Lilly, but the discussion focuses on offense.

- Milton Bradley is going to get a few days off to work on his left-handed swing with Von Joshua. The Cubs will likely go with Sam Fuld in center and Kosuke Fukudome in right field.

- 57% of Cubs fan agree with Phil Rogers that the Cubs should put Carlos Zambrano on waivers and see if anyone will take his contract off the Cubs hands. Probably the same 57% that applauded Mark DeRosa each time he came up in Wrigley.

- Barring any setbacks, Aramis Ramirez will begin a rehab assignment on Thursday, it's unknown which lucky affiliate will benefit from the added gate receipts. If all goes well, he could be back in the lineup against Atlanta next Monday.

- A poll of players around MLB conducted by Sports Illustrated came up with Lou Piniella as the manager players would least like to play for...Ozzie Guillen finishing second.

- If you're looking for a write-up on Aaron Miles elbow problems from Dr. Hecht...

I'd do an ortho writeup on Miles hyperextended elbow... but honestly, who cares other than Sam Fuld.

It's Also a Kick in the Junk

Rob G. — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:10:44 +0000

Our pal Tim Souers was inspired by Saturday's post and gave me this awesome graphic. And I don't really care to harp on the trade, but let me give you my final thoughts. The Cardinals got a good player and it should help them...a little. DeRosa was a 3.8 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) last year, he's been 1.1 so far this year as his defense at third hasn't been too great (at least according to UZR). The Cardinals are going to get him for a little over a half year and the 2 main guys he's replacing are Joe Thurston and Brian Barden who have combined for 0.8 WAR to this point. You can't just simply add and subtract it though, so my rough back-of-the-envelope guestimating says he's probably gonna be good for anything between 1-3 more wins on the year for the Cardinals, which is indeed significant for an individual player.

As for the Cubs not getting him, if we go by prospect lists and assuming the Indians like our pitchers as much as they liked Chris Perez and a supposedly top-end player to be named later, it would have cost something in the neighborhood of Jeff Samardzija and Jay Jackson. Samardzija has a no-trade clause of course, so maybe it would require Sean Marshall or Randy Wells and maybe that second player would be Kevin Hart or Angel Guzman instead of Jackson or another decent arm that could be ready for the majors by next year. It's a whole lot of speculating on who the Indians might like and who the Cubs are willing to trade, but let's take some educated guesses.

So in theory if the Cubs met the Indian asking price, it would be something in the neighborhood of (let's just say) Marshall and Jackson for John Gaub, Chris Archer, Jeff Stevens and a half a season of Mark DeRosa, plus the $2M or so added to the Cubs payroll that is owed DeRosa. That actually doesn't sound too terrible for the Cubs, they basically replace some of the arms they would have had to given up to reacquire DeRosa with the initial trade and the Cubs get back the wind beneath their wings.

Looking at the WAR values of the guys that DeRosa would be taking playing time from (Fontenot, Miles, Blanco, Scales and Jake Fox), they add up to -0.1 WAR so far and as I said you can't just simply and add and subtract due to playing time and small sample sizes and all that, but had the Cubs been able to make this trade back in early May (and the asking price was reportedly higher back then), you're talking probably 2-4 wins over a full season and 1-2 over the last two months (once again, more a guestimate than anything). The impact probably would have been less if Lou would have had just sucked it up and played Jake Fox at third to begin with instead of having his Neifi/Lee 2006 moment. With Aramis Ramirez due back soon, that impact is going to be a bit limited, although we still don't know if we're getting the old Ramirez back and how many days off he'll have to take. I guess I would have liked for Hendry to pull the trigger, DeRosa's a quality player that has been able to get it done with runners on this year. Whether that would translate to the Cubs or not I can't say for certain, the slump and inexplicable inability to get a hit with runners on seems to be nearly a team-wide affliction and maybe DeRosa would have caught it like a cold.

I'm disappointed that DeRosa could be the dagger in the Cubs 2009 hearts and it sure does seem like the Cubs could have avoided some of this mess back in January. But he's a Cardinal now and be damn certain I hope he strikes out everytime he comes up. And every moron at Wrigley that ends up cheering for him in a Cardinals uniform, go jump off a cliff with the other lemmings.

In other news, Aaron Miles is back to the disabled list with a hyperextended right elbow and the Cubs have called up Sam Fuld. Soriano has had four mult-hit games in his last five so I'm guessing that Fuld won't get a shot at being a leadoff hitter/center fielder for a few games, not that I really thought he had shot at that, but maybe he can spell a still struggling Kosuke Fukudome. Fuld's warmed up with the weather down in Iowa with a 398/474/506/980 OPS line in June.

Well Ain't That a Kick in the Pants

Rob G. — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 06:10:46 +0000

The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired former Cub super-utility Greek God Mark DeRosa for RHP Chris Perez and a player to be named later.

I wonder how many standing ovations he'll get from the Wrigley faithful before they realize they're cheering for the Cubs most bitter rival to beat them.

Milton Bradley's Losing Friends

Rob G. — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:31:16 +0000

A few stories have popped up since I wrote the last one, so let me update.

Bruce Miles at the Daily Herald:

"I told him to take his uniform off," Lou said. "He threw his helmet and smashed a water cooler, water flying all over. I just told him to take his uniform off and go home. I followed him up into the clubhouse, and we exchanged some words."

Lou added that he had seen enough and that he'd talk more with Milton tomorrow.

Apparently, the Cubs feel that Bradley is acting selfishly. GM Jim Hendry talked with us in the runway after the game and said he wanted players to be "all in."

I pressed him on that, and he said that "all in" means all for the team. Some of Bradley's teammates also are beginning to wonder.

Alright, so we know for sure Lou sent him home. The "acting selfishly" perked up my ears though and that teammates are beginning to wonder. That led me to this gem from Alfonso Soriano courtesy of Muskat.

Alfonso Soriano said he'd never seen a player and manager fight the way Piniella and Bradley did.

"I hope he comes back and he can help the team to win," Soriano said of Bradley. "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."

Hey pot, meet the kettle. Let's start with Soriano refusing to move to left field a few years back for the Nationals before finally relenting... a real team player moment. Next there's Soriano's loose insistence on batting leadoff. Oh sure, he's stated in public he doesn't care where he bats as long as he stays in the same place but there's certainly some resistance on Soriano's part to get moved. If he was 100% on helping the team win, he'd stop trying to hit a home run every at-bat and would have asked long ago to get dropped to the bottom of the order to stop taking precious at-bats while he swings at everything that's pitched to him. There's also the part where he's worked on his defense so much that he's making Adam Dunn look like a good idea.

Moving back to Bradley, Lou's press conference highlights via Cubs.com can be seen here. Piniella indicates it's been a "common occurrence", although it's not clear whether he's suggesting it's common with just Bradley or the entire team, but it seems more like it's directed right at Bradley and he's been throwing these fits for awhile (most likely down in the clubhouse away from the cameras).

Cubs Win, Gatorade Cooler Loses Again..Bradley Sent Home.

Rob G. — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:42:39 +0000

I'll make this brief, but wanted a place to discuss the latest in "As Milton's World Turns". First though, the Cubs won, they hit a 2-run home run and a 3-run home run. It's nice to know those haven't gone extinct. Jake Fox and Geovany Soto did the damage and no truth to the rumor that Soto was promised White Castle if he hit one out today.

Randy Wells got his second win on the year, two solo shots being the only marks against him. After 98 pitches and 7 innings, the increasingly baffling Lou went to Carlos Marmol and he predictably walked two of the first three hitters, gave up a couple of hits with some assistance from Soriano losing a ball in the sun (which I admittedly didn't see) and was mercifully pulled for Sean Marshall who got out of the jam by inducing the 3-2-3 double play by A.J. Pierzynski with the bases juiced.

The big story though will unfortunately be Milton Bradley. He struck out his first two times and then flew out to left and then apparently took out some frustration on a Gatorade cooler. Details are a bit sketchy now, but either Lou was already rethinking his change of mind of playing Bradley on Friday or Lou took exception to Bradley's freak out and the two exchanged words and Bradley was replaced by Ryan Freel in right field. Why Bradley freaking out is any different than Z or Dempster or any other player is beyond me, but I'm guessing there was some tension before this moment between the two. Or maybe Lou is standing up for the rights of Gatorade machines and coolers everywhere to dispense thirst-quenching beverages to athletes. Then to complicate matters, Bradley was spotted in street clothes leaving the game. It seems Lou told him to go home after the Gatorade thrashing, so at least he didn't walk out on his own, because we all know what Cubs fans think about that.

Hopefully this is much ado about nothing and Lou seems to have already decided to put in the past, suggesting Bradley could still play tomorrow(lefty happens to be on the mound). I do know that trouble seems to follow Bradley and some of that is his own doing and some of it is unfairly going after someone with a checkered past. As I mentioned, Z can punch out a catcher and take out a Gatorade machine and Lou gets the catcher traded and laughs at Z's freak out. Soriano is hitting worse over a 2-month period than anyone I've ever seen wear a Cub uniform, but Bradley is threatened with a benching. Then of course, Bradley can't buy an extra base hit when it counts to save his life and thinks the entire world is out to get him, when all they really want him to do is hit over .250 with a little pop.

Top 10 Most Embarrassing Things About the Cubs

CubbyBlue — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:51:23 +0000

Please feel free to add or make up your own.
Here's my attempt:

#10: It turns out Geovany Soto's rotund shape came from a bad case of the munchies.

#9: Back to back sweeps in St. Louis and...San Diego (May 19 - 24).

#8: Taking out frustrations on a defenseless Gatorade dispenser.

#7: The "Exhibition" Games at the new Yankee Stadium, where the Cubs lost by a combined score of 5 to 17 in the two games.

#6: Getting more left handed.

#5: "Captain Morgan Club" - you just have to hope that the team really got alot of cash from that booze company to put that sign up at Wrigley Field. I can't even walk in there because the name is so embarassing.

#4: Aaron Miles. You can't even say "scrappy" about this guy.

#3: This thinking: "well, it's okay that the Cubs lost because so did St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati." EMBARASSING!

#2: The absolute lack of clutch hitting, and how the loss of one bat (Aramis) completely ruined an entire, expensive, professional, veteran line-up.

#1: Milton Bradley - from bumping the ump in his first game to tossing the ball into the bleachers with only two outs (Milton's Boner) - there isn't alot about Milton that isn't excruciatingly embarrassing.

Game 69 Recap: Cubs 5, Tigers 6

Transmission — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:26:58 +0000

5 Runs on the Road, Lilly Pitching, Not Enough.

W - Galarraga (4-7)

L - Lilly (7-5)

S - Rodney (16)

Box Score, Photos

Things to Take from This Game

1. Fox, Fukudome lead Attack

Jake Fox staked the Cubs to a 3-0 lead on a big home run in the first. Fukudome had a triple and a double in the game, while Hoffpauir hit an impressive opposite field home-run in the ninth. An encouraging day from the supporting cast, but also a day with continued futility when there were RISP.

2. Lilly is Ineffectively Wild in the Strike Zone

Lilly got hurt on several breaking and offspeed pitches that got up into the heart of the strike zone. Just one BB to 6 Ks, but10 hits an 6 ER in 6 IP. Santiago and Ordonez each hit two-run homers off of him, and Raburn had two RBI hits. Cabrera also hit a homer that was incorrectly ruled a double.

3. No Dramatic Comeback, Today.

Rodney gave up the homer to Hoffpauir, but otherwise slammed the door by striking out the side.

The one-run-short details, below.

Game Recap

Inning 1 - Top

Soriano lines the first pitch down the left field line, and hopping up into the stands where they jut out, for a ground-rule double.
Theriot, trying to bunt, runs a 3-0 count. Let him hit, LouPa. 3-2, and Theriot walks.
Lee lazily flies to center, and the Cubs are 1-29 RISP on the trip. Soriano holds at second.
Hoffpauir laces a shot down the right field line. Foul. Eventually K's swinging over a nice changeup, low and away. 1-30.
Fox blasts a HR to deep, deep left-center. 411 feet, says BJB. 3-0 Cubs on Fox's first homerun.
Fontenot chases a pitch in the dirt, strike three.

Inning 1 - Bottom

Granderson bounces out to Fontenot at third
and Santiago pops into foul territory in shallow left, where Theriot grabs it.
Cabrera clobbers one to right-center. Hoffpauir makes an... entertaining... effort on the ball, which hits off one of teh weird angles in the fence and rolls away. Cabrera holds with a double.
Thames pops into shallow center, easy play for Theriot.

Inning 2 - Top

3-0 to Fukudome. 3-1. Fukudome dribbles one back to Galarraga.
Hill swings over an off-speed pitch for a foul-tip strike three.
Blanco fouls off a pitch that A. nearly hit him and B. would have bounced and gone to the backstop. 0-2. Comes back to 2-2, before squibbing one down to Cabrera at third.

Inning 2 - Bottom

Raburn flies to shallow center, where Fukudome gets it.
Oh, this is interesting. A WGN replay of the Cabrera shot shows, pretty clearly, that it hit above the yellow line on the fence, richochetting back into the field of play off of a metal railing. No one protested it, and so it stands as a double instead of a home run. Blame it on the stupid geometry of the Detroit outfield, as it hit right where the fence angles backward.
Inge K's swinging.
Ordonez with an easy two-hopper to Fontenot.

Inning 3 - Top

3-0 to Soriano, swings at a pitch right in on the fists, and just does get it over Inge into left field.
Theriot K's swinging at a slider.
2-2 to Lee. In the dirt, 3-2. Soriano runs, and Lee smokes one to deep left. Raburn, however, catches it up against the fence, and Soriano, who has rounded second, gets doubled-off by a step or two as he tries to return to first. Tough way to end the inning. Replay shows that Raburn wasn't anticipating a chance to double Soriano off, and Soriano was walking back toward second base after he had rounded it, before running when he saw there was a play.

Inning 3 - Bottom

Dusty Ryan K's swinging at a change.
Everett chops a slow curve towards short. Fontenot tries to cut it off, as he's supposed to, but Theriot's also coming straight in from short stop, and they knick each other, the ball rolling away. Ruled a hit.
Granderson squibs one up the third base line, Fontenot makes a very nice play charging in and firing to first. Everett to second.
Santiago hits a high fly ball down the left field line, dropping it into the bullpen. 3-2 Cubs.

Inning 4 - Top

Hoffpauir grounds to Cabrera.
Fox lines a single into left. Looking good today.
Fontenot with a slow chop just to the right of Second base, Santiago with the awkward short flip to Everett at the bag, not enough time to double-up fontenot at first.
Fukudome lines a nice shot into the right-center gap for a triple. 4-2 Cubs
Hill misses a slider by about two feet. K.

Inning 4 - Bottom

Thames finds the right-center gap for a double.
Raburn hits a curve that gets way too much of the plate down the left-field line, off the base of the wall. Soriano plays it well, but it's still a run-scoring double. 4-3 Cubs.
BJB claims that you didn't hear any complaining from the hitters about Comerica Park when it opened, unlike Padres hitters who complained about Petco. I'm willing to bet that doesn't stand up to ten seconds of googling.
Inge smashes one to Fontenot, playing deep and off the bag. He blocks it, picks it up and throws to first, but Raburn manages to go from second to third on the play. More smart baserunning on Raburn's part than anything.
Ordonez, mired in a 40-game HR drought, hits a HR into the left-field pen. Another curveball that got too much of the plate, too high. 4-5 Tigers. On an 0-2 pitch.
Ryan grounds to Fontenot, who is seeing a lot of action at third.
Magglio had his hair cut yesterday, to be sold on ebay for charity. BJB reports it was 2 poinds of hair. That seems like a lot of hair.
Everett K's swinging.

Inning 5 - Top

Blanco golfs one into right-center, Granderson makes an easy catch.
Next pitch, Soriano hits one ten feet to the right of Blanco's, and Ordonez grabs it.
Another quick fly ball off Lee's bat, to straight-away center. Len's pointed out that the Tigers seem to be doing a much better job of pulling their hits down the lines, whereas the Cubs keep on hitting towards the cavernous center-field.

Inning 5 - Bottom

Granderson grounds one past Blanco's left, and into right.
Santiago bunts to Lilly, advancing Granderson.
Cabrera singles just in front of Soriano, forcing Granderson to hold up. Runners at 1 and 3.
Thames swings, and chucks his bat directly over the Tigers' dugout, where about three fans refuse to let go of it. After determining possession, the attendants direct him where to trade it in for another. Eventually, Thames K's swinging.
Raburn inside-outs one into right field for another hit. Granderson scores, Cabrera to second. Another weak breaking pitch, BJB calls it a slider. 4-6 Tigers.
Inge bounces to Fontenot, 5-3 putout.

Inning 6 - Top

2-0 to Lee, he flails at a frisbee slider outside, then swings over a changeup. 2-2. Hits a deep fly down the right field line, just foul. Finally rolls into a 6-3.
Hoffpauir grounds to first.
Fox lines one down the left-field line for a double. Hanging slider.
Fontenot with a weak swing and weaker grounder out to second, inning over. 2-34 RISP.

Inning 6 - Bottom

71 strikes, 22 balls for Lilly so far. Seems to match the observation that Lilly's missing with breaking stuff in the middle of the zone that he probably wants out of the zone.
Ordonez K's swinging. 6 K, 0 BB for Lilly
Ryan singles one out to Soriano. Hart warming up for Chicago.
Ryan, the catcher, takes off with agreat jump. Has the base stolen, but slides over the base, comes off it just a bit, and Blanco keeps the tag on him, getting the out. Full count to Everett, and he walks on a curve or slider off the plate. Odd pitch selection for the 9th hitter in the lineup.
Len points out that Bobby Seay and Brendon Lyon give you Seay-Lyon in the pen. Ouch.
Granderson grounds to Blanco.

Inning 7 - Top

Seay in for Galarraga
Fukudome grounds between Santiago and Cabrera, Santiago gets it and Cabrera has to get back to 1st. Fukudome is running hard just in case, but he's out.
Hill hits a sharp grounder right past Seay's feat. Santiago makes an impressive diving stop, throws from his right knee, and Hill is "out" at first. He sort of spins and throw up his arms at the call. It looks like he may have just barely been out.... Barely....
Blanco flies out to right.

Inning 7 - Bottom

Hart in. Santiago with the swinging bunt, Fontenot bare-hands it and makes a strong throw, Santiago barely beats it.
Cabrera smashes one at Theriot, who makes the pick on a brutal hop. Turns it into a nice 6-4-3. Thames then lines out to Soriano.

Inning 8 - Top

Lyon in for Seay.
Soriano K's at a splitter or curve or something in the dirt. ugly.
Theriot with the old inside-out swing, but it's a liner to Cabrera, easy out.
Lee bounces toward the middle, Santiago gets it. May be the end of Lee's hitting streak.

Inning 8 - Bottom

Raburn singles through the 6-5 hole.
Looking like threatening weather in Detroit.
Inge pops to medium-depth center, which, given how deep Fukudome plays and his bad read on the ball, requires him to race to get there.
Grounder right to Theriot who shovels to Blanco. Ball hits him right in the mitt, as he's lowering it towards his throwing hand, which is simulanteously coming up for the ball, and the ball pops right out. To my eyes, he never had control of the ball and wasn't really beginnung the process of transfering it for the throw. But the ump gives us the out at second.
Josh Anderson runs for Ordonez.
Steals second, sliding in to Blanco's left knee on the play, knocking him down. Ball goes into center, and Anderson takes third. Ruled a tough error on Koyie Hill.
Slow curve ball outside, for ball four to Dusty Ryan. Why are we throwing the two weakest hitters in the lineup curveballs with three-ball counts?
Everett battles, and finally walks on a 3-2 count. At least this time it was on a fastball wide.
Marshall in to face Granderson. Marshall has become the Cubs' version of Bill O'Reilly: his job is to go after every single lefty out there. And indeed, Marshall K's Granderson on a nice curve.

Inning 9 - Top

Rodney in. Fastball outside, and Hoffpauir hits an impressive opposite-field HR into the first row of the left-field seats. 5-6 Tigers.
Fox K's at a slider or change outside and in the dirt, out on the throw at first.
Wind blowing out to center, we're told.
Howling winds as the weather comes in. Kind of wild. Umbrellas being ripped to pieces. Fukudome looking up at the weather with some amazement
Fontenot K's swinging at another off-speed pitch
2-1 to Fukudome, he lines an opposite-field double to the left-center gap, rolling to the wall. Nice swing at the fastball.
Soto in to pinch-hit for Hill. Lots of change-ups, 1-2 count. 98 mph fastball, off the outside corner for ball two.
Pitch in the dirt, and Soto checks his swing at it. Home plate ump calls it a strike swinging. How about going to First Base Ump for some help on a game-ending call, ump?

Inning 9 - Bottom

Parachat Recap

Inning 1

No one is in parachat. I talk to myself.

Inning 2

I am all alone. ~sigh~.

Inning 3

Token_Cripple shows up and leaves, without me noticing. Chad arrives and I notice. We exchange theories on where everyone is.
Andres Galarraga's second career as Armando.
Hooray, Newports and CT_Steve join us, to chat about Soriano's baserunning.
Theriot's worth, and where he should hit.

Inning 4

woo, Lowitzki joins.
"Hiding" people in your lineup, hah.
More Theriot debating.
and as long as we're acknowledging everyone who shows up in parachat today, we get Ahone_Ahtwo_Ahthree, one of my favorite TCR handles.

Inning 5

Scrubby-ass.
Publishing pedagogical articles.

Inning 6

Fox's potential
Who isn't a triple away from the cycle?
Savebot. Made in Korea.
And we get Rob G. trying to end strong on a weak start to Parachat

Inning 7

Fan Cam in Detroit.
Domino's Pizza tells us to "put some South in your mouth." Oh my.
Carlos appears.
How much of this season is LouPa's fault?
- not much.

Inning 8

Farrah Fawcett and Richard Dawson.
Soto busted for pot.
Who is Gilbert Knapp?
Carlos's bad dream.
Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Dave's Twitter.
Star Search.
I continue to flunk analogies.

Inning 9

Cheering for the rally. Best line of encouragement comes from CT_Steve: "Put some Captain Crunch on First Base for Soto!"
Disappointment, again

Cubs record in my recent recapping stretch drops to 2-3. Clearly, I should stop.

Motor City Misery

Rob G. — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:07:15 +0000

11 Hits, 7 BB's for the Cubs offense....just 3 runs. One of those 11 hits was a solo home run by the somewhat rejuvenated Geovany Soto, meaning the Cubs needed 10 hits and 7 bb's to score the other 2 runs. The Yahoo box score says the Cubs left 13 on base as a team (seemed like 130), with Jake Fox and Micah Hoffpauir leading the way with 8 and 7 left on base each (some of those the same baserunners). The offensive ineptitude and Rich Harden's gopher ball won't keep me from making fun of the bullpen though, who managed to walk in the two deciding runs.

Lilly tries to stave off the sweep ~~tonight~~ today.