Sure, the Cardinals are the team directly behind the Cubs in the standings right now, but I think that most people would agree (except for Cardinal fans who actually think that this hot start will last, poor Cardinal fans) it's going to come down to the Cubs and Brewers in the Central Division race.
That makes each of these games extra important.
Sure, it's still very early in the season, but this is turning into quite a rivalry.
Tonight in the series opener, Brewers Ace Ben Sheets faces off against Cubs pitcher Jason Marquis.
Here are yesterday's games.
And here are today's games.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Busy Sports Weekend Ends With Cubs Losing a Series to the Nationals. (Seriously?)
Definately not the team you want to lose a series to, but this is baseball and sometimes it happens. A walk off homerun (off notoriously slow starting Bob Howry) lost the Cubs the first game, Zambrano was spectacular in the second game and was backed up by the offense for a big win, but the offense should have saved some for Sunday as the Cubs were shut out in the series ender.
Despite the sad series, the Cubs remain as the second best team in all of the Majors this season (behind only the Diamondbacks) and continue to lead the NL Central.
Here are Friday's games.
Saturday's games.
Yesterday's games.
Here are today's games.
Current Standings
AL WEST W L GB
Los Angeles 16 10 -
Oakland 16 10 -
Seattle 12 14 4.0
Texas 9 17 7.0
AL CENTRAL W L GB
Chicago 14 10 -
Cleveland 12 13 2.5
Minnesota 11 14 3.5
Kansas City 11 14 3.5
Detroit 11 15 4.0
AL EAST W L GB
Baltimore 14 11 -
Tampa Bay 14 11 -
Boston 15 12 -
New York 13 13 1.5
Toronto 11 15 3.5
NL WEST W L GB
Arizona 18 7 -
Los Angeles 12 13 6.0
San Francisco 11 15 7.5
Colorado 10 15 8.0
San Diego 10 16 8.5
NL CENTRAL W L GB
Chicago 16 9 -
St. Louis 16 10 .5
Milwaukee 14 11 2.0
Houston 12 14 4.5
Cincinatti 11 15 5.5
Pittsburgh 10 15 6.0
NL EAST W L GB
Florida 15 10 -
New York 13 11 1.5
Philadelphia 14 12 1.5
Atlanta 12 13 3.0
Washington 9 17 6.5
Despite the sad series, the Cubs remain as the second best team in all of the Majors this season (behind only the Diamondbacks) and continue to lead the NL Central.
Here are Friday's games.
Saturday's games.
Yesterday's games.
Here are today's games.
Current Standings
AL WEST W L GB
Los Angeles 16 10 -
Oakland 16 10 -
Seattle 12 14 4.0
Texas 9 17 7.0
AL CENTRAL W L GB
Chicago 14 10 -
Cleveland 12 13 2.5
Minnesota 11 14 3.5
Kansas City 11 14 3.5
Detroit 11 15 4.0
AL EAST W L GB
Baltimore 14 11 -
Tampa Bay 14 11 -
Boston 15 12 -
New York 13 13 1.5
Toronto 11 15 3.5
NL WEST W L GB
Arizona 18 7 -
Los Angeles 12 13 6.0
San Francisco 11 15 7.5
Colorado 10 15 8.0
San Diego 10 16 8.5
NL CENTRAL W L GB
Chicago 16 9 -
St. Louis 16 10 .5
Milwaukee 14 11 2.0
Houston 12 14 4.5
Cincinatti 11 15 5.5
Pittsburgh 10 15 6.0
NL EAST W L GB
Florida 15 10 -
New York 13 11 1.5
Philadelphia 14 12 1.5
Atlanta 12 13 3.0
Washington 9 17 6.5
Friday, April 25, 2008
Cubs finally lose as Rockies try to blow a late lead again (but somehow still provail)
The Rockies coming into yesterday's games had lost 4 straight games that they had lead in the eighth inning. With a 2-1 lead in the 8th inning, the Cubs tied it up and it looked as if the same thing might happen again.
However, Kevin Hart couldn't keep the Rockies in place in the bottom half of the 8th and the Rockies regained the lead and this time held onto it in the 9th for a much needed win for them.
The Cubs should be able to regroup quickly, however, as they head to play at the newest stadium in the majors against the team (tied) with the worst record in the Majors, the Washington Nationals (sadly, the Rangers are right there with them).
Red Hot Ryan Dempster takes on Odalis Perez at 6:35pm CST.
Here are the rest of yesterday's games.
Here are today's games.
However, Kevin Hart couldn't keep the Rockies in place in the bottom half of the 8th and the Rockies regained the lead and this time held onto it in the 9th for a much needed win for them.
The Cubs should be able to regroup quickly, however, as they head to play at the newest stadium in the majors against the team (tied) with the worst record in the Majors, the Washington Nationals (sadly, the Rangers are right there with them).
Red Hot Ryan Dempster takes on Odalis Perez at 6:35pm CST.
Here are the rest of yesterday's games.
Here are today's games.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Loveable Losers No More. Cubs Win #10,000
How can you call a professional sports team that has won the second most games in the history of sports the "Lovable Losers"?
Answer: You can't.
The Cubs joined the Giants as the only teams in professional sports to win 10,000 games last night.
Rich Hill had his second strong start, but as he began to falter he got no help from the bullpen (or at least none from Michael Wuertz). The Rockies came into the 6th trailing 3-0, but scored 5 runs in the inning giving them a 5-3 lead late.
The Cubs got one back to make it 5-4 but that was the score headed into the ninth.
Manny Corpas, the Rockies closer had been struggling lately and after getting The Riot for out one, D Lee greeted him with a single bringing Aramis Ramirez to the plate.
At this point the color man for the Rockies said, "In a perfect world, we'll get a ground ball for a double play and we can go home happy."
I don't know what world he lives in, but I said to my tv, "No, in a perfect world, Aramis Ramirez will hit a two run shot regaining the lead for the Cubbies."
Roughly half a second later, my perfect world was realized.
That meant K Dub would be coming in to try and get the save. He had thrown three consecutive perfect innings, but after getting the first two batters to strike out, he gave up a single and then a game tying triple. He left the winning run on base when he struck out the side.
That meant the Cubs would have to go at least 10 innings in order to win number 10,000.
Rather appropriate I think.
With 2 outs in the 10th and runners at first and second, The Riot stepped up to the plate and knocked an RBI single into right field to regain the lead.
One run would be all that Carlos Marmol would need in order to shut the door in the 10th. Cubs win, Cubs win.
That win, coupled with the Dodgers defeat of the Diamondbacks also means that the Cubs now hold the Major Leagues best record at 15-6.
Here are the rest of yesterday's games.
Today, the Cubs go for their third consecutive sweep and their 7th straight win. Game time is 2:05pm CST and it is back on WGN. Jason Marquis goes for the Cubs against Aaron Cook of the Rockies.
Here are the rest of today's games.
Answer: You can't.
The Cubs joined the Giants as the only teams in professional sports to win 10,000 games last night.
Rich Hill had his second strong start, but as he began to falter he got no help from the bullpen (or at least none from Michael Wuertz). The Rockies came into the 6th trailing 3-0, but scored 5 runs in the inning giving them a 5-3 lead late.
The Cubs got one back to make it 5-4 but that was the score headed into the ninth.
Manny Corpas, the Rockies closer had been struggling lately and after getting The Riot for out one, D Lee greeted him with a single bringing Aramis Ramirez to the plate.
At this point the color man for the Rockies said, "In a perfect world, we'll get a ground ball for a double play and we can go home happy."
I don't know what world he lives in, but I said to my tv, "No, in a perfect world, Aramis Ramirez will hit a two run shot regaining the lead for the Cubbies."
Roughly half a second later, my perfect world was realized.
That meant K Dub would be coming in to try and get the save. He had thrown three consecutive perfect innings, but after getting the first two batters to strike out, he gave up a single and then a game tying triple. He left the winning run on base when he struck out the side.
That meant the Cubs would have to go at least 10 innings in order to win number 10,000.
Rather appropriate I think.
With 2 outs in the 10th and runners at first and second, The Riot stepped up to the plate and knocked an RBI single into right field to regain the lead.
One run would be all that Carlos Marmol would need in order to shut the door in the 10th. Cubs win, Cubs win.
That win, coupled with the Dodgers defeat of the Diamondbacks also means that the Cubs now hold the Major Leagues best record at 15-6.
Here are the rest of yesterday's games.
Today, the Cubs go for their third consecutive sweep and their 7th straight win. Game time is 2:05pm CST and it is back on WGN. Jason Marquis goes for the Cubs against Aaron Cook of the Rockies.
Here are the rest of today's games.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Number 9,999 very similar to Number 9,998
The Cubs won for their franchise's 9,999th time yesterday putting them one win away from 10,000 victories which only one other club can claim, the New York/San Fransisco Giants.
Despite coming into the game with a left hander who was 0-3 with an ERA over 9 this season (and a blown 7-0 lead on his resume for this year) against a team that was 8-1 while batting .300 against lefthanders so far this season, The Cubs won another game that was close early and a laugher late.
Ted Lilly finally reminded us why we loved him so much last year as he gave up only one run through 6 well pitched innings.
The Cubs (and Reed Johnson) took advantage of a bases loaded situation early in the game to build a 4-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the 8th (where the Cubs scored 5 runs in game one of this series) they loaded them up again. Ronnie Cedeno, who got the rbi hit to start the run scoring in the 8th the day before, just took care of all of them by himself yesterday hitting his first career grand slam to run the lead to 8-1 where it would finish.
The Cubs remain one game behind the Diamondbacks for the best record in the Majors, but their 14-6 start is their best through 20 games since 1975 (meaning, incidently, that this is the best the Cubs have ever started in my lifetime).
They are on a 5 game winning streak, and just completed a 7-1 homestand.
In the past 4 games the offense has come alive and the pitching has been mostly spectacular.
They have won the past four games by scores of 13-1, 13-6, 7-1, and 8-1.
Here are the rest of yesterday's games.
Today the Cubs face the reigning NL Champs. Rich Hill looks for his second consecutive strong start as he'll be facing Franklin Morales who has struggled so far pitching only 15 innings in his first 3 starts giving up 11 runs and 11 walks in those 15 innings.
For those of you mourning the in depth posts of the recent past, know that I plan to go back to that, but things are picking up at both of my jobs hindering my blogging ability for the moment, so until those posts return...
Enjoy today's games.
Despite coming into the game with a left hander who was 0-3 with an ERA over 9 this season (and a blown 7-0 lead on his resume for this year) against a team that was 8-1 while batting .300 against lefthanders so far this season, The Cubs won another game that was close early and a laugher late.
Ted Lilly finally reminded us why we loved him so much last year as he gave up only one run through 6 well pitched innings.
The Cubs (and Reed Johnson) took advantage of a bases loaded situation early in the game to build a 4-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the 8th (where the Cubs scored 5 runs in game one of this series) they loaded them up again. Ronnie Cedeno, who got the rbi hit to start the run scoring in the 8th the day before, just took care of all of them by himself yesterday hitting his first career grand slam to run the lead to 8-1 where it would finish.
The Cubs remain one game behind the Diamondbacks for the best record in the Majors, but their 14-6 start is their best through 20 games since 1975 (meaning, incidently, that this is the best the Cubs have ever started in my lifetime).
They are on a 5 game winning streak, and just completed a 7-1 homestand.
In the past 4 games the offense has come alive and the pitching has been mostly spectacular.
They have won the past four games by scores of 13-1, 13-6, 7-1, and 8-1.
Here are the rest of yesterday's games.
Today the Cubs face the reigning NL Champs. Rich Hill looks for his second consecutive strong start as he'll be facing Franklin Morales who has struggled so far pitching only 15 innings in his first 3 starts giving up 11 runs and 11 walks in those 15 innings.
For those of you mourning the in depth posts of the recent past, know that I plan to go back to that, but things are picking up at both of my jobs hindering my blogging ability for the moment, so until those posts return...
Enjoy today's games.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Cubs Take Advantage of Mistakes Late and Blow It Open
The Cubs were in a close one late with the Mets last night, holding a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth. Aramis Ramirez had hit a two run shot in the fourth for the Cubs offense and Jose Reyes hit into a double play with runners on the corners and no one out in the 6th plating the only run for the Mets. Carlos Zambrano was dominant again, and it looked like Kerry Wood would be coming in to protect the slim one run lead against the best hitters of the Mets, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, and Carlos Delgado, the 3-5 hitters, the meat of the lineup.
But first, the Cubs would have a chance to try to get some insurance with their 3-5 hitters. Derrek Lee lead off with a ground ball to Jose Reyes, but he booted it and the lead off man was on. Aramis Ramirez who had already homered in the game stepped up and got pegged in the elbow. That brought up Kosuke Fukudome. He had a five minute long, 10 pitch at bat that ended with him going the other way through the hole between short stop and third base to load the bases with no body out.
Mark DeRosa and Geo Soto (both of whom were nominated for player of the week last week) would get a chance to open up the lead a little bit.
DeRosa struck out and Soto popped out on the infield, meaning the Cubs had gone from bases loaded nobody out and two hot hitters due up to bases loaded two outs and Ronnie Cedeno up. Cedeno found out he would be starting for The Riot about five minutes before first pitch.
As bad as the inning had started for the Mets, it looked like they would get out of it.
Cedeno, however, had other plans. He had a great at bat, facing a 1-2 count, he fouled off three straight pitches before sending the seventh pitch of the at bat into center field scoring Lee and Ramirez.
With runners at first and second and 2 out, Felix Pie came up for his first at bat of the game. He had been a defensive replacement in the previous inning.
At this point, I'd like to give you a chance to read this article which was posted right before the game.
Pie was pulled from the starting lineup so that he could use the time to work on his swing.
Apparently that time worked. Pie took the 2-0 pitch into the right field bleachers for a 3 run shot and suddenly Kerry Wood was able to close out the game (3 up 3 down) with no pressure whatsoever. Cubs win 7-1 and remain one game behind the Diamondbacks for the best record in the Majors.
Here are yesterday's other games.
Today, the Cubs send struggling Ted Lilly up against Nelson Figueroa and the Mets. So far this season, the Mets have struggled against righties, but are dominating against left handed starters. Add that stat to the fact that Lilly hasn't looked good yet this season and this could be a long afternoon. The Cubs offense needs to keep up their hot hitting for the Cubs to prevail today in my opinion.
Here are the rest of today's games.
But first, the Cubs would have a chance to try to get some insurance with their 3-5 hitters. Derrek Lee lead off with a ground ball to Jose Reyes, but he booted it and the lead off man was on. Aramis Ramirez who had already homered in the game stepped up and got pegged in the elbow. That brought up Kosuke Fukudome. He had a five minute long, 10 pitch at bat that ended with him going the other way through the hole between short stop and third base to load the bases with no body out.
Mark DeRosa and Geo Soto (both of whom were nominated for player of the week last week) would get a chance to open up the lead a little bit.
DeRosa struck out and Soto popped out on the infield, meaning the Cubs had gone from bases loaded nobody out and two hot hitters due up to bases loaded two outs and Ronnie Cedeno up. Cedeno found out he would be starting for The Riot about five minutes before first pitch.
As bad as the inning had started for the Mets, it looked like they would get out of it.
Cedeno, however, had other plans. He had a great at bat, facing a 1-2 count, he fouled off three straight pitches before sending the seventh pitch of the at bat into center field scoring Lee and Ramirez.
With runners at first and second and 2 out, Felix Pie came up for his first at bat of the game. He had been a defensive replacement in the previous inning.
At this point, I'd like to give you a chance to read this article which was posted right before the game.
Pie was pulled from the starting lineup so that he could use the time to work on his swing.
Apparently that time worked. Pie took the 2-0 pitch into the right field bleachers for a 3 run shot and suddenly Kerry Wood was able to close out the game (3 up 3 down) with no pressure whatsoever. Cubs win 7-1 and remain one game behind the Diamondbacks for the best record in the Majors.
Here are yesterday's other games.
Today, the Cubs send struggling Ted Lilly up against Nelson Figueroa and the Mets. So far this season, the Mets have struggled against righties, but are dominating against left handed starters. Add that stat to the fact that Lilly hasn't looked good yet this season and this could be a long afternoon. The Cubs offense needs to keep up their hot hitting for the Cubs to prevail today in my opinion.
Here are the rest of today's games.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Cubs vs Mets Preview and MLB Standings
Now, I wasn't alive, you understand, but being a Cubs fan I do hold some resentment against the Mets for 1969. In mid August, the Cubs had a 7 and 1/2 game lead over the Mets in the newly created Eastern division, but from that point on, the Mets went an Amazing 39-11 record. The Cubs, on the other hand, wilted in September going 8-17. There was a game that season at Shea Stadium where a Mets fan let a black cat onto the field in front of the Cubs, not that I'm saying the incident was responsible, but I just wanted the reader to be aware of it.
However, this blog isn't about the past, because 100 Years Later is right now, so we celebrate the history and remind ourselves of it occasionally, but the important stuff is going on this year.
Today, John Maine faces off against Carlos Zambrano in the start of a short two game stay by the Mets at the Friendly Confines. Game time is 6:05pm CST and will be shown on ESPN, so if you can stand some Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, check it out.
Here are the Standings in Baseball after 3 weeks.
AL EAST W L GB
Boston 13 7 -
Baltimore 11 8 1.5
Toronto 10 9 2.5
New York 10 10 3.0
Tampa Bay 8 11 4.5
AL CENTRAL W L GB
Chicago 11 7 -
Kansas City 9 10 2.5
Minnesota 9 10 2.5
Cleveland 7 12 4.5
Detroit 6 11 5.5
AL WEST W L GB
Los Angeles 12 8 -
Oakland 12 8 -
Seattle 10 10 2.0
Texas 7 12 4.5
NL EAST W L GB
Florida 11 7 -
New York 10 7 .5
Atlanta 9 9 2.0
Philadelphia 9 10 2.5
Washington 5 14 6.5
NL CENTRAL W L GB
Chicago 12 6 - (2nd best record in the Major Leagues)
St. Louis 12 7 .5
Milwaukee 11 7 1.0
Cincinatti 8 11 4.5
Pittsburgh 7 11 5.0
Houston 7 12 5.5
NL WEST W L GB
Arizona 13 5 -
Colorado 9 9 4.0
San Diego 9 10 4.5
San Fran 8 11 5.5
Los Angeles 7 11 6.0
Enjoy Today's Games.
However, this blog isn't about the past, because 100 Years Later is right now, so we celebrate the history and remind ourselves of it occasionally, but the important stuff is going on this year.
Today, John Maine faces off against Carlos Zambrano in the start of a short two game stay by the Mets at the Friendly Confines. Game time is 6:05pm CST and will be shown on ESPN, so if you can stand some Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, check it out.
Here are the Standings in Baseball after 3 weeks.
AL EAST W L GB
Boston 13 7 -
Baltimore 11 8 1.5
Toronto 10 9 2.5
New York 10 10 3.0
Tampa Bay 8 11 4.5
AL CENTRAL W L GB
Chicago 11 7 -
Kansas City 9 10 2.5
Minnesota 9 10 2.5
Cleveland 7 12 4.5
Detroit 6 11 5.5
AL WEST W L GB
Los Angeles 12 8 -
Oakland 12 8 -
Seattle 10 10 2.0
Texas 7 12 4.5
NL EAST W L GB
Florida 11 7 -
New York 10 7 .5
Atlanta 9 9 2.0
Philadelphia 9 10 2.5
Washington 5 14 6.5
NL CENTRAL W L GB
Chicago 12 6 - (2nd best record in the Major Leagues)
St. Louis 12 7 .5
Milwaukee 11 7 1.0
Cincinatti 8 11 4.5
Pittsburgh 7 11 5.0
Houston 7 12 5.5
NL WEST W L GB
Arizona 13 5 -
Colorado 9 9 4.0
San Diego 9 10 4.5
San Fran 8 11 5.5
Los Angeles 7 11 6.0
Enjoy Today's Games.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Break Out The Brooms (Again) Cubs Sweep Bucs (Again)
The offense was out in the final two games of the second series in as many weeks against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs got wins from Rich HIll (in the first game) and Jason Marquis (in the second) for their first wins of the season. Dempster continued his strong start to the season with his third win (of course it's his second against Pittsburgh, so you should probably take that into account) in the third game.
The Cubs scored 13 in each of the last two games (13-1 on Sat, 13-6 on Sun) and won a close one to start the series off right (3-2).
With the win today along with losses by the Cardinals and Brewers means that the Cubs have taken their rightful place at the top of the Central Division (look for the standings tomorrow).
Friday's Games.
Saturday's Games.
Today's Games.
LWIB
Milestones near for two big league batters.
Manny being Manny is now 4 homeruns away from 500 and Junior is 4 homeruns away from 600.
Manny Ramirez and Ken Griffey Jr look to reach milestones soon and continue what has a trend last season (Big Hurt hit his 500th as did Jim Thome, Sammy hit his 600th, and Tom Glavine got his 300th win, also there was a rumor about someone passing Hank Aaron for most homeruns ever, but I'm not sure that it actually occured. Surely if it did, some stadium would have momentos representing that event right? Like the stadium where the player that acheived it played, right?)
Speaking of the Big Hurt, the Toronto Blue Jays released him a day after telling him that his playing time would be greatly reduced, eliciting a bit of a complaint from the future hall of famer.
These will definately be interesting stories to follow. I think that Frank Thomas still has a lot to offer (most likely as a DH in the AL, but if he'd accept it, he'd be a hell of a player off of the bench for anybody). This week should also get us a little closer to milestones and if either player gets really hot, one of them could reach a milestone this week.
Tomorrow the Cubs take on the Mets.
The Cubs scored 13 in each of the last two games (13-1 on Sat, 13-6 on Sun) and won a close one to start the series off right (3-2).
With the win today along with losses by the Cardinals and Brewers means that the Cubs have taken their rightful place at the top of the Central Division (look for the standings tomorrow).
Friday's Games.
Saturday's Games.
Today's Games.
LWIB
Milestones near for two big league batters.
Manny being Manny is now 4 homeruns away from 500 and Junior is 4 homeruns away from 600.
Manny Ramirez and Ken Griffey Jr look to reach milestones soon and continue what has a trend last season (Big Hurt hit his 500th as did Jim Thome, Sammy hit his 600th, and Tom Glavine got his 300th win, also there was a rumor about someone passing Hank Aaron for most homeruns ever, but I'm not sure that it actually occured. Surely if it did, some stadium would have momentos representing that event right? Like the stadium where the player that acheived it played, right?)
Speaking of the Big Hurt, the Toronto Blue Jays released him a day after telling him that his playing time would be greatly reduced, eliciting a bit of a complaint from the future hall of famer.
These will definately be interesting stories to follow. I think that Frank Thomas still has a lot to offer (most likely as a DH in the AL, but if he'd accept it, he'd be a hell of a player off of the bench for anybody). This week should also get us a little closer to milestones and if either player gets really hot, one of them could reach a milestone this week.
Tomorrow the Cubs take on the Mets.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Cubs Offense Disappears While Reds Discover Theirs
Well, for every 12-3 win, you can fall 9-2. Wish we could have saved some runs from Wednesday for Thursday.
Still, the Cubs won the series, which is important.
Ted Lilly finally got out of the fifth inning, but he still didn't look that great doing it and lost again.
This just in, the Colorado vs San Diego game finally ended as well.
22 innings later.
COL 2 SD 1 F 22
Other games from yesterday...
HOU 2 PHI 10 F
MIL 5 STL 3 F
CWS 5 BAL 6 F 10
DET 1 CLE 11 F
BOS 7 NYY 5 F
TEX 4 TOR 1 F
WSH 2 NYM 3 F 14
ATL 8 FLA 0 F
TB 7 MIN 3 F
KC 3 LAA 5 F
SEA 8 OAK 1 F
Rich Hill goes for the Cubs today against the Bucs and Ian Snell. Hill hopes to get on the right track himself, hopefully he'll do better then Lilly did yesterday.
Here are the rest of today's games.
Still, the Cubs won the series, which is important.
Ted Lilly finally got out of the fifth inning, but he still didn't look that great doing it and lost again.
This just in, the Colorado vs San Diego game finally ended as well.
22 innings later.
COL 2 SD 1 F 22
Other games from yesterday...
HOU 2 PHI 10 F
MIL 5 STL 3 F
CWS 5 BAL 6 F 10
DET 1 CLE 11 F
BOS 7 NYY 5 F
TEX 4 TOR 1 F
WSH 2 NYM 3 F 14
ATL 8 FLA 0 F
TB 7 MIN 3 F
KC 3 LAA 5 F
SEA 8 OAK 1 F
Rich Hill goes for the Cubs today against the Bucs and Ian Snell. Hill hopes to get on the right track himself, hopefully he'll do better then Lilly did yesterday.
Here are the rest of today's games.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Going 9-5
What a way to start a season.
Cubbies bats awaken early even with Soriano placed on the DL. And despite the wind blowing out, Zambrano is masterful.
Through the first three innings, the meat of the Cubs order, batters 3-6 had this line.
5-6 1 HR, 2 2Bs, 5 RBI, 3 BB, HBP, 7 RS
That's what you like from the middle of your lineup.
The Cubs had 4 in the first, and really that is all that they would have needed as they go on to win 12-3 and run the record to 9-5.
Other games yesterday...
BOS 9 NYY 15 F
CWS 3 BAL 1 F
DET 13 CLE 2 F
TEX 7 TOR 5 F 14
TB 5 MIN 6 F
KC 3 LAA 2 F
SEA 4 OAK 2 F
ARI 4 SF 1 F
HOU 2 PHI 1 F
Roy O finally gets it in gear and gets his first win of the season, can Ted Lilly do the same for the Cubbies today?
WSH 2 NYM 5 F
ATL 5 FLA 6 F
MIL 4 STL 5 F
COL 10 SD 2 F
PIT 1 LAD 8 F
As mentioned up in the scores section, Ted Lilly will be on the hill for the Cubs today, looking for his first strong start of the season. The Reds counter with the young star in the making Edinson Volquez who the Reds aquired from the Rangers for Josh Hamilton a deal that might actually work out well for both teams.
Enjoy the rest of today's games.
Cubbies bats awaken early even with Soriano placed on the DL. And despite the wind blowing out, Zambrano is masterful.
Through the first three innings, the meat of the Cubs order, batters 3-6 had this line.
5-6 1 HR, 2 2Bs, 5 RBI, 3 BB, HBP, 7 RS
That's what you like from the middle of your lineup.
The Cubs had 4 in the first, and really that is all that they would have needed as they go on to win 12-3 and run the record to 9-5.
Other games yesterday...
BOS 9 NYY 15 F
CWS 3 BAL 1 F
DET 13 CLE 2 F
TEX 7 TOR 5 F 14
TB 5 MIN 6 F
KC 3 LAA 2 F
SEA 4 OAK 2 F
ARI 4 SF 1 F
HOU 2 PHI 1 F
Roy O finally gets it in gear and gets his first win of the season, can Ted Lilly do the same for the Cubbies today?
WSH 2 NYM 5 F
ATL 5 FLA 6 F
MIL 4 STL 5 F
COL 10 SD 2 F
PIT 1 LAD 8 F
As mentioned up in the scores section, Ted Lilly will be on the hill for the Cubs today, looking for his first strong start of the season. The Reds counter with the young star in the making Edinson Volquez who the Reds aquired from the Rangers for Josh Hamilton a deal that might actually work out well for both teams.
Enjoy the rest of today's games.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The Post Where We Wore 42 Yesterday In Honor of Jackie Robinson
I really think more players should wear 42 when allowed, I know that I would.
Even if you didn't want to wear it for Jackie Robinson, wear it for good luck.
Yesterday Ken Griffey Jr wore it for the Reds and hit a two run homerun.
Derrek Lee also wore it and he hit a three run shot as well as made a spectacular run saving defensive play.
The Cubbies took advantage of the wind blowing out to beat their old boss 9-5 as Ryan Dempster got his second win of the season although he didn't look unhitable like he has earlier this season. Still this is what you like to see out of a starter when they don't have their best stuff, battling for that win.
Alfonso Soriano made a routine catch to end the first half of the first completing it with his customary hop, but after making the catch he couldn't put any weight on his right leg having injured his right calf. He is day to day.
Josh Fogg takes the hill for the Reds against Big Z for the Cubbies tonight. First pitch around 7:05pm CST.
Other games yesterday...
LAA 7 TEX 4 F
OAK 1 CWS 4 F
KC 6 SEA 11 F
BOS 5 CLE 3 F
MIN 5 DET 6 F
TOR 11 BAL 3 F
NYY 5 TB 3 F
ARI 8 SF 2 F
HOU 3 PHI 4 F
ATL 0 FLA 4 F
WSH 0 NYM 6 F
MIL 1 STL 6 F
COL 0 SD 6 F
PIT 2 LAD 11 F
Just as the Astros start to feel good about thier new starter Shawn Chacon and his eight scoreless innings against the Phillies, thier new closer Jose Valverde blows a 3-0 lead by giving up 4 runs in one third of an inning as the Phillies win 4-3.
Meanwhile, the Rangers blew an early lead and when they had a chance to cut into the deficit, they made a collosal running error. Down 7-4 with one out and Marlon Byrd on first, David Murphy hit what should have been a run scoring triple. Despite being waved around by the third base coach, Byrd stopped at third. Murphy was flying around 2nd almost to third when he realized that Byrd was still there. He stopped and tried to get back to second, but the ball beat him there. Instead of 7-5 with only one out and a runner at third, it was still 7-4 with a runner at third and 2 outs.
Bad baseball by Texas teams yesterday.
Here are today's games.
Even if you didn't want to wear it for Jackie Robinson, wear it for good luck.
Yesterday Ken Griffey Jr wore it for the Reds and hit a two run homerun.
Derrek Lee also wore it and he hit a three run shot as well as made a spectacular run saving defensive play.
The Cubbies took advantage of the wind blowing out to beat their old boss 9-5 as Ryan Dempster got his second win of the season although he didn't look unhitable like he has earlier this season. Still this is what you like to see out of a starter when they don't have their best stuff, battling for that win.
Alfonso Soriano made a routine catch to end the first half of the first completing it with his customary hop, but after making the catch he couldn't put any weight on his right leg having injured his right calf. He is day to day.
Josh Fogg takes the hill for the Reds against Big Z for the Cubbies tonight. First pitch around 7:05pm CST.
Other games yesterday...
LAA 7 TEX 4 F
OAK 1 CWS 4 F
KC 6 SEA 11 F
BOS 5 CLE 3 F
MIN 5 DET 6 F
TOR 11 BAL 3 F
NYY 5 TB 3 F
ARI 8 SF 2 F
HOU 3 PHI 4 F
ATL 0 FLA 4 F
WSH 0 NYM 6 F
MIL 1 STL 6 F
COL 0 SD 6 F
PIT 2 LAD 11 F
Just as the Astros start to feel good about thier new starter Shawn Chacon and his eight scoreless innings against the Phillies, thier new closer Jose Valverde blows a 3-0 lead by giving up 4 runs in one third of an inning as the Phillies win 4-3.
Meanwhile, the Rangers blew an early lead and when they had a chance to cut into the deficit, they made a collosal running error. Down 7-4 with one out and Marlon Byrd on first, David Murphy hit what should have been a run scoring triple. Despite being waved around by the third base coach, Byrd stopped at third. Murphy was flying around 2nd almost to third when he realized that Byrd was still there. He stopped and tried to get back to second, but the ball beat him there. Instead of 7-5 with only one out and a runner at third, it was still 7-4 with a runner at third and 2 outs.
Bad baseball by Texas teams yesterday.
Here are today's games.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Jersey Etiquette While at the Ballpark
I've been thinking about this recently, especially at the two games I've been to thus far this season. I think that there are unwritten rules about what is appropriate attire at baseball games. Unwritten rules that are routinely broken.
Maybe they're broken because they're unwritten.
So, I'm going to write them down.
These rules apply to anyone wearing baseball type things to a game, jerseys, team tee shirts, and caps mainly.
First and foremost, it should represent a team that is playing that day at that stadium.
You aren't at a Yankees game so don't wear your Yankees stuff.
When the Rangers are playing the Blue Jays, wear something for the Rangers or for the Blue Jays or don't wear baseball related attire at all.
Not that difficult.
I'm a huge Cubs fan. Probably 75% of my wardrobe is Cubs affiliated (the former statement is probably an exageration). But unless the Rangers are playing the Cubs, I don't wear my Cubs gear to the stadium.
Secondly, if you are wearing team appropriate attire, it is time to check if you team appropriate attire is player appropriate.
If the team apparel features a player that currently plays for another big league team, you shouldn't wear it.
Mark Teixeira is now a member of the Atlanta Braves, not the Texas Rangers. Don't wear his jersey or a tee shirt with his name and number on it.
The same goes for the Cubs fans I see in the stands wearing Mark Prior gear. I still love him too and hope that he recovers, but he's a Padre now. Not a Cub. I'm not wearing anything that is shared by the Padres. (That goes for Greg Maddox gear as well).
So what jerseys are appropriate?
Obviously anyone currently on the team is acceptable and indeed encouraged. As for players no longer on the team, retired players who played a majority of their career on your team are acceptable. Lets teach the kids about history. If you're at a Cubs game wearing a Ron Santo jersey, I'm very cool with that.
If the player is in the hall of fame and played for your team, then that jersey is also acceptable. Sure Fergie Jenkins is in the Hall of Fame as a Cub, but any Ranger fan who wears a Fergie Jenkins jersey is okay in my book. Sure, Nolan Ryan is in the Hall of Fame as a Ranger, but if I were an Astros fan (ooh, scary thought, breathe Josh Man, breathe, it's going to be okay, its only a hypothetical) I'd wear a Ryan jersey.
If the player isn't currently in the big leagues and played for your team, that's okay as well.
I, for one, don't mind seeing the Sosa shirts worn by Ranger fans. He's not playing for anyone else right now.
And I applaud the Rangers jersey with Julio Franco's name on the back. Even if he comes back for someone later this season, I think that one is still acceptable to wear. We'll call it the Over 50 Exception.
Put some thought into your jersey selection next time folks. Sure it sucks when we spend 100 dollars on a jersey only to have the player traded a month later, but that's the risk you take when you buy a jersey. It doesn't mean you can wear it again to a game.
Speaking of the game, some were played yesterday, lets look at the results.
BOS 6 CLE 4 F
MIN 9 DET 11 F
TOR 3 BAL 4 F
NYY 8 TB 7 F
LAA 7 TEX 4 F
OAK 2 CWS 1 F
KC 5 SEA 1 F
PIT 6 LAD 4 F
ARI 4 SF 5 F
Today the Cubs return to the Friendly Confines where they will take on their former manager Dusty Baker and his new team, the Cincinatti Reds. It's the first night game of the season at Wrigley, a 7:05pm CST start.
Aaron Harang starts for the Reds, Ryan Dempster looks to continue his red hot start to the season for the Cubs.
Here are all of today's games.
Maybe they're broken because they're unwritten.
So, I'm going to write them down.
These rules apply to anyone wearing baseball type things to a game, jerseys, team tee shirts, and caps mainly.
First and foremost, it should represent a team that is playing that day at that stadium.
You aren't at a Yankees game so don't wear your Yankees stuff.
When the Rangers are playing the Blue Jays, wear something for the Rangers or for the Blue Jays or don't wear baseball related attire at all.
Not that difficult.
I'm a huge Cubs fan. Probably 75% of my wardrobe is Cubs affiliated (the former statement is probably an exageration). But unless the Rangers are playing the Cubs, I don't wear my Cubs gear to the stadium.
Secondly, if you are wearing team appropriate attire, it is time to check if you team appropriate attire is player appropriate.
If the team apparel features a player that currently plays for another big league team, you shouldn't wear it.
Mark Teixeira is now a member of the Atlanta Braves, not the Texas Rangers. Don't wear his jersey or a tee shirt with his name and number on it.
The same goes for the Cubs fans I see in the stands wearing Mark Prior gear. I still love him too and hope that he recovers, but he's a Padre now. Not a Cub. I'm not wearing anything that is shared by the Padres. (That goes for Greg Maddox gear as well).
So what jerseys are appropriate?
Obviously anyone currently on the team is acceptable and indeed encouraged. As for players no longer on the team, retired players who played a majority of their career on your team are acceptable. Lets teach the kids about history. If you're at a Cubs game wearing a Ron Santo jersey, I'm very cool with that.
If the player is in the hall of fame and played for your team, then that jersey is also acceptable. Sure Fergie Jenkins is in the Hall of Fame as a Cub, but any Ranger fan who wears a Fergie Jenkins jersey is okay in my book. Sure, Nolan Ryan is in the Hall of Fame as a Ranger, but if I were an Astros fan (ooh, scary thought, breathe Josh Man, breathe, it's going to be okay, its only a hypothetical) I'd wear a Ryan jersey.
If the player isn't currently in the big leagues and played for your team, that's okay as well.
I, for one, don't mind seeing the Sosa shirts worn by Ranger fans. He's not playing for anyone else right now.
And I applaud the Rangers jersey with Julio Franco's name on the back. Even if he comes back for someone later this season, I think that one is still acceptable to wear. We'll call it the Over 50 Exception.
Put some thought into your jersey selection next time folks. Sure it sucks when we spend 100 dollars on a jersey only to have the player traded a month later, but that's the risk you take when you buy a jersey. It doesn't mean you can wear it again to a game.
Speaking of the game, some were played yesterday, lets look at the results.
BOS 6 CLE 4 F
MIN 9 DET 11 F
TOR 3 BAL 4 F
NYY 8 TB 7 F
LAA 7 TEX 4 F
OAK 2 CWS 1 F
KC 5 SEA 1 F
PIT 6 LAD 4 F
ARI 4 SF 5 F
Today the Cubs return to the Friendly Confines where they will take on their former manager Dusty Baker and his new team, the Cincinatti Reds. It's the first night game of the season at Wrigley, a 7:05pm CST start.
Aaron Harang starts for the Reds, Ryan Dempster looks to continue his red hot start to the season for the Cubs.
Here are all of today's games.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Phillies take the Series, but Cubs Avoid the Sweep (with some help from the Umps)
Game One-Friday
Cubs 3 Phillies 5
Zambrano got an early lead from back to back jacks by D Lee and A Ram, but didn't have his best stuff and let his emotions get away from him in the fourth.
A couple of near plays that should have gone the Cubs way ended up going the way of the Phillies and Carlos lost control of his emotion resulting in 5 runs in three innings and an end to the win streak.
Game Two-Saturday
Cubs 1 Phillies 7
For the third straight start, Lilly couldn't get out of the fifth. He gave up 5 runs in his 4 and 1/3 innings. Rich Hill was moved into the bullpen to try and "fix" his "problems", but right now, Lilly is struggling far more then Hill is.
Game Three-Sunday
Cubs 6 Phillies 5 (10)
In the 6th inning, the Cubs got a controversial homerun from Mark DeRosa. The umpire called the ball fair, replays seem to show that it was just foul.
The homer that might not have been gave the Cubs a 4-2 lead in the top of the 6th.
However, in the bottom of the 6th, the Phillies got 3 runs off of Michael Wuertz and the Phillies were in the lead by one.
Geo Soto got the Cubs back into it in the eighth with a check swing run scoring single.
With runners at first and second and one out in the 10th, the Cubs (out of bench players) pinch hit for Kerry Wood with Carlos Zambrano. He hit a ground ball that looked like it would be two to send the game to the bottom of the 10th still tied, but Utley's throw bounced and a hustling Zambrano was safe at first scoring Cedeno from second for a Cubs lead.
Howry came in a got the save, his first of the season.
Friday's Other Games
Saturday's Other Games
Yesterday's Other Games
LWIB
Well, if you watched Fox baseball or ESPN baseball this weekend, the only news worth talking about was the fact that the Red Sox and Yankees resumed their rivalry.
An interesting story coming out of that rivalry was the fact that a construction worker on the new Yankee Stadium who also is a Red Sox fan buried a David Ortiz jersey in the new stadium hoping to curse them. Yankee officals had it dug out of the concrete and are contemplating whether or not to press charges against the construction worker.
Ah, rivalries.
INTERESTING COMMENTARY
This one is thanks to Daddy Cleaver. Speaking of Red Sox/Yankees, the incomprable (when it comes to stating the obvious) Tim McCarver had this to say in Saturday's game on FOX Saturday Baseball...
Daddy Cleaver's response? "Ways? Let's see, there's, um, seeing it? And...um, well, peripheral vision is about all I can come up with."
Yes, in Tim McCarver's world, two things that are actually the same thing count as "ways". No word on whether he thinks about his family while on the road.
Thanks to Daddy Cleaver for giving us this instance of INTERESTING COMMENTARY as I was watching the Rangers make errors in route to a 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays. In case you were wondering, 3 of those four runs were unearned.
Cubs are off today, but here are the rest of today's games.
The standings after week two...
AL EAST W L GB
Baltimore 7 5 -
Toronto 7 5 -
Boston 7 6 .5
Tampa Bay 6 6 1.0
New York 6 7 1.5
AL CENTRAL W L GB
Chicago 7 4 -
Kansas City 7 5 .5
Minnisota 6 6 1.5
Cleveland 5 7 2.5
Detroit 2 10 5.5
AL WEST W L GB
Oakland 8 5 -
Los Angeles 7 6 1.0
Seattle 6 7 2.0
Texas 5 7 2.5
NL EAST W L GB
Florida 7 5 -
Philadelphia 6 7 1.5
New York 5 6 1.5
Atlanta 5 7 2.0
Washington 4 9 3.5
NL CENTRAL W L GB
St. Louis 9 4 -
Milwaulkee 8 4 .5
Chicago 7 5 1.5
Pittsburgh 6 6 2.5
Cincinatti 6 7 3.0
Houston 5 8 4.0
NL WEST W L GB
Arizona 9 3 -
San Diego 7 6 2.5
Colorado 5 7 4.0
Los Angeles 5 7 4.0
San Fran 5 8 4.5
Cubs 3 Phillies 5
Zambrano got an early lead from back to back jacks by D Lee and A Ram, but didn't have his best stuff and let his emotions get away from him in the fourth.
A couple of near plays that should have gone the Cubs way ended up going the way of the Phillies and Carlos lost control of his emotion resulting in 5 runs in three innings and an end to the win streak.
Game Two-Saturday
Cubs 1 Phillies 7
For the third straight start, Lilly couldn't get out of the fifth. He gave up 5 runs in his 4 and 1/3 innings. Rich Hill was moved into the bullpen to try and "fix" his "problems", but right now, Lilly is struggling far more then Hill is.
Game Three-Sunday
Cubs 6 Phillies 5 (10)
In the 6th inning, the Cubs got a controversial homerun from Mark DeRosa. The umpire called the ball fair, replays seem to show that it was just foul.
The homer that might not have been gave the Cubs a 4-2 lead in the top of the 6th.
However, in the bottom of the 6th, the Phillies got 3 runs off of Michael Wuertz and the Phillies were in the lead by one.
Geo Soto got the Cubs back into it in the eighth with a check swing run scoring single.
With runners at first and second and one out in the 10th, the Cubs (out of bench players) pinch hit for Kerry Wood with Carlos Zambrano. He hit a ground ball that looked like it would be two to send the game to the bottom of the 10th still tied, but Utley's throw bounced and a hustling Zambrano was safe at first scoring Cedeno from second for a Cubs lead.
Howry came in a got the save, his first of the season.
Friday's Other Games
Saturday's Other Games
Yesterday's Other Games
LWIB
Well, if you watched Fox baseball or ESPN baseball this weekend, the only news worth talking about was the fact that the Red Sox and Yankees resumed their rivalry.
An interesting story coming out of that rivalry was the fact that a construction worker on the new Yankee Stadium who also is a Red Sox fan buried a David Ortiz jersey in the new stadium hoping to curse them. Yankee officals had it dug out of the concrete and are contemplating whether or not to press charges against the construction worker.
Ah, rivalries.
INTERESTING COMMENTARY
This one is thanks to Daddy Cleaver. Speaking of Red Sox/Yankees, the incomprable (when it comes to stating the obvious) Tim McCarver had this to say in Saturday's game on FOX Saturday Baseball...
"Catchers bring that mitt up prematurely, and hitters have ways of finding that out."
Daddy Cleaver's response? "Ways? Let's see, there's, um, seeing it? And...um, well, peripheral vision is about all I can come up with."
Yes, in Tim McCarver's world, two things that are actually the same thing count as "ways". No word on whether he thinks about his family while on the road.
Thanks to Daddy Cleaver for giving us this instance of INTERESTING COMMENTARY as I was watching the Rangers make errors in route to a 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays. In case you were wondering, 3 of those four runs were unearned.
Cubs are off today, but here are the rest of today's games.
The standings after week two...
AL EAST W L GB
Baltimore 7 5 -
Toronto 7 5 -
Boston 7 6 .5
Tampa Bay 6 6 1.0
New York 6 7 1.5
AL CENTRAL W L GB
Chicago 7 4 -
Kansas City 7 5 .5
Minnisota 6 6 1.5
Cleveland 5 7 2.5
Detroit 2 10 5.5
AL WEST W L GB
Oakland 8 5 -
Los Angeles 7 6 1.0
Seattle 6 7 2.0
Texas 5 7 2.5
NL EAST W L GB
Florida 7 5 -
Philadelphia 6 7 1.5
New York 5 6 1.5
Atlanta 5 7 2.0
Washington 4 9 3.5
NL CENTRAL W L GB
St. Louis 9 4 -
Milwaulkee 8 4 .5
Chicago 7 5 1.5
Pittsburgh 6 6 2.5
Cincinatti 6 7 3.0
Houston 5 8 4.0
NL WEST W L GB
Arizona 9 3 -
San Diego 7 6 2.5
Colorado 5 7 4.0
Los Angeles 5 7 4.0
San Fran 5 8 4.5
Friday, April 11, 2008
Bring Out the Brooms, Cubs Sweep Bucs
Despite a poor start by Rich Hill, the Cubs took over the game late and won it thanks to a brilliant bullpen led by Jon Leiber who got his second well deserved win of the series. (Yeah, I'm kind of glad that he's coming out of the bullpen now, it's definately helped in two of the last three games.)
Despite scoring first for the fourth straight game, the Cubs also gave up that lead for the fourth straight game. The Cubs got a one run lead in the top of the first, but Rich Hill started poorly and gave the Bucs three runs right back in the bottom half of the inning.
Rich Hill struggled through the third, walking four and giving up the 3 runs in the first, but Jon Leiber came in in the fourth to bail him and the Cubs out. Leiber's 4 and 1/3 innings of shutout ball allowed the Cubs comeback, culminating in a 5 run 6th inning highlighted by two run homers by Geo Soto and Mike Fontenot.
Soto was definately the offensive star of the day, finishing a triple shy of the cycle and going 4-5 with two doubles and the homerun.
The Cubs first sweep of the season (and second straight series win) puts them at 6-3 for the season so far.
Up next is the Philadelphia Phillies. Carlos Zambrano will be taking the hill one day early as Jason Marquis has the flu. Brent Myers will go for the Phillies. First pitch scheduled for 6:05 CST.
In yesterday's other games...
SEA 0 TB 7 F
BAL 1 TEX 3 F Game 1
BAL 4 TEX 5 F Game 2
DET 6 BOS 12 F
OAK 3 TOR 2 F
NYY 6 KC 1 F
CIN 4 MIL 1 F
FLA 4 WSH 3 F
PHI 3 NYM 4 F
STL 1 SF 5 F
I wish I could have been at the Rangers double header, not only did they sweep it, but it was also Dollar Hot Dogs.
Mmmmm, dollar hot dogs.
Enjoy today's games.
Despite scoring first for the fourth straight game, the Cubs also gave up that lead for the fourth straight game. The Cubs got a one run lead in the top of the first, but Rich Hill started poorly and gave the Bucs three runs right back in the bottom half of the inning.
Rich Hill struggled through the third, walking four and giving up the 3 runs in the first, but Jon Leiber came in in the fourth to bail him and the Cubs out. Leiber's 4 and 1/3 innings of shutout ball allowed the Cubs comeback, culminating in a 5 run 6th inning highlighted by two run homers by Geo Soto and Mike Fontenot.
Soto was definately the offensive star of the day, finishing a triple shy of the cycle and going 4-5 with two doubles and the homerun.
The Cubs first sweep of the season (and second straight series win) puts them at 6-3 for the season so far.
Up next is the Philadelphia Phillies. Carlos Zambrano will be taking the hill one day early as Jason Marquis has the flu. Brent Myers will go for the Phillies. First pitch scheduled for 6:05 CST.
In yesterday's other games...
SEA 0 TB 7 F
BAL 1 TEX 3 F Game 1
BAL 4 TEX 5 F Game 2
DET 6 BOS 12 F
OAK 3 TOR 2 F
NYY 6 KC 1 F
CIN 4 MIL 1 F
FLA 4 WSH 3 F
PHI 3 NYM 4 F
STL 1 SF 5 F
I wish I could have been at the Rangers double header, not only did they sweep it, but it was also Dollar Hot Dogs.
Mmmmm, dollar hot dogs.
Enjoy today's games.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
15 Innings Later, the Cubs Win Their 4th Straight
Man, I'm getting too old for these stressful extra inning games. In the last two games, the Cubs have played 27 innings, that is normally 3 games worth of innings, but not for the Cubs and Pirates.
Ryan Dempster was pretty close to perfect yesterday, giving us 7 scoreless innings of one hit ball. He was pulled in the eighth for a pinch hitter while the Cubs had a 1-0 lead and the Cubs were able to add one more run to take a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth.
Carlos Marmol came in and gave up one, so the Cubs still had a 2-1 lead for K Dub (Kerry Wood) in the 9th looking for his 4th save in as many chances. In his first three saves, Wood had faced the minimum.
Unfortunately, this time, Jason Bay got one just over the fence to tie it all up.
In the 14th, A Ram (Aramis Ramirez, but you guys can't expect me to keep explaining nicknames all season) hit a 2 run shot to give the Cubbies a 4-2 lead.
Kevin Hart came into pitch the bottom of the 14th, but the Pirates got a two run shot themselves to tie it back up again.
Felix Pie came through in the top of the 15th with a two run single to give the Cubs a two run lead for the third time in the game.
Sean Marshall who had gotten called up from the minors earlier that day came in for the Cubbies and through a perfect bottom of the 15th for the Cubs 4th straight win.
I am willing to admit that there is a possibility that I was wrong saying that Leiber should have been in the rotation over Dempster as he gave his second strong start and probably should have been given the opportunity to finish the game, but hindsight, as they say, is 20-20.
The Cubbies go for the sweep today at 6:05pm CST available nationwide on the greatness that is WGN. Rich Hill pitches for the Cubs, Matt Morris goes for the Bucs.
In other games...
CLE 5 LAA 9 F
DET 7 BOS 2 F
We here at 100 Years Later would like to congratulate the Tigers on their first win of the season.
OAK 6 TOR 3 F
SEA 7 TB 1 F
NYY 0 KC 4 F
MIN 12 CWS 5 F
LAD 3 ARI 4 F
FLA 10 WSH 4 F
PHI 2 NYM 8 F
CIN 12 MIL 4 F
STL 6 HOU 4 F
ATL 6 COL 12 F
SD 0 SF 1 F
So, I just wanted to share the great line from SportsCenter during the Astros/Cards highlight, because it make me laugh.
Albert Pujols hit two homeruns in the game, including one in the 9th, the SportsCenter anchor then said, "Good to know that Brad Lidge's psyche not damaged in the making of this highlight."
Classic.
Enjoy today's games, including two at the Ballpark in Arlington. I love double headers.
Ryan Dempster was pretty close to perfect yesterday, giving us 7 scoreless innings of one hit ball. He was pulled in the eighth for a pinch hitter while the Cubs had a 1-0 lead and the Cubs were able to add one more run to take a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth.
Carlos Marmol came in and gave up one, so the Cubs still had a 2-1 lead for K Dub (Kerry Wood) in the 9th looking for his 4th save in as many chances. In his first three saves, Wood had faced the minimum.
Unfortunately, this time, Jason Bay got one just over the fence to tie it all up.
In the 14th, A Ram (Aramis Ramirez, but you guys can't expect me to keep explaining nicknames all season) hit a 2 run shot to give the Cubbies a 4-2 lead.
Kevin Hart came into pitch the bottom of the 14th, but the Pirates got a two run shot themselves to tie it back up again.
Felix Pie came through in the top of the 15th with a two run single to give the Cubs a two run lead for the third time in the game.
Sean Marshall who had gotten called up from the minors earlier that day came in for the Cubbies and through a perfect bottom of the 15th for the Cubs 4th straight win.
I am willing to admit that there is a possibility that I was wrong saying that Leiber should have been in the rotation over Dempster as he gave his second strong start and probably should have been given the opportunity to finish the game, but hindsight, as they say, is 20-20.
The Cubbies go for the sweep today at 6:05pm CST available nationwide on the greatness that is WGN. Rich Hill pitches for the Cubs, Matt Morris goes for the Bucs.
In other games...
CLE 5 LAA 9 F
DET 7 BOS 2 F
We here at 100 Years Later would like to congratulate the Tigers on their first win of the season.
OAK 6 TOR 3 F
SEA 7 TB 1 F
NYY 0 KC 4 F
MIN 12 CWS 5 F
LAD 3 ARI 4 F
FLA 10 WSH 4 F
PHI 2 NYM 8 F
CIN 12 MIL 4 F
STL 6 HOU 4 F
ATL 6 COL 12 F
SD 0 SF 1 F
So, I just wanted to share the great line from SportsCenter during the Astros/Cards highlight, because it make me laugh.
Albert Pujols hit two homeruns in the game, including one in the 9th, the SportsCenter anchor then said, "Good to know that Brad Lidge's psyche not damaged in the making of this highlight."
Classic.
Enjoy today's games, including two at the Ballpark in Arlington. I love double headers.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Rangers Have A Not So Happy Opening Day While Cubs Rest
The Rangers got beat 8-1 thanks in large part to Jason Jennings inablitity to throw strikes. It's hard to get people out if you don't throw strikes, and the Orioles took advantage of the poor Rangers pitching, while the Rangers rarely strung more then one hit together.
Other games yesterday...
DET 0 BOS 5 F
Didn't see this game (as I was at the Rangers game), but it would appear that Joe Morgan's prediction about the Road changing the Tiger's fortunes was a bit premature.
NYY 2 KC 5 F
OAK 9 TOR 8 F
SEA 6 TB 5 F
CLE 4 LAA 3 F
PHI 5 NYM 2 F
CIN 2 MIL 3 F
STL 5 HOU 3 F
ATL 3 COL 4 F
Something happened to MLB.com which is the site I get my wraps from normally, so the rest of today's games recaps will be brought to you by ESPN.com.
LAD 5 ARI 10 F
SD 2 SF 3 F 11
Today's game matches Ryan Dempster, in his second start since returning to the rotation from his closer role, for the Cubs against young left hander Zach Duke for Pittsburgh. The game starts at 6:05pm CST, that's right, the first Cubs night game of the season so far.
Here's today's games.
Other games yesterday...
DET 0 BOS 5 F
Didn't see this game (as I was at the Rangers game), but it would appear that Joe Morgan's prediction about the Road changing the Tiger's fortunes was a bit premature.
NYY 2 KC 5 F
OAK 9 TOR 8 F
SEA 6 TB 5 F
CLE 4 LAA 3 F
PHI 5 NYM 2 F
CIN 2 MIL 3 F
STL 5 HOU 3 F
ATL 3 COL 4 F
Something happened to MLB.com which is the site I get my wraps from normally, so the rest of today's games recaps will be brought to you by ESPN.com.
LAD 5 ARI 10 F
SD 2 SF 3 F 11
Today's game matches Ryan Dempster, in his second start since returning to the rotation from his closer role, for the Cubs against young left hander Zach Duke for Pittsburgh. The game starts at 6:05pm CST, that's right, the first Cubs night game of the season so far.
Here's today's games.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
After the Cursing Subsided, Cubs Pull It Out
Let's just say I wasn't thrilled with the way a lot of the game went yesterday.
The 7-0 early lead was great.
The 3 scoreless innings in relief by Jon Leiber in route to the win were a welcome sight.
The 2 runs in the top of the 12th were nice, as was the three outs in four batters by Carlos Marmol in the bottom of the 12th to secure his first save of the season.
The rest of the game, not so pretty.
It is never a good thing to blow a 7-0 lead, even if you end up with a 10-8 win in the 12th.
That may be true, Sweet Lou, but if you have a 7-0 lead, I'd rather win one without having to use everyone on the team but the backup catcher and the one pitcher you said you wouldn't use no matter what.
That being said, the Cubs did pull it out for their 3rd consecutive win and get a much needed day off to rest everyone after the 12 inning, 4 and a half+ hour game.
Other games yesterday,
SEA 4 BAL 5 F
MIN 4 CWS 7 F
TB 1 NYY 6 F
CLE 4 LAA 6 F
PHI 5 CIN 3 F
SD 8 SF 4 F
STL 3 HOU 5 F
FLA 10 WSH 7 F
ATL 1 COL 2 F
LAD 3 ARI 9 F
Today, I'll be out at the Ballpark in Arlington for the Texas Rangers Opening Day against the Baltimore Orioles. Former Astro (although not for very long) and Dallas native Jason Jennings is on the hill for the Rangers, Brian Burres is going for the O's.
My first live baseball of the season, exciting!
Enjoy today's games, and give a click to the arrow pointing towards Sweet Lou's bobble-headed neck for Today's Daily Affirmation!
The 7-0 early lead was great.
The 3 scoreless innings in relief by Jon Leiber in route to the win were a welcome sight.
The 2 runs in the top of the 12th were nice, as was the three outs in four batters by Carlos Marmol in the bottom of the 12th to secure his first save of the season.
The rest of the game, not so pretty.
It is never a good thing to blow a 7-0 lead, even if you end up with a 10-8 win in the 12th.
"I'd rather win an ugly game then lose a pretty one."
-Lou Pinella
That may be true, Sweet Lou, but if you have a 7-0 lead, I'd rather win one without having to use everyone on the team but the backup catcher and the one pitcher you said you wouldn't use no matter what.
That being said, the Cubs did pull it out for their 3rd consecutive win and get a much needed day off to rest everyone after the 12 inning, 4 and a half+ hour game.
Other games yesterday,
SEA 4 BAL 5 F
MIN 4 CWS 7 F
TB 1 NYY 6 F
CLE 4 LAA 6 F
PHI 5 CIN 3 F
SD 8 SF 4 F
STL 3 HOU 5 F
FLA 10 WSH 7 F
ATL 1 COL 2 F
LAD 3 ARI 9 F
Today, I'll be out at the Ballpark in Arlington for the Texas Rangers Opening Day against the Baltimore Orioles. Former Astro (although not for very long) and Dallas native Jason Jennings is on the hill for the Rangers, Brian Burres is going for the O's.
My first live baseball of the season, exciting!
Enjoy today's games, and give a click to the arrow pointing towards Sweet Lou's bobble-headed neck for Today's Daily Affirmation!
Monday, April 7, 2008
A Winning Streak and Joe Morgan Opened His Mouth
That's right, the Cubbies won two in a row (as well as 3 out of 4) and took their first series of the season.
Big Z was on again, this time staying through 7 innings and earning his first win of the season. Apparently the bannanas worked as there was no cramping his style this time around.
(100 Years Later would like to appologize for Josh Man's horrible use of a pun in that last sentence. He has been warned not to do so again.)
Alfonso Soriano, who has been struggling mightily at the plate thus far made an amazing play in the outfield in the first keeping the Astros from scoring.
After Bourne led the game off with a single and Hunter Pence followed with a double, at least one run seemed inevitable. With runners at second and third with no one out, Zambrano dug down deep and forced Erstad to strike out. Carlos Lee stepped up to the plate and hit a fly ball to left.
Soriano got himself in a perfect position in order to catch the ball and then fire it home in one smooth powerful motion. The throw was perfect and Bourne was out at home for an inning ending double play.
Soriano also homered later in the game hopefully a sign that his bat will soon awaken.
D Lee was on fire again, this time 3-4 with another homerun. His only out was a fly ball at the wall in the deepest part of the ballpark.
K Dub (aka Kerry Wood) got his third save in as many opportunities with a three up three down ninth despite facing the 3-5 batters in Houston's lineup.
Today, the Cubs head out on the road for the first time this season as a battle of lefties takes place at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Ted Lilly will take the hill for the Cubs, Tom Gorzelanny goes for the Bucs.
The game starts at 12:35 CST and will be on WGN.
Other games I watched in part yesterday...
TEX 10 LAA 4 F
The Rangers got their first series win of the season yesterday as well, and are a team that will suprise a lot of people if their pitching staff continues to excell like they have so far this season.
CWS 13 DET 2 F
I'll have a lot more on this game in our INTERESTING COMMENTARY section further down.
Other games yesterday...
TB 0 NYY 2 F
BOS 4 TOR 7 F
SEA 2 BAL 3 F
KC 3 MIN 1 F
CLE 2 OAK 1 F
PIT 9 FLA 2 F
PHI 2 CIN 8 F
NYM 1 ATL 3 F
SF 0 MIL 7 F
WSH 0 STL 3 F
ARI 5 COL 2 F 10
LAD 3 SD 2 F
Before we get onto INTERESTING COMMENTARY (patience young jedi) here are the Standings after week one.
AL EAST W L GB
Balt 4 1 -
Tor 4 2 .5
TB 3 2 1.0
NYY 3 3 1.5
Bos 3 4 2.0
AL CENTRAL W L GB
CWS 4 2 -
KC 4 2 -
Cle 3 3 1.0
Min 3 4 1.5
Det 0 6 4.0
AL WEST W L GB
LAA 4 3 -
Tex 3 3 .5
Oak 3 4 1.0
Sea 2 4 1.5
NL EAST W L GB
Atl 3 3 -
Fla 3 3 -
Wsh 3 4 .5
NYM 2 3 .5
Phi 2 4 1.0
NL CENTRAL W L GB
Mil 5 1 -
StL 5 1 -
Cin 4 2 1.0
ChC 3 3 2.0
Pit 3 3 2.0
Hou 2 5 3.5
NL WEST W L GB
Ari 4 2 -
LAD 4 2 -
SD 4 3 .5
Col 1 5 3.0
SF 1 5 3.0
INTERESTING COMMENTARY
In honor of the great website/blog Fire Joe Morgan, I'm going to go do a little FJM on a couple of the things Joe Morgan said last night in the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast of the White Sox v Tiger game.
First, the first quote in full....
Now, FJM style...
I played on teams where, you know, you're at home
Really, you played on teams that had home games. Man, Joe, you bring so much to a broadcast. Thank you for that.
The fans expect so much
Fans are demanding. They want you to earn the multi millions you're making by, I don't know, trying.
and even a little booing we heard yesterday
If you're worried about booing, don't go on the road, because if you think that home fans can boo, wait till you get around the fans that DON'T like you. But it's not like you were going to say something stupid like the road will be better, right?
and I mean, uh, getting on the road
Oh, crap, that's exactly what you were about to do.
sometimes will relax you let you concentrate strictly on baseball
As opposed to when you're at home and you're thinking about what comes on Skinamax later that night or what you're having for dinner. Because everyone knows professional baseball players aren't concentrating on baseball when they're at home. Hopefully everyone knows sarcasam when they read it too.
No family issues, nothing
Hey, Joe Morgan's family, did you know that when he's on the road he doesn't think about you at all? Out of sight, out of mind, baby. That's the Joe Morgan philosophy.
And all the sudden you'd be surprised how well guys start to play
They're going to have to be awfully amazing to surprise me with how well they start to play when they've got an amazing team that has underperformed so far. I'm surprised with how poorly they've played. If they play well, like they're expected to, it isn't called "surprise" it's called "meeting expectations".
Quote Number Two in full....
Now, FJM style...
There's an old saying in baseball
Ohh, let me guess, let me guess, um, "Baseball is the only thing you can succeed at only 30% of the time and be considered a Hall of Famer?", um "Good pitching will always beat good hitting?", um, "Everybody wins 50 games and loses 50 games, it's what you do with the other 62 that matter?", um, there's a million of these...
When you're losing you're never as bad as you look, when you're playing well you're not as good as you look
And I have never in my life heard that one.
Right now it just looks bad for the Tigers, but that's because they're losing.
I honestly don't even know what to say to that. This is supposed to be helpful commentary? Really?
In the inning when he made that quote, the Tigers made an error allowing the first guy to get on base, then gave up a couple of hits to load the bases. The tigers then hit a guy to let in a run, gave up a passed ball, had a chance to get a double play, but screwed it up resulting in everyone being safe. I think that maybe the Tigers are losing because they're playing bad, not looking bad because they're losing.
But that's just me.
Well, the Tigers can't lose today, they have a day off.
Here are today's games.
Big Z was on again, this time staying through 7 innings and earning his first win of the season. Apparently the bannanas worked as there was no cramping his style this time around.
(100 Years Later would like to appologize for Josh Man's horrible use of a pun in that last sentence. He has been warned not to do so again.)
Alfonso Soriano, who has been struggling mightily at the plate thus far made an amazing play in the outfield in the first keeping the Astros from scoring.
After Bourne led the game off with a single and Hunter Pence followed with a double, at least one run seemed inevitable. With runners at second and third with no one out, Zambrano dug down deep and forced Erstad to strike out. Carlos Lee stepped up to the plate and hit a fly ball to left.
Soriano got himself in a perfect position in order to catch the ball and then fire it home in one smooth powerful motion. The throw was perfect and Bourne was out at home for an inning ending double play.
Soriano also homered later in the game hopefully a sign that his bat will soon awaken.
D Lee was on fire again, this time 3-4 with another homerun. His only out was a fly ball at the wall in the deepest part of the ballpark.
K Dub (aka Kerry Wood) got his third save in as many opportunities with a three up three down ninth despite facing the 3-5 batters in Houston's lineup.
Today, the Cubs head out on the road for the first time this season as a battle of lefties takes place at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Ted Lilly will take the hill for the Cubs, Tom Gorzelanny goes for the Bucs.
The game starts at 12:35 CST and will be on WGN.
Other games I watched in part yesterday...
TEX 10 LAA 4 F
The Rangers got their first series win of the season yesterday as well, and are a team that will suprise a lot of people if their pitching staff continues to excell like they have so far this season.
CWS 13 DET 2 F
I'll have a lot more on this game in our INTERESTING COMMENTARY section further down.
Other games yesterday...
TB 0 NYY 2 F
BOS 4 TOR 7 F
SEA 2 BAL 3 F
KC 3 MIN 1 F
CLE 2 OAK 1 F
PIT 9 FLA 2 F
PHI 2 CIN 8 F
NYM 1 ATL 3 F
SF 0 MIL 7 F
WSH 0 STL 3 F
ARI 5 COL 2 F 10
LAD 3 SD 2 F
Before we get onto INTERESTING COMMENTARY (patience young jedi) here are the Standings after week one.
AL EAST W L GB
Balt 4 1 -
Tor 4 2 .5
TB 3 2 1.0
NYY 3 3 1.5
Bos 3 4 2.0
AL CENTRAL W L GB
CWS 4 2 -
KC 4 2 -
Cle 3 3 1.0
Min 3 4 1.5
Det 0 6 4.0
AL WEST W L GB
LAA 4 3 -
Tex 3 3 .5
Oak 3 4 1.0
Sea 2 4 1.5
NL EAST W L GB
Atl 3 3 -
Fla 3 3 -
Wsh 3 4 .5
NYM 2 3 .5
Phi 2 4 1.0
NL CENTRAL W L GB
Mil 5 1 -
StL 5 1 -
Cin 4 2 1.0
ChC 3 3 2.0
Pit 3 3 2.0
Hou 2 5 3.5
NL WEST W L GB
Ari 4 2 -
LAD 4 2 -
SD 4 3 .5
Col 1 5 3.0
SF 1 5 3.0
INTERESTING COMMENTARY
In honor of the great website/blog Fire Joe Morgan, I'm going to go do a little FJM on a couple of the things Joe Morgan said last night in the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast of the White Sox v Tiger game.
First, the first quote in full....
"I played on teams where, you know, you're at home, the fans expect so much and even a little booing we heard yesterday and, I mean, uh, getting on the road sometimes will just relax you, let you concentrate strictly on baseball, no family issues, nothing, and all the sudden you'd be surprised how well guys start to play."
Now, FJM style...
I played on teams where, you know, you're at home
Really, you played on teams that had home games. Man, Joe, you bring so much to a broadcast. Thank you for that.
The fans expect so much
Fans are demanding. They want you to earn the multi millions you're making by, I don't know, trying.
and even a little booing we heard yesterday
If you're worried about booing, don't go on the road, because if you think that home fans can boo, wait till you get around the fans that DON'T like you. But it's not like you were going to say something stupid like the road will be better, right?
and I mean, uh, getting on the road
Oh, crap, that's exactly what you were about to do.
sometimes will relax you let you concentrate strictly on baseball
As opposed to when you're at home and you're thinking about what comes on Skinamax later that night or what you're having for dinner. Because everyone knows professional baseball players aren't concentrating on baseball when they're at home. Hopefully everyone knows sarcasam when they read it too.
No family issues, nothing
Hey, Joe Morgan's family, did you know that when he's on the road he doesn't think about you at all? Out of sight, out of mind, baby. That's the Joe Morgan philosophy.
And all the sudden you'd be surprised how well guys start to play
They're going to have to be awfully amazing to surprise me with how well they start to play when they've got an amazing team that has underperformed so far. I'm surprised with how poorly they've played. If they play well, like they're expected to, it isn't called "surprise" it's called "meeting expectations".
Quote Number Two in full....
"There's an old saying in baseball, when your game, ga, uh, when you're losing you're never as bad as you look, when you're playing well, you're not as good as you look, and right now, it just looks bad for the Tigers, but that's because they're losing."
Now, FJM style...
There's an old saying in baseball
Ohh, let me guess, let me guess, um, "Baseball is the only thing you can succeed at only 30% of the time and be considered a Hall of Famer?", um "Good pitching will always beat good hitting?", um, "Everybody wins 50 games and loses 50 games, it's what you do with the other 62 that matter?", um, there's a million of these...
When you're losing you're never as bad as you look, when you're playing well you're not as good as you look
And I have never in my life heard that one.
Right now it just looks bad for the Tigers, but that's because they're losing.
I honestly don't even know what to say to that. This is supposed to be helpful commentary? Really?
In the inning when he made that quote, the Tigers made an error allowing the first guy to get on base, then gave up a couple of hits to load the bases. The tigers then hit a guy to let in a run, gave up a passed ball, had a chance to get a double play, but screwed it up resulting in everyone being safe. I think that maybe the Tigers are losing because they're playing bad, not looking bad because they're losing.
But that's just me.
Well, the Tigers can't lose today, they have a day off.
Here are today's games.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
LWIB and An Offensive Outburst.... Finally
LAST WEEK IN BASEBALL
In this segment each week, I'll highlight the biggest story of the previous week.
In Opening Week, the obvious choice for biggest story is the slow (and I mean SLOW) start of the Detroit Tigers who have yet to win a game so far tuis season.
A lot has been made of their offense coming into this season, and on paper it is certainly fomidable. It has yet to make itself known as of yet, however. The pitching was supposed to be the question for this team, so people are getting a little worried due to the slow start the offense has gotten off to.
In my opinion, this lineup will produce (even with the injuries they've suffered early). Offense often starts out slower at the beginning of the season, partly because of the colder weather prevelant in many ballparks this time of year.
It's only one week, Tiger fans, no need to step off of the ledge yet.
YESTERDAY'S CUBS GAME
HOU 7 CHC 9 F
The Cubs offense woke up finally, culminating in a 5 run 7th inning that helped knock out Roy O and gave him his second loss in as many games.
Kosuke Fukudome continued his blazing start and Derrek Lee went 4-4.
Kerry Wood got his second save in as many opportunities.
This game also gives us our second INTERESTING COMMENTARY entry from Astros color man Jim Deshais.
Normally I would let something like this slide, but only if you recognize your mistake immediately and correct it. The Astros broadcasters continued as if nothing odd had happened. A player batting 2.000 should cause some follow up one would think, considering that IT IS IMPOSSIBLE! Just saying.
Yesterday's Other Games...
TB 6 NYY 3 F
BOS 2 TOR 10 F
KC 4 MIN 6 F
CWS 5 DET 3 F
CLE 1 OAK 6 F
SEA 4 BAL 6 F
TEX 1 LAA 2 F
SF 4 MIL 5 F
PHI 3 CIN 4 F
WSH 4 STL 5 F
LAD 1 SD 4 F
NYM 5 ATL 11 F
PIT 3 FLA 7 F
ARI 7 COL 2 F
Today's Games Already in Progress
Cubs give Carlos Zambrano his second start he'll be going against Brandon Backe who came back at the end of last season from Tommy John surgery and is now the Astros second starter.
Enjoy your games.
In this segment each week, I'll highlight the biggest story of the previous week.
In Opening Week, the obvious choice for biggest story is the slow (and I mean SLOW) start of the Detroit Tigers who have yet to win a game so far tuis season.
A lot has been made of their offense coming into this season, and on paper it is certainly fomidable. It has yet to make itself known as of yet, however. The pitching was supposed to be the question for this team, so people are getting a little worried due to the slow start the offense has gotten off to.
In my opinion, this lineup will produce (even with the injuries they've suffered early). Offense often starts out slower at the beginning of the season, partly because of the colder weather prevelant in many ballparks this time of year.
It's only one week, Tiger fans, no need to step off of the ledge yet.
YESTERDAY'S CUBS GAME
HOU 7 CHC 9 F
The Cubs offense woke up finally, culminating in a 5 run 7th inning that helped knock out Roy O and gave him his second loss in as many games.
Kosuke Fukudome continued his blazing start and Derrek Lee went 4-4.
Kerry Wood got his second save in as many opportunities.
This game also gives us our second INTERESTING COMMENTARY entry from Astros color man Jim Deshais.
"With that hit, Reed Johnson is now batting 2.000."
Normally I would let something like this slide, but only if you recognize your mistake immediately and correct it. The Astros broadcasters continued as if nothing odd had happened. A player batting 2.000 should cause some follow up one would think, considering that IT IS IMPOSSIBLE! Just saying.
Yesterday's Other Games...
TB 6 NYY 3 F
BOS 2 TOR 10 F
KC 4 MIN 6 F
CWS 5 DET 3 F
CLE 1 OAK 6 F
SEA 4 BAL 6 F
TEX 1 LAA 2 F
SF 4 MIL 5 F
PHI 3 CIN 4 F
WSH 4 STL 5 F
LAD 1 SD 4 F
NYM 5 ATL 11 F
PIT 3 FLA 7 F
ARI 7 COL 2 F
Today's Games Already in Progress
Cubs give Carlos Zambrano his second start he'll be going against Brandon Backe who came back at the end of last season from Tommy John surgery and is now the Astros second starter.
Enjoy your games.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Cubs Defense Gives One Away
Some ugly play late led to an Astros win in the first matchup between these rivals (more so to me because I'm surrounded by Astros fans, luckily the real ones, not the normal ones who are the biggest fairweather fans in all of sports, although I spent a few years surrounding by that kind as well).
Rich Hill pitched well for the Cubs, as he so often does. Every year he gets better and better.
The Astros had a good young pitcher going as well, Chris Sampson, who always looks amazing when he faces us, yesterday was no exception.
It wasn't until the seventh that the Cubs could get anything against him, but a nice little rally and a two out single by Geovony Soto tied things up at 2.
Jon Leiber came into the eight inning and promptly caused a ground ball to Mark DeRosa that should have been out one. Instead, Berkman was safe at first on the error.
The next ball was a grounder down the third base line just barely fair. A double at worst until Soriano misjudged it's direction badly and it bounded off of the wall past the Cubs bullpen and into left field behind Alfonso. A double turned into a triple and Berkman scored.
A sac fly brought in Tejada and the Astros got both their runs right back due to bad defense.
DeRosa tried to make up for his error with a homer in the ninth, but it was too little too late as the Astros held on for a 4-3 win.
They face off today at 12:05pm CST.
The only other game I watched in part yesterday was Rangers verse Angels.
TEX 11 LAA 6 F
Question, when is getting 6 runs in the bottom of the ninth not enough?
Answer, when you are losing 11-0.
The Angels comeback attempts, while valient, fell well short in a game where Ben Broussard tried to prove me wrong by hitting a grand slam. Keep it coming Broussard, I still think Salty should be playing first.
Yesterday's other games...
CWS 8 DET 5 F
SEA 4 BAL 7 F
TB 13 NYY 4 F
BOS 3 TOR 6 F
KC 3 MIN 4 F
CLE 3 OAK 6 F
SF 4 MIL 13 F
ARI 8 COL 1 F
PHI 8 CIN 4 F
PIT 4 FLA 5 F
WSH 4 STL 5 F
LAD 7 SD 1 F
Today is the season premiere of TWIB aka This Week In Baseball.
Tomorrow will be the blog premiere of LWIB aka Last Week In Baseball wherein I will look at the results of last weeks games and give my thoughts. We're still efforting Jennie Finch.
In the meantime, enjoy Today's Games.
Rich Hill pitched well for the Cubs, as he so often does. Every year he gets better and better.
The Astros had a good young pitcher going as well, Chris Sampson, who always looks amazing when he faces us, yesterday was no exception.
It wasn't until the seventh that the Cubs could get anything against him, but a nice little rally and a two out single by Geovony Soto tied things up at 2.
Jon Leiber came into the eight inning and promptly caused a ground ball to Mark DeRosa that should have been out one. Instead, Berkman was safe at first on the error.
The next ball was a grounder down the third base line just barely fair. A double at worst until Soriano misjudged it's direction badly and it bounded off of the wall past the Cubs bullpen and into left field behind Alfonso. A double turned into a triple and Berkman scored.
A sac fly brought in Tejada and the Astros got both their runs right back due to bad defense.
DeRosa tried to make up for his error with a homer in the ninth, but it was too little too late as the Astros held on for a 4-3 win.
They face off today at 12:05pm CST.
The only other game I watched in part yesterday was Rangers verse Angels.
TEX 11 LAA 6 F
Question, when is getting 6 runs in the bottom of the ninth not enough?
Answer, when you are losing 11-0.
The Angels comeback attempts, while valient, fell well short in a game where Ben Broussard tried to prove me wrong by hitting a grand slam. Keep it coming Broussard, I still think Salty should be playing first.
Yesterday's other games...
CWS 8 DET 5 F
SEA 4 BAL 7 F
TB 13 NYY 4 F
BOS 3 TOR 6 F
KC 3 MIN 4 F
CLE 3 OAK 6 F
SF 4 MIL 13 F
ARI 8 COL 1 F
PHI 8 CIN 4 F
PIT 4 FLA 5 F
WSH 4 STL 5 F
LAD 7 SD 1 F
Today is the season premiere of TWIB aka This Week In Baseball.
Tomorrow will be the blog premiere of LWIB aka Last Week In Baseball wherein I will look at the results of last weeks games and give my thoughts. We're still efforting Jennie Finch.
In the meantime, enjoy Today's Games.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Cubs Win, Cubs Win, Cubs Win!
The Cubs found the win column yesterday, although it started pretty scary. The first two Milwalkee batters reached and found their way to second and third with no one out. Dempster in his first start since early 2005 found himself in trouble right off of the bat. He got a fly ball from Fielder to Kosuke, and I thought we were going to get to see his amazing arm.
He got the ball in quickly, but not quickly enough as right before the ball reached Soto (the catcher) Richie Weeks slammed into him, taking him to the ground. The ball went right through the spot that Soto had just been inhabiting and Weeks scored. As the ball was bounding around behind home plate, Tony Gwinn Jr. came around to score as well.
It was a clean play, just good baseball, but I don't like how Kosuke got charged with an error. His throw was perfect and if Soto didn't get taken down like a practice dummy at a self defense class, Weeks would have been out.
Oh well, it turned out not to matter as the Cubs found their bats thanks in part to a flip at the top of the lineup. Soriano moved back into the one hole, Theriot (or The Riot) moved back into the two spot and both got their first productive days at the plate.
Dempster (that first inning notwithstanding) was very good, and Kerry Wood notched his first career save. There will be many more where that came from K Dub.
A great game, but we can't dwell on it too long, cause the Astros are coming to town.
Once again a 1:20pm start at Wrigley which you can watch in Texas on Fox Sports Houston (probably in your sports Alternate channels if you're in the Metroplex) or in Chicago on Comcast, or on MLB.TV (as always).
Other games I watched in part yesterday...
WAS 7 PHI 8 F 10
Washington started out looking to stay undefeated by scoring 5 runs in the first. Unfortunatly they gave up 6 runs in the sixth. The team that had been getting the walk off runs lost on a walk with the basesloaded. A walk walk off, if you will.
HOU 2 SD 3 F
Shawn Chacon pitched far better then I thought he would and might have gotten the win if there had been any offense, but apparently the Stros used it all up yesterday. Trevor Hoffman makes up for the blown save yesterday by putting the Astros away in order in the 9th for his second save on the season.
Other games yesterday...
CWS 2 CLE 1 F
KC 4 DET 1 F
LAA 5 MIN 4 F
TOR 2 NYY 3 F
ARI 2 CIN 3 F
COL 0 STL 3 F
PIT 4 ATL 3 F
Today's Games
Okay, a story that's been circulating lately that we should probably talk about,
Moises Alou says, "I wouldn't have caught it anyway."
Does this mean all should be forgiven?
Look, I've always said that it wasn't fully the fault of The Fan Who Shall Not Be Named. If Alex Gonzales (whose name we will mention and then boo loudly at) makes the next play, all is forgotten and forgiven. No big deal.
But that didn't happen, and it is partly because of the play that Moises didn't make.
If everyone gets out of the way and Alou doesn't catch the ball, then it's not a big deal. Foul balls go into the stands and aren't caught by the fielders all of the time.
However, it looked like Alou was going to make this play (or at least might) and then a fan grabs it and erases any chance for Alou to make the play.
Whether or not Alou could have made the catch isn't really what is at issue. The issue is how the team and that entire stadium reacted after he didn't.
A sense of inevitability was felt throughout the stadium, only something completely unforeseen could derail the Cubbies now.
Then that play happened and every player and everybody in that stadium began to feel doubt. Alou was going to catch that and a fan, one of OUR fans got in his way. This can't be good.
If everyone gets out of the way and Alou doesn't catch it, it's routine and everyone goes back to their spots not giving the near catch in the stands another thought. Alex Gonzales makes the next play for a double play and the innings over. The Cubbies have a 3 run lead and only need 3 outs to face the Yankees in the World Series.
Of course, Alex Gonzales (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) should have made the next play regardless, and he's the real enemy in my opinion, but we can't just forget the part played by The Fan Who Shall Not Be Named just because Alou says five years later he wouldn't have caught it.
If he felt that way he should have made it clear immediately instead of reacting how he did, because it certainly seemed to everyone on that field, in that stadium, and everyone watching on television that he would have made that catch, and certainly that he believed he would have made that catch.
Oh well, let's forget about it for now and get ready to enjoy some baseball today rather then think about baseball 5 years ago.
He got the ball in quickly, but not quickly enough as right before the ball reached Soto (the catcher) Richie Weeks slammed into him, taking him to the ground. The ball went right through the spot that Soto had just been inhabiting and Weeks scored. As the ball was bounding around behind home plate, Tony Gwinn Jr. came around to score as well.
It was a clean play, just good baseball, but I don't like how Kosuke got charged with an error. His throw was perfect and if Soto didn't get taken down like a practice dummy at a self defense class, Weeks would have been out.
Oh well, it turned out not to matter as the Cubs found their bats thanks in part to a flip at the top of the lineup. Soriano moved back into the one hole, Theriot (or The Riot) moved back into the two spot and both got their first productive days at the plate.
Dempster (that first inning notwithstanding) was very good, and Kerry Wood notched his first career save. There will be many more where that came from K Dub.
A great game, but we can't dwell on it too long, cause the Astros are coming to town.
Once again a 1:20pm start at Wrigley which you can watch in Texas on Fox Sports Houston (probably in your sports Alternate channels if you're in the Metroplex) or in Chicago on Comcast, or on MLB.TV (as always).
Other games I watched in part yesterday...
WAS 7 PHI 8 F 10
Washington started out looking to stay undefeated by scoring 5 runs in the first. Unfortunatly they gave up 6 runs in the sixth. The team that had been getting the walk off runs lost on a walk with the basesloaded. A walk walk off, if you will.
HOU 2 SD 3 F
Shawn Chacon pitched far better then I thought he would and might have gotten the win if there had been any offense, but apparently the Stros used it all up yesterday. Trevor Hoffman makes up for the blown save yesterday by putting the Astros away in order in the 9th for his second save on the season.
Other games yesterday...
CWS 2 CLE 1 F
KC 4 DET 1 F
LAA 5 MIN 4 F
TOR 2 NYY 3 F
ARI 2 CIN 3 F
COL 0 STL 3 F
PIT 4 ATL 3 F
Today's Games
Okay, a story that's been circulating lately that we should probably talk about,
Moises Alou says, "I wouldn't have caught it anyway."
Does this mean all should be forgiven?
Look, I've always said that it wasn't fully the fault of The Fan Who Shall Not Be Named. If Alex Gonzales (whose name we will mention and then boo loudly at) makes the next play, all is forgotten and forgiven. No big deal.
But that didn't happen, and it is partly because of the play that Moises didn't make.
If everyone gets out of the way and Alou doesn't catch the ball, then it's not a big deal. Foul balls go into the stands and aren't caught by the fielders all of the time.
However, it looked like Alou was going to make this play (or at least might) and then a fan grabs it and erases any chance for Alou to make the play.
Whether or not Alou could have made the catch isn't really what is at issue. The issue is how the team and that entire stadium reacted after he didn't.
A sense of inevitability was felt throughout the stadium, only something completely unforeseen could derail the Cubbies now.
Then that play happened and every player and everybody in that stadium began to feel doubt. Alou was going to catch that and a fan, one of OUR fans got in his way. This can't be good.
If everyone gets out of the way and Alou doesn't catch it, it's routine and everyone goes back to their spots not giving the near catch in the stands another thought. Alex Gonzales makes the next play for a double play and the innings over. The Cubbies have a 3 run lead and only need 3 outs to face the Yankees in the World Series.
Of course, Alex Gonzales (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) should have made the next play regardless, and he's the real enemy in my opinion, but we can't just forget the part played by The Fan Who Shall Not Be Named just because Alou says five years later he wouldn't have caught it.
If he felt that way he should have made it clear immediately instead of reacting how he did, because it certainly seemed to everyone on that field, in that stadium, and everyone watching on television that he would have made that catch, and certainly that he believed he would have made that catch.
Oh well, let's forget about it for now and get ready to enjoy some baseball today rather then think about baseball 5 years ago.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
What an Ugly Day, Good Thing it's a Long Season
Sports Center is showing all of the poor play again. It's just as ugly the next morning.
It is currently dark, dreary, raining, and very high winds outside. The weather is prettier then the Cubbies played yesterday.
Everyone has an occasional bad day (although you'd prefer it not be the whole team on the same day). It's still early and everything will be fine so long as the sloppy play doesn't become a habit.
So long as the Cubs think before they act, things should be fine. They have too much talent to play like they did yesterday too often.
Looking forward to today, the Cubbies return to WGN with a 1:20pm CST start.
Ryan Dempster, the Cubs closer for the last couple of seasons, returns to the starting rotation, so that should be interesting to watch.
Dave Bush starts for the Brewers. If you're a Cubs fan looking for some much needed good news, Bush is 1-5 in 8 career games (and 0-2 at Wrigley).
Back to yesterday's games.
The Cubs game is the only one that I watched in full, since I was watching the return of Dirk in a must win game for the Mavs. So, games I watched some of...
TEX 1 SEA 4 F
My boss's boy, Ben Broussard, went deep for the Rangers only run. My opinion, despite the shot, is that Broussard should be coming off of the bench and Jarrod Saltalamacchia should be up with the big league club playing first base, but I'm not the Rangers General Manager, so what can you do.
HOU 9 SD 6 F
The Astros finally found their bats yesterday, especially in a 4 run 9th inning that brought them from the edge of defeat to their first win of the season.
The other games yesterday...
KC 4 DET 0 F
BOS 5 OAK 0 F
CWS 2 CLE 7 F
TB 6 BAL 9 F
TOR 5 NYY 2 F
LAA 1 MIN 0 F
WSH 1 PHI 0 F
ARI 5 CIN 6 F
NYM 13 FLA 0 F
PIT 2 ATL 10 F
COL 3 STL 8 F
SF 2 LAD 1 F
What I noticed from yesterday's action was the fact that there were 5 shutouts yesterday and that two of them were 1-0 games.
On the flip side, 6 teams scored at least 8 runs in a game yesterday.
That's baseball though.
Here are today's games.
Enjoy your baseball.
It is currently dark, dreary, raining, and very high winds outside. The weather is prettier then the Cubbies played yesterday.
Everyone has an occasional bad day (although you'd prefer it not be the whole team on the same day). It's still early and everything will be fine so long as the sloppy play doesn't become a habit.
So long as the Cubs think before they act, things should be fine. They have too much talent to play like they did yesterday too often.
Looking forward to today, the Cubbies return to WGN with a 1:20pm CST start.
Ryan Dempster, the Cubs closer for the last couple of seasons, returns to the starting rotation, so that should be interesting to watch.
Dave Bush starts for the Brewers. If you're a Cubs fan looking for some much needed good news, Bush is 1-5 in 8 career games (and 0-2 at Wrigley).
Back to yesterday's games.
The Cubs game is the only one that I watched in full, since I was watching the return of Dirk in a must win game for the Mavs. So, games I watched some of...
TEX 1 SEA 4 F
My boss's boy, Ben Broussard, went deep for the Rangers only run. My opinion, despite the shot, is that Broussard should be coming off of the bench and Jarrod Saltalamacchia should be up with the big league club playing first base, but I'm not the Rangers General Manager, so what can you do.
HOU 9 SD 6 F
The Astros finally found their bats yesterday, especially in a 4 run 9th inning that brought them from the edge of defeat to their first win of the season.
The other games yesterday...
KC 4 DET 0 F
BOS 5 OAK 0 F
CWS 2 CLE 7 F
TB 6 BAL 9 F
TOR 5 NYY 2 F
LAA 1 MIN 0 F
WSH 1 PHI 0 F
ARI 5 CIN 6 F
NYM 13 FLA 0 F
PIT 2 ATL 10 F
COL 3 STL 8 F
SF 2 LAD 1 F
What I noticed from yesterday's action was the fact that there were 5 shutouts yesterday and that two of them were 1-0 games.
On the flip side, 6 teams scored at least 8 runs in a game yesterday.
That's baseball though.
Here are today's games.
Enjoy your baseball.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Getting Ready For Game Two
Ted Lilly last season was 9-1 with a 3.71 ERA in 17 starts following a Cubs loss last season. He looks to get a good start towards matching that today.
Former Cardinal (BOO!) Jeff Suppan gets the start for the Brewers.
Kosuke Fukudome looks to continue his hot start as the Cubs look to find the Win Column for the first time this season.
Game time is 1:20pm CST. You can watch it if you live in Chicago or Milwalkee or have MLB.TV
Games I watched in full yesterday...
BAYLOR 2 TCU 3 F
What do you want from me? TCU is my alma mater and they were on the first ever college baseball game shown on CBS College, I couldn't help but watch this game.
Games I watched in part yesterday...
HOU 1 SD 2 F
Sure, the Padres had the best pitching staff ERA in MLB last season, but if you're an Astros fan you'd have to hope that you'd score more then 1 run in the first 2 games, and that one run getting scored thanks to a bases loaded walk.
TEX 5 SEA 4 F
For the second day in a row, the Rangers defense threatened to lose them the game, but this time the offense picked them up thanks to a 9th inning 2 run shot by Josh Hamilton. I cheered almost as loud as I did for the Fukudome 9th inning 3 run shot in the Cubs game.
Other games yesterday...
TOR 2 NYY 3 F
LAA 9 MIN 1 F
BOS 2 OAK 1 F
NYM 4 FLA 5 F
COL 2 STL 1 F
SF 2 LAD 3 F
As I watch baseball this season on MLB.TV, I'll have the opportunity to bring you, let's call them INTERESTING COMMENTARY.
Here is our first INTERESTING COMMENTARY submission of the season from Texas Ranger Color Commentator Tom Grieve.
Well, Tom, I doubt that someone from present day would expect to get a cod sandwich at the ballpark either.
Maybe it's just me.
Here are Today's Games.
Enjoy your baseball.
Former Cardinal (BOO!) Jeff Suppan gets the start for the Brewers.
Kosuke Fukudome looks to continue his hot start as the Cubs look to find the Win Column for the first time this season.
Game time is 1:20pm CST. You can watch it if you live in Chicago or Milwalkee or have MLB.TV
Games I watched in full yesterday...
BAYLOR 2 TCU 3 F
What do you want from me? TCU is my alma mater and they were on the first ever college baseball game shown on CBS College, I couldn't help but watch this game.
Games I watched in part yesterday...
HOU 1 SD 2 F
Sure, the Padres had the best pitching staff ERA in MLB last season, but if you're an Astros fan you'd have to hope that you'd score more then 1 run in the first 2 games, and that one run getting scored thanks to a bases loaded walk.
TEX 5 SEA 4 F
For the second day in a row, the Rangers defense threatened to lose them the game, but this time the offense picked them up thanks to a 9th inning 2 run shot by Josh Hamilton. I cheered almost as loud as I did for the Fukudome 9th inning 3 run shot in the Cubs game.
Other games yesterday...
TOR 2 NYY 3 F
LAA 9 MIN 1 F
BOS 2 OAK 1 F
NYM 4 FLA 5 F
COL 2 STL 1 F
SF 2 LAD 3 F
As I watch baseball this season on MLB.TV, I'll have the opportunity to bring you, let's call them INTERESTING COMMENTARY.
Here is our first INTERESTING COMMENTARY submission of the season from Texas Ranger Color Commentator Tom Grieve.
"You know, if you could travel into the future, or travel in time, if people from the old days came into the present to see a baseball game, they'd be amazed at the stadiums, the uniforms would look different, the game itself would be played pretty much the same way, it wouldn't be a whole lot of difference, but they would be amazed at the different items you could get at the concession stand, I would think. They'd have no idea what Nachos are and they definately wouldn't expect to get a cod sandwich at the ballpark."
Well, Tom, I doubt that someone from present day would expect to get a cod sandwich at the ballpark either.
Maybe it's just me.
Here are Today's Games.
Enjoy your baseball.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Carlos Zambrano Dominant, Kosuke Fukudome Unbelievable in Cubs Loss
Well, the season is under way, and the bad news is the Cubs are 0-1. The good news is, even though he didn't get his first win on Opening Day, Big Z was very impressive in his first start. He gave up no runs on 3 hits with only 1 walk through 6 2/3 innings. Ben Sheets was equally impressive, however, giving up no runs on 2 hits in his 6 1/3 innings of work.
Those 2 hits off of Sheets (as well as 1 of the 2 walks he gave up), both of them came off of the bat of Kosuke Fukudome.
After the Brewers broke through with 3 runs in the top of the ninth off of K Dub (Kerry Wood), the pressure was on the Cubbies.
D-Lee led off with a base hit, A-Ram followed with a walk, which brought up the Cub rookie Fukudome. He answered with a 3 run, game tying shot, finishing the day 3-3 with a single, double, and homer as well as a walk and 3 RBI.
If only he could have batted again in the 10th. Howry let the Brewers sneak one across in the top of the 10th, and despite having the top of the order in the bottom of the 10th, the Brewers held on for the win
MIL 4 CHC 3 F
There were many other games yesterday as well. The only other one I watched in full was...
TEX 2 SEA 5 F
The Rangers wasted a brilliant effort by Millwood as well as failed to do anything against a fairly ineffective Bedard.
Games I watched in part...
KC 5 DET 4 F 11
Right after I said to a coworker that I predicted Cabrera would win the MVP he homered. I looked like a genius.
NYM 7 FLA 2 F
No surprise, Santana was brilliant.
CWS 8 CLE 10 F
Despite blowing a 7-2 lead, the Indians held on to win.
HOU 0 SD 4 F
This game actually would have been a "watched in full" game, but I fell asleep. I did see the first 6 innings and was very impressed by Jake Peavy who held the Astros scoreless and knocked in the first two Padre runs.
In the rest of the day's action...
TB 6 BAL 2 F
LAA 2 MIN 3 F
ARI 4 CIN 2 F
WASH 11 PHI 6 F
SF 0 LAD 5 F
PIT 12 ATL 11 F 12
Neither the Colorado vs St. Louis game or the New York Yankee vs Toronto game took place, both postponed due to weather.
In honor of April Fool's Day, I will offer a few KNEE JERK REACTIONS based on Opening Day results.
-The San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros will compete for the fewest runs scored by a team during an entire season by only scoring runs when they play each other and getting shut out the rest of the season.
-Jake Peavy will have 70 RBI as a pitcher.
-Kosuke Fukudome will make people forget Ted Williams's season batting over .400 by finishing this season batting 1.000.
-The Pirates, Rays, Royals, and Nationals will all win their divisions.
-Carlos Lee never moves faster then a slow jog.
Oh wait, that last one is true.
Well, happy April Fool's Day, the Cubbies are off today, but there is plenty of other baseball on tap, including the first games for Rockies, Yankees, Cardinals, and Blue Jays.
The rest of the schedule
Those 2 hits off of Sheets (as well as 1 of the 2 walks he gave up), both of them came off of the bat of Kosuke Fukudome.
After the Brewers broke through with 3 runs in the top of the ninth off of K Dub (Kerry Wood), the pressure was on the Cubbies.
D-Lee led off with a base hit, A-Ram followed with a walk, which brought up the Cub rookie Fukudome. He answered with a 3 run, game tying shot, finishing the day 3-3 with a single, double, and homer as well as a walk and 3 RBI.
If only he could have batted again in the 10th. Howry let the Brewers sneak one across in the top of the 10th, and despite having the top of the order in the bottom of the 10th, the Brewers held on for the win
MIL 4 CHC 3 F
There were many other games yesterday as well. The only other one I watched in full was...
TEX 2 SEA 5 F
The Rangers wasted a brilliant effort by Millwood as well as failed to do anything against a fairly ineffective Bedard.
Games I watched in part...
KC 5 DET 4 F 11
Right after I said to a coworker that I predicted Cabrera would win the MVP he homered. I looked like a genius.
NYM 7 FLA 2 F
No surprise, Santana was brilliant.
CWS 8 CLE 10 F
Despite blowing a 7-2 lead, the Indians held on to win.
HOU 0 SD 4 F
This game actually would have been a "watched in full" game, but I fell asleep. I did see the first 6 innings and was very impressed by Jake Peavy who held the Astros scoreless and knocked in the first two Padre runs.
In the rest of the day's action...
TB 6 BAL 2 F
LAA 2 MIN 3 F
ARI 4 CIN 2 F
WASH 11 PHI 6 F
SF 0 LAD 5 F
PIT 12 ATL 11 F 12
Neither the Colorado vs St. Louis game or the New York Yankee vs Toronto game took place, both postponed due to weather.
In honor of April Fool's Day, I will offer a few KNEE JERK REACTIONS based on Opening Day results.
-The San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros will compete for the fewest runs scored by a team during an entire season by only scoring runs when they play each other and getting shut out the rest of the season.
-Jake Peavy will have 70 RBI as a pitcher.
-Kosuke Fukudome will make people forget Ted Williams's season batting over .400 by finishing this season batting 1.000.
-The Pirates, Rays, Royals, and Nationals will all win their divisions.
-Carlos Lee never moves faster then a slow jog.
Oh wait, that last one is true.
Well, happy April Fool's Day, the Cubbies are off today, but there is plenty of other baseball on tap, including the first games for Rockies, Yankees, Cardinals, and Blue Jays.
The rest of the schedule
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