CubsChic

They’re supposed to be grown men playing a child’s game, but Big Z gets confused every now and then. Throwing a temper tantrum, especially directed at his fellow players, is unacceptable. I’m glad Hendry thought the same. Now the big decision will be to sit Z, try to trade him, or just put him on waivers. As poorly as the Cubs have been playing, it hardly seems fair that they now have to play a man short (you can’t replace a man on the roster if he’s suspended). It would be different if MLB had issued the suspension, but the Cubs did it to themselves.

There are those who say Zambrano is the only one on the Cubs who seems to care enough to get mad about how poorly the Cubs are playing. I don’t think they’ve stopped caring, but throwing a hissy fit is not the way to show you care. Big Z has some big anger management issues to deal with and I think they’re better resolved off the field than on. He’s not at a Milton Bradley stage yet, but I still think the Cubs would be better off without him, either on the mound or in the clubhouse.

Did anyone notice how I didn’t even write about the game? I’m just hoping we don’t get swept at the Cell. Things have to turn around eventually, right? It’s not like it gets any easier for the Cubs. We have the mighty Pirates, who the Cubs can’t seem to beat this year, headed to Wrigley next.

I wish I were just talking about the play of the Cubs on the field. As if that isn’t bad enough, the Ricketts are managing to dismantle the Wrigley experience faster than the Cubs can mount losses.

Their latest ‘improvement’ is to play recorded music instead of organ music when each Cubs player goes to bat. The result is an assault on the ears. Wrigley’s sound system isn’t clear enough to allow the fans to even make sense of the short burst of sound/noise, and the mostly heavy-metal choices just don’t match what used to be the easy-going, fun at the old ballpark atmosphere of Wrigley. I heard it for the first time at the Cubs/Sox series, which is when it was introduced. Maybe that’s why the Sox played so well; they felt like they were back at the Cell.

Supposedly, the marketing department is currently making the musical selections, but soon the players will get to pick their own intro songs. I vote for switching back to the organ, and letting the players pick their songs when the team gets back to .500. Maybe that will be the incentive they need to start playing like major leaguers. Certainly nothing else has helped so far.

The second new gift from the Ricketts is a giant noodle outside of the park, right next to the Ernie Banks statue. Ernie must be so honored. It’s a huge yellow noodle, a not-so-subtle advertisement for Kraft. Wally Hayward, Executive VP of Marketing for the Cubs, says it will be there for the rest of the season and he hopes it will become as iconic as the Bean at Millenium Park. I thought I missed McDonough before, but now I’m wondering if they kept anyone from his marketing staff. Did they allow McDonough to take all of his talent to the Blackhawks with him?

If I wasn’t already dreading the Cubs/Sox series enough this weekend, now I’ve got to go to Wrigley on Saturday and look at the monstrosity that is the new Toyota sign. I hate that it’s red and not the dark green that would be more harmoneous with the bleachers, but to make matters worse it’s also electric. I don’t care how many millions it will bring in the next few years, the Ricketts have just lost all standing with the fans who don’t want to see Wrigley become just another ballpark. If you’re going to start advertising in the outfield like all other parks, it’s no longer the Wrigley people come from around the world to see. We put up with the crumbling facilities and lack-luster food, not to mention the team itself, because of the charm of Wrigley. The charm factor has just taken a major hit.

Don’t the Ricketts wonder why attendance has taken a major hit this season? The weather has been nicer than normal, but the ticket prices have been jacked up to where even die-hards can’t afford to attend on a regular basis. I don’t even try to sell my tickets on the secondary market for a profit. I’m happy if I can find friends to buy them at face value. Another price increase and more advertising might just make me throw in the towel. Then again, that could make everyone happy, since I know as soon as I give up my tickets, the Cubs will go to the World Series and I won’t be able to get tickets.

Although I’ve never been a huge fan of hockey, it was hard not to like this year’s Blackhawk team and the way they played. I’m happy not only for the players, but for the owner Rocky Wirtz, who went against everything his father believed in by putting the Hawks games on TV. He managed to make the city fall in love with hockey all over again and couldn’t shoe-horn another fan into the United Center to watch a game live. Long-time fans deserve to celebrate this championship, as there have been some lean years for hockey in this town. Of course, the Hawks never would have been able to draft Patrick Kane if they hadn’t been so bad just a few years ago.

Now let’s hope the Cubs can end the last champion drought left in Chicago sports some time soon. It’s not looking like it will be this year.

Ron Santo is resting comfortably in a Pittsburgh hospital after becoming ill after Monday’s game. He’s not the only one sick after seeing the Cubs lose to the Pirates for the sixth time in seven games this season. Seems that, with their current offense, the only way the Cubs can get a victory is for their pitchers to throw a shut-out. It’s time to put Ramirez on the DL and let his thumb recover. Maybe rest Lee for a few days, too. The Cubs are suffering from heart failure, as in the heart of their order. We need someone in the middle of our order to at least get hits, if not RBIs.

The Cubs are out of town for what seems like forever. This is their longest road trip so far this season, nine games in eleven days. All three series are against the bottom of our division, so if we don’t pick up games these next few weeks the season will start looking pretty bleak, with yet a month to go before the All-Star break.

The Cubs finally gave Lou the 1800th win of his career, but much later in the season than we’d all hoped for. Here’s hoping that he gets a lot closer to 1900 before this season is over.

Yesterday was beautiful all around, great weather combined with a Cubs victory. Too bad I had to sell my tickets due to other obligations. Of course, I’ll be there tonight, when it’s expected to be cold and rainy. We’re getting used to it, though, and have our layering down to a science. Let’s hope that the Cubs can snap Colorado’s three game winning streak and start their own.

Looks like plans for the hotel/apartment/retail across from Wrigley is moving forward. Developers, with the help of Alderman Tunney, might be able to ruin the feel of Wrigleyville from outside before the Ricketts can do it from the inside (starting with their red Toyota sign). I’m all for reasonable development, but 135 apartments, 137 Hyatt hotel rooms and 145,000 square feet of retail does seem a bit much for that area. The structure will be about eight stories tall, stretching from Sheffield to Clark on Addison. Depending on the required setbacks, it might seem like a tunnel walking from the ‘el’ to the main gate. The building will also spread a block south on Clark, taking out yet more low-rise buildings. 

Now that Tunney has given his blessing, it’s practically a done deal. Too bad they couldn’t have done something smaller and more fitting with the neighborhood. I understand the need for a nice hotel in the area, but do we really need more apartments in Wrigleyville?

I wonder what the team record is for pitchers getting the loss after pitching a quality start (allowing three runs or less after pitching six innings or more)? The Cubs have probably already broken it. Yesterday they wasted another great outing from Dempster, after handing Gorzelanny an undeserved loss the night before. Lilly can only hope for the best today in his second start. He shouldn’t have to continue to pitch scoreless ball to get another win.

Theriot, Fukudome and Fontenot remain hot, but the clutch hits just aren’t happening.  We’re making other teams’ pitchers look amazing, but I always like to remember that they’re pitching in the majors for a reason, and sooner or later the balls have to start falling in our favor. It will be warmer today, so maybe Lee and Ramirez can loft some balls out of the park to welcome Arizona to town. Too bad the Diamondbacks lead the National League in homers (29).

OK, maybe moving Zambrano to the bullpen did wake up the bats. Whatever happened to get the Cubs hitting in Milwaukee over the weekend, I just hope it continues through this homestand. Last night the Cubs showed that they can also win with patience, taking walks to force in the winning run. I hope they have an entertaining victory planned for this evening, otherwise it could be a long, cold, windy evening at the Friendly Confines.

So let’s hope that Theriot and Soriano stay hot, Ramirez finally busts out of his slump, Gorzelanny continues the stellar starting pitching that we’re beginning to expect and the defense stays sharp. The harm of some defensive miscues has been minimized by good pitching lately, but giving the other team four outs in an inning will eventually come back to bite you.

Taking many by surprise, Lou announced today that Zambrano will be moving to the bullpen. He will be used to shore up what has been a very leaky bullpen, with a focus on the 8th inning. Lilly is coming back Saturday to take his place in the rotation, so a starter had to go to the pen and Lou thinks Zambrano makes the most sense. I can’t say I disagree, although I don’t see the change lasting too long. Eventually either Silva or Gorzelanny will falter and give Lou an opening to move Big Z back.

What surprised me even more than the move itself was Zambrano’s reaction to it. He’s all ‘team first’ and not having a temper tantrum at all. Maybe he really did grow up this off-season. He has it in his head to be the best set-up man in baseball. Can he be much worse than what we’ve endured the last two weeks?

That being said, this move still doesn’t help our hitting. Even if the bullpen doesn’t implode on a daily basis, the bats still need to wake up and support the great starting pitching the Cubs have been getting. I know it’s early, but if we can’t beat Houston and the Mets now, playing the Cardinals might get downright ugly.

So let’s give Lou’s move a chance to work. He had the guts to move his ‘ace’ to the bullpen, might he bench Soriano next? It’s going to be an interesting season.

So Soriano has decided to give up his trademark little hop before he catches a ball (or not) in the outfield. His original reason for the hop was that it forced him to concentrate more on even the simpliest of catches. Now he’s foregoing the hop in order to concentrate. Whatever it takes to stop the silly errors. He already has three in just two weeks of play.

The Cubs made a valient effort yesterday, but fell shy of a complete comeback losing to the Astros 4-3. Seems we just can’t string together a bunch of wins. At least we haven’t had a prolonged losing streak either. It would be nice to win today and get back to .500 before heading off on a roadtrip.  

That being said, the Cubs are giving away winter scarves at today’s game, so I’ve got to get there early before they’re all gone. Hope I won’t need to wear it until late October.

What a beautiful home opener. Gorgeous weather, enough offense for even our bullpen to survive and stunning defense to end the game. The weather is even better today, so hopefully we’ll have more of the other two, as well.

Didn’t notice too many changes/updates to Wrigley. They moved the location of my veggie burgers, but they weren’t replaced with the new bison burgers as I’d feared. I never visited the revamped bathrooms. I’m sure I’ll be able to give an update on those by the next game. No Toyota sign, yet. I’m keeping my head in the sand and just hoping that issue goes away, but I don’t think it will.

They went back to playing YMCA during the entrance of the first opposing relief pitcher. They had used a diferent song last year and I’m glad they’re back to a fan favorite (even if not this fan’s favorite). They have also moved CareerBuilder’s ‘job of the day’ to an earlier inning. Last year it was announced at the top of the 9th over the Cubs closer’s theme song (Marmol’s is Rubberband Man) and was very annoying. How many people are scratching down job leads after three hours of baseball and beer?

Finally, I must give a shout-out to my buddy Tim for a great pre and post-game party. May we have lots of reasons to celebrate this season.

Are we going to have an 8th inning jinx going all season? How heartbreaking to go from 0-2 on the first batter, to walking two in a row and ultimately giving up a game-winning grand slam. Caridad is young and will bounce back, but when the count was 0-2 I was thinking it looked like we had a replacement for Marmol, who used to come in and mow them down in the 8th inning. Now we can’t seem to get the ball to Marmol as the closer.

Silva looked strong in his first start as a Cub. Rothschild must have done something right in spring training, as Silva was pitching with confidence and throwing strikes. I also like that he works so quickly. That should keep the fielders behind him sharp, which he needs since his style puts so many balls in play.

This afternoon’s game give us a chance to rebound quickly. Let’s hope that Zambrano is ready to whittle away at that ERA by putting in some shutout innings.

Ah, the sweet smell of victory finally flows into the Cubs clubhouse. Marmol tried to make it interesting, but the Cubs would not be denied their first win of the season. After the previous night’s 8th inning debacle, a two run lead wasn’t much cushion, but it’s all that was needed after Wells and the pen shut out the Braves.

Another lack-luster offensive performance, with the only highlights being Colvin’s first home run in his first starting at-bat and Byrd hitting his second homer of the season. I’m hoping the Cubs can start producing runs and stop relying on the longball so much. I’m really liking Colvin, especially in the field. I referred to him last night as the anti-Soriano. He made at least two plays that Soriano never would have made. His hustle is a breath of fresh air.

The defense was also a lot sharper last night. Three double plays helped Wells out of some jams and the only error was one by Wells. Now if we can just get Theriot hitting I’ll be a much happier camper.

On to Cincinnati, where the Reds are starting a pitcher named Homer Bailey against us tonight. Whether that’s his given name or a nickname, neither can bode well for a pitcher. Maybe we should take advantage and wait until tomorrow to play small-ball.

One down, 161 to go. At least we got that first loss out of the way. And they did it in style, allowing more runs on opening day since 1884. That’s not a typo; it’s been 126 years since the Cubs gave up 15 runs to a New York team to start off the season.

At least we got a good look at the bullpen, who with the exception of Samardzija, looked pretty good. The offense, on the other hand, was pretty comatose. Marlon Byrd had a nice debut with a three-run homer and Fukudome had some solid at-bats, but the rest of the line-up looked like the 86 degree day was getting to them.

Big Z showed once again why he shouldn’t be our opening day starter. Allowing eight runs on six hits, while only getting four outs, gives him an ERA of 54 to start off the season. Ouch. Granted, many of those balls weren’t hard hit, they were just well placed. Hopefully he’ll bounce back in his next start and not become a head-case.

The fielding wasn’t particularly sharp, either. Only a few errors, but many off-the-mark throws. Lots of room for improvement there.

Speaking of fielding, what about that lousy call in center field? I’m not a huge fan of instant replay, but if honesty is totally gone from the game, then maybe we need a mechanism to fix such obviously bad, non-judgement calls. The Cubs were only down three runs at that point, and would have had two runners on with no outs with the correct call. I would have loved to hear what the Braves center fielder said to Ramirez when they found themselves at third base together the next half-inning. Could the guy look Ramirez in the eye and say he caught the ball? He didn’t know at the time how well the camera caught the ball leave his glove and roll on the ground. If it’s truly win-at-all-cost, then technology might have to step in. But I draw the line at computers calling balls and strikes. We just need better supervision of umps. When they consistently make bad calls, they should lose their jobs. There are plenty of qualified people who would love a shot at calling a major league game.

I was glad to see Tyler Colvin get his first at-bat in a non-pressure situation. Although he flew out to right field, at least he got some wood on the ball. His 36 hits in spring training led the majors, which earned him a spot on the team and a probable start in the next few days.

Well, let’s hope Dempster can even up the series on Wednesday. The Cubs have had a day to lick their wounds. They better come back out hungry.

Welcome back, readers. Sorry I took the winter and spring training off, but I’m back for the start of the season. I hope everyone had a nice off-season and that you’re all ready to dive back in for another 162 games. I’ve got lots of thoughts and opinions ready to go, from the Ricketts and their ownership decisions to player moves. Please feel free to share your own thoughts early and often via the comments section.

I look forward to opening day at Wrigley where I can see firsthand the changes made to the bathrooms and the menu. I hope they haven’t done away with the veggie burger, which was one of the best additions of the last few seasons, certainly better than the Bradley debacle. I’m glad to hear the Toyota sign won’t be in place for opening day, but fear that it won’t be long before it’s in place in left field, blocking the view from my friend Tim’s rooftop.

Kudos to the Cubs for finally giving Billy Williams his own statue. The unveiling is planned for September 7. Let’s hope that they don’t misspell “Sweet Swinging” or anything as glaring as engraving in marble “Lets Play Two.” (They later carved in the apostrophe on Ernie Bank’s statue base.)

I like most of the roster moves made in spring training, although our bullpen still scares me. I hope the strength of the young arms makes up for the young minds that go along with them. It would be nice if Tyler Colvin can live up to expectations, or at least keep swinging the bat like he has in spring training. If Lou gives him a shot, maybe he can break the Cubs jinx of destroying young talent by bringing it up too early.

For now, I’m optimistic about the season. The forecast for next Monday’s home opener is nice, but I’m trying to stay in the moment and just hope for a victory in Atlanta today. Let’s see if Big Z is really a changed man this season and doesn’t lose it after the first error. Even better, let’s hope there aren’t any errors to test him. Play ball!     

My three weeks in Europe went by quickly. As WiFi access has yet to catch on in many small French villages, I was not able to follow the day-to-day actions of my beloved Cubs. I was having too good a time to worry about the Bradley mess anyway, and was glad that it had been resolved before my return. Needless to say, I won’t be paying for playoff tickets this season. My Visa card is happy to hear that.

After a successful final roadtrip to Milwaukee and San Fran, the Cubs are at least guaranteed an above .500 season. I know it’s nothing to crow about after the last two seasons, but at least I don’t write a Pirate’s blog. Now we just have to finish with a strong homestand to make our second-place standing a little more respectable. I look forward to seeing some young players get some playing time during my last few trips to Wrigley, but I hope Lou doesn’t sit all the starters. They need to finish what they started and get their heads on right for spring training.

One exciting bit of news that helps numb the pain of this frustrating season; My S.O. proposed to me while we were in one of those charming French villages. CubsChic is engaged! Needless to say, any potential fall wedding dates will take next year’s playoffs into account.

Greetings from Europe! I meant to post before I left that I’d be out of the country for three weeks in September, but things got busy. I’m currently in Madrid for the opening of my S.O.’s play. Previews have been wonderful and tonight is the official opening. You can tell it’s a good play when I enjoy it and I don’t understand Spanish. My S.O. has been doing a lot of PR for the play since we landed on Monday. He’s worn his Cubs hat for many newspaper and radio interviews and even for a web video interview. A piece of the Cubs has been with us daily. Next we head to France and Belgium.

Doesn’t look like I’ll have to be checking the Cubs’ site daily to see where they are in the pennant race. I was hoping that my absence might give them the kick they needed to turn things around, but it doesn’t look like anything is going to get them into the playoffs this season. The Cards aren’t going to collapse and the wildcard is just too crowded. At least I can shop more comfortably in Europe knowing that I don’t need to pay for playoff tickets.

By the way, to anyone trolling the site and thinking about breaking into my home while I”m gone, I have a house sitter staying at my place. That and my two attack cats should give you pause. I just wanted to post and let my readers know why I won’t be posting until the end of September. I haven’t giving up on my Cubs, at least as far as writing my blog goes. What is it they say about next year?

Losing to the defending World Series Champion Phillies I can handle. Losing two straight to the lowly Padres is really depressing. Getting beat when you only have one out left to get, as happened on Monday night, is getting unbearable. My only solace as a Cubs fan is that this club is likely to get swept by the Padres and then go to LA and win three of four from one of the best teams in baseball. OK, maybe not three of four, but you get the idea. This team hasn’t been consistent all year.

Well, one way they had been consistent lately was beating bad teams. That seems to have faded on the west coast, as it often does. What is it about the west coast road trips that just kills Cubs teams? Are other teams so bad out there?

It’s bad enough that the Cubs are playing so poorly, but these 9 o’clock starts are killing me. It wouldn’t be so bad if they won and could send me off to sleep with pleasant dreams. These last few games have been nothing but nightmares.

So Blanco goes down and Miles comes up. Soto is just about ready to come back, so maybe Theriot’s bruised arm will now necessitate a trip to the DL. It seems like the Cubs just can’t keep everyone healthy this year. They’ve put 14 different guys on the DL so far this season. Yet they’re hanging around first place, in fact in first place by just a smidgen over the Cardinals.

Last night it looked like the Cubs saw that St. Louis had already lost so they didn’t care that much about winning. They looked like they were phoning it in. That wasn’t good enough against the sad Reds and certainly won’t be enough against the Rockies, who have been coming on strong. At least the Cubs have a travel day today, so they can get to Denver and relax while the Rockies just lost another game in Philly today and now have to fly home.

I didn’t post about the new lefty pitchers we got from Pittsburgh because I didn’t know much about them (and was too busy to write an intelligent post). Looks so far to be a good deal, even if we had to give away Hart in the deal. Good lefties are hard to find. Gorzelanny was the big question mark in that deal and he just threw a wonderful game the other night to get the win in his first start in years. Let’s just hope Lilly comes back good as new and we don’t have to lean on Gorzelanny for too long.

We’re coming to the home stretch of the season so I’ll try to get better about my daily posts. Many of us are scoreboard watching so there’s lots to talk about. Comments are always welcome. I encourage discussion between my readers in the comments section.

Of course, I’m happy to see Reed Johnson and Angel Guzman return as well, but my titles can only be so long. The sad part of seeing these guys return is that, to make room for them, three current Cubs will have to return to Iowa. I really think Fox has earned a longer stint, but he’s definitely going to have to give up third base. I say stick him in left while Soriano rehabs his sore legs, maybe on the DL. Bradley has upped his game as of late, so I’m for keeping him in left.

It seems that Jeff Baker, who the Cubs got rather quietly last week from the Rockies for a minor league pitcher, is out of options, meaning the Cubs risk losing him for nothing if they send him down. I hate that such a mediocre player gets to stay while inspiring players like Fuld, Hoffpauir or even a Fontenot have a chance of being sent down.

Let’s keep up the good homestand (I’ll take 3-4 even if it means having games like Saturday). Wells deserves to be over .500, so the bats better show up tonight.

Oh, and congratulations to Ted Lilly for making the NL All-Star team. He’s been our ace so far this season. I’m even happier that Soriano didn’t make the team. That would have been embarrassing for the Cubs and major league baseball.