"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do, I stare out the window and wait for spring." - Rogers Hornsby

:: Saturday, September 06, 2003 ::

Parallel Lines

My son Mark was selected to play in a special fall baseball league through the Welles Park team he was on this summer.

Today was the first game of the Welles Park All-Stars; they're wearing black and orange uniforms, so have become the Orioles (Finally! A team he's on that I don't hate!).

And they blew a 13-0 lead and lost a tough game 16-15.

For a while tonight, I thought I might be witnessing the same thing in the Cub game, as they streaked out to a 5-0 lead, only to see Richie Sexson's 8th-inning HR off Dave Veres (just back off the DL) cut the lead to 5-4.

See, I'm too much a Cub fan. I've seen too many of these leads frittered away.

Not this time. You know, this team has started to get a swagger after last week's intense series against the Cardinals, and I say that in a good way. You need that to win championships, and again, I repeat what I said earlier this week. There is a madness to Dusty's method, but it is working. The "proven veterans" are doing their jobs, and in the 9th, when the Cubs could have gone out meekly, instead, Tom Goodwin doubled, Kenny Lofton beat out what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt, and then Troy O'Leary, who wasn't even supposed to play tonight (Moises Alou still has the sore knee, but ought to be OK by tomorrow), hit a home run, his second this week, and so the Cubs beat the Brewers decisively 8-4, in front of the largest crowd in the history of Miller Park, 46,218, which is about 4,000 more than the listed capacity. The Brewers are expecting another sellout tomorrow, which will make this the largest-attended 3-game series in the history of Miller Park.

So many good things today -- Randall Simon, who is vilified in Milwaukee for the "Sausage Beating", hit a home run; Mark Prior didn't have his "A" game, but threw seven decent innings, and registered his 200th strikeout, likely the first of many 200-K seasons, and won his 15th game, and Joe Borowski got a day of rest after throwing three days in a row. Now JoeBo will be fresh for tomorrow if needed, then won't have to pitch again till Tuesday night in San Juan.

So we await the result of the Padres/Astros game tonight once again, to see if the Cubs can take over first place, and tomorrow afternoon I'll be off to Puerto Rico, and will report from there on the Cubs/Expos series.

Hope requests that you bring your brooms tomorrow.

:: posted by Al at 9:07 PM [+] ::
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Chomping At The Bit

No, that's not the Cubs, that's me, anxious to make this post, and I deliberately waited till this morning because I was hoping the Cubs would wake up in first place, this after going out to dinner with our friends Carole and Ernie, just back from their honeymoon, and then all coming back to our house to watch the game.

That wasn't to be since the Astros beat the Padres last night, so even with the Cubs' 4-2 win in Milwaukee, their fifth win in a row at Miller Park this year, they still trail the Astros by a half-game.

Then I tried to log in to the Blogger site this morning and it was down for two hours, so this is the first chance I've had to make this post.

Juan Cruz literally pitched the game of his life last night -- he went seven full innings, the longest outing of his career, in front of a noisy crowd of 42,909, the largest crowd at Miller Park since Opening Day last year. It had to be at least 3/4 Cub fans, judging by the cheering. The players noticed; Dusty Baker was quoted this morning as saying it was like a "secondary home game" rather than a road game, with all the fan support. I presume it will be the same tonight and tomorrow afternoon. I'd go up there myself if I weren't leaving for San Juan and the Cubs/Expos series down there.

I am of two minds on the Antonio Alfonseca suspension, which was announced yesterday as being seven games, and almost certainly will be appealed.

First is that Alfonseca really is an idiot. He raised his hands to the sky and did the "cut-throat" motion after striking out Richie Sexson, and though it's great to be enthusiastic, all something like that can do is incite the opposition. It's not like that strikeout was clinching the division or something; and it's not like Alfonseca is the closer to end all closers, because he's had the worst year of his career. Furthermore, yes, emotions can get the better of you, especially in a tense game like the Cardinals/Cubs thriller Tuesday night that resulted in the suspension, but you do not bump an umpire. Ever.

Still, I believe the Cubs are right when they say that Alfonseca's suspension should be in line with the suspension that Terrence Long of Oakland got for a similar incident earlier this week. That suspension was four games, and I believe that's what the Cubs and Alfonseca will ask for in their appeal. It's not clear when this will be heard; since the commissioner-for-life resides in Milwaukee, I suppose it could be heard this weekend and maybe it would be for the Expos series and a game beyond; but if not this weekend, it might have to wait till after the Cubs return.

Even with Alfonseca's bad year it would be bad to be down to 24 players; so it's lucky in a way that this happened in September, when rosters can be expanded. Dave Veres will be activated for tonight's game and it appears that the Cubs might call up either Willie Banks (unbelievable, I know, eight years after he stunk his way off the club, but he has thrown lights-out at Iowa), Alan Benes, Mike Wuertz, who would be making his ML debut, or Rudy Seanez, who also threw pretty well at Iowa.

With Mark Prior going tonight, as hot as he is, I am optimistic. Go Padres.

:: posted by Al at 11:40 AM [+] ::
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A Photo From An Historic Week



That's Scott Lange of The Northside Lounge on the left, yours truly on the right, just before the incredible 8-7 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday.

Scott wrote that both of those games, one after the other, were the best Cubs wins he had ever been to.

I've been to over 1600 Cub games and they were the best two wins I have ever been to.

Onward to Milwaukee!

:: posted by Al at 12:00 PM [+] ::
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If This Is A Dream, Don't Wake Me Up

Jeff and Howard and I agreed today. Not that we don't often, but today we agreed that:

Had the last five games been played as part of any postseason series, that series would instantly become the most legendary playoff series of all time.

I don't think I've ever seen a week of baseball quite like this, and perhaps never will again. Just about anything and everything happened, from weather delays to beanball wars to really rotten umpiring to heart-pounding rallies, all of it with a playoff-atmosphere crowd every day.

Before I tell you about today's emotionally nerve-wracking 7-6 Cubs win over the Cardinals, I feel I need to say this.

That was the worst series of umpiring I have ever seen. Bill Hohn, Mike Reilly, Eric Cooper, Tim Timmons, and worst of all, vacation replacement Justin Klemm were universally awful the entire five games. The strike zones were either small or all over the place or both; there were horrendous calls like the one on Moises Alou's fair ball that might have given the Cubs a five-game sweep; and they wound up with very short fuses, ejecting people left and right, today throwing out Sammy Sosa after he was (according to Sosa's comments) cursing at himself after being called out on strikes. Hohn was the plate umpire today and he followed Sosa back to the dugout, which is an absolute no-no for umpires. It was almost as if Hohn was trying to provoke Sosa and the Cubs. Larry Rothschild also got tossed.

About the game: Shawn Estes was shaky, but I thought pitched ... well, OK. It wasn't his fault that Moises Alou lost a routine fly ball in the sun, leading to one run and probably a second in the first inning, and it wasn't his fault that Kenny Lofton dropped another easy popup in the fifth; Lofton did record an unusual 8-6 force play, but a run scored and Miguel Cairo, who hit the ball Lofton dropped, scored also.

It was Estes' fault that he decided to let a bunt by Brett Tomko roll "foul", but it didn't, and Tomko reached on a hit. The Cardinals were giving him an out, and he didn't take it! This was very stupid. Luckily, the next hitter hit into a double play, so that one didn't cost him. Estes did help himself by hitting a sacrifice fly.

He's probably earned enough of a reprieve to make one more start, though with the off day Monday, his turn could be skipped again, especially with Juan Cruz slated to start tomorrow in Milwaukee.

The Cubs came from behind twice, from 2-0 and 5-3, and also put together the winning rally in the seventh against Mike DeJean, a pitcher who has given them fits. Once again, there were so many heroes: Mark Grudzielanek, who has been hitting like crazy since he came off the DL (maybe he should break his hand more often!), doubling in two runs in the three-run fifth, and then Tony Womack, who is having the worst year of his career, driving in the game-winner after Moises Alou, still angry today, walked for the second time in the game.

You know, there is a madness to Dusty Baker's method, but I'll be damned, it seems to be working. Baker has always been known for playing veterans over young players, and oddly enough, over the last five days we have seen why he does this. Players like Womack, Kenny Lofton, and even Eric Karros and Randall Simon (who made a nifty stab of a screaming line drive by Miguel Cairo in the 7th) have been through pennant races before. This is something that no Cub team in my memory has had -- tons of playoff experience. We don't know this because we haven't been there, but it does matter. I can remember hearing about some of Dusty's Giants teams and how they won games and series like this that they had no business winning. Whatever it takes, if it works, I'm for it. One thing that a lot of people who want to see the organization build from within with kids (and I'm not against this at all, I want you to know) forget is, that with no history of winning, you can't feel what it feels like.

If the Cubs can win now with veteran players who have been there before, it lays a base on which all who come afterward -- players like Choi, Sanchez, Ryu, Sisco, Kelton, and even Corey Patterson, who is watching this from the sidelines -- can build.

If Dusty can lead us to the Promised Land this way, I'm along for the ride.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day today, around 70 degrees with a few puffy white clouds and bright sunshine, and though the crowd was taken out of the game again early by the Cardinals' two-run first, the rallies created a playoff atmosphere yet again. When Sosa was ejected and some other bad calls were made, the beer cups started going on the field and there were numerous ejections from the bleachers. Though I don't condone this type of activity, at least it showed some passion for what was going on down on the field, rather than just random drunkenness.

He who shall not be named (the human air-raid siren) stood behind us for an inning or two, just after a nice older couple stood right behind our bench and asked me who he was. I tried to explain his obnoxious behavior, and they got a really good sample of it. Luckily, even this kind of thing is forgiven by winning a game like this.

It did really take more than two hours for me to calm down enough to write all this. I hope I'm conveying even a small fraction of what has been the most remarkable week of baseball I have ever seen. Jeff couldn't even sit down the last couple of innings, he had so much nervous energy, and he told me that he napped for a couple of hours last night and then was up all night. Me, I came home, watched some of the Sox/Sox game (pretty good game last night, actually), a bit of Baseball Tonight, then turned the TV off -- and was wide awake myself for half an hour. I expect to feel the same thing tonight.

Finally, I wanted to let all of you know that I will be making the trip to Puerto Rico next week to see the Cubs play the Expos, and will report from there.

First, though, business at hand: continuing to win at Miller Park over the weekend, where the Cubs swept a four-game series in May, including the finale, the 17-inning game won by Corey Patterson's two-run homer. For the moment, the Cubs, Cardinals and Astros are tied in wins with 73, with Houston having lost 66, the Cubs 67 and the Cardinals 68.

Keep hope dancing!

:: posted by Al at 8:11 PM [+] ::
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Yes, I'm Still Alive

Hyperventilating and heart-palpitating, but still alive.

I'm tired and hungry and have to have some dinner and calm down a bit.

I'll post on the game in a couple of hours.

:: posted by Al at 5:51 PM [+] ::
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Oh. My. Gosh. (Part Deux)

I'm done.

After the thrills of yesterday, we were all wondering, "How could they top this?"

Somehow, some way, this Cub team, which has soared to the heights and hit the depths, today put together what is perhaps the greatest team effort that I have ever seen from a Cubs team.

This despite Dusty Baker's best efforts to make some of the most boneheaded moves I have ever seen from a Cubs manager, moves that made me wonder if he was even watching the same game we were. Dusty, by the way, you are forgiven, since the Cubs won yet another -- what shall I call it to raise a further superlative? -- incredible game, 8-7 over the Cardinals today.

And maybe we've hit on a new formula -- make Moises Alou really mad with boneheaded umpiring calls, so that he takes that aggressiveness out on the opposing pitchers. Alou was the hero today, going 5-for-5 with a homer and four RBI; I hope he keeps channeling this the rest of the season.

But it wasn't just Alou. There were so many heroes... Sammy Sosa starting the first rally with a double. Aramis Ramirez and Alex Gonzalez homering also. Randall Simon stabbing a line drive at first base. Mark Grudzielanek, in the game for only one inning, tripling in the tying run and scoring the winning run on Alou's single.

You knew the game was important to Tony LaRussa, too. Jason Isringhausen was spent after throwing two days in a row, so Woody Williams, who started two days ago, came in to throw the 8th, and he didn't have it, and that's the lucky move for the Cubs. LaRussa rolled the dice and lost. Yes, I can come up with some more cliches, just give me a minute, I'm just getting on a roll.

First, let me throw a bit of a wet blanket by describing the moves of Dusty Baker that led us to believe that a poorly housetrained dog might be running the team today.

Yes, the bullpen is spent. But why put Felix Sanchez in the game, to make his ML debut, in a situation like this? And why then leave him in, when he obviously wasn't throwing anywhere near the plate, to give up the grand slam to J. D. Drew? I said to everyone after that, "It's over." Well, it felt like that, anyway. The ballpark was very quiet -- that took the crowd of 32,710 right out of the game, sucked all the air out on a very pleasant day, or so it seemed.

But the move that had Scott Lange (and that's two absolutely astounding games that my fellow blogger and I have shared in the bleachers this week) and myself, and Howard and Dave and Jeff, all screaming at Dusty, was pinch-hitting Doug Glanville for Ramon Martinez in the sixth, with the bases loaded, three runs already in, and Tony LaRussa then putting in a right-hander.


The situation screamed out for Tony Womack (who was going to have to go into the game anyway), but Dusty let Glanville hit, and of course he grounded into a force play on the first pitch.

As I said, the rest of the team picked Glanville (and Dusty) up with two more heart-pounding rallies (see, told you I'd get back to "high" on the cliche-meter), and again, as so many times this week, the ballpark was absolutely rocking with playoff intensity, and I don't know if I've ever heard it as loud as it was when Joe Borowski finished it off with a flourish, striking out Edgar Renteria and then Jim Edmonds (who was pinch-hitting, having been scratched from the lineup with the sore knee he hurt yesterday) to end the game. Oddly, there had been only four strikeouts combined before that, strange because even on bad days, the Cub staff usually strikes out eight or ten.

So, the Cubs stand half a game behind the Cardinals, even in the loss column, and will be tied with Houston if the Dodgers can beat the Astros later tonight.

I love being in the bleachers any day. But when the games really mean something, everyone gets into the game, every pitch, every batter, and forgets about the "drunken beach party" idea that can sometimes be the case when the Cubs are 20 games out. That's the way it should be every day.

Tomorrow, I presume Dusty will indeed go with Shawn Estes, though Juan Cruz didn't throw today in situations where he might have been useful, so Baker might actually go to the very last minute before deciding. Winning four of five -- well, we can dream, can't we?

Just so you know, I warned Howard to be the first one to call security when I have the heart attack that this team is about to give all of us. I wish I could describe to you the feeling -- maybe you can feel it from the TV broadcast, but being in the ballpark when it's rocking like that is -- well, frankly, it's beyond any words I can put here. And I know some of you are feeling it, because I got an e-mail from Jessica in New York today with the subject line (and I repeat it here exactly as she wrote it): I CAN'T TAKE THIS

And finally, Jeff, whose hair is most times nearly as short as mine, says he's not getting a haircut till the Cubs are eliminated. We all are hoping that by late October, he'll have a ponytail. Also, Scott and I had a photo taken by Jeff with Scott's camera (Jeff has been elected Official Photographer of the Right Field Bleachers), and he'll post it on the Northside Lounge, and after he e-mails it to me, I'll post it here too.

Hope is not only alive, it is dancing tonight.

:: posted by Al at 6:02 PM [+] ::
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39,290 People Can't Be Wrong

But they were, at least according to last night's third base umpire, rookie Justin Klemm.

Unfortunately, his was the only opinion that counted on the screaming line drive that Moises Alou hit in the seventh inning of last night's game, with the bases loaded, that would at least have tied the game, and perhaps given the Cubs the lead.

But the 39,290 in attendance knew it was fair, and so did those of you who saw it live on TV (like a certain 8-year-old in my house who was pretty upset about the call), or the replays, which clearly showed the chalk kicking up on the foul line (despite the protestations of Matt Morris, that is not "paint" out there in the grass, it's chalk, and it flakes up when a ball hits it).

So instead, Alou flied out harmlessly, and the Cubs were stuck with a heartbreaking 2-0 loss to the Cardinals in the "nightcap" of what is technically not a doubleheader -- by baseball recordkeeping rules, it's simply a single day game and single night game played on the same day; a doubleheader is defined as two games with a single admission price.

Kerry Wood pitched well enough for his team to win, and should have given up only one run -- the usually reliable Ramon Martinez made two errors on one play, bobbling a bunt and then throwing it away in an attempt to get Tino Martinez trying to go to third; he scored on this all-Martinez play.

You could say that if the Cubs miss the playoffs by one game, that it's because of this obviously botched umpiring call against Alou, but the umpires made a borderline call in favor of the Cubs in the day game, on Albert Pujols dropping a fly ball that he might have actually controlled long enough to catch, and the Cubs scored two runs in that inning, and without that might not have scored all day. These things do tend to even out over a long season; what disturbs me more is that Alou was either provoked or out of frustration, may have spit on an umpire, which would surely lead to suspension. It wasn't clear whether he actually spit, or just yelled a profanity with emphasis, which was the reason he was tossed. Antonio Alfonseca, who was sitting in the bullpen with a clear view of the play, quite definitely did bump an umpire and is likely to be suspended. Some would say "fine", but he has actually thrown well his last couple of times out and the Cubs can't afford to lose anyone right now.

A tremendous "attaboy" to the Cubs' cleanup and security crews, who managed to get everyone out of the ballpark, clean it up a bit, and make it presentable for a new crowd replacing the old one in just a little less than one hour. As I said in my post from yesterday afternoon, I went home for that hour, had a bit of dinner, posted on the day game, and when I returned I ran into Howard, Sue and Jon (just back from California where he briefly considered running for governor), and we all waited in line together, with Jeff saving seats. Jeff is now up to about 20 hours spent at the ballpark in the last two days.

Yesterday might have been the most amazing baseball day in Chicago history, with the White Sox also home, also playing a contender (Boston), and also playing a tense, tough game which they lost 2-1, both Boston runs coming on solo homers, which were the Red Sox' only hits.

95,223 paid to watch baseball in Chicago yesterday, and that's a tribute to how great a baseball city this is, and how great it would be to see the season continue into October this year.

Keep hope alive.

:: posted by Al at 7:52 AM [+] ::
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Interlude

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

There are no superlatives that I can possibly write here that could give you a real sense of what it was like to be at today's incredible first-game win, 4-2 over the Cardinals in 15 innings.

So many players stepped up it's hard to know where to start. The bullpen was great, from Farnsworth to Alfonseca to Remlinger to Guthrie -- they allowed the best offense in the league one hit in eight innings of work.

Carlos Zambrano threw well also, and so did the Cardinal pitchers, including starter Jason Simontacchi, who threw four perfect innings before a controversial error on Albert Pujols in LF opened the door for two unearned runs, which tied the game. Who knew there would be nine full scoreless innings after that?

Certainly not me... I decided not to drive up early today. Big mistake, since I knew I'd be there after game time, and parking was impossible. Finally after about 20 minutes of looking around, I found a spot about three blocks away. It'll be easier to go back in a little while and park for the night game.

The crowd was truly into the game... you rarely feel a playoff atmosphere for a regular season game, but we had one. It felt like the Clemens/Wood Yankee game in June, only the stakes are much higher for this one, plus the fact that Cardinal and Cub fans were there to share the tense moments. Truly, I think this is a great rivalry, because this is a healthy rivalry, with mutual respect, unlike Yankee and Red Sox fans, who I think really hate each other.

If Moises Alou hadn't made a bad choice and tried to take 3B in the 9th, the Cubs would have won the game then... or if Orlando Palmeiro hadn't made the catch of the year on Ramon Martinez' drive into the ivy in that same inning.

Of all people, Augie Ojeda nearly won the game with a home run in the 12th; had the wind not been blowing in, he would have; and so it seemed fitting that his first hit of the season, after going 0-for-22, triggered the winning rally. And Sammy Sosa, who looked awful at the plate before his homer, finally stepped up and hit his first homer at home in more than a month.

Wow. I feel drained, so imagine what the players feel like. I thought Dusty managed his players pretty well, hoping to save Lofton, Alou, etc. for the second game. But his moves paid off when Ojeda got that hit. Even Dave, who is usually very critical of Cubs moves, was impressed with the way they all stepped up their game today.

It was nice to spend the afternoon with Scott Lange of the Northside Lounge blog and talk Cubs and baseball all day. Among other things I learned that he has never lived in Chicago (he's from Atlanta; his dad grew up in Evanston and taught him the ways of being a Cub fan), and that Bill Lange, a Cubs outfielder in the 1890's, is a distant relative of his. He'll return to the bleachers tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I am back to the bleachers within the next hour, for game two. If the Cubs win and Houston loses to Los Angeles, the Cubs and Astros will be tied for first place, with the Cardinals dropping to third.

Keep hope alive.

:: posted by Al at 5:42 PM [+] ::
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Al's Day, Er, Night, At The Ballpark, Er, At Home, Er...

What is it with the Cardinals and rain?

The horrendous Mother's Day rainstorm forced tomorrow's day/night doubleheader. So I guess ol' Mother Nature figured on this return of the Cardinals, she'd make everyone labor harder on Labor Day, with a similar rainstorm that just wouldn't stop. Only difference -- it was about 20 degrees warmer today.

Well, it rained. And rained some more. Got some updates every half hour, and by about 4:30 it looked like it wasn't going to stop. So I left.

By the time I got home there was no more rain on the radar, and it had stopped, and they had pulled the tarp off the field. And so... I had some dinner, and went back to the park (Floyd, the security supervisor, told me I could get back in with my stub). Got a better parking place than the first one, too.

It was well worth the time, let me tell you. I'd say about 15,000-18,000 of the 38,410 announced crowd stayed around for Mark Prior's 14th win of the season, a well-pitched 7-0 win over the Cardinals that was finished off by Kyle Farnsworth (in a nice confidence-building inning), since Prior labored at times in his 131-pitch outing.

The wind was howling in at 25 MPH and cost several players home runs -- Albert Pujols whacked one in the first, and Aramis Ramirez would have had a grand slam on any normal day. The Cubs strung together several hits in a row in their six-run fifth inning...

Which I wholly credit to Howard, who called about 6:15 and said he'd just come out of a movie, and were they playing? Well, it was the top of the third, and I had his ticket, since he'd given it to me to sell if I could. I said, "Come on over!" About 45 minutes later, he arrived... and before I could even come downstairs and meet him, he met me at the top of the ramp and said he had to bring the ticket back downstairs to show them he really had it.

So the first inning he actually saw was that bottom of the fifth rally. Hey, whatever it takes -- if that's what can make the Cubs rally, I'm all for it.

Kudos also to Ramon Martinez, who made a tremendous play on Fernando Vina's sharp grounder up the middle in the top of the fifth, in what was at the time still a scoreless game; that held Mike Matheny at third, where he'd otherwise have scored. Sometimes plays like this get lost in a game dominated by a pitcher like Prior (who also had two hits and an RBI), and it ought to not go unmentioned.

So -- the Cubs are back to a game and a half out, and with Wood and Zambrano throwing in tomorrow's DH (it will likely be Zambrano in game 1, since he tends to have a lot of nervous energy and Dusty will want to get that out early rather than let him sit around and think, plus the fact that Wood's record is better in night games), there is hope yet again.

Looking forward to meeting Scott Lange of The Northside Lounge blog at tomorrow's afternoon game.

:: posted by Al at 9:14 PM [+] ::
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Baseball Is A Game Of Inches

I'll tell you more about that cliche in a minute, but indulge me momentarily while I tell you about the latest Stupid Cub Security Stunt:

I have been sitting in the bleachers for nearly 30 years and in my current location for 25. Today, a new security guard who I had never seen before came up to us right as the game started and told us, "You have to put your umbrellas down; Wrigley Field policy."

Well first of all, there was absolutely no one standing behind us at the time. Second, this is not Wrigley Field policy and never has been. He told a few other people this same thing, and their answer was the same as ours: "No we don't." Anyway, we got a security supervisor to straighten this moron out, and luckily so, because the entire game was played in a steady light rain, which stopped for a few minutes in the sixth inning and again in the ninth. Tomorrow's weather forecast isn't much better, but I'd imagine unless the rain is torrential, they'll play again in similar conditions, given the sellout crowd, the importance of the game, and the fact that the Cardinals and Cubs have a doubleheader already on Tuesday.

Today, the Brewers used two players rescued from the scrap heap to defeat the Cubs. One of them, Doug Davis, chose today to pitch the game of his life, though he needed to be rescued by the bullpen. The other, outfielder Jason Conti, is only on the Brewers' roster today because Geoff Jenkins broke his thumb three days ago and is out for the season; his only significant playing time was last year for Tampa Bay.

Conti was placed in the game for defensive purposes, and the first ball he touched, he overran Sammy Sosa's ninth-inning single, which put the tying run in scoring position with one out. After Moises Alou struck out on Dan Kolb's "here, hit it" fastball, Aramis Ramirez walked to load the bases for... yes, Eric Karros again, who had grounded out yesterday in a similar situation, though not in the 9th.

He hit a screaming line drive at Conti, who made a diving, stretched-out catch to end the game. Yes, a game of inches. Yes, that's a cliche. Four inches or so higher or lower, and the ball gets by Conti to the wall, and the game ends with a 3-2 Cubs win.

Instead, it's a frustrating 2-0 loss to the Brewers, and a deficit of 2 1/2 games to the Cardinals, who won their game today, though only 1 1/2 behind the Astros, who lost two of three to the Padres at home, before heading out on a ten-game road trip starting tomorrow in Los Angeles. That makes it absolutely imperative that the Cubs win at least 3 of the 5 games vs. St. Louis coming up beginning tomorrow. Fortunately, our top four pitchers -- plus "TBA" -- will face the Cardinals, and though Dusty Baker never listens to my advice, I'd start Felix Sanchez against them in the second game on Tuesday, presuming Sanchez is in fact called up. He's got a great arm, and he's a lefthander who might actually get hitters out.

I thought Juan Cruz threw pretty well today, after a shaky first inning, but he was pretty well done after throwing 90 pitches into the 6th, which has been his problem all along as a starter -- stamina. The bullpen did a good job today of shutting the Brewers down, but the Cubs couldn't do anything, hitting into three double plays, and running themselves into another one when Ramon Martinez had a brain fart in the first and got picked off after Sammy struck out.

This thing can still be done. But there are now only twenty-seven games remaining, and with today's weather, fall is just around the corner. Time grows short.

Update on the guy who got hit in the face yesterday: he got cut pretty bad, but only because of his sunglasses ripping his skin, and he was apparently OK with everything the Cubs did for him. The security EMT's told me that his girlfriend was nasty and rude to them, unfortunately. So maybe it was best for all that the two of them had to leave before BP was even over.

:: posted by Al at 4:56 PM [+] ::
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