"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 27, 2003 ::

WOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Right now I am too excited to truly post on today's incredible experience.

Plus, I am expected at a Rosh Hashanah dinner -- so CONGRATULATIONS to us all, and I'll post on everything tomorrow morning!

On to Atlanta!

:: posted by Al at 7:03 PM [+] ::
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Nineteen...

... years ago, something just like today happened to the Cubs.

They had lost four in a row, and despite the fact that they still had a six-game lead, we were worried.

They went to St. Louis on Sept. 21 and lost 8-0. The next day it rained. And rained. And rained, much like it has today in Chicago. At this writing, 5 pm, it is still raining, and appears that it will for at least three or four more hours, making the call to postpone the game the right one. To make players sit around for nine or ten hours, then make them play at 9 at night, isn't right. Better they should rest up at home for the DH tomorrow.

Anyway, the rest of the story from 1984 -- we were even more worried since the 8-0 loss made it five in a row, and doubleheaders do tend to split.

But on Sept. 23, 1984, a gorgeous day in St. Louis, by the way (I was there), the Cubs swept the DH, winning 8-1 and 4-2, and clinching a tie for the division title.

As of now the weather forecast for tomorrow looks OK -- just cloudy, no rain till evening, and so they ought to be able to get the DH in. WGN radio reported that Cubs management is in discussions with MLB for some way to get the game televised, at least in Chicago, since FOX-TV has exclusive rights to the noon-3 pm time period. Perhaps they will find a way to put the game on at least locally; surely that would generate more ratings for Fox-32, the local Fox station, than the Milwaukee/Houston game would.

Count on MLB to do the thing that makes the least sense, though.

It started raining only about 20 minutes to game time, and when it broke at 2:45 we were hoping it would break up long enough to play five innings, but they didn't even take the tarp off the field. Obviously, they knew it was going to start raining again soon, which it did about 3:20, and right now it is still raining hard and is very dark.

This is also the weekend of the Cubs' annual "tent sale", where they sell some game-used jerseys, bats, and other memorabilia and merchandise they want to clear out. They set up the tent near the corner of Addison & Sheffield, near the Harry Caray statue.

Unlike other years, they are restricting the sale to game ticketholders, and you have to enter through the Sheffield Grill inside the park. They are allowing bleacher ticket holders to walk underneath the stands to go to the sale.

We learned the reason for the restriction was that in the past, dealers were lining up to buy the most desirable stuff, clearing it out within the first hour or so, and not leaving anything good for the mass of the general public. So, I think this move made sense, and I did see a couple things I might pick up tomorrow, when they often bring out a bit more merchandise.

When the game was postponed, Wayne Messmer announced that tickets from today would be good "next year" since both remaining games were sold out. That brought loud boos from the remaining crowd. It is the only thing they could do; there was no option to play a split doubleheader tomorrow, since the Cubs have already used up their allotted 18 night games. (Playoff night games do not count against this limit.)

So, a bit wet, we are home to root on the Brewers tonight. I have learned that Wayne Franklin, tonight's Milwaukee starter, has a bit of extra motivation, having been the PTBNL in last year's Mark Loretta deal with the Astros, and having also (in his mind) not been treated well by the Astros organization when he was there.

Good. Whatever it takes. Go Brewers. Keep hope alive (and dry!).

:: posted by Al at 5:07 PM [+] ::
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Waiting To Exhale

If you're like me you are simply holding your breath.

Or walking around your house muttering under your breath.

Here's an e-mail I received from Carole, written just after last night's game ended (I had shut the computer off by then), in its entirety:

I hate being a Cubs fan. As much as I love the Cubs I hate being their fan. Why oh why can't I just be a fan of oh say the Braves or the Giants. I am a fan of both of those teams. Why can't my passion be for them? Nice, even keel. Productive seasons regularly. You expect to go the playoffs & it's not a gift to be savored. No torture day in, day out, praying for others too help. A bad season would be finishing near the + side of .500. This sucks, yet blows at the same time.

And yet, we love this "torture". We'd take going into the last weekend every season in this spot, right? Tied for first place, with a series at home against a mediocre team?

Of last night's game I can't say too much that you don't already know. The Cubs blew a 4-2 lead and lost to the Reds 9-7, in part because of questionable bullpen decisions by Dusty.

Both Guthrie and Veres have been mediocre this month, and I suspect Veres is still bothered by whatever put him on the DL twice this year. Even though it was only the sixth inning, it might have been time for Farnsworth, Remlinger or even Alfonseca, of all people, who threw a pretty good inning after it was too late.

The good news is that Sammy Sosa hit two home runs, and in the last couple of days has shown signs of breaking out of his monthlong slump. If that carries over into this last series, he could carry the Cubs into the playoffs.

It's all very simple. Win these three games and it doesn't matter what the Astros do; even if they win theirs, you are looking at a tiebreaker game here on Monday, and the Cubs took three of four from Houston last time they were here in August. Of course, Roy Oswalt, who would pitch the tiebreaker for them, was on the DL at the time, and the Cubs would have to go with either Shawn Estes or perhaps even Carlos Zambrano, who did throw 98 pitches last night, but perhaps could come back on three days' rest.

There is still no definitive word on the starting time of any tiebreaker game. The Chicago Sun-Times reported today that it would probably be at 1:20, though I think that's pure speculation.

Mark Prior starts today, having been moved up a day, and I think that's a smart thing. Not only does it mean your best pitcher leads off the series, but it gives Matt Clement an extra day off, to throw tomorrow against Ryan Vogelsong, who pitched very well against the Cubs in Pittsburgh. Like Josh Hall of the Reds, I think the Cubs will solve Vogelsong, seeing him the second time in a week.

The weather forecast for this weekend is iffy; in and out showers today, and probably Sunday, though not tomorrow, and temperatures in the 60's.

Time to end excuses and time to step up. That's what championship teams do.

Oh, and...

GO BREWERS!!!

:: posted by Al at 9:04 AM [+] ::
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Tomorrow

I'm too upset to post about tonight's debacle right now.

Will post in the morning when I can look at tonight with a little perspective.

:: posted by Al at 9:16 PM [+] ::
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Four

We can beat them, just for one day... We can be Heroes, just for one day -- David Bowie

Everyone who's a Cub fan, I think, must have held his or her breath today, thinking about Shawn Estes starting against the Reds.

But you know what, sometimes veteran players, even those who have played very poorly, step up in situations like this. Perhaps the most famous example of this in baseball history happened during the 1929 World Series. A's manager Connie Mack, despite having great pitchers like Lefty Grove on his club, tabbed 35-year-old veteran Howard Ehmke, who had thrown only 54 innings that year, to start the World Series against the Cubs. He sent Ehmke to scout the Cubs late in the season, and Ehmke responded with an 8-hit, one-run complete game, and the A's wound up winning the Series four games to one.

Shawn Estes stepped up tonight, pitching his first complete game and shutout of the year, as the Cubs beat the Reds decisively 8-0, reducing their magic number to four, since the Astros beat the Giants today 2-1, something the Cubs knew before they took the field tonight. You could say this is only the Reds, but this team beat the contending Phillies twice last weekend in Philadelphia, and they were starting Josh Hall, who dominated the Cubs at Wrigley Field a week ago Sunday.

Steve Stone is so good. In the very first inning he said that if Hall didn't throw strikes, the Cubs would score runs in "bunches", and that's precisely what happened. In fact, Paul Bako was again the hitting star, just as he was on the season's opening weekend; that day it was a bases-clearing triple (on which Ken Griffey Jr. separated his shoulder trying for a diving catch, ruining his season), today a bases-clearing double (and Bako did get thrown out trying for third).

In fact, if Paul Bako could play all his games against the Reds, he'd be a Hall of Famer. Think I'm kidding? Look at his lifetime stats vs. Cincinnati (not including today's game):

 G  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB  K SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG   OPS
33  86 13 31  9  2  3  19 14 12  0  1 .360 .446 .616 1.062

That's pretty amazing.

So was Estes, who threw one of the more efficient complete games of the season for the Cubs, with only 108 pitches, and he will be on the playoff roster, and who knows? Another lefty in the bullpen can't hurt, and a game like this ought to do wonders not only for Estes' confidence, but the morale of the entire pitching staff.

It was also good to see Sammy Sosa bust loose with a home run; he's had a miserable month, this in a month where the Cubs are now 17-6, the best September in my lifetime, and perhaps this is a sign of things to come this weekend.

I needed a baseball fix today; I mean, really! It's been four whole days since I've been to a ballgame, so I went to the Ballmall to see the White Sox' home finale against the Yankees, which they won 9-4, giving Esteban Loaiza his 20th win, the first Sox to do so in 10 years, since Jack McDowell won 22 games for the 1993 AL West champs. Ran into Howard & Jon and we sat together, watching Mike Mussina throw five strong innings before the Sox muscled up and scored eight runs off him in the sixth. He won't start again till the Yankees' first Division Series game next Tuesday, and he'd better hope he's more effective than that. Otherwise the mood among the Sox fans was pretty much like today's weather: gloomy and off-and-on-rainy; the game was delayed about 50 minutes, and partly played in a light rainfall.

Got to see quarterback Drew Henson bat today, his third major league at-bat, and his second major league strikeout. Time for him to go back to the NFL, I think.

The Cubs and Shawn Estes made a statement tonight, and with the one-game lead, [cliche meter on] they control their own destiny. Just win.

Hope looks forward to a memorable weekend at Wrigley Field!

:: posted by Al at 8:19 PM [+] ::
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Cosmic Things Really Are Happening

This is a phrase my buddy Mike uses often, when things seem to be lining up the Cubs' way. We hardly ever get to use it, but did often in 1998, and have at times this year.

Today, things really do seem to be lining up. Tonight, I am VERY cautiously optimistic, after Kerry Wood took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and wound up throwing seven one-hit innings, and the Cubs beat the Reds 6-0, and combined with the Astros' almost certain loss to the Giants (at this writing it's not over, but Houston gave up ten runs in the second inning, and still trails 10-0 in the fifth), that puts the Cubs a game up with five to go, and the magic number will be five. Win them all and it doesn't matter what anyone else does.

Naturally, that comes with a lot of caveats. Houston is still a good ballclub, and they have their ace Roy Oswalt going tomorrow, with Shawn Estes, who's been terrible for two months, going for the Cubs. Somehow, I feel Estes has one last great effort in him. If the Cubs do win this thing, Estes won't throw a single meaningful pitch in the postseason. If anyone can motivate him to win tomorrow, Dusty Baker can.

At 13 over .500, this matches the high-water mark of the year (the Cubs were 83-70 after the first game of the DH last Friday).

I can't say enough about Kerry Wood's performance -- as dominant as he was last Wednesday against the Mets, he was better tonight -- only one ball was hit out of the infield, a fly ball out by Jason LaRue just after Wily Mo Pena (and what kind of silly name is that?) beat out a high bouncer to third for the only hit off Wood.

In a way, it was good to have the no-hitter broken up (yes, my son Mark jinxed it by talking about it, as did Chip and Steve, who were incessantly mentioning it -- don't these guys know better?), because Wood had thrown 122 pitches through seven, and if the no-hitter had been intact, Dusty would have had to let him at least try to keep it going. I hate the idea that he'd have gotten the no-no but been totally gassed at 140 pitches or higher. This way he'll be rested for the last game of the regular season on Sunday, against Kip Wells (and Jessica, who was in Pittsburgh on Saturday, got two Kip Wells bobblehead dolls. She promised to bring us one so we can cast a hex on it!)... or dare I say it, if the Cubs clinch something before Sunday, for the first game of the Division Series on Tuesday.

Yeah, I know I shouldn't say that kind of stuff; I'll have to say an extra "They suck!" or two at work tomorrow.

I wanted to call someone but I was too nervous. I wanted to post on the Cubs newsgroup but I couldn't tear myself away from the TV. So Mark & I just watched, and I once again had to remind my 8-year-old: it's not always like this. Savor every moment. This feels special.

Superstition of the day: I have a Cub schedule clipped from the newspaper last spring, which I post on a bulletin board to write each day's score. I've done this every year since the mid-1970's, and I keep a special pen set aside just to use on this schedule. Today, I went looking for that pen, in the spot I always keep it, and it was gone.

With the big win tonight, I'm not going to look for it for the rest of the season. I can catch up with posting scores when the regular season ends.

Let's win it. Hope looks skyward, laughs and grins, and is enjoying first place tonight.

:: posted by Al at 8:49 PM [+] ::
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The Equinox

Astronomical fall began at 5:47 am CT today.

As it does, the Cubs and Astros are tied for first place in the NL Central thanks to the Giants, who beat Houston 6-3 last night.

Six games to go for each team, and I think we can throw out the "easy" or "hard" schedules at this point. The Astros have one advantage that no one has talked about -- the domed stadium. They won't have to sit through any rain delays this week, or have the possibility of a postponed game. According to the advance forecasts, the Cubs should be OK in Cincinnati through Thursday; there is a slight chance of rain here in Chicago this weekend, but you know they'll try to play as scheduled unless there's a monsoon.

One more thought about schedules -- there have been criticisms by various teams about "differing" schedules due to the way the interleague matchups are now scheduled. Between the Cubs and Astros, the Cubs are the ones with the complaint, if there was one to be made.

The two clubs both played the Yankees, Devil Rays and Orioles. Houston played Boston while the Cubs played Toronto.

But the Astros played two series against the Rangers while the Cubs played two series against the White Sox.

Which one would you say had the tougher time?

Six months ago, I think you'd all agree that if we'd been told we'd be in this spot -- tied for first with six games left -- that we'd have absolutely taken that deal, and now we have it. I think the Cubs' pitching rotation is well set up for the remaining games, and suddenly Houston's vaunted bullpen looks vulnerable, having worked hard in St. Louis, and Billy Wagner, nearly untouchable all year, gave up back-to-back homers in the ninth last night.

Hold your breath and your hope in your hands, everyone.

:: posted by Al at 8:22 AM [+] ::
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Stupid People Of The Day Award...

... today, on the Cubs' day off, goes to the managers at the Chicago Transit Authority.

OK, you're asking, what did they do now?

They have decided to discipline an employee who is eight months pregnant.

And why have they done this?

Because she wears her shirt untucked, rather than tucked in according to regulations.

This isn't the first time these morons did this to this particular employee, either. They did it to her the first time she was pregnant, and a manager was reassigned and they had to apologize.

HELLOOOOOOOOO?? Anyone home in there with any freaking common sense?

Do they think that any CTA rider will think less of a pregnant employee because her shirt isn't tucked in?

How people this stupid get into jobs where they can make, much less enforce, idiotic policies like this is beyond me. But maybe I underestimate the stupidity of government bureaucrats.

OK, rant over.

On a baseball-related topic, with the Cubs off today, and wanting to keep close tabs on the pennant race, I bought the MLB.TV one-day package, which they are selling for the ridiculously low price of 99 cents, so I can watch the Astros/Giants game on my computer. If you have a high-speed connection (the site says you have to have at least a 350K+ speed to make it work), why not try it?

Go Giants!

:: posted by Al at 3:47 PM [+] ::
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With A Little Help From Your Friends

... or, as the case may be, your enemies.

You can breathe out now, my friends, and hate the Cardinals again. But they helped the Cubs out the last two days, today coming from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Astros 6-4.

That, combined with the Cubs' impressive 4-1 win over the Pirates in Pittsburgh, cut the deficit in the NL Central to only half a game. As I mentioned earlier today, sometimes blowout losses like last night's can cleanse and rally a team to better things, and it did so today; I imagine Aramis Ramirez felt he had something to prove to the Pirates in what was their last home game of 2003, and he sure did so with his two homers. That gave him 102 RBI for the year (35 as a Cub in 56 games, which would translate to over 100 in a full season).

Mark Prior -- what more can you say about this man who just turned 23 years old, yet seems like he's been in the majors for ten years. In the last six games of the season, Kerry Wood (who finally seems to have arrived) and Prior will start three of them, which gives me great hope. Prior struck out 14 today, even though at times the Pirates were hitting ropes off him; he managed every time he was in trouble to get out of it, but was laboring at the end, having thrown 131 pitches; Mike Remlinger and Joe Borowski did their jobs, and so the rest of the bullpen is well-rested (and Remlinger threw only five pitches and Borowski 12, so they weren't overtaxed either) and with not having to throw again till Tuesday night, the club is in good shape.

Not so with Houston, whose pitching staff slogged through 13 innings yesterday and used five relievers today and has to play seven games in seven days, beginning tomorrow against the Giants. All of Houston's games are at home; the Giants have a winning record on the road and as I've said, I do believe Felipe Alou has enough integrity to play his regulars in these important games. Barry Bonds, for one, has plenty of motivation; he's three homers away from tying his godfather, Willie Mays, for third on the all-time list, and he's always hit well in whatever they are calling the ballpark in Houston this month. To Alou's credit, he is resting many of his regulars today against the Dodgers, presumably so they'll be ready to face Houston tomorrow.

The Cubs' pitching staff broke the major league single-season team record for strikeouts today, with Prior's 14 and Remlinger's one, and now totals 1352 for the season, with a chance to get to 1400 or more with six games remaining. The record was held... by the 2001 Cubs. The Cub staff will also accomplish something that has never been done by an NL team (it was done once in the AL, by the 1968 Cleveland Indians) -- they will have more strikeouts than hits allowed; with the six games left they have 1263 hits allowed. (The Dodgers will also accomplish that milestone this season.)

Speaking of help, the Braves and Reds also helped out the Cubs today by defeating the wild-card-leading Marlins and Phillies, respectively, so the Cubs trail Florida by 1.5 games and Philadelphia by 1, and the Marlins host the Phillies in a 3-game series beginning Tuesday (after Florida finishes their wrap-around series against Atlanta tomorrow).

The Reds could help the Cubs out again this week, and the Cubs will not face Josh Hall, who tied them in knots a week ago at Wrigley Field. Matchups for the Reds series:

Tuesday: Wood vs. Etherton
Wednesday: Zambrano vs. Bale
Thursday: well.....

The Reds will start, of all people, former Cub Todd Van Poppel. Dusty is keeping his options open. His latest thinking is to hold Matt Clement till Saturday at home, giving him two extra days of rest, and then Prior will go Friday and Wood next Sunday against the Pirates. So, Juan Cruz, or, as I shuddered earlier today, Shawn Estes, might go on Thursday.

Spent part of the afternoon listening to the game on the radio as I attended yet another of my son Mark's fall-league baseball games, which his team won impressively, 15-1. Even better was the fact that the team his club beat was... the Yankees.

Hope is most definitely alive, and being fitted for a Giants cap tonight.

:: posted by Al at 5:10 PM [+] ::
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Be Careful What You Wish For

This entire month has been so tense, so filled with close games going both ways that I've been dying, begging, for a blowout to relieve some of that tension. The only blowout win this month was the 9-2 win at Milwaukee on September 7, the one I missed completely because I was on the plane to San Juan at the time.

Well, we got one last night, only not quite the blowout we wanted. The Pirates beat the Cubs 8-2 last night, a very dispiriting loss that had me turning away from the TV for a while.

In a way, losses like this can be cleansing, can break some of the tension and that's what I'm hoping: that it works as kind of reverse psychology on the ballclub, knowing that even though they got beat badly, they didn't lose any ground, just a day off the calendar, true, at a time when you really can't afford to do that, but there's still a week left.

With a week left in 1998, the Cubs and Mets were tied and the Giants were three games behind, seemingly hopelessly out of it. The Giants won five in a row and the Mets lost five in a row and that forced the memorable tiebreaker game.

Matt Clement looked like he was laboring from the very first inning and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before he got hammered all over the yard; he was lucky he made it last till the fourth inning. Even at that, a couple of the hits, including Jose Hernandez' two-run single, were bleeders that just barely got through the infield. Now, Dusty is talking about holding Clement back a couple of days and not starting him again till next Saturday at home, and filling in his slot in Cincinnati with Cruz or shudder! Estes (though Estes is 1-0 with a decent 3.75 ERA against the Reds in 12 IP this year).

Fortunately, that leaves two starts for both Mark Prior, including today, and Kerry Wood, and both of them have stepped up big-time in this 14-6 September. And since the Cardinals finally decided that they could actually beat the Astros (what does Tony LaRussa think we're going to think after Matt Morris was quoted as saying he hoped the Astros win, and then he got the crap beat out of him by those same Astros?), perhaps the Cubs could go into the final week only a half-game out. Houston still has a series left with the Giants, and though SF has already clinched, they still have home-field advantage to play for, and I believe Felipe Alou has enough integrity as a manager to play at least most of his starters during the series.

One thing is certain: Wendell Kim must go. We all used to rip on Gene Glynn, Don Baylor's 3B coach, hired as a crony, as are so many coaches. But I have also talked to Red Sox fans who used to pull their hair out when Kim was the 3B coach there.

What was he thinking when he sent Randall Simon on Jason Kendall's wild throw on a dropped third strike with two out in the sixth? Simon runs like he has two pianos on his back, and the Cubs could have had runners on second and third with the pitcher's spot up, which probably would have pushed Lloyd McClendon into pulling Ryan Vogelsong (who threw really well, yet another young pitcher the Cubs obviously didn't scout too well), and going into his weak bullpen, possibly getting Eric Karros up there, and maybe turning a 6-1 game into a 6-3 game, and then who knows?

It's time to stop putting a crony or pal in as your 3B coach, which can be a tremendously important job. Save that for your bench coach.

So Wendell must go, and take Antonio Alfonseca with you, will you? The Cubs' two rookie pitchers, Felix Sanchez and Sergio Mitre, threw better than 6F last night.

Finally, I have been doing this at work for the last few weeks, and it's worked surprisingly well. My co-workers say "How about those Cubs?" and I say in return, "They suck!" and when I do that, they win. Of course, I was off work yesterday. I may have to start calling in on my days off, just to do this.

Hope today is jittery, but still alive.

:: posted by Al at 11:19 AM [+] ::
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