"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, June 12, 2004 ::

Untitled

I've been sitting here racking my brains trying to come up with a cute or clever or game-related title for today's post and I just can't.

I will tell you that when this year's schedule came out, this weekend was one that immediately jumped out at me as "potential road trip", since I have not been to a game in Anaheim since the stadium was still known as "The Big A", back in 1975, and I have many friends in the LA area.

That was before Brian announced that he and Kristy were getting married today, and I'll be attending later on this afternoon, so that scotched that idea.

Instead I spent yesterday taking my kids bowling, of all things -- Rachel had a birthday party at the bowling alley (and right after we got there, they turned on the laser lights and turned the lights off and the pins turned day-glo colors -- I guess that's what they have to do now to get Gen X into bowling), and Mark and I stayed to bowl one line (he scored 71, I had 120, not bad considering I haven't picked up a bowling ball in about 20 years).

Naturally, I can't watch the end of many West Coast games because yes, even on Saturdays I have to get up for work, and today being no exception, I missed the end of the rather dull 3-2 Cub loss to the Angels at Anaheim, a very simple case of Greg Maddux pitching well but John Lackey throwing just a bit better, in front of a sellout crowd of 43,764 that included a loud contingent of Cub fans.

The Cubs, of course, play Anaheim several times every spring training, but this is the first regular-season interleague series between the two clubs. In fact, after next weekend when the A's visit Wrigley Field, the Cubs will have played every AL team once... except for the Red Sox.

It was also Dusty Baker's first visit to the newly-renamed "Angel Stadium of Anaheim" (and that's so boring, I almost prefer the old corporate "Edison Field" name) since his 2002 Giants lost the World Series there, on October 27, 2002, with guess who on the mound?

That's right, the very same John Lackey who came into last night's game with an ERA of 5.95 (and 0-4 with a 7.66 ERA in his previous five starts), lowered to 5.30 with his 7-inning, two-run performance. Greg Maddux was nearly as good, but allowed one more run. I note the following from the game story:

[In the fourth inning] Jose Guillen [tripled] off the wall in center... Corey Patterson had a play on the ball, but appeared to think he was closer to the fence than he was. He leaped high enough, but the ball hit the fence a foot from his glove.

I had fallen asleep by the time this play happened, so I cannot comment on it.

Got an e-mail from Jessica, who despite the fact that she lives in New York, did stay up to watch the end of the game, with the subject line "You were RIGHT to sleep through the end", saying:

To paraphrase Maddux, it doesn't matter that he pitched good, the bottom line is we lost the game. Not his best start but more than good enough to win against a pitcher with Lackey's stats. Apparently if you are in a slump (Oswalt, Lackey and others) and or your E.R.A is well past six (half of the D'backs & Pirates rotations), JUST PLAY THE CUBS AND YOU WILL LOOK LIKE CY YOUNG

Great now CARDINALS go into first.

Keep in mind that Jessica is probably the world's biggest Greg Maddux fan and she gets more nervous than usual when he's on the mound.

The loss dropped the Cubs into fifth place, percentage points behind the Brewers. But remember, it is only the second week of June. There are 102 games left to be played. I keep reminding people who are too young to remember, that Cub teams themselves had leads even bigger than the deficit they are now facing, and blew those leads (and a year ago after 60 games, the eventual World Champion Marlins were 27-33), and that the Cubs have three key players still on the DL. Tom Goodwin was activated yesterday, with David Kelton sent back to Iowa, but did not play. I was in favor of DH'ing Michael Barrett, with Paul Bako starting, but Dusty opted for Todd Hollandsworth.

Hollandsworth had two hits and an RBI, but this had the effect of replacing Barrett in the lineup with Jose Macias, which is never a good idea (despite the fact that Macias drove in the other run).

Sammy Sosa's return is now only six games away. Patience.

:: posted by Al at 4:50 AM [+] ::
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Movie Review: "The Terminal"

I love doing this!

At the last minute yesterday, the radio station with which my employer shares a building, passed out free passes to a preview screening of this movie, which doesn't open nationally till next Friday.

So take this, Roger Ebert! MY review gets read first!

This is a Steven Spielberg-directed film. Spielberg used to direct sci-fi epics, but in recent years has turned more to fun stuff like "Catch Me If You Can", and in this film, a comedy, Tom Hanks, who was in "CMIYC", plays Viktor Navorski, from Krakhozia, an Eastern European country that seems vaguely like one of the old Soviet republics.

He is arriving at JFK Airport (played, of course, by Mirabel Airport in Montreal, since most US films these days seem to be fleeing for Canada -- the clue is the destination "BRUXELLES" that is shown on the airport board at one point. That's the French spelling of "BRUSSELS", of course, but it wouldn't have been shown that way at JFK. Anyway.) for a visit to New York, but due to a revolution in Krakhozia, he is told by Stanley Tucci, playing with great gusto a man who is up for a big promotion in the Homeland Security detail at JFK, that all return flights have been cancelled but he cannot enter the US because the US has not recognized his government, and so he must stay in the airport.

This character, though NOT the specific story, is loosely based on the story of Merhan Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian who was expelled from Iran in 1988 and has been living at Degaulle Airport in Paris ever since, even though he was given permission to leave in 2001.

So, Spielberg and the writers have their setup, as Hanks, who begins the film speaking only a few words of English, walks forlornly into the terminal.

And you're thinking, OK, this makes a good half-hour sitcom.

Hanks makes it work, because he is one of the great actors of our time. He is absolutely believable as he gets in people's way (including several hilarious airport workers, who at first don't like him very much, but soon befriend him), and learns English from the TV monitors in the terminal.

Every day, he goes to the INS office to try to get his form stamped, and every day, the young female officer stamps "DENIED". Soon, the airport food worker who is secretly in love with this INS agent, enlists Hanks' help in wooing her -- I thought of what Steve Martin did for his friend in "Roxanne".

I haven't even touched on the sweet romance that blooms between the harried flight attendant played by Catherine Zeta-Jones (and though it was a good character, Zeta-Jones' American accent needs work), and there is one scene where an airport cleanup worker played by Indian actor Kumar Pallana, who according to his bio at the Internet Movie Database is 85 years old, makes us all laugh with something that seems like an amazingly silly thing to do, but simply brings Hanks and Zeta-Jones closer.

In the end, we finally learn what's brought Viktor Navorski to New York, something you almost forget in all the humor, and it's a touching story of a son's love for his father. Of this I will say no more.

This isn't heavy stuff at all, it's funny (and I mean truly funny in spots, not just the typical "movie laughs") and it's also sweet and poignant. Hanks is wonderful as always and Spielberg's direction is top-notch.

I've always wanted to say this:

"Opens Friday, June 18 at a theater near you!"

AYRating: *** 1/2

:: posted by Al at 5:19 PM [+] ::
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Not To Be Left Out...

The Cubs, I suppose, felt left out as the only team playing in Chicago to not score ten runs this week (the Cardinals, White Sox and Phillies all enjoying double-digit scores in the last two days), and so they did it all in one inning and coasted to an easy 12-3 win over the Cardinals today, splitting the series (and homestand) with what had to be termed a must-win.

I'll let you in on a secret. Howard showed up late, with a sandwich of his own from Jimmy John's (I hadn't asked him to bring me one today) and he ceremonially dropped a tomato piece on my scorecard, right in the fifth inning.

You're saying, no, the Cubs scored the ten runs in the fourth inning, and you'd be right.

But by the time they reached the tomato square, which was at Derrek Lee's position, they had already batted around, and Lee's homer was the tenth run of the inning, and the square that I scored this in, was in exactly that place, in the fifth inning.

So, Howard and I are now completely convinced of the Tomato Luck. We are not certain whether it can be any tomato, or whether it has to be one from Jimmy John's. We decided not to take any chances for a while, and keep the Jimmy John's luck going, which we will continue next week when the Cubs return home against the A's, and when Sammy Sosa, if all goes well, will return to the lineup.

The ten-run inning was the first for the Cubs since August 29, 2002, when Mark Bellhorn homered from both sides of the plate in the fourth, but the Cubs had to weather a 6-run Milwaukee rally in the 9th before nailing down a 13-10 win. It was the first ten-run inning at home for the Cubs since September 11, 1990, when the first eleven Cubs reached base and the first ten scored (without a homer), and the Cubs beat the Expos 11-6.

Today was even more interesting, as all ten of the runs scored after two were out.

Obligatory Corey Patterson knock: he was caught stealing for the second out, with the score still 1-0 Cubs, or the inning might have been even bigger. The Cubs tied the post-1900 club record for hits in an inning with 11 (set in the famous 26-23 game on August 25, 1922, which is the highest-scoring game in MLB history, post-1900), and nine of them were consecutive, right after the caught-stealing, which is only one short of the major league record, held by seven teams, including that 1922 Cubs team.

Moises Alou and Derrek Lee both smashed long home runs off Dan Haren, who had been hastily recalled from Triple-A to start in place of Jason Marquis, who had the dreaded back spasms. Haren became the first starter in baseball to allow ten earned runs since... yesterday, when Jon Garland of the White Sox gave the Phillies ten runs in the 13-10 White Sox loss.

At first it didn't appear the game would be played at all; it rained most of the morning, but then a sliver of clearing hit only the immediate Chicago area while the rest of northern Illinois was being poured on; still, there appeared to be only a couple of thousand no-shows in the announced sellout of 38,707, and the sun appeared briefly, though a soft gentle rain started falling again in the sixth, not hard enough to stop play. It got so weird that the second pitcher to pinch-hit in this series appeared, Woody Williams batting for Julian Tavarez. Like his counterpart Glendon Rusch, Williams actually hit the ball, flying out to right field.

Both David Kelton and Jason Dubois got some playing time today, and both made outs in their only at-bats. I'd expect Dubois to be sent back to Iowa when Sammy Sosa returns next week.

Carlos Zambrano came out after the big inning and promptly gave up the no-hitter he was working on when John Mabry homered to left after a walk, but otherwise Z was on today; he struck out seven in improving to 7-2. I quibble again with Dusty for leaving him in to throw 121 pitches; when you have a 12-man staff, why not use it? Francis Beltran finished up, allowing a solo HR to Ray Lankford. Beltran threw only three pitches yesterday -- why not let him throw two innings?

Finally, there was an unscheduled giveaway today, a scratch-off card. I wound up winning something -- didn't know what from the card -- and had to wait in a very long line to discover that I had won a can of nuts, to be mailed to my house. Some people won jerseys or jackets, but others got coupons for free cereal. One of the other bleacherites (seven of us) who was walked over by security, said as we were waiting in line, "This was about the most ill-conceived promotion they've ever had here."

Amen, brother.

:: posted by Al at 4:50 PM [+] ::
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Corey Patterson, Five-Tool Player

These tools are, I believe, as follows: chainsaw, ball-peen hammer, Phillips-head screwdriver, socket wrench and nail remover.

That last one is the one you hear all of us trying to use after having Corey Patterson, Superstar, pounded into our heads today.

My god, Corey, you're great. Got a bunt hit in the second inning. Gosh, that's what -- one or two this year? Oh, and then you smacked an opposite-field homer in the fourth with a man on. SSSSSSTYLIN'!!! You even drew another four-pitch walk today, the third one you've drawn this year!

So you must have been pretty proud of yourself, Corey, after the Cubs had fought back and went into the eighth inning down only two runs, 6-4, in a game that seemed like it started last week. You must have been thinking about seeing yourself on Baseball Tonight, or maybe getting your picture in the paper, or maybe Jay Mariotti would write a column saying how hopeful he was for you, because I can't think of any other explanation for the two bonehead plays you made in the Cardinal eighth that opened the way for their six-run inning that put this interminable game, a 12-4 Cub loss to the Cardinals, away.

If you didn't see it, let me describe these two plays to you. So Taguchi led off the inning with what should have been a routine fly to Corey. He didn't turn the wrong way. He didn't misjudge it. He basically ignored it until it flew way over his head for a triple. Howard, Jeff and I were staring at him in disbelief.

Three batters later, Tony Womack slammed a ball over Five-Tool Corey's head for a double, and that was basically the ballgame,, though Mike Remlinger could have gotten out of it with only three runs scored if the intentional walk to Scott Rolen (after Remlinger fell behind 3-0) hadn't been followed by a long opposite-field homer from Jim Edmonds.

Dusty Baker was quoted in Dan McGrath's column in today's Tribune as comparing Patterson's talent to Lou Brock's. The point of the column was that Brock was having similar woes to what Patterson is going through now, and after the June 15, 1964 trade to the Cardinals, he suddenly blossomed into the Hall of Famer he became. Patterson even wears Brock's #20 (Brock, however, wore #24 as a Cub).

Dusty sees Lou Brock in Patterson. I see Oddibe McDowell, or worse, Junior Felix, both of whom have very high "similarity scores" to Corey at this stage of his career. Both McDowell and Felix were talented and touted rookies who had some success young (as Corey did before last year's injury), but both of them couldn't stop swinging at horrible pitches (as Corey did today in the ninth to end the game -- no sense SSSSSSTYLIN'!!! if 3/4 of the crowd is gone and your team is down by eight runs, right?), and both were basically done at age 27.

The essential difference between Patterson and Brock is this: Brock was being mishandled by Cub management at the time. They were trying to turn him into another Billy Williams, a power hitter, which was not what Brock's skills were suited for. As soon as he got to the Cardinals, they let him play his game and he bloomed.

Patterson thinks he doesn't need coaching, and that he is a power hitter. That's not his skill set either, and he either won't listen to coaching or he's simply not getting any.

(For an explanation of Similarity Scores, click here.)

This was a dog of a game from the beginning. It was clear that Mark Prior didn't have command of any of his pitches, and even at that he struggled into the fourth down only 1-0. Then he lost his control completely and issued three walks and a long grand slam to Edgar Renteria, of all people. This was one of the worst, if not the worst, starts of Prior's career.

Jon Leicester did wind up making his major league debut, in a situation where the Cubs were down only two runs, and he made it three. This was necessary because the game was in danger of getting out of hand early. And, once again, I rail against the 12-man pitching staff because as a result, Dusty was forced to use Glendon Rusch to bat for Leicester in the fifth. Rusch homered in his start on Monday, and he did actually make good contact and it took a nice running catch by Marlon Anderson in left field to rob him of a line-drive double.

But still -- why should you have to use a pitcher to pinch-hit in the fifth inning of a game you are losing by three runs, with a runner in scoring position?

And in the inning prior to that, batting for Francis Beltran (who was more or less wasted today, facing one batter and throwing three pitches), why did he have David Kelton bunting?

For heaven's sake, Dusty. There's nobody out and a runner on second and two runs in and Kelton's a power hitter, or at least that's the rumors we've heard. LET HIM SWING THE BAT!!! After three meek attempts to sacrifice Ramon Martinez to third, Kelton struck out.

As if that weren't enough, the bad blood that started last September between these clubs came out today. Tony LaRussa apparently took offense at Prior's wildness (he threw way inside to both Taguchi and Edmonds, but he was just off, not doing any purpose-pitching), and either he ordered Matt Morris (or more likely, Morris, who can't stand the Cubs, did it himself) to throw up and in to Derrek Lee in the fifth, knocking him down. Predictably, both benches and the dugouts cleared, and Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina had to grab Lee and pull him away from the scrum. Guess who was the first one racing out of the Cardinal bullpen? Yup, that noted head case and ex-Cub Julian Tavarez.

No punches were thrown (where were you, Kyle Farnsworth?) and order was restored quickly. Lee wound up drawing a walk and scored on Ramon Martinez' double, which at the time cut the lead to 6-4.

It was either the muggy weather (it sprinkled for about five minutes at gametime, then was partly sunny for the rest of the day) or the poor play, but there seemed to be more of the drunken beach party attitude out there today. One very drunk woman (who had to announce that she was from Texas) spent an inning harassing Bill, the nice security guard who helps keep our section under control. I don't think she even knew what zip code she was in.

Sign seen: "ESPN: Give Us A Job". I don't know if they were successful or not, but I'll bet they got themselves on TV.

Sight seen: two guys wearing full Phillies garb. I thought they were lost, then I remembered the Phillies are in town playing at the Cell tonight and tomorrow night. Cool for those two to see their own team, and also be able to catch a National League game at the same time.

Carlos Zambrano, who has been our most consistent starter all year, will go tomorrow, and a win will at least salvage a .500 homestand, to prepare for a tough road trip to Anaheim and Houston. There is a forecast of thunderstorms tomorrow, and the Cardinals return to Chicago only once more this year, for a two-game series July 19 and 20, so you know they'll do whatever they can to get this one in.

Finally, I didn't have Howard pick me up a sandwich today, so there was no tomato spill on my scorecard. In fact, I spent the first inning trying to keep it dry from the sprinkles that came out of the sky. Maybe I should have let it rain.

:: posted by Al at 7:22 PM [+] ::
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The Hidden Game Of Baseball

Sometimes, it's what happens before the game even starts that is either:

a) more interesting or

b) more significant

than the game itself.

OK, maybe I'm pouring it on here a little, but we had a very significant time before tonight's impressive 7-3 Cub win over the Cardinals.

First of all, Sammy Sosa hit in the batting cage with the regulars, something he wasn't expected to do for several days. He hit several balls into the bleachers, and didn't appear to be in any pain whatsoever.

I don't want to get overoptimistic, but we'll have to see how Sammy feels tomorrow. He may be closer to being back than anyone could have dreamed.

This was also my son Mark's season debut at Wrigley Field, a treat since tomorrow is the last day of school. He spent the entire BP trying to get Greg Maddux to throw him a ball; Maddux seemed more interested in throwing them to a young woman standing across the aisle from Mark. The woman was nice enough to give Mark one of the baseballs, so he was happy for the night -- and no, I did not give in and buy him a bag of sugar (read: cotton candy) tonight. This was his first time back at the Yard since game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, and perhaps we exorcised some of those demons tonight, though Miles showed up around game time and pulled out some headphones that looked eerily like Steve Bartman's.

Then, just as Cardinals BP was ending, I was walking back to my seat to see a Jim Edmonds drive aiming at my head. I moved out of the way and it grazed me on the right temple, knocking my sunglasses off and temporarily knocking one of the side pieces off (I shoved it back in). Then the ball went on to hit a woman who wasn't watching, square in the side of the head, knocking her over. The paramedics who are stationed at our stairs came right over and tended to her, and she did go to first aid with a bag of ice on her head. She was talking and said she was fine, and later we all saw her with a couple of mai tai's, so I suppose all was well.

But the most important thing in kickstarting the Cub offense was the sandwich Howard brought me from Jimmy John's -- where he stops nearly every day, and where many days I'll ask him to pick up "the usual" -- a turkey sub with tomatoes, onions and mayo.

No, I'm serious. While I was eating the sandwich, right before the national anthem, a tomato slid out of the sandwich and plopped right on the Cub third inning on my then-blank scorecard.

When did the Cubs explode? Right there in the bottom of the third. So now I am going to have to get the sandwich every day, and we'll see where the tomato falls.

Six straight hits produced the four-run explosion, and it would have been more if Jose Macias, who led off with a single, hadn't been caught stealing. Derrek Lee had three doubles, and should have been credited with a triple in the fifth, when a single he hit bounced over Jim Edmonds' glove -- Edmonds never touched the ball. It appears that Lee is indeed starting to turn the offense on in his traditional month to do so, June, and not a moment too soon. All in all the Cubs had five doubles and thirteen hits, without hitting a single homer, proving (you listening, Corey Patterson?) that you do not have to hit home runs to have a good offensive game at Wrigley Field. The Cubs also improved their night-game record to 10-17 (20-10 in day games, and thankfully, the next two games are afternoon affairs).

Matt Clement threw another really nice game tonight, allowing only five hits over his eight innings, and two of them were solo homers by Scott Rolen (who is leading the free world in RBI with 62). He struck out nine, and Mike commented that this was a Fergie Jenkins-style game, and I agreed -- Fergie used to do this all the time, give up solo homers to good hitters, and shut down everyone else. Clement threw 113 pitches, which isn't too many, and though Pat Hughes called it a "difficult, hot, humid night" on his radio post-game show, it really wasn't -- once the sun went down it was pretty pleasant, and there was a nice breeze going most of the evening, even though the game-time temperature was reported as 90 degrees.

I was puzzled by Dusty's choice of LaTroy Hawkins in a non-save situation -- with that expansive 12-man pitching staff, why use your closer when you have a day game tomorrow? This would have been a good spot to test out Francis Beltran in a situation where the game wasn't too close, but close enough, and some challenging hitters (Ray Lankford, Reggie Sanders) came up to bat. Luckily, Hawkins dispatched the Cardinals in a quick 12 pitches, so he can go tomorrow.

There was an interesting situation brought up in the Cardinal eighth, when Roger Cedeno disagreed with a strike call and dawdled getting back to the batter's box. Plate umpire Rick Reed emphatically pointed to the box (you could almost hear him saying "Get back in there!") and at that point Cedeno slammed his bat to the ground and was ejected. This shows you why Cedeno, despite obvious talent, is on his sixth team.

Anyway, Japanese outfielder So Taguchi (I even got Mike to threaten to whack me with the clipboard by saying "He is SO Taguchi") was sent up to pinch-hit with the count 0-2 and struck out.

The at-bat is charged to Cedeno, per major league rule 10.17(b):

When the batter leaves the game with two strikes against him, and the substitute batter completes a strikeout, charge the strikeout and the time at bat to the first batter. If the substitute batter completes the turn at bat in any other manner, including a base on balls, score the action as having been that of the substitute batter.

It's odd, but that's the way it works. If Taguchi had done anything other than strike out, he'd have had his own at-bat, but by swinging at strike three, he got a strikeout charged to Cedeno's stat line. Serves Cedeno right.

Prior vs. Morris tomorrow. That ought to be fun.

:: posted by Al at 10:16 PM [+] ::
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Asking For Trouble

It was announced today that the Cubs/White Sox game on Sunday, July 4, will be played at 7:05 pm CDT and be on ESPN.

Let's see.

You have a holiday weekend with many people having Monday off. You have Sox and Cub fans, who don't like each other to begin with, facing off three times at Wrigley Field, and for the third game, you're going to let them drink all day Sunday and then come to the ballpark?

If I were the city I'd get way extra police presence in the area around Wrigley Field on that date.

ESPN didn't do the Cubs any scheduling favors, either. The Sox have Monday, July 5 off and then have a home game on Tuesday. The Cubs have to now play that night game at home -- and then play a 1:05 pm game in Milwaukee on Monday.

This also means that the other two Sunday games listed as "TBD" on the schedule -- August 1 against Philadelphia, and August 29 against Houston, must become day games, because the July 4 game would be the 22nd night game listed, which is the limit for 2004. August 1 and 29 are still listed as "TBD" on the Cubs website, but I'd be surprised if they were allowed these extra night dates.

And so it goes.

:: posted by Al at 2:14 PM [+] ::
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Stupid

I had just gotten finished telling Mike, and Howard, and my friend Miles from the Cubs newsgroup, who is in town this week from Atlanta (and who spent a good portion of the game in an Ernie-like rant against the advertising on the new side scoreboards), how stupid it was that Dusty Baker let Glendon Rusch hit for himself in the bottom of the fifth, having thrown 87 pitches, down 4-1... when Rusch hit the first homer by a Cub pitcher this season.

It was almost as funny as the three-run homer Mitch Williams hit against the Mets back in 1989, one of only three major league hits the Wild Thing had.

We weren't laughing. We tried karma. We tried to make every play seem stupid. Turns out it was, as the Cubs lost to the Cardinals 4-3.

Rusch actually threw a pretty good game, finishing seven innings and throwing 112 pitches. He had only one inning in which he made any mistakes, and he made two of them, and they both wound up on Waveland Avenue, back-to-back homers by Scott Rolen and Reggie Sanders.

The Cub offense was fairly moribund again today. Carole's favorite player, Corey Patterson (Carole has been yelling "Corey sucks" for several weeks now, and Mike, who works at an art studio, made her a "Corey Sucks" sticker for her clipboard, matching the "Yankees Suck" one that has been there for several years), actually hit a homer today, into the LF basket, and of course, this is about the worst thing that could have happened to him, since that convinces him that he's a home run hitter, and he promptly had one of the worst at-bats of his season (and that's saying a lot), popping up weakly to right with two runners in scoring position in his next at-bat, and then striking out on a terrible pitch in the dirt in the ninth.

Oh, but wait, I'm not finished. In today's installment of "Wendell Kim Must Go", after the Cubs had come back to 4-3 on Rusch's homer, he sent Jose Macias home with one out when Moises Alou hit what was not even a medium-deep fly ball to center. Macias, who had a decent game with a double and some nice plays in the OF (to chants of "Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose..." -- you know the tune), was out by 20 feet.

Maybe Wendell needs glasses. Or a stepladder. Or something, maybe a book on "Baserunning Fundamentals".

The rest of the game showed up the weakness of the Cub bench with Sammy Sosa out. Todd Hollandsworth sat today for Macias, and that was fine, but then he was wasted in the seventh pinch-hitting for Rusch. Yes, he got a hit, but it was with two out, and with him unavailable (and puzzlingly, then Dusty sent David Kelton to run for him -- why you would waste a runner in that situation, with a five-man bench and twelve pitchers on the roster, I have no idea), the Cubs were forced to send Jason Dubois to pinch-hit for Rey Ordonez (this really sounds like we are describing an Iowa/Omaha game, doesn't it?) in the 9th, and he was completely overmatched against Jason Isringhausen.

It wasn't all bad today. Derrek Lee showed some more signs of coming out of his slump, smacking an RBI double in the fourth and a screaming line drive in the ninth that Rolen made a nice defensive stab on.

There is talk that when Mark Grudzielanek comes back (and that may be as soon as this weekend), the 12th pitcher will be cut (that's likely to be Jon Leicester, who was called up when Joe Borowski was put on the DL). I predict right now that if this happens, unless there is a long extra-inning game, or a blowout, Leicester will not throw a pitch before he is sent back to Iowa. So why bother having him here? Why not have that extra bench guy? I know I've been on this one note for a long time, but tonight, the lack of flexibility (and I suppose maybe there is something wrong with Todd Hollandsworth that forced Dusty to run for him) may have cost the Cubs the game.

It was the first really warm night of the year, and of course that brought out a large number of drunk idiots all over the RF bleachers; by the ninth inning, even with it being a one-run game, there were a dozen or so ejections, with the usual "What did I do??" attitude or worse, the holding up of the arms in triumph as you are led off to Cubbie Jail look. Pathetic.

The Cubs are now 3-4 on the homestand, and really must take the next three games, before heading out on a tough stretch of schedule that includes the Angels, the Astros, the Athletics, another series with the Cardinals, and then the White Sox.

Hang in there. It is still only the first week of June. Enjoy the transit of Venus early tomorrow morning. This astronomical event will occur again eight years from now in 2012, then not again till 2117.

By then, I'm sure the Cubs will have won at least one World Series.

:: posted by Al at 9:51 PM [+] ::
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Groundhog Day

Let's see... checklist:

* Losing team scores first

* Bullpen blows save

* Pirate pitcher looks unhittable for six innings

* Cub player hits home run

* Pirate player allows a run to score on an error

And, this time the Cubs win, 4-1.

Didn't we see this game yesterday? I half-expected Bill Murray to crawl out of the ivy and sing. Oh, wait a minute -- he did that on Opening Day, all but the crawling out of the ivy part. It really did feel like Murray's 1993 film in which he keeps waking up to the same day over and over (incidentally, though set in Pennsylvania, most of "Groundhog Day" was shot in the Chicago suburb of Woodstock).

For six innings the Cubs made Ryan Vogelsong look like Nolan Ryan. I said to Mike that this wasn't Ryan Vogelsong at all, but Nolan Ryan's illegitimate son Vogelsong Ryan. Apparently Vogelsong was given a win-or-be-sent-to-Triple-A edict, and he pitched like it for six innings, until...

The Cubs' daily home run, today hit by Aramis Ramirez, tied the game at 1. The Pirates briefly argued, because this homer did something I had never seen before. It landed in the LF basket, then dropped out of the basket onto the top of the ivy, where it couldn't be found by Rob Mackowiak. All the umpires immediately signaled home run, though, and there was no real argument by temporary manager Pete MacKanin. The Cubs then took the lead on a Michael Barrett sacrifice fly, and added two runs in the eighth partly on the aforementioned error, and also on a single by Jose Macias. Both Mike and I shook our heads when Dusty Baker sent him up to pinch-hit for Todd Hollandsworth. Lefty-righty, you know (lefty Mike Johnston was in the game). OK, I'll say that Mike used much more colorful language than just head-shaking. Naturally, he immediately proved Dusty right by singling in the third run.

Greg Maddux threw his best game of the year so far, striking out six, walking nobody and allowing only three singles (one a bunt that he fielded but had to eat) and a double. This was only Maddux' third start in which he did not allow a homer (the others, a 6-1 win in San Diego on May 14, and oddly, the home opener against these same Pirates), and he lowered his ERA to 4.13, in gaining his 294th career victory.

Mike said, and I agree, that the Pirates were playing this game like it was a September pennant-race game. They did a double-switch; replaced a pinch-hitter (Ruben Mateo) before he batted; and no fewer than four of their players played two positions, including Jason Bay, who didn't come into the game until the seventh.

Jon spent some time talking to a writer from Los Angeles who has decided that bleacher regulars like us are "interesting" and wants to write about us, so we're going to send all our e-mail addresses. Jeff and I were mock-fighting about who gets to be Media Whore this time. I figure since he got his picture in the paper last month, that it's my turn.

At long last, Joe Borowski was placed on the 15-day disabled list today.

All I can say is, it's about time. It was clear from almost the beginning of spring training that Joe was hurt, and you want to applaud the guy for not shirking, and for wanting to prove that he was worth the two-year deal to which he was signed, but three things -- the fact that he didn't throw strikes like he did last year, the fact that he didn't have command of his breaking ball, and finally, the obvious loss of velocity, pointed to injury.

The odd thing is that no one's saying anything more than "shoulder strain", and as Buster Olney wrote last week on ESPN.com, that's a catch-all phrase that could mean almost anything.

More ominously, it was suggested on WGN radio today that there might be something non-muscular wrong with Borowski, and even the dreaded word "cancer" was mentioned; this would be similar to what Dave Dravecky, the former Giants pitcher who eventually had to have his arm amputated after it broke, horrifyingly, while he was pitching, went through.

If this turns out to be the case, then you can credit Joe Borowski for being about the toughest guy who's played major league baseball in many years, being able to even pitch as well as he did under those circumstances. I wish him well.

What I disagree with is the ballclub's choice of roster replacement, Triple-A pitcher Jon Leicester. Leicester has thrown pretty well at Iowa -- as a starter. He's been a starter most of his minor league career (except for last year at Double-A). Now you are going to ask him to sit on a major league bench and fulfill the Todd Wellemeyer role, throwing once a week?

This is silly. The Cubs don't need twelve pitchers and haven't from day one. A better call-up would have been Bill Selby, who can play several positions and is hitting .296 with 16 doubles, and who has been a major league role player in the past.

Finally, there were two pre-game observances. Several veterans of the D-Day landing on Omaha Beach were introduced to the crowd, to a huge standing ovation, well deserved. These men were true heroes.

Then, a moment of silence was observed in remembrance of former President Reagan, who died yesterday. (Incidentally, the flag, by law, now flies at half-staff for 30 days. On the scoreboard, the NL Central flags were also flying at half-staff. Before today's win, that seemed just about right.) Those of you who have read this space for any length of time know that my political beliefs and Mr. Reagan's were at opposite ends of the spectrum.

However, I do give him credit for at least having beliefs and sticking up for them, unlike many politicians of the present day who seem to govern by focus group.

I mention Reagan because his death reminded me of two Cub-related anecdotes. You have probably read that Reagan was once an announcer for Cubs games carried on WHO radio in Des Moines, Iowa, primarily doing re-creations of games from ticker reports, a common practice in the 1930's.

On September 30, 1988, Reagan was nearing the end of his second term and was in Chicago making a speech. Suddenly he told his aides he wanted to take in the ballgame at Wrigley Field. Mike and I were there, and noticed after we had already gotten in the park, that there were sharpshooters on the roof, and metal detectors for fans coming in. The crowd was very small, only 9,805, and the Cubs lost, in one of those odd coincidences, to the same team they played this weekend, the Pirates, 10-9 in 10 innings. (Footnote: sixteen years later, one player who appeared in that game is still active -- Rafael Palmeiro.) Reagan also joined Harry Caray for an inning of play-by-play, but that's not what Mike and I remember. We saw his limo drive down Sheffield in back of us as he was leaving, and we could see him waving from the window, looking like one of those animatronic devices you see at a museum.

And the reminder that Reagan was a Cubs announcer got me to thinking -- what if he hadn't taken that screen test when he was in California during Cub spring training in 1937? He might have remained a Cubs announcer his entire career.

And Jack Brickhouse would have become President of the United States.

:: posted by Al at 4:35 PM [+] ::
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