This & That

* Chris Jenkins, author of The Northside Report, another member of the Cubs Blog Army, weighed in with some comments today on what I wrote Sunday about CurseBreaker, yet another silly attempt to cash in on the goat curse idiocy.

Chris is kidding. I think.

* It wasn't Steve Finley's first three-homer game yesterday, it was his fourth, but first since 1999. Thanks to Carole who e-mailed me and reminded me that I had misread the game story.

* Some comments from John Aldrich, who stayed away from the BOB last night, thus leading to the Cub win:

I guess it was me, after all.

If you didn't see [Richie Sexson's injury], you can rest easy. There is NO chance Sexson will play any time soon. He checked his swing and you could hear his shoulder pop out of its socket. The sound it made caused a lot of people to think he (or the bat) got hit with the pitch. But no, it was his shoulder popping out. It was most uncomfortable to see.

A couple of observations about [Greg Maddux]... He has walked about 14 batters already this year. He walked only 33 batters all of last year. A couple of times last night, it was obvious he had no clue where the pitch was going. He did that thing where he yells at himself just after he throws the pitch.

But then on the other hand, there were moments of vintage Maddux. One strike out he had with the bases loaded was a thing of beauty. He's a real pro and a class act. But, it is obvious he is struggling to find his groove.

The Cubs will be fine offensively. They got a run last night that to me, is the hallmark of a good offensive ball club. A double to lead off an inning, a ground ball to the right side to move the runner to third and a then a sac fly from Sammy. Now, that's baseball. And in a game that wound up being a one run game, you could make the case that it was the run that won the ball game.

Cogent analysis, and a good way to pass today's off-day. Thanks, John.

* The Cubs made a minor deal today, trading Felix Sanchez to the Tigers for pitcher Jon Connolly and a PTBNL.

Yawn. Sanchez used to be a prospect but has been hurt and pitched poorly so far this year at West Tenn. I know nothing about Connolly other than what was in the article -- he was Tigers Minor League Player of the Year in 2003.