The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowing In The Wind

that the Cubs were able to score most of their runs without benefit of the homerun!

This had been a slight problem earlier in the season, but now looks like it is changing for the good! they will do well if they can keep scoring runs without having to hit an HR every time.

Go Cubs!

Looking at the standings this morning the red hot Cardinals are tied with the D’Backs for best record with the Cubs right on their heels. As a long time cub fan would we have it any other way? Cubs-Cardinals fighting it out? I just don’t see the Cards hanging around for very long though, I’m amazed they’ve made it this far with their talent. For now, Cubdom is all smiles after the last two games. A sweep is a necessity today.

Great pictures, great offense last night, great hitting by DLee (isn’t that nice to see) and great pickup of Fukudome (man do I like to watch him bat; I think it’s actually rubbing off on some of our players!).

...what really was going on with this ball incident without seeing it. I had Gameday up, and it just said “On-field delay”, nothing more.

Last night’s game was great; Zambrano appears to be decaffinated, we had good, long sustaining innings, and we are what, 8-2 in our last ten? I’m feeling pretty good right now, and that’s without our All-Star left fielder.

Seems like management has assembled a pretty deep team, with Soriano out for a bit, and pitchers like Hart and Lieber able to go 3, 4, and 5 innings, if necessary.

Dan

for hitting to equal his affinity for flapping his jibs, he’d be Ty Cobb, minus the racism and tobacco.

That said, he’s really picked it up at the plate, and just in time. I don’t like Fontenot in the leadoff spot, though. I’d prefer Dome leading off, Johnson/Pie hitting second, and Soto/Derosa hitting 5th.

The baseball thing was pretty silly. I don’t think it’s quite cause for all the moralizing and hand-wringing that went on the diary on the subject, but I hope it doesn’t continue and having a player applaud the drunken tomfoolery of a few fans doesn’t help matters.

RF bleacher fans, please don’t do this again.

Ryan Theriot, shut up and hit.

I thought they did get a run off of Cordero.

I could do without the precedent being set with the multiple balls. Once is funny. Every home run, annoying.

9 Old Style’s deep, they wouldn’t of grabbed a rock and hurled one on first glance? Please

Enough, let us talk about the fantastic baseball being played, and another SWEEEEEEEEP.

that’s sounds pretty stupid though. I’d hope that security had a word with those guys, but somehow I doubt it.

I’m not sure if it was on the TV broadcast, but according to Ron, Z pointed to the pressbox and mimed driving a car after getting his 3rd hit (the double). Ron said it was Z lobbying to be the ‘Chevy Player of the game.’ Gotta love Z – I laughed out loud when I heard this.

I don’t get CSN in Des Moines (still bitter about that), but it was great to hear a stress free Ron Santo for a change.

but wanted to reiterate it again, its really good to see TheRiot pulling the ball. As Ronnie said, he seems to be seeing the ball a whole lot better and is looking like a professional hitter again. If he keeps this up, he can stay in the two hole [behind Dome hopefully :)].

..anything like it, when the balls were being thrown back after Dunn’s rocket shot

From our vantage point, It seemed almost coordinated or planned to a certain extent. It’s pretty hard to be that spontaneous with baseballs, garbage yes, but baseballs? If it was that is really concerning…especially for a crowd in April.

Agree that it went way overboard, there was a moment when I thought a great night was about to get ruined..

not sure if you noticed but the Cubs pride and joy Pie actually took a walk on 4 striaght pitches!!! This could be a sign!! Like i said he needed a few Abs were he doesnt swing at anything and just sees the ball.

Although there were many things to be pleased about with last nights game, two things really stood out to me early on.

1. The plays that Z and Theriot made defensively. Z being aware of the runner straying too far from third and getting the force out, and Theriot staying with the ball after it bounced off the pitcher’s mound, both play in the 2nd inning. At the time of both plays the game was still undecided. Great to see the defense come through.

2. DeRosa’s “struggles” in LF. Not to bring up a negative, but there were two balls in the second that Sori arguably could have caught, the bloop single (Tough, tough play, I know) and the ground rule dbl. It was his first game in LF, so he should be given some slack, but it was a little concerning none-the-less.

Obviously, a great game. Many good things offensively (Pie drawing a BB! Dlee officially thinks it’s ‘05) and defensively happening. Now on to a sweep!!

I called it yesterday, they say Lou is working on Pies long swing, but they Sori gets hurt and Pie isnt out there starting against JOSH DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS FOGG. It was nice to see the walk but he couldnt find the plate.

Good win, Ive been to all 3 on this 3 game win streak…..very nice very nice

Maybe, Eric Patterson can be a good 4th outfielder for the Cubs, who can hit okay, field well, pinch run, and steal bases. E-Pat is not expected to be an all-star like Corey was. E-Pat has gotten a lot more seasoning in the minor leagues than what C-Pat had. Look, C-Pat only hit .261 in AA and .253 in AAA before sticking with the big club. He had his moments in 2003 (before getting hurt) and 2004, but should we be shocked that he did not pan out for us? I don’t know if E-Pat with his .222 AAA average should have been brought up instead of Murton, but I know E-Pat won’t have to shoulder the burden of unreasonable expectations that C-Pat did.

baseballs, not beers. Ah, who am I kidding – I’ve tossed a few beers back too. Probably more than a few, but I digress…

Yes, I’ve thrown a ball back into Wrigley after an opponent’s home run – done it many times – and have to admit, I’ve always had that nagging thought in the back of my mind “what if I hit one of our players…”. After the game, I always try to check with fans leaving, asking them if they saw the throw back, where did it land, etc.

A couple of things allay my fears though. I always try to really heave it – I still have an outfielder mentality so in my mind, I’m trying to throw the runner out at home. And I still have a good enough arm that I can easily get it over the outfielder’s head if he’s in his normal position.

So the only player that is in ‘danger’ from me is the infielder, if he comes out into the short outfield for some reason. But if he is, he’s probably looking in my direction, most likely expecting the ball to be thrown back if he’s a veteran. So he should easily be able to avoid anything. Besides, by the time my throws get close to the infield, they’ve bounced a few times.

Plus, if I do throw a ball back (btw – it’s never the real one), I usually try to do it right away when it’s expected. That way players/umpires are looking for it and are least likely to be in position where they get could get hurt.

Finally – the most critical thing that goes through my head when I am throwing one back… MAKE SURE IT’S HIGH ENOUGH TO GET OVER THE BLEACHERS! Nothing, and I mean nothing, would be more humiliating to a ballhawk than having the ball clang against the back fencing of the bleachers and watching it drop to the street. Thankfully, it’s never happened to me, but I’ve seen it a few times and it ain’t pretty. Besides the abuse you’d get from the bleacher fans looking out, you’d never hear the end of it from the your fellow ballhawks. Never.

Keep those bad boys coming…really nice shots!

Saturday against the Phillies. The man couldn’t get anything done, what a bum.

That after scoring 21 runs in the first 2 games, that the lineup would be the exact same again today. I would be disappointed if it changed.

Not a cause for concern, but something that’s been bugging me is his slow start; especially after the rocket-fueled burst in his first month of 2007. Also, I always thought it was weird that Lee got a smaller contract than Ramirez. Probably has to do with timing, but I digress. He should be thanking Soriano right now, since it seems people are more focused on his less-than-stellar performance to the point that they’re kind of ignoring his own play right now, both defensive and offensive.

I visited The Cub Reporter this morning(burning the midnight oil…again), and liked the morning rant they had today, especially this:

But what’s really got me riled up is the bullshit that Lou and the Cubs are pulling with Felix Pie. The kid has some problems at the plate, no doubt. And I’m glad Lou is showing an active interest in working with him. But damn, he sits for almost a full week on the road trip and his first game back is against one of the better pitchers in the game, Aaron Harang. What you expect from him? Then Lou piles on a bit by leaving Pie out there in the seventh inning when Dusty brings in the lefty Jeremy Affeldt. Pie predictably strikes out again. Then after kicking Pie’s dog and sleeping with his girlfriend, Lou keeps him out of the lineup when the pitching equivalent of a pinata is on the mound in Josh Fogg. Damn!

I also liked what they said about Soriano’s injury. Honestly, just LOOK at the hop afterwards… that couldn’t have solely been the reason for the injury. The guy was bound for an injury; just look at his what happened last year when the same thing happened by him just running to third base. Hopefully it fully heals and he goes on a tear like he did in September.

nm

I walked down my alley off of Kenmore and was struggling against the wind nearly lost my bald cover a few times. Then in the upper deck in was nice and comfortable out of the wind.

Good times.

unfortunately, after an offensive binge like the Cubs have had the last two nights, I think their bats will be quieted by young Vazquez and his killer changeup. The Cubs traditionally haven’t done well with guys they’ve never seen, and he apparently has killer stuff, if not a little wild at times. Patience is the key.

Still worried about Lilly…maybe today would be a good day for the wind to blow in!

would put the Cubs 5 games above .500… Al or anyone know when they hit that same mark last year? Just curious….

Did David get any pictures of the drunken balls thrown onto the field by the drunken mindless minions who threw them?

I was just wondering if he did and you just chose not to post them, which I would agree with, btw.

Ill give you a free parking spot at my place? I have a bday party. Email me.

Wow, I did not realize so many balls were thrown back onto the field. I liked your projected dialog from Fukudome.

Reminds me of the South Park episode last night when the internet “broke”.

Dusty had “plants” throw the balls onto the field hoping the umps would call a forfeit.

All kidding aside, how can a game be forfeited due to the actions of the fans if the fans are NOT Cubs’ fans? For all we know, it could have been a planned prank by a group of visiting frat bros. “Dude, we changed the outcome of the game.”

...just want to nice choice on the title of this recap, BTW.