Those orange tunics they wear over the black long sleeved shirts? Agreed, they look pretty ridic.
I remember a criticism of the Sox uniforms back in the ‘70s when they had the short pants: “You look sharp, you play sharp… you look sloppy, you play sloppy.”

So the schedule is front-loaded with Pittsburgh; what’s wrong with that, exactly? Seems to have given us a big head start…

is higher than every Pirate in the lineup last night. I suspect we’ll see him pitch hit more.

In another note, Pie went 0-4 last night lowering his average to .097 (3-31) since his demotion. It was his first game at “home” in Des Moines. If this doesn’t improve dramatically we may never see him again in ‘08.

this is PGH we’re talking about. The only general concern that I hope gets improved upon as the season progresses is this. Versus PGH, 9-1; the rest of the NL, 20-18. I know, I know, you’re supposed to beat up on the bad teams. Fine. But against the teams closest to the Cubs (over the full season, not just recently), the Cubs are 4-8. That must improve.

Otherwise, the OBP, walks, runs and offence in general is great. They now have to translate all that good stuff into a higher number in the “W” column against all their opponents.

OK, onwards and upwards. Get the win today and look forward to tomorrow.

As for Fonzie, I’m hoping he’s just still stiff. Lou on SportsRise this morning spoke of a lack of confidence in the legs’ strength. Could be a smoke screen though. So if he’s just a little lame, let him play through it. If there’s an injury risk, let him sit out. These next games and perhaps even some of the upcoming home stand (LA and Col) could be opportunities to let him rest.

we don’t play anyone in our division in June. It’s fun to win, but when we only play weak teams we are not being tested enough. Let’s hope we get these types of wins next month.

Bruce Miles reports Lou saying, “I was pleased with [Micah’s] 2 hits the other day. Like I said after the ballgame, and I meant it, we’ve got to get a left-hand bat in there that can drive the ball. If this young man can do that, yeah, we’ll get him some playing time, and we’ll have to make some adjustments.”

Lou is still set on needing a “left-hand bat… that can drive the ball.” This is why Eric Patterson is not an option; this is why Felix Pie is not (and never was) an option. Lou is looking for a slugger. How many LH sluggers are there who play CF beyond Jim Edmonds? (And the move to Micah seems to suggest Lou’s done with Edmonds.) Maybe Milton Bradley would count and be available at the deadline. But that’s a dicey option for numerous reasons.

So, basically what this means is that Fukudome is being moved to CF and to #2 in the batting order and we are spending our trade chips, not on a pitcher, but on a lefty slugger.

The Cubs promised Soriano that he would bat lead-off and they are sticking with their commitment to him

The Cubs promised Fukudome he would play RF and i expect they will honor their commitment to him too.

How bad defensively could Micah be in CF? Would it be worth him maybe not getting to a ball once a week that another (Edmonds?) could? I love seeing him pound doubles and HR’s – even if he doesn’t get to everything Edmonds may?

How bad defensively is he really in CF?

is that on the road, the Cubs seem to have amazing first games where they blow out the other team—and then lose the next two by one or two runs.

I know we pwn the Pirates, but I’ll be happy to see a win tonight. At least that makes us .500 for this trip, and nearly .500 on the road for the year.

It was much larger than usual. It was partially due to the holiday weekend and the fireworks night but there were A LOT of Cubs fans. A lot. During the 7th inning stretch, I could clearly hear “Root Root Root for the CUBBIES!” It was great.

But last season I was of the opinion that the balanced schedule was better. This season I am 100% convinced. The Cubs are a good team that struggles on the road. (I now consider Pittsburgh to be a 2nd home location.) I am willing to give up games against the Cardinals if it means a more realistic picture of the team that I am watching. It would also mean fewer Yankee/red Sox games, which I happen to love, but they’ll probably play in the playoffs anyway.

If I were Commissioner I would end the farce of the All-Star game determining home field in the WS and I’d return to the balanced schedule. I’d also adopt the DH for the NL and Big Z could be the pop that we need everyday in the lineup, oh the irony.

regarding Soriano, yes the injury appears to still be there. I’d like to see Pie get another shot although I can understand if the team feels that it is better for him to earn that next call-up.

The stats on the Cubs O are remarkable and so refreshing for a team so steeped in offensive ignorance the last few years. I was listneing to Padres v. reds last night on the radio and the Padres announcer was bemoaning how the reds are last in PH in the NL and they just got a PH (everything going bad for the Padres type of comment). But I chuckled to myself recalling the horsecrap bench that the Cubs had because management valued OUTs over production (in their ignorance).

The club is moving int he right direction this season but I don’t see a dominant team, just a good team with a good chance and I love it.

and say pie, hill, and veal do we have a deal for hamilton?

Chicago doesnt have good coke does it?

about the team. They are nothing like last years team. I love that some players can have off games and others on the team kick it in and make things happen. That’s the sign of a good team.

I don’t even know what to think about Soriano. If he’s not hurt like he says he needs to get his giddy up going.

I just hope they saved some runs for tonight.

of finding a left-handed power bat for this lineup causes me some concern. And to try to get that from the center field spot is extremely questionable.

Center field is a defensive position and Lou should know that. Any suggestions of putting Hoffpauir in right or center are ridiculous. The problem with the lineup is that the traditional power positions are all right-handed. None of these players are going anywhere anytime soon, so Lou seems intent on getting that power left-handed bat from center field. Either getting a power hitting CF or moving Dome to CF to obtain his goal. The odds of getting a LH power hitting CF are slim beacause there are so few of them in the league.

I contend that with the production we are getting from Soto and DeRo, the need for a power left-handed bat is over emphasised. What the lineup needs is more left-handed presence. This team hits RH pitching well enough that the need is only for a descent LH bat to force RH pitchers to adjust their release point and to break up the RH batters in the lineup.

The aim should be to get the best defensive outfield possible. The production from the rest of the lineup allows for this team to need less offensive production from CF. Whether or not Pie is the solution in CF may be for another discussion, but don’t make the team weaker defensively by trying to get a LH power bat that this team does not need.

Maybe the team as a whole is not broke, but Soriano’s legs certainly are. I only saw the first few innings last night, but there was more than enough evidence to suggest that he is still hurting. And no, it’s not in his head – even Manny couldn’t be that flaky.

Yes, it’s great that he’s still raking the ball, and I suppose he could always adopt the Willie Stargell philosophy “When I hit those long taters, I don’t have to run.”. But that long single (by Bay?) that dropped between him and Reed should have been caught. And in the first inning, he should have tagged up on the fly out to right but he didn’t. Then he got lucky that Nady didn’t catch the next ball, because he was already jogging around third – no way could he have gotten back to second. Granted these ‘lapses’ don’t matter much in a 12-3 victory, but sooner or later they’re going to bite us in the rear and cost us a game or two.

I didn’t catch any post-game coverage – is he still denying that he’s hurt? If so, I’m wondering who’s buying it. If not, then why is Lou still playing him? Again, I love the bat, but if he can’t run faster than me out there, something needs to be done. The way he’s playing now, I just feel like there’s a little clock ticking in the background – sooner or later it’s going to go off, and boom – he’s out for 2-3 months.

Soriano RF
Dome CF
Lee 1B
Bonds LfF
Ramirez 3B
Soto C
DeRosa 2B
Theriot SS

salivates…

Veal Samarzidja and E Patt? Pie maybe

Did I miss some plays he blew? He’s a solid RF’er. Don’t move him. He reads the ball off the bat well, has good speed and a good arm. Everyone has to remember this guy is coming over to MLB from much different land, totally different atmosphere, he has a new-born back home and he’s making all kinds of adjustments. Put him in RF, keep him in RF, hit him anywhere between 1 and 5 and we’ll be very, very happy.

Actually I think he’d do well in CF but part of the reason why he signed here (for less money I hear than a couple other teams, one of them that plays 9 miles South) is he was told he’d get RF the vast majority of the time.

Honestly now, the team is scoring at a good clip, consistently. Their 10 over and need to continue the pace or even slightly improve. Get out of PGH with a couple more wins and start improving the win percentage against teams whose city name doesn’t start with Pi.