Post. Wooooohooooo!

Aramis’ AB in the 7th was incredible. Battling back from being down in the count ( the pitch he laid off to run it full was CLOSE) to drive in the winning run on what was still a pretty good pitch…that was a great AB, the kind of AB we didn’t see very often from this club the past few seasons.

It’s a good time to be a Cubs fan (I hope you all are enjoying it).

I’ll be at the game tonight… let’s get a win Z!

(p.s. In regards to the photo in this post where Soriano, Dome and Edmonds are in mid-air together…. is this what they mean by a “3 way”?

First, GREAT GAME. I haven’t been that juiced after watching a game in a while. I couldn’t even get to sleep after it. I have to second what was said above, that Aramis at bat was impressive. He really played the pitcher like a fiddle after going down 0-2. I also think it should be Dome Bobble-Head night every night if he plays like he did last night.

The ESPN telecast was difficult to listen to at times. Chris Berman was doing the play by play and I find him very difficult to listen to. Rick Sutcliffe was doing the color and I thought he did a very good job. Not only that, it was great seeing him back and healthy again. Early in the game you could tell that Berman and Sutcliffe don’t work together often as there were often prolonged and uncomfortable silences. Sutcliffe stressed throughout the game that if the Cubs win this game it will be because of the stellar defense they were playing (despite the passed ball that helped allow the Dodgers to score their only run). Sutcliffe was very correct, the Cubs’ defense was very good when it needed to be.

Finally, what is with this umpiring crew? Davidson’s conduct was unnecessary and unprofessional, as was Riley’s yesterday. We can only hope that, with some luck, we won’t be subjected to this umpiring crew again.

Let’s get the sweep tonight behind Big Z!!!

Ranting about “taking infield,” and throwing curveballs in BP….methinks Tommy was a bit in the cups.

Those stuffs are always too funny to me ;-)

I like how Lou has kept the carrot in front of Gallagher’s nose. Everyone including Sean realizes that if he continues with quality starts he won’t be replaced. If Lou is so set on putting a lefty in there then replace Marquis.
It has been so nice to see multiple players battle back from 0-2 counts this year, what a difference. Even when the work the count full and eventually get out it is nice for the obvious reasons.
How has Pie been doing in AAA? I have said to give Edmonds a shot but at this point it is becoming obvious he is not an upgrade from Pie in really any area. Also I have been saying from the beginning that Felix needs a real shot at taking the job.
I will be at the game Thursday night, it will be the first night game I have gone to this year where it is not very cold although it is suppose to rain around 9pm according to weather.com. I will be in section 202 row 14.

I loved getting Cedeno in at SS, but would have liked if Fontenot didn’t have to join him.

Can we all agree that Fontenot is a career AAA player? Let’s leave him there!

I have never got the bashing of umpires in baseball. Davidson may have been a bit snappy with Trammell but who cares. Where is there a rule or even the expectation that players and coaches are allowed to say anything they want and umpires are allowed to say nothing at all. If what Trammell was doing in the dugout was deemed to be too much (and making that judgement is what umpires are paid for) then they have to do whatever they think is in the best interests of the game. In this case, it appears that Davidson established very early that he wasn’t going to allow the benches to do this all night and it seems that it worked. I say that’s good umpiring. But by all means, let’s take all of the personality out of the game. Let’s make all the umpires stand there like humanless robots. Better yet let’s just get rid of them.

I wasn’t real fond of Sutcliffe’s work last night, but I thought he made a good point about how important Edmonds AB was in the 7th. Before it even happened, he implied that if he could get a hit it might be the key to him staying with the Cubs. If not, he might be up there with Sutcliffe and Berman next week (talk about a lose-lose situation).

(as opposed to bump and grind which the photo here looks perilously close to)

It’s one of the coolest things going—-you have to love the smiles of Dome and Alf and the strains of “Go Cubs Go” in the background.

Even though I’m 53—i’ve been trying to practice it…the key is to remember to jump straight up and then bump rather than jumping toward one another in mid air, which can result in aborted take outs and spills and Doug Plank type results.

Fontenot reminds me of a right handed… well… take your pick of a thousand below average right handers with choppy swings.

The Cubs are now tied for the best record in the major leagues with… the Tampa Bay Rays.

Usually if your tied with the TB Rays it’s not a good thing.

Anyone know the blackout rules for a Wednesday night ESPN2 game? This is our first, right?

I know you cannot control advertising on your site, but I was wondering if you’d noticed the ad for the “Horry Cow” shirts that sometimes appears. A bit ironic to see it just below the FanPosts, where there has been at least one on the list the last couple weeks condemning the shirts.

Also, it says they have “been banned from Wrigley” which I don’t believe is the case just yet….

Why is everyone all over Kerry Wood? ARE they really ‘all over’ Kerry Wood? I mean I’ve been a bit out of touch because of the holiday weekend (and, of course, out of touch for moments throughout my entire life, but that’s a different story for another time), but he seems pretty damn solid to me. Seems like Edmonds is getting less grief (unfairly so, I think he blows) than Wood!

I don’t get it.

We were stting in Dugout Box seats right next to the Cubs dugout.
Davidson said “Alan, that’s enough. The ball was inside”

Lou immediately started laughing at Alan and then Alan had to smile himself.

This is the other thing I am seeing out of the 2008 Cubs that I really like. There have been some saying we must get another top-tier pitcher, which, of course, would be nice if we could get one. But the main reason I once argued we needed another shut-down starter was to help in the short-series playoff matches, where our offense might get shut down. But the new Cubs offense doesn’t get shut down for three games in a row. It finds a way to win. Sure, there are all sorts of ways we might like to see the club upgraded, but this club is ready to win now.

South Side Green Line derailment. Looks like two cars are off the tracks. No serious injuries reported yet. 59th and Garfield according to my niece who’s stuck in traffic there.

that the southsiders allowed the first triple steal since, like, ‘87 or something.

How consistent can anyone expect a 5th starter to be? Gallagher has been up and down. He might be passable as the No. 5 guy. He might not. I admit my opinion changes with each start. I had been thinking Lieber would be a better choice. I still think the 5th starter should be skipped in the rotation, if an off day allows the number 1 starter to have the regular 4 days of rest. Of course, that all depends on when the number 5 spot comes up in the rotation.

Well I have to say that was fun! First time at Wrigley for over 30 years and it was going to take more than the cold to get me down (it certainly was cold though – if they sold Cubs fur-lined boots and gloves I might have been buying). I was amazed and delighted how little had changed in the whole Wrigley experience – it all had a rather retro feel to me, and none the worse for that. Ritual, after all, is a vital part of the whole experience.

I arrived two hours before gametime and assumed the crowds at that time were just normal. I didn’t make the connection with the Kosuke bobblehead. Delighted to get one though. The smallprint on the packaging says “choking hazard” – the very last thing you’d apply to the man himself, what a resolute, classy and dependable player he is.

Fukudome apart, Gallagher looked very impressive. I really liked how he came back after a bad 4th to pitch 3 more strong innings.

So, great atmosphere, good baseball (apart from a couple of flubbed bunt attempts) and then we had a seventh inning rally to stand up and cheer, and Marmol (with difficulty) and Wood to finish off a Cubs win. Then we all got to sing again. Wonderful!

I’m sorry to miss Zambrano’s start, but can’t wait for my next game on Thursday – in the bleachers no less!

so I’m throwing it out there. When Edmonds came up in the seventh with two one, two out, in the midst of a game-winning rally, did anyone else almost hope he did just what he did? Don’t get me wrong, I put the team first always, but there was a part of me that was wanting Jimmy to look bad and squander more insurance. And, lo and behold, he didn’t disappoint.

as to saying i’m not a pie supporter at all whatsoever at this point but with no other options available….........drum roll please….......... get him back to chicago please dear god. i cant stomach edmonds anymore.

Jim Edmonds will be gone by the weekend.

Would you rather have Felix Pie on this ballclub continuing to demonstrate that he can’t hit major league pitching with that approach, or would you instead like to see him rework things in the minors in hopes of salvaging a major league future? The Cubs could have taken the selfish route and kept Pie and his good defense on the ballclub. Instead they did the right thing by him in letting him go down to Triple A to intensely work on things.

The name Alan Trammell will crop up when Seattle fires John McLaren any day now.

====

“Desigated Fielder”. Soriano can bat, and Pie can play left field. :)

if somebody has an extra bobblehead, I’d love to buy it….

Cubs could, by themselves, have the best record in MLB.

I’m just sayin’... :)

I agree with the need to rest Marmol a little more, but he is pitching at about the same rate (IP and G) as he was last year. And if you remember, he was very good at the end of the year. Between Aug 14 and Sep 22 he gave up 0 R in about 22 IP. I don’t think we should necessarily expect him to give out. The simple fact is, just like the closer Marmol is going to pitch in a lot of the games that the Cubs win. In their 31 wins this year, he appeared in 20 of them. He is a key part of winning on this club. He is easily the best middle reliever in MLB this year and seems headed for an All-Star appearance. I’m just not sure where you can sit him.

Even last night, it seemed like he had an “aha” moment with the last two batters he faced. When the last batter came up you just had the feeling that he was back and all was well again.

That being said, this team seems poised to have a great June. If Ramirez can get hot, Lee is definitely out of his May slump and Howry is about ready to really contribute. Add to that Gallagher pitching well and I would be shocked is Rich Hill doesn’t come back and force Marquis out of this rotation this summer. The only trouble spots in my mind are CF and Dempster. I am thrilled with Ryan’s performance, but it just doesn’t seem possible that he will continue at this pace.

I hate to even mention this, but I was wondering last night if Kerry Wood is watching Dempster and contemplating how long before he puts in an application for a rotation job. I’m sure it’s not too soon, but it seems a possible easy way of replacing Wood with Marmol and giving the Cubs the potential for another dominant arm.

I’m hoping he comes back soon, so we can send the Big Hoff back to Iowa and prevent Lou from doing something stupid… like putting Hoff in RF.

is this kid gonna play baseball again??

LOL

about the virtues of the cubs vs the white sox… sounds like they were hyping up a potential all-chicago world series. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

I seems to me that a lot of people know each of very well, does everyone here blog all day at work then go to the bar after work and talk about Cubs?

What about a Cubs Batters Eye view party? Rooftop deck party? Something like that?

I’m thinking early November right after the Cubs win the WS…

I’d play hostess.