lets keep it going

Al, it’s only been 6 according to ESPN and MLB…

I think the real culprit here is some guess-hitting hacker who hacked their way into SBN and probably stole all our identities. So if you start seeing posts from Al saying how much he loves the blue jerseys, fanposts from sue369 dissing Soto because he’s fat, and comments from ballhawk about how those stupid overgrown kids trying to catch balls in the street need to get a life, well that aint the real us – it just the guess hitting computer hacker…

is Al wearing?

The Cubs beating the Cleveland Cavaliers

And I just wanted to say how sick and tired I am of hearing about MLB wanting to speed up games. I’ll take them seriously when they stop bringing games to a halt to swich out baseballs everytime a milestone is near. WTF

yeah, I know…..

i was not able to watch the game but see that soriano had a steal, was this a legitmate steal or was he on the tail end of some double steal, basically im wondering was this legitmate or a bs steal?

they know that they should only mount comebacks in the 7th, not 2nd

I had the Maranatha Baptist Singers.

Cards behind 4-0 after an inning and a half. But bad weather is approaching by the minute….

That’s what this team is. I know there will be losses but right now I’m enjoying every minute.

Nobody tell Al it’s only six in a row. He’s on a roll.

that we have played a ton of home games that we have feasted on.

Let’s see where we stand after the next 33 games where 23 are on the road (including 3 on the South Side—there is still another team in Chicago??). I just hope we can start to take this same intensity on the road, starting on the West Coast next week.

It would be nice to start with beating up on the lowly Padres. But first things first, let’s finish off the Rockies tomorrow. Go CUBS!!!

Come West and make some noise!!!

but the Cards better go down quickly, it is pouring…...

LET IT RAIN!!!!!!!!!!

and the Cards are lighting Osoria up…..

in the 8th inning. 2 Out.

...if the team keeps playing this well. This is one time where I think the team will be carrying the pressure decades of losing and the expectations of millions of fans. I hope that the players can enjoy it and that we don’t buckle.

Did it really happen? Sanity makes a comeback….

...and just want to make a few comments for posterity.

Reed Johnson’s catch in the second was AMAZING. The thrill that goes through the crowd when something like that happens is electric. An equal, if not greater, charge went through us after Dome’s catch in the ninth. And, yeah, hearing (and participating in) the Fukudome! chant in person is just plain inspiring.

As you can tell from the box score, Dempster was pretty wild, but he seems to be able to bear down and get a strike out when he needs to. Glendon Rusch was, well, Glendon Rusch. I’ll give him some credit for being a battler. He’s kinda like a left-handed Jason Marquis in that way.

While we’re on the subject of pitchers, I just want to put in a quick good word for Neil Cotts. I don’t know…call me crazy, but I think he’s going to be a difference-maker this season. If he can just get his control together and cut the walks, he really throws hard and would seem a very effective late-inning option—particularly against teams with a few key lefties in the lineup.

On the offensive side of things, Soriano was positively heroic, guess-hacking his stat-whoring self to another multi-RBI day. Soto was every bit the MVP, and Aramis was solid, too. I felt a little bad for DLee, though. After that first inning single, he seemed to be swinging uncertainly at everything that came his way. The K with the bases juiced in the eighth hurt, but I had an odd (for a Cubs fan anyway) confidence throughout the game and, sure enough, the team didn’t need any more runs to win.

That odd confidence was there with Marmol in the ninth, too. He started out wild, as he seems apt to do lately, then he turned it on and looked like the pitching demon I’ve been watching/hearing about for the past season or so. Yeah, he gave up that dinger to Podsednik, but all I can say about Scotty Pods is that he has some SERIOUS anti-Cubs mojo, and I’m glad he’s not playing in the NL Central. (That said, he’s really not good enough to deserve the honor of being called a “Cubs Killer.” Pods is like David Eckstein—he generally sucks, but he seems to come through at that most perfectly bothersome times.)

All in all, it was just a beautiful day for baseball. Sunny. Warm, but not hot. The very loud blue-clad crowd was behind our boys with every pitch. I don’t get out to Wrigley as often as I’d like to (do any of us?), so I try to savor every moment I’m there. Watching a great team like this year’s edition makes that a lot easier to do.

Oh, and as I mentioned early in the game thread today, this was my daughter’s first Cubs game. She had a great time. Mom still had to pull her in the eigth inning and head to Starbuck’s while I was graciously allowed to watch the game’s stunning conclusion. But getting to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” with 40,000+ of her fellow Cubs fanatics will surely go down as one of the highlights of her fifth year on this planet.

with one of our posters that another dependable starter is necessary. If Lilly and/or Gallagher evolve into that slot, that’s great. But - for this to be a great season - to ASSURE this is going to be a great season….the Cubs need as many productive assets as they can get their hands on. I have a feeling that Hill isn’t coming back—and we were assuming 10-12 wins out of him….

One arm that won’t be coming back - that’s ex-Cub, and current Padre - Shawn Estes. He’s—on the disabled list, again.

Friday night @ A T & T Park, he fractured the tip of his left thumb falling down the stairs leading from the dugout to the clubhouse. This would be comical, if it wasn’t so weird.

Estes said “I’m going to stay away from the Golden Gate Bridge the next few days.”
(This is a real quote, FYI) Since Estes was supposed to pitch the opener of the Cubs series Monday in San Diego—but now, it’s unclear who is starting. It may be Cha Seung Baek, just acquired from the Mariners. His delivery is identical to that of Hideo Nomo. He has a darn good curve ball….

Wil Ledezma is to throw Tuesday night, then perhaps Greg Maddux on Wednesday—he last pitched Friday.

I’d be happy with 4-3 on this trip. 4-2…I’d be downright giddy. See you @ Petco Monday and Wednesday, then Saturday in L-A.

I didn’t see the fan post regarding the Estes injury since the slug line was somewhat vague…

is an enlargement of the black and white 1978 photo on your lanyard ID badge…

Scan & post please!

It’s always good to blank Saint Louis.