Now it’s time to beat up on the Padres!

with more wins than losses then I’m willing to bet we can make it through to the playoffs. I really think our major test occurs this week. They’ve got the talent and the gumption to pull it off. Go Cubs!

These guys have more of it than any Cub team I’ve seen. I feel better going into this road trip because of it.

Al that last paragraph sums up my feelings exactly. This is something really special everyone,

Even a washed up former enemy is finding a bit of a life here,

Let’s go out and go 5-2 on the road,. 7-0 would be nice but let’s not get too greedy,

Another week of bleery eyes at work, Let’s hope for some quick games or big early leads,

(almost one of my favorite play-at-gigs songs, Six Days on the Road!) and I can see us easily winning 5. This is a test for our Cubs, even though we play the Padres and Dodgers. Like Al, I feel this is a truly special team and, to coin a phrase, this is our year. Savor it, day by day. One day at a time is all we can look forward to because, as we all know, we are only blessed with life one day at a time!

If this season continues to be like this meaning not only winning the division but rolling and rolling and beating and butt kicking we’ve earned this. We’ve waited for this our entire lives

I am loving watching the joy my Dad, my Mom, my Aunt and Uncle and other older people are taking in this season so far. I’ve waited 35 years for this they’ve all waited over 60 years for this,

I remember Jim Langford in the Cubs Fans Guide To Life writing something like “There will come a year when the bad bounces bounce our way, all the games we;ve given away before become victories and the fortunate coincidences happen to us, That is what turns a good team into a team of destiny and it’s our turn!”

My thoughts exactly. I equate the three amigo flying bump in the outfield to Ron Santo clicking his heels back in the day. Did I hear a cheer from the crowd today for the flying bump? Here’s a youtube tribute to the ‘69 bums:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rMrlynKxaU

Al-your comparison of the 2 teams is spot on-‘69 had a decent bullpen, but too shallow. On the bench, guys like Popovich and Willie Smith were solid; but this year’s bench is far better and the skipper is MUCH better at thinking long term.

Zambrano and Fergie are a fair matchup—but the #2 and #3 in ‘69 were the VASTLY underrated Bill Hands http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/handsbi01.shtml and Kenny Holtzman who was super tough! Between them—the three starters threw a combined 872 innings that season!

Can Dempster be Bill Hands? Can Ted Lilly? Maybe a 5 deep rotation will make the point moot.

I thought ‘84 also felt like to ‘69 similar to this year’s squad. ‘89, ‘98, ‘03 and ‘07 weren’t quite the same….this seems special..nobody pinch me in case it’s a dream!

On an individual player basis this is something special developing with Wood, A guy who has the longest tenure on the Cubs(and also in Chicago sports), who seems to truly love wearing the uniform and playing in this city, a player who “gets it” big time changing his career and fighting to come back from so many injuries to become a fearsome closer.

Woody is a class act without a doubt…couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy either

figure since I am young I’ll make up for two of the four, and thankfully next Sunday is an early start. This team is worth some lost sleep.

I think this next month could be a challenge because of the road games, but I really don’t think that will hinder this team. If their road record was reversed, that would be fine.

the season with shoulder surgery. surprise! Surprise!

The Cubs are winning right now because they’re playing at home – I think they’re just really hot right now, and the games happen to be taking place at home.

I’ll be happy with 5 wins. Five wins out of seven games is two of three and three of four. That’s a heck of a road-stand, and would get us up to .500 ball on the road, I believe, if not darn close.

These wins are amazing, and I love the streak; but they have to lose at SOME point. We can’t win the next 100 games. Can we?

In all the other years when the Cubs were good, there was always this feeling that they were kind of a “miracle” team, or at least a surprising team. However, ‘69 followed a year in which the Cubs were in first place for the first time in my memory, and even though the ‘68 team faded, we all felt that ‘69 was our year, right up until near the bitter end.

Despite the way ‘69 ended, I treasure all the memories of that year (didn’t Phil Regan come out from the bullpen to cheerlead the Bleacher Bums?), with Santo clicking his heels, and everyone around the country watching the Cubs with awe. I had never before rooted for the Cubs with them getting respect, and even after that season was over, nobody showed the Cubs a lack of respect.

This year feels the same way, with the Cubs getting plenty of respect. I say treasure these times as well, folks. Regardless of how it turns out, this is a lot of fun.

Fans of other teams can be as jerky as they want to be, but (and this is why I am convinced that many of us have hung on) if the Cubs win it all, it will feel for us like it has NEVER felt for any of them.

Go Cubs! If it takes forever!

especially Prior who absolutely ruined his career by trying to pitch through it.

...but did you see what happened to the Soriano homer? I’ve heard conflicting reports – from the TV replay angle it sure looked like it made it out to Waveland on the fly, but others have said it rattled around in the walkway behind the last row of seats.

I’ve never understood how a team that had the most famous collapse in MLB history is so immortalized. Even though I was a bit of a youngster that season, thinking about it only brings pain. I don’t want to draw any comparisons to any team.

They’re doing well now, things are clicking. Now they need the next step; improve on the road percentage.

And for all the Edmonds haters out there, I hope you can cut him a little slack now. He had another good day at the plate and IMHO didn’t try to “please the fans” by being a team guy and take what was given to him with that bases-loaded BB.

As a Cub fan living in L.A. I’m ready to drive up and down CA to catch some Cubbie road games. Wish me luck.

It’s already summer here.

schedule to fit the late games this week. It just feels like the right thing to do. Hope some of you will be in the game threads for these late games.

I can’t remember 1969, but boy, this feels like 1984 to me. I’d say it was that hot start in 1977, but the Cubs really didn’t become “THE CUBS” until Harry Caray joined the team and everyone got WGN on cable. The 1977 team was still drawing 12k for weekday games and 27k for weekend games in the middle of that hot streak. There was a sense of the hot streak, Wrigley didn’t have that atmosphere. By 1984, the Cubs were drawing 27k even for weekday afternoon games and over 35k for weekend ones.

(Man, there are some weekday afternoon games in May in 1969 where the Cubs drew under 5000 fans. But I do know they used to count turnstiles and not tickets sold, so maybe it was a rainy day or something. Mostly the crowds were good in 1969 over the summer at Wrigley. Not so much on the road. Cub Nation hadn’t started yet.)

But like 1984 (much more than 1989), you start the day just expecting the Cubs to win that day. And 1984 was the season where the sense that Wrigley was the place the whole country wanted to be on any given day. That’s what it’s like right now.

What a week to be in Chicago. I fly back to London tomorrow with some fabulous memories. I’ve had a ball. Chicago people get a huge thumbs-up – so friendly. Seen the sights, heard some fine music and best of all seen the Cubs win and win and win some more.

My personal record at Wrigley was 3 out of 3. I met Al and the bleachers gang, and even caught myself a foul ball off the bat of Ryan Theriot at Saturday’s game!

I still worry the starting pitching might need to be stronger, but this team look like winners just now. Let’s just hope they keep the momentum going.

I live in L.A., and I’ve got tickets to the games on Fri and Sat. I would be at all of them (and the San Diego games too) but I have prelims on the 11th…. d’oh! Super weak timing…

wrigley hosting next outdoor hockey game in january 2009. nice.

I’m expecting 4 out of 7. Petco has been not overly friendly for the Cubs, especially the past 2 years. However, the last visit to L-A and SD were before the June ‘07 turn-around. The Cubs lost in every way possible until Lou’s eruption.

I especially remember the game of Sunday, May 27th @ Dodger Stadium (I was there) as Carlos Marmol (in relief of Angel Guzman) hit Juan Pierre with the bases loaded, nobody out in the 11th - losing 2-1. Marmol had intentionally walked Furcal to get to Pierre. (Perhaps it would have been better for Guzman to walk Furcal, then bring in Marmol. I’m sure the 4 wide ones didn’t help the kid get ready for Pierre.) Of course, Marmol - hadn’t yet evolved into the pitcher he is right now, at that juncture of the season.

I’ll report Mon/Wed in SD, Saturday in L-A.

target=”_blank”>We don’t have to be afraid of the Astros

Even slugger Lance Berkman, one of the hottest hitters in baseball this season, resorted to dropping a bunt single in the eighth inning, with the Astros down by four. It was only the second bunt single of his career and first since 2002.

“That’s a good play,” Cooper said of Berkman’s decision to bunt with the third baseman playing him deep. “That’s a baseball player’s play. It’s a nice job. We need baserunners. If you hit a ball out of a ballpark, I call them rally-killers when you get down like that. We need to keep a rally going, and that was a nice play to me.”

The Astros would rather have Berkman bunt than hit HR in late-inning situations. Yep, there’s one more team in this division from which we have nothing to fear.

h/t to FJM

We are coming to Chicago the last week July, first week August. Our favorite Greek restaurant, Papagus on N State, is now closed. I have copious notes from the ‘when coming to chicago” post, but it is old. If y’all have any recommendations for Greek, (we are both Sicilian) or Italian restaurants, please email them to crazymountain (at) comcast (dot) net. We would really appreciate it. Free beers at the Aug 2 Pirates game (bleachers…already owe Al and hammer beers!!)

Thanks, I really enjoy this site!!! I hope to meet a lot of y’all…..

After spending the last 7 days in the Canadian northwoods, I finally got to see a Cub game again. After hearing about last weekend’s twin disasters, I was thinking the Cubs were beginning to swoon. Thanks guys for bringing home seven straight victories!! Maybe, I should spend the rest of the summer in the Canadian outback??

I couldn’t live without being able to watch the Cubs!

Hope to see y’all at the 2 Aug game…

Tonight though, a AAA pitcher to replace Estes. We never hit pitchers we’ve not seen…..

Next 32 games.

I predict 20-12 for the next 32 games. 14-9 on road 6-3 at home.

Also during the Cubs/Sox series I’m going to be in the bleachers and finally meet Al!

(I’m sure Al has just decided to sit elsewhere during the series :))

The splits this year seem extreme to me. Only the LA Angles are more than two
games over .500 on the road, the majority of teams including many leading their divisions
or with very good records ( Tampa , Boston AZ). I don’t expect the Cubs to be nearly as good on the road but if they can stay near .500 they will be doing fine
( sorry if this has been mentioned before but I just don’t get up that much)

Also sorry but I have not changed my mind on Edmonds. But for Podsednik letting a fly
ball go over his short head, he does not get that first double. I still want Pie back.

center one of the guys there is from Puerto Rico. He had on a Yankees t-shirt and our trainer asked him if he didn’t like the Cubs. Jose answered that he watches the Cubs but is a Ynakees fan. I told him I really liked Geovany Soto and he said he played ball with Geovany in Puerto Rico.

Geovany was on his team for two years and then played against him for two years before Geo went to the Cubs. At the time they played Geo played 3rd base and that the Cubs made him a catcher. He said he had seen Geo play in Des Moines several times and Geo gave him several signed items. He also said Geo is not the partying type and usually doesn’t go out after the games. Jose said he hopes to get to Chicago this summer to see Geo play. Our trainer said Jose should get me Geo’s autograph. I just smiled. :D

(DigitalBenjamin quietly waits)