You mentioned Ramirez and Fukudome, and rightfully so. But—

The first run was a result of an infield hit on a routine grounder behind second that Theriot couldn’t get over in time. (Actually, the runner looked out, but it shouldn’t have been close.)

In the 7th, Soto had Pierre dead to rights at second, but Theriot failed to catch the ball—that would have been 2 outs with the bases empty.

Yeah, brutual. On Fontenot’s double, they zoomed in so tight on Pierre that I had no idea where the ball was, as it was loud where I was watching.

offense!!

Like all the people around Wrigley who say this year is destiny because of….you know….100? Maybe they’re just echoing the “vide” coming out of Chicago?

That’s how you lose.

our sloppy defense or the lack of production from the middle of the order.
Personally I’m more worried right now about our batting slump.
We’re going to see what we’re made of tomorrow night-good teams bounch back from brutal games like todays’

Rough day for Theriot. I didn’t see the whole game, and haven’t checked the box. Hopefully he did something at the plate.

Ouch. This one hurts.

Because this might just be the worst crew I’ve ever come in contact with.

No low strikes. Inconsistent corners. ANOTHER blown call at first.

AWFUL!

I ran into a shocked Cubs fan ranting, “Zambrano…13 hits?...un..f’n..believable”. Pretty much summed up our feelings at the time too.

At least we were spared the mindless FOX babble-broadcast.

Incidentally, most of the Dodgers fans I talked to over the past three games seem to think it is ‘our year’ and have written their team off this season. And we didn’t get hassled as much by the locals as we did last year, so that was nice too.

Let’s get them tomorrow Jason Marquis – another national audience awaits!

Didn’t watch the game today. That being said Fox Sports coverage of the Cubs (and major league baseball in general) is BRUTAL. It’s a ballgame folks, not a forum to flash all your whiz bang techno tricks and sounds. Joe Buck is a smarmy ass. Tim McCarver has been brutal for a decade. Thom Brennamann turns into an ass during his Fox duties, etc.

Very rarely do I watch Fox baseball games. Even in the playoffs. It’s to the point where I will turn on Pat and Ron and mute the TV if we make the playoffs this year.

Do that and continue to kick butt at home at a National League Central crown is ours. Can’t get too worried about today or last night.

The problems facing this ballclub aren’t many. The most acute is the pressing need for a primetime starting pitcher. We can’t keep going with 4/5’s of our rotation being 5 and 6 inning guys. The imperative is also to obtain a powerful punch to complement Carlos Zambrano once the playoffs get here.

Derrek Lee needs a couple days off. I think it would do wonders to get him rejuvenated.

I immediately had a bad feeling about today knowing Tim McCarver was calling the game. I compare Tim McCarver to a functioning retard who unfortunately is working prime time games. Sunday night isn’t going to get much better with the ultimate Santo and Cub hater Joe Morgan.

They’ve never had more than a two game losing streak this season.

Cedeno get some extended time, rather than a spot start. Maybe 4-5 in a row at SS/2B.

Theriot’s defense has been dreadfully subpar, and while I certainly acknowledge his good stats this year, I’m thinking that he might regress offensively as the year progresses.

Ultimately, Cedeno has the tools to be an above average defensive SS.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JIhv8p4O5WM&feature=related

He’s allowed a senior moment or two. Look at the current network talent. It’s miserable.
(I shall leave Jeannie Zelasko out of this. I’ve worked with her years ago, she’s a very nice lady, and has worked very hard. She’s doing exactly what she aspired to—saying about 15 years ago, she wanted somehow to do baseball on TV. Battling the ‘guys’ isn’t easy. Since she’s just vanquished cancer, she’s off limits.)

Scully alone is better than 90% of those calling baseball these days. Sorry, you are just plain, flat, wrong. You have obviously not heard the crap that eminates from San Diego, and out of the south side of Chicago.

Given that, and just returning from “the Ravine” - sorry to say - the battle of the networks prior to the game was the highlight. “The Simpsons” ran around the field (FOX) the cast of “My Guys” (TBS) was introduced, and Masi Oka from “Heroes” (NBC) threw out one of the first pitches.

I was waiting for Calista Flockhart to sing the national anthem, but that didn’t happen.
Oh—the fellow who played “Tony” on “24” was given a nod on the video board (long-time Cubs fan, he managed to hoist his Cubs coffee mug into the frame many times during his stint on the show) and, since he was in Cubs gear, he was roundly booed.
Perhaps this gave Fox the slight

Wish I had something to say about the game. Couldn’t have been any worse than “Big Brown’s” performance.

...is how the sentence should read.

that Ryan Theriot is having a BREAKOUT SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!

Reading through that site, I was dismayed to note (and my late father, who was a lifer for the Chicago Park District, in charge of many city parks—including Hale, Columbus and Dunham, would also be upset) to find “Welles Park dropped baseball?”

What’s up with this? The parents had to run/fund a league?

Here’s his comment on the play....

I knew the (2nd base) runner will score if I did not dive, so I took my chance on it. I should catch any balls when I could touch them… I must have caught it. Our pitchers are going good job so we fielders should help them.

from the ‘Made in the US’ player, too often.

Couldn’t agree more with Al about FOX et al focusing on the whole 1908 angle. Having said that, having watched the Red Sox finally win a WS I can tell you it’s just going to get worse. Every Sox fan I know will tell you the phrase “Curse of the Bambino” should be permanently tattooed on McCarver’s forehead. We’re going to have to deal with the same thing, or worse.

At their heart most sportscasters get rather myopic when it comes to stories like this and they’ll always find the path of least resistance.

At least they aren’t talking about how much we suck.

What a dope. He claims that it’s doubtful Pierre would have been out had Theriot caught the “wide throw”.

Gee, Gordo, did you happen to see the umpire call Pierre out before he noticed Theriot had dropped the ball?

Sheesh.

To Lou Piniella—For leaving Zambrano in to face Kemp. Your pitcher looked gassed, the defense was imploding behind him, and Kemp was due. Oh, and that 130 pitch outing looked to be catching up to him. That home run was on you, pure and simple.

To Carlos Zambrano—You lost man. Get over it. That petulant child meltdown you pulled in the dugout made you look like a clueless clown. Like it or not, you’re a leader. Act like it.

To Kosuke Fukudome. —You don’t get a pass. That dropped ball on that Martin fly was so catchable, high school players drafted last week would have made it.

To Ryan Theriot—How exactly do you miss the ball entirely on a clean pickoff throw to 2nd? .400 OBP or not, many don’t consider you a major-league caliber shortstop for exactly that reason. And that infield hit in the 6th that most other infielders would have had enough arm strength to get the runner out? Example number two. May I suggest that you watch the Chin-lung Hu footage to see what a real shortstop looks like? I yearn for the day that you’re either traded for an upgrade, or moved to your natural spot at 2nd.

To Aramis Ramirez—PICK UP THE BALL!! Waiting to see if it rolls foul is based on the idea that the ball is still rolling. It wasn’t. Pick it up, and throw out the runner. And that error? C’mon.

Oh, and most definitely to the umps - You ever-expanding strike zone had Cubs hitters flailing at balls that they normally wouldn’t dream of touching to protect the plate. Balls at your ankles are not strikes. Kent was out on his IF hit in the 5th. And Fukudome was most definitely safe on the “double-play”. After 12 hours I honestly can’t figure out who embarassed themselves more; you or the Cubs. Well, yeah. The Cubs. But only because the more casual fan watching Fox doesn’t appreciate the subtle changes that an empire can - but shouldn’t—make in a game.

Enough said. Let’s get that winning road trip.

if come the deadline we are pursuing another starter , a bullpen arm, or a shortstop I wonder what Felix would be worth given his continued struggles. I also wonder if Jim will be a little more wiling to give him up if the right offer comes around

...but last night I wrote up a long, drawn-out analysis of the Cubs’ fielding.

Short version: Outfield and corner infield is good. Middle infield is bad.

on the left field side at field level, and it seemed to me that Soriano should have caught Juan Pierre’s one-out single, but (a) he was poorly positioned (why in the world was he playing Slappy McPopup so deep?), and (b) he looks like he’s still suffering lingering side effects from his earlier calf injury; he just wasn’t running very fast out there.

Also, Pierre was a dead duck on that steal attempt if DeRosa handles the ball. He didn’t, and the Cubs just gave away the game.

Agreed about the nature of the home runs. Despite Dodger Stadium’s former tendencies as a pitcher’s park, it actually slightly favors home runs while suppressing doubles. Three years ago, Tom Meagher wrote an extended analysis of the park and concluded that was because it was converting some doubles into home runs, which is something we saw yesterday. (Dodger Stadium has become slightly hitter-friendly in recent years, this mainly due to the construction of seats in the former foul ground, and the introduction of Petco Park into the division, which has made everyone’s numbers look that much worse.)

Even with yesterday’s abysmal outing (and why the last three runs scored against Zambrano weren’t charged as unearned I really don’t understand), Big Z still has a very impressive 2-1, 2.37 ERA lifetime record pitching at Dodger Stadium.