Mr. Zambrano Goes To Washington: Cubs vs. Nationals Preview, Friday 7/17, 6:05 CT
by Al Yellon on Jul 17, 2009 4:00 PM CDT
in Game Threads
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Print"A few of [Obama's] top advisors are Cubs fans," Piniella said prior to Thursday night's Cubs-Nationals game at Nationals Park, "so we still have a chance,"
Piniella, his wife, and their children and grandchildren toured much of the White House, including the Situation Room, the Rose Garden and the Oval Office, where they spent about five minutes with Obama himself.
Piniella said he didn't talk baseball with Obama, which is probably just as well. Finally, after watching Obama depart the grounds via helicopter, the Piniellas had lunch with [David] Axelrod and [Rahm] Emanuel. Piniella said he was grateful they didn't ride him about the Cubs' disappointing first half, nor make any lineup suggestions.
"We talked about the prospects for the Cubs in second half of the year," Piniella said. "We didn't talk about the prospects of the White Sox."
Remember -- if you comment on this part of the post, please keep your own politics to yourself. (And try to imagine the same scenario if it had been Carlos Zambrano and his family meeting the President.)
Aramis Ramirez confirms what we've all noticed, that he's well short of 100%:"I won't be at full strength this year," he said. "I'd have to take another month or so -- month and a half -- but that ain't going to happen. I'm good enough to play, so that's what I'm going to do."
Good enough? He estimated he was at 80-85 percent strength when he returned. But now he refuses to give a percentage.
"I thought it was going to be better," he said. "To be honest with you, I thought it was going to be a lot better. I played three games of rehab and felt great. Then I started playing every day, and that's a lot of swings, a lot of stuff, a lot of games."
And a lot of discomfort, especially on check swings.
"I've just got to battle through it now," he said. "It's good enough to play. I won't do anything stupid, but if I'm good enough to play, I'm going to play."
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Craig Stammen is a 25-year-old rookie who has made 10 major league starts. Some of them have been bad, and some good, including his last one before the break, his first ML complete game against the Astros on July 11. This will be his first start vs. the Cubs. He's so mysterious there don't seem to be any photos of him to be found.
Z has won his last four starts vs. the Nats -- 4-0, 1.65, and threw seven shutout innings the last time he pitched in Nats Park on April 26, 2008. Given the fact that the Nats offense is built, in part, around Adam Dunn, I would suggest that Z pitch carefully to Dunn (or maybe even just walk him) -- Dunn has seven career HR off Z in 56 AB, along with 15 walks. The only other Nat who has hit Z at all is Josh Willingham (5-for-7, a HR).
Cable only again today -- CSN Chicago and MASN, the Washington/Baltimore area cable sports outlet. For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Overflow comment threads will post today at 7 pm, 8 pm and 8:45 pm CDT.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
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Comments
Here's to another nice Cubs win!
"Every player should be accorded the privilege of at least one season with the Chicago Cubs. That's baseball as it should be played - in God's own sunshine. And that's really living."
z goes deep twice and
pitches a perfect game
by doofus cubs guy on Jul 17, 2009 4:05 PM CDT reply actions
"Z" function is still broken
and I’m starting to get really annoyed. I can’t follow the game like this.
One day I hope to come up with something worthy of this space.
let's hope the other "Z" functions better tonight.
I love to play baseball. I'm a baseball player. I've always been a baseball player. I'm still a baseball player. That's who I am. - Ryne Sandberg
neither have I
Granted I’m not in the game threads.
by Madison Cub Fan on Jul 17, 2009 4:15 PM CDT up reply actions
I think its Safari only.
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end"
by AndrewJStone on Jul 17, 2009 4:19 PM CDT up reply actions
works on Safari for me
Did you mean only works on Safari? Or that the problem is only on Safari?
by false cognate on Jul 17, 2009 4:34 PM CDT up reply actions
Problem is ONLY on Safari
Two Macs at my office have the problem. My personal laptop is working right now.
One day I hope to come up with something worthy of this space.
Interesting
Is your laptop a Mac? Mine is; I’d be curious as to the version of Safari on your office macs.
I’ve noticed that the Z function doesn’t work until the “loading” bar stops; wonder if that’s related somehow.
by false cognate on Jul 17, 2009 4:40 PM CDT up reply actions
That happens
for me on Windows with Firefox sometimes. There’s a stage in the loading where it starts to work. Sometimes these pages load for a very long time, when they’re trying to access statistics pages.
Forget all that other stuff. I gotta believe.
by drewishdrewid on Jul 17, 2009 4:40 PM CDT up reply actions
Google Chrome is also built from Apple's WebKit and suffers like Safari...
"I'm not much of a chemistry guy, you know. Chemistry to me is a pinch-hit double with the bases loaded"--Jim Frey, Chicago Tribune, 1985.
My guess...
… the commenting system is buried deep in the page / site’s code, so everything visual must load before the scripts that control the commenting.
Something, somewhere in that script must disagree with some versions of Safari.
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end"
by AndrewJStone on Jul 17, 2009 6:00 PM CDT up reply actions
FWIW
I have that problem sometimes with Mozilla when a video is embedded in the page. But normally once the page is completely loaded it works fine.
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Jul 17, 2009 6:04 PM CDT up reply actions
Hope not. 80% is somewhat OK if he is 100% at 3B.
I am pretty sure Bill Belichick would cut someone for revealing that they were not 100%.
Drew
I'm surprised
he admitted this as well. It clues pitchers in that they can pitch to him a little more aggressively because they don’t have to worry about a home run as much.
"Respect" ~ Ryne Sandberg
I don't think there is any surprise in this
if he said he was 100% we’d all laugh. You can see that he’s not.
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Jul 17, 2009 4:34 PM CDT up reply actions
Z function works fine for me.
Maybe your broswer?
Yes
SBN told me it’s a Safari-only issue.
One day I hope to come up with something worthy of this space.
I will once the game starts and I get home to my wife's puter
because I refuse to download it on mine. Don’t ask me why. I don’t even know. But I don’t like it a bit.
One day I hope to come up with something worthy of this space.
Come on!
All the cool kids are doing it.
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end"
by AndrewJStone on Jul 17, 2009 6:31 PM CDT up reply actions
Was Lou able to secure.....
….a bailout check for the Cubs?
We could us the extra dough! ;-)
"Bite my shiny metal ass!" -- Bender Bending Rodriguez
"Life is just one crushing defeat after another until you just wish Flanders was dead."
by The Jade Scorpion on Jul 17, 2009 4:14 PM CDT reply actions
Pretty cool about the Pinellia grandkids getting to meet the President
And I thought my granddad was awesome, he never pulled that one off. :-P
Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it. -George Halas
I never expected Aramis
to be 100% for the rest of the season. I’ll take whatever he can give this team.
Let’s take another one tonight Cubs!!!
Since coming of the DL,
Ramirez is 6-27 (.222), let’s hope that as he plays more games he gets his swing back and finishes strong.
You’re killin’ me Smalls!
Get A-Ram some appropriate rest every week.
And fill in with Fox at 3B.
"You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We're fixated on that." -- Jerry Angelo (12.30.2008)
Jerry Angelo trades for Jay Cutler! (4.2.2009)
.
He can start at 3rd...
and if needed, can move behind the plate later in a game.
"You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We're fixated on that." -- Jerry Angelo (12.30.2008)
Jerry Angelo trades for Jay Cutler! (4.2.2009)
.
you generally dont start your backup catcher at another position
wells4roty
by jesus christos on Jul 17, 2009 4:29 PM CDT up reply actions
Right... but... these... are... different... circumstances.
"You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We're fixated on that." -- Jerry Angelo (12.30.2008)
Jerry Angelo trades for Jay Cutler! (4.2.2009)
.
Sack
fyi… you’re…coming…across…like…a… jerk…today.
Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it. -George Halas
Just venting
"You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We're fixated on that." -- Jerry Angelo (12.30.2008)
Jerry Angelo trades for Jay Cutler! (4.2.2009)
.
which makes our catching situation even more worrysome
Less flexibility on an already not very good bench.
Really need to get someone else, I don’t like the idea of lasting 3 weeks wasting Fox as backup catcher.
Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it. -George Halas
they arent going to do that, unfortunately
wells4roty
by jesus christos on Jul 17, 2009 4:28 PM CDT up reply actions
Do we know that's how long Soto is likely going to be out?
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Jul 17, 2009 4:35 PM CDT up reply actions
Liked his honesty
Nice to hear Aramis lay it all out. Seemed like he winces a little bit on the checked swings, and he told it true there is discomfort in those situations. Here’s to getting to 100%
"Ask Dad. He'll know. And on the off chance he doesn't, he'll make something up"
More good news
Lilly questionable for saturday due to knee problem (according to Gordo)
"Respect" ~ Ryne Sandberg
You gotta be kidding me.
What the hell did we do to deserve all this bad luck?
"You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We're fixated on that." -- Jerry Angelo (12.30.2008)
Jerry Angelo trades for Jay Cutler! (4.2.2009)
.
why god, why? why would you let your son hurt his knee?!
wells4roty
by jesus christos on Jul 17, 2009 4:32 PM CDT up reply actions
Your knee hurts?
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Jul 17, 2009 4:36 PM CDT up reply actions
i thought people already knew lilly was my brother
wells4roty
by jesus christos on Jul 17, 2009 4:39 PM CDT up reply actions
Forget all that other stuff. I gotta believe.
by drewishdrewid on Jul 17, 2009 4:34 PM CDT up reply actions
maybe Ted Lilly's knee will realize what will happen if he misses start
Start healing itself ASAP
by Madison Cub Fan on Jul 17, 2009 4:37 PM CDT up reply actions
Aram...
Maybe waiting until after the ASB wouldn’t have made a huge difference (in terms of his health), but it certainly couldn’t have hurt.
I thought he should have waited not only until after the ASB, but AFTER this four game series with the Nats.
"Pounding sand since 1982...."
Especially with
the way Fox was playing/hitting. Fox was producing offensively and playing adequately at third. Ramirez could have waited a little longer, I agree. It would also have allowed us to bring up an actually catcher to back up Hill
"Respect" ~ Ryne Sandberg
from this?
I can see the likeness.
Forget all that other stuff. I gotta believe.
by drewishdrewid on Jul 17, 2009 4:38 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Heard on the radio that Soriano dislocated his pinkie
and here’s some corroboration.
One day I hope to come up with something worthy of this space.
i dont know if i should be angry or happy
wells4roty
by jesus christos on Jul 17, 2009 4:48 PM CDT up reply actions
If it give him time to rest his knee
or whatever else is bothering him, great.
If he just comes back more messed up…well, that’s not going to help.
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Jul 17, 2009 4:55 PM CDT up reply actions
looks like
it’s minor. Good. He needs to bat in order to get better.
Forget all that other stuff. I gotta believe.
by drewishdrewid on Jul 17, 2009 4:51 PM CDT up reply actions
I jammed my index finger a month ago.
I couldn’t really swing a bat effectively until week 3. And squeezing the glove made me cringe everytime I caught the ball.
"You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We're fixated on that." -- Jerry Angelo (12.30.2008)
Jerry Angelo trades for Jay Cutler! (4.2.2009)
.
sure
but this is his pinky finger. And arguably, he’s getting paid several thousand dollars a minute to play baseball.
Forget all that other stuff. I gotta believe.
by drewishdrewid on Jul 17, 2009 4:55 PM CDT up reply actions
Sure
But if it’s going to lead to more issues with the bat and fielding, take the time off to heal. It’s not going to do him or anyone else any good to get booed more
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Jul 17, 2009 5:01 PM CDT up reply actions
money has nothing to do with this
why even bring that up?
It’s not as simple as “this is his pinky finger” to brush it off.
The Real News on that link is:
Soto could possibly be back by the end of next week.
Soto is rehabbing in Mesa, Arizona and has improved to a point where the Cubs are not going to bring another catcher to back up Koyie Hill. Instead, Jake Fox will remain as Hill’s back up.
Nobody cares about your fantasy baseball team
by carmen_fanzone on Jul 17, 2009 4:52 PM CDT up reply actions
i REALLY hope they arent rushing him
wells4roty
by jesus christos on Jul 17, 2009 4:53 PM CDT up reply actions
me too
I guess in a few weeks we’ll see w/ both of them.
by Madison Cub Fan on Jul 17, 2009 4:55 PM CDT up reply actions
Really need to see Font start hitting a lot more ..
Otherwise, I don’t see why we don’t put Blanco’s glove in that spot of the lineup. Interesting lineup, though – all 9 can knock it out of the park.
by DisCUBbobulated on Jul 17, 2009 5:01 PM CDT up reply actions
per gordo
Lineup: fuku, riot, lee, rami, milt, hoffp (lf), font, hill, z
by Madison Cub Fan on Jul 17, 2009 4:54 PM CDT reply actions
Not bad
Hopefully a very patient lineup
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Jul 17, 2009 4:56 PM CDT up reply actions
just out of curiosity,
where do you get the lineup so early?
Gordon Wittenmeyer (sp?), a sun-times reporter twits the line-ups and other Cubs related information
"Respect" ~ Ryne Sandberg
ok, thanks
ive been trying to find out for months
foxsports.com
also has the lineups before mlb and espn
I can actually get behind that lineup
We REALLY need a better catching option, though. Al, where is that magic catcher move?
There is no such thing as an ugly female breast
Slightly OT ailment
Santo has a kidney infection and that is why he is not on this road trip;
by Madison Cub Fan on Jul 17, 2009 4:56 PM CDT reply actions
yikes
that’s not good, not for a diabetic.
Forget all that other stuff. I gotta believe.
by drewishdrewid on Jul 17, 2009 4:58 PM CDT up reply actions
You're right...
… I wish him well as he’s certainly been a leading voice about diabetes, but this isn’t good. I’m not being morose about Ron, but diabetes is so cruel how it damages ones health and shaves years off their lives.
Best wishes to Ron Santo and his family.
"People shouldn’t bust your chops just because you’re a Sox fan on a Cub board — but I know it happens. FWIW, I think sites like this are more interesting when fans of other teams join in the conversation." by Shanghai Badger on Mar 13, 2009
Muskat Ramblings...
…has more info on both Soriano and Lilly. It’s not good.
"I am not a poet, but a poem."--Jacques Lacan
DL SORIANO!!!!
I’ll throw in $20 right now. We pool our money, hire skywriters and have them fly over Wrigley.
There is no such thing as an ugly female breast
I'll match.
"I'm not much of a chemistry guy, you know. Chemistry to me is a pinch-hit double with the bases loaded"--Jim Frey, Chicago Tribune, 1985.
Thanks Worf for making me laugh.
This Lilly news got me sick to my stomach and your humor has helped.
"Fasten your seatbelts"-Pat Hughes
everyone knows roster balance is a bunch of crap..
wait
wells4roty
by jesus christos on Jul 17, 2009 5:25 PM CDT up reply actions
TheMagic 8-Ballwas feeling frisky
think you mean hat
wells4roty
by jesus christos on Jul 17, 2009 5:29 PM CDT up reply actions
Did you do what you meant to do there?
If so, I do not get it
There is no such thing as an ugly female breast
sure
but until milton starts hitting left handed… that isn’t gonna happen
Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it. -George Halas
is milton going to get better by not playing?
Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it. -George Halas
well if hes struggling hitting he shouldnt be behind lee and aram, he should be infront, so they can drive him in when he takes his walks
wells4roty
by jesus christos on Jul 17, 2009 5:33 PM CDT up reply actions
I would actually rather start Fuld
in place of Hoffpauir, who has turned into a pumpkin.
There is no such thing as an ugly female breast
b/c he's hitting all of 5 points higher than bradley on the season
Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it. -George Halas
true
hoff as lh vs rhp: .255/.299/.474
bradley as lh vs rhp: .197.361/.329
Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it. -George Halas
ifanything, hoff makes the problem worse
HR or bust
wells4roty
by jesus christos on Jul 17, 2009 5:37 PM CDT up reply actions
It could
It’s cloudy enough to make it tough today though.
One day I hope to come up with something worthy of this space.
No idea
I listened to it all the way back to Mason City, IA one trip, and that’s 6 hours from Chicago.
I think it all has to do with the weather
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Jul 17, 2009 5:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Well,
I think Ted just needs to man up. I’m sure he’ll try, there is no doubt about it, but if your knee is sore, too bad. You’re pitching. If its bothered him this long and he’s done this well there is no point to taking him out. I’m sure I’ll hear the popular “he may start to favor something else”. I think that gets a little too much play.
Its funny, you spend most of your life gripping a baseball. And in the end, its almost always the other way around.
how does lilly become more of a man that he already is?
wells4roty
by jesus christos on Jul 17, 2009 5:54 PM CDT up reply actions
That's right
go out there, no matter how it hurts or affects how you throw. This offense is going to score at least a dozen each outing so pitch left handed if you want.
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Jul 17, 2009 5:55 PM CDT up reply actions
Well
ted probably does want to pitch left handed…
Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it. -George Halas
he feels more comfortable throwing lefty, but has thrown several no nos throwing righty
wells4roty
by jesus christos on Jul 17, 2009 5:59 PM CDT up reply actions
He does pitch lefty
he just moves his right arm to confuse the batter
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Jul 17, 2009 6:00 PM CDT up reply actions
Dusty would be proud of you.
…yes, let’s send our most reliable starting pitcher out there when he has what appears to be a ST knee problem. why let him rest it a few more days?
"If it's obvious, it's obviously wrong." - a well known stock market guru
He
matter much. But if it was going to be something where he was going to sit for a while I’d say deal with the pain.
Its funny, you spend most of your life gripping a baseball. And in the end, its almost always the other way around.
Accidently hit post...
ignore that. Latency issues.
If its one game, oh well. If you’re talking 1 or 2 more games like I originally thought, you pitch through it. With the current health of the team you need every bit of talent on the field. He can obviously deal with the pain if its been bothering him for a while. Soon its going to be time when you just deal with the pain. The season is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end the faster it goes.
Its funny, you spend most of your life gripping a baseball. And in the end, its almost always the other way around.
i think men need to ted lilly up
I work for the Cubs so I am really getting a kick out of a lot of these replies.
Question
Nats announcer stated after D. Lee struck out, “Got em on the ol powder river” What does that mean? Has anyone ever heard that saying before? Where did it come from?
Go Cubs Go!!!!
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