Hey Z! Next time you're pissed at yourself for striking out, don't break the bat over your knee!!!

Seriously. It was, I suppose, sort of funny at the time and provoked a huge cheer from the sellout crowd of 41,686 (largest of the year so far), but Carlos Zambrano, who didn't have his best stuff in the first four innings, completely lost it in the fifth after he came out following the bat-breaking episode. Three hits and two walks later, Lou had to take him out of the game, and thank heavens for Michael Wuertz, Scott Eyre (who was so anxious to get into the game that he started trotting in from the bullpen at the beginning of the 7th, even though Lou hadn't called for him) and Jon Lieber for throwing four innings of two-hit, five-strikeout relief and keeping the game close.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, as Carlos Marmol was touched for a single that -- once again -- might have been handled by Ronny Cedeno at SS, but Ryan Theriot, despite a great effort, couldn't throw Freddy Sanchez out, and then Nate McLouth hit a two-run HR that was the difference in the Pirates' 7-6 win over the Cubs this afternoon, the first time the Pirates have beaten the Cubs since September 9, 2007 in Pittsburgh, ten straight wins for the Cubs over the Pirates; that's the longest such Cub-over-Pirate streak in 117 years (since 1890-91), on a sunny Saturday when the wind shifted from strong-blowing-out-to-RF, to strong-blowing-in-over-RF, which may have prevented Derrek Lee's fly ball from going out in the last of the 9th.

I told Mike after the Pirates took the lead 5-4 in the fifth that it'd be up to the white-hot-en-fuego-any-superlative-you-can-think-of Alfonso Soriano to win the game, and damned if he didn't nearly do just that. In a homestand where Soriano's hit virtually everything in sight, today was his best game of all -- 5-for-5 with two HR and two doubles (13 total bases); he's now 20-for-37 (.541) with 5 doubles, 7 HR and 15 RBI in the nine games played so far in this longest homestand of the year, raising his average to .295 (coming in off the last road trip, he was hitting .188).

And we know that just as quickly, he could turn around and have a bad stretch, so you ride this streak as long as it lasts. Soriano still seems to be running slowly; his ground-rule double into the ivy in the 9th inning would probably have only been a single if it had exited the ivy and been fielded by McLouth, because he rounded first base very slowly. That would have prevented him from scoring on Ryan Theriot's single, not that it really mattered for the final result. Derrek Lee's fly ball looked, off the bat, as if it might make it for an amazing walkoff win, but Xavier Nady caught it just short of the warning track.

Today -- the Cubs just got beat. There's no shame in being beaten by McLouth, who is one of maybe three decent players on the Pirates and who is off to a torrid start himself (his 36 RBI now rank second in the National League). After Z's meltdown, the Cubs seemed to kind of shrink back and Zach Duke, who had been hashed around pretty good in the first four innings (eight hits, four runs), retired the last eight Cubs he faced. Tyler Yates, his relief, had Soriano as his first opposing hitter and he gave Alfonso his 2nd HR of the day. Soriano's so zoned in that virtually all of his HR have landed right near our section -- one yesterday just to our right, close to the foul pole, that second one today just to our left, to section 303 across the aisle in the last row.

It might have been a bit different, too, had Geovany Soto been safe on Mark DeRosa's double in the third inning. It seemed the right call at the time, leading 3-1, to send Soto, even though he's probably the slowest man in the starting lineup. Replays appeared to confirm that he was out. Had he scored, the score would have neen 4-1 and maybe Duke gets yanked right then and there.

On things like this, ballgames can turn. We'll get 'em tomorrow.

Two final notes: I thought having Kosuke Fukudome bunt in the 8th was the right call, especially since he usually handles the bat so well; this was a situation where you're not bunting strictly to sacrifice, but perhaps to beat it out. Dome had that in mind, as he attempted to push the bunt past Damaso Marte, but didn't quite get it far enough, and Marte was able to throw the lead runner, Aramis Ramirez, out at second, effectively killing the rally.

And conspicuous by his absence was Jim Edmonds. Rather than double-switching in the 9th when Marmol came in with Mike Fontenot, Lou could have used Edmonds to bat for Marmol in the last of the ninth. Instead, Edmonds stayed anchored to the bench today, and likely will be again tomorrow with yet another lefty, Phil Dumatrait (who the Cubs have beaten like the proverbial drum), going.

Finally, I heard today about some things that are happening to the guy who jumped out of the bleachers last Sunday. He was apparently dared by some of his friends (as is the usual thing in these cases, perhaps fueled by alcohol), and was in the Navy. He's being discharged from the Navy (my guess is, not honorably), and has also lost a chance to qualify for the US Olympic team, and may wind up in prison, convicted of a felony.

That's a lesson, kids. Don't do stuff like that. There are consequences for bad choices. The jumper apparently had everything going for him and has lost a lot due to one bad choice.

Yes, there are fifteen of them (I made sure to count).

Cubs pitchers brought their strikeout shoes to the ballpark Wednesday night; Ted Lilly, Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood combined for a season-high 15 strikeouts and the Cubs beat the Padres 8-5 in one of those "wasn't as close as the score indicated" games, made closer because Wood wasn't sharp in the ninth inning, allowing three hits and a run to score after two were out.

The big news from yesterday, is, of course, something we have discussed to death here: the Cubs' signing of Jim Edmonds and optioning of Felix Pie to Iowa. There isn't much more to be said: it's done. He's here, will start today, and if he does well and helps the Cubs win, I'm all for it. Now, let me say that on the face of it, I'm against this signing because it makes little sense from virtually every standpoint (baseball: he seems to have little left; clubhouse chemistry: he's acquired a reputation as an aloof loner; and fan support: virtually every Cubs fan hates him). All I can say is that if he indeed is as done as I think he is, that Jim Hendry won't waste any time releasing him and bringing Pie back.

The rest of this recap is happier: the Cubs' offense clicked last night. Everyone except Derrek Lee (and maybe he needs a day off -- he looked tired and went 0-for-5) got a hit and scored a run. Biggest contributors: Geovany Soto with an RBI single and two-run HR, and Alfonso Soriano, a leadoff HR and two-run single.

BCB reader drewishdrewid and his wife Laura joined us last night; nice to see you again, and also Jessica, now known here as Doggie Stalker, in from New York for the weekend. She ate her traditional good-luck tuna sandwich in the bottom of the first inning, and spent much of the rest of the game "visiting" her "other" seats in the terrace reserve, section 209, and staring at the ground. I expect her to do a lot of that this afternoon, when Greg Maddux takes the mound for the Padres.

We can afford to do silly stuff like that now, right? The Cubs are 16-7 at home, are playing well, and despite the fact that we all love Greg Maddux, I want nothing more today than to beat his team (he doesn't have to take the loss, after all). I'll have a game thread up in about three hours. Until then, here are some photos from last night's win.

Kosuke Fukudome doubles in the second inning

Reed Johnson about to catch Khalil Greene's long drive in the 5th

Ryan Theriot rounds third and scores after Aramis Ramirez doubles in the 6th

Padres CF Jody Gerut dives but cannot catch Johnson's double in the 7th

Fukudome & Johnson celebrating the win

Fukudome & Soriano celebrating the win

Click on photos to open a larger version in a new browser window. All photos by David Sameshima

And just what did we learn today from today's 6-4 Cub win over the Diamondbacks, their second come-from-behind win in a row, completing a sweep over a team that came into Chicago with the best record in baseball?

First, mea culpa to everyone I was talking to in the game thread saying "CALL THIS GAME NOW!" I figured there was no way they'd play this afternoon, given the horrendous weather all morning -- pouring rain, strong winds, feeling like it was 2003 again; so I stayed home during the morning hours (had lunch, did the Sunday Tribune crossword, kept track of weather radars) instead of going to claim my bleacher seat. Watching the webcams (thanks, ballhawk!) we saw that the seats were claimed by about 12:30, so when I arrived Mike, Phil & I sat with, appropriately, I thought, on Mother's Day, some longtime bleacher season ticket holders who are moms, Judy & Colleen, in their seats in right-center field next to the concession stand. Judy's daughter is in her 20's and married, but Colleen had her three young kids in tow. They spent most of their time slopping hot dogs, cokes and cotton candy all over the place, calling each other "idiot", and racing in and out so many times it made my head spin. (The oldest, to her credit, at least attempted to keep score.) Mike said it was "almost as good entertaiment as what was on the field, and free!"

Well, at least before the Cubs mounted their two comebacks, it might have been the best entertainment of the day (No, I'm not including the idiot who ran onto the field, jumping out of the bleachers -- the last guy who tried that broke both his ankles -- who was tackled by security and the off-duty cops who patrol for those sorts of things). But the Cubs, who had given the lead to Arizona in the first inning after two were out and no one on base (I hate those!), took it back with some small ball in the second -- a walk, a single, a sacrifice by Sean Gallagher, and a wild pitch.

The long-ball gave them the lead in the third, in the form of Derrek Lee's opposite-field HR, his tenth.

The lead was coughed up in the fifth, with yet another lesson learned: here was a textbook example of how certain statistics mean absolutely nothing, in this case pitcher ERA's. Sean Gallagher, who I thought threw pretty well before running out of gas in the 5th, gave up hits to three of the first four batters he faced in that inning (after allowing only two hits and two walks through four), and then intentionally walked Chris Young to load the bases while Chad Fox finished his warmup tosses.

Fox shouldn't have bothered. He walked the first two hitters he faced, Conor Jackson and Justin Upton, forcing in two runs. After that Fox settled down and retired the next two hitters, and threw a scoreless sixth, even while issuing another walk.

Thus Fox's ERA goes down, and Gallagher's goes up through no fault of his own. Fox, I think, really doesn't belong on this roster. He's a feel-good story, but that's about it. And I was beginning to be of the mind that Lou didn't know what he was doing, NOT using Fox in a five-run blowout in the 9th inning yesterday, then using him in a key situation today.

Which leads to another lesson learned, and this one was taught both to me and D'backs manager Bob Melvin. After Reed Johnson tied the game with his first Cub HR (hit into the teeth of a 25-MPH wind blowing in from LF), Lou brought in Carlos Marmol yet again (I thought he could have stuck with Michael Wuertz in the 8th; Wuertz threw exactly four pitches in dispatching the D'backs in the 7th) -- I swear, Marmol's arm is going to fall off if Lou keeps this up -- Marmol took care of Arizona easily, and the Cubs came up in the last of the 8th down by two runs.

After Aramis Ramirez singled... well, something happened, and I'm not sure what. Did someone miss a sign? Or did someone not give a sign? Aramis took off for second base and surprised everyone in the ballpark, most of all Arizona catcher Miguel Montero, who nearly flung the ball into the center field ivy; Ramirez was safe for only his 12th career SB, his first since 2006 (and only his fourth since becoming a Cub nearly five years ago).

That's when the fun began. Kosuke Fukudome laid down a perfect bunt that hugged the wet grass down the 3B line (hey! a use for rainy days after all!), which put Ramirez on third with nobody out. After Geovany Soto's "swinging bunt" advanced Dome to second, Lou schooled all of us. Daryle Ward had been on deck to pinch-hit for Marmol, the seemingly "obvious" PH move, but instead, Lou sent up Alfonso Soriano (who got a huge ovation; I suppose, for yesterday's 4-for-5).

Bob Melvin ordered Soriano intentionally walked to load the bases. Then, Ward batted for Felix Pie. Melvin either forgot to have a lefthander up or doesn't trust his bullpen lefties, because Ward slammed Tony Pena's second pitch in the gap right in front of my Sunday perch, winning the game. Sometimes Lou appears to be not-so-slick because, well, some of his postgame comments may not seem as articulate or funny or pithy as some other managers. But oh, he's smart, thinking two steps ahead of the other guy. Bob Melvin and the rest of us: lesson learned.

Kerry Wood hit another batter (didn't he do this a lot as a starter, too?), but got out of the inning with a slick DP turned by Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot and Derrek Lee.

Learned my lessons today: never question Chicago weather, because there was no typhoon today; after it stopped raining it wasn't too cold, though quite windy. And never question Lou Piniella. He's the right guy for this job.

Finally, maybe a lesson learned for some of you who questioned me when I picked the Diamondbacks to finish fourth in the NL West. Yes, they're a good team with good young talent. But they sure didn't impress me this weekend. Savor this sweep; the Cubs just gave notice that they will need to be reckoned with as this season continues what is beginning as a fascinating one.

Click here for my scorecard from today's game

I'm lazy today. So here, you can make up your own recap of the Cubs' 9-3 win over the Cardinals:

Quite a number of things got reversed in today's 3-2 Cub win over the Pirates, not the least of which was the weather; predictions of possible rain rumbled by early this morning, but the only rumbles of thunder in the area were heard in the far western suburbs, and unlike yesterday (another reversal), when the wind shifted from southeast to east and the temperature dropped 15 degrees, today, the east wind shifted to south, blowing out directly at us in left field by game's end, and the temperature on the gauge in my car when I got there after the game read "75 degrees" -- I hadn't thought it was that warm, but we'll take a bonus nice day anytime in mid-April.

Reversed also were the fortunes of Rich Hill, who hadn't really pitched well (as Dave reminded me) since mid-September of last year. He started out with yet another walk, but picked Nate McLouth off first base, and despite giving up a run to the Pirates in the second inning on two singles and a double, lookd pretty solid all afternoon. His 82-pitch outing was ended by Lou after five innings -- likely to give him a shot at a win -- and the bullpen took over.

And here is where I have my only quibble with Lou's managing this afternoon. Kevin Hart was warming up in the 5th inning, in case Hill got into more trouble, but then sat down and Jon Lieber -- who threw an inning yesterday -- came into the game. Now what's the point of that? Lieber is now probably unavailable tomorrow, and so is Carlos Marmol, who threw 43 pitches in two innings and gave up a wind-blown HR to McLouth that made the score 3-2 in the 8th. Marmol, as Dave and I agreed, isn't suited to be a two-inning pitcher; his job is going to be to pitch in the 7th, to set up for Bob Howry in the 8th... and of course, Howry may not have been available, having thrown a 14-pitch inning yesterday... which brings us back to the original question of this paragraph: why wasn't Hart in the game in the sixth? Credit where credit is due: Kerry Wood was outstanding today. Before I could even finish writing "Mientkiewicz" on my scorecard, Wood had retired him on a grounder to first.

Too many quibbles, I guess, for a game the Cubs won. Dave said, "Lou's managing this game like it's a pennant race game in September, instead of a game in mid-April", and I think he's right. There's no need to risk burning out the bullpen this early in the year. What has to happen, as I told him, is that the starters have to start going consistently deeper into games. We can't keep having these five-inning outings all the time.

Meanwhile, the offense did just enough, even without any HR on a day when the wind shifted and was blowing out from about the fourth inning on. The Cubs scored all their runs in that fourth inning, getting the first four men on base and then, with Rich Hill up ostensibly to bunt, he hit a ball that would have gone through the infield if Luis Rivas hadn't been shading toward 2B. Hill beat the DP relay throw, and then Eric Patterson hit a ball to almost the same spot -- but also beat the relay, and got an RBI as a result, when Geovany Soto scored what turned out to be the margin-of-victory run. McLouth, for his part, got into the action a little more than he might have liked; in chasing down Kosuke Fukudome's triple he got a beer thrown in his direction. Unfortunately, that's more stupid behavior by ONE bleacher fan. I trust the Pirates announcers let it go.

Reed Johnson had two more hits today and may, by default, have won the CF job. Lou likes playing the hot hand and Johnson has looked good. This was the one game in the series where Felix Pie might have started; two LHP's are going the next two days. If Pie's not going to play, they may as well send him back to Iowa and bring Matt Murton up. My feelings on this issue are well-known. Pie has talent, but we're never going to find out whether he can play or not unless he plays. (I know that sounds silly, but it's the truth.) Sitting on the bench here is pointless for him, and bringing Murton up would allow Mark DeRosa to go back to playing 2B. I don't think that Eric Patterson is any real solution to the problem -- no matter what Christina Kahrl has written at Baseball Prospectus.

However, the team is winning, so maybe I should just keep my mouth shut on the issue. This weird schedule has the Cubs playing the Pirates six of the first 18 games -- and wouldn't it be nice to sweep them again?

Some people in the section just to our left attempted to start a wave in the eighth inning. Fortunately, they failed. Earlier, I had met BCB readers coral and bobby h, who both stopped by to say hi. Nice to meet you both this afternoon.

Finally, my son Mark was off school today, so he came to the game. Running off to ballhawk during BP, he brought back two baseballs and I saw him nearly catch a third on the fly. Also, he's now 3-0 in games attended. I'm thinking I've got to get him out to more ballgames (when school's out, of course).

On a night when many players and some entire teams -- nine of them -- honored the legacy of Jackie Robinson by wearing his retired number 42, Derrek Lee, who you see above (along with the Reds' Ken Griffey, Jr., also wearing 42), smashed a three-run homer in the fifth inning, bringing the Cubs from behind (they trailed 3-2 at the time), had two other hits, and sparked a 9-5 Cub win over the Reds, their eighth win in their last eleven games after starting the season 0-2.

That one felt good, although the wind howling out at 20+ MPH didn't feel so good once the sun went down. None of the three Cub homers -- by D-Lee, Mark DeRosa and Ryan Theriot -- needed any help from the wind, though. It wasn't just home runs, either -- in addition to the three HR, the Cubs pounded out 11 other hits, drew three walks and in general, had a fine offensive day. I hesitate to say so, but D-Lee's starting to look as he did in his great 2005 season -- and is now tied for the league lead in HR (5), three off the lead with 12 RBI, 2nd in SLG (.737) and 3rd in OPS (1.159).

Also "offensive", in a different sort of way, was an injury to Alfonso Soriano after one of his "bunny hops" on catching a routine fly ball. His former manager at Washington, Frank Robinson, predicted this would happen:

Soriano, an infielder until the Washington Nationals converted him to the outfield in 2006, has done the hop since making the switch, and his manager then, Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson, cringed when he watched it -- but was reluctant to try to break him of it.

"I kept saying one of these days he's going to go up there and it ain't going to be there," Robinson said last fall.

Soriano had a MRI last night on the leg and may be headed to the DL. (Which, I suppose, will please those of you who are Soriano bashers. However, please remember the Cubs would likely would not have made the playoffs without his performance last September.) I presume Matt Murton would be recalled from Iowa, though it could also be Eric Patterson (since Patterson can play more positions than Murton can, and hits lefthanded). The Cubs may mix-and-match lineups while Soriano is out, but even what they did last night -- move Mark DeRosa to LF and play Mike Fontenot at 2B -- might work on occasion. They could also play Patterson in LF, or Patterson in CF (if it's really decided that Felix Pie has to go back to Iowa, and he looked pretty bad last night, even as the rest of the team was smacking the ball around the yard) with Murton in LF. I suppose also, that the calls to sign free agent Kenny Lofton may begin again.

There are worse ideas. We'll see. I also hope that if Soriano is out, Lou will entertain the idea of leading off with Kosuke Fukudome, who seems ideally suited for that spot, with his excellent plate discipline. Anyway, once Soriano does return (presuming he does have a DL stint ahead), let's hope someone convinces him to stop hopping.

Ryan Dempster threw a pretty good game, though a defensive lapse by Carlos Marmol cost him a "quality start" -- Marmol inexplicably threw to 2B in an ill-advised attempt to get Corey Patterson (who was booed every time he came up, as was Dusty Baker when he made two pitching changes. That's all I have to say about that). Hey Carlos: when the other team gives you an out, take it! Instead, the bases wound up loaded, and when a run scored on a force play, that left Dempster, who left with nobody out in the seventh, with four earned runs. Marmol, however, recovered to get an inning-ending DP, and then threw a strong eighth, striking out the side and hitting 97 on the ballpark speed meter. Would you have guessed that after 13 games, three pitchers would be tied for the team lead with two wins -- and the three would be Dempster, Jon Lieber and Kevin Hart?

Ken Griffey, Jr. hit his 595th career HR and then (photo above) shared some laughs with bleacher fans in RF who were heckling him. The Reds' Joey Votto finished the five-total-HR barrage last night by homering off Michael Wuertz (hey, what's up with that? Suddenly, Wuertz seems eminently hittable), and when Wuertz followed that with a walk to Paul Bako, Kerry Wood was summoned to finish up, even though it wasn't a save situation. Kerry threw 15 pitches (12 strikes), so ought to be available tonight (even though he was up two separate times to warm up; he'd have come in to start the 9th had Theriot not homered to make a 7-4 lead a 9-4 lead).

We were joined last night by BCB readers Sarah Hope (who recently moved to the Chicago area from Cincinnati to take a job with the Schaumburg Flyers) and some co-workers, and also BartlettBob (who says he rarely posts, if you haven't seen his name much). They gave out knit caps last night -- they were needed. It's supposed to be warmer, but just as windy, tonight, so expect more balls to leave the yard.

Click on photos to open a larger version in a new browser window. Photos by David Sameshima

This one had a chance. Really, it did. As I said to Mike after the 9th inning, today's game had already leaped into the top rank of all Cubs home openers after Kosuke Fukudome's dramatic, frenetic, amazing three-run homer that had Wrigley rocking tied the game.

But in the end, the thing that was supposed to be one of the most solid aspects of the 2008 Cubs -- its bullpen -- failed. Kerry Wood had good velocity today -- hitting 96 on the ballpark speed gun several times -- but bad command, hitting Rickie Weeks with his first pitch.

That was his undoing, as with two out, Corey Hart hit a two-run triple. We all thought the game was done, until Dome's incredible shot. Dome was, obviously, the Cub star of the game, singling, doubling, walking and hitting the HR.

The Cubs lost to the Brewers 4-3 in 10 innings today in a game delayed twice by rain, 40 minutes at the start and 50 minutes in the bottom of the third. It rained most of the time play was taking place, too; heavily before the delay in the third, less so after the second delay, although it didn't stop for good until the 8th inning.

So one dome team -- the Brewers -- plays in Chicago and wins. Another -- the Blue Jays -- were to play in New York and got rained out. When will the schedulers learn? Today, I heard that there are rumblings that MLB brass is threatening to fine players who complain about the weather. Shades of Bowie Kuhn sitting coatless at the World Series back in the 70's, pretending it wasn't cold.

It wasn't too cold today -- game time temperature was 44, but once the first rain blasted through, the wind shifted to the southwest and the temperature jumped into the not-uncomfortable mid-50's, though the gusts made it hard to hold on to the umbrellas we all had raised most of the time. Howard arrived promptly with the Jimmy John's sandwiches not long after the gates opened, but he spent much of his time during the first delay downstairs, while I watched the KC/Detroit game on the plasma screen across the street at one of the rooftop clubs.

Who says you can't entertain yourself during a rain delay?

During the pregame delay several Cubs walked across the field to hit in the batting cages beneath the bleachers. Guess who got the largest ovation? Mark DeRosa.

DeRo hit two fly balls that nearly caught enough of a wind gust to make the bleachers during the game; both wound up caught by Tony Gwynn Jr., unfortunately.

The usual lineup-along-the-baselines Opening Day ritual for both teams was dispensed with in order to speed along some of the other pregame activities, including a moment of silence for the NIU shootings, a nice touch, and the Cubs will fly a NIU flag on top of the upper deck all season. When the Cubs took the field, Dome ran to his RF position to a rousing ovation, and dozens of signs, including a huge section-long banner reading "FUKUDOME". He took off his cap and gave what in Japanese culture would be seen as a formal bow, very slight.

It was a much more excited and lively crowd that greeted him after the HR. He did do a curtain call out of the dugout, but also doffed his cap to the remaining crowd in RF.

For eight innings it was a pitchers' duel, starters Ben Sheets and Carlos Zambrano nearly matching each other pitch for pitch into the 7th. Sheets was yanked after giving up the single to Dome, and Salomon Torres hit DeRosa and walked Geovany Soto (good sign today: the Cubs drew four walks). While Soto was at bat, Dome got hung up in between 2nd and 3rd and had nowhere to go; DeRo took second, but Jason Kendall ran all the way out to near the SS position to tag Dome out.

That seemed to take a lot out of the Cubs; in the previous inning Z had left the game with forearm cramping. This has happened to him before, and having thrown 89 pitches, Lou took him out, likely as a precaution in the wet, sticky-cold conditions (my gloves finally got so wet I gave up and just put them away). I'm sure he'll be fine for his next start.

Carlos Marmol relieved and threw one pitch to finish the 7th, breezed through the 8th, and then, unfortunately, Wood and Bob Howry simply didn't do their jobs. But is this a disaster? (A certain local newspaper columnist will probably say so.) No, it's not. It's one game. Closers fail (and this isn't a blown save, since it wasn't a save situation). It's just as likely that Wood will throw great in his next six outings. I can quibble (and Phil was haranguing me in the bleachers all inning about this) about the choice of Howry to throw the 10th. Phil said Michael Wuertz might have been a better pick, and I think I agree.

Oh, and it didn't help that the first two spots in the batting order went 0-for-10, either.

One comment about the crowd, and I realize it was Opening Day and the weather was terrible -- but security in the bleachers was nearly nonexistent. I didn't see a single security person upstairs until after the rain delay; the new no-smoking-anywhere-in-Wrigley (mandated by the new state law) was being widely flouted by people smoking right in front of the many new no-smoking signs, and until several security supervisors came by, people were refusing to sit down in front of us during game action. It wasn't rowdy -- except down the LF line in the box seats late in the game where there was a disturbance -- but if this isn't addressed, it could get that way. Hopefully, this can and will be addressed soon.

It's late and I'm cold and tired and wet, but tomorrow I'll have some more things from the opener to post. Many of you liked the scorecard scans I posted last September and I'll scan mine and post it. Also, we at SBN are doing some test mobile audio posts. I recorded what I call some "Sounds of the Game" today on my phone and I'll put them together in a "mobile post" tomorrow afternoon.

Finally, it was nice to meet BCB's newest most prolific poster, Keystone80435, who stopped by and said hi. Thanks for the fries, incidentally. Several other BCB readers who didn't identify themselves, just said they read and like the site, stopped by to say hello -- thanks to all of you.

And despite the loss (hey, it's only 1 game of 162. Not worried), it was nice to feel home today. Home at Wrigley. Home to baseball. Now let's go get those Brewers on Wednesday.