12,892 paid their way into Ho Ho Kam Park in Mesa today -- that's a record, breaking the old record of 12,833 set on March 28, 1997.
Many of them left disappointed as the Cubs lost to the Diamondbacks 6-4.
Of course, there were probably a fair number of fans of the local D'backs in the crowd as well.
There was no broadcast today, so I know as much about this game as you do, reading the summary, so let's summarize, shall we?
Aramis Ramirez drove in a run with a double. Jeromy Burnitz drove in a run with a single. Todd Hollandsworth drove in Burnitz later in the game with a double of his own.
John Koronka, auditioning for a possible spot as a lefty in the bullpen, didn't do so well today, throwing two innings and allowing three runs. Another lefty, Will Ohman, didn't make his case very well either, giving up three hits and two runs in the third. The other lefty who threw today was Mike Remlinger, making his spring debut. He threw a scoreless inning, as did Chad Fox, Mike Wuertz, and Jermaine Van Buren (who also struck out three).
And that was about it for the game today.
In other news, the Cubs made their first roster cuts before the game today. They sent pitcher Roberto Novoa to Iowa, shipped pitcher David Crouthers (acquired in the Sosa deal) to West Tenn, and assigned pitcher Raul Valdez,
outfielder Adam Greenberg and catchers Jose Reyes and Robinson Cancel to minor league camp.
The only big surprise here is Novoa, who has a good arm and as he was acquired at the cost of Kyle Farnsworth, I figured he'd get a better shot at making the major league roster. This may also be an indication that the club is going to go north with 11 pitchers, as Novoa fits the "12th man" description pretty well, and maybe the Cubs figure he should be getting regular work at Iowa, with the thought that he'd be the first callup in case of injury.
Greenberg's a guy who I think will become a good major league backup outfielder. He kind of reminds me of Rex Hudler, a similarly-talented player (though Greenberg is an outfielder, and Hudler was an infielder). Not very big in size and with no obvious great abilities to hit or hit for power, Greenberg has an enthusiastic approach for the game, has great plate discipline and can run and field. He just turned 24, so he's still got some time. If he has a good year at Double-A, look for a promotion to Iowa mid-season.
Can you tell I'm kind of bored today? I went to a conference at my son Mark's school, picked up Rachel at her school, and the rest of the day basically hung out waiting for the result of today's game.
In Kerry Wood news, there isn't any. He'll start throwing again on Monday, and if all goes well, he'll miss one start.
And until Cub management says otherwise, this is the information I'm going on. I know that others are going to say "Here we go again", based on last year, but keep in mind that at least two of the people involved in last year's injury fiascoes -- Dave Groeschner and Sandy Krum -- are no longer with the team.
There's a reason for that, obviously.