This one will be wistful. And painful. And nostalgic.
Greg Maddux faces the Cubs today. It will be the first time he's done so since he was traded away last July 31. It may only be an exhibition game, but it'll still feel odd. The last time Maddux faced the Cubs was... October 3, 2003, when Mark Prior beat him in game three of the NLDS at Wrigley Field.
Remember that? Remember Mark Prior?
Just as he did last year for the Dodgers, Maddux will not be wearing his familiar #31. Instead, he'll be sporting #30 in the Padres' blue-and-sand. Unlike LA, however, there's a good reason for this. The Padres' #31 is retired for Hall of Famer Dave Winfield.
Wade Miller, who with Mark Prior's wobbly appearance on Monday is back in the fifth-starter mix, will start. Among others, Kerry Wood will also throw this afternoon.
As noted in kaseyi's diary, former Cubs coach (and interim manager for two games in 1986) John Vukovich died today in a Philadelphia hospital from complications from an inoperable brain tumor, aged 59. My condolences to John's friends and family.
Today's MLB Audio broadcast features the Padres' radio team -- perhaps we'll hear former WGN Radio guy Andy Masur call some of the game.
If you don't have MLB Audio, there's MLB.com Gameday. (link probably active within about 30 minutes of gametime)
Lineups, as always courtesy of Bruce Miles:
| Today's Starting Lineups | |
| Cubs | Padres |
| Pie, cf | Sledge, rf |
| Theriot, 2b | Walker, 2b |
| Murton, lf | Cameron, CF |
| Ward, 1b | Bard, c |
| Kinkade, 3b | Blum, 1b |
| Coats, RF | Kouzmanoff, 3b |
| Blanco, c | McAnulty, lf |
| Izturis, SS | Robles, ss |
| Miller, p | Maddux, p |
Kind of miscellaneous lineups (Josh Bard hitting cleanup for SD??), with no Lee, Soriano, Ramirez, Barrett or Jones today.
Discuss amongst yourselves.