Tell the truth. If someone had told you the day before Opening Day, that two weeks hence the Cubs' most consistent starting pitcher would be Ryan Dempster, you'd have had them put away. That is, however, exactly where we sit tonight, and he'll need to be, because the Reds' best, Aaron Harang, will be facing him.
Today is Jackie Robinson tribute day, so many Cubs (Derrek Lee, Daryle Ward, coaches Gerald Perry and Lester Strode) and Reds will be wearing Robinson's retired #42.
Site note: I'll be at the game tonight. Thus, I won't be able to post more than one overflow thread. I've got one set to post at 8:30 pm CDT. I've asked the tech team to monitor the threads tonight and post another one if it gets too busy or slow. Please let me know if you have any problems.
Ex-Cub note: in an eerie mirror of what happened to him with the Cubs in 2004, Indians closer Joe Borowski was placed on the DL today, "triceps soreness" being cited as the reason. Borowski clearly suffered a drop in velocity early in 2004 and looked hurt, but it took till June for him to admit it and go on the DL. In the meantime, the Cubs lost four games (two tied games he lost, and two blown saves) they might have otherwise won.
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The hot-hitting Derrek Lee is .343/.395/.743 lifetime vs. Harang (12-for-35, 2 doubles, 4 HR). Aramis Ramirez has homered three times in 30 AB against Harang. Harang was 3-2 vs. the Cubs last year, but with a 4.76 ERA.
Of all people, Corey Patterson has hit Dempster well (5-for-14, a HR).
Today's game is on CSN Chicago and FSN Ohio. Thus, if you have EI, you should get it, one way or the other. For more, here's today's MLB.com Mediacenter.
MLB.com Gameday(2007 version)
MLB.com Gameday (2008 version)
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Discuss amongst yourselves.