Replay is coming soon to a ballpark near you. They promise it will be used only:
to determine whether a ball leaving the field is fair or foul, or whether it actually went over the fence. It would not be used on close plays on the bases, or to determine balls and strikes.That's fine with me. If they can use it to get some of the egregiously bad calls made earlier this year right, that's a good thing. I presume that if there are plays where the replays don't show conclusively one way or the other, then, as in the NFL, the ruling on the field would stand.
Now, on to Florida, which has been a house of pain for the Cubs the last two years -- they haven't won in Miami since July 10, 2005 -- it wasn't always that way. Through the 2005 season the Cubs were 29-27 all-time in Miami, and won two of three there in the 2003 NLCS. It's way past time to turn it around.
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Josh Johnson threw well two weeks ago at Wrigley Field, and left with a no-decision in a game eventually lost by Bob Howry. That's not likely to happen again tonight. Johnson allowed homers to Reed Johnson and Geovany Soto that day -- the only runs the Cubs scored.
Z had his worst start of the year in his last outing vs. the Cardinals, so he needs to turn it around tonight. He beat the Marlins at Wrigley Field on July 24, and is now 6-4, 3.38 on the road this year. His only loss to the Marlins (in the regular season) was on July 1, 2002; that was before Z became the Z we know now, and there's no one left from that long-ago Marlins roster still on the team (for that matter, have a look at that day's Cub lineup for some laughs).
Today's game is an all-cable extravaganza on CSN Chicago, the Sunshine Network, and EI. Also see the MLB.com Mediacenter.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Once again, a reminder that you can find the overflow comment threads, including the first pitch thread, on the right sidebar of both the front page and any interior page in the box headed "RECENT STORIES IN GAME THREADS". Today's first pitch thread posts at noon CT, and the overflow comment threads will post at xxxx pm CT.
Discuss amongst yourselves.