Cubby-Blue

What Team WAS That Yesterday?

Here are the Wrigley Field ground rules:
Baseball hits top or face of screen in front of bleacher wall and bounces back on playing field -- In Play
Baseball hits top of screen and drops between screen and wall -- Home Run
Baseball hits screen and bounces into bleachers -- Home Run
Baseball sticks in screen in front of bleachers -- Double
Baseball sticks in vines on bleacher wall -- Double
Baseball comes out of vines -- In Play
Baseball hits leftfield or rightfield foul markers above painted mark -- Home Run
Baseball hits foul markers below painted mark and bounces back on playing field -- In Play
Baseball goes under grates in leftfield or rightfield and remains there -- Double
Baseball goes in or under grates on either side of home plate and remains there:
-- Pitched Ball- One Base
-- Thrown Ball - Two Bases
Also: Players cannot enter the dugout steps at Wrigley Field to catch any foul pop fly.

I was trying to find out if there was a rule about, you know, if any team is up by eight in one and two thirds of an inning and the starting pitcher for the Cubs is having a hissy on the mound... can the Cub manager take a mulligan?
Just kind of... start over or something?
Couldn't find it, that rule.

So anyway... not gonna get all worked up about Carlos or his arm or the adventure Lou had when Carlos walked off the mound or any of that.
I'm gonna write it off to an emotional team let-down after the Thursday 12 inning comeback victory over the Brewers, who continue their death spiral with the 11-2 loss to the Reds.

Lets talk about today.
For the Cardinals it'll be Joel Alberto Pineiro, who's given up 10 hits in each of his last 4 starts.
If the Cubs get 10 hits, I guarantee victory.
Cub Fan Mark Carlson is just back from his sabbatical, adding a little extra positive vibes to the local atmosphere.
And Terrible Ted Lilly is on the mound for the Cubs with a Magic Number of one, which rhymes with won.
I do not foresee Ted taking his eye off the ball.
Today, the Cubs will clinch.

Geovany Soto Should Be Rookie Of 2008

Rookies don't do this kind of stuff.
Not this late in the season, not when it counts, not against the Brewers, and not for the Cubs.
At least none that I can remember.
Geovany Soto is such a stud.
You may have noticed that as the season's gone along Geo has been "figured out" by opposing pitchers, and he keeps "figuring out" how to get the pitchers all unfigured again.
Rookies don't do that.

So no, I wasn't at home in my back yard yelling, but I sure was in the hallway at work.
I would imagine either you or somebody did the same, right?
It was the kind of hit that makes you love baseball - the kind that you dream of making when you're little.
Piro and Oif were in my office, people stopping by thinking we were watching, but it was just Emily's radio in the window sill on about volume 2.
We're working.
Now it's the bottom of the 9th and the Cubs are gonna lose 2-6.
It's over.
Somebody says some cheese and crackers are left from a meeting or something, and the guys leave.
Then Pat Hughes' voice is saying CAN YOU BELIEVE IT while Ron is making the kind of noise that would cause me to lose my voice: Geovany Soto has just tied the game with a 3 run homer.
I ran down the hall, yelling.

It wasn't over of course, just more life for the Cubs.
But Marmol and Wood shut everything down with Kerry striking out 3 in the 11th and then getting in a little trouble in the 12th before getting the 3 groundouts.
And then in the bottom of the 12th, Derrek Lee (YES!) gets the enormous walk-off single, knocking in pinch runner Jason Marquis.
Cubs 7 Brewers 6.

With Big Z's no-no, Ted Lilly's god-like performance, and this impossible come from behind victory by a team-ful of heroes, it's been kinda nutty lately.
Good nutty.

And now it's the Cardinals coming to town for the last regularly scheduled home series of 2008.
Then the Mets away.
Then to Milwaukee.
Is this not the most exciting season in your lifetime?
I'm older than you, and I'm sayin' it is.

Go Cubs.

ps: This illustration originally went in VINELINE, and it's based on fact.
I am a loud man, and I would imagine that most people on my block know that a Cub fan lives in my house.

Cubs Flat Against The Brewers, Lose 2-6

I don't care if they've only won 3 out of their last 15 games, you cannot come out flat against this Brewers team.
Poor Jason Marquis had barely heard his introduction over the loudspeaker before he was wondering how Prince Fielder could possibly be up and the bases loaded already.
Whamo.
A Fielder rocket, made pretty memorable because you got to watch all that human stuff that is Prince wriggle around first and into second.
But he also cleared the bases.
Remember the fight in "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid" between Paul Newman and that freaky tall guy who played "Lurch" on the "Adams Family"?
It was like that - before the fight even started, Newman kicked him in the nads and it was over.
In the second inning with 2 outs, Ben Sheets got somebody out and just turned around and squatted behind the mound, and while Aramis Ramirez was coming up Ben threw a couple tosses to the third baseman.
You knew something was wrong with him, and he promptly served up a pitch that Aramis made into one of those homers you don't even get a chance to stand up for, it went out so fast.
But that was it for the Cubs.
Brewers 6 Cubs 2.
Just flat.

But it's a gorgeous morning and a new day, and I would imagine the game at 1:20 with Rich Harden will be... not so flat.
Magic number is still 4.
Go Cubs.

Lastly, go here to hear Eddie Vedder's Cubs song.

Cubs Beat Sabathia - Let Your Fingers Do The Talking

I've seen a couple people do this hand signal thing.
Tried it.
Kinda stupid, but when you're at Wrigley and the W flag goes up... actually pretty fun.
Man oh man.
What a gorgeous night.
Brought a jacket but never even thought about putting it on.
The wind was blowing out - not a gale but enough, and we figured maybe enough balls would go out from each team so that neither starter would figure in the final figure - that the win would go to a reliever.
That's because we're baseball geniuses.
Ryan Dempster got his 16th win and CC Sabathia got his first loss of the season as a Brewer.
The Cubs got to him a little bit and early - it was 3 zip Cubs at the end of the 3rd, and nothing cheap off Sabathia.
We got to see another Speedy Reedy Johnson diving catch, a late inning dagger homer by Alfonso, and an absolute jaw-dropping smash by Prince Fielder that had to have gone across Sheffield.
And we got to see that final tango between Prince and Kerry Wood with the tying run on 3rd - maybe 5,6 hugely hacked fouled-off fastballs before Kerry threw something way offspeed and Prince could only watch the ump's thumb go up in the air.
Cubs 5 Brewers 4.
Magic number 4.

We spent some time on that outside area up high that looks out at Clark and Addison before the game, and the sun was going down, had a brat and a Bud and you know, maybe I'm just a simple guy.
But, not a whole lot of places I'd rather be.
Don't want to get too sappy here, but this has been about as perfect a season as you could imagine, and now there are only 5 home games left.
Uh, in the regular part.

Just How Many Aces DO The Cubs Have?

The Cubs have a couple of these guys.
Aces.
Including Ted Lilly.
He had us all secretly holding our breath for hours yesterday as he no-hit the Astros through 6 innings.
I say secretly because it's insanely busy at work, and you know you can't talk about these no-hit bids while they're happening.
Too jinxy.
But the "network" of Cub fans around here is amazing.
I'm working and suddenly at the door Olson or Oif or Pete Taylor do a drive-by saying, "Can't talk about it."
But they're holding up 5 fingers, so I know the no no is still a go through the fifth.
Anyway, I read later that Jim Edmonds made a god-like catch, and Aramis made an "error" to keep it alive til Astro Mark Loretta hit a single to Speedy Reedy Johnson in the 7th.
Then the bullpen shut 'em down for the rest of the game.
Batting-wise there were homers from Derrek Lee, Jim Edmonds and Geo Soto.
Cubs 6 Astros 1.
So for the Houston vs. Chicago in Milwaukee series, the Astros got one hit and fifty four outs.
That kind of shutting down is pretty much a public wedgie.

Now there's fifteen games to go beginning tonight at 7:05 with the Brewers coming to town minus manager Ned Yost, who was quietly dumped yesterday morning.
(Pretty sure today he'll be a little put out by all the rhyming headlines with "Yost" and "toast".)
Tonight it'll be 15-8 evil ace CC Sabathia of the Brewers vs. 15-6 good guy ace Ryan Dempster of the Cubs.
Wait.
Let me be more specific.
That's 15-6 good guy ace Ryan Dempster of your (so far) 90 wins, 8 games up, and First Place Chicago Cubs.
How's that sound?

One last thing.
Frequent commenter DB, who happens to be a pretty good photographer who happened to get pretty good seats at Carlos' no-no also happened to post her shots in yesterday's comments.
Go here.