Cubby-Blue

Cub Bats Sing: I'm Leaving You

If you go to i-tunes and type in "leaving you", over one hundred and fifty songs come up starting with the immortal Bad Company (off "The Sky Is Burning") and then to bands like DJ Screw and Juicy Monkey.

Every time I see the Cubs with runners on second and third, or especially with the bases loaded, I imagine the bats singing a song with that same popular refrain:

"I'm leavin' yooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuu".

Could be "I'm leavin' you baby" or "I'm leavin you behind" or "I'm leavin' your sorry ass".

But mostly this year it's been "I'm leavin you on base".

I don't even care who's up at bat when there are men on base, because everybody's equally guilty.

"I'm leaving you Mike. I'm leavin' you Alfonso. I'm leaving you Derrek. I'm leaving you Jake and Micah and Geo. I'm leaving you Rich and Ryan and Kosuke and Milton."

Last night the Cubs had 11 hits and 7 walks and 32 men left on base (as of 11:30 pm - sometimes it changes overnight like a miracle I haven't quite figured out) and 3 runs.

And they lost to the Tigers 3 to 5.

I am trying as hard as I can to hang with these guys.

But my funny's running low.

GET A GODDAMN HIT WITH SOMEBODY ON BASE PLEASE.

Ahhh.

Letting off a little steam feels pretty good.

Okay, tomorrow it's Ted Lilly.

As far as I'm concerned, the only Cub truly worthy of an All-Star vote.

But starting pitchers, as well as they've been doing, can't win without a run.

Change the song, guys.

Kevin Gregg inspires new Cubs product.

Man, it's been that kind of season for the Cubs' bullpen.

But sometimes in the depths of disaster, one can find inspiration.

This is a new product I figure would sell like hot cakes.

New Cubs Hurl Sacks®.

Take last night for instance.

Wouldn't it have been great to have a Kleenex-sized box of barf bags at the ready, on the side table right next to your frosty cold one?

"Ball" says Bob Brenly, "Gregg's got a 2 and 2 count on Don Kelly."

Right about now you could just pull out a handy Hurl Sack®, open her up and start gagging.

AACK.

"Ball three. Full count." says Len.

WUURP.

"He walked him."

EARRLLL.

"That puts the tying run on first."

BUUUIIICCCKKKKKK.

"Here comes pinch hitter Ryan Raburn."

RAAALLLLLLPPPPPPPHHHHHH.

"Line drive to left field...Tigers win."

And finally, you know, just let it rip.

Upchuck.

Regurgitate.

Toss your Cracker Jacks.

All without ever leaving the comfort of your couch!

All without any mess!

Plus, I guess you could do Yankee Hurl Sacks® or Padre Hurl Sacks® - any team would work.

Man, this is seriously a good idea.

Scott Boras, if you're reading this, gimme a call.

I think I'm gonna need an agent.

Just got back from Lake Powell last night, the Father's Day trip.

That is a seriously beautiful place to go.

There's not always alot of clouds up there - they really make the place photogenic.

This shot was from the boat on the way back from not catching any fish.

Didn't really care.

This post was originally done for The Cub Reporter, which is a pretty cool site with some talented and nice people who asked me to guest blog there when I can.

It's the 25th Anniversary of The Sandberg Game

25 years ago today I went to the greatest live sporting event I've ever seen.

The Sandberg Game.

It was the NBC Game of the Week, Cubs vs. Cards at Wrigley, and also the game where Ryno went 5 for 6 with 7 RBIs.

But the big drama and beginning of the Ryno legend came from his 2 home runs off the best reliever in baseball at the time, Bruce Sutter, with each home run tying the game.

The first came in the 9th tying the game 9 to 9.

In the top of the 10th, the Cardinals scored twice (Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee).

And in the bottom of the 10th with Bobby Dernier on and two outs and McGee already named player of the game, Ryno did it again.

The Cubs won 12-11 in the 12th when Dave Owen knocked in Leon Durham.

Afterwards, Cards manager Whitey Herzog said something like Ryno was the best player he'd ever seen.

But I'm telling you, this game was a turd early.

It was 7-1 at the bottom of the 2nd.

A friend of mine from Belleville (right next to St. Louis), Norma Reis, drove up with some friends and tickets for me, Flynn, my brother Grog and maybe Brannigan.

I think they used to seat all the out of towners in the same sections, because it was our couple of lonely blue Cub hats in a sea of red that day.

So we were kinda not having so much fun early on.

But I remember afterwards, there used to be a phone booth on Addison and we called my Cub fan dad in AZ collect, all too hoarse and filled with fine tasting Anheuser Busch products to really make any sense.

Pretty sure he figured out we'd just seen something amazing, though.

Here's the box score.

(I wrote this before leaving on the fishing trip, so when you read this I still don't know what's goin' on.)

How much pressure will there be on Aramis Ramirez?

When he comes back, Aramis Ramirez is going to have the pressure of all Chicago on his shoulders. And, he's not gonna be full on Aramis until some time next year. 

It ain't fair. 

I've been thinking about this for awhile now, ever since the Cubs went south for so long, and obviously missing his bat and glove.

Anyway, I hope we can all just let him be a guy coming back from a bad shoulder injury and not expect too much.

Of course, I'm writing this days before I post it (automatically) because I'm on vacation. This illustration is from 2005. But, I figure you might be thinking about it.

I am.

I can't wait to get off the lake and buy a sports page.

But in the mean time, Go Cubs.

Mark DeRosa Come Home

Hi guys.

I think you should print this out and send it to Cleveland, once the Indians leave.

Still on vacation, I saw the paper about the awesome comeback yesterday (D Lee on fire!), but now I'm really "on the lake".

No communication for a couple days.

Talk soon.