Cubby-Blue

Darwin Barney: no errors for 100 games. Think about that...(gif)

Imagine perfection.
Imagine being perfect at something for 100 days straight.
Imagine never being late, never being rude, never having bad breath for 100 days.
Straight.
JINX ALERT!!!
Don't read anything below here and ESPECIALLY don't discuss this topic with anyone, because we don't want to jinx anything.
Last night, Darwin Barney played 100 games in a row without making an error.
Over 800 (eight hundred!) innings.
It's already the single season Cubs' record - however long he goes, that'll be the longest streak in Chicago Cubs history.
Better than Ryno.
Better than Tinker or Evers.
And it's not like he doesn't have any range - he makes plays all over the place.
Will he win a Gold Glove?
Dale Sveum thinks he should.

It sure would be nice, which is a nice thing to be able to say this year.

Okay so the Cubs beat the Astros last night 7-1.
A whuppin'.
Jeff Samardzija started off Shark Week with 11 strikeouts in 7 innings.
Alfonso Soriano hit one out.
Anthony Rizzo went 4 for 5 with an RBI and a run.
And...Darwin Barney hit a dang homer, went 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored... and walked twice.
He was on base all night long.

Well done Darwin!

It's Shark Week on the DisCubbery Channel, and Jeff Samardzija is pitching.

Ah yes, the DISCUBBERY CHANNEL.
Seems like we've been seeing quite a bit of that this year.
When Jeff Samardzija broke a bat over his knee last week, do you have any idea how lucky we all were that he didn't, you know, break his wrists?
That would have been pure Cubbery.
And then we wouldn't have Shark Week starting tonight.
Jeff Samardzija is 7-10 with a 4.21 ERA, and the guys runnin' the show for the Cubs think he's one big gigantic piece of the future.
Me too, by the way.
And he'll be on the mound tonight against the Houston Astros.
Who, as you know, I cannot stand and now can't stand even more.
We kind of figured the Cubs would lose 100 games this year, right?
In fact, if they lose 31 more games of the remaining 50 or so...
And a team that loses 100 games, well... you'd sure figure that team would get the number one pick in the draft, right?
Well, the freaking Astros only have to lose 22 to reach the nice round 100 losses.
Apparently, the Cubs can't win a THING this year.

Ahhh, whatever, I can't watch a game and hope the Cubs lose.

Can't.

Sorry.

So...go Cubs!
And I hate the Astros.

Lastly..."Cubbery".
I learned this word over at The Cub Reporter.
Someone should make a t-shirt.


 

What if Theo Epstein and Ned Colletti did a "Whassup?" commercial? (gif)

 

Yeah, I know this story was all about a "serious" breach of conduct.
Dodger GM Ned Colletti accused the Cubs of allowing Ryan Dempster to listen in on some of the phone chatter going on while the Cubs were attempting to trade Dempster to the Dodgers.
And of course Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein denied.
And I know it's a touchy subject since tons of Cub Fans got really mad at Dempster...yada yada.
I didn't want to bring that up again, just this "listening in" part.
Because that part I found kinda funny.
Did it happen?
I don't know.
I don't even know how or why it morphed into an old commercial here, but whatever - I hope you laughed.

If you wanna talk about the game yesterday, it's kind of similar to other Cub games.
The ones where the wrong team gets more runs than the Cubs.
That young Travis Wood looked pretty dang good, though.
Against his old team the Cincinnati Reds, too.
Held 'em to one measly run when he handed the ball and a one run lead over to James Russel in the bottom of the 8th.
Then?
What was that inning anyway?
The sun's going down and the big shadow comes across the field between Russel and the batters, which is a for-sure Cub advantage.
But the Reds got about 5 or 6 hits, and since the Reds couldn't really see the ball at all, each hit was some kind of accident.
Brandon Phillips' first swing - Len and Bob said it looked like he was swinging under water.
Like he never saw the ball at all.
Then when he hit one down the third base line, he may as well have had his eyes shut.
He even did a "how did that even happen" gesture running to first.

So, whatever, that's the kind of stuff that happens to the Cubs.

Reds 4 Cubs 2.

Whassup?

By the way, that's supposed to be Theo, Ned Colletti, Jed Hoyer, Ryan Dempster, Tom Ricketts and a dog in the gif. And if you're too young to remember the "Whassup" commercials, go here.

 

Anthony Rizzo and Devin Mesoraco: play at the plate (gif)

It's always my favorite play, the play at the plate.
And when Starlin Castro blasted one off the wall with Darwin Barney on 2nd and Anthony Rizzo on first, you knew it was gonna happen.
Not really that big an explosion, but still, if I'm Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco I'd be thinking about lots of stuff including Rizzo's size, the collision that's about to happen, holding onto the ball, and...my health.

Rizzo slid.
Safe.
Cubs end up winning on Alfonso Soriano's 2-run blast in the 8th.
Victory over the first place Reds.
Not that I'm supposed to care this year, but still.

Nice.

 

Thanks San Diego. Always a pleasure. Love, the Cubs.

You know what?
I'm just gonna pretend that little crap road trip didn't happen.
At least for today because I'm tired of the constant nag of defeat.
Instead, I thought I'd put up these old Steve Garvey cartoons.
Because I'm such a HUGE fan.

This one from 2003:

This one from a road trip where I found this ad featuring Steve Garvey as a hair replacement salesman.
Put me in the BEST mood.
 

 

You know he's a motivational speaker, right?

And lastly, this one felt SO AWESOME to paint, but we all know how this story ended for our favorite team.



I can never win.

Today, the Reds come to Wrigley Field.
Interestingly, the Reds have won 66 games while the Cubs have lost 66 games.
If you ever saw "The Omen" you'll know that 4 sixes is almost the sign of the devil, which means I'll go out on a limb and predict more hell to come.