Cubby-Blue

There's only one team that doesn't want to play the Cubs right now.

Yeah, that's right.
Everybody with a chance at the new, expanded playoffs wants to play the Cubs right now.
Like shooting ducks in a barrel.
Playin' with a loaded deck.
Men against boys, as our new manager said the other day.
Of course, there are teams that wouldn't want to play the Cubs for fear of a victory.
Teams anxious only to beat the Cubs to the worst record in baseball, and thus the number one pick.
Namely, the Astros.

This Washington series was about the most gruesome I've seen in forever, even with the bench clearing action last night.
There's literally no answer.
The Nats scored at will, 31 times.
Cub pitching was an embarrassment, and while I'm sure Theo Epstein is happy to point out that the cupboard was bare and Jim Hendry screwed us royally, I'm just having a tough time thinking about next summer.
While the Cubs try to turn pro, the days will stretch on forever, and we know it'll be more losing.
It's like...
You ever do that thing in gradeschool when you idiotically get into an argument with another dude who is way bigger than you, and he says, "Lunchtime, asswipe. Out on the playground. We'll settle this thing then."
And then you gotta sit in classes that feel weeks long because you're worrying about how bad you're about to get beat up? 

Me neither.
And as a Cub Fan I wish I didn't have to now.
But whatever man, I just hope it pays off one day.

The MLB team from the North side of Chicago is one tough subject.

Cubs pitching, if it can be called that, gave up 6 home runs to the Washington Nationals last night as our favorite team lost 5 to 11.
Starter Chris Rusin lasted 3 outs and fastballed and slidered his way to 2 of the above homers, 5 runs, 8 hits, a walk and a strike out.
Rusin is the rookie who hit a triple in his first at-bat and pitched 5 innings against the Brewers last week to earn his first tough Cub loss, only giving up a hit and run.

Anyway, so then it was a parade of 5 guys giving up the remaining 6 runs last night including 3 by Rafael Dolis.

I know.
Not supposed to really care about wins and losses, might as well get used to getting out a magnifying glass to look for positives with the guys you think will stick and be in Chicago in 3 years.

Sure will be fun one day when as a fan I'll be allowed to cheer for a team rather than jabber about how many hits Anthony Rizzo gets or if Brett Jackson can cut down on the strikeouts. 

On a more positive note, I did put in my Sandberg Game DVD over the weekend and it's so unbelievably cool to watch I still have goosebumps.
I'd never caught that game on any of it's re-broadcasts on tv, and the ability to rewind and replay makes one giddy.
By the way, the Cubs won that game. 

And speaking of winners, I have 4 chosen the 4 for the WHAT I DID RATHER THAN WATCH THE CUBS contest:
Scott watched the Future Cubs with Vitters and Jackson before they were called up and also rebuilt a shed. With tools and things or something.
Russ worked on his novel "My Summer As A Cub" and also went to the races, plunked down $20 on a trotter that hit for $1,045.
Rich put his story in comments on Monday.
And Steve changed the channel to watch the WNBA, the LAMEST story of them all but he gets credit for being a Cub Fan in St. Louis, where it's hard enough just finding a game on tv to change the channel from. (He also tends bar part time. You can imagine the verbal onslaught he suffers thru with each shift). 
So can you all please email me the address you'd like your DVD set mailed to, and I'll give you any updates on when it should get there.

And thanks to you writers and to the folks at A+E Home Entertainment/MLB Productions for providing sucn an awesome set of prizes!

Hey, what's that other game with the big guys wearing shiny helmets who hit and block and tackle?
I think there's something going on with that tonight. 

 

Alfonso Soriano conquers his fear of the brick wall.

When San Francisco pitcher Matt Cain hit that long fly ball to left and Alfonso Soriano went back towards the ivy I thought well, he'll probably drop it.
But he didn't.
And he crashed into the hidden brick wall fairly hard - not like a Sam Fuld or anything, but still.
A pretty awesome catch. 
Remember when he used to treat the wall like it was made of kryptonite, or there was a force field around it or something?
Man.
He's really worked at it and I gotta say he's gotten so much better.
Of course I still wish he'd have conquered his fear of San Francisco and agreed to that rumored trade, but as Lou Piniella would say, "What can you do?"

So, the Cubs lost.
82 Ls and counting.
But for live radio entertainment while coaxing 14 pounds of pork shoulder up to 160 degrees on the smoker, not a horrible afternoon.
I heard later on some show that Alfonso is the only starting left fielder without an error, and that his range isn't Ryan Braunish, but better than admitted steroid taking 2012 All Star MVP Melky Cabrera.
Weird, right?
He also hit another homer, his 25th.
He's done that 9 times.
It's so sad that his freaking god-awful contract has made him sort of... oh I don't know. If it wasn't for that contract and he was playing for a more reasonable amount of time and money, he'd probably be way higher on the Favorite Cub meter.

I hope you're all having a wonderful Labor Day weekend.
Last night the Cubs had to get on a plane and fly to Washington, where Jeff Samardzija will take the mound against Ross Detwiler.
Say this out loud: The Washington Nats have more wins than the Yankees. More than the Phillies, the Tigers, and the Texas Rangers.
That's even weirder than Alfonso catching that ball, man.




 

Tony Campana is back with his impossible base running skills.

Tony Campana is one of the Chicago Cubs' September call-ups, and that's kind of fabulous since he's so much fun to watch.
Remember the above play?
I drew this illustration back in May when it happened, fuguring it would be one of the few truly awesome plays of the year. And if you go to Cubs.com, you'll see they did too since they put the video up in their September call-ups article. 
Campana is such an interesting guy, and you so wish he could be a part of a good Cubs team.
I mean, it's hard now since they're so terrible, but on a good team you might see how he could really contribute.
And, you know, the Cubs have some studs that'll be coming up - that outfield will be hard to crack one day with Jorge Soler, Albert Almora, Brett Jackson...
I don't expect Campana to be starting once Theo Epstein is finally happy with an outfield.
But as a bench guy and part time starter on a good team, Campana could be the ultimate indulgence.
Like, if the Cubs were "Oceans 11", Campana isn't George Cloony or Brad Pitt, but he could be The Amazing Yen (remember the gymnast they recruited to go in the vault?)
 

In the meantime, I hope he sticks around even if it's in the minors til the day comes that we all go, "Uh, the Cubs are gonna be good this year."
Just because he's so fun to watch.

In the other meantime, Xavier Nady, the silly one-armed signing the Cubs made a couple years ago (remember the injured throwing arm, and Lou put him in right? WHAT THE HELL, MAN?), smacks a double off Justin Germano and knocks in 3 Giants.
Which came right after Germano loaded the bases and hit Hector Sanchez, so before the Cubs even pick up a bat they're down by 4.
And even though Tim Lincecum's ERA is north of 5, he's still Tim Lincecum.
Cubs get 2 off him, but that's all, and they lose 2-5.

But still, Dave Sappelt came up along with Campana and Adrian Cardenas.
Haven't seen Sappelt yet so that's something.
And the rest of these kids, I am positive, will be giving all they have.
And it's September, so I'm already starting to think about how much I'm gonna miss baseball when it's snowing out so...gotta watch.
Which flies in the face of the "What I did instead of watching the Cubs" competition.
I watched The Sandberg Game (which you can win!) last night, and it's so breathtakingly cool I'm going to watch it again today.
WRITE ME A STORY, PEOPLE!
Deadline is midnight tomorrow.