Weeghman Park

Back from the Dead?

2005-03-24T12:11:00.000-06:00

Back from the Dead?WP has been relegated to the dustbin of history by some (thanks for keeping the link up, Sloth), but I hope to have it up and running again this season.It took a long time to get the Internet up and running in my new (old) house, so blogging from home was out of the question. Like Jason Steffens from Clark & Addison, blogging from work on a consistent basis (in between work as

2004-08-03T13:45:00.000-05:00

A lot to talk about, and so little time... Since I've been remiss about blogging for most of the last two months, I feel compelled to catch up. Let me synopsize for the sake of brevity: The Bad: July in general, including the Brewers and Cardinals sweeps, highlighted by the complete collapse of the Cubs bullpen in that morale-shredding loss to the Evil Satanic Fowl. Shades of Alfonseca in

2004-08-02T17:32:00.000-05:00

Damn Cubs Traffic We're all moved in to the new house, so life should be much calmer now. Everything is great, except for that darn Cubs traffic (we now live right off of Addison). I wouldn't mind if I was going to the games, but... Anyhoo, Weeghman Park will be back, hopefully tomorrow. New satellite with TiVo goes in tomorrow - so no more missed Cubs games. Mucho to talk about, including

2004-06-25T19:39:00.000-05:00

It Warn't Purty, But... It was a win. Cubs 7-4 - should have been 7-1, but who's counting....? Cubs should have had 3 errors (2 on Alou, 1 on Sosa), but friendly home field scoring leaves the "E" column empty on the scoresheet. Mark Prior looks a little wild but puts in a strong performance overall, and the Cubs break out of the St. Louis malaise to start themselves on a new winning streak.

2004-06-24T12:57:00.000-05:00

Trade Bait? Don't get me started on last night's debacle. I was busy sleeping with the enemy (watching, in person, as the ChiSox got pounded by Cleveland), so I didn't see the game. The box score and Baseball Tonight highlights showed me everything I needed to see.... Today's a new day, so we'll leave it at that. Honest Abe Clement, do your thing. Getting on topic, has anyone noticed what's

2004-06-17T18:16:00.000-05:00

Assorted Bits Game 3 = Cubs Win. Maddux looks strong, the "hero-for-a-day" (TM) is Paul Bako (for even getting a hit), and the Cubs guarantee a series win and at least a 5-2 road trip. Not bad at all for a 7 game set against the Angels and Astros... Rusch and Oswalt today. On the stat front, all 5 Cubs starters sport ERA's under 4.00. When was the last time you could say that this deep in the

2004-06-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

2 In The Bag After a thrilling 9th inning comeback yesterday (aided by some shaky Lance Berkman defense), the Cubs ensured at least a split with the Ass-Trolls in this series. Ramon Martinez was the star yesterday, which continues the recent Cubs theme of "hero-a-day." For his part, Carlos was effectively wild, getting the big outs when they counted and tightroping his way to two runs allowed.

2004-06-15T13:22:00.000-05:00

Messianic Figure Maybe that's hyperbole, but it sure is good to see Mark Prior back on the field. The Cubs beat up on the formerly invincible Roger Clemens last night, cruising to a 7-2 victory over the Ass-Trolls. The win brings the Cubs into second place (or at least a tie for second place), 2 games back of the Reds. The Cubs sport a 7-3 record in their last ten, news that, when coupled

2004-06-10T20:34:00.000-05:00

A Split Ain't Shit... But it isn't great, either. 2004 has proven to be a very strange and adventure filled experience for this member of the WP writing "team" (I use the term loosely since co-writer John hasn't really contributed). Marriage, 2 trials, a ski vacation, and now the trials and tribulations of a home purchase have all conspired to make contributions to the site very difficult.

2004-05-26T12:34:00.000-05:00

0-1 vs. Ass-Trolls; Minor League Highlights Didn't see it, but I didn't have to - Roy Oswalt was on his game, Carloswasn't, Cubs lose.Maddux tonight in game 2 of the abbreviated series. Let's go for the split.Minor league highlights:Iowa - Did Not PlayWest Tennessee - 2B Richard Lewis was 4-5 with a run scored in a 3-2 loss;OF Aron Weston was 3-5. Lewis, who came over in the Juan Cruz trade,

2004-05-24T16:48:00.000-05:00

Wood Update; Sirotka APB; The Labrum According to ESPN and the Chicago Tribune, Kerry Wood's arm is "structurally sound" (i.e. no bone spurs) but he is still expected to miss more time. At present, Wood plans to take a week off and then resume throwing, with an anticipated return sometime in early June. Will Carroll has a nice piece in the latest Slate on the most devastating of all pitching

Test Post

2004-05-24T10:58:00.000-05:00

Off Day: Martin's Progeny, Hinske's Worth, Whither Wylie? Blogger had a few technical problems over the last few days, but things should be resolved by now. No comments on this past week's games that will add anything of note to other bloggers' posts on the subject. Nice wins on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, and an ugly game on Friday that cost Mitre and the Cubs. It could have been a sweep

2004-05-18T19:37:00.000-05:00

Cubs Finish Strong in West, Sosa Disabled Very nice weekend for the Cubs, including newly-minted Cubs star Jose Macias (formerly known as "Jose F. Macias"), who busted out a serious can of whup-ass on the Fightin' Friars on his way to nearly tripling his batting average. The Cubs put the lie to the claims that Petco Park was a pitching paradise, hitting multiple home runs on the way to the

2004-05-14T15:30:00.000-05:00

Weeghman Returns, Brownlie On Deck, Whither Beltran? Nice to be back. The trial's over, and life is beginning to settle down. I actually made it back for the Dodgers series, but couldn't bring myself to write after the Great Triceps Debacle or the Wilson Alvarez Ass-Whuppin'. Watching Carlos beat down the Dodgers yesterday was as cathartic as hot chicken soup on a cold winter's day, however,

2004-04-26T15:15:00.000-05:00

Forced Vacation Unfortunately, I'm going to trial with a case that should last 4-6 weeks. I haven't posted in a while due to workup on the case, but I have been following the team's fortunes from afar - even purchasing a radio to listen to while chained to my desk. I intend to post again as soon as humanly possible - maybe during a break in the trial, or maybe after it's all over. In the

2004-04-16T20:03:00.000-05:00

But Who Really Cares... Was I prescient or what? Nice, nice win by the Cubs today (11-10 on a walkoff homer by Alou), despite abysmal pitching. This is exactly the type of game the Cubs needed, the type of game that creates good clubhouse chemistry and serves as the foundation for championship teams.... Kerry goes tomorrow.

2004-04-16T16:31:00.000-05:00

Weurtz Rhymes With Worst Maybe Frank Beltran gets that reprieve after all - Weurtz just threw a match in a pool of gasoline and made an otherwise ugly 4-4 game that much uglier, to the tune of 9-4 (courtesy of Wuertz and a bases loaded walk by Wellemeyer.) We'll see how the Cubs do against the Cincy pen - Graves is due for a blowup sometime soon...

2004-04-16T14:05:00.000-05:00

Oh That Glendon Rusch's a Comin, He's a Comin', He's a Comin' Oh That Glendon Rusch's a Comin, He's a Comin', He's a Comin' And When He Does He'll Be Our LOOGY Hurrah, Hurrah! Official Cub Blog Army Man Everyone Doesn't Trust Glendon Rusch may find his way back to the big boy league soon based on his sparkling opening performances at Iowa. Mr. Rusch retired the first 16 men he faced yesterday,

44 Flavors

2004-04-15T11:42:00.000-05:00

44 Flavors Senators, Baskin Robbins gots nothin' on this years Cubbies. A respectable 4-4 Flavor record at this early juncture works for me. Yesterday's win turned out strong performances by Walker and Ramirez at the plate. It is relieving that Clement got his first win, thereby giving him the confidence needed to move forward and have a stronger year than last. Farnsworth! Get it together.

2004-04-12T18:43:00.000-05:00

I'm Scott Baio, I Hope Eureka! The first post from Willie Aames, the other half of the Weeghman Park 2004 writing team, has finally appeared below. KZ's a little mixed up about his dates, but his season preview is right on point. My only gripe with his season predictions is no coverage of the pen... what about bullpen luminaries Lee "Jheri Curl" Smith, Tim "Stod" Stoddard, Warren "

2004-04-12T13:50:00.000-05:00

Greetings, Cubs fans I am the other half of what will come to be known as the greatest duo since Scott Baio and Willie Aames in Zapped. Anyway, without further ado, I jump in with the kind of analysis that is needed in this stat-driven, mega millions-paying, steroid-crazy baseball world. This is no frills, I gotta shake a leg analysis. This is the the kind of stuff that you can really sink

2004-04-12T11:06:00.000-05:00

Vince is a cook.

2004-03-31T18:12:00.000-06:00

And by the way... As an follow-up on the second-to-last post, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I am quite pleased that the Cubs sport a sub-.500 spring record entering today's tilt with the Brew Crew. It may be me, but it seems to me that the Baseball Gods smile upon the Cubs whenever their spring training record ends up below .500. No statistical basis for that claim, of course, but

2004-03-31T18:05:00.000-06:00

Must....Post....Too.... Busy... Life's been crazy at WP due to work obligations (upcoming trial), and both WP writers will be away this coming week due to work . Hate to miss the Cubs' opener, but I will be watching attentively from afar and reading the Cubs Blog Army via Blackberry's WAP Text browser. John is back before I am, so he should be getting around to posting pretty soon. Once I get

2004-03-25T18:24:00.000-06:00

??? Well, the original title of the post was "That's More Like It," but that had to go away in light of the Juan Cruz trade this afternoon. For those who haven't heard (and I'm sure most of you will have by the time you make it back to this site - seeing as I've been on spring training hiatus for the last 22 days), the Cubs traded once and future (alleged) Pedro Martinez clone Juan Cruz, along

2004-03-16T17:55:00.000-06:00

2004-03-03T13:28:00.000-06:00

New Author Soon My compatriot John, a fellow Cubs fan and Bud Man, will join the Weeghman Park writing team soon as part of a planned move to Tandem Cubs Blogging (TCB), a technique first pioneered by Scott and Dennis at The Northside Lounge. I am giving John full poetic and artistic license, so expect some juicier commentary in weeks to come - I only have to figure out how to do the meta

2004-03-03T13:13:00.000-06:00

Meditations on the Prior Injury Report Great post by Alex Ciepley at Ball Talk about Prior's Achilles heel "tendonitis." Once again, Alex has outdone himself with a great piece of work. All is not lost, however, on the Prior front. Remember that we still have Juan Cruz as our designated 'starter-alternate' in the event that Prior needs to take some time off at the beginning of the season,

2004-03-02T11:28:00.000-06:00

Injury UPDATE: I hated this post once it went up, so I took it down.

2004-02-28T14:29:00.000-06:00

Rodan's In Da Hizz-ouse, Monster Mash, and More Blog Links Rodan has re-inked with us for three more years. Another great signing by Jim Hendry. The terms: 3 years, $22.5 million plus a $2 million signing bonus. $5.5 million - 2004 $7 million - 2005 $8 million - 2006 Initial thought - just like yesterday, Hendry got a great deal done. Lee's contract guarantees us a premium first

2004-02-27T13:09:00.000-06:00

Strengthening With Wood As expected, Kerry Wood signed a new three year deal today to remain with the Cubs through the 2006 season, with a mutual option for 2007. No details on $$$ yet, but commentary will be forthcoming when we know more. UPDATE: If you had three years at $32.5 million plus an option year for your Kerry Wood office pool prediction, you win. Go collect your money from Big

2004-02-26T20:22:00.000-06:00

We Need Cadets Too - More Footsoldiers for the Blog Army Please note Just North of Wrigley Field, Cub Fan Nation, The Wrigleyville Times, Chicago Cubs Fan Blog, and The Lion's Den over to the left. Which raises the question - with all the new footsoldiers to man the front lines against invading bloggers, do the more senior members of the Cubs blogging world get to fall back and take the more

2004-02-26T12:24:00.000-06:00

The Hendry Effect Just wanted to point out a nice piece by the newly revised 94 Years and Counting on the negative effect of Dallas Green's ouster in 1987, as well as the recent renaissance of the Cubs system under Jim Hendry. As I pointed out in the comments section there, we must also give tons of credit to Oneiri Fleita and John Stocksill, both of whom have done yeoman's work of

2004-02-25T11:03:00.000-06:00

Blog Army Watch Alex Ciepley has done a nice run production / batting order analysis today at Ball Talk that far outstrips anything I could come up with on the same topic, including some thoughts on potential Cubs Carlos Beltran and Jason Kendall. I suggest you read it. Cubs Pundit also has some thoughts and analysis on the Cubs' catching situation. Links are to the left.

2004-02-24T17:59:00.000-06:00

New Cubs Blogs Please note that I've added Cubs Now and the Rooftop Report to the links on the left side. WP extends its welcome to the newest members of the CBA family....

2004-02-24T14:10:00.000-06:00

What'chu Talkin' 'Bout, Weeghman? I appear to have set off a (very) minor controversy with my recent commentary about the order of the 2004 Cubs pitching staff. For those who don't like to scroll, I suggested that I would like to see the following order: Wood Clement Maddux Prior Zambrano Since other members of the Blog Army have wondered aloud about my rationale, let me 'splain: "

2004-02-18T01:03:00.000-06:00

Next: The Crappy Son; Now: The Prodigal Son Returns ESPN, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, CNN, WSCR ("The Score") and WMVP Radio all report tonight that Greg Maddux has agreed to a three year, $24 million dollar deal to be the final Cubs starter (I would say "fifth starter" but I presume that he will be in the middle of the rotation). The latest intel as of 1:00 a.m. CST is that Maddux has a

2004-02-13T15:59:00.000-06:00

The Crappy Brother: a Challenge to WP Readers I recently had occasion to visit the Crappy Brother Page of DodgerBlues.com. This page presented a question that I don't know the answer to - are the Cubs afflicted by the same Crappy Brother curse that seems to grip the Dodgers? Here are the brother tandems that I have been able to come up with for the Cubs: Alan Benes (Andy Benes) Joe Niekro (

2004-02-12T15:10:00.000-06:00

Random Stuff Count me in as one of the bored people waiting for the momentous Greg Maddux decision on where he's going to play baseball the next two years. Courtesy of Retrosheet.org, the Cubs have fallen victim to the Hidden Ball Trick 13 times. Here are all the years in which the Cubs have fallen victim: 1876 (twice) 1884 (twice) 1904 1907 (In the World Series, no less) 1910 1912 1918

2004-02-11T09:51:00.000-06:00

The State of the Team - February 2004 So I lied about the post on Wednesday... last-minute business travel to the East Coast ruined that theory. Anyhoo, here's the 25 man roster as we see it right now: 1 Prior (SP) (R) 2 Wood (SP) (R) 3 Clement (SP) (R) 4 Zambrano (SP) (R) 5 Hawkins (RP) (R) 6 Farnsworth (RP) (R) 7 Mercker (RP) (L) 8 Borowski (RP) (R) 9 Remlinger (RP) (L)

2004-02-02T18:20:00.000-06:00

Back in Business - New Post Wednesday

2004-01-06T23:06:00.000-06:00

My Apologies to Readers of WP and TBR Holidays, work, my birthday and my impending wedding (T minus 10 days as I write this!!!) have combined to keep me away from my two favored blogs for far too long now. Unfortunately, I am pretty much out of commission from now through the end of January, since I don't anticipate having access to a computer in Mexico. I shall return, however, in early

2003-12-18T13:10:00.000-06:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, Your LOOGY is in the Building Welcome 35 year old Kent Mercker to West Addison Avenue as the LOOGY du jour. He had great numbers last year (1.95 ERA, .227 OAA in 67 games for Cincinnati and Atlanta) but his three year trend is not very pretty, although he was pitching in Colorado in 2002 for his first full season in the pen. If the numbers are right (no dollar figure has

2003-12-17T18:40:00.000-06:00

The Jury's Out Who knows what scheme Billy Beane and Jim Hendry have cooked up? My post last night was somewhat prescient, insofar as a lot of talk today was focused a potential non-tender of Michael Barrett in order to free up money to sign someone else. The most interesting take, offered by some in the media and the Cubs Blog world, was that if Hendry could convince Barrett to sign a low

2003-12-16T17:04:00.000-06:00

Barrett a Cub...I'm Pissed Nothing more to say. Michael Barrett became a Cub today, in exchange for the infamous PTBNL. After being dealt to the A's yesterday, Billy Beane flipped him to the Cubs today for something useful, which is especially irksome given that the A's would have likely non-tendered Barrett anyway on December 20th. I'm seriously pissed that this organization didn't wait the

2003-12-12T12:31:00.000-06:00

Yet More Cubs Blogs Please take the time to explore Cubs Prospect Info, Cubs Prospect Hotsheet and Cubs Transaction Recap, three new Blogs that are off to a promising start in giving more consistent coverage to the Cubs minor league system. I have also added a link to Christian Ruzich's excellent side-blog The Transaction Guy on the left, immediately beneath the grandaddy of all Cubs blogs, The

2003-12-11T11:51:00.000-06:00

Pettite an Asstro And that's not a misspelling. I don't see how this really affects our situation, although it does make the Asstros (I did it again...) a stronger team overall and better competition within the division. I'm not sure Pettite is really worth the money he got, however, as I see him as a high ERA lefty who succeeded in large part due to the offensive support he got with the

2003-12-09T18:25:00.000-06:00

Free Agent Update Blogger got squirrely on me, so I lost my post. Three potential Cub FA signees went off the board today, headed by 1B/OF Matt Stairs (1 yr / $1 million - KC Royals), RHP Scott Sullivan (2 yrs / 1 option yr - no terms - also with KC), and LHP Eddie Guardado (1 yr + 2 mutual option years - Seattle). Although he wasn't on the list of starters we are looking at for our fifth

2003-12-08T16:24:00.000-06:00

Cubs Blog Army Gets Stronger More links... Welcome Eating At Joe's, MeraBlog, Chicago Cubs Fan Blog, Any Team Can Have A Bad Century, and the Two-Way (Cubs-Sox) Blog Two Headed Monster. Links are to the left. With this lineup, the Cub Blog Army is now 29 strong, with even more Cubs site links listed below the Blogs. Who can challenge us now????

2003-12-08T13:11:00.000-06:00

We Now Have One of the Answers Recently, we asked who would bat in the 1 and 2 holes in the Chicago Cubs lineup for the 2004 campaign, presuming that Jim Hendry made the logical moves to upgrade his only two upgradeable positions (2B and C). The answer to one of those questions is Mark Grudzielanek, who re-upped with the Cubs on a one year (with a club option second year) deal to play 2B. I am

2003-12-05T18:52:00.000-06:00

News N' Notes News today from the Chicago Tribune concerning the Cubs plan to add more seats behind home plate: The familiar brick wall behind Wrigley Field's home plate may have a facelift by April if the Cubs have their way. Team sources say the Cubs hope to add three rows of premium-priced seats from dugout to dugout that will be among the highest-priced in baseball, but they need city

2003-12-04T11:02:00.000-06:00

You Snooze, You Lose Dammit. The Evil Empire scooped us today, making my fantasy-world trade below impossible. The package of prospects the Yankees gave up for Vasquez is rather uninspiring - Nick Johnson / Juan Rivera / Randy Coate - I think my package was better. Although the Vidro half of the trade isn't dead, it is much more unlikely now that Vasquez is gone and Vlad Guerrero will likely

2003-12-03T18:46:00.000-06:00

Damn Blogger As you could probably see from the incomplete post below, Blogger ate the rest of my post last night and I simply didn't have the energy or time to recreate the last eight paragraphs of the post... It was too long anyway... Anyhow, the short form of my thoughts is this: As long as you (Jim Hendry) are going for it this year, let's spend the money and think about a $100 million

2003-12-02T15:34:00.000-06:00

WP is Back Sorry about the long hiatus - work prevented me from really paying any attention to this site over the last month plus. Getting back to the program, we've got multiple things to discuss, including the Derrek Lee acquistion, the Cubs free agent rotisserie, and the long-promised pitching prospect review. Today, the Lee Trade and free agents. Tomorrow, BA's Top 10 Cub Prospects and

2003-12-01T18:47:00.000-06:00

Will Post Tomorrow, Finally....

2003-11-11T09:46:00.000-06:00

Sorry for Dropping off of the Face of the Earth: October and November always seem to be busy periods in the law, and this year has been no exception. I apologize for not posting, but I will be largely inattentive to this site until December. Please come back then, when I anticipate that I will finally get to those minor league reports I promised back a month ago. In the interim, check the

2003-10-29T15:00:00.000-06:00

New Season, New Colors: Did some renovation on the site, including changing the colors to better reflect the site's favored team. I didn't want to change (superstition and all...) during the season. Also added a link to the newest member of the Cub Blog Army (View from the Bleachers) below left. Finally, my condolences to David Geiser, one of the most astute observers of the Cubs franchise,

2003-10-27T19:10:00.000-06:00

Position One: Shortstop Barring an unforeseen trade or divine intervention, we are looking at Alex Gonzalez (.228, 20 HR, 59 RBI, .704 OPS in 2003) at SS for next year. I don't think that keeping Alex is a horrible idea, especially when given the alternatives. Alex's 3 year OBP's: (.303; .312; .295), and Alex's 3 year SLG: (.388; .425; .409). Alex's numbers don't look great, obviously,

2003-10-27T18:37:00.000-06:00

Goodbye Sammy....I Hope: May Sammy Sosa find a home in right field at Yankee Stadium. Thank you, Fish, for making that a (remote) possibility. Arizona Fall League is in full swing, and the Mesa Solar Sox count 6 Cub minor leaguers amongst their ranks... Both Jason Dubois and Brendan Harris have come on strong, and Jason Szuminski and John Webb have pitched fairly well. Stats to date:

2003-10-17T19:45:00.000-05:00

"Gentlemen, we can rebuild them. We have the technology." I'm still depressed, and still angry, but I have confidence that, given the proper effort and expenditure of money, this team can be right there again next year, even though this gloating Cardinals fan believes we'll be back in the "middle of the pack." First, however, a fun quote for Fox: Financial analysts, who track the network's

2003-10-16T00:31:00.000-05:00

A Note to All 2,000 Marlins Fans... Enjoy your World Series.... For the remaining 63,000 or so Marlins "Fans" - piss off. And may Fox get their dream Marlins-Yankees matchup, if for nothing else, punishment for all those stupid ads and Steve Lyons. I know I'm a bitter, angry fan right now, but I actually got a ticket to tonight's game and had to sit through that torture... Thanks to all who

2003-10-11T01:02:00.000-05:00

H-U-G-E!!!! (1) Three huge pinch hit contributions: Goodwin triple, Simon HR, Glanville triple. Unbelievable. (2) Joe Borowski - yet another clear hero in this one. Even if he gave up the game-tying hit to Hollandsworth (who earned his hit with a great 10 pitch AB), Joe went 2 1/3 IP to bridge this one until Rem could come in and close the door. He also said in the postgame that he'll be

2003-10-10T18:25:00.000-05:00

Some Thoughts: First, I have to say I truly appreciate the continuing efforts of Christian Ruzich at The Cubs Reporter and Scott Lange and Dennis at The Northside Lounge, all of whom are doing a marvelous job with Cubs coverage throughout the playoffs. Thanks, guys. A brief counterpoint on the Mark Prior / Dusty Baker pitching controversy - I wholly appreciate and share everyone's concern

2003-10-09T19:02:00.000-05:00

OK, I feel guilty... I don't know whether it's tension, or superstition, or a combination of both that has kept me away from Blogger. Although I have had the opportunity to weigh in on a game-by-game basis, I simply haven't summoned the courage / energy to fire up the home computer after night games, and there's been no real time at work. That being said, we find the Cubs tied 1-1 going into

2003-10-02T18:19:00.000-05:00

Game One: Good Very good. Game Two: Bad Not very bad, but disappointing. I sure wish Randall Simon hadn't tried to go to second, and I wish that Dusty had picked someone other than Dave Veres....I would have preferred Mike Remlinger. One and one ain't bad, however, when compared to the BoSox, who were on the verge of going down 2-0. Let's win two at Wrigley, and send the Braves home...

2003-09-30T17:46:00.000-05:00

Game One Tonight Russ Ortiz v. Kerry Wood, 7:18 p.m. CST. Comments and thoughts tomorrow. Minor league roundup soon.

2003-09-28T18:55:00.000-05:00

CUBS WIN!!!!!! Cub Blog Army Rejoices.... Haven't been near a computer since late Friday afternoon, but I found a little time this evening to post.... What more can I say that hasn't been said on the other sites? Mark Prior once again showed why he's our team MVP, leading the Cubs to a 4-2 victory in the first game of the double-header. In the nightcap, Matt Clement pitched a tremendous game

2003-09-26T16:19:00.000-05:00

Ugly Night: Magic Number is 4 / Today's Game is PPD Due to Rain / Go Brewers! I lost a long post due to a computer error (the dreaded BSOD), so I'll try to post later.

2003-09-24T18:19:00.000-05:00

Really Slow to Post: Since the last post (11 days ago), much has happened, and we find ourselves in first place by a half game (after the Astros victory of this afternoon). Shawn Estes goes tonight to re-extend the division lead to 1 game. I won't catch the first part of the game, but I hope to catch the later innings. Got to see Mark Prior's second to last outing in person (9/16 against the

2003-09-13T13:02:00.000-05:00

Work, Work, Work, Work: The magical world of work has kept me away from Blogger, so I apologize for not posting in a while. I was going to post on Wednesday night, but my disgust with (1) Moises Alou, (2) Kenny Lofton and (3) Alex Gonzalez (in order of level of irritation) led me to stick to the couch. Yesterday was almost a complete disaster, but a 'just far enough' infield grounder by Tom

2003-09-04T18:12:00.000-05:00

4 out of 5 Yet another clutch Cubs win today, and the Cubs leave town winners of 4 out of 5 games against St. Louis. In perusing the play by play coverage on the internet, it appeared that Estes pitched better than his line, which included at least two RBI "hits" that were actually fly balls either lost or misplayed by the outfielders (first inning - Pujols; fifth inning - Cairo).

2003-09-03T18:00:00.000-05:00

Cubs Win, Members of Evil Cardinals Organization Seen in Hell: Orlando Palmeiro, Eli Marrero, So TaguchiCircle I - LimboScott RolenCircle II - Whirling in a Dark & Stormy WindFernando Vina, Woody WilliamsCircle III - Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & SnowEdgar Renteria, Tino MartinezCircle IV - Rolling WeightsAlbert Pujols, Jason IsringhausenCircle V - Stuck in Mud, MangledRiver StyxJim Edmonds, Matt

2003-09-03T17:08:00.000-05:00

HUGE WIN!!! Down 6-0 (courtesy of a Felix Sanchez gopherball / JD Drew grand slam), the Cubs mounted one of the best comebacks of the year today to win the game 8-7. Leading the way was Moises Alou, who followed Mark Grudzielanek's 8th inning, pinch hit, game-tying triple with an RBI single to put the Cubs ahead. A great 1 1/3 inning performance by Joe Borowski later (K's of Renteria and

2003-09-03T10:39:00.000-05:00

Thank you, Fred McGriff McGriff led the way in a 4-1 Dodgers win last night, keeping the top teams bunched at the top in the NL Central. As for last night's second game, my initial take on "the call" was that the umpire blew the call, but further study suggests otherwise. As Matt Morris pointed out after the game (and confirmed this morning on WSCR), the outfield foul lines are painted on,

2003-09-02T18:18:00.000-05:00

Beautiful: I have been unable to post of late, but that may have been a good thing given the dispiriting losses of last week and this weekend. Games 1 and 2 of the Cardinals showdown, however, have gone quite well, including Sammy's 2 run HR to win the first game today. On the games to date - Prior was masterful yesterday, coming up with yet another gem when this club desperately needed it.

2003-08-22T19:33:00.000-05:00

Is it time to shut down Kerry Wood? After recovering from last night's morale-killing loss, I am beginning to wonder whether it might be time to put Kerry on the shelf for at least one start to allow him to recover his focus and freshen him for the stretch run. Factoring in Kerry's 4 inning, 6 hit, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K performance from last night, Kerry is now 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA in his last two

Finally Fixed.... and Womack?

2003-08-19T10:37:00.000-05:00

Finally Fixed.... and Womack? Blogger has been giving me fits of late, so I haven't been able to write anything. Magically, it seems to work this morning. For anyone out there reading who possesses superior technical knowledge on these things, what happens is that after I post, the entire Blogger interface shifts to the left side and I lose all of the buttons (except sign out). I then have

New Math:

2003-08-15T21:35:00.000-05:00

Cubs win + Astros lose + Cardinals lose = first place. Great CG effort by Prior, assisted by some nice infield defense by Augie Ojeda, got us there. Old friend Wavin' Wendell sent Kenny Lofton on a screaming double to left by Sammy to plate the first run - Lofton was out at the plate, but LoDuca couldn't hold on to the ball. Add a smash Sammy Sosa "single" off the glove of Adrian Beltre to

2003-08-15T14:25:00.000-05:00

UPDATE Sorry about the links in the post below - if you want to search the trademarks yourself, simply click here and search "trademarks." Also, David Kelton was called up to fill the roster spot vacated by Juan Cruz. The Cubs Transaction Report has more on this curious move, which really doesn't make any real sense given the club's current needs. The only rationale that I can think of for

2003-08-15T13:59:00.000-05:00

Excellent Week: Work has been keeping me away from posting, but we saw the Cubs put three consecutive solid games together this past week to take 3 out of 4 from the Astros. Things look good going into the weekend, with Prior, Wood, and Zambrano scheduled against the Dodgers, and things for next week look even better, with Dusty possibly skipping Estes' next turn in favor of going with Clement,

2003-08-13T10:45:00.000-05:00

Viva Venezuela: Watching Carlos Zambrano dominate the Astros last night stirred a memory of the preseason prognostications on "breakout" players for the 2003 season. ESPN's Peter Gammons wrote that Carlos was the number one candidate for a breakout season this year. Baseball Prospectus followed Gammons' list with the following analysis of Carlos as the number one breakout prospect: #1.

2003-08-07T09:41:00.000-05:00

Second Place: Another solid win last night. Even though it was scary at times, with Kerry's control departing him at inopportune moments, the Cubs got just enough hitting to ensure that they would leave San Diego with a series win and a chance at a sweep. Although Sammy's 2 run HR was the catalyst, Lofton's fifth inning RBI single was the key blow, driving Alex Gonzalez home from second with

2003-08-06T09:15:00.000-05:00

Borowski Redeemed: A little tightrope-walking isn't so bad, is it, if you come out with the win? Not much time to post today, but kudos to Mark Guthrie, Mike Remlinger, Aramis Ramirez, and Joe Borowski for last night's win. And that doesn't even take into account Mark Prior, who was the true hero with 6 innings of 2 hit shutout baseball in his return from the DL. I guess Prior didn't need

2003-08-05T09:07:00.000-05:00

PTBNL News: As part of their continuing coverage of the impending Pirates / Padres trade, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that recent Pirate acquisition Freddy Sanchez is playing second base for the Pittsburgh AAA affiliate. Pirate GM Dave Littlefield was quoted as saying: "We think he's a real good offensive player who we project as a top-of-the-order player." Assuming that the deal goes

2003-08-02T15:10:00.000-05:00

Harris Gone, Cub Blog Army Delights: That's right, LFH is gone. Long live the king of pinch hitting...or something like that. Want proof this isn't a joke? Click here.

2003-08-02T13:54:00.000-05:00

Site Update: Please note the additional weblogs on the left side. WP welcomes Al Yellon's must-read blog "and another thing!," as well as The Cub Pundit, 94 Years and Counting, Ivy Chat, Why Not Us?, Full Count, and Dan Sheetz' Cublog to the Cub Blogger Army. P.S. Thursday's post at Let's Play Two is an absolutely brilliant piece of work. Another must read...

2003-08-02T10:22:00.000-05:00

Twilight Zone: Antonio Alfonseca: Hero Lenny Harris: Hero Troy O'Leary: Hero They say to "expect the unexpected," but last night's events were beyond unexpected, to the point of just being weird. First, Lenny Harris was the early-game hero, getting a rare pinch hit single (for Juan Cruz) and eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly by Sammy Sosa. Later, after all seemed lost in the 11th, Troy

2003-07-31T16:35:00.000-05:00

Another nice win: Cubs come away with a 9-4 win today, aided by a "effectively wild" high-wire pitching performance by Carlos Zambrano and a little timely hitting and defense (for once). Carlos was by no means dominating, posting an 8 IP; 9 H; 4 ER; 5 BB; 5 K line for the afternoon. More importantly, San Francisco left 19 men on base, including 5 LOB by Marquis Grissom, courtesy of two DP's by

2003-07-30T14:58:00.000-05:00

Dec 23, 1997: The Cubs trade that was on December 23, 1997 has been undone, at the cost of one Jason Fransz and some cash. Although reports this morning listed Matt Stairs and John VanDerWal as potential Cubs acquisitions, Mr. Douglas M. Glanville has returned to the Cubs through a deal with the Texas Rangers. This trade suggests that the tenure of either Troy O'Leary or Tom Goodwin has come

2003-07-29T22:05:00.000-05:00

Good Matt: Brilliant performance tonight from Matt Clement, who befuddled Giants hitters all night tonight on his way to a two hit complete game shutout. Good Matt came armed tonight with a dazzling slider, probably his best of the year to date. I didn't see the first five innings, but Clement kept the Giants hitters guessing in the 6th through 9th, including two great pitches to Barry Bonds

2003-07-29T16:31:00.000-05:00

Onward to San Francisco: No time to post now, but a good weekend for the Cubs, winning 2 out of 3 contests with the Astros in the Juice Box. Zambrano pitched very well on Friday to earn the win, followed by a decent outing by Juan Cruz where the Cubs hitters contributed zero offense. Surprisingly, Shawn Estes won the swing game of the series, hanging on just long enough to keep the Cubs in the

2003-07-25T10:09:00.000-05:00

Ugly: Two days, two ugly games. Funny how dispiriting losses like that take away the happy post-trade glow. On Wednesday, Donny Yost / Randy Wolf shut the Cubs' offense down, and yesterday, the Cubs' pitching staff laid a 9-run inning egg on the way to a 14-6 loss. Woody and Sir Tightpants share most of the blame for that one, but nearly every Cub pitcher had a hand in the defeat. Now the

2003-07-24T12:09:00.000-05:00

Ralph-Malph: Happy Days looking Randy Wolf shut the Cubs bats down yesterday in a complete game 3-0 gem. Kerry Wood goes tonight against Vincente Padilla, hopefully with a better result. LinktoComments('<$BlogItemNumber$>') ">Comment

2003-07-23T11:18:00.000-05:00

Post-Trade Glow: Although I'm sure that other blogs have dissected yesterday's trade every which way by now, I wanted to post a few more things on the trade before we actually get down to the process of seeing how this trade actually works on the field. Most reports suggest that the deal was primarily financial, as owner Kevin McClatchy recently reported that the team will have lost $30

2003-07-22T22:17:00.000-05:00

Trade wins blow: The Cubs made "The Move" tonight, sending once, former, and current Cub Jose Hernandez to Pittsburgh, along with AAA starter Matt Bruback and the infamous PTBNL, in exchange for 3B Aramis Ramirez and CF Kenny Lofton. In short, this is about the best deal that Hendry could make without sacrificing the future core of this franchise. Bruback, a 6'7" RHP (starter), went 9-7, 3.15

2003-07-22T14:56:00.000-05:00

Somebody stop them..... Lost my post to the dreaded BSOD, but the short form was - great overall performance last night by the Cubs, who are wasting some good offensive karma with their recent outburst. Please, please, don't waste all your offense in two games.... And somebody tell Tom Goodwin to stop his Ichiro impression (at least offensively)... 5-6 with his slap hitting style is great, but

2003-07-21T10:07:00.000-05:00

Dontrelle Mania Suspended Temporarily... News at 11: After blowing through the league like a buzzsaw, Dontrelle Willis suddenly became human yesterday in a muggy 16-2 Cubs victory over the Fighting Fish. Former Cub prospect Willis didn't appear fully comfortable from the start, and things got much worse after the hour rain delay. In the early going, Willis appeared visibly upset that home

2003-07-17T20:44:00.000-05:00

Oops. Posting dyslexia strikes again. I obviously meant seller, not buyer, in paragraph 5 of today's post.

2003-07-17T14:50:00.000-05:00

Wow. It's certainly been a while since I last posted or surfed through the Cubs blogs. Since my forced hiatus, the Cubs have fallen to 3 back of the Astros, with little hope of catching enough wind in their sails to pass their flawed Central Division counterparts. Since my departure, we have witnessed the loss of Corey Patterson for the year, and the installation / coronation of Tom Goodwin as

2003-07-03T09:51:00.000-05:00

Quick Thoughts: With his puka necklace glinting in the glare of the Veterans Stadium lights, Sir Tightpants rode in on his trusty steed to secure the victory last night. Joe Bo looked better than he has of late in picking up save #16. Clement's stuff was filthy overall, so filthy that he himself often had no idea where the ball would end up, as evidenced by his six walks. And Sammy walked