July 2009 Archives

So Reed Johnson won't be able to be the Cubs' leadoff for the next few weeks.

So what?

Maybe the Cubs are better off just laughing this one away. Fukudome singles inside the pitcher's jersey? Dempster ignores an easy out at the plate with none out in the third to try for a double play - and throws the ball into center?

With 64 games left, they can afford to laugh about this one, even if they reenacted the Dempster dugout-rail thing and tripped and fell out of first place.

At least nobody got hurt, and Dempster's toe seemed fine.

And while nobody in the Cubs' clubhouse was in a laughing mood after the game, Ted Lilly's deadpan exchange with reporters before the game might have revealed a glimpse of improving spirits around the place compared to just a few weeks and months ago.

Whether that means anything about the junkyard dog days that loom over the next four weeks remains to be seen.

The Cubs have some payroll flexibility to add a veteran player without long-term contract commitment, and Jim Hendry is making daily rounds of calls on position players and pitchers -- mostly left-handers such as Joe Beimel and George Sherrill.

But what do the Cubs actually need?

The Cubs started the second half of their season almost exactly as they ended their underachieving first half - scoring one run in another meager-hitting loss despite good enough pitching that the team ERA went down again.

``We've got to hit. Fifteenth in the league in runs scored isn't going to get it done - period,'' Piniella said during a pregame rant today against the lack of first-half hitting.

So what's left to do with the big-bucks lineup?