Not only did he hit another leadoff home run, but he added a three-run homer in the second.
]]>``And obviously the minute I walked into [Wrigley Field Wednesday] night [for a physical], the excitement was there. That's what I'm looking foward to.''
That's not all.
]]> The guy who helped the red-menace Cardinals reach the 2004 World Series and win it in 2006 mentioned ``World Series'' three times in his first talk with Chicago reporters Thursday.He also said he was ``scared'' of the reception he might get from Wrigley fans initially, but added, ``I'm just going to go out there and do everything I can, and hopefully I can get them on my side eventually and play well.''
Most interesting, he said when he asked the Cardinals to trade him after last season -- when they told him he wasn't in their everyday plans -- he asked about a trade to the Cubs. ``But they didn't think that would be a very good option at the time,'' he said. ``So I've always admired this ballpark and this team and just wanted to see what it would be like to be on this side one time.''
So does that soften any of the built-up natural animosity toward the guy? Do you buy it? And do any of those sentiments matter, whether they're genuine or not?
]]>Edmonds' reaction wasn't quite as positive later when he grounded into a double-play and struck out. He finished 1-for-4.
To get live updates from the game from Gordon Wittenmyer, go here.
]]>As of early Tuesday afternoon, Edmonds is not in Chicago. But he may be in a Cubs uniform by Thursday's series finale against the Padres.
]]>CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today activated left-handed pitcher Scott Eyre from the 15-day disabled list and optioned left-handed pitcher Sean Marshall to Triple-A Iowa.
Eyre, 35, has missed Chicago’s first 34 games this season with left elbow inflammation. He made seven relief appearances for the Cubs in spring training before being placed on the disabled list on March 30 (retroactive to March 23). Eyre has since made seven minor league rehab appearances (one start) with Single-A Daytona, Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa, posting no record and a 6.75 ERA (5 ER/6.2 IP).
The southpaw begins his 2008 campaign having not allowed a run in his last 19 outings dating to August 16, 2007, a scoreless stretch that covers 14.2 innings pitched. After posting a 6.60 ERA (22 ER/30.0 IP) last year before the All-Star Break, Eyre turned in a 0.81 ERA (2 ER/22.1 IP) in 28 appearances after the Break. Overall in 2007, Eyre went 2-1 with a 4.13 ERA (24 ER/52.1 IP) in 55 relief appearances.
Eyre, who is in his third season with the Cubs, has made 537 major league appearances (32 starts) in all or part of 11 major league campaigns.
Marshall, originally recalled from Iowa on April 9, posted no record with one save and a 4.15 ERA (4 ER/8.2 IP) in 13 relief appearances with the Cubs.
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``Ninety-one point five milllllliion dollars...''
``He is Dr. Evil,'' DeRosa said.
Either way, ``Looks good to me,'' said cue-balled Reed Johnson.
And if so, what about other guys? Marmol-Obama? Chad Fox-Dr. Johnny Fever? Jon Lieber-George Thorogood?
]]>But in defense of WSCR-AM's Jesse Rogers, whether the question could have been rephrased, it wasn’t out of line -- especially considering it was Soriano’s first game back from the disabled list and Piniella has been known to do stranger things trying to secure a win.
]]>``He’s my guy,’’ Piniella said of Soriano. ``He’s my left fielder.’’
Lou's postgame Thursday lasted barely a minute, with him snapping at Rogers' question with, ``You're damn right I thought about it. You think I'm stupid or something?'' After another silent moment, Piniella left the interview room, muttering profanities on the way down the hall toward the clubhouse.
``You know, I've answered more questions about Soriano than anybody else on the team combined,'' he said Friday.
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Fox will wear uniform No. 44 and be available for tonight’s game in St. Louis. Chicago’s 40-man roster is at 38 players.
The 37-year-old Fox last pitched professionally in 2005 with the Cubs, posting no record and one save with a 6.75 ERA (6 ER/8.0 IP) in 11 relief appearances before landing on the disabled list on April 26 with a right elbow strain, an injury that ended his season. He had since been out of professional baseball before signing a minor league contract with an invitation to Cubs major league spring training on January 11, 2008.
Fox made just one spring training appearance with the Cubs this season before being slowed by right tricep strain. In addition to time at extended spring training, he made four minor league relief outings, three with Single-A Daytona and one with Double-A Tennessee. Fox tossed four scoreless innings in Daytona, allowing only one hit, before allowing four runs in 0.2 innings in his one Double-A appearance.
The righthander is 10-11 with six saves and a 3.57 ERA (89 ER/224.1 IP) in 214 major league relief appearances in all or part of eight big league seasons with Atlanta (1997), Milwaukee (1998-99, 2001-02), Boston (2003), Florida (2003-04) and the Cubs (2005). He has 261 strikeouts in 224.1 innings pitched, an average of 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings, and has limited opponents to a .231 batting average.
Fox enjoyed his best major league campaign with the Brewers in 2001, going 5-2 with two saves and a 1.89 ERA (14 ER/66.2 IP) in a career-high 65 appearances. Fox was also a member of the 2003 World Champion Florida Marlins, going 2-1 with a 2.13 (6 ER/25.1 IP) in 21 outings after signing with the club that August.
Hart, a member of Chicago’s Opening Day roster, went 2-1 with a 5.06 ERA (9 ER/16.0 IP) in 10 relief appearances with the Cubs, collecting his first two big league wins.
Mateo has pitched for Iowa and Tennessee this season, combining to go 1-0 with a 16.20 ERA (15 ER/8.1 IP) in six relief appearances.
]]>CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today activated outfielder Alfonso Soriano from the 15-day disabled list and optioned outfielder Matt Murton to Triple-A Iowa.
Soriano returns after straining his right calf at the end of the top of the first inning on April 15 and landing on the disabled list the next day. His stay on the disabled list lasted the minimum 15 days and did not include a rehab assignment. Soriano is batting .175 (10-for-57) with two home runs and five RBI in his first 13 games this season.
Murton, who was recalled from Triple-A on April 19, batted .214 (3-for-14) with four RBI in eight games with the Cubs. He is hitting .317 with five runs scored and two RBI with 10 walks to contribute to a .462 on-base percentage in 13 games with Iowa this season.
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So here's your chance. With Alfonso Soriano set to come off the disabled list Thursday, there will be a new dynamic to the Cubs' lineup. How would you fill out the top eight?
]]>Patterson was 0-for-6 in three games with the Cubs.
]]>``Life is good,'' he said behind the batting cage about an hour before the game. ``My life is real good.''
]]> The booing from Cubs fans was loud and immediate as Baker took the lineup card to home plate before the game, met there by Cubs coach Matt Sinatro with the Cubs lineup.But it's exactly what he expected, Baker said during a media conference this afternoon. ``I been booed before,'' he said. ``I been booed in more towns than this one.''
]]>But he made sure to make a point each time he had to pay up.
]]> He made the club send him the broken cooler. ``If I had to pay for them, you're damn right I did,'' he said. ``I used to put them in my garage at home.''Imagine what they might be worth today -- that is, if he still had them.
``I wish I had kept them,'' he said.``I'd be selling them on eBay.''
If a Miami woman could get $28,000 for a 10-year-old, partially eaten grilled cheese sandwich that supposedly bore the image of the Virgin Mary on it, what would an authentic Lou Piniella busted water cooler go for?
The apparent show of anger at a teammate was downplayed and denied in the clubhouse afterward. Asked if Zambrano was agitated, manager Lou Piniella said, ``I don't know about that. I don't think that was a problem.''
Although it looked like a ball Kosuke Fukudome might have caught if he wasn't playing center for the day, Piniella defended Ward, saying, ``I don't think anybody would have caught the ball that Burrell hit.''
Zambrano said none of the plays in that ugly sixth inning -- including a foul ball off third that third baseman Aramis Ramirez overran -- bothered him. ``No, not at all,'' he said.
And he wasn't upset, he said, at himself or anybody else. ``No, no.''
But he didn't deny that he got emotional.
``Always,'' he said, smiling. ``You're talking with Carlos Zambrano, man. Always.''
``The umpires are all my buddies,'' Piniella said, smiling.
]]> Piniella may no longer be an ogre with umpires, but he plays one on TV -- throwing a tirade on a commercial for bottled water currently getting a lot of air time.Yet even with the make-believe tirade Piniella, whose only ejection as Cubs manager was that planned one last June, was sensitive enough about the message in the commercial that he cleared it through the commissioner's office before agreeing to do it.
``The concern that I had was that when I got kicked out, the league basically discouraged me from theatrics,’’ he said. ``So here I was doing a commercial with theatrics. So I made sure I went through the league, and they approved it.’’
Theatrics?
``I’m talking about [kicking] the dirt or [throwing] the cap, those sorts of things,’’ he said. ``My cap’s OK, I think. I learned in New York from Billy [Martin] and from Mr. Steinbrenner. Mr. Steinbrenner used to tell me, `Look, part of your job is to put fannies in the seats. When you get kicked out of the game, put on a show.’
``But I guess the league doesn’t like that, so we do away with it.’’
As entertaining as Piniella is these days, he was a lot more fun when he didn't have so many buddies in blue.
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