Sorry for the delay on posting some of your comments, been on vacation and needed to de-blog for a few days. Don't get back to work until Monday, but had to give you guys to talk about the Cubs.
From Kerry Wood's hot-tub slip to Carlos Zambrano's slip of the lip, the Cubs grabbed the headlines and they may not let go.
Is Wood's injury the quintessential sign that spring training has begun? A hot tub? You can't make this stuff up.
What's next? Mark Prior injures his pitching arm during an animated kereoke peformance?
And anyone who has ever dealt with Zambrano knows he wasn't giving an ultimatum to the Cubs. He was saying he would go to free agency, but not go - necessarily - to another team.
Roman,I hope you had a great time on your vacation. After reading all that negativity you have to get away and unwind. NO NIGHT clubs!! Kidding.
If the Bears are serious about returning to the Super Bowl, the FIRST step should be to sign Jeff Garcia. Can you imagine how good they could be with a quarterback who is able to move around in the pocket, check his recievers, throw the vball to the open man or else tuck it away and scramble for those first down yards. They have the money, so get this guy SAP.
i'm glad its spring training, with the cubs you just have to wonder what really happend with wood and how bad is it really. I'm looking forward to a season of lou, maybe they'll have a good year and suprise some folks. One thing no one is mentioning is hendry has 4 or 5 young pitchers that he can trade for prospects or another bat. Should be interesting to watch the moves unfold, and how lou uses the players and pitchers he does have. Is it just me or would anyone else like to just see 2 days in a row with the same starting lineup? Is that too much to ask, after last years shifting lineup every single day.
Oh, don't think the bears need to sign garcia, they need a real nfl qb, and i'm not thinking of that lil fellar either.
I like the fact that the Cubs are not relying on just Prior and Wood to carry the pitching. I like that the Trib finally spent some of that money we have been funneling to them over the last quarter century on some talented players for the team. I know they have some more to pay Big Z to stay in Chicago for a few more years. However, the Yankees are proof you can't just buy your way to a championship. Sweet Lou is the key. If he can put it all together it will be a fun year for Cubs fans!!!!
I saw Prior at the Kareoke bar Friday night.
He was singing " Hurts So Good " by Mellencamp.
or maybe it was " Willie the Wimp".
Roman responds: The latter is a very good song, but I believe it's about a man on the South Side of Chicago.
I cannot state how important the signing of Zambrano is. i'm talking about a 5 year deal. I do believe that Zambrano wants to remain a Cub, however he has every right to request that a deal be done before the season begins. Words are often mis-interpreted as is the case here. The story tells that Z is demanding stuff when it simply isn't the case.
K-Wood on the other hand is a different story. How does that whole situation NOT surprise me. All Cubs fans can hope for is that Wood ws being honest when he said his arm wasn't hurt in the 'fall'.
A healthy D-Lee will bring this club back to the top of the NL Central along with the help of a well paid free agent.
OKay Prior it's your turn now!All the money cubs have invested in the DL twins . 07 should be a year the Prior/Wood hope should be over with.This often injured pair finds more ways to go on DL ! So typical, a fall in tub Kerry?
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Sorry Cubbie faithfull...It is The Chichago White Sox W/S Champions 2005 not the sorry 1908 W/S winners the snake bit / jinx\ridden Cubs. That will prevail and go to the Series again vs Arizona D-Backs and their strong pitching and improved young team.
Could it be that Prior ran into Bad Bad Leroy Brown after a poor Karaoke performance? I also worry about Kerry Wood if he slipped in a hot tub how can we expect him to stay upright on the mound during or after a gentle rain? Oh wait he'll be wearing cleats but then maybe that would his foot to get stuck and pull a hamstring or a back muscle.
It's actually kind of fun to go into the season with lower expectations for Prior and Wood. That's about the time Prior responds with 15 wins to follow Z in the rotation and Wood becomes closer by the time postseason arrives. Go Cubs!
Wood is scheduled to throw this Monday. If he doesn't, one would suspect this is more of the Cub subterfuge, when it comes to the physical condition of their players. It'd be nice to play ONE year without DL stories dominating Cub news.
One question I have, is whether anyone will work with J. Jones on his throwing this year. Eighteen bounce throws to the infield really won't cut it.
Roman responds: I covered about 15 Cubs games last season, and I didn't say JJ bounce into into the infield half as much as I saw him air mail one over the cut-off man. It was unbelievable.
If the Cubs lineup dominates like they should then they will dominate the headlines everywhere!
Like most Cub fans every year at this time my hope springs eternal that the ole Cubbies will reign supreme this year.
Some years the hope is a little more realistic than others, I feel this is one of those years.
What does one of those years mean though?
One of those years that they start out strong then an injury, or a bad trade, or maybe the grass in the infield was to long, I don't know but we are in the cellar by the end of July as a result. Or one of those years when they remain strong until September and then tank because the hitting goes cold at the exact wrong moment. Or the worse case scenario; They make it to the play offs have a 2-0 lead in the series the pitching gets cold, someone blows a routine fly ball and it ends 3-2 in favor of the other guys before we knew what happened.
NO
This year is different!!
Why?
Because the organization got off of their wallet and added some real talent to the roster to support the few guys we had. Its different when one of your stars gets injured than it is when your only star gets injured. I think the team has more depth to get though the tough times this year. The pitching gah! its a crap shoot. We can count on wins from Zambrano as long as he is healthy aside from that we can only pray that the potential talent is what shows if it does our rotation might be OK. Last but not least, We have Lou. A complete change in style than what the city is used to. I welcome the change, I welcome anything that springs my hope further. If nothing else the great great Italian restaurants on the north side (its impossible to get a good meatball in Hollywood) will have a new patron. I wouldn't be surprised if on some summer night it was reported that the coach was singing Louie Prima songs at Montesteros after a big win.
I hope they stay in the headlines all year all the way until the end of October about the same time when the Bears should be 6-0.
GO CUBS
Roman responds: Your sister would cringe at some of your grammar, but your message is clear.
Roman responds: Your sister would cringe at some of your grammar
Just don't tell my mom.
I will proof read more better next time. :p
GO CUBS!!
I really dont understand the Cubs or the Cub Fans. I hear how bad Jacque Jones is and that they should trade him and he was paid too much money but nothing was said when Kerry Wood was almost the highest paid player on the team for doing nothing and proving nothing his whole major league career. He hasnt had trash thrown at him or called racist names but I guess thats why I just dont understand the Cubs. As a Sox fan I'm glad to see the Cubs go with the same stategy year after year and expect different results.
All those bucks for Jason Marquis? Come on Hendry, talk about a gas can! Good thing wrigley has a fire house near by with Jason pitching! The DL twins plus your add Miller cubs need a miracle !
With all of the complications Lou Pinella has with his new Cubs, who plays center should not be one of them. What position did Mark DdeRosa play more of last year, 2nd base or OF? What position did our new star, Alfonso Soriano, play for most of his career?
If you know the correct answers, wouldn't this be an easy decision? An easy decision for Cubs management is another story...
Give it a rest already. The main reason the sCrUBS will not win this year is lack of depth. As usual the Cubs have followed the Phillip K. Wrigley book of how to run a major leaue basball club.
a. Provide one major star to fill the seats
b. fill the roster with no-names with minimal talent to get off
to a fast start
c. Fill the seats and collect the profits
Now that's the only winning formula the Cubs can and will achieve. It's just to bad it doesn't count in the standings or on the field.
I can't help but notice that the Cubs are going to be amazing this year. 100 wins minumum. Just for the record, here's a sicknasty line-up:
1. Soriano, CF- 40-40-40= Juan who? However, the back to 2nd idea is intriguing.
2. Murton, LF- Peter Gammons says this guy can hit, 'nuff said.
3. D-Lee, 1B- Didn't he make a run at the triple crown before the freak wrist injury?
4. Arami!, 3B- We need a hypno-therapist to convince him its August in May. Jack Johnstones
5. Cliff Floyd, RF- Hometown talent returns, stays healthy and crushes all year.
6. Micheal Barrett, C-Best bat behind the dish in the league. Improved defensively.
7. Derosa, 2B- Watch, he'll hit .300.
8. Izturis, SS- He's pretty good, right?. And maybe Ronnie will get his chin up at some point.
9. Pitcher- Our pitchers hit for power!
Who saw Big Z break the bat on his knee last year? Quite possibly the best thing I've ever seen. Oh, and speaking of the staff:
1, Zambrano- Workhorse will lead the league in K's and OWSD- Opponents with soiled drawers!
2. Prior- Big chip on his shoulder (figuratively, you jerks) makes for a great season. Remember not long ago when he was the best young pitcher in baseball? Yeah, he got hurt on the base paths and a freak come-backer off the elbow, then had other problems I'd rather not mention, but trust me, as a competitor, he's pissed and will toss like a stud.
3. Lilly- Crafty lefty pitched well in the AL East for a team not in Boston or New York? I think he'll be fine in the NL Central.
4. Rich Hill- After his "just got to the bigs" jitters early last year, he resumed overall crushing.
5.Miller, Marshall, Marquis, Guzman, Marmol, Samardz... well, you get the picture. Depth
Oh, and Kid K is going to be flame-throwing at the end of a balanced shutdown verteran pen.
Wow, this is going to be fun. Sweet Lou? Are you kidding me? Ahhhh, the Northside is going to be a special place this summer. I'll see you all at Murphy's bright and early. I'll be the happy drunk guy!
Has Mark Prior thrown a pitch off the mound yet, or is he still throwing towels like last year? Seriously.....
It must be Spring Training time! Kerry Wood is injured tripping over his rubber duckie! Soon we'll hear Prior got hurt. I've been surprised to see that most early predictions are showing the Cubs way out of playoff contention. And I noticed they were 75-1 odds to win the World Series. Not bad for a 300 million dollar investment in the off season. My early predictions; they'll be much better than last year but their pitching will do them in. Dempster will be replaced as closer by mid May. They'll battle for third place all year. And Pinella will have his forst major temper tantrum by mid April. No championship this year, unfortunately. Hope I'm wrong.
As a Cubs fan we appriechate the game of baseball; on the southside they appriechate Beer, running onto the field to beat up coaches, and racists remarks. When you southsiders grow up and stop worrying about what the northside is doing you might actually enter the real world. No more waiting; CUBS WILL BE WORLDCHAMPS IN 2007!
Ken Matuszak
Where are you getting the 75-1 odds on the Cubs?? I would like to get in on them. I live in Las Vegas and the best odds to win thw World Series I've found for the Cubs is 12-1. Currently the
Mirage has then listed at 10-1. If you can get me 75-1, I want in.
I am in agreement with not-a-cub-fan-since-89
Hey Frank! The Daily News here in New York had the odds posted. I think 75-1 is kind of steep myself, especially since the Cards won only 83 games last year. And we all know the playoffs are always a crap shoot. With my luck the Cubs will win this year since the greedy SOB's at MLB took Extra Innings off cable for Direct TV, and I won't be able to watch them.
I grew up on the southside and have always been a White Sox fan. I must admit however, that I did get swept up in the Cub's World Series chase, but what a let down. I don't expect anything from Wood, Prior should come back to form and Zambrano, playing for a contract, should be awsome. Good luck Cubbies, I'll be keeping tabs in the newspaper only, I will not subject myself to the heartbreak again, though a White Sox, Cubs series would be nice.
Not-a-cub-fan since 1989 hit it right on the money. I live in Houston (not fun being surrounded by astros fans) and around this time every year my hopes and expectations are through the roof. And every year six months later I receive billy goat and bartman cracks. But you know what? That's only gonna make this year THAT much sweeter. Fan expectations are always high for the cubs, but have you ever seen such enthusiam by players in spring training? Almost eveyone arrived early, and 30+ players are showing up everyday for practice at 6:00 a.m. even though practice doesn't start till 9. I really hope Marquis and Rothshild found something with Marquis' mechanics in Florida this offseason. Plus his numbers don't look that bad if you take away two games(25 runs). By the looks of Wood's contract with an incentive of $1,000,000 if he finishes 50 games, you know management plans on turning him into a closer before the season ends(they don't say to avoid media pressure). And did anyone see Wood pitch in relief in 2005 (with a shoulder injury). Imagine how good he's going to pitch in relief when healthy this year. I'm sure he'll be the finishing touch to the best bullpen in not only the NL but the majors. I really believe 7 quality starters will emerge this spring and maybe two can be traded for a really good #2 pitcher (giving the cubs the best rotation in the bigs). As far as offense... WOW, talk about power and depth. I think Murton got a little comfortable and laxidaisy his sophomore season knowing he had a starting job on the roster. Hopefully, Floyd can put some pressure on Murton to raise his already high performance level (Floyd might also be able to hit 30+ homers healthy). The rest of the outfield will be fine, if anyone in the MLB can become a center fielder in one spring camp its a competitive freak-athlete like Soriano. I keep hearing that the cubs outfield is a problem. right... if you consider having too many good players a problem. The only problem in the outfield is going to be getting everybody at-bats. Whoever is the odd-man out can join a bench that looks as good as a starting line-up in any other team. I can go all day long on all the positives this season; but for now, I just can't wait to meet up with all the cub faithfuls at Minute Made Park to watch the Cubs beat on the Astros. THIS IS MY YEAR OF REDEMPTION!!!
I just want to say this. I am stuck in Wisconsin. I live somwhere in a gray area who's cable company is out of Madison,but gets mostly Milwaukee programming. Madison is considered a local area (reagarding the chicago area), however milwaukee is not. Extra innings always blacked out the Cubs games in my area, and the TRIBUNE GOT GREEDY (or sympathetic depending on which shareholder you listen to)and put the flipping Sox games on
WGN. I am stuck in Wisconsin and I can't watch the cubs games unless the play the Brewers-Chicago's second favorite baseball team. Would somebody please explain the black out rules (since my cable company seems to think I am getting the games.) before I waste money on a dish? BTW how'd the cubbies do last year? I tried listening to the cactus game today on the radio....but I can't take 1.) Ron santo talking about bean soup for a few innings 2.) John Williams talking about Santo talking about bean soup.3.) Myself talking about John Williams talking about Ron santo talking about bean soup. I always end up listening to John Tesh. That my friends is not gooood. Although I have gained a little more intelligence for life. I still can not figure the black-out rules. Most up here call this 'Packers revenge'- a true Chicagoan getting stuck with all those Sox games on the Cub's channel.
I agree with you all, but after going to the Baseball Library of official stats, they have a HOF test, the way you can compile stats of a player into leaders, by batting average, home runs, rbi's, almost all the batting stats, and also fielding stats. I did the test based on Ron Santo's stats. As I went down his career stats I was shocked to see that his stats are well below HOF caliber. I want to say that there are several players just as deserving of the HOF, and with better stats than Santo, i.e. Gil Hodges not only did he have better career stats, but the man won a World Series as a manager. How about Minni Minoso (better stats than Santo), Jim Rice, Bobby Bonds, Rocky Colavito, Joe Adcock, Willie Horton, Norm Cash, and George Foster all had much better stats than Santo. I love Santo, and thinks he is deserving of the HOF, but wait, is he, take a look at his stats, 342 HR's, .277 BA, 1331 rbi's, and he won a few gold gloves.
MORE CUBBY PROFITEERING!!??
On 2-27 I logged in to purchase 4 tickets to the Friday 5-18 Cubs-White Sox game. Initially I typed in for 4 tickets - Best Available and got the response that 4 were not available. I then requested 2 tix - Best Available and received a similar response. I then requested 1 ticket and received a ticket. I then requested a single ticket 3 more times, and was successful each time, thus fulfilling my original desire to purchase 4 tickets. However, with each additional ticket, there was a $6 "order processing" charge. Had I been able to purchase 4 tickets at once, there would have been a $6 order processing charge for the 4 tickets. However, there was no way to get 4 single tickets without being charged $6/ticket, thus costing me an additional $18 because I had to purchase one ticket at a time. When I purchased 4 tickets for the 9-6 Dodgers game, I was charged a total of $6 order processing fee for the 4 tickets. Thus I have been charged an additional $18 for the 4 Cubs-White Sox tickets only because the Cubs/Ticketron could not provide me with 4 tickets together. I still ended up buying 4 tickets, but have to pay an additional $18 for order processing. In addition there is a $4.59 "Convenience (you gotta love the use of THAT word!)charge" per ticket. Thus, 4 tickets with a face value of $114 end up costing an additional $42.36 due to fees (that's convenient!) WHY? Cubs, please respond with an explanation - there is nothing on the website that provides for such situations. Thus anyone interested in the more popular games that is willing to purchase a number of single tickets because they can't get tickets together is punished with an additional $6 charge per ticket. Doesn't seem to make sense. Please advise. Thank you, Rich Sammons