This is going to be an interesting game Friday for the Cubs.
They're tired after playing last night in Florida and flying in late. They're down after being swept by the Rays. They're demoralized after losing Carlos Zambrano and Alfonso Soriano.
So here comes the Sox, off a sweep of Pittsburgh, talking a little trash, rested after spending the night at home.
Not sure how to call this one. The Cubs are so good at home, but I'm taking the Sox today.
You?
Zambrano wasn't scheduled to pitch this weekend, so his absence from the line-up isn't an issue, but I still like the Sox starting staff, and I think their bats will come to life in Wrigley Field.
I'm going with a South Side sweep.
The Cubs bats should finally wake up from a little home cooking so I'll take the Cubs 2 out of 3 this weekend against the Sox. These are professional baseball players. The late flights and the weekend afternoon start times shouldn't be a factor, all part of the game or for that matter, they are poor excuses. Should be a fun weekend series, looking forward to it...
Um going with the Sox!!! I hope the Cubs bounce back AFTER this weekend. My buddy sent this to me to get me psyched up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv23pqH9iG0
Be forewarned - its Lee Elia...and full of expletives.
I'm tearing up...
Jay whines: "It's hopeless to keep asking Williams and Guillen to stop talking."
It's equally hopeless to ask Mariotti to stop writing.
Why should Ozzie and Williams shut up?
Who is Jay to demand that everyone else conform to his own frequently negative opinions?
This coward is no one to talk about "jerks". He's afraid to set foot in a locker room.
you are obviously a typical know nothing sox fan. good luck beating the best team in baseball chump!
sox pitchers are playing way above their heads. They are in the weakest division in baseball and now that they are playing a real team (The Best in the NL Cubs), they'll come back to reality.
Sure Joe. I mean, I can understand how our division is weak with the Cubs getting to play the Pirates 18 times a season. Once the Cubs have to play the big boys in the AL, they are gonna keep getting their butts handed to them just like Tampa Bay did. The AL Central might look weak, but the entire National League is weak. Your boys are running headfirst into a beating in October.
You would think the Cubs, having been SWEPT by Tampa, will be coming home for redemption, ESPECIALLY in the hometown series. Well, the Sox were swept the same way in Tampa, and both teams made fodder of Pitt (fortunately for the Cubs, they have 15 extra chances). The keys here are the Cubs flying home on a downer, and no Paul Konerko. Two PLUSSES for the Sox. Throw in the fact 'Ol Man Contreras will pitch his 40 year old culo off on Saturday, and the Cubs will need a Dempster gem on Sunday to avoid the sweep.
Go White Sox!
Heading into last year, the Sox had a slight edge on the all-time series. But the Cubs erased that by going 5-1. So it's at 30-30 all time. As good as both teams are looking, I am thinking the season series will go 3-3 with each team taking 2 out of 3 in the other guy's park. With the teams looking so solid this year, my concern is the threat of a letdown from both clubs. These games are always amazing regardless of how good/bad the teams are playing. We're just way overdue to see some bad ball played when these 2 teams get together.
Sox have the obvious edge right now coming off the Pit series and the Cubs getting ears pinned back in TB. I am a Sox fan, but a realist. I'll take .500 ball against the good teams any day. Then just mop up on the bad teams. It's the 90+ game winning formula.
Something to consider.....the American League holds a 74-51 edge so far this season in interleague play. Pretty consistent with how it's gone the last few years as well.
2008 - AL leads 74-51
2007 - AL edge 137-113
2006 - AL edge 154-98
2005 - AL edge 136-116
Moral to the story - American League is better no matter how you slice it. I'm not ready to say the Sox are the better team, but it's definitely not a stretch to suggest that a 41 game winning team in the AL may be better than a 45 game winning team in the NL. We'll know in 10 days I guess.
I think JD just hit the billy goat with a long ball.
LET"S GO WHITE SOX!!!
Seriously Roman, could they have buried you any further on the blog page? I'd complain to someone if I were you.
Ozzie Guillen has proved once again what a 'BONEHEAD' manager he is. He continues, as he has all year, to refuse to try to manufacture runs, and he has no clue how to manage pitching. The Venezuelan Mouth lost this game for us and it hurts, it hurts real bad. If this man continues to talk with such arrogance, I wish he would back it up every now and then with a well managed game.
Thanx Ozzie.
you are obviously a typical know nothing sox fan. good luck beating the best team in baseball chump!
Posted by: Joe Schmo | June 20, 2008 11:19 AM
How did this comment get by without a retort from the BlogFather..
do you want me to break his eKneeCaps?
Well now that was craptacular, wasn't it?
Still scratching my head:
Ozzie pulls Danks after only 85 pitches with a 3-1 lead and a 5K/1BB performance.
Ozzie pinch hits using Thome (.057 w/ RISP after the 7th) instead of bunting Anderson to 3rd with Cabrera and AJ set to bat.
Oops!
Nevermind.
no doubt cubs r the better team overall wehether u bitter sox fans like it or not
Enzo, you know what's a great cure for bitterness? Looking at that big shiny WS ring from '05.
I like the Cubs against any team (MLB) in any series...didn't see this topic until after the walk off homer
I would love to see a 7 game Cubs/Sox World Series just like the one I saw yesterday, tho...but..
"Mr Owl..how many Andy Frains would it take to have a Cubs/Sox Worl.."....shots fired...feathers fly...kid craps/keeps sucker
Go Yankees!!
for its 1...
Yesterday I watched Ozzie pull a young, healthy Danks after throwing 85 pitches, and holding a two run lead.
Today I'm watching this idiot stick with a 65 year old man on the mound after he's given up back to back homers.
At this point the Sox still led by one, but The Blizzard wouldn't pull the plug until they got six more runs off Jose.
Has Ozzie got a clue?
Yesterday I watched Ozzie pull a young, healthy Danks after throwing 85 pitches, and holding a two run lead.
Today I'm watching this idiot stick with a 65 year old man on the mound after he's given up back to back homers.
At this point the Sox still led by one, but The Blizzard wouldn't pull the plug until they got six more runs off Jose.
Has Ozzie got a clue?
you should ban people from posting anonymously. It really is a bore reading these gutless pokes at one another. All Sox fans no doubt.
aaaah.....2
you can put it on the board......................yes
you can put it on the board.........................yes
you can put it on the board.............................yes
you can put it on the board................................yes
what a lame home run call, don't know how sox fans stand to listen to that geezer, especially being such expert baseball fans and all. Or is that acumen reserved for moaning about cubs fans enjoying themselves at wrigley. Yep, guess that makes someone an expert, at least expert at knowing when you're missing a great party you were not invited to. Of course, no one is lining up to get into cabrini field so sox fans' envy is understandable, but sure gets old hearing it continually, especially from such brilliant baseball minds.
look right or wrong this is the reason why we enjoy the croostown series so much so we could mess w/eachother and give our selves hard time is all part of being here in chicago but its a lot better when the cubbies r stomping the bitter sox the way they should after all the crap they were talking right before the series started hehe how do u like us now??? we r real contenders and ur team is simply average at best!!!!!!
Well, I'm writing this Sunday morning, so no predictions here. However, as a Sox fan, I'm afraid that our team may be running on borrowed time. Look out below--the Tigers are coming (thanks for letting them back in mentally by letting them sweep us last week) and this division won't have the 2nd place playoff team (c-Tampa).
We don't have that special ingredient that the '05 team had which is primarily the ability to create and win games consistently 2-1 and 3-2. Saturday's game was a good ole' fashioned whoopin' that happens. By the way, as soon as Contreras throws a few forkballs that don't snap, get him out of the there immediately! Friday's was just another ongoing example of the Sox getting shut down and can't do much without the HR.
On the other hand, I think the Cubs pitching staff with the likes of Ryan Dempster and Jason Marquis may also be catching lightning in a bottle that could burst pretty soon (both having career years?). I'm also not sure that the Cubs have that special championship ingredient either, except for the fact that they don't have a lot of competition in the NL this year. I think their road record must improve--it's just too much of a "homer" team. Still, they should win that division without much of a problem. If guys like Dempster and Marquis continue as is, they should make the World Series--only to lose to Boston or Tampa Bay or the Angels.
If the Sox can start creating runs with the HR, we should take the division.
yep sure Gig keep on dreaming about ur team taking the division r u watching the same game we all r or u just too blind and dumb just like ur so called manager to ss that ur team (sox) suck big time and u r what we all touhgt u were a whole bunch of cry babies that don't know what a true baseball team should look like!!!!!!!!!!!! GO CUBSSSSSSSSS
yep sure Gig keep on dreaming about ur team taking the division r u watching the same game we all r or u just too blind and dumb just like ur so called manager to sEE IT? that ur team (sox) suck big time and u r what we all touhgt u were a whole bunch of cry babies that don't know what a true baseball team should look like!!!!!!!!!!!! GO CUBSSSSSSSSS
nah..There isn't one player on the Sox roster I'd rather have than who the Cubs have..
didn't think so ..but I wanted to see ...I saw
The San Antonio White Sox has a nice ring to it..
ya'd have more fans
.......THREE STRIKES YOUR OUT....
AT THE OLD......BALL GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It never ceases to amaze me how often the White Sox get burned after a BLOWN strike call, an error, or an Ozzie blunder. It's almost as if destiny awaits at the door for one of the aformentioned opportunities.
Weekend butt-whippin' aside, we know;
- The Cubs play very well at home
- The Sox have been struggling on the road as of late
- The Cubs have better bats than the Sox (surprise, surprise)
- The Sox do have a better pitching staff, overall, than the Cubs
- With the exception of road games, the Cubs have been putting a whipping on all comers
- With the exception of Saturday, the American League has been putting a whipping on the National League
- Lou Piniella outcoached his counterpart (surprise, surprise)
- Ozzie put another notch in his How-Not-To-Manage bedpost
- Cubs need to stay healthy
- Sox need to stay quiet
- Cubs, '08 (as in 1908)
- Sox, '05 (as in 2005)
Sorry, but that still speaks volumes. Until proven otherwise, the Cubs are just the best in the N.L. thru June 22nd, and are the best in Chicago on their home field.
The Sox have the best pitching staff in the stronger league. Hopefully they show up this Friday with less talk and more manager.
Culzie now that the projects are gone from Southside, there is realy nothing left to complain about. The Sox experience is the BEST in this city for the average fan. And you can talk about a lot of things, but NEVER talk about the world famous call from the Hawkeroo! That said. Sox will probably get one game.
Yeah Julie B., that 05' ring shines really nice right now...!
ok...Ozzie made nice this morning...I take back what I said, too...you no move to San Antonio..
Today is Toledo Window Box Day....mark your Calandars or ers
Kdawg...that waddnt me dude!!!
but....im glad that they Gentrified the Cell....good to know...is there a Starbucks nearby, or does JR ride them out of town too?
Its weird how the two places that JR owns stadiums, the city around them is DEVOID of any places to eat or drink, and thusly devoid of any real culture or entertainment or nightlife potential = low cost housing areas
Its weird because JR is a DEVELOPER?!?!?!
Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm.....
oh and enjoy that 9 dollar United Center hotdog coming soon!!!
Chucky boy, the ring is the ring and it's from this century. Still looks better than an empty finger.
Jerry Comisky-Reinsdorf? or is it Reinsdorf-Comisky?
You are right Culzie. My apologies. Was some guy named dizzy. But that is where I credit JR. His stadiums are for ALL Chicagoans young and old, and built exclusively for the EVENT instead of the RICH. You go to the Cell and glance over the crowd and you will see a reflection of the ENTIRE CITY, young and old. Wragley Field and its bar life is like a seedy Las Vegas Hotel where the WHALES in shades and on cell phones are the only important humans in the stadium. Baseball is about 10th on the list.
On Father's Day I was able to take my two children and my nieces (whom I am like a father to) to their first White Sox Game. Price for one adult and 6 kids....40 bucks!!! You can't get a Cubs hat on the northside for that much! And I can thank Jerry Reindsdorf for that - aaaaand we had good seats not in the upper decks!!!! We had a blast on a beautiful day - in OUR neighborhood park. And the only spectacle in the park was on the field!!! Reinsdorf sets aside days like this for the rest of us at the Cell and the UC. His stadiums are clean, state of the art, and add beauty - where its needed. What a concept???
And I thank GOD the Cell was instrumental in getting that project torn down! Hello Starbucks and Jimmy Johns!
im with ya...but my point was actually that he drives out bars and restaurants in the immediate area...so you dont have a place to stop before or after games...and you are forced(lured) into his Disneylandopoly where you eat those ...
CUBS ARE ON....later!
Sounds like a great day at Cabrini field, how long until they tear down this latest publicly financed and state owned project? Guess they already had to rebuild the upper deck since even the regular fan couldn't stomach sitting up there. Well, as long as the locals are happy with it. I guess people would rather sit in nosebleed seat on a building across the street from wrigley than inside cabrini field, must be the cheap hot dogs.
Oh, I remember 05, that was the year that baseball finally cracked down on steroid use, senate hearings and all. Most formerly good teams weren't even competative that year, guess that's why the sox could sneak in a win. The trophy should have a big syringe on the top of it to remind people of the sad state of baseball that year.
good one fizzy...
fizzy, the Sox were in 1st place the entire season and swept the Astros to win it all on '05. That's sneaking it in? Give me a break.
No blog about this weekend! No smartalecy remarks, just baseball. American League is flexing like Ahrnoldt!
Fizzy, the Cell is by where the Taylor homes were not were Cabrini was. Get your facts straight.
Ozzy, the Rats were in Comiskey, never in Wrigley-unless they follow your stench-which is possible.
Bculzy, there are many places to stop off of the Damn Ryan to get food, you just can't be a white dude wearing a pink hat.
Since I have all the doors on my car and they are not taped closed, I go through Canaryville, to avoid 'sticking out' on the Ryan. Who the he%% wants to stop in Canaryville? I don't think it's Reinsdorf who chases out businesses-it's the white trash.
You guys ever hear of Harold's Chicken Shack? That's Southside gourmet right there.
Aint talking big today! Must be all the straw stuck in their throats from that broom!
Hey BC, can I borrow your broom?
Watch the SOX sweep the Cubs, and my brother pay for bowling this week.
enzo, you can put it on the board...........YES!
fizzy, you can put it on the board...........YES!
Julie B. we can put it on the broom.
Did any of the Cubs staters play this weekend? or did they all get a vacation like Roman?
Hey Julie, can I have the Q-perman broom?
Sure Chuck. What's that? I think mine's a Libman.
Carlos Quentin's broom he used to smack that home run in game 2. In fact all Carlos' on the white sox have the cubs' number.