Cubs | The Baseball Zealot

Wrigley’s re-sodding project nearing completion

A couple days ago, I was able to walk up to Illinois Field, home of the University of Illinois baseball team, and observe the progress they are making installing artificial turf. But Illinois Field isn’t the only park getting a makeover. Wrigley Field is being re-sodded and Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue got a chance to view … Continue reading “Wrigley’s re-sodding project nearing completion”

According to Al, the re-sodding of the Friendly Confines is almost finished. He went by to sneak a peek and a kindly security guard practically invited him in so he could snap some photos. Kudos to the security guard by the way, for exercising good judgment.

The sodding project is being carried out by White Sox groundskeeper Roger Bossard, aka “the Sodfather”. He is the expert in the field (no pun intended).

There is some luck following Bossard. Five of the last seven World Champions have won it all in parks that been the work of the Sodfather (Boston twice, Arizona, St. Louis, and of course the Sox). The big question is does he want that luck to continue? According to an interview on ChicagoSports.com, well, not really.

“I can’t say I want the Cubs to do it next year, obviously being a Sox person,” Bossard said. “Let’s just say I hope the Cubs are in it next year, playing us.”

There’s an interesting video accompanying the article with footage of the re-sodding.

The project will come to an end on Saturday actually ahead of schedule.

Skipper Lou doesn’t care so much for the instant replay idea

lou pin

Lou Piniella has an opinion on the instant replay to help the umpires out on the fair/foul balls and the fly balls on the fence. In an interview with WGN’s David Kaplan, he said he would support whatever decision was made but personally he thinks it “wouldn’t be good for the game”even saying that the possible implications of the rule would be “silly”.

Cubs trade Jones and yet more rumors

The speculation can come to a stop now. Jacque Jones is no longer a Cub. Jones was traded to Detroit for Omar Infante and some cash. Infante is arb-eligible (he got 1.3 mil last year). I dunno. It was fashionable to be down on Jones last year and earlier this year but I’ve secretly liked … Continue reading “Cubs trade Jones and yet more rumors”

The speculation can come to a stop now. Jacque Jones is no longer a Cub.

Jones was traded to Detroit for Omar Infante and some cash. Infante is arb-eligible (he got 1.3 mil last year).

I dunno. It was fashionable to be down on Jones last year and earlier this year but I’ve secretly liked the guy. No one can deny he really came through in the second half of this season.

“It gives us another guy who’s tremendously versatile,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry told reporters on Monday evening.

In other words, a utility man.

The trade of Jones will make room for Felix Pie and that’s why the trade was made, I’m sure.

Don’t know what to make of this rumor but The Herald News says that Hendry is trying to package Rich Hill and Carlos Marmol together for the Rays’ outfielder Carl Crawford. Again, I don’t know what to think. Hill and Marmol are two of my favorite Cub pitchers and for once, it’s nice not to have to worry about Northside pitching.

Baseball World Cup underway

Yes, it’s true… there is no off-season. The Arizona Fall League will be concluding its season next week. But before you think that you’ll be getting a break in actual baseball news, here comes the Baseball World Cup held in Taipei, Republic of China. Team USA is doing ok by themselves so far in the … Continue reading “Baseball World Cup underway”

USA Baseball

Yes, it’s true… there is no off-season.

The Arizona Fall League will be concluding its season next week. But before you think that you’ll be getting a break in actual baseball news, here comes the Baseball World Cup held in Taipei, Republic of China.

Team USA is doing ok by themselves so far in the “Road to Beijing”. They’ve won every game save a 6-2 loss to Italy. Every other game has been won convincingly (including today’s 12-1 drubbing of Spain, thanks to Andy LaRoche’s two homers).

Here are the results/schedule.

Davey Johnson, who is on the 2008 ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame, fortunately has something to keep his mind off it. He’s the manager of Team USA. Cub fans will note that OF Tyler Colvin is on the roster.

One more thing of interest… former University of Illinois alum and current Cub minor leaguer, Chris Robinson is starting catcher for Team Canada. Unfortunately for Chris, Team Canada has taken a few tough losses though they crushed Thailand 18-0.

Earlier this year, Robbie was nice enough to grant us at Baseball Zealot Radio an interview while he was at spring training.

One last link… you can get some pretty good on-the spot coverage of the Baseball World Cup at the Countdown to the Olympics blog.

Update: LaRoche keeps it comin’. He goes 3 for 3 with 3 rbis in a Team USA win against South Africa.

2008 Cubs Convention tix on sale Nov 7

My ticket from last year’s convention Cub fans, the 2008 Cubs Convention is only 2 months away. If you’re interested in getting tickets, you can try your luck on Wednesday November 7 when a limited amount of tickets will be on sale. Details on the Cubs website. Last year, I had no luck that route … Continue reading “2008 Cubs Convention tix on sale Nov 7”

My ticket from last year’s convention

Cub fans, the 2008 Cubs Convention is only 2 months away. If you’re interested in getting tickets, you can try your luck on Wednesday November 7 when a limited amount of tickets will be on sale. Details on the Cubs website.

Last year, I had no luck that route and ended up buying them on Ebay for a few dollars over list price.

I had a blast at the 2007 Cubs Convention. You can see my photos and blog posts from that weekend here.

Back in Baseball

Hey, guess who’s back in baseball?? I’ll give you a hint. He used to manage the Cubs in the 80’s and he had a way with the press. That’s right, Lee Elia is the new on-the-field consultant for the Seattle Mariners. Looks like that the Mariners are also trying to acquire Larry Bowa as third base … Continue reading “Back in Baseball”

Hey, guess who’s back in baseball??

I’ll give you a hint. He used to manage the Cubs in the 80’s and he had a way with the press.

That’s right, Lee Elia is the new on-the-field consultant for the Seattle Mariners. Looks like that the Mariners are also trying to acquire Larry Bowa as third base coach.

The Seattle media better be careful. Some reputations are hard to live down.

Update: Bowa will NOT be going to the Mariners. He’ll be joining Torre in LA.

Short stint for Floyd… even shorter for Trachsel

The Cubs said goodbye to Cliff Floyd and Steve Trachsel by declining their options. I can’t say I shed a tear for either one of them. Floyd was productive here and there during 2007 but he just lacked regular playing time and wasn’t able to prove that he could justify it. The move to get … Continue reading “Short stint for Floyd… even shorter for Trachsel”

The Cubs said goodbye to Cliff Floyd and Steve Trachsel by declining their options. I can’t say I shed a tear for either one of them.

Floyd was productive here and there during 2007 but he just lacked regular playing time and wasn’t able to prove that he could justify it.

The move to get Trach was a mystery from the start (at least to me). Sean Marshall was in the rotation and he was just starting to find his groove and put up some good numbers.

Trachsel had managed to put up 10+ wins in 5 of the last 6 seasons. Maybe the Cubs felt he might reach back and give the team some veteran leadership. I know I have my hindsight glasses on now but that would have been a stretch.

The Cubs did exercise an option with Daryle Ward who in very limited play did what he was supposed to do. For the price, he’s worth it.

GO SOX!!!

On a tour of Florida , the Pope took a couple of days off to visit the coast for some sightseeing. He was cruising along the beach in the Pope-mobile when there was a frantic commotion just off shore.

A helpless man, wearing a Chicago Cubs jersey, was struggling frantically to free himself from the jaws of a 25-foot shark. As the Pope watched, horrified, a speedboat came racing up with three men wearing Chicago White Sox jerseys aboard. One quickly fired a harpoon into the shark’s side. The other two reached out and pulled the bleeding, semi-conscious Cubs fan from the water. Then using (autographed by Paul Konerko himself) baseball bats, the three heroes in Sox jerseys beat the shark to death and hauled it into the boat.

Immediately the Pope shouted and summoned them to the beach. “I give you my blessing for your brave actions,” he told them. “I heard that there was some bitter hatred between White Sox and Cub fans, but now I have seen with my own eyes that this is not the truth.”

As the Pope drove off, the harpooner asked his buddies “Who was that?” “It was the Pope,” one replied. “He is in direct contact with God and has access to all of God’s wisdom.”

“Well,” the harpooner said, “he may have access to God’s wisdom, but he doesn’t know shit about shark fishing…. how’s the bait holding up?”

Soto finishes up 07 with MiLB Offensive Player of the Year award

Cubs catcher Geovany Soto was good enough to make the September roster. Lou Piniella tabbed him to go to the playoffs. Now, Soto has another award to go with his PCL MVP. MiLB has honored him with the Offensive Player of the Year award. Check the PCL leaderboard and you’ll see why. His name litters … Continue reading “Soto finishes up 07 with MiLB Offensive Player of the Year award”

Cubs catcher Geovany Soto was good enough to make the September roster. Lou Piniella tabbed him to go to the playoffs.

Now, Soto has another award to go with his PCL MVP. MiLB has honored him with the Offensive Player of the Year award.

Check the PCL leaderboard and you’ll see why. His name litters the board. Soto, who played for the Iowa Cubs, is in top 5 in batting average, rbis, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and I’m sure I’m missing some.

Not convinced? He’s got quite a glove, too. Soto only had three errors and threw out 31% of potential basestealers.

Lou Piniella likes him too:

“You’ve got to like the young man,” Piniella said. “We’ve had other kids come up here from Triple-A with high averages, but this kid has a high average, a lot of RBIs and a lot of home runs. We liked him this spring. I see a kid here who could be the No. 1 catcher next spring.”

With the recent dearth of talent at catcher, Geovany is coming at the right time. I foresee a lot of playing time for him in the bigs in 2008.

Reds pick up Dusty Baker

AP Photo Don’t this beat all? Dusty Baker was signed for three years by the Cincinnati Reds. To be their manager. Really. I actually had high hopes when he came to the Cubs. To give credit where credit is due, we DID go to playoffs his first year with the Cubs (it’s hard to forget … Continue reading “Reds pick up Dusty Baker”

Dusty Baker

AP Photo

Don’t this beat all? Dusty Baker was signed for three years by the Cincinnati Reds. To be their manager. Really.

I actually had high hopes when he came to the Cubs. To give credit where credit is due, we DID go to playoffs his first year with the Cubs (it’s hard to forget that post season).

But the decline is easy to see. Under his leadership, the Cubs went from first, third, fourth, then last. THAT is not the direction I like to to go.

Baker is generally blamed for two things with the Cubs. Overusing his starting pitchers and over-reliance on veterans (to the detriment of younger players). That said, there have been studies that have possibly proven that his overuse of pitchers is a myth. Tell that to the fans and the media.

Baker is seen as a “player’s manager”. Perhaps to a fault.

Cubs fans are a picky bunch and personally I was one of the last to hitch a ride on the “Dump Baker” bandwagon. Facts are facts. Dusty has a winning record in the MLB (baaarely). He has three first place finishes and a NL championship.

Would I want want him back on the Cubs? Not on your life! It’s a moot question, anyway. The fans and media wouldn’t allow it.

I’d wish him well in Cincinnati but he’s in our division. Just be gentle with the pitchers.

Interesting stat fact about Dusty: His winningest season as a manager (103 wins in 1993 with San Francisco) didn’t even get him into the playoffs.