Category: Cubs

Won’t be long before we see Nomar Garciaparra back at Wrigley.  At least that’s what we hear from the Cubs’ organization.  The target date is August 1.  Right now he’s working out in Mesa, AZ and word has it he’s looking pretty good.  ‘Course we’ve heard that before from the Cubs upper management. 

But what to do with Neifi Perez?  The Neifi phenomenon, such as it was, has grown to cult status within the Cubs blogosphere. Some may not be ready to give him up.  Well, come August, he may need a break.  Despite his hot start, Neifi has cooled off considerably.  A friend mentioned this to me so I decided to look it up.  Since June 1, his stats are indeed quite messy (.227, .244 OBP, .299 slg, ouch!).  I believe the Cubs have squeezed every ounce of production out of Neifi and are anxious for Nomar’s return.

I am the first to give Neifi kudos.  He stepped up when the team really needed him and until the end, really produced.  The Cubs have made use of of his bat and occasional defense. 

But I am ready for Nomar.

MRI results on Derrek Lee’s shoulder have come back negative.  I can faintly hear a collective sigh of relief coming from the Cub Nation. 

Just to be sure, I think Lee will be taking it a bit easy for a few days.  Todd Walker is spelling Lee at first for the time being.  And the Cubs can lose just as easy without Lee until he comes back.  What, it’s been a week since we’ve won?

If it takes Lee the All-Star break to heal up, so be it.  Let’s get him back healthy and not string him along.

Derrek Lee has left Tuesday’s game in second inning with an aggravated shoulder.

Instead of doing my best Chicken Little and crying that the sky is falling, I’m taking a wait and see approach.  It’s hard to tell what to make of this.  As usual, there’s not a lot of information.  I’m not an optimist but at the same time I don’t believe in making things out to be worse than what they could be especially since we simply don’t have any info. 

That said, the Cubs simply don’t need this.  Lee has played all 82 games at first base this year so if it is something serious, the Cubs will have some re-arranging to do to take care of this.  That of course, says nothing of replacing the best hitter in the NL for the first half of this season. 

Cub fans can only hope this is a day-to-day injury that will take care of itself over the All-Star break. 

If you are watching the Cubs game Friday, pay special attention to who’s throwing the first pitch out.  He’s quite a guy.

Wild Bill Holden, the Cub fan who has walked from Arizona to Illinois in order to raise money for juvenile diabetes research, will reach Wrigley Field tomorrow.  In the meanwhile, he has raised $155,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation from his Walk-the Walk campaign.

Wild Bill will throw out the first pitch and lead the crowd it Take Me Out to the Ballgame during the seventh inning stretch at the Cubs game against the Nationals Friday.   It’s all well and good to have actors and politicians do this on a daily basis.  On Friday, there will be a true hero filling this role.

Here’s a link to a good (and recent) article about Wild Bill in the Herald News.  It’s very good.  Check it out.

Knock ’em dead, Bill. 

 This was passed on to me by a friend re: Derrek Lee:

 Picked this up from a Baseball Prospectus article:

It is worth noting, however, that Lee has been the most efficient hitter
in the majors in 2005 when it comes to capitalizing on his RBI
opportunities. He ranks just 79th in the total number of base runners
that have been on base during his plate appearances, yet he’s third
behind Lee and Manny Ramirez with 64 RBI; not
even Ted Williams was able to drive in so many runs with so few opportunities. Lee’s
performance in this regard is completely unprecedented and has never
been sustained for an entire season.

Imagine what Lee’s RBI totals would be if Patterson and Perez did a
better job getting on base?

 

It’s the top of the 8th right now and the Cubs have a 6-2 edge on the Sox fueled by a first inning homerun by Aramis Ramirez.  Baseball being the game that it is, I know than to call a victory for the Cubs quite yet.  Both team have gotten to the other’s bullpen so anything could happen. 

Lee is 2-4 and therefore his BA is going to go up even if he gets another at-bat.

The Sox gotta love playing the Cubs at the Cell.  If nothing else, at least they get some fans in the stands.  I mean Cub fans, of course.

Update:  The Cubs pull it off.  Final score:  6-2

Not to dwell on the Lee/Pujols issue but I just happened to glance at mlb.com’s website.  On their “Who’s Hot Who’s Not” column, guess which two firstbaseman are listed first in the “Who’s Hot” column?

Coincidence?  Or good ol’ fashioned friendly competition?  Looks like they’re both making their case the best way they can.

Can we all agree on this?

Apparently, Corey Patterson has asked Dusty Baker to lead off and Dusty in his infinite wisdom has put him in the number one spot.

Huh?

Let’s take a look at Corey’s numbers:

His OBP mark is not particularly impressive.  Actually, it kinda sucks.  This year’s mark of .279 is the worst he’s had in any full season.  in addition, Mr Contact has 71 strikeouts in 277 at-bats. 

More to the point, there are other Cubs who might be more suited for the leadoff spot.  Neifi Perez’s OBP of .312 is no great shakes but is certainly better than Patterson’s.   Todd Walker doesn’t have a whole lot of speed but the name of the game is getting on base and Walker’s .357 fits the bill.

Dusty is known as a player’s manager and that’s usually a good thing.  But don’t let that cloud your judgement, Coach.

There’s a tight race in the All-Star balloting for National League firstbaseman.  As of June 20:

• Albert Pujols  1,283,047
• Derrek Lee  1,117,634

…and Lee seems to making ground.

There is a Lee/Pujols discussion going on over at Baseball Musings with 27 comments and counting. 

Now all my baseball friends know two things about me:

1. I am a die-hard Cub fan
2. Albert Pujols is my favorite active player

If I based my vote on loyalty, this would put me in a bind.  Fortunately, I’m able to look past loyalty and and vote for the firstbaseman who deserves it.

Both Lee and Pujols are having All-Star seasons and let’s face it, both will see time in the game.  As for who gets my vote, it has to be Derrek Lee.  One poster on Baseball Musings put it quite succinctly.  What more can Lee do?  He leads the NL in BA, rbis, HR and is second in runs and doubles.  And something that goes unnoticed, he has 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts. 

Lee’s value to his team is unmeasurable.  Without Lee, the Cubs would be floundering in 3rd or 4th place in the NL Central.  Yes, Pujols contributes much to the Cardinals.  He also has a lineup that protects him.  Something that Lee doesn’t always have.

I love Albert Pujols.  He is no doubt the better firstbaseman over the long haul.  He will have the better career.  I will go out on a limb and predict that barring injury or scandal, Albert will have a career worthy of Cooperstown (and I will be there when he is inducted).

But he is not this year’s All-Star.  That honor should go to Derrek Lee.

D Lee has my vote.  How about you?

This is something you just don’t see everyday in Wrigley Field.  My buddy TDChitown went to the Cubs/BoSox game on June 10.  There just a few rows ahead of him, some Cubs fans had smuggled a live goat into the stadium.

Apparently, these guys had T-shirts made in anticipation of the event.  In any case, the Cubbies won 14-6 so draw your own conclusions on what it takes for the Cubs to win.