Category: Cubs

Sluggin’ Zambrano

The Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano won the Silver slugger award.

I wrote earlier this year comparing pitchers’ hitting and it wasn’t close.  The rbis tightened up but Big Z is the clear leader.

Cnt Player              BA   PA Year Age
+----+-----------------+-----+---+----+---+
    1 Carlos Zambrano    .337  85 2008  27 
    2 Micah Owings       .304  62 2008  25 
    3 Brandon Backe      .277  56 2008  30 
    4 Adam Wainwright    .267  65 2008  26 
    5 Jake Peavy         .265  58 2008  27 
    6 Mark Hendrickson   .257  37 2008  34 
    7 Braden Looper      .254  80 2008  33 
    8 C.C. Sabathia      .235  53 2008  27 
    9 Aaron Cook         .233  78 2008  29 
   10 Manny Parra        .226  58 2008  25

 

 Cnt Player            RBI Year Age
+----+-----------------+---+----+---+
    1 Carlos Zambrano    14 2008  27 
    2 Brandon Webb       11 2008  29 
    3 Jason Marquis      10 2008  29 
    4 C.C. Sabathia       7 2008  27 
    5 Manny Parra         6 2008  25 
    6 Danny Haren         6 2008  27 
    7 Jorge de la Rosa    6 2008  27 
    8 Bronson Arroyo      6 2008  31 
    9 Micah Owings        6 2008  25 
   10 Adam Wainwright     6 2008  26

 

Followup:  Some trivia… Only two teams had more than one pitcher hit a homerun for them in 2008.  The San Diego Padres’ Cha Seung Baek and Chris Young both hit one each.  For the Chicago Cubs, Zambrano contributed four dingers while teammate Jason Marquis hit out two.  Here’s the complete list for 2008:

Cnt Player            HR  PA Year Age
+----+-----------------+--+---+----+---+
    1 Carlos Zambrano    4  85 2008  27 
    2 Brandon Backe      2  56 2008  30 
    3 C.C. Sabathia      2  53 2008  27 
    4 Jason Marquis      2  66 2008  29 
    5 Matt Cain          2  72 2008  23 
    6 Micah Owings       1  62 2008  25 
    7 Bronson Arroyo     1  74 2008  31 
    8 Cha Seung Baek     1  38 2008  28 
    9 Chris Young        1  36 2008  29 
   10 Adam Wainwright    1  65 2008  26

Cubs acquire Gregg… End of the Wood Era

“Seems to me that letting Kerry Wood leave without making an offer is like shooting Ole Yeller.  I must be getting too sentimental for this game”

-a text message from my friend DonS

Today the Chicago Cubs acquired Kevin Gregg in a trade with the Florida Marlins.  In return, the Fish received pitching prospect Jose Ceda.

In case there was any doubt to Kerry Wood’s future with the Cubs, Cubs’ GM Jim Hendry put them to rest.

“We felt it was time Kerry goes out and does what is best for him and his family and get a huge multiyear deal, if possible,” Hendry said. “This is really the right thing to do. We’ve had some really honest conversations in the last week. We don’t have to get into how much I think of him, but at the same time I don’t think we could do for him right now what he deserves and what I think he’ll get going elsewhere.”

No doubt, that was hard for Hendry to say.  He and Wood have been pretty tight even through Wood’s lean years.

Wood was the longest standing member of the Chicago Cubs.  A member since 1998, the playoff year and year he won the Rookie of the Year Award.  And yes, he did have those lean years but he was always a Cub in the truest sense of the word.

And now Gregg.

A 6’6″ righthander who will turn 31 next year, Kevin Gregg has turned two solid if not spectacular seasons with Florida in 2007-08. With ERAs of 3.54 and 3.41 respectively, he collected 61 saves in those two seasons.

I say this just once (and will probably deny it mid-2009 when we are in the middle of a playoff race).  I’m not particularly fond of the notion of Gregg as our closer.  Maybe Hendry has some grand scheme which includes Carlos Marmol in the closing role but I doubt it.  If Kevin Gregg is the man who we depend on when the game is on the line in the 9th inning, I have my doubts.  Let’s face it, the Cubs are still contenders in 2009.  And I don’t see Kevin Gregg as “contender” material.

Perhaps I too am too sentimental for this game.

Cubs have yet another hole to fill

In this article from the Trib which analyzes the Cubs’ spending priorities, we find that they have to take care of one more need. 

…and firing (Kosuke) Fukudome’s interpreter, Ryuji Araki. Hendry wants to find an interpreter who jells better with the Japanese outfielder.

That explains everything. 

Buck O’Neil & Black Baseball in Chicago

Last night while watching the Blackhawks win big over Calgary, I was flipping the channel to my TV, and what should I see, but baseball! Needless to say, I stopped flipping, and my eyes became transfixed on the images on the screen. Channel 20 in Chicago was airing the premiere of Buck O’Neil & Black Baseball in Chicago, an encore showing will air November 13th at 7:30 PM, again on channel 20.

The late, great, Buck O’Neil talked about his days in the Negro Leagues and becoming the first African American baseball coach in the major leagues with the Chicago Cubs. O’Neil said, he never really resented not being allowed to play in the big leagues, because the best ballplayers of the day were in the Negro Leagues. Bob Kendrick, the Director of the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City, stated how upset he was when Buck didn’t make it into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown before his death. Seventeen former Negro Leaguers were inducted in the last induction before O’Neil’s death. Buck didn’t feel sorry for himself at not getting in, but rather was thrilled 17 others had made it, according to Kendrick.

The documentary brings the past to life. It talked about the Double Duty Classic, which features the best young high school African American ballplayers competing in this East/West Classic, named after Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe. It also shows the statue of Buck O’Neil that resides in the HOF, and there’s a lifetime achievement award named after O’Neil. Buck was the first winner of this award. Back in the day, the East/West Classic was the Negro Leagues All Star Game, was played at Comiskey Park in Chicago, would draw 50,000 fans, and featured the best African American ballplayers playing all out.

The show talks about how O’Neil managed Ernie Banks for the Kansas City Monarchs and then coached Banks with the Cubs. Buck also talked Billy Williams out of quitting after experiencing racism in Texas before coming up to the Cubs. Jermaine Dye, of the Chicago White Sox, came up with the Kansas City Royals, commented how fortunate he was to have met Buck O’Neil, while coming up to the big leagues.

There is also mention of the Chicago Baseball Museum, a work in progress, that can be checked out at www.chicagobaseballmuseum.org Also, if you can, checkout Buck O’Neil & Black Baseball in Chicago when its encore performance airs on Thursday the 13th on channel 20.

Piniella: "Don’t abandon ship"

In his post-playoff interview with WGN’s Steve Cochrane, Cubs manager Lou Piniella encouraged Cubs fans to stay with the team in 2009. 

His latest weekly interview with the flagship station started out rather routinely with Lou and Steve discussing the Cubs picking up Rich Harden’s option and looking toward next year as far as the Cubbie pitching staff was concerned. 

But as the interview wore on, Piniella began to wear his heart on his sleeve.  It is apparent losing the playoffs meant a lot to Lou and more importantly, he knows that the ones it hit hardest were the fans.

That said, Lou encourages fans to come back next year.  "Don’t abandon ship",  he said. 

You can hear Steve Cochrane’s interview with Lou Piniella (the last regular one of the year) at WGN Radio’s web site. 

Etchin’ the Cubs

George Vlosich uses his talent with an Etch-a-Sketch to commemorate the year (albeit not the playoffs) the the Cubs had.

Pretty impressive.  He has other baseball related sketches, too. 

Vlosich is apparently a Cub fan.  This sketch was done prior to the playoffs which explains the smile on his face. 

You can see more of Vlosich’s work at gvetchedintime.com. 

 

I’m still waiting for the NLDS cuz the Cubs haven’t showed up yet

Please tell me Alfonso Soriano didn’t strike out on that pitch.  I guess it was appropriate as it was indicative of the Cubs’ whole series against the Dodgers and especially Soriano’s 1 for 14 performance. 

The headline on the sports page of our local paper on Sunday read "ALL IS WELL"  in big letters. I know it wasn’t a Cubs fan who came up with that headline.  "All is Well" was not in reference to baseball, of course but to University of Illinois football team’s 45-20 drubbing of Michigan on Saturday (btw, nice going guys).  Yet, for any Cub fan to wake up to that headline, it was insult on top of injury.  I’ll bet it was a Cardinal fan that fashioned that line. 

Aside from the costly errors, it was timely hitting that hurt the Cubs.  In some ways, the overall stats between the Dodgers and Cubs were comparable.  Hitting (LA’s .250 to Chicago’s .240) and ERA (LA’s 3.68 to Chicago’s 3.87) were not out of line.  The Dodgers did have 3 more extra base hits (12 to 9) and three more homers but the key stat as it usually is was runs scored.  LA scored 20 to Chicago’s 6. 

Derrick Lee who hit .545 for the series (6 for 11).  Out of all that, Lee could only produce two runs which is more indicative of the batters around him than anything.  Credit is due to Mark DeRosa, error notwithstanding, for his 2 runs and 4 rbis. 

Unless you are a Cub fan (been one since I can remember) you can’t understand what it’s like.  But this year was supposed to be different.  We actually had a good great team.  

Goat Riders of the Apocalypse are already looking towards 2009, something I can’t quite do yet.  They’ve got a list of 9 Reasons the Cubs will Shine in 09. 

The Cup is still half-empty for me. 

Cubs losing steam against Dodgers

On Wednesday, Jill Howe, an Elgin High School student was asked to take her FUKUDOME jersey off and replace it with her gym shirt.  Apparently, school officials had not heard of Kosuke Fukudome and thought it was an obscene word. 

After Fukudome’s oh for eight performance in the first two games of the playoffs (including 5 LOB), a lot of Cub fans who know very well who Kosuke is may be taking his jersey off.

Last night, before heading out with my buddy Larry to catch the Cubs-Dodgers game, I watched the first inning at home.  When Big Z got the Dodgers one-two-three, I told my wife "this will be his game.  I know it."  I probably should have waited for the second inning before making my proclamation. 

Not that Zambrano can be held totally responsible for the collapse that happened in the second inning.  The fielding miscues didn’t help and only served to unravel Zambrano.  

Lack of patience at the plate has been the reason for the Cubs’ woes.  The Dodgers have been able to work the count and our guys haven’t.  And when the Cubs have hit the ball.  They’ve hit it hard.  Only right to Dodger fielders. 

A day of rest and Rich Harden brings his best on Saturday against LA’s Hiroki Kuroda. 

As for Jill Howe, common sense and decency prevailed.  The High School principal intervened and declared that as long as Fukudome was a legit name, she could wear her jersey…

…if she really wants to now.

Cubs-Dodgers: Dempster was a little "off" tonight

Game 1 of the NLDS started out exciting enough.  Exciting enough that when Mark DeRosa hit his two-run homer in the second inning, I spilled my full plate of nachos on the floor and I didn’t even care. 

But that was about all the excitement I was going to get all evening it would seem. 

Cubs starter Ryan Dempster was one strike away from pitching 5 shutout innings against the Dodgers tonight.  Maybe in the back of his mind, that’s what Lou Piniella was thinking when he kept him out there.  I’m normally the kind of guy who likes to keep a guy out there when he’s pitching a shutout but even I would have considered some bullpen relief before this point.  TBS broadcaster Ron "Mr Obvious" Darling told us "It looks like it’s not Dempster’s night tonight". 

No, it wasn’t.  Four earned in 4 2/3 innings but also 7 walks.  He was lucky he got away with what he did. 

Kudos to Geovany Soto, by the way.  Yes, he was 0 for 3 behind the plate but he had his work cut out for him behind the plate.  He trapped countless balls in the dirt (and a couple high ones).  With our wild pitching tonight, he did a tremendous job. 

The best thing to do is to forget game 1 and  go on to game 2. 

Off-topic:  I have the utmost respect for Tony Gwynn and for the most part he says things that are reasonably intelligent but am I the only person who thinks he doesn’t have a voice for TV broadcasting?