Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
3 2/3 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 4 HR (Loss) Well, Cub fans, this was the day we were looking forward to all season. Remember? The only good news is that Prior says that he felt fine and just didn’t have command of his pitches. The 12-3 loss completes … Continue reading “6/18/06 Linescore of the Day: Mark Prior”
3 2/3 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 4 HR (Loss)
Well, Cub fans, this was the day we were looking forward to all season. Remember?
The only good news is that Prior says that he felt fine and just didn’t have command of his pitches.
The 12-3 loss completes a 3-game sweep by the Tigers. Kevin Brown won his 200th career game.
I’m not in the habit of reading White Sox blogs very often but occasionally I glance over at Southside Sox. While I was there, I noticed that the folks at (Cubs blog) Bleed Cubbie Blue have submitted a friendly poll on their site. The essence of it was will you as a Sox fan be … Continue reading “Sox fans rooting for the Cubs this weekend?”
I’m not in the habit of reading White Sox blogs very often but occasionally I glance over at Southside Sox. While I was there, I noticed that the folks at (Cubs blog) Bleed Cubbie Blue have submitted a friendly poll on their site.
The essence of it was will you as a Sox fan be rooting for the Cubs this weekend? The intent, presumably, was to find out if logic and practicality would prevail over intense dislike of the Northsiders with the Cubs playing the Sox’ Central Division rivals Detroit Tigers.
Check out the current results here.
At this point, it doesn’t seem the Cubs are doing anyone any favors ‘cept the Bengals.
…and belts out “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” to the Wrigley faithful. Yesterday, Rick Sutcliffe joined Cubs’ broadcasters Len Kasper and Bob Brenly in the booth after he and his daughter sang TMOTTB during the 7th inning stretch. It was good to see Sut back at Wrigley… even wearing a Cub jersey. Shoot, if … Continue reading “Sutcliffe makes an appearance in the booth”
…and belts out “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” to the Wrigley faithful.
Yesterday, Rick Sutcliffe joined Cubs’ broadcasters Len Kasper and Bob Brenly in the booth after he and his daughter sang TMOTTB during the 7th inning stretch. It was good to see Sut back at Wrigley… even wearing a Cub jersey. Shoot, if he didn’t look so pained after throwing out the first pitch, I’d say he get out there and throw a few innings. Seems he won a game here and there a few years back.
I remember Game 5 of the 1984 NL playoffs. I was on my way back from Washington DC with a vanload of people. There were enough people guys on the van who wanted to see the game so we stopped at a smoky bar to watch it. Sut pitched that game and got the loss. He couldn’t be held totally accountable… that was the game when the infamous (well, infamous to Cubs fans, at least) grounder went through Leon Durham’s legs.
The majority of us were Cubs fans, of course so we were pretty disappointed and I never forgave Steve Garvey who had a hell of series, I never held it against Sutcliffe unlike some fans. We would never had made it that far without him (he went 16-1 after the Cubs picked him up) and he pitched a hell of a game 1.
It was good to see the Sut in the booth and hear him talk about the old days with the Cubs. I normally don’t care for in-game interviews and feel they interfere with the action on the field. Maybe it’s because Sutcliffe is a broadcaster himself or because he has a tie with the team but I didn’t mind so much this time.
Carlos Marmol: I asked a co-worker who is a Cub fan what he felt about Marmol. He said he would be like “another Hill, Guzman, Wuertz.” That was before Marmol’s first major league start on Sunday when he allowed one run in six innings. “The first pitch, I was nervous,” Marmol said. “After that, it … Continue reading “Some Rookie Catchup”
Carlos Marmol:
I asked a co-worker who is a Cub fan what he felt about Marmol. He said he would be like “another Hill, Guzman, Wuertz.” That was before Marmol’s first major league start on Sunday when he allowed one run in six innings.
“The first pitch, I was nervous,” Marmol said. “After that, it was like pitching in Double-A. It was exciting.”
Don’t know if that changed the mind of Mr Co-worker. Not that should necessarily. Much is made of a rookie’s first MLB start with the thinking that it steers the rest of his career. Much was/is being made of Cole Hamels first start on May 12 where he threw five shutout innings. Since then, he’s done ok. He’s maintained a 3.68 ERA and 22 Ks in 22 innings, certainly decent stats for a incoming rookie.
But my point, before we get too excited about Marmol (I know, with the Cubs pitching the way it is, the temptation is there), let’s see some more. Fortunately for Marmol, the opportunity is there.
The LA Dodgers New Crop of Rookies:
I ran across this USA Today article published today about the Dodger class of 06. The list of Russell Martin, Matt Kemp, Willy Aybar, and Andre Ethier was more than familiar to me having read Teddy Ballgame’s Boys of Summer, Indeed article. Since then, I’ve noticed those boys more and more in the Dodger box scores.
The Dodgers also have 21-year old Jonathan Broxton who throws fire and slugger Joel Guzman.
6’6″ Guzman is a natural shortstop but with his pure hitting ability, the Dodgers are moving him to left to give him time to develop. Of all the Dodger rookies, Guzman has probably the least playing time but probably the most potential.
As for Broxton, he’s gotten more playing time in the bigs than Guzman. And faring pretty well at that. With 21+ innngs under his belt, he’s got a 2.95 ERA. And that part about throwing fire?? He’s got 28 strikeouts so far.
No, not that Sampson Today it’s the matchup of rookies: Marshall against Astros’ Chris Sampson. Sampson has a rather interesting story. Drafted by the ‘Stros as a shortstop, quit the game, now given a second shot as a pitcher. He made his MLB debut last Friday when the Astros had pretty much lost the game. … Continue reading “Cubs take on Sampson”
No, not that Sampson
Today it’s the matchup of rookies: Marshall against Astros’ Chris Sampson.
Sampson has a rather interesting story. Drafted by the ‘Stros as a shortstop, quit the game, now given a second shot as a pitcher. He made his MLB debut last Friday when the Astros had pretty much lost the game. Now he gets his chance to start.
There’s more info on Sampson over at Bleed Cubbie Blue.
Oh and I’m not going to talk about last night’s game and Wood’s performance other than to say that if and when Prior and Miller get back, KW should go to the pen… if I had MY way.
Update: No complaints about Sampson so far from the Astros’ perspective. He’s retired the first nine batters.
Update: Sampson just got pulled. What an outing for him! Six shutout innings allowing only 3 hits. He had a one-hitter though five. Interestingly, he didn’t strike out a batter.
His velocity reached the high 80’s. Definitely a groundball pitcher. For what it’s worth, he’s not bad defensively. He had more than few chances in the field.
Much is going to be made about Sampson’s performance in the media but with the exception of one bad pitch to Brad Ausmus, Sean Marshall is also having a great day. He’s only allowed the one solo shot to Aumus and still in the game.
Carlos Zambrano had a STRONG night deep in the heart of Texas!!! The Chicago Cubs enthusiastic righthander not only pitched his way to victory, but he also supported his mound effort at the plate. Preston Wilson broke up his quest for a no hitter with an eighth inning single to rightfield. Carlos is normally a … Continue reading “6/5/06: Linescore of the Day – Carlos Zambrano”
Carlos Zambrano had a STRONG night deep in the heart of Texas!!! The Chicago Cubs enthusiastic righthander not only pitched his way to victory, but he also supported his mound effort at the plate. Preston Wilson broke up his quest for a no hitter with an eighth inning single to rightfield. Carlos is normally a good hitter, despite his .080 batting average this year. He remembered what to do with the bat in this game with a 2nd inning three run homer, he also picked up a sacrifice fly, for a total of four runs driven in on the day. Houston starter Taylor Buchholz was tagged for 11 hits and eight runs in five innings of this laugher, 8-0 Cubbies
Carlos Zambrano W 8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO
1 for 3, 1 HR, 1 SF, 4 RBIs, 1 run
Dusty Baker “feels Pujols’ pain”. To his credit, Dusty didn’t really say that. That was just MLB.com’s Carrie Muskrat’s take on the whole thing. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that he feels Tony LaRussa’s pain. “You don’t like to see anybody hurt at all,” Cubs manager Dusty Baker said Sunday. “We’ve … Continue reading “Baker weighs in on Pujols loss”
Dusty Baker “feels Pujols’ pain”. To his credit, Dusty didn’t really say that. That was just MLB.com’s Carrie Muskrat’s take on the whole thing. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that he feels Tony LaRussa’s pain.
“You don’t like to see anybody hurt at all,” Cubs manager Dusty Baker said Sunday. “We’ve had our share of injuries. It just goes to show you it’s a long season, No. 1, and No. 2, it’s a test of who has the most depth. That’s what it boils down to — who has the best bench? Who has the best secondary players who can play in a primary role for a long period of time?”
What I guess Baker was trying to do was empathize with the Cards plight. And I guess he’s gone through some of the woes that LaRussa will have to face.
But it’s not the same.
Speaking of Albert, the MRI results came back but it doesn’t seem the Cardinals know much more than the they did before. The results of the tests were inconclusive. LaRussa is approaching it with the right attitude, in my opinion.
“You just don’t know,” St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa said. “You can do anything you want to, but I’m not going to get into this day-to-day soap opera with Albert’s this and Albert’s that.”
The less focus on Pujols and the injury on a team level, the better for the Cardinals.
Phil Nevin wasted no time in helping his team after coming over from the Rangers. In his first start, he was 1 for 5 but that one hit was his 10th homer of the year. He and Aram, who had a grand slam provided much needed offense for the Cubs as they won against the … Continue reading “Cubs get help from Nevin but Albert’s back is ailing”
Phil Nevin wasted no time in helping his team after coming over from the Rangers. In his first start, he was 1 for 5 but that one hit was his 10th homer of the year. He and Aram, who had a grand slam provided much needed offense for the Cubs as they won against the Cards 8-5.
But unless you’re a Cubs fan, that won’t be the big story. The best player in baseball has been hurt and most likely be placed on the DL. Pujols strained his right oblique chasing after a Aramis Ramirez foul ball.
This, of course will put any record chase in jeopardy. Rumors are the Cards are putting him on the 15-day DL but say if they get him back by then, they’ll be lucky.
More importantly is the effect on the Cardinals. They sit atop of the NL Central but Cincy is only 3 games behind and Houston 7 1/2. The dearth of the best hitter in baseball will severely affect their offense not to mention morale.
Yesterday, Luna came in from left field to play first and John “Jrod” Rodriguez took Luna’s spot in left. No reports on how St Louis will take care of the situation long term.
Readers of this blog know that despite being a Cub fan, I love Albert Pujols. He’s one of the greatest hitters of our time and a pretty damn fine man, too. I hate to see him go down during his best year.
Other comments:
What’s with the St Louis defense? Their fielding during this series has hurt them immensely. Rolen’s error put the game in extras two days ago. Yesterday, three errors in one inning? The normally decent fielding St Louis team is slipping when it counts.
Have to mention… Jacque Jones went 3 for 4 yesterday. I don’t know why but he’s becoming one of my favorite Cubs. When DLee went down, it was a favorite phrase of everyone that Aram was the power source of the Cubs. Well, he hasn’t really come through (yesterday excluded). JJ has quietly put forth the effort.
I guess it helps to have parents who advocate for you.
Update: Viva El Birdos has a lot of info re the extent of the Pujols injury and what the Cardinals options are.
Jacque Jones had 3 hits last night including another homer. For all the talk I hear from the broadcasters that he’s having a rough season, Jacque seems to be picking it up. Consider his stats from his last 20 games: AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB K BA Slg OBP 75 11 25 … Continue reading “Mamma would be proud”
Jacque Jones had 3 hits last night including another homer. For all the talk I hear from the broadcasters that he’s having a rough season, Jacque seems to be picking it up. Consider his stats from his last 20 games:
| AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | BA | Slg | OBP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75 | 11 | 25 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 12 | .333 | .587 | .359 |
While we’re on the topic of the Cubs game last night, was anyone else surprised by Baker’s use of Aardsma in a clutch situation in the bottom of the ninth with Eyre or Dempster available? Was anyone even more even more surprised by Double-A’s awesome performance? Yes, two hits but no runs in an inning and two thirds. Nice play by Ronny C at short to close the ninth too.
As it turns out, the Cubs needed Eyre and Demp later anyway during the 14 inning contest. Maybe Baker knew what he was doing.
That was a joke.
6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (Win) 2 for 2, 2B, rbi Wood’s first win since July last year can only mean good things for the Cubs. Things can’t really get much worse anyway after this weekend’s series with Atlanta. Long term, I still think Wood belongs in the … Continue reading “5/29/06 Linescore of the Day: Kerry Wood”
6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (Win)
2 for 2, 2B, rbi
Wood’s first win since July last year can only mean good things for the Cubs. Things can’t really get much worse anyway after this weekend’s series with Atlanta.
Long term, I still think Wood belongs in the pen but that won’t work until the Cubs have a solid staff.
Followup: Just after I was done with this post, I ran across Dusty Baker and Pitch Counts on The Hardball Times which claims that Dusty for the part, does not overuse his pitchers. Cub fans will be skeptical, I’m sure.
Update: Cubs up 4-1 in the fifth in tonight’s game thanks in part to a 3-run double by Jacque Jones. Nobody giving Jacque’s mom any crap tonight. He did make an error helping the Reds score their only run, though.