piniella | The Baseball Zealot

Soriano? Leadoff? Still?

According to Cubs beat writer Carrie Muskat, Sweet Lou Piniella is mulling over a 3-4-5 combination of Fuk, Lee, and Aram. Well, unless he plans to bat Soriano 6th, that probably means he means to continue the waste of power by batting Alfonso leadoff.

Sure enough, later in article, Muskat seems to read my mind and confirms a lot of Cub fans’ fears. She writes, “Alfonso Soriano would still lead off, followed by Ryan Theriot.”

I used to justify Soriano batting leadoff saying that it was the only place he could produce offensively. Which was true. You could look it up. But now, it’s getting frustrating and I’m wondering if it’s a self-imposed limitation. On the last podcast, Todd V expressed the same sentiment saying that it’s a case of a player making a decision for the team.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Soriano. I actually reeeeaaallly like him. I love his attitude. I like the fact that he shows up early to spring training. I like that last year, when Felix Pie was new to the team and new to the town, he befriended him and and made him welcome to the point of inviting him to his house for dinner. I like the fact that he’s made great strides in improving his defense so now we can even say, “Hey, he’s actually not bad out there!”.

But dang it, someone who hits 30+ homeruns should have more than 70 rbis. It’s no surprise, that’s the lowest figure in the majors for players with 30 homers. It’s not even close… Griffey is second with 93.

And if he isn’t driving in runs, he should be scoring them. Soriano didn’t break the century mark in 2007 with 97. A good number to be sure but not warranting a power hitter hitting in the leadoff spot.

Soriano historically has had issues with getting on base. To his credit, he HAS improved but not that much. Three years ago with Texas, he had a horrendous .309 OBP. He’s improved to .351 and .337 respectively.

But again, not enough and waste of power.

Lou Piniella has won more World Championships than I have and I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. But his reluctance to move Soriano out of the leadoff spot still frustrates me.

2008 Cubs Convention- Day 3

This was the last day of the convention and events weren’t scheduled much past morning. Even as I got there, some folks were dragging their luggage out the door of the Hilton.

In an effort, I suppose, to appeal to the kids, Curious George was on hand. It didn’t work on this kid who was a bit timid to hug a strange man in a monkey suit.

Daryle Ward shares the love during a photo session.

Though the fare was a bit light on Sunday, the autograph hounds were still out in full force. Here the line for Daryle Ward.

The Baseball Hall of Fame exhibit was out today with a video and a baseball trivia contest. Let me run this question by you all and see if you get it without looking it up. Only two people in the audience got this right and I was not one of those two.

The question: Which player has played the most games for the Yankees?

A. Yogi Berra

B. Lou Gehrig

C. Bernie Williams

D. Mickey Mantle

I’ll give the answer tomorrow.

2008 Cubs Convention: Day 1

I rolled into Chicago on the rails of Amtrak around 9:30am ready for a weekend of Cubs fun. Zealot friend (and friend of mine) Tyler was nice enough to give up his apartment (and stay and his girlfriend’s) so I could headquarter there.

After dropping off my stuff and getting a bite, I walked over the Chicago Hilton. It’s a good mile walk. Friday was a cold day but not unbearable. At least the sun was out and the wind was kept to a minimum.

Entering the Hilton the first time on a Cubs Convention weekend can be intimidating. There are SO many people. I remember that from last year so I was a little more prepared. Lines of people everywhere because at this point, not everything is open. Once exhibits and such start opening, it’s like the floodgates have opened.

Anyway, I went to the proper room to get registered. Like the seasoned pro I am, I knew exactly where to go this time and even directed a couple first-timers their way there.

Once open I took a quick walk through of the vendor booths in the exhibit halls. I admit this is kind of fun. “Vendor” sounds a bit corporate and in some cases that’s true. But there are a lot baseball related organizations and small businesses that show off their wares.

When 5:00 came around, it was time for the opening ceremonies. Alas, I watched from the overflow room so I didn’t get a first hand look at the speakers instead watching the fun on a large video screen along with a throng of others.

Saturday, autograph hounds will be busy hunting their ultimate goal. These now empty queues will be lined with people.

The opening ceremonies were long pomp and circumstance and short on substance. But that’s ok… I don’t think anyone would expect anything different. By the way, for my money, Wayne Messmer has deepest, richest voice and he proved it in his singing of the National Anthem.

Emcee Pat Hughes then had the pleasure of introducing the Cubs players and other Cubs celebrities. There must have been some LSU alums sitting at the table next to mine. When both Mike Fontenot and Ryan Theriot were introduced, they broke into loud chants of “LSU! LSU! LSU!”

With the intros finished, a WGN-produced video detailing the 2007 season was shown for us. Fortunately, it left out that nasty little business with the Dbacks.

By 6:30, it was time for my interview with Eric Loy at WDWS. I enjoy my talks with Eric (this was my second). He seems knowledgeable on the game and definitely has opinions. Anyway, I hope I sounded reasonably intelligent.

By then, I was ready to head back to Zealot headquarters. Right now a Giordano’s pizza on the way while I write this.

In summary, Friday was a day of rallying the troops. Tomorrow, a new day of talks, seminars, fun and who knows what else.

More photos of the Cubs Convention at The Baseball Zealot Photo Gallery