When is Lou gonna learn?

Why doesn't Lou let Michael Wuertz go 2 innings when he is pitching well? Instead he goes to Howry or Eyre, both of whom have really sucked this year. Not only did Howry and Eyre blow it for them LA, today Eyre came in and gave up 2 runs in less then 2 innings which turned out to be the runs that lost the game 5-3. The Cubs gave both of them too big of contracts last off season and I think that they should put Howry in long relief to see if he can get back into form and well my opinion on what to do with Eyre is not as nice. They should eat his contract as he is done. He has pitched too many times and innings over last few seasons it looks like and he really doesn't have anything left.

Drives me Crazy

I want to vent because this weekend I went to the White Sox and Cubs series (all 3 games) and I want to vent about the ignorant drunk fans. I am a collector of sports jerseys and where them all the time, for games one and two I wore an Athletics jersey and a Devil Rays jersey to the first 2 games. The reason I am bitching is neither team is a threat to the Cubs or even in the same division as the White Sox, but I had a bunch of drunk fans get in my face and tell me how much I suck and I should go home back to said home city (which for me is 4 blocks from Wrigley). Well what made it worse was 95% of the idiots would then yell go Cubs after shouting ignorant phrases to me. I know it has been this way at Wrigley since the late 90's, but it is getting very hard to step into Wrigley and enjoy a game these days due to the drunks and the vendors that are in your face every three seconds (that is a story for another day).
Now before I get a ton of hate mail, I am not saying all fans are like this or even most, but it is becoming very prevalent at Wrigley and I just wish it would change.

What are they thinking?

For the life of me I can't see why the Cubs are trying to turn Angel Guzman into a closer. I understand Ryan Dempster needs to be relieved of his duty as closer, but this solution is one of the worst I have seen. Please someone buy the Cubs and fire everyone from top-down. Angel Guzman is a guy that has a history of arm problems and has been struggling to get past the 6th inning due to fatigue. So what role do the Cubs decide to put him in? Well closer of course, why not, since a closer has to pitch 2 sometimes 3 days in a row. And Angel has definitely shown in his career that he can pitch with the greatest of endurance (notice the sarcasm). Just another move by an organization that has no clue. Let me also say I have nothing wrong with Sean Marshall coming up and starting, but I just think it is for the wrong reasons. Hopefully he can come up and do well, but I don't think it will help much as the Cubs sometimes are just too lifeless out in the field.

Throw Strikes

I don't get how a pitcher can't just throw strikes when they need to. There is no reason the Cubs should have lost last night, but thanks to Mr. Wuertz (a pitcher I really like) decided to walk the last 3 guys he faced. His last pitch on the 3-2 count wasn't even close, which as a fan really ticks me off. Just throw the ball down the middle, if he hits a hr, so be it, but don't walk in the winning run. That is just obscene. The Cubs are destroying the Mets in g2 as I write this so it will be up to tomorrow's game to see if the Cubs can win the series.

In other news Rocky Cherry was optioned to Iowa and the Cubs brought up IF Mike Fontenot who had 2 plate appearances last year. This is a good move for the Cubs I think because
overall there starters have gone long enough in games that there is no need for 12 pitchers and with Derek Lee out for another game or so, having another bat off the bench couldn't hurt (unless it was Jose Macias or Nefi Perez).

New York Mets Series: A Good Test

This upcoming series with the Mets is a good test to see if the Cubs are going to have any chance to compete this year. The Cubs are 35 games into the season, which is a little more than 20% of the season being done. At this point I would have to say the Cub fans are a little disappointed in the record at the moment. That being said the Cubs did start out much worse than their record is now. The Mets at the moment are 10 games above .500 and the Cubs will be facing Glavine, Maine and Jorge Sosa, while throwing Marquis, Zambrano and Hill against them. If the Cub's can win 2 of 3 in this series it would bring them back to .500, but hopefully some confidence in winning a series verse a very good team on the road.
To win the series the Cubs need to do a few things: First thing is they need a very strong performance out of Zambrano because without him improving they have no shot this season. Secondly they need to run the bases much better, I understand that Soriano was favoring his hammy, but in knowing that, he shouldn't have tried to score. It is small mental mistakes like that, that cost the Cubs runs and kills rallies and momentum. Third thing they need to do is work more counts. I know they have been better this year than in the recent past, but that is not saying much. With Glavine on the mound tonight, they need to make him throw a bunch of pitches and not just swing at first pitch because usually doing that results in a ground out with Glavine pitching.

Cubs improving

It was about 2 weeks ago when I was in the midst of chaos in the house that I talked to my buddy Mike Marron on the phone and we were both convinced that the Cubs would not see .500 again this year. They were playing fundamentally unsound and not doing the little things that needed to be done (almost a repeat of last year). I told Mike I didn't expect to see improvement in the team until next year because it takes a while for a team to relearn the fundamentals. I compared it to playing basketball and then not playing it for 4 years and the trying to play again. In your mind you might know exactly what to do, but translating that to performance is a different story. I don't think the Cub players have forgotten the fundamentals, but I think under Dusty Baker they weren't practiced or preached for so long it will take some time getting them back and being able to translate those fundamentals into wins.
Since that talk the Cubs for the most part have proven me wrong by winning 9 of their last 11 and should have won the extra inning game verse Pittsburgh, but failed to get a run in with no outs in the 8th and then blew the lead in the 9th (along with many other problems that game). I am hoping that the team is learning from Lou that if you do the little things that the wins will come. If the team continues on this pace, I might be owing my buddy a nice dinner, but it will be one bet I don't mind losing.

Pie sent down

The Cubs sent down Felix Pie today and recalled Angel Pagan to the team. This is the right move for Pie because he has only been used as a late inning replacement this month and that is not what he needs to be doing to improve. He needs to play everyday and if that is in Iowa so be it. Angel Pagan really doesn't do much to improve the Cubs, but he adds some speed to the bench and helps out by being a late inning defense replacement for Floyd when he is in the game.

Mark Prior

Well I know this is a little late, but better late than never. By now everyone who is a Cub's fan knows that Mark Prior had surgery and it revealed a lot more than previously thought. First I have to apologize to Mark Prior for questioning his willingness to play with a slight injury as I was wrong, sorry Mark. The Cubs blew this from day one as they had no backup plan for someone to take his spot in rotation and forced him to try and pitch, while not really trying to diagnose him right and fix the problem a couple years ago. Also I think we have seen the last as Mark as a Cub and not because the Cub's won't try and bring him back, but I think he is done with the hassle of being a Cub and doesn't want to deal with the management that mismanaged his career. I don't know if he will be able to come back and be what he was, but I think under the right ownership and some hard work, Mark can become a serviceable pitcher in the majors again.
I really wish the Cubs had put a leash on Wood and Prior in their early years and had given Dusty Baker someone he could have trusted in the pen because these guys could have been something very special. I know that Wood had already been hurt prior to Dusty taking over as manager, but he didn't help Kerry keep stress off his arm. Let's just hope that Carlos Zambrano's troubles are not because Dusty wore out his arm with his high pitch counts. If so, maybe the Cubs can hire a good lawyer and sue to get some money back (not like it would be re-invested in the team).

Back

Sorry for not posting lately, my life has been hectic. First it was selling the condo and then buying the house. Once that settled I was ready to write and then tragedy hit my circle of friends. A good friend of mine Matt Cote, his wife Vanessa Cote passed away last week giving birth to their 2nd child. Vanessa was the nicest person I have ever met and no matter what happened always had a smile. Her and Matt had been together since Freshman year in HS and they were the perfect couple. Since that happened I haven't been in the mood to write, but now I am back. Later today there will be a post and going forward will be constant postings.