Gameday Open Thread / Cubs @ Diamondbacks

Don't recall who won, hehe :)

Did anyone see where Lou is moving The-riot to the 7th spot? I say kudo's if indeed he does such a thing. In reality, Theriot is the prototypical NL 8th man. He handles the bat well and he takes pitches. Plus he's an adept bunter and can has speed to move around the bases while a pitcher is up.

Exactly, Dr. Aaron. I question Theriot being a starting SS to begin with but to bat him 2nd is absolutely insane (unless it's a temporary deal because he's absolutely on a roll). Much more comfortable with him at #7. Really wish we'd have gotten Renteria. He'd look pretty good in front of Lee, E-Ram, etc...

No MLB.tv no radio no nada.

Christ, Zambrano hit a HR. Now he's going to be corkscrewing himself into the ground all year and going on the DL with lower back problems.

1st PA: 3 called strikes -- out
2nd PA: tries a different tactic, swing at the ball
3 swinging strikes -- out
3rd PA: hits first pitch -- fly out
4th PA: hits first pitch -- ground out

Baltimore Scouts heading back to Phoenix to beat traffic.

Oh, sure...NOW they shut down Augie.

Looks like Wuertz had a solid debut - 1 inning, no hits, 2 k's. It did look like Pie had an outfield assist of some sort at least. Perhaps Arizona Phil will tell us about it later. Hard to tell much from the box score.

Looks like Weurtz was sharp. Hopefully he can end ST with an ERA under 7 this year and make the team from the get-go.

Well, the 8th inning is not going to help Lou's impression of these young pitchers.

Better outing by Z this time? The line looks good in the box, but I neither heard nor saw anything. Any comments?

So we lost again, huh?

what the hell happened in the 8th?

Rob.G - any way of making the site more blackberry friendly?

Great site guys! This is so exciting. I hope the Cubs' starting pitching looks as good this year.

Looking at the box score:

Cubs hitters: 0 walks, 9 K's.

Wow, that's encouraging.

Cubs pitchers: 6 walks.

Even better.

Thank goodness it's only ST right?

How come our crappy guys keep losing to the other team's crappy guys?

It's official: Stoney replaces Chris Singleton on White Sox radio this year.

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?y...

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080305&content_id=240...

. Hitting coach Gerald Perry has noticed that Kosuke Fukudome is breaking a lot of bats, including the one he used to hit a home run on Tuesday. Fukudome apparently is taking some of his bats home to keep them in a more humid atmosphere. The dry Arizona weather may be contributing to the breakage. The bats are made of tamo, a Japanese ash, and are individually wrapped.

Third baseman Aramis Ramirez has been pushed back, and was expected to play on Friday. He's been sidelined with a sore right shoulder.

and Lou showing the sense of humor regarding Z's first appearance vs the Dbacks since the NLDS
"We're going to let him go three innings today," Piniella said. "I'm not going to pull him."

Goldstein puts the Cubs at #16, up from #21 last year

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7188

Last Year's Ranking: 21
Why They're Up: The struggles of Donald Veal and the graduation of Felix Pie are both offset by Geovany Soto's breakout seasons and what is looking like a very strong 2007 draft.
Strengths: Solid offensive prospects at nearly every level, with Josh Vitters providing big-time potential. Despite disappointing 2007 performances, there are several power arms in the system.
Weaknesses: Very little pitching that is close to being ready to help; Soto's move to the majors leaves little else in the way of power.
Outlook for 2009 Ranking: Down a tad. Soto is now in the majors; Sean Gallagher and Eric Patterson could both be moving on or out as well.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080305&content_id=2406366&vkey...

he did play CF today...

http://deadspin.com/364190/the-indians-are-once-again-giving-away-free-m...

Last night on NHK (Japan's version of PBS) there was a close-up on K-Fuk. Maybe they were waiting for him to have a good offensive day who knows. Anyway the cute little announcer chick was teasing him about how relieved he must be to have had a good day at the plate, but he shrugged it off and tried to be nonchalant, saying his natural talent just did its thing. But then he says he's putting the bat (which he's holding during the interview) in his trophy case to commemorate his first HR (albeit in spring) versus opposing ML pitching. So of course she's able to get him to admit it means something to him at that point.
After that they talk about how hes adjusting to the team and he says all the perfunctory niceties about just being a great bunch of guys and all that. Then she hands him a placard and a marker and asks him to write down the word that best describes the teams situation right now. he wrote "楽", which means "fun" or "enjoyment", saying that right now everybody is just enjoying getting ready and he's having a great time.

as you were.