Game #64 Preview: A's @ Cubs

The A's make their second-ever visit to Wrigley Field—the Cubs are the only National League never to have played in Oakland—having been swept this past weekend in San Francisco.

The weather forecast is not promising, with Weather.com saying there is a 100% chance of precipitation through the shank of the evening. Is there a rainout-forced doubleheader in these teams' immediate future? If there's anything better than interleague play, it's an interleague doubleheader made necessary by the screwy MLB schedule...which became infinitely screwier when MLB adopted interleague play.

The A's come in Foxless, having DFA's former Cub Jake Fox yesterday. Earlier today, the A's picked up first-baseman/left fielder Conor Jackson from the Diamondbacks. Jackson is not in the A's starting lineup; not sure if he will be in uniform tonight at all.

Speaking of the lineups...

A's vs. Carlos Zambrano (2-4, 6.05; 1-0, 1.35 vs. A's)
Davis 8, Barton 3, Sweeney 9, Suzuki 2, Kouzmanoff 5, Cust 7, Ellis 4, Pennington 6, Cahill 1

Cubs vs. Trevor Cahill (5-2, 2.91; first start vs. Cubs)
Theriot 4, Castro 6, Byrd 8, Lee 3, Colvin 9, Soriano 7, Tracy 5, Hill 2, Zambrano 1

Zambrano is making his third start since returning to the rotation. Last time out, he survived five walks over five innings to beat the Brewers. A's starter Trevor Cahill is coming off one of the best starts of his career, an eight-inning, one-run effort against the Angels. He has been successful recently by keeping the ball down in the strike zone and avoiding the longball—just one HR allowed over the past 33 innings.

Things you learn about the A's and Cubs from spending way too much time on Baseball-Reference.com:

Greatest former Cub who wound up playing for the A's: Billy Williams.

Winningest former Cub pitcher who wound up playing for the A's: Kenny Holtzman, who went 80-81 for the Cubs before joining the A's in 1972 and going 77-55 in four seasons.

Most petulant player who wore both Cub and Athletic uniforms: you might rush to say Milton Bradley. But I'm going to go with Dave Kingman, who was well on his way to the Jerk Hall of Fame before Milton had even played his first Little League Game.

Note: Baseball-Reference.com doesn't rank players by petulance. That one is my call.

This one's for you, Kong.

Tags: 
Carlos Zambrano
Jake Fox
Cubs Game Preview
Submitted by Cubnut on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 5:42pm
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Comments

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 5:59pm

third basemen Conor Jackson?

I fixed that one.

link for Jerk Hall of Fame goes to Fox story, that one I can't fix.

Submitted by Cubnut
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 6:14pm

Changed the Kingman link.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 6:25pm

that Easter buffet looks fantastic...and what a price!!!

Submitted by Cubnut
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 6:48pm

Sadly the offer expired 30 years ago.

Submitted by Tony S.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 6:29pm

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/...

Gordo Witt says some similar (maybe smart?) things to what I was ranting about in the thumb article. Basically, this team would be better mid-term to semi-blow it up now (although he mentions Ramy, who I think I'd keep).

But he's worried how the fans would take it....

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 6:30pm

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/p...

Strasburg gets SI cover over Blackhawks, although Hawks cover will go out locally.

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 6:39pm

lol...americans and hockey...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 6:42pm

http://twitter.com/JaneMLB/status/16263513462

game will be delayed.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 6:54pm

izzo staying at michigan state, cavs not having a coach has to in someway help bulls in lebron chase.

Submitted by The Joe
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 6:57pm

To hell with the Yankees and their complicated shoes.

Submitted by SheffieldCornelia
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 8:12pm

First pitch expected for 8:45pm CT:

http://twitter.com/carriemuskat

Submitted by Cubster
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 8:35pm

Only thru 4 but...

Suppan working on Cy Young:

4ip, 4hits, 1 run, 4 k's

Leading 3-1

Only blemish...solo HR M Bradley

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 8:52pm

Z struggling in the first again.

Submitted by rokfish
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 9:06pm

When Ramirez comes back I thought I saw whereif Tracy goes down to Iowa
he would have to clear waivers?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:07pm

oh no!!!

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:10pm

Submitted by rokfish on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 8:06pm.
When Ramirez comes back I thought I saw whereif Tracy goes down to Iowa
he would have to clear waivers?

==============================================

ROKFISH: Chad Tracy is NOT out of options, but he does have to give his permission before he can be assigned to the minors (by optional or outright assignment) because he has accrued 5+ years of MLB Service Time. As a player with 5+ years of MLB ST, Tracy could opt to be a free-agent (and be paid his entire remaining salary as termination pay) if he is sent to the minors without his approval. While he did agree to the Optional Assignment when the Cubs sent him to Iowa in May (most players with 5+ MLB ST would have refused), he might not be as amenable to the idea this time.

Because the anniversary date of his debut on an MLB 25-man Active List was more than three years ago, Tracy would first have had to clear Optional Assignment Waivers when he was optioned to Iowa in May, but Optional Waivers (once secured) are good for the balance of the waiver period (which ends on July 31st), so the Cubs would not have to put him back on Optional Waivers before he can be optioned to the minors again (at least until the end of the current waiver period on July 31st). But again, even with waivers secured, he would have to agree to accept the assignment each time he is optioned to the minors.

I believe the article you read is the same one I saw, and I got the impression that the writer confused Tracy's status with that of Jeff Baker, who (unlike Tracy) is out of options, so that Baker would have to clear Outright Assignmment Waivers (which are irrevocable) before he can be outrighted to the minors. And because he has 3+ years of MLB Service Time, Baker can be a free-agent if he is outrighted to the minors (he can be a FA immediately and if he does he gets no termination pay, or he can accept the Outright Assignment, continue to be paid his $150K+ monthly salary in AAA, and defer free-agency until the end of the MLB regular season, unless he is added back to a 40-man roster by that time, in which case he cannot be a FA).

Submitted by QuietMan
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 11:22pm

Tracy might be a good fit for the Angels. Or Twins.

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 9:13pm

At the gam behind home plate.. Two beers in... Cahills shit is wikis. Cubs ain't hitting this shit

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 9:56pm

*wikid. Dumb iPhone

Submitted by Craig A.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:00pm

Oh iPhone. I though it was a reflection of the Wrigley beer!

Submitted by Ryno
on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 8:33pm

This is probably incredibly uncool to say, but I don't care... when I go to Wrigley, I enjoy the Old Style. Reminds me of being a kid... at my cousins house having Cubs baseball on TV in the afternoon... and the smell of my drunk uncle...

Submitted by Charlie
on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 8:49pm

That drunk uncle part brought a sentimental tear to my eye.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 06/18/2010 - 12:24pm

Can you even get Old Style outside of the park? It's really not good. I don't mind drinking crap beer if it's what's available, but paying a lot for a crap beer just rubs me the wrong way.

Submitted by The Joe
on Fri, 06/18/2010 - 1:11pm

Hells yeah you can get it!

Submitted by The Joe
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:06pm

Did Lee really have two errors in a row that caused runs?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:08pm

he sure did.

muffed a grounder and then just didn't catch a ball thrown by castro.

Submitted by The Joe
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:12pm

Did Z gather his latin posse and fight the the rest of the team through song and dance a la west side story?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:15pm

well-played Mauer.

Submitted by The Joe
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:24pm

fart

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:32pm

lol farts.

Submitted by Sweet Lou
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:41pm

Sharks vs Jets...You throw the records out when those two teams get together.

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:49pm

gwahhh!!!

how much f'n cubbery can you fit into a game...2 wild pitches with 2 runs...bases loaded and error marathons...triples with errors? WHAT THE HELL?

and what was up with Z hitting for himself in the rally inning with a man on 2nd and 2 outs?

8-4...holy crap.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:50pm

in honor of the Cubs new walk-up intros

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK6TXMsvgQg

Submitted by Cubster
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 11:01pm

Lou needs to adopt this management style for players who commit errors, wild pitches and other stoopid stuff...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZgVRJ-H8U&fe...

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 11:09pm

wow...wrigley emptied out really quick after that 7th.

it's a ghost town.

the rain thinned the initial crowd, but this looks like a PIT game.

that colvin HR hit a lot of empty seats in the bleachers.

Submitted by rokfish
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 11:29pm

Yeah what the f=== was up with Zambrano hitting then coming out of game, I am all for seeing more ghost towns.
Seems the only reason i watch is to watch the three C's and laugh at how piss poor the rest of team plays.

Submitted by Charlie
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 11:35pm

the game plan would be to get the ball to Colvin.

Submitted by Cubnut
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 11:43pm

Foolishly I was holding out hope that Lou would unload in the post-game press conference and give vent to just a fraction of the frustration that all Cub fans are feeling right now. Instead, it was just the same, old, mealy-mouthed nonsense. "Just one of those games," "Zambrano deserved better," "Gotta go out tomorrow and play better."

You tell 'em, Lou.

Submitted by rokfish
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 11:51pm

Where has Jim Hendry been lately have not seen any quotes from him recently.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 11:59pm

preparing his resume.

Submitted by Charlie
on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 12:13am

Hendry's resume is much more attractive the team he's put together for 2010, which I suspect is what (unfortunately for him) future employers will remember most.

Submitted by crunch
on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 12:01am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwfrBbNo5Jg

Submitted by QuietMan
on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 12:32am

From Bruce Miles blog:

As I blogged earlier in the day, I've got to believe Theriot is a non-tender this fall if the Cubs don't trade him first.

Posted by Bruce on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 22:27

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/4230

Many of us were thinking the same thing. But it's nice to see a beat guy say it.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 7:08am

Don't look now, but Samardzija is quietly having a good season at Iowa.

Coleman and Archer dominated yesterday. Coleman "retired the last 21 batters he faced, not allowing a man to reach base after the second batter of the game." His line: 7 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts.

Archer (Daytona) had no walks and 10 K's in 5.1.

Submitted by jacos
on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 7:36am

If anyone brings up the 2007 start I will come over to their house and pour a bucket of sour milk on to their computer.

Submitted by WISCGRAD
on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 7:58am

At my own risk, I will bring it up. On June 16, 2007 the Cubs were 31-35, and the won the division with 85 wins, just 8 games over .500. Today they are 28-36, and the Reds and Cardinals are already 7 games over .500, on pace for 90 wins. And the 2007 was actually good. It ain't happening this year.

Submitted by jacos
on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 9:07am

great!
now I have to drive around with a gallon of milk in my trunk for a week.

Submitted by dcf
on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 1:02pm

That was the most dispiriting game I've seen in quite some time. The team looked absolutely horrible.

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