Despite Monday's Results, the Cubs and Dodgers Like 'em Loaded

Monday's tense victory over the Dodgers might have been much less so if the Cubs had capitalized on a bases loaded/one out situation in the last of the sixth inning. Instead Chad Billingsley turned Kosuke Fukudome's hard groundball back to the mound into a snappy, 1-2-3, inning-ending double play.

In general, the Cubs offense, which remains the highest-scoring in the NL at 5.7 R/G, has held up its end of the workload in 2008. It's certainly been true in the precise situation that Fukudome found himself.

According to numbers presented at Bill James Online (subscription required),

the Cubs have faced a bases loaded/one out scenario 28 times this season and subsequently produced 55 runs. That's about 22% above the average for all of MLB this year.

Relatvely speaking, the Cubs are even more lethal with the bases jammed and two out. From 33 such opportunities, the Cubs have generated 40 runs--about 54% above the MLB average.

Of course, when it came to missing couldn't-miss scoring opportunities Monday afternoon, the Dodgers took the day: in both the sixth and eighth innings, they filled the bases with one out, yet came away empty both times. This, too, is uncharacteristic. So far this season, the Dodgers have out-produced the rest of baseball by about 12% when the bags are loaded with one out. And when there are two out? The Dodgers have tallied 53 runs in 26 chances. That's 158% above the MLB average.

I'm glad I didn't know any of this while driving around and listening to Pat Hughes Monday afternoon. The game was nerve-racking enough.

Tags: 
Kosuke Fukudome
Cubs Statistics
Submitted by Cubnut on Mon, 05/26/2008 - 9:42pm
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Comments

Submitted by djchi
on Mon, 05/26/2008 - 10:09pm

Forgive me if it's 3/44, but ex-Cub Jeremi Gonzalez died at age 33. Struck by lightning. (Twice, I guess, if you count the lightning in a bottle that struck him in his one good cub season).

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-obit-geremigonzalez&prov=ap&type=lgns

Submitted by Chad
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 1:25am

I believe he had changed his spelling to Geremi. FWIW

Rest in peace.

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 3:05am

jorge bell approves.

Submitted by djchi
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 4:53am

Huh. I thought the story had it wrong.

Submitted by Cubster
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 7:04am

from the Sun-Times:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/97143...

Outfielder/pinch hitter Daryle Ward hoped to be cleared to take batting practice today for the first time since having an epidural May 19 to relieve pain caused by a bulging disc. He has done limited conditioning exercises since then and said his goal is to return from the disabled list as close as possible to his eligible return date of Thursday. Manager Lou Piniella, though, said, ''I think it'll be a while.''

Submitted by Cubster
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 7:17am

Helplessly Hoping...in Iowa (Pie, Murt, EPat, Hill, Marshall)
que CSN&Y...

from the Trib:
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/bas...

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 7:27am

"They're changing something with my swing and my stance [getting his leg kick down sooner without dropping his hands too quickly] and I'm going to be better. The GM and Lou told me when I feel good and comfortable I'll be back. But right now I don't think I'll be back soon."

...felix pie

is this kid well adjusted to his situation or what?

about time the trib brought some literature that isn't "dumbed down" too...nice to see an article written like this every once in a while.]

btw, be sure to check out the detailed murton comments.

Submitted by Stevens
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 10:27am

Wow. A good article from the Trib? It makes me wish Melissa Isaacson would take over Paul Sullivan's job.

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 11:53am

Seconded. Not only was that article well-written, but she actually managed to get meaningful, interesting quotes out of those guys. Maybe it helps that they're away from the big city media, but I can't remember ever reading an article with that many quotes that didn't sound completely manufactured.

Well done, Melissa Isaacson. Also, I wish Carol Slezak would take some notes on how to be a female sports journalist without turning every article into an issue of gender.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 12:05pm

I wish Carol Slezak would take some notes on how to be a female sports journalist

You say this as if being a female sports journalist is any different than being a male journalist...

Submitted by Chad
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 12:40pm

It is.

It is far different when you are playing to a predominantly male audience as it is when your readership is closer to 50/50.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 12:45pm

It's also different because she has no Twig and Berries

Submitted by 10man
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 5:03pm

A conversation about good female sports journalists and no mention of Carrie Muskat....

....being replaced?

Submitted by nohit
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 12:46pm

Probably because it *is* different.

One facet of Doug's point is that a well-written article shouldn't have you thinking about the gender of the author. I've seen cases where both men and women gender-type their articles. The cases where women do it are more annoying to me since I'm a guy; I would imagine the reverse might be true for female readers.

I also find that a lot of female journalists have problems finding their niche, fitting into a male-dominated field. Too many of them write fluff pieces (perhaps that's what they're assigned?). Some try to be chatty (especially radio media) and try to relate to the predominately male audience as a friendly voice. To me, the more successful women in the field are those who simply do solid reporting. And Erin Andrews, who might do solid reporting, but somehow I never quite hear what she's saying. 8)

Reading this article, I had no idea whether this was a male or female journalist. I just knew it was well-written, which is both rare and refreshing. More, please.

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 3:18pm

I'm not saying being a female sports journalist is fundamentally different than being a male sports journalist, but hacky journalists like Slezak tend to bring their own agendas/biases into reporting (I could say the same about people like Stephen A. Smith/race or Jay Mariotti/decent haircuts, etc).

Also, sports journalism is predominantly male. It might not be different, but it is much harder to be a female sports journalist, and the best way to earn respect is to write interesting articles with real information, rather than stir the pot with bullshit about Ozzie's blow-up dolls.

I could have said "I wish Carol Slezak would take some notes on how to be a GOOD sports journalist," but in her case gender is an issue and that's why I mentioned it.

Maybe it's the dearth of good female sports journalists (the only decent one I can think of is Jemele Hill), but to be honest, after I read the article I checked the byline and was a bit surprised that it was written by a woman. I suppose that might make me somewhat sexist, but at least I can recognize that initial reaction as unfair.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 3:23pm

but hacky journalists like Slezak tend to bring their own agendas/biases into reporting

Sure... but as you admit, this has nothing to do with gender and everything to do with being a hack.

but in her case gender is an issue and that's why I mentioned it.

I still have no idea how Slezak's gender is the issue. She doesn't wrote good content. That would remain true regardless of her gender.

Submitted by Chad
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 3:37pm

And I'm saying that it is entirely possible for her to have a hard time relating stories to men. Men communicate very differently to each other than we do with women. It may be hard for her to reach her audience.

Submitted by jacos
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 3:42pm

Can we agree on that she sucks?

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 4:26pm

Yea - no problem saying that. :)

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 5:03pm

OK, so it's not that her gender is an issue per se, but the fact that she constantly brings gender into the equation when it's either not warranted or simply used to attempt to make a salacious story.

Male, female whatever. A hack is a hack.

Submitted by Cubster
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 12:45pm

...or in CSlezak's case of 0/0

Submitted by nohit
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 4:10pm

In other news, tonight's game is on ESPN. Dave O'Brien & Sut. Maybe we'll have an Erin Andrews sighting...

Submitted by billybucks
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 4:43pm

For those not in town --

It is a horrible night for baseball. Current temp is about 45, with a wind from the north about 20 mph gusting to 30mph.

I know it's a horrible night for baseball because my son has a Little League game at the lake front in about an hour. Hopefully, some father will remember to bring a flask. This is nuts.

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 5:05pm

This spring sucks donkey balls. Yesterday it was 80 and today 45? Unreal.

Submitted by Chad
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 5:16pm

news flash:

the weather in chicago sucks!

Submitted by billybucks
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 5:20pm

Worst January-May stretch in a long, long time. Consistently miserable, even by Chicago standards. But, no tornados or earthquakes -- could be much worse.

And yet, despite the weather, both Chicago teams are in first place. Curious.

Submitted by Chad
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 5:57pm

You think Hitler is enjoying a nice ice skate right now?

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 7:45pm

Probably in Millennium Park. I can't imagine Hell being much worse than Chicago this winter/spring.

Submitted by SheffieldCornelia
on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 4:44pm

Per Gordon Wittenmyer:

Soriano LF
Fontenot 2b
Lee 1b
Ramirez 3b
Fukudome RF
Edmonds CF
Soto C
Cedeno SS
Gallagher P

Why wouldn't we do Soto 6th and Edmonds 7th to break up the lefties? Also, I was really hoping they'd give Soriano's bad legs the day off with a really cold day today (for you non-Chicago residents, it's supposed to be in the upper 40's tonight).

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