May 2006

from reaching .500. There's always a bright side. We're a long way away from that 16-7 trouncing of the Reds on Opening Day. And don't forget the 5 error (3 thanks to Edwin Encarnacion), 4-1 win just a week later. Good news is we miss Bronson Arroyo's bat this series. Bad news is we're the Cubs. GAME FIFTY IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CINCINNATI REDS (28-22, 2nd, 3.5 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (18-31, 5th, 13.5 GB) Wrigley Field, 1:20 PM CDT Weather: 88 degrees, partly cloudy, Wind out to LF @ 10 mph TV: CSN, DirecTV 736 Radio: WGN, XM 188

Kerry Wood, RHP 0-1, 6.30 ERA, 10.0 IP 9 K, 5 BB, 4 HR	Elizardo Ramirez, RHP 2-3, 3.72 ERA, 29 IP 21 K, 11 BB, 4 HR
# Felipe Lopez, SS *Adam Dunn, LF *Ken Griffey Jr. CF Rich Aurilia, 3B *Scott Hatterberg, 1B Austin Kearns, RF Brandon Phillips, 2B Jason LaRue, C *Elizardo Ramirez, P	*Juan Pierre, CF *Tony Womack, 2B Michael Barrett, C *Todd Walker, 1B Aramis Ramirez, 3B *Jacque Jones, RF Matt Murton, LF Ronny Cedeno, SS Kerry Wood, P

By Rob G. at Mon, 05/29/2006 - 11:17am

Jae-kuk Ryu, RHP 0-0, 9.00 ERA, 1.0 IP 2 K, 2 BB, 0 HR	John Smoltz, RHP 4-2, 3.12 ERA, 69.1 IP 57 K, 16 BB, 6 HR
Marcus Giles, 2B Edgar Renteria, SS #Chipper Jones, 3B Andruw Jones, CF *Adam LaRoche, 1B Jeff Francoeur, RF *Ryan Langerhans Todd Pratt, C John Smoltz, P	*Juan Pierre, CF *Tony Womack, 2B *Todd Walker, 1B Michael Barrett, C Aramis Ramirez, 3B *Jacque Jones, RF Matt Murton, LF #Neifi Perez, SS Jae-kuk Ryu, P

By Rob G. at Sun, 05/28/2006 - 12:06pm

Sean Marshall, LHP 3-2, 5.29 ERA, 47.2 IP 36 K, 24 BB, 4 HR 214/320/324 against	Horacio Ramirez, LHP 0-0, 15.00 ERA, 3 IP 3 K, 1 BB, 0 HR 571/556/643 against
Marcus Giles, 2B Edgar Renteria, SS #Chipper Jones, 3B Andruw Jones, CF Jeff Francoeur, RF Matt Diaz, LF Brian Jordan, 1B #Brayan Pena, C *Horacio Ramirez, P	*Juan Pierre, CF Jerry Hairston, 2B *Todd Walker, 1B Michael Barrett, C Aramis Ramirez, 3B Matt Murton, LF *Jacque Jones, RF Ronny Cedeno, SS *Sean Marshall, P
	Cubs vs. Ramirez: Juan Pierre: 7-22, 318/348/318, 3 K Michael Barrett: 2-15, 133/188/133, 1 BB, 4 K

I'm not sure I have the energy to even complain about today's lineup. The only thing that surprises me is that Blanco isn't making an appearance. Woeful. Pathetic. Insert adjective. Good luck Z, you'll need it. GAME FOURTY-SEVEN IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] ATLANTA BRAVES (24-23, 3rd, 4.5 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (18-28, 5th, 12.5 GB) Wrigley Field, 1:20 PM CDT Weather: 75 degrees, Sunny, Wind from left to right @ 12 mph TV: WGN Radio: WGN, XM 189

Carlos Zambrano, RHP 3-2, 3.53 ERA, 63.2 IP 71 K, 38 BB, 9 HR	Tim Hudson, RHP 4-3, 3.95 ERA, 66 IP 45 K, 21 BB, 4 HR
Marcus Giles, 2B Edgar Renteria, SS #Chipper Jones, 3B Andruw Jones, CF *Adam LaRoche, 1B Jeff Francoeur, RF *Ryan Langerhans, LF Todd Pratt, C Tim Hudson, P	*Juan Pierre, CF #Neifi Perez, 2B *Todd Walker, 1B Michael Barrett, C *Jacque Jones, RF Aramis Ramirez, 3B *Freddie Bynum, LF Ronny Cedeno, SS #Carlos Zambrano, P
Braves vs. Zamrbano: Edgar Renteria:10-23 435/536/565 1 HR, 5 BB, 6 K Chipper Jones:4-14 286/444/500 Andruw Jones: 2-13 154/333/385	Cubs vs. Hudson: Jacque Jones: 9-29 310/310/517 2 HR's Todd Walker: 4-17 235/278/353 John Mabry: 4-16 250/250/250 Neifi Perez: 4-12 333/333/333

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Excellent advice for an off-day from TCR reader Dr. Johnson. I'd call it a prescription, but I don't know if he's a real doctor. GAME FORTY-SEVEN IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] DETROIT TIGERS (32-14, 1st, +1.0) AT KANSAS CITY ROYALS (10-34, 5th, 21.0) Kaufmann Stadium, 1:05 PM CDT TV: None (MLB.tv only) Radio: WXYT, WHB, XM 181

Mike Maroth, LHP 5-2, 2.45 ERA, 47 2/3 IP 22 K, 15 BB, 5 HR 269/327/403 against, .283 BABIP	Denny Bautista, RHP 0-2, 3.75 ERA, 24.0 IP 16 K, 10 BB, 1 HR 250/340/352 against, .296 BABIP

The Tigers have been the biggest surprise in baseball so far this year. They haven't finished above .500 since 1993, and a succession of uninspiring managers (Buddy Bell, Phil Garner, Alan Trammell) has helped erode the fan base to the point where even a new stadium (Comerica Park, opened in 2000) couldn't pull the team's attendance out of the lower depths for more than one season. This year, though, things have been different. A new manager (Jim Leyland), a couple of breakout players (Chris Shelton, Curtis Granderson, Justin Verlander, Mike Maroth), and good numbers from a couple of veterans (Magglio Ordonez, Ivan Rodriguez, Kenny Rogers, Todd Jones) has added up to the best record in baseball over the first quarter of the season. On the other side of the ball, we have the Royals, otherwise known as "the Cubs on the cheap." They're currently on a 12-game losing streak, their second double-digit skid of the year. They have the worst record in baseball, are near the bottom of the majors in just about every offensive category, have an injured first baseman (Mark Sweeney), a young pitching prospect who has yet to pitch this year (Zach Greinke), and a general manager (Allard Baird) under fire after the misguided decision to bring in mid-level free agents (Mark Grudzielanek, Doug Mientkiewicz, Scott Elarton, Mark Redman) in the off-season. It's like looking in a mirror sometimes.

God, this team sucks. I was talking with The Lovely Wife about it last night and I realized that, right now, I just plain don't like this team. I'm trying to figure out what it means to be a Cub fan when the team is like this -- I don't get any enjoyment from following them, and if that's the case why do I bother? I want the manager, the general manager, and the pitching coach gone, but also realize that unless Andy McPhail is removed from the chain of command, it won't matter who the coaching staff is. When I look at the players on the field, I feel like several of them are actively hurting the team. On top of that, I flat-out don't like some of the players on the team, and two of the players I really like are injured (Prior) or continually getting jerked around by management (Walker). Offensively, this team is offensive. ESPN.com lists 11 team offense categories, and the Cubs are last, or second-to-last, in nearly all of them. Not last or second-to-last in the NL; last or second-to-last in the majors. The bottom three in just about every category is occupied by the Devil Rays, the Royals, and the Cubs. That is beyond sad. In other cities, when your team sucks like this, you look to the youngsters and into the minors for hope. There are a few bright spots among the youngsters on the team (Zambrano, Murton) and in the minors (Pie, Patterson) but because of management's track record, I don't get a sense, like fans of some teams, that the kids will get a chance to play. Thanks to the big Jacque Jones contract and the presence of guys like Neifi Perez, Juan Pierre, and Tony Womack (he's not here yet, I know, but he will be), I feel like we're going to be stuck with a particular type of team for the forseeable future, a type of team that doesn't play the sort of baseball I enjoy. Not only that, but because of the way the team is built, there's no "quick fix." There's no "if they could just trade for that guy, they'd be back in the playoff hunt." I think the team is broken (though some may disagree), and it's broken in too many ways for a Band-Aid to do any good. So the team isn't contending, it isn't one player away from contending, it isn't rebuilding. I don't know where it is in the success cycle, and I don't think *it* knows where it is. As a fan, that's a really frustrating place for your team to be. The Lovely Wife suggested that how you feel about your team is similar to how you feel about your family. You might not always like your family, but you always love them. When someone in your family is off doing something stupid, or dangerous, or self-destructive, it makes you sad, and mad; you do what you can to help them, but if, at a certain point, the behavior continues, you eventually have to detach for a while and hope they can figure things out for themselves. All the while, you pray they can get their act together, and you're there to help when they ask for it, and there to give encouragement when they make tentative steps in the right direction. But sometimes it becomes too painful to watch every day, and you have to disengage. I think that's where I am with this team. It doesn't mean I'll stop paying attention, and it doesn't mean I'll stop posting. But it does mean I'll being doing less of both of those things, and trying my best to care a little bit less about what's happening between the lines. I don't know how long it will last, but at least for the near future I have to unplug a little bit.

So Maddux & Beuhrle came in below my prediction, and the game ended in 2:07. For the Cubs offense, it ended about two hours before that, though, as they managed to put only one run on the board, and that happened as the result of a single, a sacrifice, an error, and a sac fly. Dusty must be absolutely aglow at this fantastic smallball execution. The White Sox countered by taking what Greg Maddux was giving them, which was walks. Two hours later, it was another loss. Today's starter, Rich Hill, certainly appears to be in line for a demotion once Mark Prior returns to the rotation. If, at the beginning of the year, the question was which of Hill or Sean Marshall was ready for the big leagues, the answer now seems clear. Hill has walked 10 in 15 1/3 innings, and that, combined with a .310 BAA, leads to a 7.63 ERA. GAME FORTY-TWO IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (17-24, 5th, 9.5 GB) AT CHICAGO WHITE SOX (27-14, 1st, 0.0) U.S. Cellular Field, 12:20 PM CDT Weather: Sunny, 63 degrees, wind 10 mp out to left TV: FOX Radio: WGN, XM 180

Freddy Garcia, RHP 6-1, 4.56 ERA, 49 1/3 IP 28 K, 16 BB, 5 HR 242/301/389 against, .261 BABIP	Rich Hill, LHP 0-3, 7.63 ERA, 15 1/3 IP 9 K, 10 BB, 3 HR 310/400/621 against, .326 BABIP
*Juan Pierre, CF Ronny Cedeno, SS *Todd Walker, DH Michael Barrett, C *Jacque Jones, RF Aramis Ramirez, 3B *John Mabry, 1B Matt Murton, LF Jerry Hairston, 2B	*Scott Podsednik, LF Tadahito Iguchi, 2B *Jim Thome, DH Paul Konerko, 1B Jermaine Dye, RF *A.J. Pierzynski, C Joe Crede, 3B Juan Uribe, SS Brian Anderson, CF
Cubs vs. Garcia: Todd Walker: 5-14, 357/438/429, 2 BB Jacque Jones: 7-36, 194/237/389, 2 HR, 1 BB, 7 K Jerry Hairston: 1-17, 059/059/059, 1 K

GAME THIRTY-NINE IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] WASHINGTON NATIONALS (13-26, 4th, 11.5 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (16-22, 5th, 7.5 GB) Wrigley Field, 7:05 PM CDT Weather: 54 degrees, Rain, Wind in From LF @ 17 mph TV: CSN, DirecTV 744 Radio: WGN, XM 187

Sean Marshall, LHP 2-1, 4.93 ERA, 38.1 IP 28 K, 16 BB, 3 HR	Zach Day, RHP 2-3, 5.85 ERA, 32.1 IP 15 K, 15 BB, 4 HR
Alfonso Soriano, LF Marlon Byrd, CF #Jose Vidro, 2B *Nick Johnson, 1B Jose Guillen, RF Ryan Zimmerman, 3B Wiki Wiki Gonzalez, C Damien Jackson, SS Zach Day, P	*Juan Pierre, CF Matt Murton, LF *Todd Walker, 1B Michael Barrett, C Aramis Ramirez, 3B *Jacque Jones, RF Jerry Hairston, Jr., 2B Ronny Cedeno, SS *Sean Marshall, P
Nationals vs. Marshall:	Cubs vs. Day: Juan Pierre: 2-10, 200/200/200, 1 K,

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Since I'm enjoying another day of 70 degree sunny weather, I don't know how bad it's raining in Chicago but the game is currently being delayed. I assume they'd play two tomorrow if they can't get the game in as I believe this is the Nationals only trip to Chicago this year. It's amazing how one start can skew a pitcher's numbers so early in the season. I put up a preview for Marshall's last game versus the Giants in which he was resoundingly beaten before most fans could get in their seats to enjoy their Gilroy Garlic Fries. His numbers went from "ace in waiting" to "still a rookie". We'll see which Marshall we get tonight (or tomorrow). And just when you think Dusty has trouble filling out a lineup card, Frank Robinson (or one of his assistants as he's not at the game suffering from severe back spasms) has decided to put Soriano as his leadoff hitter. Tough to imagine why these guys are doing even worse than us. If we get it in, go Cubs! Tomorrow is the return of Kid K.

At just about the 1/4 mark in the 2006 season, here is the Cubs intra-organizational leader-board. Nothing very complicated, just the kind of stats you might find in the newspaper.

For all the Fire Hendry-ers

For all those who would rather shoot the messenger.

As critical as I have been of Baker, I actually am not yet ready to join the "Fire Him Tomorrow" crowd. I just don't see the failings of the 2006 Cubs to be Baker-induced. No Prior, no Wood, no Lee, no offense from Ramirez, Pierre or Jones - these things are not Dusty's fault. Murton (up until now) and Cedeno have played every day. I really don't get the argument that we are seeing the results of a team filled with Dusty-style players. Who are they? Lee? Ramirez? Walker? Barrett? Cedeno? Murton? Dempster? Zambrano? Maddux? Is Jones more of a Dusty Player than Burnitz was? (Pierre over Patterson, sure, I'll give you that.) If anything, the fundamental play of the team has improved over last year while the number of seemingly random and innane managerial decisions has declined, at least from my vantage point. Most fundamental, if we were to fire Baker tomorrow, who would replace him? Another Bruce Kimm? If we can't entice Bobby Valentine or Lou Pinella to take over, who is there that we could get, mid-season, that would be worth having? While we should have fired him last year, I don't think that firing Dusty now would accomplish anything more than a hollow, token gesture to fans demanding immediate but half-baked solutions to problems that extend wider and deeper than our choice of toothpick-tasters. Replacing Baker with Matthews, Rothschild or Clines would be meaningless. And all that said, I don't want Baker around for 2007. With that in mind, here are the first 15 questions I would ask a prospective Cubs manager, before even bothering to entering into discussions about specific personel. What would you ask? How would you answer?

what a horrible lineup. Jones has a bad groin and Dusty says Walker needs a day off. Guzman's already hit a guy and walked Giles. Good start. Well I'm swamped at work. This will have to do. Cubs Lineup: *Juan Pierre, CF #Neifi Perez, SS Ronny Cedeno, SS Aramis Ramirez, 3B Michael Barret, C *John Mabry, 1B Matt Murton, LF Jerry Hairston Jr., RF Angel Guzman, P Padres *Dave Roberts, LF Mike Cameron, CF *Brian Giles, RF Mike Piazza, C Khalil Greene, SS Vinny Castilla, 3B *Adrian Gonzalez, 1B Josh Barfield, 2B Woody Williams, P

OK! I finally figured out how to get my Big Board and organizational update file uploaded to the server. It's available here: Big Board and Organizational Update There are multiple tabs -- the first tab is the big board, showing the current rosters of every team in the system. Each team has its own tab as well, showing starts by position for each team. In addition, the players' names are linked to up-to-date splits for just about every player in the system, thanks to the tremendous work done over at Brew Crew Ball. I'll update this as often as I can, and as always I welcome suggestions and corrections. I've added a link to the right-hand column ("The Big Board") and I'll post notices here when I've updated the page.

GAME THIRTY-THREE IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (14-18, 5th, 6.5 GB) AT SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (16-17, 4th, 3.0 GB) Telephone Company Park, 9:15 PM CDT Weather: 63 degrees, clear, Wind Out to CF @ 17mph TV: CSN Radio: WGN, XM 189

Matt Cain, RHP 1-4, 6.27 ERA, 33 IP 26 K, 13 BB, 8 HR	Carlos Zambrano, RHP 0-2, 4.43 ERA, 40.2 IP 48 K, 28 BB, 6 HR
Take A Freaking Pitch, SS *Out Machine, CF *Wishing He Got Traded, 2B Stop Gawking, Start Hitting, 3B *Desperate Times, Desperate Measures, 1B Pull A Pitch, LF *Fragile Ego, RF Hank To The Rescue, C #Drill Bonds for Me, P	*Randy Winn, RF #Omar Vizquel, SS *Mark Sweeney, 1B *The Devil Incarnate, LF *Steve Finley, CF Pedro Feliz, 3B Kevin Frandsen, 2B Mike Matheny, C Matt Cain, P

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Matt Cain's a pretty high-end prospect who's struggled out of the gate in 2006. I'm sure tonight will be a huge confidence booster for the kid. At least with Z on the mound, the chances of Bonds getting drilled skyrocket. Do something!

GAME THIRTY-TWO IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (14-17, 5th, 6.5 GB) AT SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (15-17, 4th, 4.5 GB) Telephone Company Park, 7:15 PM CDT Weather: 56 degrees, clear, Wind Out to RF @ 20 mph TV: WGN, DirecTV 745 Radio: WGN, XM 189

Jason Schmidt, RHP 2-2, 3.77 ERA, 43 IP 33 K, 18 BB, 4 HR	Rich Hill, LHP 0-1, 11.25 ERA, 4 IP 1 K, 2 BB, 2 HR
*Juan Pierre, CF Ronny Cedeno, SS *Todd Walker, 1B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Michael Barrett, C *Jacque Jones, RF Matt Murton, LF #Neifi Perez, 2B *Rich Hill, P	*Randy Winn, RF #Omar Vizquel, SS *Lance Niekro, 1B *Satan, LF Pedro Feliz, 3B *Steve Finley, CF Mike Matheny, C #Jose Vizcaino, 2B Jason Schmidt, P
Cubs vs. Schmidt: Neifi Perez: 6-20 300/391/450 1 HR, 3 BB, 2 K Michael Barrett: 4-20 200/200/350 1 HR, 0 BB, 2 K Aramis Ramirez: 5-18 278/350/611 1 HR, 3 2B, 1 BB, 1 K Juan Pierre: 5-17 294/333/412 1BB, 3 K John Mabry: 1-16 063/063/063 0 BB, 8 K Todd Walker: 4-14 286/412/286 3 BB, 1 K &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp	Giants vs. Hill:

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The rematch we've all been waiting for, who could forget the epic duel between Hill and Schmidt last year on July 25th. In his first major league start, Hill labored through 5 innings, but held the Giants to merely two runs while striking out five. The veteran Schmidt though was up to the task, hurling seven strong innings, his only blemish - a Michael Barrett dinger. The Cubs offense persisted though, scratching a run off of Boo-Bird Hawkins in the eight, and then finally pushing through in the ninth off Tyler Walker. Cedeno leads off with a single, was moved over on a sacrifice bunt by Hairston, a sharp single to right by Todd Walker advanced Cedeno to third and that was followed up by the easiest decision ever made in baseball, an intentional walk to Derrek Lee. That set the stage for the one and only Jeromy Burnitz, who promptly flied out to centerfield, deep enough for the young Cedeno to scamper home with the winning run. 3-2, Cubs Win, Cubs Win!!!! Why did I write just write in such great detail about a meaningless game last July? Because it's a lot more exciting than the drivel the Cubs have produced over the last week or so. One other quick note from the game last year, Omar Vizquel stole 3 bases in the game, 2 off the Hill/Barrett combo that we'll see tonight. With Randy Winn now on the team, Hill's inability to hold runners and Barrett's well-known throwing deficiencies, I expect a track meet out there. Of course we stole five bases off Piazza over the weekend and scored one run off a Ramirez home run, so it probably won't matter much. The Cubs seven game losing streak though will take a backseat (at least on a national level) to the Barry Bonds pursuit of Babe's home run total. A mere two home runs from becoming the second greatest home run hitter of all-time, it will be up to the Cubs pitching staff to try and stave off the celebration until a later date. With Alou out at least 2 weeks (and likely more), I don't see any good reason to pitch to Mr. Bonds with anybody on base. Normally I abhor the "Walk Bonds" approach, because telling your pitchers that you don't think they're good enough to get Bonds out isn't the way to inspire future confidence when they do need to get a good hitter out. But in this case, I'd rather not watch that buffoon celebrate while I'm trying to watch the game. He may possibly be the greatest baseball player ever and I could care less, chemically enhanced or not, he's a jerk, a creep, and I hope he never even sniffs Aaron's record. If I was a major league pitcher, if I ever reached a three ball count on him, I'd just throw at his armguard every single time. Heck with George Mitchell's steroid witchhunt, go find out how much his home run rate went up once he started setting up half an inch off the plate with 2 feet of body armor covering his "tender" elbow. (On a sidenote, he is a free agent next year, man we could use a bat like that, Any takers? Anyone?........kidding) The Cubs are in desperate need of some offense, some defense, some kind of spark, a bench-clearing brawl, who knows. I suggest drilling Bonds each time, see what happens. Win a freakin' game!!!

GAME THIRTY-ONE IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (14-16, 5th, 6 GB) AT SAN DIEGO PADRES (16-15, 3rd, 2.5 GB) Puppy Park, 9:05 PM CDT Weather: Lovely TV: CSN, DirecTV 738 Radio: WGN, XM 188

Chris Young, RHP 2-2, 3.53 ERA, 35.2 IP 30 K, 14 BB, 6 HR	Greg Maddux, RHP 5-1, 2.35 ERA, 38.1 IP 29 K, 6 BB, 2 HR
*Juan Pierre, CF Ronnie Cedeno, SS *Todd Walker, 1B Michael Barrett, C Aramis Ramirez, 3B Matt Murton, LF *Jacque Jones, RF Jerry Hairston Jr., 2B Greg Maddux, P	*Dave Roberts, LF Mike Cameron, CF *Brian Giles, RF Mike Piazza, C Josh Barfield, 2B Vinny Castilla, 3B Khalil Greene, SS *Adrian Gonzalez, 1B Chris Young, P
Cubs vs. Young: Jacque Jones: 0-8 2 K &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp	Padres vs. Maddux: Mike Piazza: 16-63 254/266/460 4 HR, 1 BB, 9 K Vinny Castilla: 13-43 302/333/581 3 HR, 1 BB, 8 K Brian Giles: 9-25 360/448/600 1 HR, 4 BB, 5 K

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Maddux back to the mound and hopefully he'll fare better than his last outing as he got a bit torched by the D'Backs. The Cubs are in desperate need of something exceptional, either an other-wordly pitching performance, some crazy 4 for 4 day by an unlikely hero, or Dusty getting himself thrown out, something to spark this lifeless team. Get a win Cubbies!!! UPDATE: Mike Restovich is off the cubs.com 25-man roster and shows up on the Iowa Cubs roster, so I assume he's the unlucky soul. By my count, the Cubs have 6 players who can play second base, but only five who you could expect to hit a home run. I love this game!

Here is the updated roster status of players in the Cubs organization who are on the 40-man roster, and players on outright assignment who are either eligible to be six-year minor league free-agents after 2006 season or who are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft after 2006 season.