Archive - Jun 2005

GAME 68 PREVIEW CHICAGO CUBS (34-33) at MILWAUKEE BREWERS (31-37) Miller Park, 7:05pm CT, TV: FSN, CSN

SP Tomo Ohka	SP Greg Maddux
SS #Neifi Perez	CF Brady Clark
CF *Corey Patterson	3B Jeff Cirillo
1B Derrek Lee	1B *Lyle Overbay
RF *Jeromy Burnitz	LF Carlos Lee
3B Aramis Ramirez	SS Bill Hall
2B *Todd Walker	2B Rickie Weeks

Just the other day I was complaining about the state of our bullpen. Now, hardly heartened by events in New York over the weekend, my critical eye is increasingly being tempted to waiver elsewhere. And by elsewhere, I mean the top of our batting order.

Team Records updated through 6/19/05; Individual Stats updated through 6/19/05

Organizational Records

Team	W-L	GB/Pos.	Last 10	Ex W/L	W/L (2003)	W/L (2004)
Chicago Cubs	34-33	9.5/2nd	4-6	35-32	37-30	37-30
Iowa Cubs	29-42	9.0/4th	4-6	28-43	32-39	41-30
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx*	44-25	0.0/1st	5-5	43-26	33-36	37-32
Daytona Cubs	34-31	6.0/3rd	6-4	33-32	N/A	N/A
Peoria Chiefs	35-35	4.0/4th	6-4	36-34	N/A	N/A
Boise Hawks	June 22nd	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
AZL Cubs	Late June	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

* West Tennessee clinched the first half North Division title of the Southern League

Base Running Follies "I wasn't aggressive running the bases because I knew it was hot and I was trying to stay strong. I saw Ortiz bobble the ball and thought I had a chance. When I tried to slide, I was too late. Last night at home, I could move my toe around and it was much better.' - Carlos Zambrano Paging Tom Skilling "Generally as a good hitter, you find your stroke at about 200 at-bats, plus this is the hitters' time of year. We have a lot of guys from warm-weather places, and they're more comfortable with this [weather].î -Dusty Baker Yogi Baker "Plus, they can hit, If you can hit, sooner or later, you'll hit.'' -Dusty Baker

GAME 66 PREVIEW CHICAGO CUBS (34-31) at NEW YORK YANKEES (34-32) Yankee Stadium, 2:05pm CT, TV: FOX

SP Chien-Ming Wang	SP *Glendon Rusch
SS #Neifi Perez	SS Derek Jeter
CF *Corey Patterson	LF *Tony Womack
1B Derrek Lee	RF Gary Sheffield
RF *Jeromy Burnitz	3B Alex Rodriguez
3B Aramis Ramirez	DH *Hideki Matsui
2B *Todd Walker

Our low A team in Boise revealed their roster the other day. C - Jonathan Douillard C - Mark Reed (younger brother of Mariners CF Jeremy Reed) 1B - Chris Gaskin 3B - Brandon Taylor (17th round pick from 2005 draft) 3B - Elvin Puello INF - Jonathon Mota (youngest player on the team at age 18) SS - Jose Rios INF - Scott Hode (24th round pick from 2005 draft; shortstop at Arkansas) OF - Alfred Joseph OF - Carlos Quinones OF - Davy Gregg (27th round pick from 2005 draft) OF - Jeff Culpepper (draft and follow from last year) OF - Jesus Valdes

So the Cubs head to Yankee Stadium for a weekend series, and I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce you all to the team. See, since they're in New York, they don't get the media attention that they probably deserve. They toil in obscurity in a decrepit stadium (which is, thankfully, going to be replaced soon), and because they don't have the revenue to bring their payroll over $200M, they're struggling to stay over .500 and are six games behind the free-spending, large market Orioles. So, herewith, a quick sketch of the 25 guys who wear the pinstripes (which, by the way, are a slap in the face of tradition and ought to be replaced by something in a nice solid-color doubleknit):