The good news, of course, is that if the Cubs continue on their pace of only losing when Glendon Rusch starts, that even if he makes 30 starts this year, they’ll go 132-30 and that should be enough to hold off the Brewers in the Central.
There’s nothing like getting behind 9-0 to suck the life out of a good start, though, is there? Ahh, the Cubs. You can’t live with them. You can’t club them to death like a baby seal and stick them in a burlap sack, either.
Also, a positive, is that at least Glendon didn’t suffer the indignity of giving up another homer to Reds’ pitcher Bronson Arroyo. Can you imagine how humiliating that would be?
Oh, wait…never mind.
How did that happen?
On Monday, Deadspin ran a hilariously clever “video” from another Web site that set the end of game six of the 1986 World Series (eight minutes of the end…) audio to RBI Baseball. It was just very well done. Since there was no Dose yesterday, I didn’t get a chance to link to it. But yesterday morning, I heard Steve Czaban on Fox Sports Radio playing it. He, unlike other radio hosts, gave full credit to the site, but the true mastery of it was that he made it funny even though people couldn’t see the funny part. I mean Vin Scully’s call of the Red Sox collapse is only funny on its own to Yankees fans.
So that’s quality radio right there. Czaban’s show is what mine would be if somebody would give me one. He has radio and TV columnists on just to find out why more stuff isn’t on in HD or why the NFL blacks out those increasingly frequent “hurry up there’s a hurricane coming” Friday night games on Sunday Ticket to anybody who doesn’t live in the “hometown” area of the two teams (always the Dolphins…and somebody else.) He’s a 40 year old man who still plays video games, is excited about being a high paid syndicated radio host because he can afford to waste his money on every high tech gadget he can get his hands on. He was doing his football picks last year during the playoffs, and since one of the side jobs he does is host a Redskins postgame show on Comcast Sports Net DC (or whatever that’s one called) he admitted, “I’m betting on the Bucs, because if they win, I win, and if they lose, then the Redskins have one more playoff game and I’ll get paid for another postgame show and get my money back.” How can you argue with logic like that?
Anyway, if you’re waiting for any of this to have a point, you’re going to be waiting a while. But while you wait, spend eight minutes watching this. It’s beyond excellent. Although, given the limitations of RBI Baseball, if the wild pitch had happened like that, every Sox fan would have tried to kill Rich Gedman.
Also, thanks to Deadspin, we have this great link to a Mariners’ TV commercial featuring Jamie Moyer. It’s tremendous. One of the benefits of the MLB Extra Innings package is watching a lot of meaningless (to me) West Coast baseball late at night when I should be asleep resting up to bring the hilarity to you the next morning. The Mariners, for years, have had the best commercials around. A few years ago they had one where Bret Boone was talking to Dan Wilson about how cool it was that Ichiro wears his first name on his uniform instead of his last name. Then they cut to the next day and Boone’s jersey said “BRET” on it and he was showing it off. Then, they cut to the very next day and three of the Mariners are standing next to each other, all with “JOHN” on the back of theirs, with a fan yelling in the background “This (bleep) is not going to work!”
I read the headline for this wrong, (I had a u in the last word instead of an e) and I immediately thought of Dave Aardsma.
Phil Rogers thinks Derrek Lee bent the Cubs over and went all Jim Edmonds-in-the-shower on them. I don’t see it that way. But Chuck, in his typically elegant style sees it exactly the opposite of Phil. Which, in most things, is the correct side to be on–opposite of Phil Rogers.
How much rain has Iowa gotten so far this spring? I think it’s time to send Glendon to find out.
Hendry says that giving Derrek Lee a raise doesn’t mean the Cubs can’t be active in getting players during the season. Hey, whatever it takes to relive the glory that was Jody Gerut and Matt Lawton.
From yesterday’s Trib, Teddy G. shows that every sports radio station is really just a place to hold an unending pissing contest. As you know, I no longer listen to Chicago sports radio, and I can’t say I miss any of it.
From today, Teddy G. updates that all-important feud between talentless assbags Mike Murphy and Mike Mulligan. This whole thing is about as attractive as a Kathy and Judy mud wrestling exhibition.
The Wizard of Roz says he wishes the Bulls enjoyed themselves more. Whatever.
In the world of Cub, this means Jock won’t miss a game and E-ramis will be out until 2012. Guh.
America’s finest news source on how hospitals are adapting to their severely obese patients.
Well did you expect? I wasn’t pitching?
Oh yeah, didn’t you know that a fieldd of dreams contains some nightmares?
They don’t suck any more they blow.
I couldn’t have described the awesomeness of Steve Czaban any better, Andy. He’s done the “sports” commentary of the Bob and Brian morning show here in Milwaukee for about as long as I can remember. But as you point out, his tangents on sports are just as excellent. It’s the only thing worth listening to on the radio around here anymore.
His website is a good daily surf, too:
http://www.czabe.com/
Phil wrote:
Lee’s new deal with the Cubs, announced as $65 million over five years, is really better than that. It’s $56.25 million over four years when you subtract his original 2006 salary. That’s more than $14 million per season
No, Phil. Derrek’s getting the $56.25 million over 5 years which means he’s getting $11.25mm per year using your wrong math.
Thanks for the compliment, Andy.
If that’s what it was.
Any word on my availability today?
I think Phil’s right on that, Chuck. He’s getting a four year extension (starting next year) at 13 million with (in effect) a 4 million signing bonus for this year. We had him for this year so you can’t count this year into the deal.
Time value of money, Brian. He’s getting the $56.25mm over 5 years. If you want to include the $9.4mm from this yeas as part of the contract, fine. The average is $13mm. The only way to get the average to $14mm is to either use TARDIS or be Phil.
Or, be a lawyer, I guess. They don’t know math beyond dollars times hours.
No. Because he wasn’t going to get the extra 4.6 million. How is explaining it as a five year deal at 65 million better than explaining it as a four year extension at $52 million with a 4.6 signing bonus?
Neifi, Pagan, and Hairston in the line-up today. Maddux pitching with the wind blowing out.
He gets 65 million over 5 years! I dont care what his salary this year was going to be or how much of a signing bonus he got. Who cares if it was a 4 year extension for X amount per year or a 5 year deal for Y amount per year. At the end of 5 years he will have recieved, all total, 65 MILLION DOLLARS! Its not that difficult!!
Pipe down, fishstick.
Because he wasn’t going to get the extra 4.6 million
Correct. He’s getting that this year. He gets the rest over the next four years. So to divide the $4.6mm over 4 years makes no sense. Just what we expect from Phil.
The only reason that I regretted moving from DC to Chicago three years ago was that I would no longer have easy access to listening to Czaban. His partner on his DC show (which I assume is still on the air), Andy Polian, is very good as well, and the son of the owner of the Washington Bullets.
I hate Skiles. Skiles must have had sex with my wife, or something.
The R.B.I. Baseball clip of Game 6 was fantastic. He managed to sync up the Game 6 audio of the bat hitting the ball with the R.B.I. Baseball simulation. Nice details.
Though the stats shown at the end of the game are completey off. 30-some Ks?
This guy went through the effort of tweaking the rosters of the 87 BoSox and Mets so that players like Kevin Mitchell (who played 87 with the Pads and Giants, but 86 with the darling Mets) are present, but he couldn’t do a simple Photoshop job on the scoreboard at the end? C’mon, buddy.
Chuck has referenced me to mock Phil Rogers.
There isn’t an episode of me guest-starring Derrek Lee in a quest to get more money added to his contract, but there should be.