You’ve got to hand it to LaTroy Hawkins for one thing, he certainly changed the focus of the media attention with his little “outburst” after his ninth inning exit yesterday. Instead of the media piling on for the Cubs pulling a “passionless collapse” against the Cardinals, now they’re out of control!
It’s Cubs gone wild. You half expect Carlos to pull his shirt up and bare his breasts to America.
What Hawkins did yesterday was embarassing. His side of the story is that after the inning mercifully ended he asked home plate ump Tim Tschida how far some of his pitches missed by. Tim apparently answered with, “I don’t know, the only ones who caught them paid $40 to sit in the bleachers.”
OK, Tschida’s reply wasn’t that witty. But whatever it was, it set Hawkins off.
Now I’m no stranger to outbursts myself. At one point last week when the copy machine jammed I threw it on the floor, kicked it until the toner drum fell out and then I stuck the toner drum in my pants. I had to be restrained by four other employees and just when they thought I’d calmed down I ran back into the copy room and dumped the coffee pot on the copier.
My co-workers have written off FY 2005 already and think we should start trading employees to Kathie Lee Gifford’s “clothing emporium” in Mexico for cheaper, younger workers.
It wasn’t that LaTroy had an outburst, it was that the outburst went on a little too long. Nobody stays that mad that long. After a while, it became an act. An “oooh, look how bad I want to win” kind of act. I’d just as soon you prove your will to win by retiring some hitters without wearing out the rotator cuffs of the fans in left center.
This morning, reality stares us in the face. With just a few days to the real Chicago obsession (the start of Bears’ training camp), the Cubs are 10 games out of first in the NL Central and three games out in the NL Wild Card. Three games is nothing. Last year at this time the Cubs were five games out of a playoff spot.
Did the Cardinals’ clinch a playoff spot yesterday? Yeah, they did. But ask the 2000 White Sox and 2003 Giants how beneficial it can be to run away with your division.
Anyway, that’s good. We can forget about the Cardinals now. In fact, until their plane crashes in a few weeks, and Albie Pujols’ dental records prove he was, indeed, 36 years old at the time the tray table deviated his septum, we can just ignore their existence.
Now we have to worry about a fresh crop of contenders. One of them is in Wrigley today, in fact.
So, let’s size up the Cubs’ competition for the Wild Card.
San Francisco Giants 53-42, three games ahead of the Cubs
Games remaining: at SF August 6-8
The Giants ran off 11 straight wins earlier this year to make up for a horrid start. The thing about the Giants is that they suck. They have one great pitcher and one great hitter. That won’t be enough over the long haul. If you trot studs like Neifi Perez, JT Snow and Michael Tucker out every day, you’ll eventually lose. Matt Herges has blown seven saves so far this year, too.
San Diego Padres 51-42, two games ahead of the Cubs
Games remaining: SD at Cubs August 10-12
The Padres just picked up Rich Aurilia (pause to laugh uproariously) and are constantly rumored to be in the hunt for Steve Finley. They have solid, if not spectacular pitching and if Brian Giles, Phil Nevin and Ryan Klesko can stay healthy the rest of the way (not likely) they’ll be tough.
Cincinnati Reds 50-44, 1.5 games head of the Cubs
Games remaining: Reds at Cubs July 21-22
Cubs at Reds September 16-19
Reds at Cubs September 27-30
The Reds can’t pitch at all and have lost Junior Griffey and Austin Kearns, plus the already slow Sean Casey is still hobbled by a sore calf. But the Cubs seem to find ways to make stars out of guys like Juan Castro and Ryan Freel. Let’s hope they stop this.
Atlanta Braves 49-44, tied with the Cubs*
Braves at Cubs October 1-3
The Braves and Phillies are tied for first in the NL East, so technically only one of them is in the Wild Card hunt, but at this point, nobody knows which is which. The Braves have survived despite a lousy year for Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones only starting to hit now and without Marcus Giles for long stretches of time. They have holes, though, and are still contemplating trading off some of their veterans. But they’ve won 12 straight division titles and will have a hard time seriously considering selling when the Phillies and Marlins seem intent on letting them hang around.
Philadelphia Phillies 49-44, tied with the Cubs*
If you think we’ve got it bad, how’d you like to be a Phillies’ fan? They’ve got a good offense and enough pitching and they managed to miss the playoffs last year and are threatening to do it again. They clearly miss the calming influence of Ivan DeJesus and Garry Maddox.
Milwaukee Brewers 47-45, 1.5 games behind the Cubs
Cubs at Brewers July 26-29
Cubs at Brewers August 17-19
Brewers at Cubs August 23-25
The only way the Brewers continue to sniff the playoffs is if they continue to dominate the Cubs. The Cubs don’t seem to be able to hit an unspectacular Brewers’ pitching staff. As much damage as the Cardinals may have done to the Cubs the last couple days, the Brewers are the key to whether or not the Cubs sac it up and make the playoffs.
Florida Marlins 47-46, two games behind the Cubs
Cubs at Marlins September 3-5
Marlins at Cubs September 10-12
They can’t decide whether to trade off Armando Benitez and Carl Pavano and get ready for next year or if they should make a run at Steve Finley and go for it this year. Odds are that they’ll do neither. Dontrelle has come back to earth (4-5, 4.14 ERA since June 1) and they miss Pudge Rodriguez. They probably don’t miss Derrek Lee all that much, because other than a bad May (.229), Hee Seop Choi has posted averages of .295 (April), .292 (June), .304 (July). But if Josh Beckett’s blisters keep recurring, the Fish are going to have a hard time making a real run.
New York Mets 46-47, three games behind the Cubs
Cubs at Mets September 24-26
The Mets stink, and despite a quick infusion of offense from Richard Hidalgo, they’re going away.
Houston Astros 45-48, four games behind the Cubs
Astros at Cubs August 26-29
Houston is a whopping 1-4 under Phil Garner and they’re not going anywhere.
If the Cubs can play up to their abilities from here on out, they’ll win the Wild Card. Whether that will actually happen is a mystery, however. What didn’t happen yesterday though was the Cubs elimination from the playoff hunt. Not at all. If the Cubs miss the playoffs, it’ll be because they put us through several more excruciating losses before it’s all over.
So, you’ve got that going for you. Which is nice.
———
Paul Sullivan declares the NL Central race over.
Carlos says he enjoys everything.
I’m not saying. But what if the Cubs had let Prior go the first four or five innings and then had Glendon Rusch pitch the next four? That would have worked. Oh, never mind.
Soldier Field will likely lose its landmark status. That’s actually good news for the Bears who will be forever free to make whatever changes they want to it.
Ben Gordon is good.
Mariotti puts down the doughnut to say the Cubs should tear down Wrigley. Or something.
The Wizard of Roz is now publishing medical advice from his readers.
Sports Guy’s vengeance scale.
Some guy named John Hollinger says that Warriors have supplanted the Clips as the NBA’s saddest franchise.
The Marlins are after Steve Finley now. Maybe.
The D’backs have asked for Jorge Posada in the Randy Johnson trade.
Good news San Francisco! Dan Dickau’s girlfriend (wife, whatever she is, she’s hot) is coming to town!
We love you too, Jenna.
I hope she didn’t look like our librarian.
Four Tennessee inmates broke out of jail to get beer. Then came back. They’re all named Otis.
The world’s greatest newspaper is back and it says aliens use e-mail!
I guess Hawkins went off because of an incident TWO FRIGGIN’ YEARS AGO, when Hawk was w/Minnesota. Evidently, whoever the opposing team was on the day in question complained that Hawkins was stealing signs. Tschida, who was umpiring that day, told him to move his folding chair to a different location in the bullpen.
Hawk evidently took exception.
And decided to do something about it.
Two years later.
As a Cub.
If there’s any truth to that, all I can say is…
Great?
Why do we always get stuck with this crap? Hawkins airing out his dirty laundry from when he played for another team? Only with the Cubs, it seems.
My God, I picked a bad day to stop sniffing glue.
:::If the Cubs miss the playoffs, it’ll be because they put us through several more excruciating losses before it’s all over.:::
That will happen unless this team gets an infusion of top of the order talent and a kick in the ass from management to stop whining.
Maybe you guys are losing because you just haven’t played to your ability and it’s not the umpires who are out to get you.
Then again, since Kerry Wood went after the umps in April, they haven’t gotten any breaks. Gee. Who’d a thunk that?
You guys need me.
Andy, your baseball team is alive, but unconscious.
Just like Gerald Ford.
The Cubs, caving in under the pressures of high expectations?
When has THAT ever happened? I mean, since 1970, 71, 72, 73, 85, 90, 99, and 2002?
I homered off the Franchise yesterday in the simulated game.
The sick part is that when reporters talked to him, LaTroy remembered the exact date: August 16th, 2002. What the hell is wrong with this guy? Holding a meaningless grudge like that has to be the sign of some deep seated mental instability. On the plus side, I think there may be 1 or even 2 umpiring crews that the Cubs haven’t managed to alienate this year.
The weird thing about it, if Hawkins was ejected on that particular day, it was so immaterial to that game as well. It was a 6-0 Eric Milton CG shutout of the White Sox in the Metrodome.
Come and visit me in Des Moines
Will you walk me there?
I see the Padres as the big threat to any Cubs’ hope of winning the Wild Card, of course excluding the Cubs and their ability to implode.
The Dodgers seem like they are either going to run away from the NL West or collapse into third. I can’t decide which I want to predict yet. The Giants, as Andy noted, don’t have a lot to go around Bonds and Schmidt.
That leaves the Padres, who have just enough starting-wise, lineup-wise, and bullpen-wise for me to think they have a chance to end up around 91 wins, which is the mark I think the wild card winner will have this year.
The Braves will finish in first in the NL East (They have all the East shaking in their boots now that they have their roster pretty much set), the Mets will fall, and the Marlins won’t finish much over .500 because their offense is way too inconsistent. That leaves the Phillies. Can they get 91 wins? With Larry Bowa there, I don’t think so.
Well, it’s 337 miles from Wrigley Field to Sec Taylor Stadium. Multiply that by 5,280 and then divide that product by 90 feet, that’s 19,771 walks…
Good job writing off the Marlins, Phillies and Giants. Kind of like how the Cardinals were sure to collapse anyday now. That worked out well, too, didn’t it?
Could it be that the Giants keep it up like the Cardinals have done for 90 games? Carp all you want about the hated Cardinals, but they never crumbled, despite desperate predictions of their demise.
It’s still a 5-team Wild Card race. When the Padres finally win it (or the Cubs or the Giants or the Marlins or the Phillies), we’ll let you know so you can fly your Padres flag on Green Street in October.
Wait, I’m an a-hole for losing my head, yet Carlos is awesome when he does stuff like pouts and throws sh1t when his catcher misses a pitch or a bad play is made? At least be consistent — either we’re both hot-assed heros or both morans.
Did I say the Padres would win the wild card? No…
I said that as of now I consider them the Cubs’ biggest threat. There’s nothing wrong with saying that, is there?
If I had one wish in life, it would be to never hear the term "Wild Card" again. It just gives hope when it isn’t deserved.
Let me rephrase. We DESERVE hope. It just isn’t JUSTIFIED.
Oh, sorry, it just sounded like you were peeling yourself out of the ruts of the Cubs bandwagon you tumbled from and were Dusty-ing yourself off in order to look presentable to thumb for the passing Padres bandwagon.
Sure seemed like a San Diego love note from you.
But, you know yourself better than anyone, and I probably should just cool it and go play some NCAA Football.
Leave B.C. alone already. You think his opinions suck, fine. But why insult him in every comments section on the site? Beat a dead horse some more, I don’t think you did the obligatory "B.C. sucks" in the gamecast yet.
Why the F#$% am I playing today?
Poor B.C. I don’t think it’s a matter of insulting him in every comments section. He espoused an opinion and got a differing opinion that pointed out some of the folly of B.C.’s argument.
Anyone that makes an opinion that others have a contray opinion to should be more than able to shoulder some criticism, biting or otherwise.
The cynical nature of this board dictates that disagreements are delivered with maximum venom.
Don’t hate the playuhs, hate the game.
#13/#18, it’s fine if you think any of those other teams are more likely to win the Wild Card than the Padres. It’s just that, as I see it as of now, I think the Padres are the most likely team to be a threat to win the Wild Card from the Cubs’ perspective.
…I’m an assclown…