The Sun always seems to set on the Cubs.
The goat, 1908, Bartman, Durham, Javy Lopez, Will Clark.
But, with the Nomar trade, can the Cubs, finally, do enough to get the Sun to rise instead of set?
They get 57 games to try to figure that one out.
The lineup, it?s healthy. The starting pitching, it?s healthy. The offensive black hole that was the shortstop position, it?s filled.
Now, can this team make the playoffs? It?s certainly possible. The lineup is filled with power hitters in the middle. Sosa, Alou, Ramirez, and Lee. Garciaparra can hit the homer, as can Patterson and Walker (When he gets more than his one game a week he’s currently getting).
The starting rotation is a little inconsistent at this point. We don?t know what Prior is going to do from start to start. He definitely doesn?t have the pinpoint control he had last season. Is that injury-related, or rust-related?
Wood has pitched fairly well since coming back from the DL. Maddux, Clement, and Zambrano are the three strongest guys going right now in this rotation.
The bullpen is going to be the issue. Leicester has been pretty good, Farnsworth has been good most of the season, and Mercker seems to be coming around. Hawkins isn?t a closer, and his Rod Beck/Joe Borowski performances keep showing that to be the case. However, the bullpen is good enough, I think, to give this team enough to help push the Cubs over the top.
No more excuses for this team. We need to get on a roll. We need to decide on a lineup and stick with it. We need to execute when it comes time to do it. And we don?t need every other runner being thrown out at home plate by 30 feet.
Train This!
Kellen Winslow II decided he didn?t want the biggest contract for a tight end in NFL history a couple days ago. Well, you have to remember, he is a soldier. Or at least he claimed to be in that famous post-game barrage to the media last season while at Miami. The Browns really have to be wondering whether they made the right move drafting this guy.
Urlacher?s hurt! Typical.
I don?t know what to think about the Bears for this season. Lovie Smith seems to have brought a new energy with him. However, this team is still a way off from being a contender. Let?s just stop having the Packers beat us at home, all right?
Other Notes
How is Larry Bowa still with the Phillies?
They are just like the White Sox, only in the National League. They can hit the ball, and have some decent pitching, but they can?t seem to put it together at all.
The Braves are in first in the NL East, and look to be rolling to the playoffs again. Geez, more of that dumb ?Chop? to watch in the playoffs.
Eric Gagne pitched three innings yesterday, helping the Dodgers win in 12 innings over the Padres. Postseason preview? Not if the Dodgers? bullpen, made substantially weaker before the deadline, gets exposed in the next two months.
SportsCenter is doing less sports than ever before. It?s a shame that a show with the word ?sports? in it can?t even cover it for half the show now…
Final Point
The next 12 games are crucial. Colorado is always a tough place to play. The Giants, Padres, and Dodgers will all be tough foes. A 7-5 or an 8-4 would look real nice, in my opinion.
To conclude, I am very excited by the Nomar addition. I think it fills in one of our two biggest holes (The other being the closer spot) before the stretch run. Hopefully, the other shoe doesn’t drop, like it usually does with this team.
San Diego will be no problem if I play! I was the Padre Killer last time.
I’ve been "pretty good"?
Will somebody buy this kid a book on baseball? 3 Walks and 12 hits in 19 innings is better than "pretty good".
It’s "lights out".
Unfortunately I will not pitch against San Diego. I was hoping to nail Benito Santiago in the back again.
Isn’t Benito now with Kansas City?
—–
Sorry, Ice Man, I try not to jinx things.
You mean it isn’t 1987? Stick isn’t my manager?
But I’m still in the dugout, and this Cubs team hits a ton of solo homers.
And just like 1987, one of our biggest acquisitions was an underappreciated star from a team in the Northeast who came to Chicago wearing the number 8.
So, you mention the obvious goat & 1908 in your "lead." But why is everything else mentioned in that sentence either a 1980’s or 1990’s reference?
Cubs baseball existed before 1984.
How is B.C. not on a milk carton?
Is B.C. actually an employee of Stanley? If not they could hire the most complete and utter tool on the market today!
#8, it’s "lede," you jacknut.
Hey, B.C., I thought you threw your final shovelful of dirt on this team’s coffin two weeks ago when you officially jumped onto the Padres’ bandwagon?
#8, just an oversight. And personal references won’t be allowed if it’s part of non-constructive criticism.
#10, whatever.
#12, I did not jump on or off any bandwagon. I’m not a part of any bandwagon. I call them as I see them. My point was (I believe, because I can’t find where I made my Padres’ statement) was that I thought the Padres were the most complete threat to the Cubs’ chances of winning the Wild Card.
I still believe that to be the case, although the Marlins’ additions make me think they might be a player in the Wild Card race when it’s all said and done.
You flip flop more than one of my ties on a windy day. Make up your mind, already: Are these Cubs going to the postseason, or will the Nomar deal be a non-factor as they sink to the bottom of the wild card standings?
You have killed and resurrected this Cubs team so many times, you should start referring to it as "Jesus."
Isn’t it Ledee?
Actually, it’s "lede" or "lead."
"Lede" is old-time newspaper talk, a shorthand of sorts for "lead paragraph." Don’t know how lead is shortened by lede, but oh well.
Of course, journos also change paragraph to graf, and many obsess over the quality of his nutgrafs.
…In any case, this was an example of a weak one.
3156 online poker
2851 this is the online casinos site.
3541 http://www.online-poker-click.com
3503 http://texas-holdem.usyellow.com
6650 thankd for great site
2047 you know sometimes, I wonder if theres anyone at the healm?
If triangles made a god, they would give him three sides. by discount phentermine
The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a human heart. One must imagine that Sisyphus is happy. by slots machine
We are mad, not only individually, but nationally. We check manslaughter and isolated murders; but what of war and the much vaunted crime of slaughtering whole peoples? by backgammon board
Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish. by video poker