Bruiser Chong

He looks like the man child that works at a GameStop I frequent now and again. That guy can probably hit a little better, though.

More people talk about the Yanks/BoSox. Me and Czech just do enough Cubs talking/bitching for seven or eight people.

P.S. an interesting note: the Cubs have now left 40 men on base in the four games on this road trip from hell. The two runs they've scored have been from a solo homer and a bases loaded walk from Greg Maddux. But we don't have Lee, Wood, and Prior so __________. I love excuses.

Man, this team sucks. I'm tired of all this speed and smallball talk. They have five steals; none have scored. They have tried the sac bunt; once unsuccessfully. The next time, Todd Walker, one of their best hitters, gives himself up to move the runner over. All to let our new cleanup hitter, Jacque Jones strike out swinging for the first time. And we lost as I typed this and about four minutes after I said I hoped they'd lose.

THE STREAK IS OVER!!!

I'm not too torn up about the Tigers losing and I know they love to overpay overhyped closers, but why isn't Fernando Rodney closing?

Just watching a handful of games, I've seen several runners picked off already. Stolen bases are helpful in some cases, but it's still seems silly to risk giving up a runner, especially when he's picked off. Izzy is still looking wild. Although the runs were charged to Looper, it's a one-run game thanks to Izzy.

He's got a nagging leg/knee/hamstring injury..still want him? See, he's a Cub already.

The D-Train hasn't looked too sharp the last couple starts. Granted he's faced some hot offenses, but he's losing games because of his own pitching, not because his team isn't scoring runs for him. And the O's do suck. They should unload Tejada...to the Cubs.

That's really the only difference of having the Cavs there instead of the Wizards. They'll get slaughtered, but Lebron = primetime slots. I guess that makes me happy, since the Pistons get showcased.

Shut out again thanks to Hairston's poor placement on a stolen base attempt and Juan Pierre's lack of any sort of throwing arm. I seriously laughed when Len said there was going to be a play at the plate. It was hit to center; no there wasn't.

Twenty-five innings without a run.

I hate the sac bunt. Especially when your on-deck hitter is Neifi Perez and you can't lay the bunt down.

Oh my fucking god. Freddie Bynum drops a routine flyball that was in the air for DAYS, putting runners at first and second in a scoreless game in the ninth. That's two errors and zero hits for the schmuck. And Matt Murton rides the pine. Brilliant.

I just home. Someone explain why Freddie Bynum is not only playing in place of Matt Murton, but batting second? Funny how when Zambrano's actually great, he gets no support.

That's actually been going around for the last week or so. From what I've heard, the candidates are Wilson, Millar, Conine, and Clark. Wilson, as I said, makes the most sense to me, so if I had to guess, they'll probably give up a decent prospect to get Millar or Clark.

The point is, naiwf, is that it's easy to tell people to relax about a team's downright horrible play when your team of choice has such a comfortable lead in what looks to be a mediocre division. Pondering this lack of Cubs offense further, Craig Wilson comes to mind. I read he's still available, even with Casey gone. The way I see it, Wilson could fill in at first to allow Walker to move back to second, so we'd never have to ponder the idea of a Hairston/Perez/BYNUM platoon at second. And the days the Cubs face lefties, he could play right, thus allow Jacque not to look like an absurd fool. The latter part could continue even after Lee returns. To me, this makes more sense than going out and getting a declining Jeff Conine or a one-dimensional (defensively) Tony Clark. But alas, that makes too much sense and the Cubs don't have a history of fleecing the Pittsburgh Pirates or anything.

But as we've seen, those north siders don't exactly handle adversity well. I'm holding out hope for when the three return from the DL, but with the two pitchers, who knows? Prior might stub a toe and be pushed back to late June.

Twelve more baserunners and no runs. Five runs in the last six games and shut out three times in the last five games. I know teams slump, but no team with playoff aspirations (HA!) look this listless. Probably too early to jump the gun, but damn, can't even the hitting coach be shown the door? I can't believe I wasted all this money on tickets to see a AAA team play.

The funny (or sad) thing is we had him and traded him away. I can't recall for who. Surely someone who never panned out.

I can't believe Freddie Bynum is starting at second. Is Jerry Hairston dead? Cubs look to be well on their way to keeping their one run per game average alive. That is, if they score tonight.

This minor league rotation and speedy offense certainly isn't setting the NL on fire.

Prior's just soft. No getting around it.

Five games, five runs. And it's not like they didn't have the chances. Ten hits and six walks and all they can get is a run, driven in by Greg Maddux, no less. I don't care if it's only May. This team is in trouble if they don't find another approach at the plate.

Cubs make hitting into doubleplays look like an artform.