This Week in Baseball 8/6 - 8/12

[2GOLD 0]

I'm trying to think of a Kirby Puckett joke. I'll get back to you on that.

 

Even with one eye and dead, he'd make a better defensive outfielder than anyone the Cubs have right now.

[vivalaultra 0]

Jason Hirsh pitched five innings last nite against the Brewers after being hit by a line drive in the first inning that broke his leg. He got the win, too, and only gave up 3 hits and 2 ER. He's hardcore!

 

Edit: Hey! Oneuhyou Cubs' fans-Why isn't Ramirez playing? Is he hurt, too?

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Sore wrist, which is precisely what the team needed right now.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

The NL Central needs to be contracted.

[vivalaultra 0]

If the Astros win tonite and take 2 out of 3 against Milwaukee (or even sweep the Brewers), that's gonna make the division race more interesting for sure.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Zambrano just Bo Jacksoned his bat.

 

I can't watch this team right now. Utterly embarrassing. 0-for-27 with RISP in the series.

[vivalaultra 0]

Oswalt just got a hit and he's struck Zambrano out on slow curveballs; I imagine Zambrano plunks an Astros in oh...about the 6th inning.

 

Edit: There's a Mike Fontenot error on a grounder that shoulda ended the inning. Change my guess to the 5th inning, maybe sooner. Maybe Lamb.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Probably. He's up to 80 pitches through four, which is amazing when you consider he only threw nine pitches in the first. I'd be frustrated, too, though. The Cubs could've taken over first on their own and begun to build a nice little lead by now. Instead, we're left wondering if they ever get a hit with RISP again.

[strummer 0]

Bruiser I'd like to know, how is Ron Santo taking this?

[vivalaultra 0]

Well, Lance Berkman's coming around nicely. He just hit a moon shot to dead center up by the Conoco pump at MMP (458 ft.). It's about 108 degrees in Houston today; maybe Big Z didn't drink enough water.

[Brett Favre 0]

Bases loaded, and no outs for the Braves in the 9th down by 1. Francoeur grounds out to Wright (fc to home). Andruw Jones grounds into a double play.

[strummer 0]

Braves down 4-3 in the top of the 9th with bases loaded and 0 out and Billy Wagner pitches out of it.

[Guest Soriano's Torn Quad]

Cubs have conceded the year, I guess. That was unexpected.

[Brett Favre 0]

....

 

"The Cubs don't love me! That must be it!"

[Guest Soriano's Torn Quad]

Well, it's clear that they can't even win the shitty Central with the Brewers spotting them a game every day as of late. I can't explain it. You'd think an almost complete turnover in management would eliminate the white flag mentality under Dusty, when the Cubs gave up after Nomar and Lee's injuries, but here it is: Soriano tears his quad running the bases--the quintessential steroid injury, by the way--and now we can't score a fucking run. Koyie Hill and Cliff Floyd might as well not even take bats up to the plate; just stand there with their thumbs up their asses, praying for four balls, so as not to endanger the runners who actually could get hits.

[Brett Favre 0]

Didn't they just go on a hot streak? They're only like a game back too! All you have to do is keep pace till Soriano comes back. It's not like the Brewers are gangbusters here either. They've lost like 14 out of their last 20, and they also have injuries. So just lose less.

[Guest Soriano's Torn Quad]

They're about to have gone 3-7, pending tonight's loss to the practically eliminated Astros. Soriano is likely out for the year. Ramirez is day-to-day. There's no power in the lineup. I just don't see an end in sight. They're mentally defeated, I can feel it.

[vivalaultra 0]

They're about to have gone 3-7, pending tonight's loss to the practically eliminated Astros. Soriano is likely out for the year. Ramirez is day-to-day. There's no power in the lineup. I just don't see an end in sight. They're mentally defeated, I can feel it.

 

Hey now! 8.5 back with the teams ahead of them playing as shitty as they have been lately + miracle comebacks the last three years='somewhat' eliminated, but not 'practically' eliminated.

 

Edit: And if Ausmus gets his longball working, anything can happen. Before the game, Garner half-jokingly said something about putting a voodoo curse on Zambrano. I guess this game shows that if you have enemies, voodoo is always the way to go.

[Guest]

Hey, quit complaining about the Cubs. At least they're scoring runs.

 

The Dodgers have been shut out in 4 of their last 5. That's fucking pitiful. 3, 1 and 2 is better than 0, 0 and 0. Every time the team can get a little something going someone pulls a Roberto Alomar or Torii Hunter type catch out of their asshole. I broke my remote and felt like screaming. I've never seen anything like this in my life.

[Red Baron 0]

I just got back from the Jays whipping the Yanks tonight. Doc was on fire, and the crowd was electric.

 

The best part of the whole game was the fans in right field ripping on Shelley Duncan.

[cabbageboy 0]

The last thing the world needs is some sort of possible Astros charge at the division title. Anyone else (not from TX) sick of these guys making these late season runs every year after sucking for 3/4 of the season?

 

I still think if the Cardinals can put anything at all together late they could have a shot at the NL Central. Worst division in baseball bar none.

[devo 0]

Billy Wagner's luck has to run out sometime. I'm just glad it wasn't tonight.

 

Phillies slip into second place, half a game ahead of the Braves. It'd be pretty cool if the Mets can win again tomorrow and keep both Philadelphia and Atlanta at arm's length as they enter their series against one another.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Bruiser I'd like to know, how is Ron Santo taking this?

I don't live close enough to get the radio broadcast in clearly enough to not make me bang my head against something, so I only listen to it if I'm in the car. I can't imagine he's taking it too well given their amazing run the last two months.

 

I'm not as down as Czech is, namely because despite all of this, they're still just a game out. On top of that, they won't play this badly forever. It couldn't be expected they'd keep their hot pace, so a stretch like this was bound to come. It's just not encouraging when it happens in the thick of a tight race.

 

This downward slide hasn't come out of nowhere, either. The team was struggling at times to put runs on the board in the weeks leading up to the Soriano injury. Starting pitchers not named Lilly and Zambrano had been performing poorly. Fontenot had been playing over his head and has expectedly regressed.

 

I have to believe the relative lack of stability in the outfield isn't helping matters. Like the middle of the infield last season, the Cubs have a ton of guys capable of the positions, but seemingly no real standouts. That no one in the current outfield is sure to be there on a day-to-day basis can't be great for their psyche. It's a mess Lou needs to figure out, because as it stands, no one in that outfield is producing and that's been a huge problem for the offense since 2005.

 

For all the complaining that was done about the reliability of the longball in 2004, this team's hurting for some power. The revelation of Aramis' wrist woe explains the disappearance of his power, despite remaining productive in RBI situations. Derrek Lee probably can't be relied on to produce the power numbers he did in 2005, but he's certainly a better power hitter than this year has shown. The wrist definitely has something to do with that. Other power sources like Cliff Floyd and Jacque Jones have seen their power evaporate over the course of a season. Six homers between the two isn't cutting it, especially given their defensive shortcomings.

[MFer 0]

Bonds hit a bomb into McCovey Cove tonight. I don't know if that means he's gonna go on a tear to end the season after being relieved of the pressures of 756, but we'll see. He certainly looked better yesterday getting 3 hits.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Steve Stone is the special guest announcer for the White Sox this week.

 

Can someone explain how Arizona is three outs away from being 13 games over .500?

[Guest Soriano's Torn Quad]

Bruiser is never more optimistic than I am. I really must've lost my shit up there, huh.

 

I'd be curious to hear how Hawk Harrelson and Steve Stone can both fit their massive egos into one booth. Also, does Stoney have to go "eeeYESSS!!" with Hawk when the Sox win a game? Does he have to fly solo if they're down a few and Hawk goes to pout/drink/shit/whatever-he-does? This is so fascinating. I hope we get a quality moment like the other day,

 

Darrin Jackson: Did you ever throw a ball to a fan but accidentally hit him with it?

Hawk: ...

DJ: Well, anyway.

 

I don't like the idea of Steve Stone doing Sox games, though. He sat in on the radio side at the beginning of the year when Ed Farmer had a family emergency, and though he did a much better job than Farmio, naturally, it felt wrong. I wish they had moved Chris Singleton to the TV booth for DJ, since everybody knows that all black people look alike, and then let Rongey work with Farmer. That'd be fun.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Hey now, while I'll let loose now and again, I've gotten my act together this season when it comes to how I react to the boys on the North Side. Then again, not being able to watch the majority of their games has certainly helped.

 

It was funny listening to Stone on The Score Monday with Boers and Bernstein, with all three poking fun at Hawk when the subject of Stoney announcing with him was brought up. Stone was obviously more kind, but he didn't gloss things over just because he was going to be sitting next to the man within a matter of hours.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

So Jon Lester beat cancer and made his big comeback to the big leagues... can we send him back down now since it's obvious that he isn't ready to pitch at this level yet? Clay Buchholz is the better pitcher and has actually proven himself in AAA. Time to make the switch.

[Guest]

Just took another look at the schedule. It's favorable enough to grab the Wild Card if the pitching stays as good as it has been. Just have to get through this series with the Cards, but we never beat them.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

The Brewers have been trying to hand the Cubs first place lately, but they won't take it. Just bizarre how this second half has been going.

 

Tony Graffanino was injured yesterday, which might be a positive in that Ned Yost will be forced to shake up the positioning and lineup, since Rickie Weeks is in AAA right now.