My eternal vigilance has finally paid off. The Hawk was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday. Dawson used the podium to echo sentiments expressed by Ryne Sandberg a few years ago when he endorsed Dawson for the Hall by talking about playing the game the right way. Andre talked about loving the game of baseball and how it has returned the love to him. Here is the video of his speech.
This post probably doesn't mean I will get back to blogging, just thought it was time to let everyone know I was alive and maybe my next project will be to post something about Ron Santo getting into the Hall and see how long it takes for that plea to be heard.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday, January 7, 2008
Dawson for the Hall
Voting results for the Hall of Fame will be announced tomorrow and consensus expectations are that Goose Gossage will get the call with Jim Rice and Andre Dawson on the bubble with a chance to get the necessary votes.
Now, I'm too young to remember much about Gossage or Rice, but I am going to take this opportunity to cast my vote for Andre Dawson. Now, I will confess to some amount of bias because he was on the Cubs in the late 1980's when I really started getting into baseball. I liked to mimmick his batting stance when playing tennis-court baseball. The Hawk was intimidating to opposing pitchers and gave his all on the field, including both knees.
Back then I liked him simply because he was a great player on my favorite team. He won the MVP award for a last place team in 1987, hit 49 HRs, drove in 137 runs and took 24 stitches after getting beaned in the face by Eric Show in a July 27th game.
Nowadays, I like Dawson not only because he was a great Cub, but as I have discovered, he was a great player his whole career - one worthy of being in the Hall of Fame. Below are the most convincing statistics and comparisons I have come across.
Let's start with the stats:
438 HRS - everyone ahead of that number on the career list except Dave Kingman is either in the HOF, not yet eligible, or has been implicated in the steroid era.
1,591 RBIs - same comment as HRs, with Harold Baines swapped for Dave Kingman
2,774 Hits - same comment as for RBIs
Now let's combine some stats to put him in some elite company
- Along with Willie Mays and Barry Bonds, he is one of only 3 players with over 400HR and 300SB
- The first man with 12 straight seasons of double-digit HRs and SBs
During his career, from 1976-1996, the leaders in HRs were:
1)Eddie Murray, 2)Mike Schmidt, 3)Andre Dawson, and 4)Dave Winfield (those other three are all in the HOF).
During his career, from 1976-1996, the leaders in RBIs were:
1)Eddie Murray, 2)Dave Winfield, 3)Andre Dawson, 4) George Brett, and 5)Cal Ripken Jr. (those other four are all in the HOF).
Now let's do awards: Andre Dawson won 8 gold glove awards, was an 8-time All Star, 4-time winner of the Silver Slugger, and won the 1987 MVP while finishing 2nd in MVP voting two other times (1981 and 1983).
So, there it is. The numbers speak for themselves, especially the way I have presented them. But there are two more tidbits I'd like to mention about The Hawk. This is a man who even after he had finished 2nd in two MVP votes and at 32 was still in the prime of his career, went to the Cubs spring training camp in Arizona during 1987 and handed them a blank check and told them to fill it in so he could play for them. As baseball owners are known to do, they screwed him and only gave him a $500K contract with limited incentives for making the All-Star team, starting the All-Star game and winning the MVP. Well, he went out and did all three that year, earning him the big contract he deserved.
Finally, the best 2nd baseman of all time and one of the greatest Cubs ever to wear the uniform personally endorsed Dawson for the Hall in his own HOF acceptance speech. I quote:
" Andre Dawson, the Hawk. No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson. He's the best I've ever seen. Stand up Hawk. The Hawk. I watched him win MVP for a last place team in 1987 and it was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen in baseball. He did it the right way, the natural way and he did it in the field and on the bases and in every way, and I hope he will stand up here someday."
You said it, Ryno.
Now, I'm too young to remember much about Gossage or Rice, but I am going to take this opportunity to cast my vote for Andre Dawson. Now, I will confess to some amount of bias because he was on the Cubs in the late 1980's when I really started getting into baseball. I liked to mimmick his batting stance when playing tennis-court baseball. The Hawk was intimidating to opposing pitchers and gave his all on the field, including both knees.
Back then I liked him simply because he was a great player on my favorite team. He won the MVP award for a last place team in 1987, hit 49 HRs, drove in 137 runs and took 24 stitches after getting beaned in the face by Eric Show in a July 27th game.
Nowadays, I like Dawson not only because he was a great Cub, but as I have discovered, he was a great player his whole career - one worthy of being in the Hall of Fame. Below are the most convincing statistics and comparisons I have come across.
Let's start with the stats:
438 HRS - everyone ahead of that number on the career list except Dave Kingman is either in the HOF, not yet eligible, or has been implicated in the steroid era.
1,591 RBIs - same comment as HRs, with Harold Baines swapped for Dave Kingman
2,774 Hits - same comment as for RBIs
Now let's combine some stats to put him in some elite company
- Along with Willie Mays and Barry Bonds, he is one of only 3 players with over 400HR and 300SB
- The first man with 12 straight seasons of double-digit HRs and SBs
During his career, from 1976-1996, the leaders in HRs were:
1)Eddie Murray, 2)Mike Schmidt, 3)Andre Dawson, and 4)Dave Winfield (those other three are all in the HOF).
During his career, from 1976-1996, the leaders in RBIs were:
1)Eddie Murray, 2)Dave Winfield, 3)Andre Dawson, 4) George Brett, and 5)Cal Ripken Jr. (those other four are all in the HOF).
Now let's do awards: Andre Dawson won 8 gold glove awards, was an 8-time All Star, 4-time winner of the Silver Slugger, and won the 1987 MVP while finishing 2nd in MVP voting two other times (1981 and 1983).
So, there it is. The numbers speak for themselves, especially the way I have presented them. But there are two more tidbits I'd like to mention about The Hawk. This is a man who even after he had finished 2nd in two MVP votes and at 32 was still in the prime of his career, went to the Cubs spring training camp in Arizona during 1987 and handed them a blank check and told them to fill it in so he could play for them. As baseball owners are known to do, they screwed him and only gave him a $500K contract with limited incentives for making the All-Star team, starting the All-Star game and winning the MVP. Well, he went out and did all three that year, earning him the big contract he deserved.
Finally, the best 2nd baseman of all time and one of the greatest Cubs ever to wear the uniform personally endorsed Dawson for the Hall in his own HOF acceptance speech. I quote:
" Andre Dawson, the Hawk. No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson. He's the best I've ever seen. Stand up Hawk. The Hawk. I watched him win MVP for a last place team in 1987 and it was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen in baseball. He did it the right way, the natural way and he did it in the field and on the bases and in every way, and I hope he will stand up here someday."
You said it, Ryno.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Fukudome, Prior & Mitchell
For the second year in a row, the Cubs have landed their #1 offseason free-agent target. Last year they got Alfonso Soriano for a mere $136 million to play left field and bat leadoff. This year they toned down their spending by signing Kosuke Fukudome for $48 million to play right field. The money is flowing out of Wrigley and the fans continue to flow in, with the expectation that there will be a celebration in 2008, and not the 100-year anniversary party that some of you are thinking about.
* * *
Late last night, the Cubs decided not to offer Mark Prior arbitration, thereby making him a free agent. This was inevitable when Prior refused to sign an incentive-laden contract with a club option year for 2009. He did not have the same sense of loyalty that Kerry Wood had last year and again this year. Prior felt he didn't owe the Cubs anything in return for the almost $7M they had paid him over the last 2 years in exchange for pitching in 9 games and earning 1 victory.
It is possible that he could recover to his greatness of 2003 and make some team (likely SD Padres) very happy. But, I won't feel bad about losing him, not only because he has no loyalty, but because he is a pansy. He whined that he wasn't hurt multiple times but then wouldn't take the mound and eventually said he was hurt. He is an evil-twin mirror image of Kerry Wood. Prior wanted to be a great pitcher and recover from injury, but he wasn't willing to work through it like Kerry has just as often. I would much rather have a player like Kerry than Prior.
* * *
The Mitchell report was released today and implicated 86 individuals as users of performance enhancing drugs. Big names like Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Miguel Tejada, David Justice, and Mo Vaughn were included in the report. But one name was conspicuously absent from the list of the guilty.
Sammy Sosa
His name is mentioned once in the report, as one of many players whose lawyers' were sent a questionnaire and never returned it. Of course, it is possible Sammy had a different source than many of the players identified today. But, if that is the case, the source has stayed loyal and silent, and none of Sammy's teammates have ever implicated him other than saying that his body got a lot bigger over a few years.
I am starting to think that Sammy's Hall of Fame application is looking a lot better with over 600 home runs and no direct link to performance enhancers.
* * *
Late last night, the Cubs decided not to offer Mark Prior arbitration, thereby making him a free agent. This was inevitable when Prior refused to sign an incentive-laden contract with a club option year for 2009. He did not have the same sense of loyalty that Kerry Wood had last year and again this year. Prior felt he didn't owe the Cubs anything in return for the almost $7M they had paid him over the last 2 years in exchange for pitching in 9 games and earning 1 victory.
It is possible that he could recover to his greatness of 2003 and make some team (likely SD Padres) very happy. But, I won't feel bad about losing him, not only because he has no loyalty, but because he is a pansy. He whined that he wasn't hurt multiple times but then wouldn't take the mound and eventually said he was hurt. He is an evil-twin mirror image of Kerry Wood. Prior wanted to be a great pitcher and recover from injury, but he wasn't willing to work through it like Kerry has just as often. I would much rather have a player like Kerry than Prior.
* * *
The Mitchell report was released today and implicated 86 individuals as users of performance enhancing drugs. Big names like Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Miguel Tejada, David Justice, and Mo Vaughn were included in the report. But one name was conspicuously absent from the list of the guilty.
Sammy Sosa
His name is mentioned once in the report, as one of many players whose lawyers' were sent a questionnaire and never returned it. Of course, it is possible Sammy had a different source than many of the players identified today. But, if that is the case, the source has stayed loyal and silent, and none of Sammy's teammates have ever implicated him other than saying that his body got a lot bigger over a few years.
I am starting to think that Sammy's Hall of Fame application is looking a lot better with over 600 home runs and no direct link to performance enhancers.
Friday, December 7, 2007
The Angry Young Man is Back
It took Billy Joel to rouse me out of the funk I have been in since the Cubs went down in 3 games to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
I attended the concert at the new Sprint Center in Kansas City with a friend of mine. Other than some tightly packed seats (gotta maximize revenues), the venue was nice and the sound was pretty good. The same can not be said about the food we had beforehand at a local bar. But I digress.
Billy was his normal awesome self. Dressed in his typical fare - blue jeans, a black tee shirt with a black sports jacket over it, and some black shoes. He hadn't put on any weight since last time I saw him, but his hair continues to thin. But as Billy quipped, "It's not about having less hair, it's about getting more head."
He played most of the hits, a few lesser-known tunes, a new song he wrote about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (I am not a fan of political commentary at concerts - I went there to be entertained, not lectured), and even threw in some piano-only Christmas songs. It was disappointing, but not surprising, how few people could sing along on the two religious Christmas songs he played. He started about 15 minutes late, but said he was waiting for the late arrivers because there was bad weather outside, and he played for almost exactly 2 hours.
I am pretty sure I will go see Billy every time he comes around. He puts on a great show. He still knows how to sing, has fun with the audience, and plays one-hell of a piano. Below is the playlist from the concert. The link for the first song is to a YouTube video of Billy opening a concert in April. There are other YouTube links that show the talent that goes into playing the first part of that song where he is banging the piano keys with tremendous speed. He gets extra points from me for using music from The Natural as a lead-in to his on-stage opening.
Angry Young Man
Jingle Bells - piano only
My Life
Everybody Loves You Now
The Entertainer
Vienna*
Allentown
Zanzibar
Hark The Herald Angels Sing - piano only
New York State Of Mind
Sleigh Ride - piano only
Root Beer Rag
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Keeping The Faith
Don't Ask Me Why
She's Always a Woman
River Of Dreams
Christmas In Fallujah
We Didn't Start The Fire
Big Shot
It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
You May Be Right
-------------------------------
Encore:
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Only The Good Die Young
Angels We Have Heard On High - piano only
Piano Man
* - Billy gave the audience a choice of songs: 1) Summer Highland Falls, 2) She's Right On Time, and 3) Vienna. I didn't vote because I don't really know any of them, but Vienna was the only one I had heard of.
I attended the concert at the new Sprint Center in Kansas City with a friend of mine. Other than some tightly packed seats (gotta maximize revenues), the venue was nice and the sound was pretty good. The same can not be said about the food we had beforehand at a local bar. But I digress.
Billy was his normal awesome self. Dressed in his typical fare - blue jeans, a black tee shirt with a black sports jacket over it, and some black shoes. He hadn't put on any weight since last time I saw him, but his hair continues to thin. But as Billy quipped, "It's not about having less hair, it's about getting more head."
He played most of the hits, a few lesser-known tunes, a new song he wrote about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (I am not a fan of political commentary at concerts - I went there to be entertained, not lectured), and even threw in some piano-only Christmas songs. It was disappointing, but not surprising, how few people could sing along on the two religious Christmas songs he played. He started about 15 minutes late, but said he was waiting for the late arrivers because there was bad weather outside, and he played for almost exactly 2 hours.
I am pretty sure I will go see Billy every time he comes around. He puts on a great show. He still knows how to sing, has fun with the audience, and plays one-hell of a piano. Below is the playlist from the concert. The link for the first song is to a YouTube video of Billy opening a concert in April. There are other YouTube links that show the talent that goes into playing the first part of that song where he is banging the piano keys with tremendous speed. He gets extra points from me for using music from The Natural as a lead-in to his on-stage opening.
Angry Young Man
Jingle Bells - piano only
My Life
Everybody Loves You Now
The Entertainer
Vienna*
Allentown
Zanzibar
Hark The Herald Angels Sing - piano only
New York State Of Mind
Sleigh Ride - piano only
Root Beer Rag
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Keeping The Faith
Don't Ask Me Why
She's Always a Woman
River Of Dreams
Christmas In Fallujah
We Didn't Start The Fire
Big Shot
It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
You May Be Right
-------------------------------
Encore:
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Only The Good Die Young
Angels We Have Heard On High - piano only
Piano Man
* - Billy gave the audience a choice of songs: 1) Summer Highland Falls, 2) She's Right On Time, and 3) Vienna. I didn't vote because I don't really know any of them, but Vienna was the only one I had heard of.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Wait till.... (you know the rest)
Baseball season is over. At least for us loyalist Cubs fans that could care less who wins the WS now that we are out of the running. Of course, we are also happy to see that the Cardinals and Yankees also won't be winning it this year.
I don't feel like going through all the gory details of the Cubs series against the Diamondbacks. It can be summed up in two numbers. 2 and 23. The first number is the number of hits the Cubs had with runners in scoring position. The second number is the number of times the Cubs had a chance to get a hit with runners in scoring position. That is a success rate of 8.7%, or rather a failure rate of 91.3%. You don't win series with a stat like that.
So, even though I won't watch another game this year, here are the only interesting stories I can come up with for the remaining playoff teams.
If the Indians win the AL, this World Series will have the worst television ratings since.....well, since the television was invented. It doesn't even matter who wins the NL, not a lot of interest in either Arizona or Colorado teams.
The only thing I am rooting for is to have the Rockies sweep every series they are in. They already have gone 17-1 over their last 18 games. If they can sweep the Diamondbacks and sweep the World Series, they will have finished the season 25-1, going 14-1 in their last 2 weeks of the regular season just to make it into the playoffs. That would be pretty cool.
* * *
I always like a good baseball movie. Field of Dreams, The Natural, Bull Durham are a few of the all-time greats. This weekend is the premiere of The Final Season. Based on the lack of hype I am hearing about this, it probably won't challenge those others in commercial success. But, I will definitely go see it as soon as possible (might be tough with a new baby in the house) because it is a story told about a team from the county where I grew up in Iowa.
The state folded the Norway high school into my high school (Benton Community) in the fall of 1991 (beginning of my junior year). This movie is the story of the summer of 1991 and the last season of baseball for the Norway high school, a team that had won 19 state titles before that year.
I am a little concerned that my school will come off looking like the villains. My concern was obviously shared by the current administrators that would not allow the name Benton Community to be used in the film. But, I obviously had nothing to do with the consolidation, so I don't care too much if Benton looks bad.
I will say that the Benton baseball team got much better in 1992 when the Norway boys joined our group. We didn't win state, but we at least got closer. I was relegated to the bench so that our school's quarterback could take my rightful place in right field. Maybe I should blame the Norway boys for that because if they hadn't been there, the QB may have played the infield, which was dominated by the Norway players.
Anyway, I encourage people to see it. Two of my Norway baseball buddies, Tim Arp and Jim Schulte, are portrayed in the movie, at 3B and 2B respectively. They may have been better ballplayers than me, but I could dominate them when it came to throwing the APBA dice.
I don't feel like going through all the gory details of the Cubs series against the Diamondbacks. It can be summed up in two numbers. 2 and 23. The first number is the number of hits the Cubs had with runners in scoring position. The second number is the number of times the Cubs had a chance to get a hit with runners in scoring position. That is a success rate of 8.7%, or rather a failure rate of 91.3%. You don't win series with a stat like that.
So, even though I won't watch another game this year, here are the only interesting stories I can come up with for the remaining playoff teams.
If the Indians win the AL, this World Series will have the worst television ratings since.....well, since the television was invented. It doesn't even matter who wins the NL, not a lot of interest in either Arizona or Colorado teams.
The only thing I am rooting for is to have the Rockies sweep every series they are in. They already have gone 17-1 over their last 18 games. If they can sweep the Diamondbacks and sweep the World Series, they will have finished the season 25-1, going 14-1 in their last 2 weeks of the regular season just to make it into the playoffs. That would be pretty cool.
* * *
I always like a good baseball movie. Field of Dreams, The Natural, Bull Durham are a few of the all-time greats. This weekend is the premiere of The Final Season. Based on the lack of hype I am hearing about this, it probably won't challenge those others in commercial success. But, I will definitely go see it as soon as possible (might be tough with a new baby in the house) because it is a story told about a team from the county where I grew up in Iowa.
The state folded the Norway high school into my high school (Benton Community) in the fall of 1991 (beginning of my junior year). This movie is the story of the summer of 1991 and the last season of baseball for the Norway high school, a team that had won 19 state titles before that year.
I am a little concerned that my school will come off looking like the villains. My concern was obviously shared by the current administrators that would not allow the name Benton Community to be used in the film. But, I obviously had nothing to do with the consolidation, so I don't care too much if Benton looks bad.
I will say that the Benton baseball team got much better in 1992 when the Norway boys joined our group. We didn't win state, but we at least got closer. I was relegated to the bench so that our school's quarterback could take my rightful place in right field. Maybe I should blame the Norway boys for that because if they hadn't been there, the QB may have played the infield, which was dominated by the Norway players.
Anyway, I encourage people to see it. Two of my Norway baseball buddies, Tim Arp and Jim Schulte, are portrayed in the movie, at 3B and 2B respectively. They may have been better ballplayers than me, but I could dominate them when it came to throwing the APBA dice.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Expect 3 More Games
The Cubs lost Game 2 of the best-of-5 series against the Arizona Diamondbacks last night by a score of 8-4. (I won't dissect the game like I did yesterday - the problem was we gave up 8 runs, simple as that). That puts them in an 0-2 hole as the series heads to Chicago for the next 2 games. As a Cubs fan, I went into the playoffs hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst (heartbreak is easier to handle if you are prepared for that possibility). But getting swept is not the "worst" that I had in mind.
I fully expect the series to go 5 games, and here is why. The Cubs getting swept out of the playoffs is not painful enough. It's not like being up 2-0 in a best of 5 and losing the next 3 (1984) or being up 3-1 in a best of seven and again losing the next 3 (2003). If the Cubs were going to disappoint their fans, they would certainly do it in a much more painful way.
They tried to collapse at the end of the season - knowing that if they lost a 3 1/2 game lead in the last week, that would certainly invoke some pain. But once they saw the Brewers weren't going to hold up their end of the bargain, they decided they might as well just win a couple. Now that they are in the playoffs, they can't just go 3 and out.
So, expect them to pull out victories in both games over the weekend in Chicago, thereby ratcheting up the pain factor on a loss in game 5. But, if they do win games 3 and 4, I would actually expect them to win again in game 5 as the young Diamondbacks could start feeling the pressure of an elimination game and would have just endured a loss by their ace pitcher in game 4. Besides, the Cubs know that a game 5 loss in the first round would not be nearly as painful as a game 7 loss in the next round, with the World Series in sight.
Cubs fans - be prepared.
I fully expect the series to go 5 games, and here is why. The Cubs getting swept out of the playoffs is not painful enough. It's not like being up 2-0 in a best of 5 and losing the next 3 (1984) or being up 3-1 in a best of seven and again losing the next 3 (2003). If the Cubs were going to disappoint their fans, they would certainly do it in a much more painful way.
They tried to collapse at the end of the season - knowing that if they lost a 3 1/2 game lead in the last week, that would certainly invoke some pain. But once they saw the Brewers weren't going to hold up their end of the bargain, they decided they might as well just win a couple. Now that they are in the playoffs, they can't just go 3 and out.
So, expect them to pull out victories in both games over the weekend in Chicago, thereby ratcheting up the pain factor on a loss in game 5. But, if they do win games 3 and 4, I would actually expect them to win again in game 5 as the young Diamondbacks could start feeling the pressure of an elimination game and would have just endured a loss by their ace pitcher in game 4. Besides, the Cubs know that a game 5 loss in the first round would not be nearly as painful as a game 7 loss in the next round, with the World Series in sight.
Cubs fans - be prepared.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Thursday Morning Manager
The Cubs dropped game 1 of the NL Divisional Series last night 3-1. I will blame the loss on a lack of clutch hitting (Cubs were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and twice had the leadoff hitter on second base with nobody out and neither time did he even get to third). The Diamondbacks were 0-for-4 with RISP, but did get a sacrifice fly and two solo home runs. That is the real reason we lost.
Now let me share why people will say we lost. Most media people will say Piniella pulled Zambrano too early, choosing to take him out after 6 innings and 85 pitches with the game tied at 1 and the Diamondbacks having only one person reach 2nd base since the first inning (and that was the solo homer in the 4th).
But, I will argue that Piniella did not take Zambrano out soon enough. He let the pitcher bat with the bases loaded and 2 out after the Cubs had tied the game in the top of the 6th inning. Granted, Zambrano had doubled his first time up and hit a hard line drive to shortstop his second time up, but I would much rather have Daryle Ward and his .327 average at the plate with a chance to drive in some big runs that leave it up to the pitcher.
I mean, if he had the faith in the bullpen to pull Zambrano after 6 innings and 85 pitches, why not have that same faith after 5 innings? To me, the big mistake was not using a pinch hitter, and I will agree with everyone else that once that mistake was made, it was compounded by pulling Zambrano after only 1/2 more inning. He was dominating the D-Backs.
Piniella pulled Zambrano because he is planning on using him on Sunday for Game 4 after only 3 days rest (a risk in and of itself). But, a Chicago Tribune writer put it best today when he said in the playoffs the rules are 1) Win the game that's in front of you, and 2) There is no rule #2.
Ted Lilly vs. Doug Davis tonight - a battle of lefties. Cubs need to get this one or it could be a very short postseason.
Now let me share why people will say we lost. Most media people will say Piniella pulled Zambrano too early, choosing to take him out after 6 innings and 85 pitches with the game tied at 1 and the Diamondbacks having only one person reach 2nd base since the first inning (and that was the solo homer in the 4th).
But, I will argue that Piniella did not take Zambrano out soon enough. He let the pitcher bat with the bases loaded and 2 out after the Cubs had tied the game in the top of the 6th inning. Granted, Zambrano had doubled his first time up and hit a hard line drive to shortstop his second time up, but I would much rather have Daryle Ward and his .327 average at the plate with a chance to drive in some big runs that leave it up to the pitcher.
I mean, if he had the faith in the bullpen to pull Zambrano after 6 innings and 85 pitches, why not have that same faith after 5 innings? To me, the big mistake was not using a pinch hitter, and I will agree with everyone else that once that mistake was made, it was compounded by pulling Zambrano after only 1/2 more inning. He was dominating the D-Backs.
Piniella pulled Zambrano because he is planning on using him on Sunday for Game 4 after only 3 days rest (a risk in and of itself). But, a Chicago Tribune writer put it best today when he said in the playoffs the rules are 1) Win the game that's in front of you, and 2) There is no rule #2.
Ted Lilly vs. Doug Davis tonight - a battle of lefties. Cubs need to get this one or it could be a very short postseason.
Friday, September 28, 2007
CUBS WIN - CUBS WIN - HOLY COW!!
Although it took longer than I had hoped, the Cubs wrapped up the National League Central Division tonight with a win over the Reds, coupled with Greg Maddux notching his 347th career win in a game against the Brewers. Now the Cubs only need 11 more wins to erase 99 years of bad memories. Go get 'em!
* * *
Quote of the week - from Cubs fan Bill Murray when talking about following the Cubs in their quest to clinch the Division Title: "I've never been to Cincinnati, and I was trying to keep that record intact."
* * *
Quote of the week - from Cubs fan Bill Murray when talking about following the Cubs in their quest to clinch the Division Title: "I've never been to Cincinnati, and I was trying to keep that record intact."
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Cubs Winning! -- Barry's Ball to Visit Space Station?
The Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds last night with an impressive 3-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning. Of course, they still left 11 runners on base, something that will have to be fixed if they want to start winning consistently.
I get the feeling that the NL Central race is going to come down to the last day. Especially if teams like the Astros keep rolling over for the Brewers. The Astros removed Woody Williams and Roy Oswalt from their projected starts against the Brewers this week and replaced them with two rookies with ERAs over 6.0. The Reds are out of the race too, but the Cubs will face their #1 and #2 starters twice over the next two weeks.
* * *
The person who bought Barry Bonds' 756th home run ball is letting the public decide what to do with it. He has set up a website to allow fans to vote on the treatment of the ball. The options are 1) send it to Cooperstown, 2) brand it with an asterisk and then send it to Cooperstown, or 3) put it in a rocket and fire it off into space. Although I thought #3 was interesting - out of sight, out of mind - I ultimately felt like that was the easy way out - just ignore the issue.
I decided to vote for #2 - mark it with an asterisk. As much as I hate to admit it, Bonds was probably the best player of my generation to this point (A-Rod, Pujols, or some other younger guys could surpass him). He has won 7 MVPs (he won 3 in the early 90s, before he was "enhanced") - the last person to win even 3 MVPs was Mike Schmidt. I have no doubt in my mind that he used drugs to keep himself in shape to play baseball at this level well into his 40s. So, even though he was a great player and would have been a HOFer even ignoring everything since 2000, I still feel he deserves an asterisk on his record-breaking ball because I really doubt he would have been able to reach that number if he wasn't using drugs to elevate his physical condition.
I doubt I would put an asterisk in the record books next to his stats, because he technically never broke any rules that baseball had in place. But, marking the record-breaking ball at least recognizes the fact that he didn't get that record in the proper way.
I get the feeling that the NL Central race is going to come down to the last day. Especially if teams like the Astros keep rolling over for the Brewers. The Astros removed Woody Williams and Roy Oswalt from their projected starts against the Brewers this week and replaced them with two rookies with ERAs over 6.0. The Reds are out of the race too, but the Cubs will face their #1 and #2 starters twice over the next two weeks.
* * *
The person who bought Barry Bonds' 756th home run ball is letting the public decide what to do with it. He has set up a website to allow fans to vote on the treatment of the ball. The options are 1) send it to Cooperstown, 2) brand it with an asterisk and then send it to Cooperstown, or 3) put it in a rocket and fire it off into space. Although I thought #3 was interesting - out of sight, out of mind - I ultimately felt like that was the easy way out - just ignore the issue.
I decided to vote for #2 - mark it with an asterisk. As much as I hate to admit it, Bonds was probably the best player of my generation to this point (A-Rod, Pujols, or some other younger guys could surpass him). He has won 7 MVPs (he won 3 in the early 90s, before he was "enhanced") - the last person to win even 3 MVPs was Mike Schmidt. I have no doubt in my mind that he used drugs to keep himself in shape to play baseball at this level well into his 40s. So, even though he was a great player and would have been a HOFer even ignoring everything since 2000, I still feel he deserves an asterisk on his record-breaking ball because I really doubt he would have been able to reach that number if he wasn't using drugs to elevate his physical condition.
I doubt I would put an asterisk in the record books next to his stats, because he technically never broke any rules that baseball had in place. But, marking the record-breaking ball at least recognizes the fact that he didn't get that record in the proper way.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
New Addition
That is not "New Edition" - although readers of the blog might think I would write about them since they are a musical group from the 80's and I have professed my love for that genre of music.
No, the spelling on the title is correct. The "New Addition" is a baby girl named Carrie Joanne that entered the world at 9:09am on Thursday, August 30th.
Mommy and baby are doing well and are actually getting some sleep (in 2-3 hour increments).
As I did with the birth of my first daughter, I cried in the delivery room. The emotion was a mix of joy from seeing my child fresh out of the womb and feelings of pride and relief for my wife.
The first birth was completed after 3 days of being tipped with her feet above her head in a hospital bed while the doctors administered steroids to help speed the lung development of the baby that was going to come out 3 months before it was supposed to. That was a mentally grueling 3 days for me and I could only imagine what it must have been like for Amy.
This time, the delivery was scheduled, but no one expected it to happen so fast (less than an hour from start to finish), so Amy had to go through the full-sized delivery without any drugs.
I have no idea what that would actually feel like.... and I'm glad. I prefer my tears to be for joyful reason, not painful ones.
No, the spelling on the title is correct. The "New Addition" is a baby girl named Carrie Joanne that entered the world at 9:09am on Thursday, August 30th.
Mommy and baby are doing well and are actually getting some sleep (in 2-3 hour increments).
As I did with the birth of my first daughter, I cried in the delivery room. The emotion was a mix of joy from seeing my child fresh out of the womb and feelings of pride and relief for my wife.
The first birth was completed after 3 days of being tipped with her feet above her head in a hospital bed while the doctors administered steroids to help speed the lung development of the baby that was going to come out 3 months before it was supposed to. That was a mentally grueling 3 days for me and I could only imagine what it must have been like for Amy.
This time, the delivery was scheduled, but no one expected it to happen so fast (less than an hour from start to finish), so Amy had to go through the full-sized delivery without any drugs.
I have no idea what that would actually feel like.... and I'm glad. I prefer my tears to be for joyful reason, not painful ones.
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