Confidence Booster

We have all needed a boost of confidence before.  A shot in the arm, someone to tell us to keep our head up, and of course, as Mark Grace would call it, a "slump buster" (sex with an overweight woman).  Something to get us back on track.  One guy who definately needs to get back on track is Mark Prior.  Lou Pinella decided that Mark Prior will be making his next start against the minor league "B" team. 

"His confidence is playing with him a little bit," Piniella said Sunday. "I told him, ‘Look, you have to relax.’ I think this is the right approach. If I didn’t think it was the right approach, I wouldn’t send him down there. He can go down there and relax and just pitch. He doesn’t have to answer to the media. Leave him alone, let him pitch."

Prior was supposed to throw on Thursday, but after a side session with pitching coach Larry Rothchild, that start was pushed back to Friday.  Quick question;  What if Prior gets lit up by a bunch of minor leaguers?  Where will his confidence be then?  What if he still throw a breaking pitch for a strike?  What if his velocity doesn’t go up? With less then a month to go before opening day, Lou really can’t think that Prior will be on the opening day roster.  Not the way he has been throwing.  Pinella willl choose between Wade Miller and Angel Guzman for the fifth starter spot.  As I have said before, I believe that Prior will start the season in Triple A. 

Dempster Gets in on the Giving Spirit

Anout a month ago Michael Barrett announced a donation of $50,000, plus $10,000 for every home run he hits for Project 3000, whose goal is to find a cure for Lebers Congenital Amaurosis (LCA). LCA has affected Lee’s daughter, Jada, and resulted in a loss of vision in one eye. Now closer Ryan Dempster is getting in on the act.  Dempster is making a $50,000 donation to Project 3000 and will contribute $1,000 for every save in 2007. In January, Cubs TV broadcasters Len Kasper and Bob Brenly held a charity concert and raised nearly $53,000, with a portion of that going toward Project 3000.   Could this be something that brings this Cubs team together? Who knows who will be next in offering their support for D-Lee.

"It shows you not only what kind of teammate he is but what kind of person D-Lee is," Dempster said.

It is always great to hear something like this in an age where all the athletes seem to have paternity suits, gun charges, and act like ******.  I wish the national media would pick up on this.

Go Cubs!