It will go down in the books as a loss, but most of the Cubs regulars did a good job, and the Giants did most of there scoring off a couple of scrubs.  The big news of the game was made by a player who wasn’t even on the field.  Aramis Ramirez, who was supposed to make his first spring training start, was a game day scratch. Ramirez said he was suffering from soreness in his right shoulder.

"I’m all right hitting — it’s just throwing the ball," Ramirez said. "Last year, I had the same thing. I don’t know what’s up with that — I don’t do the same kind of throwing that I do in the Dominican in the offseason. I went through it last year. I’ll be all right."

Little disappointing, but on to the game.  Zambrano came out a little wild, giving up a hit, had a fielding error, and threw a wild pitch, giving the Giants an early 1-0 lead, but he was able to settle down, giving up the one unearned run, two hits, with two strike outs and no walks. 

The Cubs offense picked up where it left off, scoring three more runs in the bottom of the first.  Soriano was back at the top of the lineup, and he drew a walk and scored a run, but was 0-2 and grounded into a doublle play.  Ryan Theriot, who looked so good in the lead off the day before, went 0-3 hitting behind Soriano. Pie, who also looked good in the first game, struggled in the second game, going 0-3 with one strike out and leaving 5 men on base. Fukudome continued to show his plate disciplince, going 1-2 and drawing two more walks.  Derek Lee went 1-3 with another RBI.  Cubs fans are just dying to see what happens when Fukudome, Lee, and Ramirez finally get to bat in the same game.  Rich Hill also pitched two innings, giving up one run on three hits, but he struck out three batters and didn’t walk any. 

As far as relievers go, Scott Eyre still doesn’t look like the same guy from 2006.  The Giants only scored one unearned run off him, thanks to an error by Sam Fuld, but Eyre did give up a hit and a walk in his one inning of work.  Juan Mateo, who looked pretty good in 2006 before the injury bug bit him in 2007 worked a nice inning, allowing no baserunners.  Fukudome’s BFF, Shingo Takatsu came in and gave up one hit, a solo home run.  He won’t make the team.  Finally, we get to the goat of the game, Les Walrond.  Let me say this-Les Walrond is god awful.  If you remember him from last year, it makes you wonder why you even have a guy like this in the minors.  He’s a 30 year old non-roster invitee.  The last time he pitched in a major league game was for the Cubs in 2006, when everyone of our pitchers were hurt and Dusty Baker was grabbing anyone who could throw a ball on to the mound.  In the 10 games he appeared in, he pitched 17.3 innings, gave up 19 hits and 13 runs.  The guy is brutal.  So he comes into today’s game with a 5-4 lead and what does this guy do?  Gives up 2 hits, 2 walks, hits a batter, and gives up a grand slam, giving the Giants an 8-5 lead and essentially ending the game.  Walrond couldn’t get out of the inning, so hard throwing Billy Petrick came in to record the final out of the inning.  Carlos Marmol came into the game in the 9th inning and didn’t allow a base runner.

So, the everyday starters are looking decent.  The starters look fine.  I’m still a little concerned about our left handed relievers.  Walrond stinks, Eyre looked mediocre, and so did Neal Cotts yesterday.  Carmen Pignatello looks ok.  Me, personally, I would rather have a bunch of great righties rather than some good righties and some bad lefties.  I like Kevin Hart, Petrick, Mateo, and Ascanio better than Cotts or Eyre.  Remember when Lou didn’t pitch Eyre for two months after he stunk it up in the beginning of the season?  Eyre is in a contract year, and we need him to pick it up.  Tomorrow should be a good game and it will be televised on Comcast Sportnet here in Chicago.   The Cubs travel to Tempe, Ariz., to face the Angels, and Jason Marquis is scheduled to start against Jered Weaver.  Marquis knows he is not on Lou’s good side, so let’s see how he responds in his first spring training start.

Go Cubs!

Wow!  As Pat Huges said today, "Save some for tomorrow!"  The Cubs came out and punished the Giants 10-6.  Giants starter Nick Lowry looked like "Wild Thing" from the movie Major League.  The guy wasn’t even close to the strike zone.  Lowry only went 1 1/3 innings, walking three, hitting a batter and threw two wild pitches.  And who did Lowry hit with the pitch?  New Cub Koske Fukudome, who got hit with the first pitch he saw!  Luckily he was ok.  By the time the Cubs were done batting in the fourth, they had a 10-1 lead and had scored in every inning.  Former closer Ryan Dempster looked good, pitching 2 strong innings, giving up only two hits, one a Randy Wynn home run, while striking out two and givnig up no walks. We know Dempster can go two, the question is can he go seven? 

Heroes

Their were plenty in this game.  How about the dynamic duo from LSU, Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot.  Batting lead off, Theriot went three for three, scoring all three times he was on base.  And little Mike Fontenot, pinch hitting for Dempster, hitting a three run bomb and later hitting a triple.  There was Fukudome, who was hit by a pitch, drew a walk, and hitting an Ichiro-style slap to the third base side to drive in a run. 

"I love that chopper, man," Theriot said. "That’s classic. I’ve been waiting for it and expecting it. It’s classic. I’d like to think if I would’ve hit left-handed, I’d hit like that. It was cool to watch him go out there and play."

"I saw a lot of room on that side," Fukudome said through an interpreter, referring to the hole between third baseman Scott McClain and the bag. "I was happy to see it go where I wanted it to go."

And don’t forget Felix Pie.  After a lot of work with Pinella and hitting coach Gerald Perry, Pie went two for two with a walk, a double, and a home run.  If this guy finally gets it together, we are in great shape!

Out of the bullpen, Carmen Pignatiello came up with a big out when he came in with two outs and the bases loaded.  Assault victim Jose Ascanio gave up zero runs and zero hits in an inning of work.  Can you believe we got this guy for Will Ohman!!??  Kevin Hart picked up where he left off last season, also inheriting the bases loaded with two outs and able to get the final out.  Hart didn’t give up a hit in his 1.1 innings of work. 

The Goats

Newly acquired infielder Alex Cintron was 1-3, leaving seven men on base.  Even though he went 1-3 with a walk, I wasn’t that impressed with Ronnie Cedeno.  Arizona Fall League MVP and potential centerfielder Sam Fuld went 0-2.  Out of the bullpen, Neal Cotts did not look that good, giving up one hit, one walk, and allowing a runner to reach on an error.  He was able to work out of a bases loaded jam with the help of his defense, but he still doesn’t look that confident.  Jose Ceda, who we got in the Todd Walker trade, finished the minor leagues with a 25 consecutive hitless streak, but gave up 2 runs  on 2 hits, with 2 walks and 2 strike outs.  As Harry would say, the dueces were wild!  Esmailin Caridad, a nonroster invitee, also got hit hard.

Summary

The Cub hit the heck out of the ball and looked like a confident bunch.  It was great to see the top of the order have such a good game, Theriot, Fukudome, Lee.  Having the guys in the top of the order to set the table for Lee and Ramirez is going to be huge.  Next on deck is another game with the Giants, this time the Cubs will face a split squad.  Carlos Zambrano will oppose Giants left-hander Jonathan Sanchez.  Soriano and Ramirez will be in the line up.  I know it was only a spring training game, but it was a great way to start off the season!

Go Cubs!

Finally, after being snowed in all winter, Cubs fans finally get to hear Ron and Pat coming out of their radios.  It’s time for the first spring training game of the season.  Ryan Dempster is looking to prove he belongs in the rotation after spending the last few years as the closer.  At the Cubs Convention, Dempster looked noticably different, gaining a lot of muscle.  Lou says he would like Dempster to split the lefties, pitching third between Lilly and Hill.  The rest of tomorrow’s lineup looks like this;

1. Ryan Theriot SS

2. Ronnie Cedeno 3B

3. Koske Fukudome RF

4. Derek Lee 1B

5. Matt Muton LF

6. Geovany Soto C

7. Alex Cintron 2B

8. Felix Pie CF

As you can tell, both Soriano and Aramis will be given the day off.  Expect Dempster to throw two innings, followed by Sean Gallagher. Other pitchers available include Neal Cotts, Jose Ceda, Carmen Pignatiello, Jose Ascanio and Kevin Hart.  I’m wondering how Gallagher is feeling since Lou let it be known that the young guys probably won’t make the rotation.  There will be tons of buzz when Fukudome, after all the hype, finally has an at bat. Imagine if he hits a homer?!  It will also be interesting to see how the Cubs do against San Fran’s starter, Left-hander Noah Lowry.  We all remember the trouble last years team had with lefties.  Of course, you can’t tell much from a spring training game, but it sure would be nice to start off with a "W"

Go Cubs!

It was bound to happen sooner or later.  As much as everyone loves Wrigley, you knew that it was a matter of time before it would be gutted and rebuilt.  Now it seems like we are getting closer and closer to that point. Recent news articles have discussed the possible sale of Wrigley Field to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.  According to its website, the ISFA is a government unit created by the Illinois General Assembly in 1987 for the purpose of constructing and renovating sports stadiums for professional sports teams in Illinois. The ISFA’s Board of Directors is jointly appointed by the Mayor of Chicago and the Governor of Illinois, with the Governor also responsible for appointing the Chairman of the Board.  It was our current governor, and huge Cubs fan, Rod Blagojevich who first floated the idea of the state buying Wrigley Field.  The state would buy Wrigley, renovate it, and lease it to the new owners (yet to be determined).

According to the Sun Times;

"The Wrigley renovation would be financed by bonds retired by increased stadium revenues — everything from naming rights, sponsorships and concessions to clubs seats and additional skyboxes. The Tribune Co. would get a higher price for the stadium because ISFA can issue tax-exempt, longer-term bonds at a reduced interest rate.

Former Governor JimThompson, head of the ISFA, described the arrangement as a sales tax version of tax-increment-financing (TIF). But, instead of freezing property taxes at existing levels and using the growth for business subsidies and infrastructure improvements within the district, the sales tax increment generated by the stadium renovation would be used to modernize Wrigley."

The ISFA needs the city to also relax the landmark status granted to parts of Wrigley Field.  The landmark status, given to Wrigley in 2004, covers the  ivy-covered brick walls, marquee, grandstands, and manually operated scoreboard.  Wrigley would then be gutted and modernized. 

Crane Kenney, the Tribune Co. senior vice president who oversees the Cubs, added, "If you’re going to restore and maintain the facility, you’re going to have to take parts of it down and rebuild it, just like we rebuilt the bleachers two years ago. Landmarking authorization doesn’t let you do that."

If all of this (and it’s a big if), goes through, brace yourselves, the Cubs would probably play the 2010 season at  (Gasp!) U.S. Cellular Field on the south side of Chicago!!  Can you handle that??!!

Let’ s be honest for a moment.  Like Crane Kenney says, the renovation would be similar to the bleacher renovations a few years ago.  I had my doubts about the bleacher renovations, but they did a great job and it doesn’t look like they changed a thing.  I go to Wrigley Field a lot, as all of you know.  I love that ballpark like it’s my home, but there is a time when it’s time to do a little remodeling.  That time was probably when chunks of concrete started falling from the upper deck in 2004.  It happened at least three different times that season and the Cubs were required to hire structural engineers to inspect Wrigley.  Shortly after the inspections, the upper decks were refitted with netting that made it look like a cheesy Red Lobster.  The concourses are cramp, there are some weird odors, and the facilities are out of date.  Even worse are the facilities the players have.  The locker room for the home team is very cramp, they don’t have batting cages near the dugout like every other major league team, and the press room is laughable.  Wait till you see what it looks like with 20-30 more Japanese reporters.  It’s time for a change.  The Tribune, Harry, and the Cubs have been selling the idea of this wonderful little ballpark that everyone loves ever since the early eighties.  Fact is, during much of the 70′s and early 80′s, no one went to Wrigley Field. You could easily walk up the day of the game and get great seats.  For much of the 70′s, attendance for the season was a little over a million.  But in the magical season of 1984, Cubs attendance hit a record with over 2 million fans.  Since then, the Cubs have been over 2 million fans every year except for three, two of those were because of the baseball strike of 94 and the following year, 1995.  The Cubs have topped over 3 million fans for the last four years.  Also, Wrigely has gone through plenty of changes and expansion since it was built in 1914.  Wrigley underwent its first major change during the 1923 season.  The Cubs renovated the grandstands and added many more seats.  It took the Cubs two seasons, 1927 and 1928, to put the second tier (where my seats are) on to Wrigley.  In 1937 the bleachers were renovated and expanded.  Things stayed pretty dormant under PK Wrigley’s ownership (although new seats were added every few years), but in 1988, the Cubs finally added lights to Wrigley Field.  In 2006 the new bleachers made their debut.  Other seats have been added, signs put up, etc all over the park over Wrigley’s long history.  This will be another evolution of the ballpark.

As far as playing at the "Cell", who cares, it will only be for one season (probably two knowing how things get done in Chicago), but it won’t be horrible.  I recently went to the Cell (the game where Barrett punched Piercynski) and it was an enjoyable experience. (except for the score that day)  The food was excellent, good view from nearly all the seats, clean restroom, etc.  And there was parking!!!  Fans tailgate, drank beers, played bags, listened to music, and had a good time.  I think we can handle that for a little while.

I love Wrigley with all my heart. Some of my best memories were at the old ballpark.  All she needs is a little nip and tuck and we’ll be back on the North Side, cheering our Cubbies for another 100 years!  I am starting to buy into this idea, what do you guys think?!

Go Cubs!

Ouch, this was not a good weekend for the Cubbies!  It started off with Felix Pie missing a workout to have an unusual, but minor, medical procedure on his wedding tackle.  Then, second baseman Mark DeRosa was taken off the practice field on a stretcher and spent the weekend in the hopital. 

Cubs physician Stephen Adams told the reporters;

“Mark had an episode (Saturday) of an atrial dysrhythmia, that he’s had in the past that has lasted briefly. This one had a bit of an extended period of time, for which he contacted our head athletic trainer Mark O’Neal, who appropriately saw him and was with him. And when it didn’t break with his usual maneuvers he breaks with, we decided to take him to the hospital to have him monitored, and he went into a normal sinus rhythm (Saturday) afternoon from the atrial (dysrhythmia) and is resting comfortably. He was kept in the hospital (Saturday) night and is undergoing an evaluation.”

Boy, I hope he’s ok.  This may be Eric Patterson’s big break. With a lot of the focus being a trade for Brian Roberts, maybe Eric maybe the much cheaper and better alternative.   He blew his chance last year by showing up late and being demoted to the minors during the stretch run.  Hopefully he has learned from it and show what he’s made of, but like most of you, I still get a little nervous putting my hopes into a Patterson.

Finally, reliever Jose Ascaino, who the Cubs got in the Will Ohman deal, got beat up near a convenience store. Ascaino, who’s 6 foot, 170, was stopped on the way to the store by a robber, and when Ascaino told him he didn’t have money, the guy beat him up, suffering bruises and abrasions to the left side of his face.

Let’s hope this is the worst of it from the injury front.

First Spring Training Game of the Season

The Cubs finally play their first game of the spring on Thursday.  The rotation for the first four games was announced too.  The first four scheduled starting pitchers for the Cubs, who open Cactus League play Thursday: Ryan Dempster get the start vs. the San Francisco Giants on Thursday,  Carlos Zambrano vs. the Giants on Friday, Jason Marquis vs. the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday and Ted Lilly vs. the Giants on Sunday. Dempster finally gets a chance to prove that he belongs with the big boys.  The game will not be on TV, but you can hear all the action at WGN 720 AM.

Just an Observation

I was a little surprised to see that are tickets available for many of the home games still.  Opening Day was obviously one of the first games to sell out, but only one other game was sold out for the month of April, the 21st, a night game that will be on ESPN vs the Mets (Johan Santana?)  Every Saturday game in May is sold out, but every other day is not sold out.  Only the White Sox series is sold out in June, though two of the three series in July are sold out.  The weekends are all sold out in August, but there are tickets for every weekday game, and only the last series of the season, against the Cardinals, is sold out.  Is it just me or are you surprised about the amount of tickets available?  I mean, we won the Central last year and look to have an even better team this year.  Now, granted, I didn’t look to see what type of tickets were available.  Maybe they are all obstructed view or something, but I was a little surprised to see this.  Are the Cubs or baseball less popular?  Are the Cubs starting to price a number of their fans out?  Or are people just content to go to Stub Hub or other secondary markets to get their tickets?  Just wondering

Go Cubs!

Hope everyone was successful in their attempts to get tickets today.  And I really  hope you got to do it from the comfort of your own home instead of outside in this seemingly endless winter.  Let’s get back to Arizona to help warm you up! As we briefly touched on yesterday, Lou is still tinkering with the heart of the lineup.  He knows that there will be some combination of Fukudome, Lee, and Ramriez in the heart of the Cubs order, but who goes where.  Lee has been very successful in the 3 spot, with Ramirez following him hitting clean up, but with Fukudome, it changes the mix a little.  The two big problems the Cubs had last year was that they were too slow and hand too many right handers.  Lou was happy to get Fuku in the mix, and he was hoping for Roberts.  Now that the Roberts deal seems to be fading away, he has to look at the team as is.  The Cubs will have a left hander in right field with Fuku and a left hander in center in either Sam Fuld or Felix Pie.  Now everyone, especially Lou, is expecting all that much production wise from center, so whoever wins the job will probably bat seventh or eighth in the lineup.  The way it looks now, the Cubs could go with

1. Soriano LF

2.Theriot SS

3. Fukudome RF

4. Lee 1B

5. Ramirez 3B

6. DeRosa 2B

7. Soto C

8. Fuld/Pie CF

The reason Lou may go with this lineup is to break up the righthanders so that your 1-4 guys aren’t all righthanded.  The way Lou puts is

"It’s a good way to get some more power into the middle part of our lineup and get some more speed into the top part of our lineup. It’s something we’ll look at here in Spring Training and see how it works."

Soriano, even at 90 percent, Theriot and even Fukudome are pretty fast.  I guess I get a little nervous having all those slow pokes in the middle, Ramirez, DeRosa, and Soto.  I also an not sure that Pie, who Lou says has a slight edge, hitting in front of the pticher. 

So far I don’t know how much I would like to do this.  The other school of thought is to hit Fukudome 4th, splitting up Lee and Ramriez, making it even tougher for managers to just go with a right hander reliever later in the game. 

"I don’t want to get caught with all this right-handed hitting in one area," Piniella said. "It makes it too easy for the opposing manager to bring in a tough right-handed reliever and he can go take a nap for a couple innings. "

What do you guys think?  Split Lee and Ramierz or have Fuku bat in front of them?

Things are heating up all over spring training.  It seemed like all eyes are focused on three thinks;

1. Is Marmol, Howry, or Wood the closer?

2. Does Fukudome bat 3rd, 4th, or 5th?

3.  Is Pie or Fuld going to be the starting centerfielder?

Luckily, it is early in spring training and those questions will all work itself out, but today, Friday the 21st, I turn this blog over to you, the fans.  As you know, tickets go on sale today at Wrigley/Cubs.com/Ticket outlets.

I want to hear your stories!!  Did you make it down to Wrigley?  Were you in the Virtual Waiting Room?  How long?  How many computers did you use?  How many phones were you working?  Anyone get any good series?   What are the scalpers/brokers charging?  Are they on EBay yet?

Let Crawly’s Cub Kingdom know about it!  Click on the comments section and if you don’t have an MLB account, sign up for one, it’s free! 

Have at it!

Good Luck

Go Cubs!

Today was the first day that hitters got to face live pitching and new Cub Kosuke Fukudome showed some of his plate discipline.  Fukudome only swung at 2 of the 13 pitches he saw.

"I was ready to swing at a strike, but I didn’t see too many," Fukudome said through his interpreter Ryuji Araki. "That’s why I watched."

Can somebody embroider that on a pillow and give it to a few Cubs’ players?!  That’s the kind of thinking that Lou was looking for.  Derek Lee was also impressed.

"He looks good, looks great," Lee said. "Spring Training is Spring Training, but I feel he’s going to hit. He was a .300 hitter in Japan, so I don’t see why that’s going to change. The other guys who have come over have all done well."

State of the Stateless

So Cubs "Chairman" Crane Kenney talked to the players about the latest developments regarding the team’s proposed sale, the naming rights issue, the possible sale of Wrigley Field to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, the new 70-seat section near the Cubs’ dugout, the leveled playing surface and other matters.  Whatever happened to Sam Zell selling the Cubs right away?  What happened to that?  Now I keep hearing all this talk about selling the naming rights, or selling the Cubs and Wrigley seperate.  I hope there are some sort of MLB bylaws that prevent Zell from raping Wrigley Field before a new owner comes along.  And you think any of that money he makes would go back into the team, or lowering ticket prices, or at least lowering the price of beer at the ballpark?  C’mon guys, six dollars for a Bud Light!? Almost makes you feel bad for all the time you insulted the Tribune Company, right?   Well, let’s not go that far!

Ticket Bracelets Available At Wrigley

As most of you know by now, single game tickets for the 2008 Cubs go on sale at 10 am on Friday.  They are giving out bracelets Wedfnesday and Thursday for the random drawing on Friday.  The number that they pick will be the first person to get tickets and everyone lines up in order behind that person.  The winning number will be announced shortly after 6 AM and will appear online at cubs.com and on WGN 720.  For those of you who don’t want to brave the frigid Chicago temperatures, you can try your luck at the virtual waiting room.  People can start virtually entering at 9:30 am on Friday.  Good Luck

HIghway Robbery

Ticket will not be going on sale for dugout, bullpen and bleacher box seats will go on sale Friday, March 14 at 10 a.m. Tickets for the dugout seats are going to cost you 300 dollars per prime game (basically, any good game).  Not only that, but the new seats, by the Cubs bullpen, are only going to be available through an online auction.  It is believed that ticket prices for those games may run up to 1000 dollars!!!  Forget about beer and a hot dog, soon they will be selling caviar and Cristal!

Hate to Keep Bringing This Up

When Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts was asked about all the trade rumors, he said;

"I would never call this organization and say, ‘I want to be traded. I need to be traded.  I signed a contract. I signed a deal. I understand when I make a commitment, that’s what I’m here for. But as I said earlier, you want to win. … For this organization, if it’s better to send me to another place and get a couple of pieces for down the road, I understand that, too. The sooner the chance I get to win, the better off."

Now he didn’t say he wanted to be traded, but it’s pretty clear he wants out.  With Bedard and Tejada gone, this is a rebuilding project that Roberts wants no part of.  Hopefully MacPhail can take some time from polishing Bud’s shoes to make a deal before the season is over. 

Roberts Would Be Important Because

Lou stressed today the importance of resting the big 3; Lee, Ramirez, and Soriano.  Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Kerry Wood, Carlos Zambrano and a couple of others have workout programs designed specifically for them this spring in an effort to keep them healthy throughout the long season.

"We’re not going to push these guys to the point [of exhaustion]," Piniella said. "Like Ramirez isn’t going to steal 40 bases because he does a few more drills here in the spring."

How nice would it be to have Roberts at second and DeRosa giving all three of those guys a break once in a while?  Hate to sound like a broken record!

Don’t forget, whereever you are tomorrow, Thursday, is the 10th Annual Worldwide Toast To Harry is at 7PM, your time.  Raise a glass for Harry and a World Series in ’08

Go Cubs!

Well, the team is finally all at Mesa now that Aramis Ramirez has arrived.  Of course it was a little uncomfortable for him, considering he was part of a New York Times article covering the topic of cockfighting (yes, the 12 year old boy in me giggles everytime someone says cockfighting).  It began when Pedro Martinez and baseball legend Juan Marichal were seen on a video on You Tube, participating as honorary "soltadores," the word used to describe the person who puts the animal to fight.  This lead to the Times article, which found out that Aramis is very heavily involved in cockfighting.  Ramírez is prominently featured in a recent issue of a Dominican cockfighting magazine, En La Traba, in which he is pictured with several roosters that he raises for fighting. Of roosters, he said in the magazine, “When I’m in the Dominican Republic, I’m dedicated entirely to them.” 

Jason Carr, a Cubs spokesman, said the team did not know that Ramírez was associated with cockfighting in the Dominican Republic.  Ramirez apparently didn’t tell the Cubs of his side gig in the offseason.  Fellow Dominican Carlos Marmol knew, saying

“A lot of guys do this. It’s just normal.  Aramis, he’s every day.’’

Aramis quickly cut off any questions about cockfighting when he spoke to the media today

`I’m not going to talk about that. That’s personal. It’s a different culture down there. I’m from the Dominican, so let’s talk about baseball.’’

He added "I’ve just got to say this: It’s a different culture in the Dominican, and that’s it.’’

Cockfighting is legal in the Dominican and is the second most popular sport after baseball.  Now MLB has been trying to market itself as a worldwide sport, but in doing so, people need to realize that there are accepted practices around the world that people in this country may be opposed to.  As long as Aramis is not breaking any American laws, or laws in general, then this shouldn’t be an issue.  Maybe Aramis can have a bunch of his roosters chasing him around the bases when he starts lolly-gagging!  In honor of this silly "news story"  I have some dialogue from the classic Seinfeld episode "The Little Jerry"

JERRY: Kramer, Marcelino wants us to sell him Little Jerry Seinfeld.

KRAMER: Well, that’s out of the question.

JERRY: But Kramer, cockfighting is an illegal and immoral activity.

KRAMER: Yeah, if you got a loser. But Little Jerry was born to cockfight!

JERRY: No, no more cockfighting. Let’s just sell him to Marcelino the cockfighter and be done with it!

KRAMER: You know, I think you’re jealous.

JERRY: Of what?

KRAMER (points at Jerry like he’s found him out): Yah, yah! You see in Little Jerry Seinfeld the unlimited future you once had. Now, just because Jerry Seinfeld is a has-been, don’t make Little Jerry Seinfeld a never-was!

JERRY: Kramer, give me that rooster!

KRAMER: Never! You hate him because he’s doing more with your name than you ever will! Yah-yah! <Kramer leaves.>

  This doesn’t sound good.  Everyone on the team has shown up except for Aramis and Ronnie Cedeno.  But reports out of Mesa is that Soriano’s legs are still not 100%.  Apparently Soriano has been running at 75 percent speed, on orders from the Cubs’ medical staff, as part of his conditioning program leading up to camp.  Not only that, but the Cubs doctors were watching him shag fly balls to see how his legs were responding.  They say it will take another two weeks to beging sprinting.  When asked if he would be able to swipe some bases, Soriano replied,

”I don’t know yet. I have to see maybe in a couple weeks, see how I feel in my legs.  If I feel good, 100 percent, I can start running again.”

Those aren’t the words you want to hear from your lead off hitter.

”We’re going to watch him. It’s just a question of letting him get in shape and not pushing him and getting him ready for the season,” said manager Piniella.

Anyone praying that Jim Hendry is still on the telephone with Andy MacPhail?  That Brian Roberts deal is looking a heck of a lot better.  Now the Cubs finally have the excuse to lower Soriano down in the line up.  Without his ability to steal bases, there is no point in having him lead off anymore.  That means the Cubs are truly in the market for a lead off hitter.  Please Jim, get it done.

Harry Caray R.I.P.

I was always going to be a Cubs fan.  It is just in my families DNA.  My dad got me into the Cubs, and I learned the hard way what being a Cubs fan meant, as the first team I ever grew attatched to was the 1984 Cubs.  During 1984 and after, I learned a lot about baseball, life, booze, and women, from the greatest broadcaster that ever lived, Harry Caray.  Today, Monday, marks the 10th anniversery of his passing.  Harry didn’t have the best voice, but his love and passion for the game made him an icon.  It was like watching a game with a friend.  Everyone has their favorite Harry moments, whether it was misspronouncing someone’s name, or trying it backwards, the seventh inning stretch, hearing him yell Holy Cow!, or plugging Budweiser products.  He was the biggest baseball fan who got the job of his dreams. He loved life. I will always remember the joy of listening to Harry call a game, and I miss it all the time.  Comcast sports net, a cable tv station here in Chicago, will be commemorating his life by playing the documentary, "Hello Again Everybody, as well as a few of the games Harry called.  If you were too young to here Harry, or you are like me and want to reminice, check it out. Don’t forget that Thursday is the Tenth Annual Worldwide Toast To Harry.  I thought I would end this post with an excerpt from Harry’s speech when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame,

"I think of the fans…That’s who I represent here today….You! The fans.  They are the great unsung heroes of our great game."

Rest in Peace Harry

Go Cubs!