It's a game like this that separates the Chicago Cubs from all the other teams in baseball.
And not in a good way.
Left fielder Alfonso Soriano dropped a routine fly ball that would have given the Cubs their second road series victory of the season. Instead, Alfonso Soriano did his best Brant Brown impersonation and allowed the Pittsburgh Pirates to tie the game 5-5.
The Pirates would eventually win 6-5 in 11 innings.
If you're not familiar with the Brant Brown story, check it out here.
But the more pressing issue here is that the Cubs absolutely CANNOT win on the road. If they can't beat the Astros and Pirates on the road, I cannot consider them serious contenders.
I don't care what the pundits say. I don't care what my mother says (don't tell her I said that, though.) I do not believe that the Cubs can win the World Series (let alone the NL Central) if they can't beat crap on the road.
And yes, I understand how hard it is to win on the road. But that is no excuse. The Red Sox would have beat the crap out of these two teams. The Diamondbacks would have beat the crap out of these two teams. Heck, even with their crappy offense, I'm tempted to say that the White Sox can beat that crap too.
The Cubs have a prime opportunity to do something special in 2008. This is one of the most talented teams I have ever seen at Clark and Addison. But do not even think about comparing this team to the great 1984 team that was a Leon Durham ground ball away from going to the Series. Or the 2003 team, whose starting pitching blew the rest of the league out of the water.
There are too many holes on this team to make them the odds on favorite.
After staff ace Carlos Zambrano, the rest of the staff is just above average.
Ted Lilly is a nice No. 3 starter and Ryan Dempster is showing the stuff that made him an All-Star as a starting pitcher with the Florida Marlins. Jason Marquis and Sean Gallagher aren't hurting you if they're the No. 5 starter.
The fact that this team is missing a No. 2 starter could possibly hurt them if they make the playoffs.
Also, the Cubs get no offensive contribution from their center fielder. And their best defender at that position is toiling away at Triple-A.
The rest of the team is solid. Kerry Wood, Carlos Marmol and Bob Howry are living up to the off-season's lofty expectations for the most part. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome and Geovany Soto are doing their part to score runs. Heck, even the scrappy Ryan Theriot is getting the job done in the No. 2 slot.
I'll take a step back for now, seeing that it's only one game. But if the Cubs want to be serious, they better get their act together on the road.
And not in a good way.
Left fielder Alfonso Soriano dropped a routine fly ball that would have given the Cubs their second road series victory of the season. Instead, Alfonso Soriano did his best Brant Brown impersonation and allowed the Pittsburgh Pirates to tie the game 5-5.
The Pirates would eventually win 6-5 in 11 innings.
If you're not familiar with the Brant Brown story, check it out here.
But the more pressing issue here is that the Cubs absolutely CANNOT win on the road. If they can't beat the Astros and Pirates on the road, I cannot consider them serious contenders.
I don't care what the pundits say. I don't care what my mother says (don't tell her I said that, though.) I do not believe that the Cubs can win the World Series (let alone the NL Central) if they can't beat crap on the road.
And yes, I understand how hard it is to win on the road. But that is no excuse. The Red Sox would have beat the crap out of these two teams. The Diamondbacks would have beat the crap out of these two teams. Heck, even with their crappy offense, I'm tempted to say that the White Sox can beat that crap too.
The Cubs have a prime opportunity to do something special in 2008. This is one of the most talented teams I have ever seen at Clark and Addison. But do not even think about comparing this team to the great 1984 team that was a Leon Durham ground ball away from going to the Series. Or the 2003 team, whose starting pitching blew the rest of the league out of the water.
There are too many holes on this team to make them the odds on favorite.
After staff ace Carlos Zambrano, the rest of the staff is just above average.
Ted Lilly is a nice No. 3 starter and Ryan Dempster is showing the stuff that made him an All-Star as a starting pitcher with the Florida Marlins. Jason Marquis and Sean Gallagher aren't hurting you if they're the No. 5 starter.
The fact that this team is missing a No. 2 starter could possibly hurt them if they make the playoffs.
Also, the Cubs get no offensive contribution from their center fielder. And their best defender at that position is toiling away at Triple-A.
The rest of the team is solid. Kerry Wood, Carlos Marmol and Bob Howry are living up to the off-season's lofty expectations for the most part. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome and Geovany Soto are doing their part to score runs. Heck, even the scrappy Ryan Theriot is getting the job done in the No. 2 slot.
I'll take a step back for now, seeing that it's only one game. But if the Cubs want to be serious, they better get their act together on the road.
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