It was a different kind of Monday for Chicago and its baseball teams.
A week after the Cubs swept the White Sox at Wrigley Field, the ChiSox returned the favor at U.S. Cellular Field.
I won't let the angry Cubs fan inside me or the inquisitive baseball mind analyze this series. Instead I'll let my alter ego, "Stat Boy," break it down.
Take it away...
The Chicago White Sox dominated all facets of this series. And that's putting it nicely.
The Boys from Bridgeport upped their home record to 28-11 while dropping the Wrigleyville Nine's road record to a dismal 19-23.
The Southsiders out-homered the Northsiders 7-3 in the series. The Cubs three homers came off the bats of Geovany Soto, Mike Fontenot and Jim Edmonds in the Game One loss. Unfortunately for the Cubs, no one was on base for the bombs.
In the Sox' Game Three victory, two run homers by Bryan Anderson and Jim Thome, along with Carlos Quentin's solo shot accounted for all of the runs scored by the Men In Black to secure the sweep.
The White Sox bullpen did not allow one measly run in 8.5 innings pitched. The Cub bullpen surrendered 5 runs (and two homers) in 8.2 innings. In fact, the entire Cubs pitching staff was out-pitched. The Sox whiffed 25 batters, while the Cubs pitchers only 'K-ed' 21.
And that's the tale of the tape here from Chicago, as I am out of nicknames for each team.
It's put up or shut up time for the Chicago White Sox.
Last week while their players, general manager, and field manager were shooting verbal insults at the Cubs' fans, their beloved stadium and the fact that they hadn't won the whole damn thing in 100 years.
And all the Cubs did was let their bats do all the talking as they swept away their cross-town rivals.
Now the series shifts to U.S. Cellular Field where the White Sox are 24-11. Conversely, the Cubs are a less than impressive 16-20 on the road.
However, the Cubs should be the LEAST of the Sox' concerns as the Minnesota Twins are 0.5 games out of first place.
That means a Sox loss and a win by the Twinkies takes away a little bit of the shine behind a series that pits a pair of first place teams against one another.
Nevertheless, this should be a fun series to watch. I will especially keep an eye on ESPN's Sunday Night Telecast.
Will Joe Morgan apologize to Cubs fans after creating a crock of crap and belittling the name of the great Ernie Banks?
Will Jon Miller, who is a much better announcer in MLB 2K8 than in real life, not sound like a monotonous piece of crap?
Will Morgan give himself another hard-on while analyzing Carlos Quentin's perfect right-handed swing?
On the field, the Cubs are the best in the bigs, so it should be no surprise that they are the best in the city.
Off the field, it was the Chicago White Sox acting like the ignored step-child, doing all the talking.
Manager Ozzie Guillen ranted about rats as big as pigs lifting weights in the right field batting cages. General Manger Kenny Williams wished the Cubs a "Happy Anniversary" and catcher A.J. Pierzynski called Cubs fans "idiots." Oh, and John Danks called Wrigley Field a [bleep] hole.
In the end, the Cubs let their bats do the talking as they belted nine home runs in the weekend sweep of the Sox.
Aramis Ramirez singlehandedly put the White Sox on their back with four home runs, including a pair of home runs (one of which was a walk-off winner off Scott Linebrink) in Friday's 4-3 come-from-behind win.
Former nemesis Jim Edmonds (who will be getting a blog entry in the coming days dedicated to him) hit two home runs in the nine run fourth inning of the Cubs 11-7 win on Saturday. And even though Ozzie didn't want to give Edmonds credit for the work he did against the Sox, you can't ignore Edmonds and his .311/.358/.511 slash stats he has posted since joining the Cubs.
In the sweep-clinching 7-1 victory, Ryan Dempster moved to 9-0 at Wrigley Field (and 9-2 overall) by limiting the Sox to one run on 10 hits in eight innings of work. On the other side, the strike-zone-challenged Javier Vazquez walked the first two batters on eight pitches and gave up homers to Ramirez and Eric "Don't Call Me Corey" Patterson, who already has a more successful Cub career than his brother.
The weekend series puts the Cubs at 48-28 overall (still the best record in the bigs) and 32-8 at the Friendly Confines. The loss drops the Sox to 41-31 who saw their lead in the AL Central shrink to 1.5 games over the suddenly streaking Minnesota Twins.
For the first time since the inception of Interleague Play, the Chicago Cubs and White Sox are atop their respective divisions. And that's only one reason the city should be on heightened alert.
Yet, when I think of Cubs-Sox, this picture comes to mind.
The Cubs (45-28) enter the series with the best record in baseball.
Let it sink in. Best. Record. In. Baseball.
The Sox (41-31) enjoy the largest lead of any division leader and come into the series white hot (pun intended) after sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates at U.S. Cellular Field.
To the three Sox fans that read this blog, let it sink in. Largest. Lead. Of. Any. Division. Leader.
Fans of both sides should expect some excellent baseball to be played despite the fact the first round of games will be without the star presence of Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, Paul Konerko and Mark Buehrle.
The Cubs will look to take advantage of some home cooking in the three game set. At 29-8, the Friendly Confines is finally living up to its name for the team with white jerseys with blue pinstripes, blue numbers, blue shoes and blue caps. Conversely, the Sox are 17-20 on the road. But really, who isn't below .500 on the road this year?
Game One will feature dueling lefties to start the game. John Danks (4-4) takes the hill for the South Siders and he will be opposed by Ted Lilly (7-5.)
Rebounding right-handers will toe the rubber in Game Two. Jose Contreras (6-5, 3.24) is enjoying a bounce back year, while Jason Marquis (5-3, 4.24) is 2-0 since being railed by manager Lou Piniella after being pulled in a poor outing against the San Diego Padres.
Finally, ESPN gives the Yanks and the Sawks a rest and instead will feature the Battle for Red Line Supremacy's third game. Javier Vazquez (7-5, 4.13) will oppose Ryan Dempster (8-2, 2.76) who is almost unhittable at Wrigley Field (1.11 WHIP in 58.1 IP.)
In closing, I'll leave you some of the match-ups and in the comments section you can tell me who you'd take.
It's a day like this that the dirty sports reporter inside of me dies for. And if you are lucky enough to be a sports editor for one of the Windy City's newspapers, you've had yourself a newsday.
You'd also be lucky if you got the opportunity to go home with one of these girls.
The lethal combination of poor performance on the field and poor decision making off it have cost Benson his job. The No. 4 overall pick in 2005 was released by the Bears Monday afternoon when coach Lovie Smith told Benson to go home when he showed up for practice.
Benson's career to this point has been star-crossed, to say the least. He never appealed to the fans, and how could you when you have a lengthy hold out before you've even taken a snap in the NFL. Then once in The League, Benson was out played by journeyman Thomas Jones mostly because Jones was willing to be a good teammate who had a history of being a gym rat. And when he did get playing time, Cedric was less than entertaining (did you see what I did there?) and would have likely ran second string behind second round draft pick Matt Forte.
Move over Cade McNown, Curtis Enis and Rashaan Salaam because No. 32 will likely go down as the No. 1 bust in the franchise's history.
MY COUSIN COACH VINNY
The Chicago Bulls have officially wasted all of the momentum and buzz generated by winning the No. 1 pick by taking the cheap way out.
Sources say the Bulls are close to naming Mike D'AntoniDoug Collins Vinny Del Negro as the team's next head coach. The former San Antonio Spurs guard (whose name loosely translates to "Vinny of the Negroes) has absolutely no coaching experience, but is currently the assistant general manager of the Phoenix Suns and has interviewed for the vacancies in Chicago and Phoenix.
A move like this just shows how cheap Jerry Reinsdorf is. The Bulls had a chance to bring in an offensive mind such as D'Antoni, a former Coach of the Year in Avery Johnson, a teacher such as Collins. But settled for Del Negro, despite the best candidate just might have been Boston Celtics defensive assistant Tom Thibodeau. (Yeah, I'm agreeing with Jay Mariotti. Deal with it.)
Del Negro's coaching career will be decided by whoever the Bulls choose as their No. 1 pick. Will the former point guard lean towards Derrick Rose or the front court beast Michael Beasley.
THE SECOND CITY'S FIRST PLACE BASEBALL TEAMS
Chicago's baseball teams aren't taking a back seat to anyone, whether it be in their own towns or in their respective divisions.
The Chicago Cubs sport the best record in Major League Baseball and are preparing to host the Atlanta Braves, who might be playing without All-Star Chipper Jones. Five days after being chewed out during his start against the San Diego Padres, Jason Marquis puts forth his best effort of the season.
Coincidence? I think not!
The Chicago White Sox ain't to shabby either. The South Sider's completed a perfect homestand with a 7-5 win over the second-place Minnesota Twins and are currently enjoying a 7-game winning streak while averaging more than 9 runs per game in that span. And to think, Ozzie Guillen was tired of watching this team.
Who the hell gets tired of watching a first-place ball club? Well, it's understandable if you have to do it from U.S. Cellular Field.
This is a hell of a way to end a short week of blogging. I'm going on vacation and will be away from my computer 'til at least Monday. But don't worry, I have stuff in the can that will be unleashed beginning next Tuesday. Hopefully.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to put out my unique spin on the Bulls coaching search which would have netted the team (presumably) its first player-coach, Michael Beasley.
Topics that might be touched on are as follows:
Where has Mark Prior gone?
Chicago's Olympic Hopes
Sleeping with the enemy (like when you're most hated rival joins your favorite team)
The statistical anomaly that was the 2005 Chicago White Sox
Five days after a rocky start against the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jason Marquis showed a nationwide audience why he has garnered the nickname "Bi-Polar Betty."
Marquis (4-3) threw 6.1 innings of three-hit ball as the Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1. Marquis outdueled Dodgers starter Brad Penny, who put forth a quality start for Joe Torre's gang. Penny's winless streak now moves to seven games.
The North Siders moved their ML-best record (40-24) ... remember, they didn't pick up their 40th win in 2007 'til July 1 when Marquis picked up the victory against the Milwaukee Brewers. Coincidentally (or is it ironically?) I was in Las Vegas for my 21st birthday where I put down a $21 bet on Marquis (who wears No. 21) which happens to be my favorite number.
Second baseman Mark DeRosa powered the defending NL Central champs to victory by going 3-for-5 with a home-run, two RBIs and two runs scored. "DeRo" was the only Cub to collect multiple hits in the game.
Reliever Carlos Marmol relieved Marquis in the 7th inning with the game on the line and proceeded to strike out Dodger outfielder Matt Kemp and retire third baseman Blake DeWitt to end the inning thanks in part to another Gold-Glove caliber effort by first baseman Derrek Lee. Closer Kerry Wood struck out two Dodgers en route to picking up his 18th save.
The first-place Cubs have Monday off before returning to action Tuesday night against the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field.
The Chicago Cubs closer struck out two batters as he converted his 16th save of the season in the Cubs 9-6 win against the San Diego Padres.
Moments after the save, I got this text message: "Kerry Wood just pissed on the padres and said no homo."
For those of you that aren't hip to the lingo, check out the accompanying video below which is taken from the movie "Killa Season" starring rapper Cam'Ron.
***SPOILER ALERT***
In the scene, "Killa Cam" busts some guy in the back of the head with a liquor bottle and proceeds to "R. Kelly" on him all while saying "no homo" because if you're pissing on a dude, it's apparently "homo."
I thought it was hilarious (both the text and the video itself.)
But let's take a further look at Kerry's numbers, shall we?
Wood has converted 16 of 20 save opportunities. The 16 saves puts Wood in a three-way tie for the NL lead with San Francisco's Brian Wilson and Houston's Jose Valverde.
In 32.1 innings Kid K has struck out 36 batters and is back to living up to the nickname he earned after fanning 20 Astros on May 6, 1998. He's only allowed six base on balls. That means his strikeout-to-walk ratio is 6-to-1, a significant improvement over his career 2.40-to-1 K/BB ratio.
His ERA is 2.78. That's a run-and-a-half better than Wilson and almost a run better than Valverde's.
The only thing keeping Woody from being an elite closer is the dreaded hit by pitch. He's already hit five batters this year and has 86 in his career. If he can pitch inside without hitting a batter, he'd be nearly untouchable.
With Wood pitching lights out in the 9th inning, the talk of moving Carlos Marmol into the closer's role has cooled. And it's not Marmol's fault.
"Marmolade" has a cool 2.43 ERA to go along with 55 strikeouts in 37 innings. Think of it this way: Marmol's 55 strikeouts ranks ahead of John Maine (54 in 64 IP), Derek Lowe (52 in 77.2 IP), Tim Hudson (51 in 83.2 IP), John Danks (50 in 63 IP), Jon Lester (49 in 76 IP) and Justin Verlander (44 in 71.1 IP.)
You know what all of those guys have in common???
They're all starting pitchers!!!!!
If that's not stat-of-the-day material, I don't know what is? And that's why they call me Stat Boy!
Alright, here's the video. Fast forward to the 3:06 mark.
This picture is why no one takes the Chicago Cubs (or their fans) seriously.
Sitting at 32-21, the Cubs have the best record in the National League and are tied with the Tampa Bay Rays (yes, the former Devil Rays) for the best record in Major League Baseball.
If All-Star Game voting ended today outfielders Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome and catcher Geovany Soto would be voted in as starters with Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood have strong arguments in their favor to make the team.
Despite the Cubs' deficiencies in center field and at the end of the starting rotation, this might be the most well-rounded team I've ever seen.
HEY CUBS FANS, KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF THE F*CKING FIELD!!!!!
When you see your outfielder coming to catch the ball KEEP YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM THE F*CKING BALL!!!!
You idiots! That's why the we're the butt of every joke from every toothless Cardinals fan and homeless White Sox fan whose only baseball knowledge comes from Tony LaRussa's wine glass and Ozzie Guillen's racist rants.
And I'm not saying that Cards or Chi-Sox fans are dumb. However, I am saying stuff like THIS BULLSH*T fuels the fire of the idiots.
I'm done. Take my advice, or end up in witness protection like Steve Bartman.
Welcome to the newest segment of "Three-Play" where I provide a picture of three hot chicks and take on three hot topics that probably deserve an entire blog of their own, but won't get it because of time constraints.
Alright, let's get into it!
First, where's someone who is proficient in photoshop when I need them? I ask the question because everyone who loves the Chicago Cubs as much as I do should be asking themselves how good would Josh Hamilton look patrolling center field in Cubbie blue pinstripes?
Hamilton, a former No. 1 overall pick by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999, was acquired by the Cubs in the 2007 Rule V Draft, but was sent to the Cincinnati Reds for $50,000. In his rookie year, Hamilton hit 19 home runs, drove in 47 runs and his slash stats (batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage) were .292/.368/.554.
In the off-season, the Cincinnati Reds flipped Hamilton to the Texas Rangers in exchange for starting pitcher Edinson Volquez. Volquez is leading the world with a 1.31 ERA pitching under the tutelage of Dusty Baker.
Don't worry Reds fans, Dusty's learned from the mistakes he made with Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. Oh wait, he hasn't.
So let's look at the big picture, shall we?
Josh Hamilton, who is batting .329 with 13 HR and 58 RBI, could (and should) be batting 5th in the already potent Cubs line-up, which would enable manager Lou Piniella to move right fielder Kosuke Fukudome's .406 OBP to the No. 2 slot.
Oh, so you're happy with the threeblindmice playing center field now for the Cubs, who have combined to hit a paltry .203.
Well, then maybe you could find use out of Volquez who is 7-2 with 76 strikeouts in 62 innings pitched. He'd be the legit No. 2 starter missing from the Cubs starting rotation.
Ladies and gentlemen, exhibit A on why Jim Hendry should not be retained as general manager after his contract expires.
The man who should make that decision is prospective buyer Mark Cuban.
Cuban, who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, has been quite vocal about wanting to buy the North Siders and has the support of most of Cubdom (which should go a long way, but won't.) Recently, Cuban made an appearance on Dan Patrick's radio show where he called the Cubs his hooker.
While it shocked some, I'm not one of them. I've always compared being a Cubs fan to being in a relationship with a woman. She looks good (see Wrigley Field.) She teases (see 1969, 1984, 1989 and 2003.) But damn, she's expensive (see ticket and beer prices.) But in the end, she's the greatest thing in the world (ask my opinion.)
If Mark Cuban has a little Pac Man Jones in him, he'd make it rain on Sam Zell with an offer he can't refuse.
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.
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.
The Cubs-Cards rivalry gets taken up another level this afternoon as I make my first appearance at the new Busch Stadium!
WOOT! WOOT!
Seriously, the Cubs better win today, especially after last night's debacle.
What's up with Rich Hill? Why can't he throw strikes any more? Why is he walking everybody? Why did he pick the game against the Cardinals to pitch like crap?
Kinda makes GM Jim Hendry look foolish for treating Hill as "untouchable."
...
Despite that, and his defensive blunder in the 7th inning, it was good to see Alfonso Soriano jack one out of the yard against Jason Isringhausen. I still think he has a 30-homer season in that bat of his, and I think he'll get better defensively as he gets back into the swing of everyday baseball.
He probably should have taken a rehab assignment or two, but according to my sources, he's seen what that has done for Lindsay Lohan and declined it.
And really, Skip Schumaker? I know the old adage is that you don't let their best player beat you, but I disagree.
I would rather lose on an Albert Pujols single than a Skip Schumaker home run.
Here's hoping the Cubs win today and tomorrow. The Cards have no business being in first place and the Cubs should be showing them why.
It's Theodore Roosevelt Lilly versus Kyle Lohse in game two. Here's hoping Mr. Neversmile gets his act together.
Don't believe the hype, the best rivalry in baseball renew acquaitances moments from now.
As explained in today's Sports Banter, I believe the Cubs-Cards series is the best rivalry in baseball.
Why?
Because it doesn't need the media hype Red Sox-Yankees gets from ESPN.
In fact, markets that do not have a direct correlation between Chicago or St. Louis will probably brush it off as a Midwest thing.
But that's the point.
Cubs-Cards divides friends, families and the state of Illinois. Cities like Springfield and Peoria are split 50-50, while college campuses like SIU or the University of Illinois have the same kind of split among the students, faculty and staff.
It's a fan thing, and really that's what matters the most.
The players will come and go. Managers will get hired and fired. But the fans will always be there.
Sure, this edition of the rivalry doesn't have the player rivalry that Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire gave us.
It doesn't have the hate-filled managerial rivalry of LaRussa and Dusty Baker.
It doesn't have Steve Kline's hatred for Mark Prior.
But it does have two teams, battling for their constituents for bragging rights, and that's what a rivalry is all about.
The Cubs have been on a scoring spree lately. The North Siders have scored 41 runs in their last five games, all wins.
Manager Lou Piniella is getting contributions from all 25 guys. Derrek Lee is playing like the MVP candidate he was in 2005. Ronny Cedeno is playing out of his mind, showing flashes of the player that posted a .900 OPS in what would amount to a full season at triple-A.
Carlos Zambrano is pitching much better this April (compared to last year) and the bullpen duo of Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood are looking good out of the pen.
On second thought, I'm not sure why I'm even writing this. They're gonna screw it up in the end. Right, Marty?
As for Cardinals superstar Albert Pujols playing second base, it shows me that Tony LaRussa is dumb! Absolutely dumb!
Pujols has never played a professional game at second base, and even though it didn't cause the Cards the game ... LaRussa f*cking around with new infield combinations is dumb.
The smart move would have been putting Pujols at third base (where he's played before), Troy Glaus at shortstop (where he's played before) and Yadier Molina at first base (where he's played more than Jason LaRue who ended up at first).
Speaking of first baseman, Prince Fielder is totally not living up to his name. His power numbers are down and short-arming the scoop on what would have been a game-ending double play cost Eric Gagne another blown save.
Erin Andrews Watch:
This isn't breaking news, but I am in love with ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews. As for the pseudo breaking news: this will likely be a regular feature.
Four years ago around this time, I made the biggest decision to date, signing my letter of intent, committing to Southern Illinois University. No, I don't play ball, but I do make it rain!
OK, all jokes aside, after doing my daily web searching, I've come to the conclusion that I should maybe have tried harder in high school so I could have gone to the University of Southern California.
Note: USC is one of the schools I will constantly mention when it comes to completing the sentence: I should have gone to _____ for college.
Hey, even the Beach Boys wished they could all be California girls -- especially if they looked like this. And even though it's a 50-50 breakdown of the student body, I like my chances with ditzy Cali girls.
And you know what the sad thing is? That because these girls are smokin' hot, they buried all of my other ideas for today's blog story. Instead, you'll get some blurbs:
This story might explain a lot. According to someone with too much time on their hands, "sex is for winners" and that there is a direct correlation between a fan's sexual performance and the performance of his team. If that's tough news for Cubs fans, I guess you could say Yankee fans might want to go get themselves checked out.
In a story I will likely expand about tomorrow, Dusty Baker is making his return to Chicago and the Cubs are looking forward to it. There is no truth to the rumor that Kerry Wood and Mark Prior were plotting to jump Baker as soon as he got off the bus, but according to my sources, Reds pitchers Johnny Cueto and Edison Volquez are scheduled to meet with Wood to exchange numbers.
My favorite story of the day is Dodgers GM Ned Colletti is jumping on the blogging bandwagon. Colletti allowed bloggers to come and cover the team, following in the footsteps of my idol Mark Cuban. Hopefully when Cuban buys the Cubs, he will carry that policy over and allow me to cover the Cubs.
That's all for now. I can't wait 'til tomorrow. Hopefully I have some good stuff about signing day for the SIU men's basketball team, some good news from the SIU women's golf team and maybe (just maybe) some Dusty Baker insight.
In a tale of two teams, which will have the better 2008?
Team A has:
Seven stars that are able to carry teams to victory
An award winning manager/coach known for his motivational skills
A fan base thirsty for another year of success.
Team B has:
A bevy of incoming young talent
An award winning/manager/coach known for his motivational skills
A fan base thirsty for another year of success
Basically you have the classic argument of proven talent versus potential. As for the teams: your 2008 Chicago Cubs and your 2008 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella has one of the most talented squads in the National League, evidenced by the former and future All-Stars that are up and down his line-up such as Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Geovany Soto and Kosuke Fukudome.
Oh, and you can't forget pitchers such as Carlos Zambrano, Kerry Wood, Ryan Dempster (yes, he was an All-Star with the Florida Marlins) and Carlos Marmol.
The Cubs have the talent to run away with the NL Central and hide. But they're the Cubs, so you know they'll make it interesting.
If they win, it will be because of the aforementioned talent. If they lose, it will be because of the lack of production out of center field and shortstop - the two positions the Cubs ignored as they tried to acquire second baseman Brian Roberts.
As for the Salukis, they will open 2008 hungry as ever after missing their first NCAA Tournament since 2001.
Coach Chris Lowery has a highly touted recruiting class coming in to Carbondale, which just might be enough to make up for the depatures of forwards Matt Shaw, Randal Falker, and guard Tyrone Green.
Oh, and I can't forget about combo guard Justin Bocot. The slender lefty sat out last year, but has apparently stepped it up in the classroom to the point where he just might join in on the fun.
The Salukis biggest addition might have come not on the court, but on the sidelines. Former Saluki star Tony Young joins C-Lo's staff as a graduate assistant, while reports have Southern Methodist assistant coach Lance Irvin jumping on board as well.
Irvin is reportedly best known for his ability to recruit Chicagoland talent. If SIU can corner the market on "Chi-town's finest" and the best from "The Lou," the Salukis will be the best team in the state, hands down!
In either case, both of my teams should be fun to watch in 2008 (and beyond)
Oh yeah, and this guy is coming back for the Dawgs:
I used to joke that the Cubs moved Dempster to the rotation so when he gave up a bunch of runs in his first inning of work, the Cubs would have an entire game to recover.
After two starts, it looks like the joke is on me
With that said, Ryan Dempster is slowly, but surely gaining praise from me. How about this line for good ol' #46 in tonight's game against the Pirates:
7 IP 1 H 0 R 5 K 2 BB (ND)
Yeah, it's against the Pirates, but I'm still a little excited. His ERA stands at 0.69, and I know it won't stay there all year, but wouldn't it be great if it did?
Lest we forget he was an All-Star for the Florida Marlins in 2000, when he went 14-10 with a 3.66 ERA.
And yes, I realize the irony of Kerry Wood blowing the save in a game where Dempster, the former closer, delivered a quality start.
I'd be happy if he went 12-12 with a 4.00 ERA. Give me some league average No. 5 starter numbers and I'd be happy.
Tonight's You Tube video comes to you courtesy of Taiwanese baseball:
Translation: Lou Piniella, you ain't got sh!t on me!
It was a different kind of Monday for Chicago and its baseball teams.
