Crosstown Classic: Round 1 Preview

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.

Let's get interactive people!

CATCHER: Geovany Soto (.286 12 HR 48 RBI) vs. A.J. Pierzynski (.306 4 HR 26 RBI)

FIRST BASE: Derrek Lee (.283 14 HR 44 RBI) vs. Nick Swisher (.230 8 HR 27 RBI

SECOND BASE: Mark DeRosa (.296 8 HR 30 RBI) vs. Alexei Ramirez (.289 4 HR 20 RBI)

SHORTSTOP: Ryan Theriot (.309 1 HR 21 RBI) vs. Orlando Cabrera (.273 5 HR 26 RBI)

THIRD BASE: Aramis Ramirez (.295 10 HR 45 RBI) vs. Joe Crede (.284 15 HR 44 RBI)

OUTFIELD 1: Matt Murton/Micah Hoffpauir (.299 0 HR 5 RBI in 50 ABs)vs. Carlos Quentin (.270 17 HR 56 RBI)

OUTFIELD 2: Jim Edmonds/Reed Johnson (.285 5 HR 50 RBI as Cubs) vs. Brian Anderson (.247 3 HR 11 RBI in 97 ABs)

OUTFIELD 3: Kosuke Fukudome (.295 5 HR 30 RBI) vs. Jermaine Dye (.286 12 HR 32 RBI)

BULLPEN: Carlos Marmol (63 K in 43 IP) and Kerry Wood (18 SV 2.65 ERA) vs. Scott Linebrink (16 HLD 1.29 ERA) and Bobby Jenks (16 SV 1.91 ERA)

P.S. Go Cubs Go!

And to add fuel to the fire, check out this youtube video!

"Kerry Wood Just Pissed On The Padres..."

Kerry Wood is flat out filthy!

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.

Dempster Diving

I'll be honest, I've never really been a fan of Chicago Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster.

WHY?

1. He's from Canada.
2. He made me nervous whenever he pitched the 9th inning.
3. I don't funny, but this one serious comment put him in my semi-good graces.

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!

"Rock. Chalk. Championship!"

Kansas' 75-68 victory against Memphis in the national title game was one of the best I've ever seen. The Jayhawks' stifling defense, Derrick Rose's spectacular second-half play and Memphis' inevitable collapse at the free-throw line combined to make one helluva storybook finish.

But where do we go now? There are so many questions to be asked, thankfully, there is plenty of time to answer them. 'Til then, I'll answer my own three burning questions.

1. Where does Bill Self end up? Coach Self obviously gives a sh!t about Oklahoma State, or he would flat out tell the Cowboys and their billionaire alumni to shove it and find another coach. Instead, the rumor mill is a-runnin' wild with scenarios where Self ends up in Stillwater leaving his so-called "dream job" days after a national title. A move like that could set up another chain reaction like in 2003 that saw KU, UNC, Illinois and Southern Illinois swap coaches in one way or another.
2. Can the Tar Heels make the next step? I'm not the only one who believes that UNC will enter the 2008-09 season as the No. 1 team in the country. Not only will the Heels return everyone except back-up point guard Quentin Thomas, they will also welcome three Top-100 recruits. UCONN, UCLA, USC and Florida round out the rest of my early pre-season Top-5.
3. What about the Dawgs? An 18-win season is considered a disappointment in Saluki country, but an improvement is just beyond the horizon (especially if they can retain coach Chris Lowery.) SIU brings in a top-notch recruiting class including the best player in Illinois (point guard Kevin Dillard) and two of the best players in the Show-Me State (power forward Anthony Booker and shooting guard Torres Roundtree). The Salukis also have untapped potential in guards Brandon Wood and Justin Bocot, along with the possibility of adding a transfer student (can anyone say Ben Hansbrough???)

And finally, the best part of the tourney is 'One Shining Moment'..no ifs ands or buts about it!