Theres Always Next Year | A Chicago Cubs Franchise

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Theres Always Next Year | A Chicago Cubs Franchise
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2008 Season Record:
97-65
NL Central Champions

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The Cubs Won The Division Again In 2008, Only To Be Downed By The Dodgers

The Chicago Cubs 2008 Season Recap

Defining moment: The July 28-31 four-game sweep at Milwaukee was a statement series. The Cubs outscored the Brewers, 31-11, jumped from a one-game lead to a five-game lead in the NL Central, and proved they could win on the road, even if Miller Park is their home away from home.

What went right: Dempster successfully made the return to the rotation, winning a career-high 17 games, while Wood handled the transition from starter to closer and led the team with 34 saves. Soto played like a veteran, not a rookie. DeRosa proved to be one of the most valuable and versatile players. Castoffs Reed Johnson and Edmonds made huge contributions. Ryan Theriot had a solid year. Carlos Marmol was one of the most reliable setup pitchers in the NL.

What went wrong: The very brief postseason. Not being able to muster any offense against the Dodgers and getting swept in the NLDS for the second straight year after posting the best record in the league shocked the Cubs and their fans. What made it worse was how badly the team played in the first two games (seven walks by Dempster in Game 1, four errors in Game 2). Rich Hill was projected as the fourth starter but was sent to the Minors after five games. Felix Pie was the Opening Day center fielder but ended up spending more time in Triple-A Iowa than Chicago.

Biggest surprise: Seeing Kosuke Fu.kudome go from an All-Star in the first month to a defensive sub in the second half.

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The Beautiful Wrigley Field Is Where The Cubs Will Play 81 More Games In 2009

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2008 NL Central Final Standings

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Chicago Cubs 97-64
1st Place NL Central (Division Winners)

Recap- It was a season of incredible highs and highlights, and it ended with a thud.
The Cubs repeated as National League Central champs and posted the best record in the league. They headed to the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time since the 1906-08 seasons.

But the 2008 Cubs fell short, and their campaign to end the 100-year drought came to an abrupt finish in a disheartening three-and-out National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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Team Leaders
AVG- Ryan Theriot (.307)
HR- Alfonso Soriano (29)
RBI- Aramis Ramirez (111)
WINS- Ryan Dempster (17)
ERA- Ryan Dempster (2.96)
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Milwaukee Brewers 90-72
2nd Place NL Central (Wild Card Winners)

Recap- It was a team effort that carried the Brewers to the National League Wild Card and their first postseason games since the 1982 World Series. The Brewers took an unusual path to get there, charging to the front of the Wild Card pack with a 20-7 August but then slumping at the start of September.

A 3-11 start to the month cost manager Ned Yost his job, and the Brewers then lost four of their first five games under interim skipper Dale Sveum before getting hot over the final week to win a spot in October. The euphoria was short-lived. The Brewers lost in the NL Division Series to the Phillies, three games to one, and were eliminated from postseason play.

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Team Leaders
AVG- Ryan Braun (.285)
HR- Ryan Braun (37)
RBI- Ryan Braun (106)
WINS- Ben Sheets (13)
ERA- CC Sabathia (1.65)
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Houston Astros 86-75
3rd Place NL Central

Recap- One year ago, a newly anointed general manager was handed the reigns of the Astros, with instructions from ownership to put together a competitive team on the big league level while rebuilding the farm system. Considering the 2007 Houston team lost 89 games and the organization as a whole was ranked 30th of 30 teams by Baseball America, Ed Wade knew he had work to do.

Houston enjoyed a 13 1/2-game turnaround, making this season, on some levels, a success. But Wade views success in only one way. Starting pitching is the No. 1 priority. Wade is fully prepared to aggressively pursue Randy Wolf, who won't come cheap. It was Wolf's desire to table contract negotiations until after the season, but rest assured, now that the offseason is here, Wade is ready to pounce.

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Team Leaders
AVG- Carlos Lee (.314)
HR- Lance Berkman (29)
RBI- Lance Berkman (106)
WINS- Roy Oswalt (17)
ERA- Roy Oswalt (3.45)
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St Louis Cardinals 86-76
4th Place NL Central

Recap-If you had told most fans back in March that the Redbirds would have a winning season and contend for the Wild Card until the last week of the season -- even with Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder combining for 24 starts -- it likely would have sounded like a heck of a year.

On the other hand, if you had told Cardinals players at the All-Star break that they would fall out of contention with six games to play, and they'd end only a few games over .500, that would have counted as quite a disappointment.

In the end, it's a credit to the men in the clubhouse that the end of the season could possibly be considered disappointing. Most forecasts placed the Cards as a sub-.500, second-division team needing help on offense and in the starting rotation. Yet they got the most out of what they had before wearing down in the season's final month

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Team Leaders
AVG- Albert Pujols (.350)
HR- Albert Pujols (34)
RBI- Albert Pujols (108)
WINS- Kyle Lohse (15)
ERA- Adam Wainwright (3.20)
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Cincinnati Reds 74-88
5th Place NL Central

Recap- As Dusty Baker took over as Reds manager the last offseason, he frequently admitted that he hated losing more than he loved winning.

Responsibility for the outcome should be spread teamwide, including into the manager's office. Cincinnati ranked 16th out of 16 teams in team batting average, average with runners in scoring position and near the bottom in team fielding percentage.

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Team Leaders
AVG- Joey Votto (.297)
HR- Edwin Encarnacion (26)
RBI- Joey Votto (84)
WINS- Edinson Volquz (17)
ERA- Edinson Volquez (3.21)
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Pittsburgh Pirates 67-95
6th Place NL Central

Recap- For the last 16 seasons, Pirates fans have held firm to the notion that there is always next year. But sitting less than 200 days away from Opening Day 2009, skepticism remains in the way of assuming that next year will be different than the last.

The Pirates continue to have bad season after bad season, and are hoping to turn it around one of these next years. Next year doesn't look like the year, with no big newcomers, but they will try their best to end the slump.

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Team Leaders
AVG- Adam LaRoche (.270)
HR- Nate McLouth (29)
RBI- Nate McLouth (94)
WINS- Paul Maholm (9)
ERA- Paul Maholm (3.71)

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Geovany Soto Wins NL Rookie Of The Year

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Geovany Soto Wins Is The First Catcher To Win Rookie Of The Year Since Mike Piazza

Geovany Soto was named the National League winner of the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award on Monday, but he gave credit to a 37-year-old veteran who began his career when the Cubs catcher was just 7.
Soto was an overwhelming winner of the award, receiving 31 out of 32 first-place votes by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Soto was second on one ballot, with Cincinnati's Joey Votto receiving the other first-place vote.

Soto batted .285 with 23 homers and 86 RBIs in his freshman season and is the first catcher to win the league honor since Mike Piazza did so 15 years ago. The Cubs backstop was the only player named on all ballots. Teammate Kosuke ***udome received one second-place and one third-place vote in the ballots cast by BBWAA members.

Give veteran Henry Blanco, who began his pro career in 1990, an assist for Soto's performance.

"I wouldn't be doing the things I did this year if it wasn't for Henry Blanco," Soto said of the Cubs' backup catcher. "He helped me a lot and talked to me every single day, all day. He treated me like a small brother. It felt good to have a veteran guy help me the way he did on catching and game calling. He was huge for me this year. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be doing the things I was doing this year."

What Soto did this past season was amazing. He led all Major League rookies in RBIs and handled a veteran pitching staff, which finished with the third-lowest ERA in the league. He was the first rookie catcher to start in an All-Star Game, doing so at Yankee Stadium in July. He won NL Rookie of the Month honors twice -- in April and August. On Sept. 14, he was behind the plate for Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter.

On Sept. 18, in what Soto calls one of his highlights for the season, he delivered a game-tying, three-run homer with two outs in the ninth that forced extra innings against Milwaukee. The Cubs rallied to win, 7-6, on Derrek Lee's RBI single in the 12th. That was Soto's 23rd and last homer of the season, the most by a Cubs rookie catcher and most for any Cubs rookie since Billy Williams hit 25 in 1961.

Soto was called up in September 2007, batted .426 and impressed Cubs manager Lou Piniella enough that he started two of the team's three playoff games. In 2007, Soto was the Pacific Coast League Player of the Year. That season helped the young catcher's confidence.

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Evan Longoria Joins Soto As Rookie Of The Year

"I didn't know what to expect [in the big leagues]," Soto said. "I felt scared a couple times during the season, and I didn't know what was going on. A lot of the guys helped me out psychologically. They said, 'It's the same thing, different guys.' They said, 'You're good enough to do your job.'"

Give Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster an assist as well. He kept Soto in line.

"Day in and day out, [Dempster] said, 'You have to stay ready. Every single day, you have to be ready. Yesterday is yesterday's news. Stay ready, stay focused, stay humble. You've got to do this, be the best,'" Soto said. "He always pumped me up. He'll call me out to the mound and cuss me a little bit, but it's all part of him trying to make me better and me trying to make him better."

Soto is the fifth Cubs player to win the award and first since Kerry Wood did so his rookie season in 1998, when he posted a 13-6 record and 3.40 ERA while striking out 233. Other Cubs to win the freshman honor include Jerome Walton (1989), Ken Hubbs (1962) and Williams (1961).

His ability to handle the Cubs' pitchers should not be overlooked.

"I was surprised when I came over here and first had a chance to work with him," Chicago pitcher Rich Harden said of the young catcher. "For a rookie, he's got a very good idea back there. It's not just handling the pitching staff and calling pitches but at the plate, he's done some amazing things."

The first rookie catcher to hit at least 30 doubles and 20 homers in a single season, Soto's .504 slugging percentage ranked second among Major League catchers, trailing only Atlanta's Brian McCann.

If there's one downside, it's that Soto's hand still hurts even though he's had more than a month to heal.

"It was the worst hurt you could have without being injured," he said. "It was a pain I couldn't really shake. You had to give me five or six minutes and it would go away. It didn't get better because it was in my catching hand. I just had to play through it."

He's undergoing treatment still and expects to be fine by mid-December. He wasn't feeling any pain when he received the news that he'd won top rookie honors.

"[My wife] told me, 'I knew you could do this,'" Soto said. "Then I called my mom and dad. Mom was still crying when I called. She was very excited. It was a very special moment.

"I feel honored. It's kind of surreal. It hasn't sunk in yet. They called me and said, 'You're the National League Rookie of the Year.' Wow. It's a dream come true, especially to be in the same category as with some big names. I feel very humble and very honored."

There is another hurt to deal with. For the second straight year, the Cubs were swept in the NL Division Series, but Soto said he's over the loss to Los Angeles this October.

"We weren't hitting the ball or getting clutch hits, and the Dodgers came out and played hard and they simply outplayed us," he said. "They outpitched us and had clutch home runs and key home runs. We did have a better team than we showed in the playoffs, but it's not the best team on paper, it's who performs the best. We didn't do that and we got beat in three games."

There were a lot of positives this season, including Dempster's return to the rotation, Wood's successful switch to closer, Zambrano's no-hitter, Carlos Marmol's performance as a setup pitcher.

"I hope next year we play the same baseball we did this year," Soto said. "We played terrific baseball -- we won 97 games. We did a really good job. We just have to stay hot for the playoffs. We just got cold in the playoffs and didn't do what we're capable of. I think we have a great team and we'll be all right."

Spoken like a veteran.

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Top 25 Free Agents For The Offseason, And Predictions

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The Offseason Games Are Just Beginning

A note before we begin - this is a complicated puzzle, and I'll be satisfied if I'm correct on a quarter of these guesses. If your favorite team seems under-represented, keep in mind that the list doesn't account for trades or every single free agent.

1. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nyy.gif C.C. Sabathia - Yankees. The guess here is that the Yankees will make C.C. an offer he can't refuse, and he'll sign a seven-year deal. Sabathia is the key to the Yankees' offseason.

2. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/laa.gif Mark Teixeira - Angels. The Angels can probably afford one of Sabathia, Teixeira, and K-Rod. They need Tex the most.

3. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/lad.gif Manny Ramirez - Dodgers. I think Manny will ultimately sign a deal in the four-year, $100MM range.

4. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nym.gif Francisco Rodriguez - Mets. The buzz at the time of this writing is that the Mets will pass on K-Rod and look to sign Fuentes. However, there aren't many big-money teams with closer vacancies, and I can see Rodriguez's price dipping down to the four-year, $56MM range.

5. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bal.gif A.J. Burnett - Orioles. I am uneasy about this prediction. We know Burnett would like to play there, but will the O's even enter the bidding? They do need starting pitching badly, and theoretically Burnett will still be effective when they are ready to contend.

6. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nyy.gif Derek Lowe - Yankees. This would set up a rotation of Sabathia/Wang/Lowe/Pettitte/Chamberlain. Very solid on paper.

7. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/stl-7.gif Orlando Hudson - Cardinals. Hudson, the top free agent second baseman, would be a large upgrade over Adam Kennedy.

8. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/was-1.gif Adam Dunn - Nationals. The Nats attempted to make a free agent splash last year with Torii Hunter. They're known to be looking for a cleanup hitter.

9. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/chc-2.gif Ryan Dempster - Cubs. Seems to be Jim Hendry's top offseason priority. The two have a strong relationship, but Dempster may still score a competitive four-year contract. It should be noted that Hendry has a strong record of keeping his own free agents when he wants to, despite much hand-wringing leading up to each signing.

10. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/atl.gif Ben Sheets - Braves. Under this scenario, the Braves are unable to land Jake Peavy via trade. Sheets is one of many possible free agent pitchers the Braves may consider. The Red Sox or Dodgers could be other suitors.

11. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nyy.gif Mike Mussina - Retirement. I will go with the media sentiment that Moose is set to retire despite such a strong 2008.

12. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/atl.gif Raul Ibanez - Braves. Even after bringing in two starters, they'll have money left over for left field.

13. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/tb.gif Pat Burrell - Rays. Burrell belongs in the AL, and the Rays have an open DH spot and the need for a righthanded hitter.

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CC Sabathia Leads The List Of Free Agents

14. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/chc-2.gif Bobby Abreu - Cubs. His defense isn't a perfect fit at Wrigley, but they do crave a left-handed middle of the order bat. Fitting his salary in could be tricky.

15. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/mil-2.gif Brian Fuentes - Brewers. If C.C. signs elsewhere, the Brewers will be able to spread their cash to fill various needs.

16. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nyy.gif Andy Pettitte - Yankees. Once again, it's Yankees or retirement for Pettitte.

17. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/lad.gif Rafael Furcal - Dodgers. The interest is mutual. Furcal is the top free agent shortstop.

18. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/min.gif Casey Blake - Twins. If the Twins don't like the asking prices for Garrett Atkins and Adrian Beltre, Blake may be the best third baseman on the free agent market.

19. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/tor.gif Milton Bradley - Blue Jays. The buzz is that the Jays will take a look at Giambi, but Bradley is a nice fit as well at DH.

20. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/oak-1.gif Jason Giambi - Athletics. The A's are looking for a power hitter on a short-term deal, so a reunion makes sense.

21. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/min.gif Orlando Cabrera - Twins. Completing the Twins' new-look infield. Blake and Cabrera should be capable of league-average production.

22. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/phi-1.gif Jamie Moyer - Phillies. The seventh-best free agent starter, based on 2008 numbers. The Phils may look to add an additional starter for depth.

23. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/chc-2.gif Kerry Wood - Cubs. A longtime Cub with a strong relationship with Hendry. Moving Marmol to the closer role would weaken the Cubs' pen overall, so they'll try to hammer something out.

24. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bos.gif Kenshin Kawakami - Red Sox. Signing Kawakami for the rotation would allow the Sox to keep Masterson in the pen and let Bowden and Buchholz come along at their own pace.

25. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/laa.gif Randy Johnson - Angels. An improvement on Garland, and they get the bonus of his 300th win.

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--F.uk.udome Comes Clutch On Opening Day, But Cubs Lose 4-3--

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Kosuke ***udome Hits A Three Run Homerun To Tye The Game In The 9th

(1-0) http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/MIL.gif 4 -------- 3 http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif (0-1)

MIL- 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |......4 | 7 | 0
CHC- 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |......3 | 5 | 0


--Game Recap--

Kerry Wood knew there'd be days like this as the closer. He just didn't expect it on Opening Day.
Kosuke ***udome went 3-for-3 in his Cubs debut, including a game-tying three-run homer in the ninth inning, but it wasn't enough as the Milwaukee Brewers rallied for a 4-3, 10-inning win Monday in the season opener.

"What a great start for that young man -- a really great day," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said of the Japanese outfielder. "He was our whole offense."

The Cubs began the season feeling good about the bullpen, but both Wood and Bob Howry let the leadoff man get on in their respective innings, both served up two-out hits, and both times, it led to trouble.

In the Milwaukee ninth, Wood hit Rickie Weeks with the first pitch, and the Cubs opted to intentionally walk Prince Fielder to face Ryan Braun. The 2007 National League Rookie of the Year hit an RBI single, and Corey Hart followed with a two-run double to take a 3-0 lead.

"Lou came out and talked about it," Wood said of his options. "We decided to [walk Fielder]. But again, if we don't get the first guy on base, we don't have that conversation. I've just got to do a better job."

Was Wood a little too pumped?

"No, actually I was the opposite," Wood said. "I was surprised I was able to keep the adrenaline under control. It didn't work out for me."

It's all part of the learning process as the right-hander makes the conversion from starter to closer.

"Obviously, you don't want to get guys on base late in the game by walks or obviously giving them the free pass," Wood said. "It didn't work out for me today, but it's a long season."

Eric Gagne started the ninth for Milwaukee and served up a single to Derrek Lee and then walked Aramis Ramirez. With the crowd of 41,089 chanting his name, ***udome launched a 3-1 pitch into the right-field bleachers. It was his third hit of the day and tied the game at 3.

"Hopefully, you don't start expecting that every day," Lee said. "He can play. You don't put up the numbers he did in Japan and not know what you're doing. I think today was good for him. Now he can relax. It's nice to get off to a good start and not put pressure on yourself to dig yourself out of a hole."

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A Curtain Call On Your First Day Is A Way To Start Off Your Career

***udome wasn't thinking home run, just trying to get to the next hitter.

"I saw something I could pull; I was looking for it, and it just happened to be a home run," he said through interpreter Ryuji Araki. "I didn't think we were going to win; I knew we were going to win. It was great that I hit a home run to tie the game, but because we lost the game, the value is a little less."

The Brewers won the game in the 10th against Howry as Craig Counsell doubled to lead off and advanced on Jason Kendall's sacrifice. One batter later, Tony Gwynn Jr. hit a sacrifice fly to score Counsell.

"What can I do? I just have to get him sharp, and the only way you're going to do that is by using him," Piniella said of Howry, who hasn't gotten off to good starts in the past. The right-hander said that wasn't the problem.

"I came out of spring throwing the ball much better than I have in the beginning the last two, three, four years," Howry said. "It has nothing to do with struggles. It's one game. It's not going to be the last one. It's a long year."

It was a long day. The start of the game was delayed by 41 minutes, and rain halted play again for 49 minutes after Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano struck out to begin the third inning. But cramps sidelined the right-hander. Bill Hall doubled with one out in the Brewers' seventh, and Zambrano combined with second baseman Mark DeRosa to pick him off. Big Z then seemed to have trouble flexing his right hand and was pulled from the game because of cramps in his forearm.

Zambrano is now winless in four Opening Day starts. He gave up three hits, one walk and struck out five over 6 2/3 innings.

The day began as a celebration of Ernie Banks with the unveiling of a statue of the Hall of Famer, who played for the Cubs from 1953-71. All the hoopla helped distract the crowd from the fact it's been 100 years since the Cubs won a World Series.

"It seems rather improbable -- it's a long time," Piniella said. "Let's see if we can do something about it."


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[chad0034]

this will be played on MLB 2K9, and i hate how it won't let me put ***udome... i have to put F.uk.dome .. thats going to get really annoying.

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Cubs Like Their Roster Heading Into The Winter Meetings

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A Possible Move To Centerfield For Kosuke Might Occur In 2009

Baseball is holding its annual Winter Meetings next week in the perfect locale for the Cubs: Las Vegas.
That doesn't mean the front-office staff will be camped out at the roulette tables at the Bellagio, which is where the Meetings will take place from Dec. 8-11. But the Cubs are expected to gamble that the roster that posted the best record in the National League in 2008 is good enough to return to the postseason in '09.

Lou Piniella and his team won their second straight NL Central title in '08, led the Major Leagues in run differential and ranked second in runs scored. The offense disappeared for three days in October, when the Cubs were swept for the second consecutive year in the first round of the playoffs, this time by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Piniella has made it clear he wants another left-handed bat for the middle of the lineup. The Cubs could resolve that next week. Do they add someone from the free-agent market, which includes potentially high-priced options, such as Raul Ibanez and Bobby Abreu? Do they make a deal for someone such as the Royals' Mark Teahen?

Or, do they place their bets on Kosuke ***udome, and hope the Japanese outfielder returns looking more like the player the Cubs thought they'd signed?

***udome, who struggled to hit .257 in his first season in the U.S., could move to center and share time there with Reed Johnson. That would create an opening in right field, which is about the only vacancy the Cubs have.

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Micah Hoffpauir Should Finally Get His Chance In 2009

The Cubs do have Micah Hoffpauir in-house. He batted .362 with 25 homers and 100 RBIs at Triple-A Iowa and hit .342 with the big league club. But defensively, he's no ***udome. Felix Pie is better defensively and has the speed that Piniella covets, but the 23-year-old hasn't been able hit Major League pitching consistently.

Teahen, who batted .255 in 149 games for the Royals, isn't a glitzy addition. His on-base percentage and average have both gone down the past three seasons. But he is left-handed and is available after the Royals added Coco Crisp.

The Cubs do have a limited budget, especially with the team's ownership still in flux. They have $62 million committed to Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, ***udome and Mark DeRosa for 2009, and another $55 million owed to pitchers Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis, Ryan Dempster and Rich Harden. That doesn't give Cubs general manager Jim Hendry much wiggle room in the '09 payroll, which wasn't expected to be higher than last season's $120 million.

Next season's rotation has the potential to be one of the best in the NL, but there have been rumors that the Cubs are trying to make it better by adding 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy. His contract guarantees him salaries of $15 million in '10, $16 million in '11, and $17 million in '12.

After signing Dempster to a four-year, $52 million deal on Nov. 18, the Cubs have said they can't afford Peavy, too. The Winter Meetings are a perfect stage for rumors, so any time Hendry is spotted talking to San Diego GM Kevin Towers in the lobby, expect an update at the top of the hour.

Having apparently parted ways with Kerry Wood, who saved 34 games in 2008 in his first season as closer, the Cubs want to find another arm for the bullpen. Carlos Marmol is projected as the closer next season, and Kevin Gregg, acquired from the Florida Marlins for Minor League pitcher Jose Ceda, can finish games when needed.

Hendry isn't the type to sit quietly on the sidelines, and Cubs chairman Crane Kenney has said it's business as usual while the ownership situation is sorted out. The Cubs will likely make some noise next week, but it won't come close to the 2006 offseason, when they spent $300 million. That flurry followed a 96-loss season. The Cubs won 97 games in '08.

"As far as we're concerned, we're coming off a season when our club won a lot of games, and it's not an old club, which is good," Hendry said. "The general nucleus is solid. We'll shuffle the deck in two or three areas and try to get better before we get to camp, but it's not like we need an overhaul."

Piniella, who won the NL Manager of the Year, will talk out loud about his wishes for the team but has said he will defer to Hendry when it comes time to make the roster decisions. As Piniella said, getting swept by the Dodgers felt as if he'd been run over by a semi-truck. Nobody on the Cubs wants to feel that pain again.

"We know we've got to change a few things," Piniella said. "Listen, this is no rebuilding. We have a good baseball team. We've just gotten cold at the wrong time two years in a row.

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Just saw rumors about a trade involving Mike Fontenot. Why would the Cubs trade someone so versatile and who plays as well as anybody else every time he was called up?
-- Jose G., Chicago

IYou must be talking about the rumors which have the Cubs sending Fontenot and lefty Sean Marshall to the Royals for Mark Teahen. Why Fontenot? Because you have to trade something of value to get something of value.

The Royals are trying to find middle-infield help and the Cubs are looking for a left-handed hitter who can play outfield, which is what sparked the talk. Teahen batted .255 last season with 15 homers, 31 doubles and 59 RBIs, and he can play first, third and the outfield. However, Teahen isn't as hot an item on the Cubs' wish list as the rumors may have you believe. Keep reading.

If we want a big lefty bat, why aren't we looking at Adam Dunn? His OBP and 40-plus home runs are off the charts, and he has always been a beast at Wrigley. I know about his defense, but offense was the issue in the NLDS.
-- Justin H., Denver

Dunn plays left field, not right, and the Cubs already have Alfonso Soriano in left and are committed to him for six more years. I apologize to regular Mailbag readers for repeating this, but the Cubs did post the best record in the National League last year, did lead the Major Leagues in run differential, and did rank second in the Majors in runs scored. The lineup doesn't need much tweaking. General manager Jim Hendry is looking for players who can help in the postseason, but the emphasis is on finding the most productive lineup for 162 games.

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Mike Fontenot Was Being Discussed To Go To Kansas City For Mark Teahen

With Wood's career as a Cub all but over, who is now the longest-tenured Cub?
-- Wayne G., Elgin, Ill

Carlos Zambrano has the longest service time with the team. Big Z made his Major League debut with the Cubs in 2001.

I have a question no one can seem to answer -- are the Cubs looking to re-sign Jim Edmonds? He seems to be good for his age and the Cubs seem to be showing no interest.
-- Mike G., Chicago

The Cubs ended the season on good terms with Edmonds, but he has yet to decide if he's going to play in '09 or retire. Personally, I don't see him coming back.

Are the Jake Peavy talks on or off? I hear Lou Piniella and you say it's over, then on Nov. 26, there's a quote from Padres GM Kevin Towers saying they've found a third team and now are looking to deal with the Cubs after the Thanksgiving holiday. What's going on?
-- Dan W., Des Moines, Iowa

The Padres want another team to get into the talks so they can unload Peavy and his contract, and the latest rumor has the Baltimore Orioles entering the discussion. That, of course, means more Brian Roberts talk. Again, I was told the Cubs went into this offseason knowing they could re-sign Ryan Dempster or trade for Peavy, but not do both. Piniella has said the same thing. Let's just say talks are ongoing.

I saw a clip where Jeff Samardzija mentioned his interest in joining the starting rotation. What are the odds this could be a possibility in 2009? If he can pitch as well as a starter as he did as a reliever in '08, then that move would give the Cubs a solid rotation with Dempster, Zambrano, Samardzija and [Jason] Marquis or [Rich] Hill.
-- Bruce D., Columbia, S.C

He does want to start and that will likely be his role as his career progresses, but I don't know if he'll be ready in 2009. Samardzija is young -- 23 years old -- and has pitched in fewer than 100 games combined in the big leagues and the Minors. What the Cubs are looking at is what's best for him and best for the team. Many young pitchers are eased into the big leagues by using them in relief, as Samardzija was last season. Also, you forgot pitchers Ted Lilly, Rich Harden and Marshall for the Cubs' rotation.

ChicagoCubs.com (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081130&content_id=3695929&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc)

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Cubs Winter Meeting Preview

Club Needs

Left-handed-hitting outfielder: In the Cubs' 10 games against the Dodgers, including the National League Division Series, they never faced a left-handed pitcher. Lou Piniella wants a left-handed bat to slide into the middle of his right-handed-heavy batting order. The only real opening is in right field, and that's only if the team decides to move Kosuke ***udome to center.

Bullpen: With the addition of Kevin Gregg, the Cubs hope they can make up for the loss of Kerry Wood to free agency. Gregg isn't projected as the full-time closer, but he can sub for Carlos Marmol when needed. Bob Howry signed with the Giants on Tuesday, and GM Jim Hendry would like to add some experience to the 'pen, especially a lefty.

Trade Possibilities

IF Ronny Cedeno: Cedeno batted .378 in the first month but couldn't maintain that the rest of the year, batting .214 in June. He can play short or second and even the outfield if needed.

RHP Jason Marquis: The Cubs wouldn't mind finding someone to pick up Marquis and his $9.875 million owed in 2009. The right-hander is healthy and can be effective in spurts. It's the mental part of the game that he seems to struggle with.

OF Felix Pie: Pie has the speed that Piniella covets and brings a lot of excitement to the game, but he hasn't been able to make the transition at the plate in the Majors. Once considered untouchable, the Cubs may part with the left-handed-hitting outfielder in the right package.


Top Prospects

OF Tyler Colvin, 3B Josh Vitters, RHPs Angel Guzman, Mitch Atkins, Justin Berg, Rocky Roquet and Marcos Mateo: Atkins, Berg and Mateo were added to the 40-man roster. Guzman may finally be healthy and ready for a full season. Colvin had Tommy John surgery but was expected to be OK for 2009.


Payroll

Big contracts they might unload: Marquis (owed $9.875 million in 2009) and, if anyone is interested, the final six years of OF Alfonso Soriano's $136 million deal.

Arbitration eligible: Cedeno, LHP Neal Cotts, RHP Chad Gaudin, Gregg, OF Reed Johnson, RHP Michael Wuertz.

Summary: The Cubs' ownership situation is still in flux. Even though management says it's business as usual, they do have a limited budget. Plus, the team has several long-term contracts that bump up in 2009. Expect the final payroll to be slightly higher than the $120 million spent in 2008.


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Cubs Look For Winning Combos

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Jim Hendry Will Have His Hands Full In The Next Couple Of Days

Could this be the week when Ron Santo finds out if he's going into the Hall of Fame? Will the Cubs snag a left-handed hitter to fill their needs? And how many times will Chicago general manager Jim Hendry be linked to rumors regarding Jake Peavy?
It's time for the Winter Meetings, which officially open Monday at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

Hendry heads into baseball's annual convention still in search of that elusive left-handed bat. The Cubs don't necessarily want someone who can hit fourth or fifth, but they do need more balance in the lineup.

"The trade market is going to be a possibility, the free-agent market is still a possibility," Hendry said. "There are certainly a lot of potential left-hand hitters who we feel could fit. We're very confident that, whether it's the next week, two weeks, three weeks, that we'll end up with a quality hitter.

"Truthfully, it's too early to tell whether it'll be A, B or C. There's a lot of possibilities. Some of that will be determined, or at least the path will become clear out in Vegas."

The four-day gathering begins Monday with the Veterans Committee's announcement regarding its Hall of Fame selections. Santo, the former Cubs third baseman and current WGN Radio analyst, is on the post-1942 ballot. An announcement is expected at 8 a.m. CT Monday.

On Wednesday, the Baseball Writers' Association of America will announce the winner of the Spink Award. Dave Van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune is one of the finalists.

Also, Major League Baseball will make an announcement on Wednesday regarding the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The Winter Meetings wrap up Thursday with the Rule 5 Draft.

Hendry usually spends most of the Meetings in his hotel suite, chatting with agents and representatives from other teams behind closed doors.

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Lou Pinella Has Made It Clear That He Wants Another Left Handed Bat On The Team

It would seem as if the team's only opening for another bat is in right field, but that would depend on whether the Cubs move Kosuke ***udome to center. As of now, Alfonso Soriano is set in left field, and manager Lou Piniella can pick between the other outfielders -- ***udome, Reed Johnson, Felix Pie -- to handle center and right.

"When I look at Reed, I don't say, 'Hey, that's our part-time center fielder,'" Hendry said. "I look at Reed Johnson as a guy on a lot of clubs who could play all three spots. He gives us great possibilities, as far as an additional player we could add."

That list also could include Mark DeRosa if Piniella choses to start Mike Fontenot at second. The Cubs do have depth, which a lot of teams don't have, and are coming off back-to-back National League Central titles. Hendry doesn't feel they need to overhaul the roster, just tweak a few things. And they may have to be creative to do so.

"We're not opposed to moving money and adding money," Hendry said. "We're not just assuming that, from now until Christmas, we'll get one guy. Maybe we move some guys and add a couple guys.

"It's kind of intriguing, to be honest. We're in a good spot. Not only did we win 97 ballgames, the team that's on our wall right now, you could line up with and contend with, and a lot of clubs, I don't think, can say that."

As for pitching, the Cubs have a solid five-man rotation already in Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly, Rich Harden and Jason Marquis. They have the luxury of a sixth pitcher in Sean Marshall as well.

Even with Kerry Wood's departure, the Cubs don't feel a need to do much with the bullpen. Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg can handle the late-inning c*****. Jeff Samardzija could be used as a reliever, along with Kevin Hart. Neal Cotts will be the prime left-handed pitcher in the 'pen, and Chad Gaudin is expected to come back strong after missing time last season with a bad back. Angel Guzman, who has battled back from elbow and shoulder injuries, also could contribute. The Cubs have heard from seven or eight clubs interested in some of their relievers.

The 2008 payroll was close to $130 million, and it is expected to increase in 2009. The team has yet to pick its new owner, which could be finalized by Spring Training. The bidders are aware of the team's 2009 budget. If Hendry wants to add significant money to the payroll, he will have to make room by trading players currently on the roster.

The bottom line is that the Cubs will get something done this offseason. They may not be able to find their guy by the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday.

"It'll be an exciting month," Hendry said. "I'm looking forward to it."

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Peavy Either To Chicago Or No One

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Jim Hendry Is Trying To Get A Left Handed Bat, And Get Rid Of Some Payroll Before Possibly Aquiring Peavy

The San Diego Padres have made it clear they want to deal Jake Peavy to the Cubs. The problem is the Cubs may not be a good match.
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry declined to comment Monday after Padres general manager Kevin Towers said that there was only one team -- the Cubs -- that he was talking to about the right-hander.

Hendry won't comment because to do so about a player on another team is tampering and subject to a fine by Major League Baseball. Towers, on the other hand, can talk about any team he wants.

"[The Cubs are] the one ballclub we're talking to," Towers said Monday shortly after Greg Maddux had his farewell news conference at the Bellagio Hotel. "There's no secret there."

Cubs sources said Monday they were surprised by Towers' comments.

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If Peavy Doesn't Head To Chicago, He Won't Be Headed Anywhere According To Towers

Adding Peavy was not No. 1 on the Cubs' wish list coming into the Winter Meetings, and manager Lou Piniella has dismissed all talk. The Cubs have been focused on acquiring a left-handed-hitting outfielder to slide into their very right-handed lineup.

Peavy would make an already good rotation even better, joining Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly, Rich Harden and Jason Marquis. But the Cubs would have to do some payroll trimming to make room, and there were indications that the team had talked to other clubs about Marquis, who will make $9.875 million in 2009.

What the Cubs can or can't do also remains to be seen following Monday's news that the parent Tribune Co. had filed for bankruptcy. The Tribune Co. says the move does not affect the Cubs, who are for sale, and that it's business as usual. Hendry would not comment on the bankruptcy move.

However, for the Cubs to take on Peavy and his salary, the team may need to get approval from the potential bidders. There are at least three groups who submitted bids for the team, which has been for sale since April 2007. Cubs management has informed them about the proposed 2009 budget, which will be higher than the 2008 figure of $130 million. Peavy will make $11 million in 2009, and is owed $63 million over four seasons.

Peavy does have a no-trade clause and has indicated that he would accept a trade to play in Chicago. Towers said if a deal can't be consummated by the time he leaves Las Vegas on Thursday, he will -- for the sake of the team, the fans and even Peavy himself -- take the right-hander off the market so he can be the Opening Day starter on April 6.

Hendry was to meet with reporters later Monday.

The deal was originally believed to be delayed because the Cubs did not have the young talent the Padres wanted. Towers indicated a third team was needed to satisfy all parties, but sources have said a three-way deal wasn't close to being finalized.

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Legend Greg Maddux Announces Retirement

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Greg Maddux Retires With 355 Wins And 3,371 Strikeouts

The first time pitching guru **** Pole saw Greg Maddux was at the Cubs' Spring Training facility when the teenage pitcher reported to Mesa, Ariz. Maddux was the Cubs' 31st-round Draft pick in 1984.
"He was one of those kids, when you looked at him, you kind of threw everything a stereotypical pitcher was supposed to be out of the book," said Pole, who was a coach in the Cubs' system at the time. "He wasn't very tall, he was kind of skinny. You know that weird way that he walks? That's what caught your eye right away. He never walked; he kind of strolled. He was like that when he was 18 years old.

"You didn't know he was going to be as good as he turned out to be," Pole said, "but you knew there was something good about the kid."

Maddux turned out to be 355-wins good.

The skinny right-hander said goodbye Monday, officially announcing his retirement from a job that has always been a game to him. Maddux had fun playing baseball over his 23 seasons, beginning with the Cubs. He called Wrigley Field home from '86 until 1992, when he won the first of four National League Cy Young Awards, then returned to the Cubs in 2004 after an incredibly successful stretch with the Braves. He was traded in 2006 so he could be close to his West Coast home and get a chance at the postseason.

Ask anyone who has played with him, and they will say the same: Maddux was the consummate professional.

"He was quiet, but he had an impact on players -- and it wasn't just the pitchers," current Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. "Obviously, he had an unbelievable career. I think more important than the numbers is the type of person you were dealing with. That's what I'll remember."

Maddux made his Major League debut Sept. 3, 1986, as a pinch-runner in a game that began the day before and was suspended at the end of the 14th inning with the score tied at 4. He entered the game in the 17th, running for catcher Jody Davis. Maddux didn't not score but stayed in to pitch the 18th and served up a one-out, game-winning homer to Billy Hatcher and took the loss.

Four days later, he picked up his first "W" when he threw a complete game in an 11-3 Cubs victory over the Reds at Riverfront Stadium.

Maddux went 133-112 with the Cubs, and notched his 300th win during his return trip in Aug. 7, 2004. Pole was the Cubs' bench coach when Maddux reached the milestone with a victory over the San Francisco Giants.

"I went over to give him the lineup card, and he signed it and gave it back to me," Pole said. "He said it wasn't that big a deal. But when he got his 3,000th strikeout, he took that lineup card. He was proud of getting that 3,000th strikeout."

He leaves with 3,371 K's. Hitters everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief because they won't have to try to outguess Mad Dog any more.

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Greg Maddux Retires A No-Doubt Hall Of Famer

Pete Vonachen, who owned the Minor League team in Peoria, Ill., where Maddux played, attended Monday's news conference at the Bellagio. He recalled getting Maddux's wife, Cathy, a job as a bus girl at a restaurant. Maddux was making $750 a month in the Minor Leagues and his per diem was $9 a day.

The young couple bought an old car that never seemed to start and Vonachen bought them a battery because he knew money was tight.

"I remember Opening Night, April 12, 1985, and Harry Caray was there," Vonachen said. "He watched Greg for about four innings and said, 'There's a Major League pitcher right there.'"

Pete Mackanin was the Peoria Chiefs manager at the time.

"I said, 'Pete, that skinny kid you've got pitching tonight, you better put bricks in his back pocket or he's going to get blown right off the mound,'" Vonachen said. "He wasn't any bigger around than a pencil -- and he's not much bigger now."

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said he was glad to have the opportunity to bring Maddux back to the team for a second run.

"He's one of a kind," Hendry said of the certain Hall of Fame pitcher. "He was a terrific teammate and as good as it gets on the mound. He was a really honest, caring human being. He was great to me, great to my son. If the game could ever have more people like him, the game would be fortunate."

Hendry wasn't the general manager when Maddux left the team in 1992. The Cubs can only wonder what might have happened if he had stayed in Chicago.

"I'd like to think if I was there, it would never have happened," Hendry said. "Maybe for his own sake, things were meant to be that way."

Well before Maddux had picked up his 10th big league win, Pole gave the pitcher some advice when the two were in Venezuela for winter league ball. At that point, Maddux was trying to overpower hitters and strike everybody out. What Maddux finally figured out was that if he was behind in the count, he should try to fool a hitter with something soft. Throwing changeups in fastball counts wasn't what they expected.

"He then took it to another level by using both sides of the plate with his offspeed pitches and his fastball," Pole said. "He always had that fastball that tailed back over the plate against left-handers."

Maddux's mantra was that the best pitch was a well-located fastball, and he mastered that by keeping a constant delivery. If you look at video of Maddux from starts this year and compare them side by side to 1998, his delivery is exactly the same.

"A lot of guys find themselves on the mound thinking about what they do in their delivery instead of thinking about what they're trying to do with the pitch," Pole said. "He was confident enough in his delivery that he didn't have to worry about that. All he had to concentrate on is where he's throwing the ball."

Maddux believed you should throw the ball with a purpose, and that included side sessions and when he shagged balls in the outfield during batting practice. Jim Snyder, who was the Minor League field coordinator for the Cubs when Maddux was coming up, would emphasize that.

Maddux didn't goof around when he was on the mound.

"That's probably the only area when he didn't goof around," Pole said, chuckling.

Anyone who has shared a clubhouse with the right-hander knows about his dry sense of humor, his wacky T-shirts, and his addiction to golf.

This year, Maddux picked up his 18th Gold Glove. Nearly every start he made included at least one comebacker that he would cleanly field and convert for an out. Next time you see video of Maddux, watch how still his head is. He's focused on where he's throwing the ball.

There was a Cubs game in St. Louis a few years ago where the Cardinals had the bases loaded and one out. Maddux was pitching, and he got Jim Edmonds to hit a comebacker, and boom, turned it into a 1-2-3 double play. Maddux sat down on the bench next to Pole, who was the Cubs' bench coach. Maddux told Pole: "All I was telling myself was to catch the ball."

"I said, 'What are you talking about?'" Pole said, relaying the story. "He said, 'I knew if I made that pitch right there, he'd hit it back to me. All I was telling myself was to catch the ball."

When Maddux wasn't pitching, he often sat in the dugout and called an opposing pitcher's pitches.

"Clarence Jones told me that when he was the hitting coach in Atlanta, Maddux would talk to him more than the hitters did," Pole said. "He wanted to know what was going through a hitter's mind."

Maddux finishes with 300-plus wins, 3,000-plus strikeouts and fewer than 1,000 career walks in his career. It's a remarkable run.

"When he first came up to the big leagues, people said with that frame and his fragile body, he's not going to last," Pole said. "I heard people in the past say he needed to get on some type of weight program because his body is not going to hold up over the years."

Obviously, that didn't happen.

"Mentally, his game was just at a different level than anybody else," Pole said. "He's almost like a freak because he could tell you what's going to happen before it's going to happen. I've been lucky enough to be around a lot of good pitchers, but nobody [else] at that level."

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[soldaderyan]

Are you going to play in 2 chises, or what?

[chad0034]

no its only going to be the Cubs one... im not liking the way the Brewers roster is looking next season. CC is one of my favorite players. All they have left i like now, is Braun/Fielder.

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NL Team By Team Update

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Kerry Wood Is Reportedly Close To Signing With Cleveland ;Francisco Rodriguez Just Found His Team For 2009

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NL EAST
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/nym.gif - Mets Sign Francisco Rodriguez (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081209&content_id=3708000&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/atl.gif - Braves Eyeing A.J. Burnett (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081209&content_id=3708259&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/fla.gif - Marlins Think About Signing Pudge Rodriguez (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081209&content_id=3708141&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/phi.gif - DeRosa Might Go To Philadelphia In Peavy Trade (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081209&content_id=3708054&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/was.gif - Nationals Talk To Rockies About Carlos Gonzalez (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081209&content_id=3708227&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)

NL CENTRAL
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/chc.gif - Package Deal For Peavy Presented (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081208&content_id=3706693&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/stl.gif - Cardinals Commited To Kennedy (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081209&content_id=3708141&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/cin.gif - Depth Important For Reds In 2009 (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081208&content_id=3706805&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/mil.gif - Brewers Finalize Deal With Mike Lamb (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081209&content_id=3708153&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/hou.gif - Tejada, Wiggington Draw Interest (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081208&content_id=3706844&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/pit.gif - Buzz Surounding Jack Wilson Ends (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081208&content_id=3707237&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)

NL WEST
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/ari.gif - Diamondbacks Have Busy Day At Meetings (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081208&content_id=3707388&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/la.gif - Furcal Sweeps Down To 4 Million (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081209&content_id=3709169&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/sd.gif - Peavy Deal Still Has Hiccups (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081208&content_id=3706805&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/sf.gif - Giants Fine With Youth At Infield Corners (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081209&content_id=3708227&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsbllillogos/col.gif - Rockies Pick Up Alan Embree (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081208&content_id=3706844&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp)

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[K-Rod57]

damn chad, you always do a nice chise for any sport, keep it up :)

[chad0034]

thanks. Feel free to comment guys.

[chad0034]

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Cubs Propose Mega-Peavy/DeRosa Deal

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Mark DeRosa Is Reportedly Heading To The Phillies In This Proposed Deal; Nothing Is Official Yet However

Jake Peavy is interested in pitching for the Cubs, the Phillies would like to acquire Mark DeRosa, and the Padres want young talent while reducing their payroll.
Whether the three teams can satisfy their respective wish lists will depend on other factors. The Cubs, for example, have to decide how much talent they are willing to give up to get Peavy, the 2007 Cy Young Award winner, and if the team's new ownership group can handle the additional payroll he will demand.

On Wednesday, ESPN reported a possible three-team, seven-player scenario in which the Phillies would send either Minor League pitcher J.A. Happ or Carlos Carrasco plus shortstop Jason Donald to the Cubs in exchange for DeRosa. The Cubs would then send the two young Phillies players to the Padres for Peavy along with Jason Marquis, Felix Pie and Josh Vitters.

However, a source said the names of the Phillies' Minor League players were "erroneous," but did reaffirm the defending world champions would like to acquire DeRosa. Cubs general manager Jim Hendry would not comment on the ESPN report.

Both the Phillies and Cubs would be giving up a lot. Donald, a member of the U.S. Olympic team, batted .307 with 14 homers, 19 doubles and four triples with 54 RBIs in 92 games for Triple-A Reading, and hit .407 for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League.

The Cubs are believed to be trying to move Marquis, who is in the last year of his three-year contract. He was to make $9.875 million next year, and the Cubs would like to avoid having to pick up part of his salary to make a trade work.

Vitters was the Cubs' No. 1 Draft pick in June 2007, and this past season led the Northwest League with 25 doubles. He was named Baseball America's top prospect in the league at the end of the season after hitting .328.

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Peavy Was Spotted Sing "Go Cubs Go" At A Bar On Monday Night

The Phillies are looking for an experienced player to help them while Chase Utley heals. The 2009 season would be the final year of DeRosa's contract with the Cubs. He set career highs in 2008 with 21 home runs, 87 RBIs, 103 runs and a .376 on-base percentage. He can play second, third and the outfield.

A high-placed Cubs official said the team wasn't going to trade him, but another one familiar with the situation said DeRosa wasn't untouchable. If DeRosa went to Philadelphia, it would be a homecoming. He played quarterback at Penn.

"I don't talk about our guys who are rumored to be traded," Hendry said when asked about DeRosa.

Padres general manager Kevin Towers said he did talk to Hendry on Wednesday.

"Before we check out of this hotel ... we'll know if we have a deal," Towers said. "This has been the entire focus of baseball [operations]."

Peavy is owed $63 million over the next four seasons, and the Cubs have been the main target since talks between the Padres and Braves broke down last month. He would make a good rotation even better, joining Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly and Rich Harden.

The Cubs don't feel any sense of urgency, and if they did not complete a deal for Peavy, they would likely turn their attention to signing free-agent Randy Johnson, who manager Lou Piniella knows from their time together in Seattle.

"We feel good enough to win with the staff and bullpen we have now," Hendry said.

He'd feel even better if Peavy were part of it.

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[krunchybox]

no its only going to be the Cubs one... im not liking the way the Brewers roster is looking next season. CC is one of my favorite players. All they have left i like now, is Braun/Fielder.

They might not even have Fielder left pretty soon either.

Btw....nice 'chise....too bad it's the Cubs though. :(

[chad0034]

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Cubs Winter Meetings Recap

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The Jake Peavy To-The-Cubs Deal Is No More

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry came to the Winter Meetings wanting a left-handed bat for his lineup but ended up spending most of his time considering whether he should bolster the pitching staff.
It was no deal for Jake Peavy, and even though adding the 2007 Cy Young Award winner would've made the Cubs' rotation stellar, it's still pretty darn good heading into the 2009 season. Hendry decided the price of personnel and the additional payroll was too high and bowed out. He entered the discussions feeling that adding Peavy would've been more than winning a hand at the blackjack table -- it would've been hitting the mega jackpot.

After telling the Padres "no" on Thursday, Hendry now can focus on finding an outfielder who will make Lou Piniella happy. Milton Bradley appears to be the front-runner among the free agents available, and that will be explored further.

There was some good news: The Cubs won't have to face CC Sabathia, who left the Milwaukee Brewers to sign with the New York Yankees.

Perhaps the strangest rumor of the week -- and there were several -- was one that speculated the Cubs were going to deal Carlos Zambrano. That's not going to happen either.

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Lou Pinella Has Not Gotten The Left Handed Bat He Wants Yet

Deals done: The Cubs' potential deal with the Padres for Peavy was dismissed on Thursday after a lot of talking and walking by Hendry. The Cubs GM decided the price was too high to sign the right-hander and that the team already had a very good rotation without him. The Cubs did get a head start by acquiring Kevin Gregg from the Florida Marlins, and he will be a key part of the bullpen.

Rule 5 activity: The Cubs did not make a pick but did acquire a pitcher in a trade as they picked up right-handed reliever David Patton, who was selected by the Reds in the first round. Patton was 4-5 with a 3.54 ERA in 50 relief appearances and will be looked at for the bullpen.

The Cubs did lose left-handed pitcher Donnie Veal in the first round to Pittsburgh and lost two players in the Double-A portion in Yusuf Carter and right-handed pitcher Mark Holliman.

Goals accomplished: Hendry got the impression from representatives of free-agent outfielders available that the Cubs were their top choice. That should help in negotiations. He also talked to reps for Randy Johnson, who could be a part of the rotation, and catcher Paul Bako, who could return to the team as backup to Geovany Soto.

Unfinished business: Piniella left Vegas without a left-handed bat for his lineup, and that's a priority.

GM's bottom line: "We feel confident that before we get to camp, we're going to have a better baseball team than we had when the season ended. That's our goal."

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[chad0034]

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--Edmonds Hits 2 HR Against Former Team St Louis, Cubs Win In 11, 3-2--

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Jim Edmonds Get A Curtain Call After His Second Homerun Of The Day

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--Game Recap--

Another game, another hero for the Cubs.
Henry Blanco, who had 15 at-bats in July, delivered a walk-off RBI single in the 11th inning and Jim Edmonds smacked two solo homers against his former team to lift the Cubs to a 3-2 victory Friday over the St. Louis Cardinals.

"That's how you win," Edmonds said. "You get people to go out and play as a team, not individuals."

With the game tied at 2 and one out in the Chicago 11th against Ryan Franklin (4-5), Derrek Lee walked and reached third on Aramis Ramirez's single. Franklin intentionally walked Kosuke ***udome to load the bases for Blanco, who lined the ball past the shortstop for the Cubs' 70th win this season, and 12th in their last at-bat.

"I knew they were going to walk Kosuke, so I had enough time to think about what I was going to do," Blanco said. "Lou [Piniella] told me to look for a slider first pitch, and it was a little bit outside. Then they gave me a fastball to hit."

Bob Howry (5-4) picked up the win in relief as the Cubs managed without Kerry Wood, who was not available because his back had tightened up. Rookie Jeff Samardzija looked like a pro in his two innings, including a key play in the 10th. Albert Pujols had singled with two outs off Samardzija, but was thrown out trying to steal to end the inning.

"For Samardzija, that's a big play to not panic and step off and throw to second," said Cubs starter Ted Lilly said. "Sometimes it's simple things like that that win you the game."

Samardzija said he had a similar play in Triple-A this year, but the runner was safe. Facing a Minor League hitter and facing Pujols are very different, yet Samardzija didn't think about who he was facing other than to go over the scouting report in his head.

"I did that one time," Samardzija said about being a little starstruck. "It was when Barry Bonds was at the plate in Spring Training. I don't remember the at-bat, I was just trying not to hit him. I figured after facing Barry Bonds, nothing is the same. I had my moment. I enjoy pitching in big situations, and what better guy to be pitching against in a big game [than Pujols]?"

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Henry Blanco Drove In The Game Winning Run Against The Rival Cardinals

Edmonds is happy to still be in the game. He hit 241 home runs for St. Louis from 2000-07, including 17 at Wrigley Field, but had never hit one in Chicago against the Cardinals until Friday. And he did it twice.

Edmonds connected with one out in the Cubs' second, his 14th long ball of the season, and flipped his bat toward the visitors' dugout before beginning his trot. He was cheered as he took the field in the third, which also never happened when he was wearing Cardinals red. What about the bat flip?

"It was just stuck in my hands because I had too much pine tar," Edmonds said. "I didn't even realize it happened."

He followed with a game-tying homer with one out in the seventh, an opposite-field shot, to make it 2-2. Edmonds was summoned by the crowd of 41,539 for a curtain call, his first in Chicago.

"I always believed I could still play," said Edmonds, released by San Diego May 9 after starting the season batting .178. "I didn't play well in San Diego. It wasn't a great park for me to play in. I gave everything I had but couldn't get it done there. This park has helped me out being a little smaller."

"I tip my cap," Piniella said of Edmonds. "He's come in here and done a really nice job, and he's hitting the ball for some power for us. He's making some nice plays in center field, and he's fit in well with the chemistry for this team. It's been a win-win for us."

Edmonds has yet to talk to Cardinals manager Tony La Russa this year. He probably won't. That stage of his career is over.

"It is a little odd to play against a group of individuals you've been so close to for so long," Edmonds said. "It's like playing in the backyard with your family. You have to separate and move on."

It wasn't a perfect day. Edmonds did commit a throwing error in the fifth that allowed Cesar Izturis to reach third after a double. Edmonds' throw skipped past three Cubs in the infield. But Izturis was out at home on a botched suicide squeeze when Braden Looper missed a bunt and catcher Geovany Soto easily tagged him.

Joe Mather had tied the game in the St. Louis third against Lilly with his sixth home run. The Cardinals had runners at second and third in the sixth and took a 2-1 lead on Adam Kennedy's run-scoring groundout. Pujols was intentionally walked and Ryan Ludwick unintentionally walked to load the bases. Troy Glaus flew out to left, and Mather, who was at third, tried to score, but Alfonso Soriano threw a perfect strike to nail him at home by at least two steps.

"It was a great team win," Lilly said. "Even guys who didn't get hits made great plays in the field in some way, shape or form to add to the win."

That includes shortstop Ryan Theriot, whose left ankle is a deep shade of purple after fouling a pitch off it Wednesday, and again on Friday.

"Uncle," Theriot said, laughing. "It looks a lot worse than it is."

Those kind of aches and pains don't hurt as much when you're in first place, which also limits any complaints from players such as Blanco, who don't get many chances. Lilly said the backup catcher is one of the most underrated players on the Cubs.

"I know what my role is, I know what my job is," Blanco said. "I just have to stay ready. When they need me, I'll be ready to go."


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[chad0034]

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I heard that Veal was picked by the Pirates in the Rule 5 Draft. What exactly does that mean? Did they just take him away completely from the Cubs organization? I thought he had a great future, and I would be very disappointed to see him leave.
-- Ross K., Avon, Ind

He is now a Pirate. Veal was not among the players protected by the Cubs and was available in the Draft, which took place last Thursday at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas. What it means is the Pirates paid $50,000 to draft Veal, and he has to stay on their big league roster in 2009 for Pittsburgh to keep him or else be returned to the Cubs for $25,000.

I'm a little confused with the Cubs withdrawing from the Peavy trade. Did the Padres want more than Jason Marquis, Felix Pie and a couple Minor Leaguers? Surely Jim Hendry didn't think that was too much to pay. How much more were they wanting?
-- Bryan D., Frankfort, Ky

There were other names mentioned, and to avoid any additional angst this offseason, I won't list them. The deal was not completed because Hendry decided the combination of who the Padres wanted plus Peavy's large contract was just too much. Padres general manager Kevin Towers had every right to ask for the moon. But the Cubs had a very good rotation before the Peavy talk started and they have a very good rotation without him.

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Angel Guzman Should Be In The Cubs Bullpen In 2009

I've read that Hendry is looking to sign someone like Paul Bako. Are the Cubs not going to re-sign Henry Blanco?
-- Nick V., Muncie, Ind

Blanco is being courted by other teams, and even though the Cubs would like to have him back, they also wouldn't mind a lower-priced alternative and someone who bats left-handed. That could be Bako. This spring, the Cubs will consider Koyie Hill, a switch-hitter, as a possible backup to Geovany Soto.

While the Cubs are looking for a left-handed power hitter, have they looked at the Cardinals' Rick Ankiel? He is a left-handed power bat as well as someone to fill the void in center.
-- Evan B., Stamford, Conn

Actually, Ankiel would be perfect. The Cardinals aren't likely to help out the Cubs.

How about Guzman? I've read the Cubs are considering to send Jeff Samardzija to the starting rotation but nothing about Angel. He was the real deal until his shoulder was injured. In my opinion, he could fit perfectly next to Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Ted Lilly and Ryan Dempster in the rotation. So much young talent -- what a great problem to have.
-- Gergely H., Budapest, Hungary

Guzman will likely be in the Cubs' bullpen in 2009, one, because he's finally healthy after surgery on both his right shoulder and elbow, but also because he's out of options. (Other Cubs out of options include Pie, Ronny Cedeno and Rich Hill). Samardzija could be in the 'pen with the big league team or start at Triple-A Iowa, depending on what the Cubs need.

Will you please tell me who played first base during Ivan DeJesus' time with the Cubs. I've got a bet on it.
-- John S., Sebring, Fla

DeJesus played for the Cubs from 1977-1981, and the Opening Day first basemen in those years were Larry Biittner (1977) and Bill Buckner (1978-81).

ChicagoCubs.com (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081214&content_id=3717139&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc)

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[biggestcubsfan]

keep it going its good

[RKO BLACK RKO]

keep up the good work chad 1 of the last few bright lights on this site

[chad0034]

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--Daryle Ward Comes Through In Florida, Cubs Comeback With 3 In The 9th To Win 6-5--

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Daryle Ward Came Through Clutch With A Huge Homerun In The 9th Inning

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--Game Recap--

Beer never tasted as good as it did Friday night for Daryle Ward.
Ward received a well-deserved beer shower from his teammates after launching a three-run pinch-hit homer with one out in the ninth inning to lift the Cubs to a 6-5 victory over the Florida Marlins for their ninth straight road win.

"That's a huge at-bat -- we needed it, and he delivered," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.

With the Cubs trailing, 5-3, in the ninth, Marlins closer Kevin Gregg (6-5) walked Mark DeRosa, and third baseman Wes Helms made a great grab of Mike Fontenot's line drive. Reed Johnson then singled, and Ward, who had four hits in his previous 40 pinch-hit at-bats, followed with his third home run off an 0-1 pitch.

"[Beer] is much better than shaving cream," said Ward, who was ambushed when he entered the visitors' clubhouse at Dolphin Stadium. "At least I can enjoy that."

What was he thinking in the ninth?

"I knew [Gregg] was going to come after me," Ward said. "He's a closer, and has a good fastball. I took the first one, and I was kind of thinking that was it. It was right down the middle. I did it again, and took a fastball right down the middle. Now, I'm going to have to really battle, and I picked up the release spot early, and saw it was another fastball and took a good hack and connected, and it felt great."

He had shortened his swing Thursday when he hit a sacrifice fly against the Atlanta Braves, and took that into his at-bat on Friday. Ward has been trying to get out of his funk. The home run was his first hit after an 0-for-13 skid, and when you're primarily a pinch-hitter, it's a long time between at-bats.


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Carlos Zambrano Had A Rough Game On The Mound, But Had A Big RBI Single At The Plate Earlier In The Game

"Right there, I'm just trying to make good contact and I crushed the ball," Ward said. "It takes me time to adjust sometimes, and when you pinch-hit, you get one at-bat, it might take a week and it seems like forever. I was so excited."

So was Carlos Zambrano, who was off the hook. The right-hander was in line to take the loss after walking five, making a throwing error, hitting a batter and serving up a three-run homer to Jorge Cantu.

Zambrano helped himself in the second, slapping a two-out RBI single to right to extend his hitting streak to a career-high six games. But the Marlins tied the game in the second on Cody Ross' RBI double.

In the Florida third, Zambrano walked pitcher Josh Johnson on four pitches, then walked Hanley Ramirez, although he let home-plate umpire Bill Miller know he wasn't happy with the call. Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild tried to calm down the right-hander. One out later, Cantu launched his 21st homer to left to go ahead, 4-1. One out and another walk later, Josh Willingham hit an RBI triple that center fielder Jim Edmonds couldn't track down.

Zambrano resumed his conversation with Miller as he left the field after the sixth inning, and continued before his at-bat leading off the seventh. Big Z gave up five runs on four hits and five walks over five innings, striking out six.

When Zambrano was at 84 pitches in the game, he had thrown 44 strikes and 40 balls. That's not a good ratio.

"I think he's rushing off the mound, especially off the stretch," Piniella said. "I don't think his arm is getting into the right slot. I'm not a pitching coach, but those are the things we talked about. He had good stuff. The last couple starts, he didn't have his good stuff. Today, he had good stuff, but he was all over the place."

Zambrano does not have a win in his last three starts.

"We need to get him going the way he can pitch," Piniella said. "You need to have your ace win baseball games for you."

Zambrano got some support. DeRosa belted his career-high 14th home run with one on in the Chicago fourth and Kerry Wood picked up his 25th save, and first since coming off the disabled list. The nine straight road wins are the most since the Cubs won 12 in a row away from Wrigley Field July 1-Aug. 3, 1945.

"My teammates were able to win the game, and believe me, I'm happy for the team," Zambrano said. "There are some things I'm going to have to correct in my mechanics. I have to move forward and keep doing my job."

Before the game, Piniella called this weekend series against the Marlins a "dangerous three-game set." Maybe the problem is Florida. The Cubs had lost their last 10 games in the Sunshine State, including a three-game series this year in Tampa Bay, and had not won a game in Florida since July 10, 2005. The folks at Dolphin Stadium decided to poke fun at the Cubs, and added a goat and a black and white photo of the 1908 team behind the players' images on the scoreboard.

"It feels good to win -- this was my first win as a Cubs manager in Florida," Piniella said.

It was the Cubs' 35th come-from-behind win, tied for the most in the Major Leagues with Detroit and Milwaukee. The statistics may not show it, but Ward has contributed in other ways. Zambrano said the veteran often talks to him when he struggles. On Friday, Ward did even more.

"He hit that long home run for us and we were able to win this game," Zambrano said. "I'm very proud of him. That tells you it doesn't matter how long your slump is or how big your slump is. You have to go out there and try to do your job every time you go to the plate."


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[chad0034]

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Mark DeRosa To Play For The US In WBC

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Mark DeRosa Had Accepted His Invitation To Play For The US In The WBC

Cubs second baseman Mark DeRosa has apparently accepted an invitation to play for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic in March.
Foxsports.com reported Monday that DeRosa, who is coming off his best season in which he batted .287 and set personal bests with 21 home runs and 87 RBIs, will join Boston's Dustin Pedroia at second base for the U.S. team.

In the World Baseball Classic's inaugural season in 2006, first baseman Derrek Lee and catcher Michael Barrett both represented the Cubs on Team USA.

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Mark DeRosa Is Currently The Only Cub That Will Play For The USA

DeRosa, 33, also can play third, short and the corner outfield spots. Over 11 Major League seasons, he has compiled a .279 average with 69 homers and 352 RBIs in 893 games.

On Monday, Mets third baseman David Wright also committed to play for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic, which runs from March 5-23.

DeRosa is expected to join Team USA for its workouts March 2 in Clearwater, Fla. The first game is scheduled for March 7 against Team Canada. Italy and Venezuela are in the same pool as Team USA.

Other Cubs who may play in the World Baseball Classic include outfielder Kosuke ***udome (Japan) and Carlos Zambrano (Venezuela). Geovany Soto has expressed a desire to play for the Puerto Rico team but may be bumped because of the number of catchers on the squad, including Yadier Molina and Ivan Rodriguez.

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[chad0034]

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Question And Answer: Kevin Gregg

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We Thank New Chicago Cub Kevin Gregg For Answering Our Questions

Since being traded to the Cubs, Kevin Gregg has heard from a lot of family and friends who are planning trips to Chicago this summer. But Gregg is focused right now on the holidays. Christmas is an important time of year for the reliever. This offseason, he purchased some land near his Corvallis, Ore., home and now owns a Christmas-tree farm.
Who better to talk about the holiday than Gregg, who will celebrate with his wife, Nicole; 7-year-old daughter, Ryann; 4-year-old son, Max; and a homegrown tree.

MLB.com: What's Christmas like with two young kids?

Gregg: It keeps you young. It's fun and entertaining. There's a lot of excitement that comes out of them. That's what you look forward to, is seeing the smiles on their faces.

MLB.com: Any family traditions?

Gregg: My brothers and all their kids and my sister and her kids all get together for Christmas so it's nice every year to get together and have a family reunion. Everybody comes back to Corvallis.

MLB.com: Do you remember anything special from past holidays when you were a kid?

Gregg: The only tradition I have with all my brothers and sisters is that we have a gift exchange instead of buying for everybody. There's quite a few of us. It makes things easier. One thing we do is we cut down our own Christmas trees. Around here, it's not that uncommon to cut down your own Christmas tree.

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Kevin Gregg, Newly Acquired Cub, Owns His Own Christmas Tree Farm

MLB.com: That sounds nice. Buying trees in the city can be expensive.

Gregg: On my property here, I have my own Christmas-tree farm. I have probably 3,000 or 4,000 Christmas trees on the property.

MLB.com: This must be a busy time of year for you.

Gregg: It's mostly family and friends. People come out here and cut down their own. We just bought the property so we're in the midst of reshaping the trees. They're a little overgrown.

MLB.com: You're not out there with a chain saw, are you?

Gregg: We just trim up the branches. Usually, you pay somebody to come in and do that.

MLB.com: That's a good career move for a pitcher.

Gregg: I'm not out there with any chain saws or hatchets or anything.

MLB.com: So, you have blue spruce available?

Gregg: We have Nobles and pine and Douglas fir -- a little bit of everything.

MLB.com: It must feel like Christmas year-round.

Gregg: Yeah, I guess it does. I just bought the piece of property last year, and for six, seven years prior to that, I bought my Christmas tree there. I like the property and it ended up being for sale and we bought it.

MLB.com: Do you get first dibs on the best tree?

Gregg: We have to tie off our tree and say, "Hands off."

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[chad0034]

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Cubs Sign Aaron Miles, And Ship Out Mark DeRosa To Cleveland

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The Cubs Have Had A Busy Day Today With The Signing Of Miles, And The Trade Of Mark DeRosa

The Cubs added a versatile player in Aaron Miles on Wednesday and traded another in Mark DeRosa.
DeRosa, who is coming off his best offensive season, was dealt to the Cleveland Indians for three Minor League pitchers, including right-hander Jeff Stevens, lefty John Gaub and righty Chris Archer.

DeRosa set personal highs with 21 homers, 87 RBIs, 103 runs and 69 walks while batting .285 in 2008. The popular infielder had one year remaining on his three-year contract with the Cubs, and was to be paid $5.5 million in 2009.

He played four different positions, and filled in for Kosuke ***udome in right field when he struggled.

Stevens was a combined 5-4 with a 3.24 ERA in 36 games, all in relief, last season in the Minor Leagues for the Indians. A sixth-round pick by the Cincinnati Reds in 2005, the right-hander was traded to Cleveland in June 2006 as the player to be named following the Brandon Phillips' deal.

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We're Frowning To DeRosa, But the Cubs Could Be Back In The Run For Peavy

Gaub appeared in 34 games, all in relief, for Class A Lake County, and he compiled a 3.38 ERA, while Archer was a starter for the Captains, going 4-8 with a 4.29 ERA in 27 games.

Earlier Wednesday, the Cubs signed Miles, 32, to a two-year deal. He batted .317, with 15 doubles, four home runs, 31 RBIs and a .355 on-base percentage in 134 games for the St. Louis Cardinals last season.

"We expect Aaron to provide significant versatility and flexibility to our roster," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "He handles the bat well from both sides of the plate, and is a skillful middle infielder who has added third base and all three outfield positions to his repertoire during the last few years."

Miles played seven positions last season, making 85 appearances at second base, 27 at shortstop, 11 at third base, four in left field, one in center and one in right. He also made one relief appearance on the mound.

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[RKO BLACK RKO]

trade em 1 year early not 1 year late i guess we gonna miss derosa but if we get bradley and like u said use those young guys for peavy then i guess it was a good trade but those are alot of if's...

[Tbreen1212]

Chad keep going!

[chad0034]

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Cubs Sign Milton Bradley, Trade Jason Marquis In A Busy Week

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The Cubs Picked Up Outfielder Milton Bradley This Week

Milton Bradley had never gotten a long-term deal from a Major League team and the security and commitment that comes with that. On Thursday, the outfielder was rewarded with a three-year contract from the Cubs and vowed to put his past behind him.
"I try my best not to get emotional," Bradley said moments after being introduced as Chicago's latest free-agent acquisition. "I didn't call my mom to tell her [about the contract]. I wanted her to find out by watching TV. She called and left me a message, and I've played it back several times and you can hear her voice cracking.

"My mom worked 35 years as a grocery clerk," Bradley said, then paused as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Thirty-five years. She was finally able to retire a few years back. It's just a tremendous blessing."

The Cubs hope they have finally found the right man, signing the switch-hitting Bradley to a three-year, $30 million contract. General manager Jim Hendry said he felt Bradley was the perfect fit after the two dined in early November.

"As we left the restaurant and stood on the curb waiting for the driver ... [Bradley] said, 'I know it's going to take some time and you have some work to do, but I want to be a Chicago Cub if you want me,'" Hendry said.

"I knew when I left that restaurant that night that he was our guy."

It was a little more than a year ago that the Cubs felt they had a left-hand-hitting outfielder who could handle right field and be the missing piece. But Kosuke ***udome struggled in his first year in the Majors, and the Cubs now plan on moving the Japanese outfielder to center to make room for Bradley.

"I said, 'I have to be honest with you -- we're going to get one more good player who hits from the left side,'" Hendry said of a conversation he had with ***udome at the end of the 2008 season.

Bradley is coming off a season in which he batted .321 for the Texas Rangers and led the American League in on-base percentage. He could bat anywhere from third to fifth, depending on how Cubs manager Lou Piniella wants to break up right-handed hitters Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Geovany Soto. Expect a lot of questions about the lineup at next week's Cubs Convention.

While Bradley has proven he can handle Major League pitching, he also has to deal with his past, which has been interrupted with less-than-flattering incidents with fans, teammates and the media. Hendry did his homework, and asked a lot of people about the sometimes volatile outfielder. He got nothing but glowing reports.

Bradley has worn No. 21 since rookie ball. There's a reason for that.

"You can't wear 42 anymore," he said of the number officially retired by Major League Baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson. "I've always said, 21 is half of 42. If I could be half the player, half the person Jackie Robinson was, then I will have been a success."

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Jason Marquis Was Traded To Colorado Earlier This Week For Reliever Luis Vizcaino

The Cubs dealt Jason Marquis to the Rockies on Tuesday for reliever Luis Vizcaino and created an opening in the rotation for another starting pitcher.
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said Tuesday he'll continue to look for a starter before the team opens Spring Training with the first workout in Mesa, Ariz., on Feb. 14, but also felt good about some of the in-house candidates.

The list of possible replacements includes lefty Sean Marshall and right-handers Angel Guzman, Kevin Hart and Chad Gaudin. Jeff Samardzija also is a long shot.

"You deal with what you have on the wall now until somebody else is there," Hendry said. "We'll still look at some possibilities."

Marshall, who made seven starts and 27 relief appearances last season, would seem too valuable as a swing man to be slid into the rotation.

"Anybody would love Marshall in that role and he did great at it," Hendry said. "At the same time, in fairness to the young man, if he keeps improving -- he's made big steps each of the last years -- if he makes another step up and comes into camp and competes and wins a job, then he certainly has a right to stake a claim to that.

"He proved to us last year, whatever role we put him in, and as tough as we made it on him, he did a quality job," Hendry said. "Sooner or later, you like to reward that, too."

Marquis, who was 23-18 with a 4.57 ERA in two seasons with the Cubs, became the second player to be traded by the team in a week. On New Year's Eve, the Cubs dealt Mark DeRosa to the Indians for three Minor League pitchers and signed free agent Aaron Miles.

The Cubs also have lost closer Kerry Wood, who signed with the Indians, while adding right-hander Kevin Gregg, and are expected to finalize a three-year deal with Milton Bradley by the end of the week.

The bullpen will definitely have a different look in 2009 with the addition of Vizcaino, Gregg, and possibly Rule 5 Draft pick David Patton and Jeff Stevens, acquired from the Indians in the DeRosa deal.

Vizcaino, 34, was 1-2 with a 5.28 ERA in 43 games last season with the Rockies, with 49 strikeouts over 46 innings. He missed some time early in the season because of a strained right shoulder. The right-hander has a career 4.34 ERA over 10 seasons, including one year with the White Sox (6-5, 3.73 ERA in 2005). In his career, opponents have batted .183 against him with runners in scoring position.

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[chad0034]

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--Aramis Ramirez Hits Grand Slam, Cubs Win 6-4 Against Phils--

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Aramis Ramirez Hit A Huge Grand Slame To Give The Cubs Their 6th Straight Win

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--Game Recap--

The Cubs threw a birthday party Thursday night for Lou Piniella that he won't forget.
Mike Fontenot smacked a leadoff pinch-hit homer and Aramis Ramirez belted his eighth career grand slam in a five-run eighth inning to power the Cubs to a 6-4 victory over the Phillies.

"I was telling [pitching coach] Larry Rothschild, with [Ryan] Howard up as the tying run in the ninth, 'I've had enough fun for one night,'" said Piniella, who turned 65 on Thursday. "It was a great come-from-behind win."

Trailing, 4-1, in the eighth, Fontenot greeted Ryan Madson with his ninth home run, and first off the bench. Alfonso Soriano doubled and advanced on Ryan Theriot's single to chase Madson. Chad Durbin (5-3) walked Derrek Lee to load the bases for Ramirez, who launched a 1-0 pitch to left-center.

"He likes to be up there in big situations," Piniella said of the Cubs' third baseman. "He knows how to hit and he rises to the occasion. He takes it to another level, and the good ones do that."

Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino didn't move as Ramirez's drive sailed into the bleachers.

"Close game, you just want to put the ball in play," Ramirez said. "I just put a pretty good swing on it."

He came out for a curtain call for the frenzied and very loud crowd of 40,362 at Wrigley Field. Cubs starter Ryan Dempster was in the clubhouse when he heard the fans roar.

"I've said it to many people many a time, Aramis Ramirez is probably ... as clutch a hitter as I've ever seen," Dempster said. "I would say he smells RBIs, especially later in the game. It's something remarkable. It takes a special person to be able to do that, and he does it on a pretty consistent basis, especially if you give him anything to hit."

"I've been able to do that since I was in the Minor Leagues," Ramirez said. "I've always been able to drive in runs. It's something I'm proud of, and I like being in those situations late in the game."

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The Cubs Mark DeRosa Ripped An RBI Triple In The Fifth

Now one run away from his sixth 100-RBI season in his past eight, Ramirez helped the Cubs improve to 50-19 at home, the most wins at Wrigley Field since winning 51 in 1998. They're the first Major League team to reach 50 "W's" on their home turf. This also was their 38th come-from-behind win.

Fontenot, whom Piniella was hoping would simply get on base to set up the others, was the spark, and Ramirez delivered the knockout punch.

"That's what it's all about, it's about guys picking up each other," Dempster said. "You look at today, Fontenot kind of got that inning started with the pinch-hit home run, it kind of gave us a little bit of energy, and then it was hit, hit and a walk. Next you thing you know, we're up, 6-4. Another big win for us, a big win at home. What a night."

The Phillies were six outs away from moving into a tie for first in the National League East with the Mets when the Cubs rallied. Chicago now has a 6 1/2-game lead in the Central, and is 34 games over .500 for the first time since they ended the 1945 season at 98-56.

Kerry Wood, pitching for the fourth straight day, picked up his 28th save, getting Howard to pop up to Ramirez for the final out. Bob Howry (6-4) notched the win in relief, while Dempster, vying for his career-high 16th win, did not get a decision and was pulled after six innings.

"Stuff-wise, I felt good," Dempster said. "Command-wise, I just wasn't as sharp today. I felt like I was pitching behind in the count a lot. I was able to get out of some jams. Got myself into one in the sixth and didn't manage that inning as well as I probably could have. But that's how it goes, just try to fight my way and keep the game somewhat close. ... I didn't want to let them break it open."

Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead on Victorino's RBI single in the first. Cole Hamels, who held the Cubs to one hit over seven scoreless innings on April 12 in Philadelphia, served up five hits over seven stingy innings on Thursday. The lefty limited the Cubs to two over the first four innings before Kosuke ***udome singled with one out in the fifth and scored on Mark DeRosa's triple into the right-field corner to tie the game at 1.

The Phillies scored three runs in the sixth, including Carlos Ruiz's tiebreaking RBI single. But the game wasn't over after six.

"We're playing good baseball and we're focused," Piniella said. "We're playing with some confidence. It's a credit to our kids. They don't back off and they keep coming at you and good things happen when you play nine innings of baseball."


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[EgyptianDynasty]

What are everyones thoughts on Milton Bradley? I kind of like that he is a little fiery. I think that the cubs need someone like that since most of their players (Lee, Ramirez, Sori, ***u) don't get fired up enough. Im more concerned with him being healthy. Also, they kept talking about getting that big left handed bat, but if you look at his numbers, hes actually a better hitter from the right side. That is something that concerns me. We'll see what happens.

[CARDS2501]

What are everyones thoughts on Milton Bradley? I kind of like that he is a little fiery. I think that the cubs need someone like that since most of their players (Lee, Ramirez, Sori, ***u) don't get fired up enough. Im more concerned with him being healthy. Also, they kept talking about getting that big left handed bat, but if you look at his numbers, hes actually a better hitter from the right side. That is something that concerns me. We'll see what happens.


Well he is going to be 31 in April, he has a history of being somewhat of a cancer. He has played over 100 games only 3 times in his career. He played 126 games last season and of that 126 only 20 were in the outfield the other 106 were as a DH...last I checked the NL doesn't offer that position. He had the best year of his career last year where all of his numbers were up across the board but you should expect those numbers to dip back down to his career averages if not slightly below this year and the reason for that is simple...he is getting older, he now has to absorb the wear and tear of playing the field everyday which he didn't have to do last year, he also is leaving one of the best hitters parks in all of baseball to come to Chicago where Wrigley Field plays like two different places. In the spring it is very cold here still and Wrigley plays like a pitchers park but once June rolls around it changes to a hitters park when the wind off of the lake changes.

I think that this is an upgrade over Fdome but I wouldn't get all that excited about the move for a clubhouse malcontent that has a history of getting injured and when he is healthly is only slightly above replacement value anyway. The Cubs absolutely crapped down their leg this offseason by not trading for Peavy, then trading the most valuable player on their team (Mark Derosa), let their proven closer walk, they still have no real solution to centerfield. Factor in all of the injury prone stars that this team is counting on (Soriano, Ramirez, Lee, Bradley and Harden have all spent significant time on the DL in recent seasons and when is Zambrano finally going to blow out his shoulder he has flirted with it for 2 years now) this team has the potential to be very good or they could also end the season with a losing record if they cannot stay healthy.

[chad0034]

nice comment Egyption. I like the Bradley aqusition altogether, but i'd prefer Adam Dunn over him.

[EgyptianDynasty]

Well he is going to be 31 in April, he has a history of being somewhat of a cancer. He has played over 100 games only 3 times in his career. He played 126 games last season and of that 126 only 20 were in the outfield the other 106 were as a DH...last I checked the NL doesn't offer that position. He had the best year of his career last year where all of his numbers were up across the board but you should expect those numbers to dip back down to his career averages if not slightly below this year and the reason for that is simple...he is getting older, he now has to absorb the wear and tear of playing the field everyday which he didn't have to do last year, he also is leaving one of the best hitters parks in all of baseball to come to Chicago where Wrigley Field plays like two different places. In the spring it is very cold here still and Wrigley plays like a pitchers park but once June rolls around it changes to a hitters park when the wind off of the lake changes.

I think that this is an upgrade over Fdome but I wouldn't get all that excited about the move for a clubhouse malcontent that has a history of getting injured and when he is healthly is only slightly above replacement value anyway. The Cubs absolutely crapped down their leg this offseason by not trading for Peavy, then trading the most valuable player on their team (Mark Derosa), let their proven closer walk, they still have no real solution to centerfield. Factor in all of the injury prone stars that this team is counting on (Soriano, Ramirez, Lee, Bradley and Harden have all spent significant time on the DL in recent seasons and when is Zambrano finally going to blow out his shoulder he has flirted with it for 2 years now) this team has the potential to be very good or they could also end the season with a losing record if they cannot stay healthy.
All true comments Cards. The only response I have an issue with is when you say that Milton is a clubhouse cancer. I've heard that most players really like him, and that hes a great teammate. Take away the whole thing with Jeff Kent where he said he doesn't play well with black people. Jeff Kent kind of has the reputation of being a turdhole so I'm sure a lot of ball players would have something to say about Kent. Bradley, when healthy, has been a very productive offensive player. I don't like the trade of Dero but his versatility, along with his affordable contract made him a very valuable trading piece. We'll see how those young pitchers we got for him do. We def need another solid starter, along with insurance for whhen Harden goes down (most likely Marshall). As far as Zambrano, the man is a horse. He's built like a football player. He's more of a mental basketcase than an injury risk. If he does get injured it would probably have more to do with him getting all crazy and changing his arm slot (which he has a history of doing.)
We'll see what kind of craziness this Cubs season will bring.

[RKO BLACK RKO]

keep up the good work chad

[biggestcubsfan]

yea nice work chad.....I kinda like the signing of bradley and kind of dont. i like it because they need some fire on thier bench they need to be motivated. mark bradley wont slump in the offseason because he doesent care if he does. and so many others do. the reason i dont like it is pretty much the same reason. To much talking could lead to more pressure then before

[chad0034]

mark bradley wont slump in the offseason because he doesent care if he does. and so many others do. the reason i dont like it is pretty much the same reason. To much talking could lead to more pressure then before

Milton Bradley?

[RKO BLACK RKO]

lol i saw that 2 i was like wtf mark bradley sucks

[biggestcubsfan]

**** chad you know i say mark all the damn time

[chad0034]

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Cubs Trade Away Rich Hill, Michael Wuertz

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Rich Hill Will Be Headed To Baltimore For 2009

The Cubs decided Rich Hill and Michael Wuertz both needed a change of scenery.
On Monday, the Cubs continued their offseason reorganization plan and traded Hill to the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named, while dealing Wuertz to the Oakland Athletics for two Minor League players.

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said he knew he wanted to move Hill but took into consideration that he wanted to find a place where the lefty would succeed. Hill will be reunited with Rick Kranitz and Alan Dunn, who are both on the Orioles' coaching staff, and who both worked with Hill in the Cubs' Minor League system.

"You hope, because he is such a good kid, that he gets back on track," Hendry said.

In 2007, Hill was 11-8 with a 3.92 ERA and led the team in strikeouts, fooling hitters with his sweeping curve. He was projected as the Cubs' fourth starter last year but struggled with his control, walking 18 in 19 2/3 innings, and compiled a 4.12 ERA in five starts before he was optioned to Triple-A Iowa on May 3.

He pitched in the Venezuelan Winter League and had a good first outing Oct. 17, when he struck out six over 5 1/3 innings. But it was his only win, and he gave up 23 walks and 23 hits over 21 innings and posted a 6.86 ERA in nine outings.

Hendry said it was difficult to figure out what went wrong, and was concerned that Hill would have a tough time finding a job late in Spring Training if he didn't make the Cubs' rotation. The lefty, who turns 29 on March 11, was out of options.

The Cubs could receive a high-level player as compensation if Hill makes the Orioles' Major League roster.

With the trade of Jason Marquis to Colorado and Hill gone to the Orioles, the Cubs are looking at Sean Marshall, Chad Gaudin, Aaron Heilman and Jeff Samardzija for the vacant fifth starter spot. Pitchers and catchers report Feb. 13. Heilman was acquired last week in a deal with the Seattle Mariners for Ronny Cedeno and Minor League pitcher Garrett Olson.

The Cubs have been adding relievers this offseason and decided to part with Wuertz, 30, who went 13-7 with one save and a 3.57 ERA in 265 relief appearances in all or part of five seasons with the Cubs.

"We felt Michael wasn't as effective last year and felt with the new arms that we've added, there were guys who were ahead of him," Hendry said. "It will help Mike, it will help the A's and it will help us, too."

The Cubs acquired Minor League outfielder Richie Robnett and infielder Justin Sellers for Wuertz.

Robnett, 25, was selected by the Athletics in the first round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft. A left-handed hitter, he was limited to 82 games last season after early season surgery to remove a tumor from his stomach. He batted .236 at Triple-A, and has a .256 average in five Minor League seasons. He was added to the Cubs' 40-man roster and will report to Spring Training camp.

Sellers, who turned 23 on Sunday, has "above Major League average potential" defensively, Hendry said. The infielder was selected by Oakland in the sixth round of the 2005 Draft and spent an entire season at Double-A Midland for the first time in 2008, batting .255 with 15 doubles, eight triples, six home runs, 46 RBIs and 10 stolen bases in 123 games. He will report to the Cubs' Minor League camp this spring.

It's been a busy offseason for the two-time defending National League Central champions. Outfielder Felix Pie and Cedeno, who also were out of options, were both dealt. The Cubs also have acquired Kevin Gregg from the Florida Marlins; dealt Mark DeRosa to Cleveland for three Minor League pitchers; signed free agents Milton Bradley, Aaron Miles, Paul Bako and Joey Gathright; acquired David Patton in the Rule 5 Draft; and traded Marquis for Luis Vizcaino. Gone via free agency are Kerry Wood, Bob Howry, Daryle Ward and Henry Blanco.

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[Cubfan]

Man, the Orioles are becoming Cubbies East

[Srhp29]

I thought the title of this thread could have read...

Theres Always Next Year | Another Shot at Baseball by 2K sports

I hope this game plays well out of the box unlike the past three years on the 360.

[chad0034]

I thought the title of this thread could have read...

Theres Always Next Year | Another Shot at Baseball by 2K sports

I hope this game plays well out of the box unlike the past three years on the 360.

haha.. but MLB 2K9 is looking good so far.

[CARDS2501]

Man, the Orioles are becoming Cubbies East


As a Cubs fan you can't really like those trades...Hill has a lot of potential but unfortunately he has no more options so I understand that deal. But what is the list of players to be named later?

Wuertz didn't need to go in my opinion. He is a valuable guy in the bullpen and the Cubs could use all the bullpen arms that they can find now that they are almost certainly going to use Marmol as a closer, if not Gregg will be a gas can in the ninth.

[chad0034]

yea I haven't liked some of the trades they've made this offseason, but I hope they pull off maybe one more to offset everything.

[jeffy77712]

Hill has a lot of potential

Maybe eventually, He was a star in 07, but he sucked hardcore in 08. The Cubs were hoping for about 15 wins out of him, but instead he choked from his first start (walking batters like crazy) and got sent down to the minors and couldn't even perform down there. His winter ball numbers were also horrible. He has some kind of mental roadblock issue going on, so unless he can get over that, things aren't looking good for him right now. Maybe going to Baltimore will give him a chance to turn over a new leaf because everyone in Chicago has given up on him, and with good reason.

[Cubfan]

Some of the moves Hendry has made this off-season are questionable. It seems like he traded away the players that were meant to go to San Diego in the Peavey deal. It could be the new owner won't sign off on the Peavey deal so he has to get what he can for them now. I think Hendry is one of the top 5 GM's in the game.

[AeroZach]

Cubs don't even need Peavy, if anything they needed bullpen help and have failed to fix that area. Joe Beimel's still out there, LET'S WAKE UP, JIM!

The DeRosa trade was easily his worst move. Trying to get players for a pitcher we don't even need (we have the best rotation in baseball next to the Yankees on paper as it stands), and probably won't get. Fontenot and Miles are good but won't fill his void. Hill needed to go, he was so mentally screwed up I think a change of scenery was necessary. Pie and Cedeno were good deals, and I personally believe Heilman was a good pickup. Bradley, albeit questionable, was necessary. Although I'd much rather have Raul Ibanez, but Hendry was too busy with Peavy and lost to Philly. Marquis for Vizcaino was pretty even.

So he made his share of good and bad ones. By no means am I defending Hendry (I've been his biggest critic for the longest time, and would be the first in line of people to kick him out of the Cubs' front office), but it's been an average offseason. Not too bad, not too good. Now if only he could just unload Soriano...

[CARDS2501]

we have the best rotation in baseball next to the Yankees on paper as it stands.


I really disagree with that statement.

As of now the Cubs rotation consists of:

Rich Harden
Carlos Zambrano
Ryan Dempster
Ted Lilly
Aaron Heilman

are you trying to tell me that they are better on paper than

Scott Kazmir
James Shields
Andy Sonnanstine
Matt Garza
David Price

or...

Josh Beckett
Diasuke Matsusaka
Jon Lester
John Smoltz
Brad Penny
and don't forget Clay Bucholz and Tim Wakefield

or...

Brandon Webb
Danny Haren
Jon Garland
Doug Davis
Yusemeiro Petit

or and remember we are talking about on paper here...

Chris Carpenter
Adam Wainwright
Kyle Lohse
Todd Wellemeyer
Joel Pineiro/whoever they sign to pitch instead of Pineiro

That Cardinal rotation if healthy is as good as the Cubs rotation, health is a major question but 1-3 the Cardinal rotation is better when healthy.

[kingblue18]

Chris Carpenter
Adam Wainwright
Kyle Lohse
Todd Wellemeyer
Joel Pineiro/whoever they sign to pitch instead of Pineiro

That Cardinal rotation if healthy is as good as the Cubs rotation, health is a major question but 1-3 the Cardinal rotation is better when healthy.

Well if we want to play fantasy here and pretend health isn't a factor then Harden is a better pitcher then Carpenter, I mean its not even close. Lets take a closer look at these two pitchers who have both played with/through injuries in their respective careers.

Harden per 32 starts (a full healthy season): 3.32 ERA 136 ERA+ 1.213 WHIP
Carpenter in those same 32 starts: 4.08 ERA 112 ERA+ 1.330 WHIP

Actually, according to the stats, Harden is STILL the better pitcher even when their injuries are taken into account. Even in 2005 when Carpenter won the NL Cy Young he had a significantly lower ERA+ then Harden (172 to 149) and while Harden pitched 100 less innings you want to play it as health doesn't matter.

So,
Harden > Carpenter
Wainwright = Zambrano (Both 3.48 ERA, Both 1.28 WHIP, although im stretching it since Wainwright sample size is so much smaller, regardless, i'll call it a draw)
Now it just come to do you want my overachiever or your overachiever. Most anybody would take Ryan Dempster who had a 151 ERA+ year over Kyle Lohse who had a 113 ERA+ year.
Dempster>Lohse

Not to mention
Lilly>Wellemeyer
and
Heilman>Pineiro/warm body that isn't Joel Pineiro

Don't kid yourself, its a 5 man rotation, and even if it wasn't, the Cubs is better.

[chad0034]

Cards do you honestly think the St Louis Cards rotation is better or as good than the Cubs???

[Cubfan]

That Cardinal rotation if healthy is as good as the Cubs rotation, health is a major question but 1-3 the Cardinal rotation is better when healthy.

:rotfl::rotfl:

[jeffy77712]

:rotfl::rotfl:


hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa :D

[kingblue18]

Cards do you honestly think the St Louis Cards rotation is better or as good than the Cubs???

Im pretty sure I cleared it up for him.

[AeroZach]

I'll give you Tampa Bay. I don't think Boston, with an aging Smoltz and Wakefield, as well as the question mark Brad Penny is at the moment. Webb and Haren are great with AZ but Garland is nowhere near anyone on the Cubs' staff (he'd be a good #5 in the rotation). Davis still needs to prove himself for them as well (he's got the potential though).

And I know you're a Cardinals fan, but I've always felt the team's biggest weakness was their starting pitching, and I stand by that now. Sure, it's one of the BETTER rotations, but certainly nothing I'd consider the best. Kingblue cleared it up nicely.

[RKO BLACK RKO]

Cards do you honestly think the St Louis Cards rotation is better or as good than the Cubs???

Cards listen your a smart guy and all but please under no circumstance should the cardinals rotation be compared to the cubs we have a better rotation deal with it I dunno why you have a hard time admitting we have a better rotation and team and for the record Aaron isn't gonna be in our rotation if we don't get peavy then sean marshall gets that spot not trying to start and arguement this is chads thread but we went thru this last year with you proclaiming the cubs was gonna finish third at best and you all had better players and teams. Lets not do this again this year and the chris carpenter love must stop lets stop dating back to the guy like hes still good or his old self WE DON't KNOW he might have a dead shoulder for all we know. So now throw out stats or something. i would agree with you that the redsox and yankees have better rotations but outside of the A.L. east the cubs do have the best rotation in baseball

also the dbacks rotation really? webb and a healthy harden sure but


Jon Garland - he sat there and nobody picked him up for a reason
Doug Davis - good potential but no
Yusemeiro Petit - WOW

[CARDS2501]

Cards do you honestly think the St Louis Cards rotation is better or as good than the Cubs???

Yes


Im pretty sure I cleared it up for him.

No I just wasn't here to post a rebuttal

Cards listen your a smart guy and all but please under no circumstance should the cardinals rotation be compared to the cubs we have a better rotation deal with it I dunno why you have a hard time admitting we have a better rotation and team and for the record Aaron isn't gonna be in our rotation if we don't get peavy then sean marshall gets that spot not trying to start and arguement this is chads thread but we went thru this last year with you proclaiming the cubs was gonna finish third at best and you all had better players and teams. Lets not do this again this year and the chris carpenter love must stop lets stop dating back to the guy like hes still good or his old self WE DON't KNOW he might have a dead shoulder for all we know. So now throw out stats or something. i would agree with you that the redsox and yankees have better rotations but outside of the A.L. east the cubs do have the best rotation in baseball

also the dbacks rotation really? webb and a healthy harden sure but


Jon Garland - he sat there and nobody picked him up for a reason
Doug Davis - good potential but no
Yusemeiro Petit - WOW


Stay tuned I will make a compelling argument for the equality of both staffs in about 1 minute.

[CARDS2501]

Well if we want to play fantasy here and pretend health isn't a factor then Harden is a better pitcher then Carpenter, I mean its not even close. Lets take a closer look at these two pitchers who have both played with/through injuries in their respective careers.

Harden per 32 starts (a full healthy season): 3.32 ERA 136 ERA+ 1.213 WHIP
Carpenter in those same 32 starts: 4.08 ERA 112 ERA+ 1.330 WHIP

Actually, according to the stats, Harden is STILL the better pitcher even when their injuries are taken into account. Even in 2005 when Carpenter won the NL Cy Young he had a significantly lower ERA+ then Harden (172 to 149) and while Harden pitched 100 less innings you want to play it as health doesn't matter.

So,
Harden > Carpenter
Wainwright = Zambrano (Both 3.48 ERA, Both 1.28 WHIP, although im stretching it since Wainwright sample size is so much smaller, regardless, i'll call it a draw)
Now it just come to do you want my overachiever or your overachiever. Most anybody would take Ryan Dempster who had a 151 ERA+ year over Kyle Lohse who had a 113 ERA+ year.
Dempster>Lohse

Not to mention
Lilly>Wellemeyer
and
Heilman>Pineiro/warm body that isn't Joel Pineiro

Don't kid yourself, its a 5 man rotation, and even if it wasn't, the Cubs is better.

Please do me a favor, I know this is long but read the whole thing I put in a lot of time and effort to make my point on this one and I had enough respect for you guys to read your entire posts please do the same for me.


Lets take a look at all of these pitchers over the same time period. We can agree that the order of each teams pitching staff is as follows.

Cardinals
Carpenter
Wainwright
Lohse
Wellemeyer
Pineiro/warm body

Cubs
Harden
Zambrano
Dempster
Lilly
Heilman

Ok now that we have established the order of the rotations which I don't really think that we had much of a disagreement on in the first place. We now need to lay down a few ground rules. We will only take into account seasons in which both players were major league starters. Bullpen time doesn't count in this experiment because we are talking starting pitching and rotations. Remember I am not saying that the Cardinals are better I am saying that if healthly ON PAPER (the original guy to start this debates words) they are at least comparable.

Carpenter/Harden

We will go from 2004-present with this matchup because those are the years both players were active major leaguers

Carpenter has started 97 games and is 51-20 over that time allowing 230 earned runs good for an ERA of 3.11 in 666 1/3 innings pitched. He has 13 complete games and 7 shutouts over that time with a strikeout to walk ratio of 559/137. Also he has 1 Cy Young Award in that time.

Harden has started 88 games and is 36-16 over that time allowing 183 earned runs in 538 innings good for an ERA of 3.06. He has 2 complete games and 1 shutout over that time with a strikeout to walk ratio of 545/222.

I would have to give the edge to Carpenter on this one because while the ERA’s are very close Carpenter has been the better control pitcher allowing 85 fewer walks while pitching over 128 more innings. I will give credit where it is due Harden is a better strikeout pitcher but as the ERA’s show the strikeouts do not mean that much. Carpenter has also had a history of working deeper into games than Harden.

Wainwright/Zambrano

We will go from 2007 on this one because that is the first year both were active starters in the major leagues.

Wainwright has started 52 games and is 25-15 over that time allowing 130 earned runs in 334 innings good for an ERA of 3.50. He has 2 complete games and no shutouts over that time with a strikeout to walk ratio of 227/104.

Zambrano has started 64 games and is 32-19 over that time allowing 177 earned runs in 405 innings good for an ERA of 3.93. He has 2 complete games and 1 shutout (no hitter) with a strikeout to walk ratio of 307/173.

I would say that this one is probably too close to call Wainwright is fairly young and has less experience but is by far the better control pitcher and he is definitely in better control of his emotions. Zambrano is probably the more feared pitcher and he can strike you out pretty easily but he walks a ton of guys and has the higher ERA. I will give you credit for a tie on this one.

Lohse/Dempster

Ok this one was a little trickier to figure because of Dempster spending 4 years in the pen. So we are going to use the stats 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2008. Hopefully you guys appreciate the amount of work I put into this ****.

Lohse has started 113 games and is 46-32 over that time allowing 329 earned runs in 672 innings good for an ERA of 4.40. He has 3 complete games and 2 shutouts over that time with a strikeout to walk ratio of 437/193.

Dempster has started 120 games and is 45-38 over that time allowing 393 runs in 742 2/3 innings good for an ERA of 4.76. He has 7 complete games and 1 shutout over that time with a strikeout to walk ratio of 595/351.

We are starting to see a trend here the Cardinals pitchers have better control while the Cubs pitchers strikeout more hitters. On this one I have to give it to Lohse based on record, era and walk ratio. Remember there was a reason that Dempster was put in the bullpen in the first place and that is because he wasn’t that effective as a starter. He was very good at home last season and just .500 on the road. Surely you would agree that he is not going to be 14-3 at home again anytime soon.

Wellemeyer/Lilly

Wellemeyer has really only been a starter 1 year so I guess we are comparing last year only on this one.

Wellemeyer started 32 games and was 13-9 allowing 79 earned runs in 191 2/3 innings pitched good for an ERA of 3.71. He had no complete games and no shutouts with a strikeout to walk ratio of 134/62.

Lilly started 34 games and was 17-9 allowing 93 earned runs in 204 2/3 innings pitched good for an ERA of 4.09. He also had no complete games and no shutouts. His strikeout to walk ratio was 184/64.

This grade has to be an incomplete because of the service time of Wellemeyer. I will say that while Lilly had more wins last season Wellemeyer was the better pitcher as evidenced by his earned runs allowed and ERA. At the very least you could make a case that Wellemeyer is Lilly’s equal.

Piniero/Heilman

This isn’t really worth comparing because Heilman has never really been a starter and Piniero likely will not be the Cardinals 5th man for much of the season. 5th starters on almost every team are interchangeable and most of them do not start anywhere near 30 games a season.

[KCA EAGLE]

Cards lives in his own Fantasy world.......Dont even get him started on the Pujols vs. Howard debate...LMAO

[CARDS2501]

Cards lives in his own Fantasy world.......Dont even get him started on the Pujols vs. Howard debate...LMAO


Are you only here because this the only board that you haven't been banned from? You are the only one here living in a fantasy land (expect the Jeter freaks in another thread). If you think I am so far off go ahead and prove me wrong. I am sure that you won't let the facts and pure stats stand in your way of making yourself look like an idiot either.

I really wish a mod would get rid of this guy. He is here for one reason and that is to follow me around and start trouble. Almost every post he has made has been directed at me in some way.

[KCA EAGLE]

Im not banned anywhere ****** , and your the one starting fights everywhere I see on these boards. To say the Cards staff on paper is better then the Cubs is the funniest statement ever. Thats like me saying the Braves staff is better then the Cubs cause Im such a homer fan.

[CARDS2501]

Im not banned anywhere ****** , and your the one starting fights everywhere I see on these boards. To say the Cards staff on paper is better then the Cubs is the funniest statement ever. Thats like me saying the Braves staff is better then the Cubs cause Im such a homer fan.


ok that is a great statement now back it up with some facts.

First of all you cannot show me where I said that they were better. I said that they were comparable then I took the extra step to prove that point. All you do is come on here and run your mouth with no facts to back it up...Go back to 360ballerz and sit there with all of your 16 year old friends and complain about how you **** in your nest and got kicked out of the better site.

[KCA EAGLE]

what better site? I never even see you on that better site. If you were you would see what a joke it is with cheesers and bums. I can see it cause I'M NOT BANNED!!!!!!

NBA Lg restarted 4 times
Madden League noone active, starting playoffs with unplayed games. People *****ing left and right

DON'T BE JEALOUS CAUSE NOBODY LIKES YOU, THEREFORE YOU DONT PLAY AT ANY SITE

[fiz]

have people here seen the pic of cards in the mental institution? hes a real headcase. god the debates ive had with this guy on other forum boards still make me laugh

[CARDS2501]

have people here seen the pic of cards in the mental institution? hes a real headcase. god the debates ive had with this guy on other forum boards still make me laugh


Ok good now his sidekick has joined in the conversation...We really need to get rid of both of these guys before things get out of hand.

And for the record the picture was of me in the waiting room of the hospital the day my daughter was born. My myspace account was hacked and the photo was doctored to give the appearance of a mental institution. Hopefully Mike Foly and Kevin Arntz I will not have to get the police involved in this again....you know what I am talking about.

[b-Dub]

KCA, you have 20 posts, and the majority of them don't contribute to these forums. They just start fights with Cards. Why? He was involved in a nice debate in this thread with some other people, then you stick your nose in and try to hijack the thread to make it just about him and draw attention to yourself. That will not be allowed here. You will either stop trolling around looking to hijack threads and pick fights with Cards, or you will not be here any more. This is your final warning. And don't be getting other people signing up just to start fights either.

[wally360leagues]

You have been banned from multiple sites for quitting and causing trouble.



Im not banned anywhere ****** , and your the one starting fights everywhere I see on these boards. To say the Cards staff on paper is better then the Cubs is the funniest statement ever. Thats like me saying the Braves staff is better then the Cubs cause Im such a homer fan.

[CARDS2501]

You have been banned from multiple sites for quitting and causing trouble.


Hey Wally welcome aboard I am glad to see that you finally came over here.

Back to the original debate before the thread was hijacked if anyone would like to attempt to break down my argument I would be happy to debate you on it. Unfortunately because of a couple of fools you are going to have to go back about 10-12 posts to find what I said.

[Cubfan]

That Cardinal rotation if healthy is as good as the Cubs rotation, health is a major question but 1-3 the Cardinal rotation is better when healthy.

Here you go

[Cubfan]

By the way, I would take Pujols over Howard any day

[CARDS2501]

Here you go

1-3 they are better as I demonstrated earlier...but as someone said a rotation is 5 men and 1-5 they are comparable.

By the way, I would take Pujols over Howard any day

So would anyone else on the planet that has ever watched a baseball game and doesn't live in Philadelphia.

[Cubfan]

First of all you cannot show me where I said that they were better. .



That Cardinal rotation if healthy is as good as the Cubs rotation, health is a major question but 1-3 the Cardinal rotation is better when healthy.





here you go

[Cubfan]

Hey Chad, looks like your gonna have to start a new Franchise thread.

[CARDS2501]

here you go

1-3 they are better as I demonstrated earlier...but as someone said a rotation is 5 men and 1-5 they are comparable.




there you go

[fiz]

Ok good now his sidekick has joined in the conversation...We really need to get rid of both of these guys before things get out of hand.

And for the record the picture was of me in the waiting room of the hospital the day my daughter was born. My myspace account was hacked and the photo was doctored to give the appearance of a mental institution. Hopefully Mike Foly and Kevin Arntz I will not have to get the police involved in this again....you know what I am talking about.

sorry but no, no i dont know what your talking about

[fiz]

You have been banned from multiple sites for quitting and causing trouble.

any1 else think its weird some1 comes here randomnly to make 1 single post and leave?

[fiz]

and fyi any1 in philly would take pujols over howard anyday as well. all i said is howard=more power. but you just cant seem to get over that now can you?

[CARDS2501]

sorry but no, no i dont know what your talking about

any1 else think its weird some1 comes here randomnly to make 1 single post and leave?

and fyi any1 in philly would take pujols over howard anyday as well. all i said is howard=more power. but you just cant seem to get over that now can you?


Go away troll...you guys have already been warned once

[Cubfan]

and fyi any1 in philly would take pujols over howard anyday as well. all i said is howard=more power. but you just cant seem to get over that now can you?

Pujols 8 seasons 319 HR's Slg%.624

Howard 5 seasons 177 HR's Slg %.590

Pujols's first 5 seasons 201 HR's Slg% .620

Pujols=Power
( I can't believe i'm defending a Cardinal)

[CARDS2501]

Pujols 8 seasons 319 HR's Slg%.624

Howard 5 seasons 177 HR's Slg %.590

Pujols's first 5 seasons 201 HR's Slg% .620

Pujols=Power
( I can't believe i'm defending a Cardinal)


It doesn't really matter what team he plays for. If Pujols were a Cub he would still be the best player in the game. Actually he might be better because he would play half of his games at Wrigley.

[Cubfan]

It doesn't really matter what team he plays for. If Pujols were a Cub he would still be the best player in the game. Actually he might be better because he would play half of his games at Wrigley.

I realize that, It's just as a Cub fan my 2 most hated teams: St.Louis/Milwaukee

[fiz]

Pujols 8 seasons 319 HR's Slg%.624

Howard 5 seasons 177 HR's Slg %.590

Pujols's first 5 seasons 201 HR's Slg% .620

Pujols=Power
( I can't believe i'm defending a Cardinal)

howard=fastest player to 100 hr, now thats power

[fiz]

Go away troll...you guys have already been warned once

ha dude, wat are you gonna do? all i did was state that it was weird that some1 came here, registered, made 1 post, then left

[CARDS2501]

howard=fastest player to 100 hr, now thats power


Yeah and would you believe that Howard is 2 months OLDER than Albert Pujols but still has hit 142 less homers...I think that I will take Alberts career thank you.

[CARDS2501]

howard=fastest player to 100 hr, now thats power


He is also the fastest player to 692 strikeouts

[chad0034]

dam yall haha.. at least its getting activity. I wont start a new thread.. Ill just keep this. At least its about the Cubs. Thats all i care.

[CARDS2501]

dam yall haha.. at least its getting activity. I wont start a new thread.. Ill just keep this. At least its about the Cubs. Thats all i care.


Before the hijacking I defended my Cardinals/Cubs rotation comparison...Feel free to read it over and let me know what you think.

[fiz]

Yeah and would you believe that Howard is 2 months OLDER than Albert Pujols but still has hit 142 less homers...I think that I will take Alberts career thank you.

how about we look how many more seasons pujols has in the majors, not howards fault jim thome was raking

[fiz]

He is also the fastest player to 692 strikeouts

wat does 692 strike outs have to do with power? thats completely irrelevent.

[fiz]

Before the hijacking I defended my Cardinals/Cubs rotation comparison...Feel free to read it over and let me know what you think.

i already read it and it made me giggle

[CARDS2501]

wat does 692 strike outs have to do with power? thats completely irrelevent.


Because if you can't make contact with the ball you cannot help your team in any way...I would rather have a singles hitter that never strikes out than Ryan Howards power and 1 k per game average.

i already read it and it made me giggle

I wasn't talking to you I was talking to Chad...please get out of this thread. You are doing nothing but going off topic and starting problems. I am going to report you and hopefully you have earned a vacation.

[fiz]

Because if you can't make contact with the ball you cannot help your team in any way...I would rather have a singles hitter that never strikes out than Ryan Howards power and 1 k per game average.



I wasn't talking to you I was talking to Chad...please get out of this thread. You are doing nothing but going off topic and starting problems. I am going to report you and hopefully you have earned a vacation.

ok first off the conversation wasnt if howard gave his team a cxhance to win, it was about his raw power, so once again your argument is irrelevent and if you do want to get into it dont rbi's help your team win? how about RISP? if so then you might want to look at howards, are you still bitter howard beat out pujols for the mvp 3 seasons ago or something?

and second you could have been talkin to floyd landis, and i still woulda giggled at your comparison of pitchers

[KCA EAGLE]

Ok good now his sidekick has joined in the conversation...We really need to get rid of both of these guys before things get out of hand.

And for the record the picture was of me in the waiting room of the hospital the day my daughter was born. My myspace account was hacked and the photo was doctored to give the appearance of a mental institution. Hopefully Mike Foly and Kevin Arntz I will not have to get the police involved in this again....you know what I am talking about.

I dont like my name being broadcasted on forums. Please mods remove my name and I would like to report Cards for slander accusing me of false things. Myspace is a public free open source site and I didnt doctored any photos, nothing was hacked. Its simple enough to make your myspacepage private if you want to hide your photos. Thanks for trying Cards

[CARDS2501]

I dont like my name being broadcasted on forums. Please mods remove my name and I would like to report Cards for slander accusing me of false things. Myspace is a public free open source site and I didnt doctored any photos, nothing was hacked. Its simple enough to make your myspacepage private if you want to hide your photos. Thanks for trying Cards


The profile is and was set to private. I have accused you of nothing that you haven't done and to confirm what I said your little sidekick Foly brought it up before I did in this very thread. You real name is on your wide open myspace account as well and as you said it is a public free open source.

Once again this is not the place for this sort of thing...please go away you have already been warned in this thread...you will not be satisfied until you are out of here for good will you?

[b-Dub]

Keep it on topic. Now. You guys all need to get over one another. And fast.

[kingblue18]

He is also the fastest player to 692 strikeouts

I've noticed over the last few months how much you hate strikeouts and I really don't understand it. I mean yea, seeing my favorite player swing and whiff is frustrating as all get out but in actuality striking out isn't any worse then any other way of producing an out. Most high on-base players will strike out a TON and its not that big of a deal, what matters the most for an offensive player is to get on-base and hit for power, if an unfortunate side effect of that is striking out here and there so be it. I would take an Adam Dunn or a Ryan Howard any day.

That being said, Albert Pujols is a better player then Ryan Howard and I would want him even more.

[CARDS2501]

I've noticed over the last few months how much you hate strikeouts and I really don't understand it. I mean yea, seeing my favorite player swing and whiff is frustrating as all get out but in actuality striking out isn't any worse then any other way of producing an out. Most high on-base players will strike out a TON and its not that big of a deal, what matters the most for an offensive player is to get on-base and hit for power, if an unfortunate side effect of that is striking out here and there so be it. I would take an Adam Dunn or a Ryan Howard any day.

That being said, Albert Pujols is a better player then Ryan Howard and I would want him even more.

Actually you couldn't be more wrong...The strikeout and the infield fly rule are the only useless outs. A fly out can advance a runner as can a ground out. In fact a groundout to the right side with a man on second is actually a very productive out. With a strikeout there is nothing that can help your team at all. If you are at least putting the ball in play you have a greater chance of reaching base by the ball dropping in or the fielder making an error. Not very often does a player reach base on a dropped third strike.

Most high on base percentage guys walk a ton not strikeout a ton. If you look at the 40 highest OBP guys in baseball from last year you will find that only Adam Dunn, Carlos Pena and Jack Cust averaged more than 1 strikeout per game.

Getting on base is as you said the most important thing that you can do.
Hitting for power is not even close to the second most important thing that you can do. Moving runners over and working counts as well as timely hitting are all more important than power. The homerun is the second most overrated and misleading stat an offensive player has. RBI's are the first.

[kingblue18]

Actually you couldn't be more wrong...The strikeout and the infield fly rule are the only useless outs. A fly out can advance a runner as can a ground out. In fact a groundout to the right side with a man on second is actually a very productive out. With a strikeout there is nothing that can help your team at all. If you are at least putting the ball in play you have a greater chance of reaching base by the ball dropping in or the fielder making an error. Not very often does a player reach base on a dropped third strike.

Most high on base percentage guys walk a ton not strikeout a ton. If you look at the 40 highest OBP guys in baseball from last year you will find that only Adam Dunn, Carlos Pena and Jack Cust averaged more than 1 strikeout per game.

Getting on base is as you said the most important thing that you can do.
Hitting for power is not even close to the second most important thing that you can do. Moving runners over and working counts as well as timely hitting are all more important than power. The homerun is the second most overrated and misleading stat an offensive player has. RBI's are the first.

Oh boy. I wasn't saying anything about homeruns. On-base plus slugging is the best best indicator of offensive production, a single is nice, a double is better, a triple is even better, and a homerun is best. There is nothing misleading about scoring a run (or more if the people batting in front of you did their job and got on base).

The most valuable commodity in baseball is the out, you only have 27 of them a game. The goal is to avoid an out, if doesn't matter if its a groundout, flyout, or strikeout. An out is an out. "Moving runners over" and bunting is counterproductive to the basic concept of baseball, avoid making an out. I can forgive a player striking out taking a close pitch when he was looking for a walk but not a position player that sacrifices a runner over in the first 5 innings. Just because major league managers do it doesn't make it right.

[CARDS2501]

Oh boy. I wasn't saying anything about homeruns. On-base plus slugging is the best best indicator of offensive production, a single is nice, a double is better, a triple is even better, and a homerun is best. There is nothing misleading about scoring a run (or more if the people batting in front of you did their job and got on base).

The most valuable commodity in baseball is the out, you only have 27 of them a game. The goal is to avoid an out, if doesn't matter if its a groundout, flyout, or strikeout. An out is an out. "Moving runners over" and bunting is counterproductive to the basic concept of baseball, avoid making an out. I can forgive a player striking out taking a close pitch when he was looking for a walk but not a position player that sacrifices a runner over in the first 5 innings. Just because major league managers do it doesn't make it right.

Outs are inevitable its what you do with those outs that matters. You are going to make somewhere between 24 and 27 outs EVERY GAME. That cannot be avoided. The basic principle of baseball is not to avoid outs but rather to score more runs than your opponent. Making productive outs can actually help you score runs. Striking out cannot help you do anything but get closer to the end of the game.

[AeroZach]

Strikeouts frustrate me more than anything else. Maybe with the exception of double plays.

I can't tell you how many times I've gotten ****ed off because Alfonso Soriano was whiffing at awful pitches. It's cringe-worthy sometimes. Strikeouts are one of the worst outs in the game, it displays carelessness (most of the time) and, like Cards said, it just makes you closer to the end of the game.

[chad0034]

Strikeouts frustrate me more than anything else. Maybe with the exception of double plays.

I can't tell you how many times I've gotten ****ed off because Alfonso Soriano was whiffing at awful pitches. It's cringe-worthy sometimes. Strikeouts are one of the worst outs in the game, it displays carelessness (most of the time) and, like Cards said, it just makes you closer to the end of the game.

Soriano cannot hit a Curveball down and away for anything.. hes so bad when it comes to laying off those.

[CARDS2501]

Strikeouts frustrate me more than anything else. Maybe with the exception of double plays.

I can't tell you how many times I've gotten ****ed off because Alfonso Soriano was whiffing at awful pitches. It's cringe-worthy sometimes. Strikeouts are one of the worst outs in the game, it displays carelessness (most of the time) and, like Cards said, it just makes you closer to the end of the game.


In order the 3 worst things that a hitter can do are
1. Hit into a triple play
2. Hit into a double play
3. Strikeout

[AeroZach]

Soriano cannot hit a Curveball down and away for anything.. hes so bad when it comes to laying off those.

Hendry's biggest mistake: Giving him such a tremendously backloaded contract.

He'll never adjust either. He didn't in New York, he didn't in Texas, he didn't in Washington. He's far too arrogant to do so...

[AeroZach]

In order the 3 worst things that a hitter can do are
1. Hit into a triple play
2. Hit into a double play
3. Strikeout

I agree 100%

[CARDS2501]

Soriano cannot hit a Curveball down and away for anything.. hes so bad when it comes to laying off those.

enjoy that white elephant for the next 5 years...especially since trading him is out of the question with that contract.

[KCA EAGLE]

I believe Soranio is a African American.

[CARDS2501]

I believe Soranio is a African American.


You would be wrong as usual...Soriano is Dominican. Now mind your own business and stay the hell away from my posts.

[kingblue18]

In order the 3 worst things that a hitter can do are
1. Hit into a triple play
2. Hit into a double play
3. Strikeout

This is the last im going to post on this because I can't be much clearer. And while I know this is going to be over some peoples heads im going to post it anyway but if we look here at a table of impact of each event sorted by base/out state (http://www.tangotiger.net/RE9902event.html) we see that the average out (of any kind) results in -0.299 less runs that will be scored in an inning, and if we look right next to it we see that a strikeout results in -0.31 less runs in an inning, statically speaking, they have the same value. So while a strikeout may be frustrating it is really no worse then any other out you can make while batting.

[chad0034]

Nice stat, Kingblue.

[Cubfan]

You know when a strikeout is a good out? When the bases are loaded, less than 2 outs and the pitcher is at bat.

[CARDS2501]

This is the last im going to post on this because I can't be much clearer. And while I know this is going to be over some peoples heads im going to post it anyway but if we look here at a table of impact of each event sorted by base/out state (http://www.tangotiger.net/RE9902event.html) we see that the average out (of any kind) results in -0.299 less runs that will be scored in an inning, and if we look right next to it we see that a strikeout results in -0.31 less runs in an inning, statically speaking, they have the same value. So while a strikeout may be frustrating it is really no worse then any other out you can make while batting.


Thank you for posting this table and proving my point for me. I am sure that this is going to be over your head but I will try to be as simple as possible. I am only going to use your table to prove you dead wrong.

You are citing the average out (of any kind) well buddy the average out includes strikeouts and all outs made with two outs, so naturally it is going to appear to be closer. Of course it doesn't make much difference whether you fly out or strikeout when the bases are empty or there are already two outs. But if you look at the average out (which still includes strikeouts) when there are less than two outs and men on base. In almost every single exampl the strikeout is by far worse than any other kind of out.

For example:
If there is one out and men on second and third the strikeout is DOUBLE any other out. -.41 to -.82 (k).

I really appreciate you posting this table because all it did was prove my point and prove you wrong. You really shouldn't make it so easy for me. You really should try to understand the table that you are going to use otherwise it can make you look foolish.

[KCA EAGLE]

Sammy Sosa was a beast

[chad0034]

alright guys. Please quit spamming my franchise thread. Its getting out of hand.

[chad0034]

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--Aramis Ramirez Hits Walk Off Homer Against Rival White Sox, Win 4-3--

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Aramis Ramirez Hits The Walk Off Homer For The Cubs

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CHW- 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |......3 | 9 | 0
CHC- 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |......4 | 10 | 0


--Game Recap--

Home was never so sweet for the Cubs.
Aramis Ramirez hit a game-tying solo homer in the seventh and belted a walk-off shot leading off the ninth to power the Cubs to a 4-3 Interleague victory over their crosstown rivals, the White Sox, and snap a three-game losing streak.

"We needed to win this game," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.

With the game tied at 3 in the ninth against Scott Linebrink (2-2), Ramirez launched a 1-0 pitch to straightaway center field for the game winner.

"That's part of my job," Ramirez said. "I'm a cleanup hitter, I'm a RBI man, and people expect me to do that. I just concentrate a little more with men in scoring position or a tie ballgame."

Piniella didn't exactly call a home run. But he was hoping for one.

"One thing I told [bench coach Alan Trammell] was if [Ramirez] got on base, we weren't going to bunt," Piniella said of the ninth-inning strategy. "We were looking for some extension, and that's exactly what we got."

Kerry Wood (4-1) picked up the win, which improved the Cubs' record to 30-8 at Wrigley Field.

"We have confidence," Piniella said about the home-field advantage. "We've been able to come from behind, and today was no exception. Our big boys got the job done today which was good to see."

The Cubs had sent starter Ted Lilly back to Chicago on Thursday, while the rest of the team didn't get home until early Friday morning after a three-game series against Tampa Bay. Wrigley's real grass felt good after six straight games on artificial turf, and the 31-minute rain delay before first pitch gave the players a little more nap time.

Friday's win was just what the Cubs needed.

"We'd lost three in a row, we got back home late, but our guys dug in and hung in there. And we got good pitching, and that was a key," Piniella said. "We didn't allow the White Sox to tack on runs, and that was a key."

This was a showdown between the leaders of their respective Central Divisions. This is the first time the two teams have been in first place for the intracity series.

"To be honest, I don't think we're thinking about where they are, or what they're doing," Lilly said. "We've got our mission, and that's whoever is out there on the field, we need to beat them just to make sure we win our division.

"They obviously have a good club, and it's not surprising that they're in first," Lilly said of the White Sox. "They have very good pitching, and a strong lineup. I would think they're going to play well and we'll see what happens.

"There's no point talking about October right now," he said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if they're going to be around for awhile."

Lilly may not want to bring up a possible postseason matchup, but it is probably on the minds of the 41,106 who crammed into Wrigley for Game 1 of this six-game, home-and-road series.

The Cubs struck first, as leadoff man Kosuke ***udome chopped an infield single that didn't get past the pitcher's mound, advanced on Ryan Theriot's single, and scored when Derrek Lee grounded into a double play.

Jermaine Dye tied the game with a leadoff homer in the second, and with one on and one out in the third, A.J. Pierzynski gave the White Sox a 3-1 lead with his fifth homer. Lilly served up both. He struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and three walks.

The Cubs woke up in the seventh. Lee launched reliever Octavio Dotel's first pitch into the right-field bleachers leading off, and Ramirez followed with his 11th homer five pitches later to tie the game at 3. It's the second time this year Lee and Ramirez have hit back-to-back blasts; they also did so April 11 in Philadelphia. Dotel had given up two home runs total over 33 1/3 innings before Friday.

"Once we tied it up," Lilly said, "it was hard for me not to believe we were going to get it done at some point in the game."

Which is just what Ramirez did, reminding fans of his walk-off against the Brewers last June 29 at Wrigley, a two-out, two-run shot off Francisco Cordero.

"Any time you hit a walk-off is special," Ramirez said.

Yes, it is.

"We've been playing a lot of exciting finishes lately," Piniella said.


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[chad0034]

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I'm curious why the Cubs didn't re-sign Henry Blanco. I know he had a great year and hit free agency to try to get a bigger contract, but he only signed with the Padres for $750,000. Meanwhile, the Cubs signed Paul Bako for $725,000. I feel like Blanco at $750,000 is a steal compared to Bako at $725,000.
-- Dan D., Naperville, Ill

Blanco was the perfect teammate. He was a terrific mentor to Geovany Soto, who gave the veteran much of the credit for his success after he won the 2008 National League Rookie of the Year Award. Blanco also didn't complain about his limited playing time. One reason for the switch is because Bako gives the Cubs another left-handed bat. The team's other backup-catcher option is Koyie Hill, a switch-hitter, who is back after suffering a horrific hand injury.

What is the latest on the Jake Peavy deal? They said it would probably coincide with the sale of the team.
-- Zac H., Des Moines, Iowa

The Cubs' ownership situation has not been finalized. Tom Ricketts is in exclusive negotiations to purchase the team and Wrigley Field, and the Cubs would like to get things resolved by Opening Day. But the package didn't include Peavy. Ricketts is not at a point where he can give the go-ahead to any deal. Also, the Padres are undergoing their own transition with an ownership change, and Jeff Moorad may decide he wants to keep Peavy

http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2008/04/17/944LpszN.jpg
Ryan Theriot, And Mike Fontenot, The LSU Combination, Should Be The Starting Middle Infielders This Season

I know that Mike Fontenot can not take over the everyday spot at second base now that Mark DeRosa is gone. Will the Cubs try to go after a guy such as Brian Roberts or another player they know can be an everyday starter?
-- Blair S., St. Louis

Fontenot will get an opportunity to show you and the Cubs that he can be an everyday guy. Heading into Spring Training, Fontenot and Aaron Miles will share time at second base. Who starts during the regular season will depend on who's hot, matchups, and if one of them is needed elsewhere. Piniella has talked about starting Miles at short and Fontenot at second against some right-handers to give Ryan Theriot a break. Expect to see both Fontenot and Miles at third this spring. With DeRosa's departure and Ronny Cedeno gone, the Cubs need to see who can play where. The Roberts talks won't be revived any time soon.

How do you make a contribution to the "We Believe" movie? It's on the Web site but I can't find out how to donate?.
-- Rebecca Y., Chicago

If you go to the movie's Web site, webelievethemovie.com, and click on "Be In the Movie," you'll see a small title that says "Get Credit." That's the form. It costs $100 per name for a credit line in the movie, $50 for the DVD, and 50 percent of the proceeds will benefit Project 3000 and Little Cubs Field. You need to mail payments to We Believe the Movie Films, LLC, 101 W. Grand Avenue, Suite 322, Chicago, IL 60654-7172.

ChicagoCubs.com (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090207&content_id=3807004&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc)

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[chad0034]

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--Cubs Beat Sabathia And Brewers, 6-4--

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Soriano Gets Props From His Team After Hitting A Homerun

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Team |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | H | E
Chicago Cubs| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
Milwaukee Brewers| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 |

--Game Recap--

It felt like October in late July at Miller Park on Monday night, and it had nothing to do with the weather.
Derrek Lee smacked a tie-breaking RBI double with one out in the ninth to go with his RBI single in the first, and Alfonso Soriano added a solo homer to power the Cubs to a 6-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and open a two-game lead in the National League Central.

"From the fans' standpoint, it was a playoff atmosphere," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said of the seesaw battle in front of a sellout crowd of 45,311, third largest ever at Miller Park. "It was a pretty good way to start a July series."

The Cubs had a tough assignment. CC Sabathia came into the game with a 4-0 record since joining the Brewers and had yet to lose to a National League team this season. Lee got things started with his RBI single in the first, driving in Soriano, who had doubled and stolen third to start the game. Soriano made it 2-0 with his 17th homer leading off the third.

"Soriano, when he's hot, man, you can't hardly get him out," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "When he's not, you can pitch to him, but he's gotten very, very hot, real quick."

How hot? The Cubs left fielder is 5-for-9 in his past two games with two homers and five runs scored.

"I think I'm there now," said Soriano, whose left hand apparently has healed. "I swung the bat good today. I hope I can continue tomorrow like I did today."

The Brewers made two standout defensive plays in the sixth, beginning with center fielder Mike Cameron, who threw out Lee at home when he tried to score on Mark DeRosa's single. Sabathia came to the rescue of first baseman Prince Fielder, covering first just in time to get the flip and get Ryan Theriot out. The Brewers did a little celebrating in the dugout after the inning.

"I'm not a big believer in momentum," Lee said, "but I think that was a case of momentum [shifting]. Cameron made a great throw, threw me out at the plate, and Prince Fielder made a huge defensive play, and it seemed like they brought that to the plate the next inning."

The next inning, the Brewers tied the game on back-to-back homers by J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun off Ted Lilly. Fielder singled and scored on Hart's double to go ahead, 3-2, but Hart was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a triple.

"I think I made some mistakes," Lilly said. "I'd like to have it over again. They're good hitters and I think the curveball to Braun was a little bit lazy. I don't know if he knew it was coming -- he's a pretty good hitter."

The Cubs responded in the seventh. Ronny Cedeno and Kosuke ***udome both singled, and advanced on a double steal as Soriano struck out. Reed Johnson walked to load the bases, and Lee bounced a potential double-play grounder to Hardy, who tossed the ball to Rickie Weeks for the force at second, but Johnson slid clean and hard, and Weeks' throw to first was off the mark. Cedeno and ***udome both scored to go ahead, 4-3, and chase Sabathia.

"That was a great job by Reed," Lee said. "He went in really hard and made it a tough play for Rickie. That's just good, hustle baseball."

"It's a double play that has to be made," Yost said.

The Brewers answered in the seventh, when Russell Branyan tied the game with a two-out pinch-hit homer off Bob Howry.

"You look at their club, and we're going to have to play well to win this division," Lilly said.

They did so in the ninth. With the game tied at 4 and one out, Salomon Torres walked Soriano and pinch-hitter Mike Fontenot to set up Lee, who lined the ball to right. Another run scored on DeRosa's single.

Chad Gaudin improved to 2-1 with the Cubs, picking up the win in relief, and Carlos Marmol pitched the ninth for his fifth save. All this game needed was some bunting, and it would've felt even more like postseason baseball.

"We just kept playing," Lee said. "I think that's the sign of a good team. We know we're not out of the game, and it's a nine-inning game. Give them credit. They're a good team and they weren't going to give up."

"All 25 guys have contributed and I think that's what you see good teams do," Johnson said, "and that's what you see playoff teams do. We've been picking each other up all year."


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[KCA EAGLE]

Why are you even posting all this and the games not even out yet.....Start it up when you start your 2k9 Cubs Franchise.

[CARDS2501]

Why are you even posting all this and the games not even out yet.....Start it up when you start your 2k9 Cubs Franchise.


You are the only one that seems to have a problem with it, so if you don't like it you don't have to read it. In fact you don't have to read anything here. Go play with your fantastic friends on your own site.

[chad0034]

KCA it gives me something to do to get even more pumped for the game. Haha what do you have against it? I have some cool TWIB (This Week In Baseball) this season, with TWIBIA for you guys (especially Cards).. and i'll try and get some hard questions in there.

[Cubfan]

Following this chise this season. Love the recaps!

[CARDS2501]

KCA it gives me something to do to get even more pumped for the game. Haha what do you have against it? I have some cool TWIB (This Week In Baseball) this season, with TWIBIA for you guys (especially Cards).. and i'll try and get some hard questions in there.

looking forward to it

[chad0034]

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Cubs Prepare For Spring Training '09

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On Friday, February 13th, The Cubs Pitchers And Catchers Will Report

It's time for the Cubs to get back to work.
Pitchers and catchers report to Fitch Park in Mesa, Ariz., on Friday for the start of Spring Training with a workout scheduled the next day. The full squad will hold its first workout Feb. 17.

Usually teams that struggle overhaul their rosters. The Cubs are coming off their second straight National League Central crown, yet have plenty of new faces. They've added pitchers Kevin Gregg, Aaron Heilman, Luis Vizcaino, outfielders Milton Bradley and Joey Gathright, infielder Aaron Miles and catcher Paul Bako to the 2009 roster.

The clubhouse will have a different look. Among the departed are Kerry Wood, Mark DeRosa, Jason Marquis, Bob Howry and Henry Blanco.

"Those guys are going to be missed," Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster said. "But at the same time, you have to move past that and go ahead with the team you have."

Lou Piniella will try to accomplish something no Cubs manager has done since Frank Chance, and that is get to the postseason in three straight years. Chance and the Cubs did so in 1906-08, the last season marking the last time the franchise won the World Series.

Last year, Piniella guided the Cubs to a 97-win season, the second-highest total by any team he has managed.

This may finally be Piniella's team. Only seven players remain from the 2007 Opening Day roster -- Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, Ryan Theriot and Alfonso Soriano -- and there's been a little more emphasis on adding players with speed and higher on-base percentages.

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The Cubs Kosuke ***udome Will Have A Late Arrival Due To The World Baseball Classic

Outfielder Kosuke ***udome will be a late arrival. He will not report to Arizona until he and Team Japan are finished playing in the World Baseball Classic to avoid jet lag. The Japanese team begins play in the Tokyo Dome on March 5 against China.

***udome isn't the only Cubs player who has committed to play in the World Baseball Classic. Carlos Marmol, the leading candidate for the closer's job, and Ramirez are on the Dominican Republic roster. Lilly and Lee are both on Team USA.

Geovany Soto, the 2008 National League Rookie of the Year, was to play for Puerto Rico, and pitchers Zambrano, Angel Guzman and Jose Ascanio all were listed on Team Venezuela's roster. Zambrano may not participate, saying he wanted to see how he felt after undergoing Lasik surgery on his right eye.

The Cubs open Cactus League play Feb. 25 at HoHoKam Park against the Los Angeles Dodgers, newcomers to Arizona, and will meet their cross-town rivals, the White Sox, in Mesa on Feb. 28 and March 27, and also in a quick trip to Las Vegas, March 4-5.

The team will help open new Yankee Stadium April 3-4 with two exhibition games against former Cubs catcher and current Yankees manager Joe Girardi to end Spring Training.

Fans may be worried about whether the Cubs will do better in the postseason in '09 than the past two years. Players will remind them you have to get there first. It all starts in Spring Training.

"We need good chemistry like last year and we need to play good like last year," Zambrano said. "We need to play better in the playoffs and we need to do all the right things in the playoffs."

The Cubs are the early favorites to three-peat in the division.

"Any time you look good on paper is always a good thing," Dempster said. "It's just a matter of staying healthy and performing. If we can do that, we'll be in a good shape at the end of the year."

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[chad0034]

B-Dub.. is there any way you can make it so I can say Fu.k in this thread? I'm gonna be playing this a ton, and Kosuke's last name will be in this a lot. I'm gonna get tired of putting F.ukudome, and the pic won't show because his last name is in the pic link.

[Ferrari997]

Huge Cubs fan here. I do not really like the direction the Cubs are going. They do not have a farm system at all with many good prospects and they have too many bad contracts (mainly Soriano)

I wish the Cubs could build their team like the Red Sox. Solid Farm system as well as going out and spending money on the top FA's.

With that being said, my first move as the Cubs will be to trade Soriano for some top prospects. I know that the Angels have some solid prospects in Brandon Wood, Nick Adenhart and etc. Also the Mets and Yankees are always in the running. I will definitely browse around.

Thoughts?

[chad0034]

Ah I'll keep Soriano. I don't expect to do any big trades, because in the past I've done that on some off-2Ksports franchises, and it gets unrealistic and boring for me. I like playing with the real-life team, with maybe a couple deals around the trade deadline possibly. Only minor deals though, maybe to upgrade bullpen.

[Ferrari997]

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I have always been a stickler for realism as well. But at the same time, I like to somewhat tailor the team to my liking as well. So I'm trying to find a happy medium. For some reason, one of the main things that draws me to baseball video games is minor leagues and getting top prospects and developing them. The Soriano trade (if I even end up making that trade) will probably be my only trade I do. In my opinion, he wasn't a good signing by the Cubs and really isn't performing to his huge contract that will haunt us until 2012 (correct me if I'm wrong) He is the only player on the team I feel can bring back top prospects. Yes his bat may be missed, but I think there is enough firepower on the team to make up for it.

[Cubfan]

I think Soriano will have a pretty good year if they drop him in the order.

[chad0034]

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--Soto Ties Game In Ninth, Cubs Win In 12 Against Milwaukee, 7-6---

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Geovany Soto Strolls Home After Tying The Game On A Homerun

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Team |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | F | H | E
Milwaukee Brewers| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
Chicago Cubs | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 1 |



--Game Recap--

The Cubs' magic number is two, but they aren't making party plans. It's not time to celebrate yet.
"I've been hearing a lot of stuff on the radio and TV -- let's be clear about this, we still have to win two more games," Chicago's Jim Edmonds said. "Let's not get too excited until it's over."

Thursday was pretty exciting. The Cubs took a huge step toward their second straight National League Central title by rallying to beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6, in 12 innings. Geovany Soto smacked a game-tying three-run homer in the ninth, and Derrek Lee hit a walk-off single with two outs in the 12th for the victory.

A victory on Friday coupled with a loss by the Brewers to the Cincinnati Reds would secure a postseason berth for Chicago. However, the Cubs will be playing a day game, while the Brewers have a night game at Great American Ball Park.

"It's been a long season, and we're getting real close to where we want to go," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "There's still a little work to be done, and hopefully, we'll get it done this weekend."

Pinch-hitter Daryle Ward walked to lead off the Chicago 12th and was lifted for pinch-runner Jason Marquis, who advanced on Reed Johnson's sacrifice. Carlos Villanueva intentionally walked Alfonso Soriano to face Ryan Theriot, who flew out, and Marquis moved up. Lee then drove a 2-2 pitch to center for the game-winner.

"I was actually pretty relaxed," Lee said of his at-bat. "I've been feeling pretty good at the plate, and it's easy to feel good if your swing feels good. I thought I had a pitch earlier in the at-bat that I should've hit, and I was joking with the umpire, 'Man, I shouldn't miss that one.' I felt pretty good up there."

Lee was 0-for-5 before the at-bat in the 12th.

"That's what you try to teach your hitters when they're young in the Minor Leagues and even when they come up to the big leagues," Piniella said of Lee's picture-perfect swing. "You want to stay up the middle with two strikes, don't try to overdo, and that's what he did."

The Cubs had a chance in the 11th with a runner at first and Seth McClung on the mound. Edmonds took a 1-1 pitch that appeared to be outside but was called a strike by home-plate umpire Ed Rapuano. Edmonds complained and was ejected, prompting an argument from Piniella.

"The first pitch was off the plate and I said, 'C'mon, Eddie, that's a ball,'" Edmonds said. "He jumped up real quick like he was irritated and was yelling at me. I said, 'It doesn't matter what you say, it's still a ball.' He said, 'Don't take it again.'

"[McClung] threw the next pitch further off the plate, and I said, 'That's a ball, too,' and [Rapuano] said, 'You're gone,'" Edmonds said. "It was an unprofessional situation that we got into."

"[Edmonds] thought the pitches were outside, and he got into a little war of words with the umpire, and when that happens, the umpire usually wins," Piniella said.

With the count 1-2, Felix Pie stepped in and hit into a fielder's choice, forcing the runner at second. Mark DeRosa singled, sending Pie to third, but Soto couldn't duplicate his heroics in the ninth and flied out to end the inning.

Kerry Wood (5-4) probably deserved a save plus the win. He struck out the side in the 11th, including Prince Fielder on three pitches. Wood also escaped a jam in the 12th, when the Brewers had runners at second and third with none out.

"I went out to talk to him, and he said, 'I'll get three strikeouts,'" Piniella said. "I said, 'No, get three ground balls,' and that's exactly what he did."

Wood got Craig Counsell to ground out. Jason Kendall then bounced the ball to Aramis Ramirez at third, and he started a 5-2-6 rundown to get the runner who was at third, and then Wood got pinch-hitter Joe Dillon to ground out.

The Cubs had three hits before the ninth inning, and two of those were solo homers by Edmonds in the second and by Ramirez in the fourth. With two outs in the ninth, Ramirez doubled and Edmonds singled him in, then DeRosa singled to set up Soto's blast. The catcher connected on the first pitch from Salomon Torres to tie the game at 6.

"Soto's done a heck of a job," Piniella said. "[Carlos] Marmol's done a heck of a job. There's a lot of them who have done a heck of a job."

That seems to be a theme this year.

"I thought we showed great character today," Lee said.

The Brewers had taken advantage of an error by DeRosa to score four unearned runs in the sixth. Trailing 2-1, with one out and a runner at first, Kendall hit a potential double-play ball to DeRosa, who had trouble handling the hop. One out later, Mike Cameron, Ray Durham and Ryan Braun each hit RBI singles off Jeff Samardzija to go ahead, 4-2.

Chicago's Rich Harden got off to a shaky start when he walked the first two batters of the game. One out later, the Brewers had runners at first and third, and Fielder hit a grounder to DeRosa, who made an off-balance throw to second. The throw appeared to hit the runner in the back, and he was safe, while a run did score on the fielder's choice.

Chicago now has a nine-game lead in the division over the Brewers with 11 games to go.

"We're close," Lee said. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We still have some work to do."

"We've all seen collapses and crashes in the past," Edmonds said, "and we don't want to be anywhere near that."

So, put the champagne back in the refrigerator. Keep it chilled.

"Let's win tomorrow if we can," Piniella said of Friday's game against the Cardinals. "Whatever happens on the road [with the Brewers], happens. I'm not going to sit around here. If we win tomorrow afternoon, the bars in Wrigley will be waiting around. I'm not going to be part of that scene."


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/millerpar2.gif

[AeroZach]

If Soriano struggles in my chise, you can bet I'll shop him to New York for Carlos Beltran or something. He's the one player, in real life and in a video game, who I refuse to cut any slack whatsoever.

Great recap of 9/18 man. I don't know if you did a 5/30 recap yet, but if you ask me both were the best Cubs games in a very long time. I'm biased because I was at the 5/30 game, but a nine run comeback? Man, that's incredible :thumbsup:

[chad0034]

If Soriano struggles in my chise, you can bet I'll shop him to New York for Carlos Beltran or something. He's the one player, in real life and in a video game, who I refuse to cut any slack whatsoever.

Great recap of 9/18 man. I don't know if you did a 5/30 recap yet, but if you ask me both were the best Cubs games in a very long time. I'm biased because I was at the 5/30 game, but a nine run comeback? Man, that's incredible :thumbsup:

I can tell you thats coming up. You can probly guess the other game too. But damb it would be crazy to be there.

[AeroZach]

I can tell you thats coming up. You can probly guess the other game too. But damb it would be crazy to be there.

Other game...other game...August 28 vs. Philly, Aramis Ramirez grand slam in the 8th to put the Cubs ahead, perhaps? :cool:

[chad0034]

nope. Its very obvious when you think about it.

[CARDS2501]

9/20/08 Cubs clinch the central?

[Cubfan]

Big z's No hitter?

[CARDS2501]

Big z's No hitter?


That is another good one.

[RKO BLACK RKO]

prob the no hitter

[AeroZach]

I didn't know it was going to be glaringly obvious, and I actually thought you covered Z's no-no anyway. Silly me.

If that's the case, then I have to say Z's no hitter, easily.

[chad0034]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Chisebanner-2.gif

Spring Training Preview '09

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/springtraining2.jpg
All Eyes Will Be On Centerfield This Spring Training, As Kosuke ***udome and Reed Johnson Will Fight For The Starting Spot

Who Will Play Centerfield? The plan is to move Kosuke ***udome from right to center to make room for Milton Bradley. But ***udome has to convince Lou Piniella that he's the player everyone saw the first two months of last season, not the guy who disappeared in the second half. Or will Reed Johnson get the call? Both are solid defensively.

Who will bat 3-4-5? Bradley thrived in the No. 3 spot with Oakland, something hitting coach Gerald Perry is well aware of. Does Piniella break up Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez by sliding Bradley in between, or does he have the switch-hitter bat fifth behind Ramirez and ahead of slugger Geovany Soto? Bradley led the American League in on-base percentage, and the Cubs need to take advantage of that.

Who will the Cubs miss the most? Kerry Wood? Mark DeRosa? Henry Blanco? Wood's departure gives Carlos Marmol the chance to be the closer. Is Marmol ready? DeRosa played solid second base and was exceptional filling in when Ramirez was hurt or ***udome struggled. Blanco mentored Soto, and the end result was a rookie who played like a veteran behind the plate. Who will the young catcher lean on now?

New Faces
Milton Bradley: The biggest pickup in the offseason. The Cubs are hoping he provides another dimension in the middle of the lineup. Bradley has had run-ins with managers, umpires and fans, but says that's in the past and he's eager to start fresh in Chicago. A switch-hitter, he batted .341 with 10 homers against left-handers last year, and .312 with 12 homers against right-handers.

Kevin Gregg: Acquired from the Marlins, Gregg has 61 saves over the last two seasons, including 29 in '08. He enjoys pitching in the ninth and will be competing with Marmol for save opportunities. The right-hander underwent knee surgery after last season ended but was ahead of schedule in his rehab this offseason and able to do his regular throwing program. He held hitters to a .203 average last year.

Aaron Miles: Miles could be used the way DeRosa was last season and bounce around the infield. He will primarily play second base, sharing time with Mike Fontenot. A switch-hitter, Miles batted .315 against lefties and .317 against right-handers. Wrigley Field hasn't been as kind. He has a career .224 average there.

Aaron Heilman: Although he hasn't started since 2005, Heilman will be considered for the rotation as well as the bullpen. He'll need to get stretched out. He did not pitch more than three innings in 2008. Heilman has spent his entire career with the New York Mets, and the former Notre Dame star was a first-round pick in 2001.

Joey Gathright: The speedster will be used primarily as a pinch-runner and sub in center field. He had a personal-high 21 stolen bases in 2008, and was caught stealing four times. If you haven't watched the YouTube video of Gathright jumping cars in a parking lot, check it out.

Luis Vizcaino: The Cubs have their eighth- and ninth-inning pitchers in Gregg and Marmol. A key this spring will be to determine who bridges the gap between starters and the two. Vizcaino, acquired from the Rockies for Jason Marquis, could be a factor if he can rebound from a disappointing season in Colorado. Vizcaino did have a better ERA in day games than night games last season and held right-handed hitters to a .170 average.

Paul Bako: This will be Bako's second stint with the Cubs. He played for them in 2003-04. He gives the Cubs another left-handed option, but he most likely will not spark a fan club the way backup catcher Henry Blanco did.

Prospects To Watch
Jeff Samardzija: It's hard to call Samardzija a "prospect" because he was unfazed in his call up last season. Guess playing big-time college football helps prepare pitchers for the Major Leagues. The right-hander was 4-1 at Triple-A Iowa before he was promoted July 25, and compiled a 2.28 ERA in 26 games with the Cubs. He did not give up a run over 14 1/3 innings in 13 games in August. He would prefer to start but needs to show he has better command of his pitches.

Mitch Atkins: The right-hander won 17 games last season, including an 8-1 mark in 10 starts for Iowa. A seventh-round pick in 2004, Atkins will get a good look this spring in hopes of being the first guy called up if the team needs a starter.

Tyler Colvin: Colvin most likely won't be ready until late 2009, but the outfielder is coming off Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery. That's not that common for an outfielder. He led Double-A Tennessee in hits (138) and RBIs (80), and drove in three or more runs seven times. He needs another season in the Minors, but the Cubs have high hopes for Colvin, the No. 1 pick in 2006.

On The Rebound
Rich Harden: Harden made 25 starts last season combined between the Athletics and Cubs. That was his highest total since 2004, when he started 31 games for Oakland. Nagging elbow problems limited him in 2006 and '07. The right-hander can silence all the talk about his aches and pains if he can make 30 starts this year.

Kosuke ***udome: ***udome didn't end the season hurt, unless you count his pride. The highly touted outfielder, who signed a four-year deal prior to the 2008 season, batted .217 in the second half. His struggles prompted the Cubs to seek outfield help and sign Bradley. ***udome was given specific core exercises to do this offseason, and the Cubs sent one of their staff to Japan to check up on the outfielder. He is committed to playing for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic and will be a late arrival.

Projected Lineup
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Soriano-1.jpg
1. LF Alfonso Soriano:
.280 BA, .344 OBP, .532 SLG, 29 HR, 75 RBI in 2008

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Miles.jpg
2. 2B Aaron Miles:
.317 BA, .355 OBP, .398 SLG, 4 HR, 31 RBI in 2008

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Lee-1.jpg
3. 1B Derrek Lee:
.291 BA, .361 OBP, .462 SLG, 20 HR, 90 RBI in 2008

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Ramirez-1.jpg
4. 3B Aramis Ramirez:
.289 BA, .380 OBP, .518 SLG, 27 HR, 111 RBI in 2008

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Bradley.jpg
5. RF Milton Bradley:
.321 BA, .436 OBP, .563 SLG, 22 HR, 77 RBI in 2008

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Soto.jpg
6. C Geovany Soto:
.285 BA, .364 OBP, .504 SLG, 23 HR, 86 RBI in 2008

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/***udome.jpg
7. CF Kosuke ***udome:
.257 BA, .359 OBP, .379 SLG, 10 HR, 58 RBI in 2008

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Theriot.jpg
8. SS Ryan Theriot:
.307 BA, .387 OBP, .359 SLG, 1 HR, 38 RBI in 2008

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/millerpar2.gif

[biggestcubsfan]

nice post good to see but ***udome didnt show

[CARDS2501]

No way Soriano leads off again this year. The Cubs are just setting themselves up for failure if Soriano is their leadoff man again. He is one of the worst leadoff men in the game with his .329 career OBP.

[RKO BLACK RKO]

chad milton bradley is batting 4th not 5th i told you this already lol lou said it in the sun times

[chad0034]

Cubs.com says hes not. A-Ram is now.

[CARDS2501]

If Piniella was smart he would have his order something like this...

Miles
Theriot
Lee
Ramirez
Bradley
Soriano
Soto
F-dome
Pitcher

[chad0034]

If Piniella was smart he would have his order something like this...

Miles
Theriot
Lee
Ramirez
Bradley
Soriano
Soto
F-dome
Pitcher

Ahh I dk. Soriano needs to get a ton of ABs to make up that $$$ the Cubs gave himm. I'd say bat him 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. He did strike out a ton, but he also had the most Lead off homers of any player in the MLB. Which is the best way to start out a game, and gives you a leg-up right away. The bad is they only score one run, but I don't think he'd hit many if he batted around the 3 spot.

[CARDS2501]

Ahh I dk. Soriano needs to get a ton of ABs to make up that $$$ the Cubs gave himm. I'd say bat him 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. He did strike out a ton, but he also had the most Lead off homers of any player in the MLB. Which is the best way to start out a game, and gives you a leg-up right away. The bad is they only score one run, but I don't think he'd hit many if he batted around the 3 spot.


That money was a big mistake.

He doesn't get on base enough to hit leadoff. He doesn't make enough contact to hit 2nd. Generally the best pure hitter in the lineup hits third. He cannot hit cleanup because of Aramis. He might could go 5th but then that drops Bradley and would give you 4 righties in a row. I really think that 6th is the place for him.

[kingblue18]

If Piniella was smart he would have his order something like this...

Miles
Theriot
Lee
Ramirez
Bradley
Soriano
Soto
F-dome
Pitcher

Haha, yea, lets put someone in the leadoff spot with an even worse career on-base then Soriano. If Lou was smart he would keep Miles on the bench and play Fontenot.

[AeroZach]

Ahh I dk. Soriano needs to get a ton of ABs to make up that $$$ the Cubs gave himm. I'd say bat him 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. He did strike out a ton, but he also had the most Lead off homers of any player in the MLB. Which is the best way to start out a game, and gives you a leg-up right away. The bad is they only score one run, but I don't think he'd hit many if he batted around the 3 spot.

I beg to differ.

Yeah he had a lot of lead off homers, but tell me how many lead off STRIKEOUTS he had. I just don't know if I could stomach another season seeing the Cubs start off with a K in the scoring. It's just annoying. If you hit him at #5, he gives a window for the Cubs best RBI man (Ramirez) ahead of him to drive in Lee and whoever Lou puts ahead of him.

I think Lee should hit second this season, with Bradley third and Rami fourth. That's just me. Lead off with Theriot or Fontenot, hit Soriano fifth or sixth (or alternate with Soto).

If new ownership loves us, they'll just eat up his contract and ship him off somewhere else. While it's highly unlikely, one can dream.

All I know is, when I do MY franchise, I'm gonna shake it up from the way the actual Cubs have done things now.

[CARDS2501]

Haha, yea, lets put someone in the leadoff spot with an even worse career on-base then Soriano. If Lou was smart he would keep Miles on the bench and play Fontenot.


I would agree with the playing of Fontenot over Miles. I am under the impression that Miles is the starter for you though. If you don't hit him leadoff you need to hit him ninth. Maybe Theriot can lead off in the event MIles doesn't. While I am aware of his OBP historically last year it was .355 which is still low for a leadoff guy but at least he doesn't strikeout or homer out of the top spot. He actually is a pretty good table setter.

[CARDS2501]

I beg to differ.

Yeah he had a lot of lead off homers, but tell me how many lead off STRIKEOUTS he had. I just don't know if I could stomach another season seeing the Cubs start off with a K in the scoring. It's just annoying. If you hit him at #5, he gives a window for the Cubs best RBI man (Ramirez) ahead of him to drive in Lee and whoever Lou puts ahead of him.

I think Lee should hit second this season, with Bradley third and Rami fourth. That's just me. Lead off with Theriot or Fontenot, hit Soriano fifth or sixth (or alternate with Soto).

If new ownership loves us, they'll just eat up his contract and ship him off somewhere else. While it's highly unlikely, one can dream.



All I know is, when I do MY franchise, I'm gonna shake it up from the way the actual Cubs have done things now.

I would also like to know how many multiple run innings the Cubs had when Soriano lead off with a homer vs multiple run innings when he hit a lead off double.. Don't get me wrong you take runs where you can get them and there is nothing wrong with hitting a homer to start the game but something should be said for being a table setter.

[KCA EAGLE]

as long as Lou is the manager Soriano will always bat leadoff cause Soriano likes it, so Soriano gets what Soriano wants, no matter the numbers.

[chad0034]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Chisebanner-2.gif

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/2-1.gif

--Cubs Magically Comeback From 8 To Win Game 10,9---

http://www2.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Colorado+Rockies+v+Chicago+Cubs+OfoKU-u4_uRl.jpg
The Cubs Outfielders Celebrate The Big Comeback Against The Rockies

(20-35) http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/COL.gif 9 -------- 10 http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif (34-21)

Team |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | H | E
Colorado Rockies| 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 1 |
Chicago Cubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 14 | 1 |


--Game Recap--

While so many were overjoyed, Mark DeRosa was in disbelief.
"I was saying as I was walking over here, I'm like, 'I don't even know what just happened,'" he said. "Give me a little heads up on who did what during the game because it just seemed to all of a sudden steamroll into us getting a victory."

About 40,000 mesmerized Cubs fans -- and a few stunned Rockies supporters -- could probably give the infielder a little insight. The Cubs overcame an eight-run deficit to beat the Rockies, 10-9, for their fifth straight win on Friday afternoon.

DeRosa capped the return from 9-1 down in the sixth inning with a two-run homer as part of a six-run seventh. It marked the largest come-from-behind win for the team since June 22, 1999, also against Colorado, when the Cubs also faced a 9-1 hole. On that day, they won ,13-12.

"Unbelievable, that game from the start, you were just like, 'Oh, it's going to be one of these games,'" DeRosa said, alluding to an 8-0 lead the Rockies built up in the first 3 1/2 innings. "The way the wind was blowing [15 miles per hour out to center], you knew it was just a couple fly balls and we were back in the game."

Unlikely sources of power Kosuke ***udome, Jim Edmonds and Henry Blanco provided home runs as well. Lou Piniella rested Aramis Ramirez and Ryan Theriot from the start and took out Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto for defensive replacements Micah Hoffpauir and Blanco in the sixth when down 9-1. At that point, DeRosa admitted it looked pretty ugly.

But the switch to Hoffpauir and Blanco paid immediate dividends. Hoffpauir, who went 2-for-3, doubled into the left-field ivy to lead off the sixth. ***udome followed with his third home run of the year and Edmonds made it back-to-back shots.

The homer did wonders for Edmonds' reputation. In the third, Edmonds let a Garrett Atkins fly ball drop through his hands on a miscommunication with Alfonso Soriano. That sounded the all-too-familiar Edmonds boos.

But with his first home run in white and blue, the former Cardinals center fielder may have won over a few Chicagoans.

"I hoped sooner or later [it would happen]," Edmonds said of pleasing the fans. "Sometimes when I'm in the outfield, I think I'm still wearing red and white."

Edmonds doubled his hit total as a member of the Cubs with a 3-for-4 day after coming into the game batting .125 since being signed two weeks ago.

"I don't read the papers, I don't watch the TV too much," Edmonds said. "I know I'm struggling, and I know I need to pick it up. It's no secret. It's been going on for 12 months now. I'm just trying to keep my head above water and trying to figure out what's wrong."

But the Cubs were still down 9-4 through six. Chicago Blackhawks Hall of Famer Stan Mikita said, "Let's get some runs," to conclude the seventh-inning stretch. The Cubs heeded the call.

Mike Fontenot singled with one out to start a string of six straight hits. Fontenot scored when Blanco went deep for the first time since Sept. 22, 2006. Hoffpauir and ***udome followed with singles.

Rockies starter Aaron Cook was pulled for Manuel Corpas (0-3) after Hoffpauir's hit. Edmonds then laced a two-run double to center before DeRosa stepped to the plate.

"I was just trying to get a base hit," DeRosa said. "I was 3-2, sitting on a fastball away, a sinker away, and he threw me a slider. I just happened to get out in front of it. On a normal day, that ball probably doesn't go out."

But the wind howled out at times on Friday. DeRosa launched the ball to left-center. Jim Edmonds turned his back to home plate and raised his fists in the air. The fans echoed his sentiment.

"When DeRosa's ball went out of the ballpark, that's the loudest that this place has been this year by far," Piniella said. "It was almost deafening."

Notice the names Soriano, Lee and Ramirez weren't a part of the sixth- and seventh-inning magic. They aren't the only clutch hitters on the roster.

"It speaks volumes to the character of the team and the fact that Lou's not afraid to play everyone," DeRosa said. "Everyone feels like in that clubhouse that they're a part of the team. Everyone's contributed in their own personal way to our victories so far this year."

Scott Eyre (2-0) got the win in one-third of an inning of relief.

In his shortest outing of the season, Ted Lilly was tagged for seven runs -- four earned -- on eight hits in three innings. The Rockies plated four in the first, three in the third and one apiece in the fourth and fifth. But that was nearly forgotten a little later.

"The crowd had to enjoy this," Piniella said, "because I certainly did as a manager."


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/millerpar2.gif

[AeroZach]

I would also like to know how many multiple run innings the Cubs had when Soriano lead off with a homer vs multiple run innings when he hit a lead off double.. Don't get me wrong you take runs where you can get them and there is nothing wrong with hitting a homer to start the game but something should be said for being a table setter.

What's a shame is, the best lead-off hitter we've had in the past ten years has been Kenny Lofton, and we had him for maybe a third of the 2003 season. You talk about a true table setter, he hit .327 when he was with us with a .381 OBP. Chances are he'd get on, Mark Grudzielanek would either bunt him to second or single, getting runners at first and third setting it up for Sosa, Alou, and Aramis Ramirez. That was a KILLER one-two punch at the top of the lineup, and I haven't seen a better one since. Hendry's greatest move to date.

I actually think, in a platoon of Johnson and F-Dome in center field, Reed Johnson COULD lead-off whenever he ends up playing. Don't see a problem with that at all, though Lou never really experimented with it. He's got the speed for it, he had a decent OBP last year (.358). I always enjoyed the prospect of it, though I can't see it put to effect this year.

I can also see F-Dome hitting there as well, if he improves his game next year...

[chad0034]

I remember Reed Johnson batting leadoff a few times, when Soriano was on the DL. He did a great job i believe.

[AeroZach]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Chisebanner-2.gif

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/2-1.gif

--Cubs Magically Comeback From 8 To Win Game 10,9---

http://www2.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Colorado+Rockies+v+Chicago+Cubs+OfoKU-u4_uRl.jpg
The Cubs Outfielders Celebrate The Big Comeback Against The Rockies

(20-35) http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/COL.gif 9 -------- 10 http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif (34-21)

Team |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | H | E
Colorado Rockies| 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 1 |
Chicago Cubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 14 | 1 |


--Game Recap--

While so many were overjoyed, Mark DeRosa was in disbelief.
"I was saying as I was walking over here, I'm like, 'I don't even know what just happened,'" he said. "Give me a little heads up on who did what during the game because it just seemed to all of a sudden steamroll into us getting a victory."

About 40,000 mesmerized Cubs fans -- and a few stunned Rockies supporters -- could probably give the infielder a little insight. The Cubs overcame an eight-run deficit to beat the Rockies, 10-9, for their fifth straight win on Friday afternoon.

DeRosa capped the return from 9-1 down in the sixth inning with a two-run homer as part of a six-run seventh. It marked the largest come-from-behind win for the team since June 22, 1999, also against Colorado, when the Cubs also faced a 9-1 hole. On that day, they won ,13-12.

"Unbelievable, that game from the start, you were just like, 'Oh, it's going to be one of these games,'" DeRosa said, alluding to an 8-0 lead the Rockies built up in the first 3 1/2 innings. "The way the wind was blowing [15 miles per hour out to center], you knew it was just a couple fly balls and we were back in the game."

Unlikely sources of power Kosuke ***udome, Jim Edmonds and Henry Blanco provided home runs as well. Lou Piniella rested Aramis Ramirez and Ryan Theriot from the start and took out Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto for defensive replacements Micah Hoffpauir and Blanco in the sixth when down 9-1. At that point, DeRosa admitted it looked pretty ugly.

But the switch to Hoffpauir and Blanco paid immediate dividends. Hoffpauir, who went 2-for-3, doubled into the left-field ivy to lead off the sixth. ***udome followed with his third home run of the year and Edmonds made it back-to-back shots.

The homer did wonders for Edmonds' reputation. In the third, Edmonds let a Garrett Atkins fly ball drop through his hands on a miscommunication with Alfonso Soriano. That sounded the all-too-familiar Edmonds boos.

But with his first home run in white and blue, the former Cardinals center fielder may have won over a few Chicagoans.

"I hoped sooner or later [it would happen]," Edmonds said of pleasing the fans. "Sometimes when I'm in the outfield, I think I'm still wearing red and white."

Edmonds doubled his hit total as a member of the Cubs with a 3-for-4 day after coming into the game batting .125 since being signed two weeks ago.

"I don't read the papers, I don't watch the TV too much," Edmonds said. "I know I'm struggling, and I know I need to pick it up. It's no secret. It's been going on for 12 months now. I'm just trying to keep my head above water and trying to figure out what's wrong."

But the Cubs were still down 9-4 through six. Chicago Blackhawks Hall of Famer Stan Mikita said, "Let's get some runs," to conclude the seventh-inning stretch. The Cubs heeded the call.

Mike Fontenot singled with one out to start a string of six straight hits. Fontenot scored when Blanco went deep for the first time since Sept. 22, 2006. Hoffpauir and ***udome followed with singles.

Rockies starter Aaron Cook was pulled for Manuel Corpas (0-3) after Hoffpauir's hit. Edmonds then laced a two-run double to center before DeRosa stepped to the plate.

"I was just trying to get a base hit," DeRosa said. "I was 3-2, sitting on a fastball away, a sinker away, and he threw me a slider. I just happened to get out in front of it. On a normal day, that ball probably doesn't go out."

But the wind howled out at times on Friday. DeRosa launched the ball to left-center. Jim Edmonds turned his back to home plate and raised his fists in the air. The fans echoed his sentiment.

"When DeRosa's ball went out of the ballpark, that's the loudest that this place has been this year by far," Piniella said. "It was almost deafening."

Notice the names Soriano, Lee and Ramirez weren't a part of the sixth- and seventh-inning magic. They aren't the only clutch hitters on the roster.

"It speaks volumes to the character of the team and the fact that Lou's not afraid to play everyone," DeRosa said. "Everyone feels like in that clubhouse that they're a part of the team. Everyone's contributed in their own personal way to our victories so far this year."

Scott Eyre (2-0) got the win in one-third of an inning of relief.

In his shortest outing of the season, Ted Lilly was tagged for seven runs -- four earned -- on eight hits in three innings. The Rockies plated four in the first, three in the third and one apiece in the fourth and fifth. But that was nearly forgotten a little later.

"The crowd had to enjoy this," Piniella said, "because I certainly did as a manager."


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Excellent. Second best Cubs game I've been to by far (first being Game 3 of the 2003 NLDS). Nice recap!

I remember Reed Johnson batting leadoff a few times, when Soriano was on the DL. He did a great job i believe.

He DID do a great job, I seem to recall that as well. I don't think Lou used him to the best of his ability as a hitter last season, since there's SO much the guy can do. It'll be interesting to see how he's used this season.

[CARDS2501]

What's a shame is, the best lead-off hitter we've had in the past ten years has been Kenny Lofton, and we had him for maybe a third of the 2003 season. You talk about a true table setter, he hit .327 when he was with us with a .381 OBP. Chances are he'd get on, Mark Grudzielanek would either bunt him to second or single, getting runners at first and third setting it up for Sosa, Alou, and Aramis Ramirez. That was a KILLER one-two punch at the top of the lineup, and I haven't seen a better one since. Hendry's greatest move to date.

I actually think, in a platoon of Johnson and F-Dome in center field, Reed Johnson COULD lead-off whenever he ends up playing. Don't see a problem with that at all, though Lou never really experimented with it. He's got the speed for it, he had a decent OBP last year (.358). I always enjoyed the prospect of it, though I can't see it put to effect this year.

I can also see F-Dome hitting there as well, if he improves his game next year...

Reed Johnson should be your everyday centerfielder. However the dollars attached to F-dome's contract pretty guarantee that he is going to see regular playing time. His pay is only a half million away from doubling this year. He is making an unbelievable $11.5M in 09 then $13M in 2010 and $13.5M in 2011. That contract is actually worse than the one Soriano has. It is beyond me how you give a guy 4/48 that has never seen major league pitching except for 2 weeks in the WBC.

[chad0034]

yea if Soriano goes down in this Chise' you can bet that lineup will shake up quick. Johnson most likely at leadoff when he plays.

[AeroZach]

Reed Johnson should be your everyday centerfielder. However the dollars attached to F-dome's contract pretty guarantee that he is going to see regular playing time. His pay is only a half million away from doubling this year. He is making an unbelievable $11.5M in 09 then $13M in 2010 and $13.5M in 2011. That contract is actually worse than the one Soriano has. It is beyond me how you give a guy 4/48 that has never seen major league pitching except for 2 weeks in the WBC.

Another one of Hendry's masterpieces. I'm telling you, once this ownership thing is settled Hendry NEEDS to be the first one shown the door. He's made some good moves, but the good ones only helped us in the short-term (and didn't help us achieve our goal, really) and the bad ones have stuck around longer.

A lot of fans like Hendry. A lot of baseball people like him. I think he's a blowhard and we need some modern business-savvy in the front office for a change. I'm tired of these backloaded contracts.

[CARDS2501]

Another one of Hendry's masterpieces. I'm telling you, once this ownership thing is settled Hendry NEEDS to be the first one shown the door. He's made some good moves, but the good ones only helped us in the short-term (and didn't help us achieve our goal, really) and the bad ones have stuck around longer.

A lot of fans like Hendry. A lot of baseball people like him. I think he's a blowhard and we need some modern business-savvy in the front office for a change. I'm tired of these backloaded contracts.


If you think what I described was bad have a look at his full contract....


Kosuke ***udome of
4 years/$48M (2008-11)


4 years/$48M (2008-11)


signed by Cubs as a free agent from Japan 12/12/07
$4M signing bonus
08:$6M, 09:$11.5M, 10:$13M, 11:$13.5M
no-trade protection
club must sign ***udome to an extension by 11/15/2011 or release him, allowing him to become a free agent
award bonuses: $0.3M each for MVP, WS MVP, $0.2M for LCS MVP, $0.1M Silver Slugger, $75,000 each for Gold Glove, All Star

perks: 8 first-class round-trip air tickets between Japan and Chicago for family each year, personal trainer, masseuse, interpreter, visa expenses, $25,000 annually in moving expenses, vehicle during spring training and regular season
***udome to make annual donation to club charity

agent: Joe Urbon

ML service: 1.000
Who is really running the show?

[AeroZach]

If you think what I described was bad have a look at his full contract....


Kosuke ***udome of
4 years/$48M (2008-11)


4 years/$48M (2008-11)


signed by Cubs as a free agent from Japan 12/12/07
$4M signing bonus
08:$6M, 09:$11.5M, 10:$13M, 11:$13.5M
no-trade protection
club must sign ***udome to an extension by 11/15/2011 or release him, allowing him to become a free agent
award bonuses: $0.3M each for MVP, WS MVP, $0.2M for LCS MVP, $0.1M Silver Slugger, $75,000 each for Gold Glove, All Star

perks: 8 first-class round-trip air tickets between Japan and Chicago for family each year, personal trainer, masseuse, interpreter, visa expenses, $25,000 annually in moving expenses, vehicle during spring training and regular season
***udome to make annual donation to club charity

agent: Joe Urbon

ML service: 1.000
Who is really running the show?

Seen that before. BLECH! What on earth was he thinking!?

[mars040520]

does anyone realize that ***udome was a rookie last year?.....and even if he's like 32 and a vet from Japan, our season is WAY WAY different from their season. They take bullet trains everywhere and every team is in the same time zone, which means no 6 hour cross country flights or the regular 1.5/2 hour flights that MLB teams take twice a week. Not sayin that he'll bat .330, but he's gonna get better.....the last half of the season he just started to wear down, like theriot and fontenot back in 07, albeit in a much more drastic decline. He'll bat around .280 with a 370 OBP....10 HR's, 60 RBI, great defense in CF.

[CARDS2501]

does anyone realize that ***udome was a rookie last year?.....and even if he's like 32 and a vet from Japan, our season is WAY WAY different from their season. They take bullet trains everywhere and every team is in the same time zone, which means no 6 hour cross country flights or the regular 1.5/2 hour flights that MLB teams take twice a week. Not sayin that he'll bat .330, but he's gonna get better.....the last half of the season he just started to wear down, like theriot and fontenot back in 07, albeit in a much more drastic decline. He'll bat around .280 with a 370 OBP....10 HR's, 60 RBI, great defense in CF.


You're exactly right he is going to be 32 this year. Getting older isn't helping his case any. I cannot imagine that he would hit as high as .280 I think that he is probably a .270 hitter and maybe a .350 OBP guy at this point in his career.

[fiz]

You're exactly right he is going to be 32 this year. Getting older isn't helping his case any. I cannot imagine that he would hit as high as .280 I think that he is probably a .270 hitter and maybe a .350 OBP guy at this point in his career.

the ages a player is usually in his prime are 28-32. how is is that SOB again?

[CARDS2501]

the ages a player is usually in his prime are 28-32. how is is that SOB again?

Actually studies have shown that a player usually reaches his peak at age 26-27. I can see why you would want it to be 28-32 though because the majority of Phillies are in that age bracket.

http://www.sabernomics.com/sabernomics/index.php/2006/04/peak-age-another-estimate/

Now since the mid to late 90's the peak age had risen slightly to fall more in line with your theory Fiz but that is actually artificial. The reason more players were "peaking" later was a combination of factors. The average players were staying in the minor leagues longer due to the fact that major leaguers were enjoying longer careers. Why is this? Well it is simple PED's extended the average useful career by a few years. Now that testing is more sophisticated and players are less likely to use PED's we should see a return to what we had seen for the previous 90 or so years.

[derekjeter76]

A player can reach their peak at like 27, but it doesn't mean they have to start deteriorating at 28, they could stay just as good until they are 35. But idk how good ***udome will do but I don't think he is a very good player, but last year was his rookie season and he could suddenly hit .300 next year or he could hit .250. Very hard to tell.

[I0I HaVoK I0I]

Are u goin to post spring training results? but anyways good luck with this.

[mars040520]

chad how do u change font color? i can't find the options

[I0I HaVoK I0I]

just look at the menu where the capitol A is at^^^^^^

[chad0034]

Are u goin to post spring training results? but anyways good luck with this.

No I will not because I'll be playing franchise games right away.

[I0I HaVoK I0I]

alright cool

[chad0034]

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--Big Z's No Hitter Against Astros---

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Zambrano Was Near Perfect Tonight, Against The Astros

(89-58) http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif 5 -------- 0 http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/HOU.gif (80-68)

Team |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | H | E
Chicago Cubs| 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
Houston Astros | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |


--Game Recap--

The only thing that frustrated Carlos Zambrano Sunday night was his at-bat in the seventh inning. He struck out and looked as if he were about to snap the bat across his knee. But he stopped himself.
"I was feeling too good to do that," Zambrano said with a smirk. "I saw Lou's face. I said, 'No, not today.'"

Zambrano remembered in time that he's a pitcher first. He looked it. Making his first start in 12 days, the right-hander threw his first career no-hitter and the first by a Cubs pitcher in 36 years as Chicago beat the Houston Astros, 5-0, in a makeup game played in front of a very pro-Cubs crowd of 23,441 at Miller Park.

"Carlos made it special for them and for us," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.

It's the second no-hitter in the Major Leagues this year. Boston's Jon Lester threw one May 19 against Kansas City.

"I'm a little confused right now," Zambrano said. "I still can't believe it. It's a great feeling, and it's a feeling that you can't describe. To throw a no-hitter is good, man. This is one of the few things in baseball that you most enjoy."

He was able to make history, not only throwing a no-no, but doing so in such odd circumstances. The Cubs and Astros had been forced to relocate after Hurricane Ike struck Texas and the Houston area Saturday morning. The Cubs also weren't sure what to expect from Zambrano (14-5), who was making his first start since Sept. 2. That also was against the Astros, but he had taken himself out of the game because of tendinitis in his right shoulder.

"He had everything going," Piniella said. "From the first few pitches of the ballgame, you knew his arm was live and the ball was coming out easy. It had good movement on it. He located for the most part the whole ballgame, and he used his split-finger and slider to keep the hitters honest. It was just a great game, and we needed that. He had been struggling. To do this, it's special. I'm very happy for him."

Zambrano struck out 10 in his first complete game since June 16, 2007. He got Darin Erstad out swinging on a split-finger to end the game, then pointed to the sky as his teammates swarmed him on the mound to celebrate the feat.

"He proved he was the ace," Cubs rookie catcher Geovany Soto said. "We needed him, and he came through today."

With the win, plus Milwaukee's two losses in a doubleheader at Philadelphia, the Cubs opened a 7 1/2-game lead in the National League Central. And they did so at the Brewers' home park.

"I didn't expect it," Chicago's Derrek Lee said. "I expected him to try to give us five or six innings and get out of there. But, wow. He obviously was feeling good, throwing the ball like that. That's a huge lift for us."

Piniella didn't want to jinx Zambrano and was hesitant to get anyone up in the bullpen. He finally had someone warm up in the ninth. Big Z didn't need any help.

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Carlos Is The First Pitcher In History To Throw A No-Hitter In An Alternate Setting

"I was watching the scoreboard every inning," Zambrano said. "In the ninth inning, when I came out the crowd was all crazy and that helped me a little bit. Thank God, it was the eight, nine and the leadoff hitter [in the ninth] and I was able to dominate those three guys."

He entered the last inning having thrown 99 pitches. Piniella had said pregame that they wanted to limit the right-hander to 90-95 since this was his first start in nearly two weeks. Those plans changed.

"I was warming up [in the ninth] and I said, 'If I still have some gas in my tank, I can still challenge people,'" Zambrano said. "That's what I did with [Humberto] Quintero and the other two guys [pinch-hitter Jose Castillo and Erstad].

"I think I was throwing 95 [mph] still in the ninth inning, and that was the key. When you can challenge a team and throw hard, 95-plus, it's kind of like better for your performance."

It was the first no-hitter by a Cubs pitcher since Milt Pappas did so Sept. 2, 1972, in an 8-0 win over San Diego, and the ninth by a Chicago pitcher since 1900.

"I hope we won't be 36 years between no-hitters the next time," Piniella said.

Zambrano didn't start the game well. The right-hander threw three straight balls to Erstad, but got him to ground out and retired the next nine in a row before walking Michael Bourn. Miguel Tejada then grounded into a double play to end the inning. Zambrano also hit Hunter Pence with a pitch with two outs in the fifth.

Lee robbed David Newhan of a possible extra-base hit when he leaped to snare a liner to end the fifth. Right fielder Mark DeRosa grabbed Geoff Blum's liner on the run to open the eighth. Blum's ball was the second to be hit out of the infield.

Fans chanted, "Let's Go Z," in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Zambrano's previous low-hit best was a two-hitter, done twice, most recently May 7, 2004, against Colorado. He also came close on Aug. 22, 2003, throwing seven no-hit innings against Arizona.

"I think at this point in my career, I want to throw a no-hitter," Zambrano said. "Nobody knows who's going to throw a no-hitter that day. You just have to go out there and if you have good stuff, just use your pitches."

Alfonso Soriano gave Zambrano all the offense he needed when he led off the game with his 28th home run, launching a 1-1 pitch from Randy Wolf (10-12). It was his 49th career leadoff homer and fifth this year.

Ronny Cedeno and Zambrano both singled in the third, and two outs later, both scored on Lee's double off an 0-2 pitch from Wolf. For Lee, it was only his second multi-RBI hit this month. Lee then scored on Aramis Ramirez's single, and he tallied on Soto's double to go ahead, 5-0.

But Zambrano was the story. How could he go for such a long layoff, then hit 98 mph on the radar gun in the first inning and throw a no-no?

"I guess I'm back," Zambrano said. "My arm is back."


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[chad0034]

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Rich Harden Expects More Starts In 2009

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Rich Harden Says He Wants 25-30 Starts In 2009

Rich Harden didn't throw off the mound with the other Cubs pitchers on Saturday at Fitch Park, but there's no reason to panic. The right-hander did throw long toss and was seen smiling a lot on the first day of workouts. He's looking forward to 20-something starts with the Cubs and eager to put an end to the non-stop questions regarding his shoulder.
Harden spent most of this past winter in Arizona rather than Canada, working with strength and conditioning coach Tim Buss, and called it his best offseason yet. The Cubs would be happy with 25 starts from the right-hander, which is how many Harden made last season combined with Oakland and Chicago.

"I want more," Harden said Saturday. "Thirty is what I'd like to get. I haven't really gotten that yet, and that's kind of my goal. I definitely want more."

He hasn't made that many since 2004. But this year is different. He still has what the Cubs are calling an "issue" with his right shoulder. The Cubs knew about it when they traded for him last July 8, sending Matt Murton, Sean Gallagher, Eric Patterson and Josh Donaldson to Oakland. Nothing has changed.

"He's absolutely no different, except maybe stronger and better than [when] we got him," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "Does that mean he holds up and wins 20 games for five years? I don't know. He's obviously had issues, and we knew he had issues when we got him."

The injury wasn't because of a pitch Harden threw.

"I never had the issues with my shoulder from throwing," he said. "How I initially hurt my shoulder and had these problems with it the last year and a half or so is because two years ago, I threw a pitch, had a comebacker, it was a one-hopper, and I tried to barehand it. It was over my head, over my throwing shoulder. That's when I did it. It wasn't really throwing, it was doing that."

What exactly is the problem?

http://ssm.nwherald.com/baseball/photos/CubsWin712.jpg
Rich Harden Has Reported To Spring Training Very Enthusiastic About 2009

"Everybody's got their opinions," Harden said. "It's funny -- people are telling me they're reading this and that. It's something I have to deal with."

He knows the word "tear" makes people skittish. There may be a tear, but it's nothing to fret about. Surgery was not something Harden considered.

"Last year, I was able to get through the season and have some success," he said. "Rehabbing it, doing the physical therapy and getting stronger, it's only going to feel better than it did last year. That's what I wanted to do. I'm happy with that. I'm looking forward to the start of the season."

In Chicago, Harden was peppered with questions about his shoulder when the stadium radar guns showed a decrease in velocity as the 2008 season wore on. He became weary of the topic.

"That's the way it is," he said. "I've got to deal with it, and that's fine. I can't worry or think about the way it used to be. I got through it last year and had some success. I'm feeling better, feeling stronger and hopefully I'll do better."

The Cubs will take a repeat performance. He went 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA in 12 starts for Chicago after opening the season 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 13 games for the Athletics.

He's learned how to listen to his body. He knows to ask for a day off or a little more time between starts if needed.

"It's not just [the Cubs], it's on me," Harden said. "Every year I learn more about my body and how I feel. You want to be out there every single game for 100-plus pitches. That's the way I am -- I want to be out there every game no matter what. You have to take a step back sometimes and evaluate how I'm feeling and manage it properly so I'm strong at the end of the season."

Even though he arrived in camp saying this is the strongest his shoulder has felt, Harden will be monitored so he doesn't overdo it. That's why he didn't throw off the mound with the others on Saturday at Fitch Park.

"Don't read anything into it," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "We have a much longer time this spring than normal, so we don't need to rush anybody. He's been throwing and feels nice and strong and healthy, but basically we're just holding him back a little bit."

That's also why Harden isn't pitching for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic.

"It didn't make sense after the season I had last year and coming into this year with the shoulder," Harden said. "We just have to be careful with that. I worked so hard to get ready for the season, and we didn't want to rush it and go out there and potentially have an issue. My No. 1 priority is to the Cubs. They made a big commitment to me, picking up my option this year. My goal is to go out there and pitch as many games as I can and win."

He is very loyal to Canada. Harden has two hockey sticks in his locker at Fitch.

"After a bad outing, it's nice to come in and shoot around," he said.

Harden will pitch in Cactus League games, will be ready for his 25 starts -- and maybe more.

"We threw out that number -- he might pitch 32," Piniella said. "You never know. This kid loves to compete, but at the same time we're aware he's had some physical problems and we're not going to overtax him."

"The big thing for me this year is mechanics," Harden said. "I have to be consistent with my mechanics and get my arm in a good spot to throw without putting a strain on my shoulder or the rest of my body. That's going to be big for me -- and that's what I'm working with Larry [Rothschild] with. I've always been really long and dragged my arm sometimes."

He's a different pitcher now. Harden says he's not trying to register 100 mph on the stadium speedometers.

"The older I get, the more I get away from that," Harden said. "I used to go out there and try to put up big numbers. It was fun, but those times are over. Every once in a while, possibly, but it's more about pitching now and location and change of speeds. That's what the game is about, and the older I get the more I realize that."

Last season gave him a huge confidence boost.

"I pitched more last year, and that's something I want to do even more this year," Harden said. "Pitching-wise, it's probably the best I've pitched."

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[RKO BLACK RKO]

i knew it was gonna be the no hitter great top 10 bro

[CARDS2501]

Harden wants 25-30 starts this year? So does that mean he plans on being injured for 2-7 starts? What a weird thing to say.

[chad0034]

Lou likes to give him a start off or so, when Harden doesn't "feel" too great. I understand why though. I'd rather have him do that, than go out and get rocked and/or injured.

[AeroZach]

Harden wants 25-30 starts this year? So does that mean he plans on being injured for 2-7 starts? What a weird thing to say.

The optimist in me says that's a very good thing considering his unhealthy past. Of course, from an outsider I can see that as a weird comment.

[CARDS2501]

Lou likes to give him a start off or so, when Harden doesn't "feel" too great. I understand why though. I'd rather have him do that, than go out and get rocked and/or injured.


I understand it too its just an odd quote...normally guys would say they want to play every game...at least he is being realistic about things.

[RKO BLACK RKO]

i rather have harden make 25-30 starts with a happy arm and go 17-3 with a 2.34 era and be ready for the playoffs then have him make 35+ starts and go 12-9 with a 3.89 because lou pitched him to much and won't be ready for the playoffs and his arm was falling off with all those extra starts the cubs are gonna have a 6 man rotation all year believe it or not

[chad0034]

It seemed to work last season. He had a great year. Cubs- 5-1 1.77 ERA.....A's- 5-1 2.34 ERA

[RKO BLACK RKO]

It seemed to work last season. He had a great year. Cubs- 5-1 1.77 ERA.....A's- 5-1 2.34 ERA

exactly my point:thumbsup:

[CARDS2501]

i rather have harden make 25-30 starts with a happy arm and go 17-3 with a 2.34 era and be ready for the playoffs then have him make 35+ starts and go 12-9 with a 3.89 because lou pitched him to much and won't be ready for the playoffs and his arm was falling off with all those extra starts the cubs are gonna have a 6 man rotation all year believe it or not

Lets just say that Harden is lucky that Dusty "Career Killin'" Baker is no longer the manager.

[RKO BLACK RKO]

Lets just say that Harden is lucky that Dusty "Career Killin'" Baker is no longer the manager.

:rotfl: i think all the cubs that wanted dusty have flocked to cincy with him

[chad0034]

:rotfl: i think all the cubs that wanted dusty have flocked to cincy with him

http://firedustybaker.com/nucleus/media/1/20060317-wanted.jpeg

[CARDS2501]

:rotfl: i think all the cubs that wanted dusty have flocked to cincy with him

He inherited two hall of fame arms in 2003 and since then they have won a combined 68 games in only 145 starts. To put that in perspective Ted Lilly (who no one is going to confuse with the next coming of Sandy Koufax) has won 81 games in 188 starts since 2003. If I were a Cubs fan I would literally try to kill Dusty Baker.

[CARDS2501]

He inherited two hall of fame arms in 2003 and since then they have won a combined 68 games in only 145 starts. To put that in perspective Ted Lilly (who no one is going to confuse with the next coming of Sandy Koufax) has won 81 games in 188 starts since 2003. If I were a Cubs fan I would literally try to kill Dusty Baker.


...but since I am not a Cubs fan if I ever saw him I would buy the ****in guy a beer!

[AeroZach]

I despise Baker. He and Alex Gonzalez for screwing up Game 6 of the NLDS.

Prior seriously was an outstanding pitcher. And Wood was really starting to find himself as a dominating starter. Both careers were flushed down the toilet because Dusty threw them out there sometimes for 140 pitches per start. At first I admired Prior every single time he ran up that pitch count, but little did I know at the time it would lead to his demise.

Cubs fans dislike Prior for some reason when in reality I don't think any of it was his fault. I think it was "Master of the Pitching Change." Thank God he didn't ruin Zambrano, but as we all know, Z has his own problems :D

[CARDS2501]

I despise Baker. He and Alex Gonzalez for screwing up Game 6 of the NLDS.

Prior seriously was an outstanding pitcher. And Wood was really starting to find himself as a dominating starter. Both careers were flushed down the toilet because Dusty threw them out there sometimes for 140 pitches per start. At first I admired Prior every single time he ran up that pitch count, but little did I know at the time it would lead to his demise.

Cubs fans dislike Prior for some reason when in reality I don't think any of it was his fault. I think it was "Master of the Pitching Change." Thank God he didn't ruin Zambrano, but as we all know, Z has his own problems :D


And all that leads us to is AC0064100.

God I love not being a Cubs fan!!!

Just breakin balls here guys no hard feelings intended!

[RKO BLACK RKO]

well the only thing he was doing in 2003 was rolling the dice he did what any manager would do who's team hasn't won in 94 years lol ride there horses into the sunset but in this case he rode them into the fiery gates of hell lol ruining there carrier and banishing him to a life-time of analysistic dutys on baseball tonight when the reds fire him half way through this season lol if i was eddison volquez, aaron harang and johnny cueto i would be running the hell outta cincy

[chad0034]

well the only thing he was doing in 2003 was rolling the dice he did what any manager would do who's team hasn't won in 94 years lol ride there horses into the sunset but in this case he rode them into the fiery gates of hell lol ruining there carrier and banishing him to a life-time of analysistic dutys on baseball tonight when the reds fire him half way through this season lol if i was eddison volquez, aaron harang and johnny cueto i would be running the hell outta cincy

Dustys Check List

Aaron Harang (Done)
Edinson Volquez (TBD)
Johny Cueto (TBD)

[CARDS2501]

well the only thing he was doing in 2003 was rolling the dice he did what any manager would do who's team hasn't won in 94 years lol ride there horses into the sunset but in this case he rode them into the fiery gates of hell lol ruining there carrier and banishing him to a life-time of analysistic dutys on baseball tonight when the reds fire him half way through this season lol if i was eddison volquez, aaron harang and johnny cueto i would be running the hell outta cincy

You know what would be great...If Sony or 2kSports could convince Mark Prior to be their coverboy. Who knows more about simulated baseball games than Mark Prior?

[AeroZach]

well the only thing he was doing in 2003 was rolling the dice he did what any manager would do who's team hasn't won in 94 years lol ride there horses into the sunset but in this case he rode them into the fiery gates of hell lol ruining there carrier and banishing him to a life-time of analysistic dutys on baseball tonight when the reds fire him half way through this season lol if i was eddison volquez, aaron harang and johnny cueto i would be running the hell outta cincy

The last thing I want to do is ever hear Dusty on Baseball Tonight again. Like I said, I DESPISED him (I actually have some other personal reasons behind that as well that I'll leave out of the thread). He was awful on BT and always proved that, well...he's an idiot :D

I'll never forget an incident that made me CRINGE in June 2007:

Karl Ravech: As you can see, A-Rod's also hit a great deal of homers at the Rogers' Centre-
Dusty: Uhh, what is the Rogers' Center anyway?
Karl: It's where the Blue Jays play, Dusty.

When the Reds fire his arse, I just want to see him fade into oblivion. When broadcasting is concerned, he's worse than Joe Morgan, and that says a lot. I can indulge in his managing some more but it's really not worth it at this point. If you ask me, Lou's been a God-send to this club and I couldn't be happier.

[AeroZach]

You know what would be great...If Sony or 2kSports could convince Mark Prior to be their coverboy. Who knows more about simulated baseball games than Mark Prior?

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

[chad0034]

haha nice comments Zach, and CARDS

[RKO BLACK RKO]

You know what would be great...If Sony or 2kSports could convince Mark Prior to be their coverboy. Who knows more about simulated baseball games than Mark Prior?

WSC (world simulation championship) Featuring Mark Prior

[chad0034]

Prior would take that hands down. Let me know what you guys think of this new banner for the franchise. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nextyear.png

[AeroZach]

Prior would take that hands down. Let me know what you guys think of this new banner for the franchise. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nextyear.png

Sick banner, dude. I like it! :thumbsup:

[soldaderyan]

yeah, looks really cool

[CARDS2501]

Derek Lee looks like he is getting ready to suck a wang or something...other than that its pretty hot.

[Eamus Catuli]

the banner is nice, as is ur chise.. it was good look back at the top ten moments from 2008, what a fun season that was for Cubs fans, other than October of course..

[chad0034]

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Bradley Enjoying His Stay In Chicago

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Milton Bradley Has Finally Got A Home, As He Recieves His First Long Term Deal Of His Career

It's tough to avoid the cliche, but Milton Bradley is hoping for a fresh start with the Cubs.
"That's a cliche," Bradley said Sunday. "It's a new beginning."

Coming to Chicago is more than just a change of uniform, something Bradley has done several times already, going from Montreal to Cleveland to Los Angeles to Oakland to San Diego to Texas. He received a three-year contract from the Cubs in January, his first long-term deal. It means a lot to the outfielder.

"It's a home, finally," he said. "I've been kind of a rent-a-player for the most part over the years, and I have a good year somewhere and the next year, younger guys come along or they're trying to cut payroll or do whatever and I'm always that guy because people want me in places. To come here and get a deal where I can be comfortable and relax a bit, that helps."

That security will hopefully help Bradley focus on baseball, and not his past. He arrives as the biggest name the Cubs acquired this offseason, but doesn't look at it that way.

"I never really think of it like that," Bradley said. "I'm here to play. Usually I end up being the focus or center because I'm that type of guy. I'm just coming in, working extra hard and just trying to win. That's basically all I do."

Position players don't have to report to the Cubs' camp until Tuesday, but Bradley took some swings with the other early arrivals, such as Ryan Theriot, Reed Johnson, So Taguchi and Jason Dubois. A switch-hitter, Bradley batted from the right side in his first turn in the cage, then flipped to the left for his next, then back to his right.

"I'm just glad I didn't swing and miss and embarrass myself," he said.

There are no problems with his right knee, which he sprained in 2006, and he doesn't welcome inquiries about it.

"This should be the last question I answer about my knee," he said. "It's been a year, two years, whatever. I'm fine. I feel I could've played last year [with Texas]. They just wanted me to [be the designated hitter] because they had enough guys who could play in the field."

He won't have that option with the Cubs. Bradley will be patrolling right field, playing for the two-time National League Central champions. He's looking for a three-peat.

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Milton Bradley Enjoyed The Annual Cubs Convention This Offseason

"This is the first time I've come to a team that's expected to win," he said. "Every other team I've been on, it's, 'Oh, you're slated to finish in third place, what do you think about that?' Coming here, expecting to win, just a lot of expectations and what not, it's different, so it's a different feeling. You're not coming in here hoping to compete. You're coming in here expecting to win."

He got a taste of that at the Cubs Convention in January.

"That was a 'nice fest,'" Bradley said. "I've never run into that many nice people in one place. It's welcome. It helps the transition for me when you're dealing with people who are nice and appreciative and all for you and in your corner. It hasn't always been that way."

His past run-ins have been well documented and can be found on YouTube. On Sunday, a reporter relayed a conversation with one of Bradley's former teammates, Frank Thomas, who said the outfielder just needs his space.

"I can talk all day until your tape recorder runs out," Bradley said. "When you harp on all the negativity and things I've done wrong -- I know what I've done wrong. I'm trying to do some right.

"If we can get away from all the negativity and going back four, five years and the stuff I did -- I'm just focused on what I'm doing now. I can be a positive influence, and I think I'm a good guy to be around and I think I learned from other people and I think they can learn from me.

"In the past, I haven't tried to be outspoken, I didn't try to be friendly. I was just in there trying to play baseball, and that's all I want to do. I found that if you rub people the wrong way, they get the wrong impression. If you don't talk a whole lot, they assume things. When I got to Oakland, I changed my approach with things and I've had nothing but success and good times."

Fans should know he likes signing autographs, but cautions there may be days when he has something to do, somewhere to go. He tries to oblige people and the media.

"You might catch me on a day and I might blow you off," he said, "but hopefully that's few and far between."

The Cubs are hoping he's the right man for the middle of the lineup. In Oakland, he batted third, ahead of Thomas, and it definitely helped.

"They were like, 'Throw Bradley a fastball and see if he can hit it,'" Bradley said. "I was hitting 'em."

The Cubs were eager to add a switch-hitter like Bradley, who can hit 20 home runs and hit .300 plus. Cubs chairman Crane Kenney told fans at the Convention that Bradley had actively recruited the team.

"It's the Cubs -- who wouldn't want to play for the Cubs?" Bradley said. "They already have a great team in place. I'm coming in, trying to add something to that. They haven't won in 100 years. You come in and you know you have that, I guess you call it 'pressure' -- that's the media word, 'pressure' -- it's not really like that.

"I just want to be on a team that's going to win. That's all I want to do. Playing at home [stinks] if you're not winning. The Cubs, there's a good team here and we're going to win. I want to be a part of that."

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[chad0034]

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Possible Move Down The Lineup For Soriano?

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Manager Lou Pinella Says He Won't Rule Out Soriano Moving Down In The Order For 2009

It was an innocent question about how the 3-4-5 hitters will line up this season, but Cubs manager Lou Piniella's answer Monday had a slight surprise: Alfonso Soriano may not be the leadoff man.
"We've got a combination of Derrek [Lee], [Milton] Bradley and [Aramis] Ramirez," Piniella said. "You know what -- I'm not going to throw out the possibility of throwing Soriano into that mix. We can play around a little bit with that this spring."

Piniella has stood by Soriano as his No. 1 guy for the last two seasons, but is now considering a change. The two talked about such a move during the Cubs Convention in January. Soriano is expected in camp on Tuesday, when position players must report. He'll get a chance to respond then.

"[Soriano] said, 'Lou, you can do whatever you want,'" Piniella said of their conversation in Chicago. "To me, he's still my leadoff hitter. I love him in the leadoff spot, I like him in the leadoff spot. Look, we can see how it looks. We've got plenty of time in the spring to see where things shake out."

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Soriano Might Not Be Batting In Front Of Theriot Anymore, According To Lou Pinella

The Cubs begin Cactus League play Feb. 25 and end April 4. They should be able to figure out the lineup by then. But why say something now?

"I'd rather do it now then have it done sometime and I have to explain it all over again," Piniella said.

The team's other options at the top of the order include newcomer Aaron Miles, Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot and possibly Kosuke ***udome.

Despite not having the type of on-base percentage most leadoff men have, Soriano has been successful there. Last season, the Cubs were 69-36 (.657) in games when he led off.

"I wanted to talk to 'Sori' about it first," Piniella said. "We won 97 baseball games last year. Our win percentage with 'Sori' leading off is excellent. He likes hitting there. About the only thing is, he's not running as much as he has in the past, which opens up the door a little bit.

"If I were to put a lineup out tomorrow to open up the season, he'd be leading off. We'll look at him in a couple different spots. We'll see. As long as he's willing to go along with it, as long as he's comfortable with it, I don't see any problem with it."

Last season, Soriano batted .287 in 105 games as the leadoff man, hitting second twice, third once and seventh once. In his career, he's a .293 hitter batting first.

Piniella has talked about giving regulars like Lee and Ramirez more days off this season, so perhaps Soriano would sub in one of the 3-4-5 spots at that time. The Cubs manager is still trying to figure out the right combination.

"Remember, for a team that won as many games as we did last year, we're going to have a 40-percent turnover," Piniella said. "We're going to have some work here to see what it looks like. We've kept the main nucleus together, but there are a lot of moving parts that have changed."

He's got 39 games to sort things out.

"That's a long, long spring," Piniella said. "I will get tired of the *****ly pear margaritas."

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[I0I HaVoK I0I]

Keep up the good work chad

[chad0034]

thanks man.

[chad0034]

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Cubs Lineup Features Speed and Diversity In 2009

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The Cubs Lineup Features Speed And Diversity All The Way Through This Season

Maybe Lou Piniella should let Ryan Theriot determine the Cubs' batting order.
When asked about hitting leadoff, which Theriot will likely do this spring when Alfonso Soriano gets a break, the shortstop said he'd like to shake things up.

"I hate leadoff," Theriot said. "I just want to hit third. I think 'D-Lee' should hit leadoff."

D-Lee, a.k.a. Derrek Lee, who has primarily batted third his entire career, was sitting in the middle of the Fitch Park clubhouse, calmly reading the newspaper when Theriot tried to oust him from his spot.

"No," Lee said, shaking his head.

Lee's home run numbers have dropped the last two seasons -- he hit 46 in 2005 and 20 last year -- but Theriot doesn't seem a likely fill-in. The shortstop hit one home run last year. One.

"How about fourth?" Theriot said, knowing better than to argue with the 6-foot-5 Lee.

Piniella has the ultimate say, even though there are times when he seems a little fickle. Early last week, the Cubs manager surprisingly suggested that Soriano would be dropped in the order. That prompted plenty of discussion as to where Soriano should hit -- fifth? Sixth? Three days later, Piniella confirmed the left fielder would stay No. 1.

Piniella was talking about Cactus League games, but confirmed Soriano is the leadoff man again for the regular season. It's worked so far -- the Cubs were 69-36 with Soriano leading off last year -- even if he isn't the typical get-on-base, take pitches kind of hitter.

"He's a different leadoff hitter," Theriot said. "With one pitch, he can win the game for you. First pitch of the game, bam, he hits a homer, and the other team is like, 'Oh, no, here we go.'"

The Cubs' 3-4-5 combo was a bit of a mystery with the addition of Milton Bradley. Piniella says he's leaning toward a batting order of Soriano, Aaron Miles, Lee, Bradley, Aramis Ramirez, Kosuke ***udome, Geovany Soto and Theriot.

"That seems like a real nice lineup to me," Piniella said. "Left, right, left, right -- we have some balance, we have some speed."

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Aramis Ramirez Is Now Expected To Bat Fifth Come Opening Day

Those who doubt Piniella's projections should remember the Cubs led the National League and ranked second in the Majors in runs scored last season (855), the first 800-run season since 1998. They finished with a .278 team batting average, the highest since 1937, when the Cubs batted .287. Five players had 20 or more home runs (Soriano, Lee, Ramirez, Soto and Mark DeRosa) and four had 80 or more RBIs.

The addition of Miles and Bradley, both switch-hitters, gives the Cubs the balance the front office felt was missing. Bradley led the American League last year in on-base percentage and will likely help Ramirez reach 100 RBIs for the fourth straight season.

Maybe Bradley could bat leadoff? He did just that in 2003 with Cleveland.

"Once I got hitting in the middle of the order, I liked having that pressure on me, so I feel I'm better suited for that," Bradley said.

That means the only real switch in the middle is Ramirez, who batted fourth in all but two games last year. It shouldn't require much of an adjustment.

Theriot primarily batted second in 2008, but adopted a leadoff hitter attitude.

"'Sori' is an aggressive leadoff hitter," Theriot said. "Early in the count, he's making contact. More times than not, the pitcher has thrown only a few pitches. I was basically a leadoff hitter last year. I had to go up there and take some pitches for 'D-Lee' and 'Ramy.' I approached last year that, even though I wasn't the leadoff hitter, my responsibilities to the team were similar in what I had to do.

"I like hitting first. I'd rather hit second, obviously, because I have 'Sori' in front of me and 'D-Lee' behind me. I think hitting first would help with the stolen bases for me. I could be more aggressive, I could take advantage of some of the steal opportunities."

Soriano has felt stronger this spring than the last few years and says he wants to revive his running game, possibly swiping 30-plus bases. Ramirez also reported ready to go. Both trained at the team's academy in the Dominican Republic for about a month.

Where does Soriano want to be in the lineup?

"Be in the lineup, that's my preference," Soriano said, not picking one spot. "I like to play and be in the lineup. That's more important to me than anything."

Either Soriano, Lee, Ramirez, Bradley or Soto could handle the three-hole. Theriot? Remember, he hit one home run in 2008.

"I've been working on it," Theriot said of his power stroke.

Reminded that he connected on one last season, Theriot laughed.

"Let's hope I get one this year," he said. "I'm just happy I didn't get zero."

Piniella has Theriot slotted for eighth, and the shortstop smiled.

"I don't care as long as I'm in there," Theriot said. "A lot of that stuff changes. That's just all subject to who's doing what and the lineups. I think I'll hit third or fourth."

He can dream.

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[I0I HaVoK I0I]

Nice update

[chad0034]

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[I0I HaVoK I0I]

Carlos Marmol gonna beast this year

[chad0034]

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Lee Hopes To Be Consistent In 2009; Jada Lee Misdiagnosed

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Derrek Lee Has Been Working On His Hitting A Ton This Offseason

The Cubs won 97 games last year and for the first time since 1907-08, they reached the playoffs in consecutive seasons. But it's not enough, and Derrek Lee knows that.
"It's all about the championship," the Cubs first baseman said. "[The fans] want it really bad. We can't worry about those things, and I think last year we got caught up in it and wanted it so bad, and we probably tried to do too much and it backfired on us."

Cubs fans don't need to be reminded what happened last year. The Cubs won the most games in the National League yet were swept in the Division Series by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cubs now are 0-6 the last two years in the postseason, and that stings.

"We want to win a championship bad, we all want rings, we know it's been a long time in Chicago," Lee said. "We know how bad the fans want it. But you can't take all that with you. Nothing should change in the playoffs. You should just go play. That's the lesson we have to learn and apply."

The Cubs were constantly reminded that the 2008 season was the 100th anniversary of the last time the franchise won a World Series. Now, it's 101 years. Lee said the feeling after the early exit in the 2008 playoffs was different than '07.

"I was almost numb after last year," Lee said. "It was like, 'What happened?' I thought we were really ready, especially coming off the year before and getting swept. I thought the experience would help us, but it didn't."

Lee's mission this spring is to find a way to stay hot all season. He hit .291 with 20 homers and 90 RBIs, hitting just five homers after the All-Star break. He's heard the speculation that he was still having problems with his right wrist, which he fractured in 2006, or that he was distracted by his daughter's situation. Jada Lee was believed to have Leber's Con******* Amaurosis, an eye disease which resulted in the loss of vision in her right eye. Derrek Lee helped create Project 3000 to find others with LCA and help them get tested. However, Jada was misdiagnosed.

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Derrek Lee Wants To Be Much More Consistent In 2009

"She doesn't see out of her right eye, but she sees really good out of her left eye," Lee said. "With LCA, the prognosis was that it would progress where eventually she wouldn't see out of her left eye. Now it doesn't look like that, and her left eye has not gotten worse. That's the really good news.

"Now we're working on, 'Let's see if we can get her sight back in her right eye.' You never know. We'll do what we can."

Lee is still very much involved with Project 3000, and they have had more than 1,000 people tested, but things have slowed down. The goal is to get to 1,500 people by the end of this year.

But that's not the reason for Lee's lack of power.

"You have to separate the two," he said when asked if he was distracted. "Everybody has something going on in their personal life. I focus on my job when I go to work, and I focus on my family at home.

"Sometimes you don't have the year the fans expect. I'm part of a team, and I look at it like we won 97 games in our division, so I didn't go home disappointed other than the fact we didn't win a championship. I just feel like my job is to help the team win. If I was hitting below what I thought I could do and we were losing, then there's something to worry about. We had a great lineup, but I don't think you saw anyone have a career year, except [Mark] DeRosa."

Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Alfonso Soriano all have had better seasons. When he won the National League batting title in 2005, Lee said it was tough to enjoy because the Cubs didn't do well.

"People ask me all the time, 'Are you OK?,' and I'm fine," he said. "Everyone's looking for an excuse. I just go play. I'm fine, I'm healthy. I have my personal issues, but so does everyone, so no excuses."

Posting the franchise's best record in 63 seasons was quickly forgotten because of three games in October. This year, Lee wants to change that.

"We had three bad games," Lee said. "That doesn't change the fact that we had a good team and a good season. The best teams get to the playoffs, but the hottest teams win it. We have to find a way to be the hottest team at the right time."

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[I0I HaVoK I0I]

For some reason i think D-lee is only gonna hit 15 homers thats just a gut feeling

[chad0034]

For some reason i think D-lee is only gonna hit 15 homers thats just a gut feeling

:eek: I hope not. That'd be rough.

[Eversoris]

Nice chise, I'll follow after 2k9 releases.

[chad0034]

only a couple days to wait. I really hope they fix the stances.

[I0I HaVoK I0I]

Yea i hope they fix the stances

[biggestcubsfan]

chad how bout u go to every thread and say fix the stances.....anyway greates chise on here......YUP

[chad0034]

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[chad0034]

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--Cubs Lose On Opening Day To Stros, 3-1--

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Lance Berkman Shows His Power With His First Homerun Of The Season In The Fourth Inning

(0-1) http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif 1 -------- 3 http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/HOU.gif (1-0)

Team |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | H | E
Chicago Cubs| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
Houston Astros| 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |

HR: HOU-L.Berkman(1)
RBI: CHC-C.Zambrano(1) HOU-G.Blum(1) HOU-L.Berkman(1) HOU-M.Tejada(1)
SB: HOU-H.Pence(1) HOU-M.Bourn(1) HOU-K.Matsui(1)
W: R.Oswalt (1-0) L: C.Zambrano (0-1)

--Game Summary--
By: Tim Kurkjian, ESPN Baseball Senior Writer
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Cubs 1, Astros 3 - Opening day is here, and is gone for the Cubs. They went into this game pumped up, but couldn't get much going with runners in scoring position.

Roy Oswalt did a great job in the clutch tonight. He went a strong 8 Innings, with 10 hits allowed, and 4 strikeouts. He wasn't happy about the 10 hits, but nearly all were singles.


--The Lineups--

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--Chicago Cubs--
LF- Alfonso Soriano 0-4 K
2B- Mike Fontenot 2-4
1B- Derrek Lee 3-4 2B(1)
RF- Milton Bradley 0-4
3B- Aramis Ramirez 1-4 2B(1)
C- Geovany Soto 1-4
CF- Kosuke ***udome 1-4 K
SS- Ryan Theriot 1-4
SP- Carlos Zambrano 1-2 RBI(1)

SP- Carlos Zambrano L(0-1) 6.0 IP 6 H 2 ER 3 K
MR- Chad Gaudin 2.0 IP 1 H 0 ER 2 K


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--Houston Astros--
2B- Kazou Matsui 1-4 SB(1)
CF- Michael Bourn 2-4 SB(1)
SS- Miguel Tejada 1-4 RBI(1)
1B- Lance Berkman 1-3 HR(1) RBI(1)
LF- Carlos Lee 0-3
RF- Hunter Pence 1-3 SB(1) R
2B- Geoff Blum 1-2 RBI(1)
C- Humberto Quintero 0-2
SP- Roy Oswalt 0-2
PH- Darin Erstad 0-1

SP- Roy Oswalt W(1-0) 8.0 IP 6 H 1 ER 4 K
CL- Jose Valverde S(1) 1.0 IP 0 H 0 ER 0 K


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Derrek Lee
3-4 2B(1)

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Season Record: 0-1
Next: @ HOU

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[chad0034]

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--Cubs Win First Game Of Season In Houston, 4-2--

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Alfonso Soriano Hits His First Homer Of The Seaon, To Give The Cubs The Lead In The Fifth Inning

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Team |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | H | E
Chicago Cubs| 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 2 |
Houston Astros| 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 |

HR: HOU-L.Berkman(2) HOU-K.Matsui(1) CHC-A.Soriano(1)
RBI: CHC-A.Soriano 2(2) CHC-A.Ramirez(1) CHC-K.***udome(1) HOU-L.Berkman(2) HOU-K.Matsui(1)
SB: HOU-M.Bourn 3(4) CHC-R.Theriot(1)
W: R.Dempster (1-0) L: B.Backe (0-1)

--Game Summary--
By: Tim Kurkjian, ESPN Baseball Senior Writer
http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/kurkjian_tim_35.jpg

Cubs 4, Astros 2 - The Cubs get revenge today, as Alfonso Soriano and the Cubs get win number one of the 2009 season. The game started off nicely for the Cubs with Soriano leading off with a single, only to be Caught Stealing, and ending the Cubs first inning chances.

Soriano later made up for his mistake with a Solo homerun in hte fifth inning to give the Cubs the 3-2 lead. Ryan Dempster would cruise on for the win, while throwing 7 innings of 7 hit, 6 strikeout baseball. They will now play the rubber game, with a lefty matchup of Ted Lilly facing off against Wandy Rodriguez.


--The Lineups--

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--Chicago Cubs--
LF- Alfonso Soriano 2-4 HR(1) 2 RBI(2) CS
2B- Mike Fontenot 0-4
1B- Derrek Lee 0-4
RF- Milton Bradley 3-4
3B- Aramis Ramirez 1-4 RBI(1)
C- Geovany Soto 1-4
CF- Kosuke ***udome 1-4 RBI(1)
SS- Ryan Theriot 2-4 SB(1)
SP- Ryan Dempster 0-2 2 K

SP- Ryan Dempster W(1-0) 6.0 IP 6 H 2 ER 3 K
SU- Kevin Gregg 1.0 IP 0 H 0 ER 1 K
CL- Carlos Marmol 0.2 IP 0 H 0 ER 1 K *Injured In 9th (Day-to-day)
SU- Neal Cotts S(1) 0.1 IP 0 H 0 ER 0 K


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--Houston Astros--
2B- Kazou Matsui 1-4 HR(1) RBI(1)
CF- Michael Bourn 2-4 3 SB(4)
SS- Miguel Tejada 0-4 RBI(1)
1B- Lance Berkman 2-4 HR(2) RBI(2)
LF- Carlos Lee 0-4
RF- Hunter Pence 2-4
2B- Geoff Blum 0-3
C- Humberto Quintero 0-4 3 K
SP- Brandon Backe 0-2 K
PH- Darin Erstad 0-1
PH- Jason Michaels 0-1

SP- Brandon Backe L(0-1) 5.0 IP 8 H 3 ER 2 K
MR- Tim Byrdak 2.0 IP 1 H 0 ER 1 K
MR- Chris Sampson 2.0 IP 1 H 1 ER 0 K


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/POTG-1.gif

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Alfonso.jpg
Alfonso Soriano
2-4 HR(1) 2 RBI(2) CS

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/cubslogo.gif
Season Record: 1-1
Next: @ HOU

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/millerpar2.gif

[chad0034]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nextyear.png

--Cubs Lose Rubber Game On Ryan Theriot Error, 3-2--

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/gm3.jpg
Shortstop Ryan Theriot Makes A Big Error That Cost The Cubs The Victory In The Eighth

(1-2) http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif 2 -------- 3 http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/HOU.gif (2-1)

Team |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | H | E
Chicago Cubs| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
Houston Astros| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |

HR: CHC-A.Soriano(2)
RBI: CHC-A.Soriano(3) CHC-D.Lee(1) HOU-M.Tejada(2) HOU-H.Pence(1)
SB: HOU-M.Bourn 3(4) CHC-R.Theriot(1)
W: L.Hawkins (1-0) L: J.Samardzija (0-1)

--Game Summary--
By: Tim Kurkjian, ESPN Baseball Senior Writer
http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/kurkjian_tim_35.jpg

Cubs 2, Astros 3 - You can't win them all is a great traditional baseball saying. One that the Cubs will go by tonight. They are handed a tough loss against the Astros in this one. The game started off with a bang. Alfonso Soriano crushed his second homerun of the season. And a lead off homerun at that. Wandy Rodriguez felt abdomen pain in the fourth and had to come out of the game. He is listed as day to day.

Later in the game the Cubs found themselves in front of the game, 2-1 on a Derrek Lee RBI single. In the bottom of the 8th, the Cubs Jeff Samardzija found himself in a jam against veteran Miguel Tejada. Tejada drills a pitch in the right-center gap, to tie the game. Its not over yet, however. Shortstop Ryan Theriot tested his arm, to try and gun Tejada at third, and threw a horrible toss in the stands, to give the Astros the lead. Jose Valverde, than came in the game, and shut the Cubs down for his second save of the season.


--The Lineups--

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif
--Chicago Cubs--
LF- Alfonso Soriano 3-4 HR(2) RBI(3)
2B- Aaron Miles 1-4
1B- Derrek Lee 1-4 RBI(1)
RF- Milton Bradley 0-4
3B- Aramis Ramirez 0-3 BB
C- Geovany Soto 2-4
CF- Reed Johnson 0-3
PH- Micah Hoffpauir 0-1
SS- Ryan Theriot 0-3
SP- Ted Lilly 0-2
PH- Joey Gathright 0-1

SP- Ted Lilly 6.0 IP 5 H 1 ER 4 K
SU- Jeff Samardzija L(0-1) 2.0 IP 2 H 1 ER 2 R 1 K


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/HOU.gif
--Houston Astros--
2B- Kazou Matsui 2-4 R
CF- Michael Bourn 0-4 2 K
SS- Miguel Tejada 1-4 3B(1) RBI(2)
1B- Lance Berkman 3-4 R
LF- Carlos Lee 1-3
RF- Hunter Pence 1-2 RBI(1)
3B- Geoff Blum 0-3
C- Toby Hall 0-3
SP- Wandy Rodriguez 0-1
PH- Darin Erstad 0-1
PH- Jason Michaels 0-1

SP- Wandy Rodriguez 3.2 IP 2 H 1 ER 0 K *Abdomen Injury (Day-to-day)
MR- Alberto Arias 1.1 IP 4 H 1 ER 0 K
MR- Latroy Hawkins W(1-0) 3.0 IP 0 H 0 ER 0 K
CL- Jose Valverde S(2) 1.0 IP 1 H 0 ER 0 K


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/POTG-1.gif

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Alfonso.jpg
Alfonso Soriano
3-4 HR(2) RBI(3)

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/cubslogo.gif
Season Record: 1-2
Next: @ MIL (1-2)

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/millerpar2.gif

[mars040520]

good start for soriano

[slantedeyematt]

Wow I have a boner for your franchise....im going to take pics too thanks for the idea

[chad0034]

thanks...I've been trying to play whenever i have down time, because of baseball practice in RL lately.

[chad0034]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nextyear.png

--Cubs Shutout 2-0 Against Brew Crew--

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/gm4.jpg
Aramis Ramirez Strikes out with the bases loaded to lose the game in the top of the ninth

(1-3) http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif 0 -------- 2 http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/MIL.gif (2-2)

Team |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | H | E
Chicago Cubs| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
Milwaukee Brewers| 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 |

HR: MIL-P.Fielder(2)
RBI: MIL-P.Fielder 2(5)
SB:
W: J.Suppan (1-0) L: R.Harden (0-1)

--Game Summary--
By: Tim Kurkjian, ESPN Baseball Senior Writer
http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/kurkjian_tim_35.jpg

Cubs 0, Brewers 2 - The Brewers and Cubs have both started off their years not so great, with 1-2 records. Theses rivals come into this series looking for a sweep. For the Cubs tonight, it didn't look so good. They showed they couldn't capitalize with runners in scoring position.

The only big offense for the Brewers came in the fourth when Prince Fielder slammed a 2-run shot off pitcher Rich Harden. The Cubs best chance came in the top of the ninth, when Aramis Ramirez came up with the bases juiced, with two outs. Trevor Hoffman came right at him, with an 0-2 count. Ramirez pushed the count to 1-2, and wiffed on a fastball on the outside corner, to give the Brewers the shutout win. Jeff Suppan had a great game, with 8.1 innings pitched, and 7 hits given up.


--The Lineups--

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif
--Chicago Cubs--
LF- Alfonso Soriano 2-4
2B- Mike Fontenot 1-4
1B- Derrek Lee 2-4
RF- Milton Bradley 1-4
3B- Aramis Ramirez 1-4 K
C- Geovany Soto 0-3
CF- Kosuke ***udome 0-3
SS- Ryan Theriot 1-3
SP- Rich Harden 0-2
PH- Reed Johnson 0-1

SP- Rich Harden 7.0 IP 7 H 2 ER 5 K
SU- Luis Vizcaino 1.0 IP 1 H 0 ER 0 K


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/MIL.gif
--Milwaukee Brewers--
CF- Mike Cameron 2-4
SS- JJ Hardy 1-4 2B(1) R
LF- Ryan Braun 1-4
1B- Prince Fielder 1-3 HR(2) 2 RBI(5)
RF- Corey Hart 1-3
2B- Rickie Weeks 0-3 K
3B- Mike Lamb 2-3 2B(3)
C- Jason Kendall 0-3
SP- Jeff Suppan 0-3

SP- Jeff Suppan 8.1 IP 7 H 0 ER 0 K
CL- Trevor Hoffman S(1) 0.2 IP 1 H 0 ER 1 K


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/POTG-1.gif

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Rich.jpg
Rich Harden
7.0 IP 7 H 2 ER 5 K

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/cubslogo.gif
Season Record: 1-3
Next: @ MIL

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/millerpar2.gif

[chad0034]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nextyear.png

--Cubs Offense Sparks, Beat Brewers 10-6--

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/gm5.jpg
Sean Marshall Went A Solid 5.1 Innings In This Game

(2-3) http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif 10 -------- 6 http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/MIL.gif (2-3)

Team |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | H | E
Chicago Cubs| 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 14 | 2 |
Milwaukee Brewers| 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0 |

HR: CHC-K.***udome(1) MIL-B.Hall(1) MIL-J.Hardy(1)
RBI: CHC-K.***udome 4(5) CHC-M.Fontenot 2(2) CHC-R.Theriot 2(2) CHC-A.Ramirez(2) MIL-B.Hall 2(3) MIL-J.Kendall(1) MIL-R.Weeks(1) MIL-C.Villanueva(2) MIL-J.Hardy(1)
SB: CHC-R.Theriot 2(3)
W: S.Marshall (1-0) L: B.Looper (0-1)

--Game Summary--
By: Tim Kurkjian, ESPN Baseball Senior Writer
http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/kurkjian_tim_35.jpg

Cubs 10, Brewers 6 - In the second game of this Cubs, Brewers rivalry matchup, the Cubs offense finally sparks, and beat the Brewers 10-6. A big day from Centerfielder Kosuke ***udome, leads to his four RBIs in the game.

Sean Marshall did a nice job on the mound, with a soild 5.1 innings pitched and 4 strikeouts. The Brewers offense got some attention from Bill Hall, and JJ Hardy, who both homered. Pitcher Carlos Villanuvea also drove in a run.

The series rubber game will be tomorrow, with a matchup of two first starters, Carlos Zambrano (0-1) and Yovani Gallardo (0-0).


--The Lineups--

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif
--Chicago Cubs--
LF- Alfonso Soriano 0-5 R
2B- Mike Fontenot 3-4 2 RBI(2)
1B- Derrek Lee 2-5 2B(1)
RF- Milton Bradley 0-3 R
3B- Aramis Ramirez 1-5 RBI(2)
C- Geovany Soto 3-4 3 R
CF- Kosuke ***udome 3-5 HR(1) 4 RBI(5)
SS- Ryan Theriot 2-5 2 RBI(2) 2 SB(3)
SP- Sean Marshall 0-3 2 K
LR- Luis Vizcaino 0-2

SP- Sean Marshall W(1-0) 5.1 IP 4 H 3 ER 4 K
SU- Luis Vizcaino 2.2 IP 3 H 1 ER 2 K
MR- Chad Gaudin 1.0 IP 2 H 2 ER 1 K


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/MIL.gif
--Milwaukee Brewers--
CF- Mike Cameron 1-3 BB
SS- JJ Hardy 1-5 HR(1) RBI(1)
LF- Ryan Braun 0-3 R
1B- Prince Fielder 2-4 R
RF- Corey Hart 1-5 R
3B- Bill Hall 2-3 HR(1) 2 RBI(3)
2B- Rickie Weeks 1-2 RBI(1) BB
C- Jason Kendall 1-5 RBI(1)
SP- Braden Looper 0-1
MR- Seth McClung 0-1 K
MR- Carlos Villanuvea 0-2 RBI(2)

SP- Braden Looper L(0-1) 3.0 IP 6 H 4 ER 2 K
MR- Seth McClung 2.2 IP 3 H 3 ER 1 K
MR- Carlos Villanuvea 3.1 IP 3 H 1 ER 2 K


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/POTG-1.gif

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Kosuke-1.jpg
Kosuke ***udome
3-5 HR(1) 4 RBI(5)

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/cubslogo.gif
Season Record: 2-3
Next: @ MIL

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/millerpar2.gif

[Cubfan]

Hey Chad, nice job so far! What sliders you using?

[soldaderyan]

woo, nice games that was realistic man :thumbsup:

[Ferrari997]

Are you gonna make any trades

[chad0034]

Are you gonna make any trades
Not early in the season, no. I will start thinking about them around June or July.

[chad0034]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nextyear.png

--Fielder Propels Brewers With 2 Homeruns, Beat Cubs 5-1--

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/gm6.jpg
Prince Fielder With One Of His Two Blasts In The Game

(2-4) http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif 1 -------- 5 http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/MIL.gif (3-3)

Team |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | H | E
Chicago Cubs| 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
Milwaukee Brewers| 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 0 |

HR: MIL-P.Fielder 2(4) MIL-R.Braun 2(2)
RBI: MIL-P.Fielder 3(8) MIL-R.Braun 2(2) CHC-A.Soriano(4)
SB: CHC-K.***udome(1)
W: Y.Gallardo (1-0) L: C.Zambrano (0-2)

--Game Summary--
By: Tim Kurkjian, ESPN Baseball Senior Writer
http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/kurkjian_tim_35.jpg

Cubs 1, Brewers 5 - Another rubber game for the Cubs, and another game 3 loss. This time, the Cubs sent Carlos Zambrano, while the Brewers pitched Yovani Gallardo. Zambrano had a rough night, giving up 10 hits and 3 homeruns. Two of those to Prince Fielder, and one to leftfielder Ryan Braun.

The Brewers Yovani Gallardo came out of the game after a solid 6 innings pitched, only giving up 4 hits, and 1 earned run. The Cubs will now head to Wrigley Field for their home debut. They will pitch Ryan Dempster.


--The Lineups--

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif
--Chicago Cubs--
LF- Alfonso Soriano 1-4 2B(1) RBI(4)
2B- Mike Fontenot 0-4
1B- Derrek Lee 1-4 2B(1)
RF- Milton Bradley 1-4 K
3B- Aramis Ramirez 1-4
C- Geovany Soto 1-4
CF- Kosuke ***udome 1-3 SB(1)
SS- Ryan Theriot 0-3
SP- Carlos Zambrano 1-2 R
PH- Micah Hoffpauir 0-1

SP- Carlos Zambrano L(0-2) 6.1 IP 10 H 4 ER 2 K
LR- Jeff Samardzija 1.0 IP 3 H 1 ER 1 K
SU- Neal Cotts 0.2 IP 0 H 0 ER 0 K


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/MIL.gif
--Milwaukee Brewers--
CF- Mike Cameron 1-4 K R
SS- JJ Hardy 1-5 HR(1) RBI(1)
LF- Ryan Braun 2-4 2 HR(2) 2 RBI(2)
1B- Prince Fielder 2-4 2 HR(4) 3 RBI(8)
RF- Corey Hart 2-4
2B- Rickie Weeks 2-4
3B- Mike Lamb 2-4 2B(3)
C- Jason Kendall 0-4
SP- Yovani Gallardo 0-1
LR- David Riske 1-1

SP- Yovani Gallardo W(1-0) 5.0 IP 4 H 1 ER 2 K
LR- David Riske 2.2 IP 2 H 0 ER 1 K
CL- Trevor Hoffman 0.2 IP 1 H 0 ER 0 K


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/POTG-1.gif

http://images.620wtmj.com/images/Prince-fielder.jpg
Prince Fielder
2-4 2 HR(4) 3 RBI(8)

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/cubslogo.gif
Season Record: 2-4
Next: vs COL

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/millerpar2.gif

[chad0034]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nextyear.png


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/TWIBLOGO.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/potw-5.gif

AL BATTER | NL BATTER
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Cabrera.jpg http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Dunn.jpg
Miguel Cabrera (.346 AVG 4 HR 9 RBI) l Adam Dunn (.407 AVG 3 HR 8 RBI)

AL PITCHER | NL PITCHER
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Brown.jpg http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Carlyle.jpg
Andrew Brown (2-0 1.29 ERA 7 K) l Buddy Carlyle (0-0 1.13 ERA 8 K)

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/powerrank-5.gif

1. Minnesota Twins (6-0)
2. Philadelphia Phillies (4-1)
3. Texas Rangers (4-1)
4. Houston Astros (4-1)
5. Cincinnati Reds (4-1)
6. Washington Nationals (4-1)
7. Los Angeles Angels (4-2)
8. New York Yankees (3-2)
9. Arizona Diamondbacks (3-2)
10. Chicago White Sox (3-2)
11. Los Angeles Dodgers (3-2)
12. San Diego Padres (3-2)
13. St. Louis Cardinals (3-3)
14. Detroit Tigers (3-3)
15. Oakland Athletics (3-3)

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/divisionldr-5.gif

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/LAD.gif http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CIN.gif http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/PHI.gif
NL WEST- Los Angeles Dodgers (3-2)
NL CENTRAL- Cincinnati Reds (4-1)
NL EAST- Philadelphia Phillies (4-1)

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/TEX.gif http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/MIN.gif http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/NYY.gif
AL WEST- Texas Rangers (4-1)
AL CENTRAL- Minnesota Twins (6-0)
AL EAST- New York Yankees (4-2)

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/sotwavg-3.gif

AL BATTER | NL BATTER

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Owens.jpg http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Ethier.jpg
CHW- Jerry Owens .591 ---|--- LAD- Andre Eithier .481

NYY- Jorge Posada .560 ---|--- COL- Todd Helton .481

LAA- Torii Hunter .483 ---|--- SD- Nick Hundley .476

CHW- AJ Piersynski .480 ---|--- FLA- Hanley Ramirez .476

LAA- Kendry Morales .462 ---|--- HOU- Lance Berkman .435

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/twibia3-1.gif

Which Governer was on hand at home plate to greet Hank Aaron after he broke Babe Ruths record?
A. John F. Kennedy
B. Jimmy Carter
C. Lyndon Johnson
D. Ronald Reagan
*Answer Will Be On Next Weeks Show*

[slantedeyematt]

Wow im in love with your franchise, I wish i new how to make graphics! im def following every game man

[chad0034]

Thanks. Go ahead and attempt to answer the TWIBIA from This Week In Baseball if you want.

[chad0034]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nextyear.png

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/s3.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/millerpar2.gif

[slantedeyematt]

Lol i would but i have no clue lol

[November Raine]

Wow, this is amazing..it's a shame it's a cub's chise. haha, I'm definately reading this

[cubbies13 its ltrain]

go cubs go

[soldaderyan]

Damn nice chise Chad.
C.Zambrano (0-2) bad start for big Z man

[chad0034]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/nextyear.png

--Cubs Win In High Scoring Matchup, 10-8--

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/gm7.jpg
Ryan Dempster Went A Solid 5 Innings, With 6 Strikeouts In The Game

(3-4) http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/COL.gif 8 -------- 10 http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif (3-4)

Team |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | H | E
Colorado Rockies| 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 1 |
Chicago Cubs| 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 1 |

HR: CHC-A.Ramirez(1) CHC-G.Soto(1) COL-G.Atkins(2)
RBI: CHC-A.Ramirez 4(6) CHC-G.Soto 3(3) CHC-D.Lee(2) CHC-K.***udome(6) COL-G.Atkins 3(9) COL-Y.Torrealba 2(2) COL-C.Barmes(7) COL-B.Hawpe 2(9)
SB: None
W: R.Dempster (2-0) L: A.Cook (0-1)

--Game Summary--
By: Tim Kurkjian, ESPN Baseball Senior Writer
http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/kurkjian_tim_35.jpg

Cubs 10, Rockies 8 - The Cubs travel home to Wrigley Field, for their first home game of the season, against the Colorado Rockies, in the first of a 2-game series. Ryan Dempster pitches for the Cubs, while the Rockies send Aaron Cook.

This was a high scoring ball game, the whole way through. The Cubs tallied 8 runs in the first four innings, and all 10 through six. The Rockies got a big push in the top of the ninth, scoring five runs, but it wasn't enough. The Cubs win on Wrigleys opening night, and will play tomorrow for a possible 2-game sweep.


--The Lineups--

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/CHC.gif
--Chicago Cubs--
LF- Alfonso Soriano 1-4 2B(2) R
2B- Mike Fontenot 1-4 K
1B- Derrek Lee 2-4 RBI(2) BB
RF- Milton Bradley 2-5 R
3B- Aramis Ramirez 2-5 HR(1) 4 RBI(6)
C- Geovany Soto 1-3 HR(1) 3 RBI(3)
CF- Kosuke ***udome 2-3 RBI(6)
SS- Ryan Theriot 1-4 K
SP- Carlos Zambrano 0-3 K
LR- Chad Gaudin 0-1

SP- Ryan Dempster W(2-0) 5.0 IP 5 H 3 ER 6 K
LR- Chad Gaudin 3.2 IP 5 H 4 ER 1 K
MR- Aaron Heilman 0.1 IP 2 H 1 ER 0 K


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/bsblyahoo/COL.gif
--Colorado Rockies--
CF- Ryan Spilborghs 0-5 K
SS- Troy Tulowitzki 1-5 R
1B- Todd Helton 2-5 R
3B- Garrett Atkins 3-4 HR(3) 3 RBI(9)
RF- Brad Hawpe 3-5 2 RBI(9)
C- Yorvit Torrealba 1-4 2 RBI(2)
LF- Ian Stewart 1-5 2B(3)
2B- Clint Barmes 1-4
SP- Aaron Cook 0-2 K
LR- David Riske 0-1 R

SP- Aaron Cook L(0-1) 3.0 IP 8 H 7 R 6 ER 0 K
MR- Jorge De La Rosa 2.1 IP 4 H 3 ER 5 K
LR- Alan Embree 2.2 IP 0 H 0 ER 1 K


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/POTG-1.gif

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/Aramis-1.jpg
Aramis Ramirez
2-5 HR(1) 4 RBI(6)

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/cubslogo.gif
Season Record: 3-4
Next: vs COL

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/millerpar2.gif

[Beefcake2135]

I remember you from the 2k8 forums man, I used to be TheNumber35 but my 2k account got shut down so i had to make this one. I really like the chise once again my man. If only i could make solid graphics like that....one more year til i take Graphic Arts lol then my chise will be boss. I will be a frequent follower of this one, just like i was last year.

[Beefcake2135]

I think the answer is Jimmy Carter....am i right?

[Ferrari997]

What sliders are you using?

[chad0034]

What sliders are you using?

they're my customs

[chad0034]

New TWIB logo:

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/twib-1.png

[G-MONEY$]

the cubs suck

[chad0034]

the cubs suck

Nice post. :thumbsup:

[K-Rod57]

Hey, I borrowed your layout for my chise, but I put credit to you, is that fine?


and keep it up, love seeing the Cubs; they're due.

[slantedeyematt]

WOw thats amazing

[mars040520]

that's what she said^^

[slantedeyematt]

:thumbsup:

[Beefcake2135]

New TWIB logo:

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/twib-1.png

Man Chad.....all your graphics make me j.i.z.z in my pants (i hope somebody gets this joke lol) I really wish i could make graphics like that lol. Too bad i cant :(