a question of ick.

“The Cubs have five relievers still in camp battling for two spots. The list includes Chad Gaudin, Angel Guzman, Jeff Samardzija, David Patton and Chad Fox. Piniella said he hopes to finalize that decision before the team breaks camp on Thursday.” Source

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I guess the way you end a spring where there has not been much to talk about, is to come down to a battle for the bottom 2 relievers.  Patton is 25, has pitched well, but never above class A. Chad Fox is uninspiring to me, maybe as a lefty I’d find value there, but do we really need a one or two out righty? Guzman and Gaudin have major league arms, but have really struggled. And The Golden boy.

If I am choosing, I run with Guzman and Gaudin. I know they have maybe not earned it this spring, but it would be a shame to lose Guzman without seeing what he can do, and Gaudin can be an inning eater saving the bullpen during bad starts or Rich Harden 5 inning outtings. Chad Fox will be available in June, July, August… Patton as a Rule 5 would have to be returned unless something can be worked out. I don’t think you spend to much time worrying about losing a 25 year-old Class A pitcher.

About the Shark, if he’s meant for deeper water then he should start out as a starter in AAA.  It is much easier to bring him up to fill a hole later than to stretch him out if needed. The only caveat to that is if The Shark makes the team he is not a 5th inning pitcher, but standing next to Marmol in the 7th or 8th putting out fires.  So I guess I am reneging here.  Our bullpen with The Smear is much better than with any 2 or 3 of the other guys.  So I go, Shark and Gaudin.  That’s it. That’s my choice.Pursuit to Algiers hd

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The 2009 Cubs – Out of the Park Style

Last year I undertook the monstrous endeavor of blogging about my entire OOTP Cubs season one week at a time over the course over the season. This was way too much because it put too much pressure on me to play the game just for the sake of trying to keep up with the season. This year I thought I’d provide updates on the season every 30 games for my team and let you know where we stand. That being said, here is where we stand after 30 games for the 2009 OOTP Cubs.

Record: 10-20 (8.5 GB behind the Houston Astros)

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• Jan 10th – Nomar Garciaparra is signed to a one year contract worth $1.46 million to backup Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez. In 40 AB’s for the team he would hit .125 and would be traded to the Mets in a multi player deal that would net us Jenrry Mejia & Wilmer Flores
• Jan 15th – Paul Lo Duca is signed to a 2 year contract worth $550,000 per season to backup Geo Soto. Lo Duca would be included in the Nomar deal with Paul Bako promoted from AAA to replace him.
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• April 17th – Claimed Steve Trachsel off waivers from the Angels to pitch in AAA. He was on a minor league contract and he’s always been one of my favorites so I thought “what the heck!?!” He didn’t do too well in AAA out of the pen and has since been demoted to AA as a member of the rotation.
• April 18th – Claimed Brian Dopirak off waivers from Toronto just because I know Mark hates him so much and that I knew he’d read this.

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  April 21st – In an effort to address the lefty need in the pen due to Neal Cotts sucking up the place, I moved Logan Watkins to the Astros in exchange for Chris Blazek. He’s still in AAA due to the trade for former Cub Andy Sisco, who was brought to the Majors after pitching great in AAA.

• April 24th – Traded Aaron Heilman and Chad Fox to the Mariners for Ryan Rowland-Smith and Nick Adcock. Rowland-Smith slots in as the 5th starter and has been average, but a heck of a lot better than Heilman.
• May 1st – Moved a hot hitting Jason Dubois to Cincinnati before someone figured out he sucks in return for Homer Bailey and Micah Owings. Both were struggling with the Reds farm system and I think they just wanted to give them a change. I’ll take em off their hands.
• May 13th – Signed Rich Harden to a 3 year contract extension worth a total of $42 mil that includes incentives for 200 IP and a Cy Young award. He’s been my best starter and I can’t let him go. According to the owner’s budget, I didn’t have any money left for extensions, but he did approve the deal.

Who’s Doing What?

• Carlos Zambrano – he’s been terrible as the ace. In six starts so far, he’s thrown 36 IP with a record of 1-4 and an ERA of 6.25. Particularly alarming to me is the fact that his WHIP is a stunning 1.94. He really needs to step up his game. His lack of success was the major factor in my decision to re-sign Harden. Ryan Dempster is also getting rocked and needs to step up his game immensely.
• Rich Harden – His record is 4-1 with an ERA of 2.68. He has 47 K’s in 37 IP over 6 starts.
• Kevin Gregg – He’s been my setup man and has an ERA of 0.75 in that role. I’ve been very pleased with his performance and I’m perfectly happy with keeping him in that spot.
• Chad Gaudin – He’s been about as bad in this game as he has this spring. I’ve got him on the waiver wire so hopefully someone will take his $2 mil contract off my hands.
• Joey Gathright – He started the year on my bench, with Kosuke Fukudome getting the start in CF. Fukudome screwed himself into the ground and found himself in AAA where he is still stinking up the joint. Gathright has taken the job, and while not running with it, has been effective and has stolen 9 bases so far. He’s on pace for 59 on the year.
• Aramis Ramirez – He’s been very quiet and hasn’t driven many runs in. If his bat gets going, I think we’ll start winning a few more games.

That’s where we stand to date. Hopefully at the 60 game update, I’ll have better news for you. The goal is to be back to .500 at that point. Feel free to give me your comments or questions on the league as a whole. Let’s have some fun with this.

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Who's Your Closer

Lou Piniella announced yesterday that Kevin Gregg would be his closer to start the season, with Carlos Marmol getting the setup role. So I ask, who is your

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closer if you had the choice?

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Buying or Selling Fukudome?

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — He looked a lot like Kosuke Fukudome and wore the same uniform number.

But the Kosuke Fukudome who showed up at HoHoKam Park on Thursday didn’t sound at all like the Japanese star who fizzled in the second half of his debut season in Chicago.

Appearing relaxed and confident after missing the first six weeks of camp while playing for Japan in the World Baseball Classic, Fukudome was at times self-deprecating, boastful and a bit introspective.

What caused him to have so much trouble adjusting in the second half?

“My stupidity,” he said, through his new interpreter.

Fukudome then laughed, something he rarely did in public last summer.

He said he had learned from last year’s struggles and worked out all winter to be in better shape for the long season.

“If I can be the player that Lou [Piniella] wants me to be, I should be playing a lot better,” he said.

Only one Japanese reporter was on hand for Fukudome’s arrival, in stark contrast to last year’s hoopla. ~ Chicago Tribune

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(03.27.2009)

Are you buying or selling this? Is Fukudome going to be the player we paid for? I’m buying. I really believe being a player from another country is a big adjustment for a player. Think about that time you took a new job or filled in somewhere. It’s a tough adjustment. You’re learning new things and couple that with the fact that he had a language barrier and a wife and new child overseas. That’s a tough season. This is the year we see the player we paid for.

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Contrary to Popular Belief, I am not an A-Hole

Those of us that have been following the comments in Sherm’s latest post know that it’s gotten into a heated battle about autograph hounds.  Those that haven’t read it should, or read this Cliff Notes version:

A Father and his son were at Spring Training.  The morning before their flight they headed over to Cubs camp just to see what was going on.  Carlos Zambrano, was out riding a bike, and the son approached him with a jersy to sign.  Carlos rode past them without acknowledgement. 

Classy move? Definitely not. Acceptable? Absolutely. I don’t see anywhere in any of these players contracts that state they must sign autographs at whatever time someone deems appropriate.  Carlos was at an early morning workout, and most likely didn’t expect an autograph hound.  I certainly wouldn’t.  Nor would I want to be approached at that time in the morning. 

I was raised with the idea that these professional athletes are people.  People with personal lives, that most of the time they’d like to have.  I distinctly remember eating at Chi-Chi’s on Lake Cook Road, shortly after Superbowl XX, and Mike Singeltary walked in with his wife. I was beside myself, Samarai Mike was eating at the table across from us.  I asked my Dad if we could say hello, and he told my sister and I, “No. Let him eat dinner with his wife. This is not the time to bother him.” Within minutes a man and his son walked up and asked Mike for a autograph.  His response? “Please. I’m trying to have a quiet dinner with my wife. If you must have one, wait for me in the lobby.” It struck a chord with me, and I’ve been respectful of athletes and their personal space ever since.

I’ve been pretty blessed with one on one encounters with pro athletes. I’ve hung around many Bulls players during their hayday while sipping coffee at Barnes and Noble. I personally attended to Phil Jackson while he shopped for hobby gifts for his sons. For a few years, I followed my friend to a local restaurant where WWE wrestlers hung out after shows. Same thing, we would wait around and just watch. Many times they’d start to talk to us. Partially because they recognized my buddy for the years he’d been doing the same ritual. The only autographs I’ve ever asked for, was Mickey Morandini, and that was at the post 9-11 game where that was why he was there. And the fact that everywhere I go Mickey seems to be there, so it turned into a running joke with a friend of mine. I’ve never understood the excitement over obtaining autographs. Maybe I’m missing something. Or maybe, I know how much I like my personal space, so I let them have theirs.

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Thanks, Guys!

The title of this post? Dripping with sarcasm. Here’s why.

Good friend of mine just got back from spring training where he and his fourteen year old son decided to spend their vacation this year. They are both big Cub fans. Huge. Can you remember being 14 and having the chance to see ball games with your Dad? How it felt to actually see a big league ball player in person and maybe even get close enough to ask him for (gulp) an autograph?

Well, one day after the game at Hohokam, they go to dinner and as they are driving back past the park later, they see a very small crowd still standing, waiting. So they park and walk over to see what’s up. Moments later, out comes Lou. Gruff as could be. Doesn’t want to be bothered. Tells the two men there to take a hike. Now this doesn’t really bother me, because it’s these guys who ruin it for everyone…these guys who are there everyday for autographs that they can later sell. So, now it’s a small group of just kids. And a reluctant Lou signs a couple of hats and balls and leaves. Signs my buddy’s son’s hat. Upside down. So you can’t read it looking at the hat. Think that’s the first hat Lou has ever signed? I don’t. But whatever. Thanks, Lou. For taking three minutes out of your schedule on your way to the Hometown Buffet to sign a couple things.

But this story gets better. Ready? Here goes. Next day they are heading home and the son says “Dad, can we drive by Hohokam just one more time on the way to the airport?” So they do.

This is fairly early in the morning and no one is there. They park just to get a last picture by the sign and “feel the feeling” before they leave. And then…Carlos Zambrano comes riding out of the tunnel on a bicycle. My friend tells his son not to bother him…let him ride. So they watch him ride off down the culvert near the park and get in some work. He disappears and they wait a little longer to see if anyone else comes out. Did I mention the kid is wearing a Zambrano jersey? He is. Twenty minutes later and they are ready to go…but here comes Carlos on the bike. Kid pulls his new Carlos Zambrano All-Star Jersey from his suitcase and walks over to the area where Big Z will be riding back in. Zambrano rides up and the boy says “Mr. Zambrano will you please sign the jersey?”

New paragraph. Because the guy didn’t sign the jersey. Didn’t even stop. Slowed down and looked at the kid and the jersey — but then kept peddling and went on in…without saying a word.  No one around. Not a single person anywhere. Would it have killed the guy to sign the kid’s jersey? Thanks, Carlos!

What is it with these guys? Don’t they know who really pays their outrageous salaries? I can wholeheartedly understand blowing off the trolling piece of garbage autograph hounds — 45 year old men who live in their parent’s basement and sell the signed stuff on eBay. But kids? Come on.

On the flip side, since I am fair and balanced — they said that Ryan Theriot would stay and sign until everyone was gone. Good for you, Ryan. It is appreciated and will win you a ton of young fans.

Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so deeply addicted to baseball because the players, the owners, the agents and their collective behavior turn me off.

To make things right, I will be sending some right side up autographed “The Sherm” gear to my friend’s son. Not all kids are as lucky as this one, however.

Sherm

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Posted in General | 23 Comments »

Does this worry you?

Chris Carpenter is having a pretty darn good spring training this season. To date, he’s sporting an ERA of 0.00 in five starts that span 19.0 innings of work. In that time he’s struck out 10 and walked just four.

So I ask you: Does Carpenter, who is coming off of ulnar nerve transposition surgery on November 4th, 2008, and his success this spring worry you that perhaps the Cardinals may be able to give the Cubs a run at the NL Central this year? Do you believe in Carpenter enough to take him in a fantasy draft?

Posted in General | 11 Comments »

Baseball America Trivia

In my newest edition of Baseball America, there was a trivia question I thought I’d share:

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Name the only two starting pitchers currently on big league rosters who have spent at least 10 seasons in the big leagues and never gone on the disabled list.

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I thought I had one of them, based on one of the other trivia questions we ran recently, but I was wrong.

Answer

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: Derrek Lowe & Javier Vazquez

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Fun with the Box Score

I stumbled across this game and I was amazed that I don’t remember a thing about it. May 26, 2003. Kerry Wood starts the game, goes seven strong while allowing just 1 hit and striking out 10. He leaves the game down 1-0. The game would end 10-0 in favor the Pirates.

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Anyone remember this game? (view the box score)

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Notes From Rehab

The World’s Greatest Living Cubs Fan, my dad, has been living in a SubAcute Rehabilitation Care Facility since early February. We had hoped that he would have been out of there by now, allowing us to have taken a quick roadtrip to Mesa, AZ, but such was not the case.

My dad’s roommate is also a Cubs fan so that’s working out OK. At 1:00 pm today my dad’s roommate asked me to set their TV to Channel 9 so there’d be no chance of them missing the 1st pitch at 3:05pm. That’s a couple of hard core Cubs fans in rehab for you.

So what did they see today?

• They saw a full house at HoHoKam Park.
• They saw Rich Harden not pitching today (he was “under the weather”).
• They saw Geovany Soto catch.
• They saw the Cubs’ leadoff man, Alfonso Soriano, get 2 hits.
• They saw Milton Bradley get caught off 3rd base, then strikeout and single.
• They saw Aramis Ramirez hit a single, fly out and slap a single to center.
• They saw Mike Fontenot fumble a ground ball, which led to 2 unearned Padres runs.
• They saw Nick Hundley throw out Mr. Soriano on an attempted stolen base.
• They saw Carlos Marmol pitch 2 shutout innings, looking sharp.
• They saw the Padres’ starting pitcher, Mr. Correia strike out Fontenot and Soto, then walk Sam Fuld and give up a pinch hit 2 run homer to Reed Johnson.
• They saw Kevin Gregg pitch in the 5th and 6th.
• They saw Mr. Waddell pitch in the 6th and 7th, then get pulled by Lou and replaced by Angel Guzman. Mr. Guzman retired 6 in a row and got a hit himself.
• They saw and heard Fergie Jenkins reminisce with Lou and Bob prior to the retirement of his Cubs uniform #31 (shared with Greg Maddux), which will occur on May 3rd.
• They saw a “slug bunt” which Ryan Theriot played well.
• They saw and heard Bruce Miles discuss the Cubs spring training and upcoming season.
• They saw Micah Hoffpauir hit some long outs.
• They saw Andy White score on a high bouncing single by Esteban German.
• They saw Paul Bako look at strike 3 with 2 out and 2 on.
• They saw Kevin Hart hit the first batter he faced in the butt; hit the 2nd batter he faced in the back, then, following a double play, he gave up an RBI single and got the 3rd out with a fly out to right.
• They saw the Cubs win 5-3.
• They saw and heard Len interview Ryan Theriot.

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Marching Towards Madness

I stand by what I wrote about Bradley the other day at the bottom of Sherm’s post.  Which was basically to ask, what numbers can we expect from Bradley? Should he have been our (only) major free agent acquisition? And I realized in that post that, due largely to an inability to stay healthy (to stay far less healthy than “injury prone” Cubs like Soriano and Ramirez), his best Runs, HR’s, RBI numbers were equal to that of Mark DeRosa’s best numbers.  My comments in some respects begged the question stats vs. production. The obvious answer is stats AND production, but a guy like Bradley clearly forces to pick one or the other. But that is a further topic for another time.

Now I’d like to talk about his baggage.  I don’t remember the details of Bradley’s transgressions, tearing his knee up when “baited” by an ump. Hurling something at the base of the stands when upset by a fan? Going up to the broadcast booth to confront broadcasters he felt insulted him or his family?
We lived through the Dusty Baker years, the LaTroy Hawkins years, the Moises Alou years, the Kent Merker years, where I frankly thought the team was populated by selfish brats who I didn’t enjoy rooting for.  So I really hope Bradley knows there is no place for that in Chicago.  He says he does.

We all saw these Quotes:

“He’s not sullen. He’s not melancholy, a word Bradley said makes him think of storm clouds.
“That’s not me,” he said. “The thing people might not know about me is that I’m extremely shy. For me to start talking to people I don’t know at all, it’s uncomfortable. Usually, I’m pretty quiet in the beginning until I feel people out. Then my personality starts to come out.

“Bottom line is, I’m as serious as a heart attack about baseball and winning. My last goal in life, my bucket list, is winning a World Series, and that’s it. I don’t care about personal accolades, fame. I don’t need any of that. Money is great because my family is taken care of, but the only thing that’s going to make me happy is winning.””
“Yes, I’ve made mistakes. Yes, I haven’t handled things properly in the past. I was immature, I was childish. That’s how I reacted. My self-defense mechanism was to lash out. Maybe it’s my own insecurity.”
Bradley says he can handle situations better now. Bottom line, he just wants to play and be judged like everyone else. Source

I don’t know how many baseball players I would like to sit around and talk to. Mostly they’ve not graduated from college, they’ve largely not attended college, they sit around for hours at a time dreaming up exotic wet willies and chewing gum tricks. Immaturity is a word you can associate with them, but not a word you are likely to hear come out of their mouths. Certainly not in reference to themselves and their own transgressions. So when Bradley says, “Yes, I’ve made mistakes. Yes, I haven’t handled things properly in the past. I was immature, I was childish. That’s how I reacted. My self-defense mechanism was to lash out. Maybe it’s my own insecurity.” I find myself willing to listen.

So in that same artical when he says , “The thing people might not know about me is that I’m extremely shy. For me to start talking to people I don’t know at all, it’s uncomfortable. Usually, I’m pretty quiet in the beginning until I feel people out. Then my personality starts to come out.”  I am drawn to that and think, here is a person given to self reflection, not a useful trait for athlete’s but a vital one for human beings, and he might stand out from his peers as a person that I’d like to talk to.  Who knows.?.

In that list of players we’ve lived through above, the player Bradley most reminds me of is LaTroy Hawkins.  Hawkins was a seemingly personable guy , a family guy, who found himself in a role he wasn’t suited for (closer) and felt cornered and trapped by Chicago media/fan scrutiny (which is a nice word for obsessive criticism).  And couldn’t handle it.  Bradley comes in as our free agent savior, a role his production suggests he will not be, so like Hawkins, he will be cast out of position.  How will he respond?   Here is a nice possibility from Muskat’s article: “It’s vital for me to be on the field — more than even being productive,” he said. “If I’m out there, I know that’s going to happen anyway. I just have to be out there, and I will.” Source

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And here are some that are not so nice (along with some ones blogetary):

“Well, you can get a healthy guy to go out there and play 162 games, but he won’t do what I did in 120.”
As crudely self-serving as that sounds, Bradley is mostly right. His numbers last season were All-Star quality.
But that shouldn’t excuse the fact that Bradley was prone to sporadically calling in sick, including missing 10 of 11 games in early August as the Rangers lapsed from wild-card contenders to pretenders.
Plus, at the same time when Bradley was randomly removing himself from lineups, Michael Young was playing nearly every day despite having broken fingers on both hands.

Young never complained about Milton. That’s not Michael’s style. But his teammates certainly noticed.
When asked about that Sunday, Bradley gave an unsettling answer.
“If I’m being paid, and I’ve got the commitment to me that I give to them, you make more of an effort to be out there every day,” he said. Source

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Both of Bradley’s quotes above and the summary of his time in Texas contradict his quotes about maturity.  Maturity is not about needing to be constantly reaffirmed about how important you are.  I know because I am immature, am I writing all right?

I’m not.  My first failed novel is called, “The Second Excuse.” It refers to something I learned as a Bear fan–that it is the second excuse that reveals the lie.  “I can’t go out with you tonight because my parents are in town, AND I have to go to work in the morning.”  You realize your first excuse doesn’t cover it, so you pile on other ones hoping to build a predominance of evidence.  Maybe your parents are in town, maybe you do have to work tomorrow, but you can’t go out with me because you don’t want to.  As a detective clue it is about as informative as knowing that usually an unattributed source is quoted directly  in the same article.  But I was reminded of my failed novel when I read this, “Milton Bradley did not report to the ballpark Wednesday. He has the flu, and his wife is in labor.” Source

I think we’d all agree that a laboring wife is reason enough to not show up to the ballpark, but doesn’t The Second Excuse make this feel like: I’m not showing up, cause I don’t want to.?.  I am not taking a stand against Bradley. I have no idea what this year will hold, who could? He seems like a partially thoughtful introspective guy. I get mad and do stupid things, so what aspersions can I cast? But there are serious enough questions to ask if Trader Jim did his due diligence for Cub Fans this winter, that make me ask, This it? This is enough?

Posted in General | 10 Comments »

Mining for Gold in the Bill James Gold Mine – 2009

Last year the folks at Acta Sports sent me a copy of the Bill James Gold Mine. Thankfully, this year’s edition found it’s way into my mailbox yesterday and I consumed it immediately. I’d like to highlight a few choice nuggets for you and see if they don’t generate some discussion.

“Alfonso Soriano led off for the Cubs in 105 games, but scored on a teammate’s home run only once. He scored on his own home run 29 times.”

I see some concepts that jump out to me right off the bat:

1. Does this mean the order should feature Aramis Ramirez and then Milton Bradley, with Derrek Lee moving down to the fifth or even the six spot being someone like Soto and Fontenot in an effort to get more power behind Soriano?
2. I’m curious to see what the disparity between scoring on your own home runs and other’s home runs is for other folks that hit for power. Soriano isn’t the prototypical leadoff hitter that slaps the ball. I’d be interested in seeing the numbers for someone like Grady Sizemore.
3. 105 games at leadoff and we still won 97 games. What’s all the fuss about?

Kosuke Fukudome’s inaugural Major League season didn’t go as well as hoped, but Fukudome handled good pitching when given a chance. He batted .281, with a .781 OPS, against pitchers with a 3.50 ERA or lower.

I believe in Fukudome and I expect big things from him. He hit the good pitchers and he hit the bad pitchers. He just didn’t hit well against the pitchers in between.

I don’t want to give away too much more of the book, but I do want to give you a heads up on some of the other things included in it. Some of the other topics include:

• Team by Team nugget pages
• The 96 Families of Hitters
• Know When to Walk Away, Know When to Run
• A whole article on Alan Trammell
• Pitch Work Load Discussion
• 2008 Clutch Hitter of the Year
• The Ten Commandments of Sabermetrics
• Answers to Unusual Questions

That’s just a snip. I’m telling you the truth. Go out and get the book. I don’t recommend books unless I truly enjoyed them and want you to share in that. Go get this one.

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'Holy Review Copy Batman'

One of the perks to having a blog, especially one that has been around for going on six years, is that you get a decent amount of free perks from time to time. I remember the first time I got an e-mail from a publicist asking me to review a book and how nervous I was. As the years have gone by I’ve realized that I get more requests than I can possibly fill. As a result, I’ve decided to mention each book that I get and only “promote / review” the ones I truly enjoy and would highly recommend to you. With that being said, here are the books that are on the reading list for this baseball season. I get nothing if you buy these books through the link I’ve provided. I’ve simply done it to make it easier if you did want to buy any of these.

Mudville – Kurtis Scarletta (Buy the book)

This one intrigues me a little. I had never given the idea of baseball fiction a chance until last year when I was sent a copy of The Comeback Season and enjoyed it. Like that one, this one is a young adult novel, so it should make for an easy read. It focuses on a strange kid that comes to town and what happens as a result.

The Baseball Prospect Book 2009 – John Sickels (Buy the book)

I’ve bought the prospect book put out by Sickels for the past couple of years and I’ve yet to be disappointed. This year I decided to only purchase this book as opposed to also buying the Baseball America prospect book as well. Sickels does a great job giving you a synopsis on the various names to know in each of the systems in the Majors. It’s a great book to purchase if you’re trying to learn a little more about some of the kids that are on the horizon for the Cubs, which makes watching the team a little more enjoyable each year. It’s also a load of fun to look back at past issues and see where he hit and where he missed with his breakdowns.

Sweet Lou and the Cubs – George Castle (Buy the book)

This one is basically a breakdown of Lou’s time with the Cubs and seems like it will offer a behind the scenes type of look at what Lou has gone through since coming to Chicago. I’m a little skeptical on this one, but I’m willing to give it a try. I tend to question “insider look” type books and know that most people won’t let just anyone into their lives and bear their soul, especially Lou Piniella. Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong.

Cubs by the Numbers – Kasey Ignarski, Matthew Silverman, & Al Yellon (Buy the book)

I’m not generally a big fan of historical Cubs books or even historical baseball books, but this one interests me a little. I’m curious to see how the team has been broken down based on the number on the back of each player over the course of history. It should be fun and educational to learn about some of these guys that fans who have followed the team for 40-50+ years reminisce over.

As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires – Bruce Weber (Buy the book)

One of the best books I’ve read in awhile was You’re Out and You’re Ugly Too, which was a memoir written by former umpire, Durwood Merrill. In that book, Merrill took you inside what it was like to be an umpire in the big leagues, including the fact that they are always on a road trip and away from their family. This one seems like it will be a lot like that one, so I’m definitely looking forward to devouring it sometime this season.

A Chicago Tavern a Goat, a Curse, and the American Dream – Rick Kogan (Buy the book)

This one is short and sweet and comes in with a strike against it in my book for the simple reason that not only to I not believe in “the curse”, but I despise any talk about it. I’m going to go into it with an open mind, but I really hope it focuses more on the tavern itself and it’s history rather than the “curse” and what that’s met for the team.

Wrigley Field’s Last World Series – Charles Billington (Buy the book)

This is actually the second time this book was sent to me. I tried to get into it the first time and just couldn’t. I’m going to give it another try, but as I mentioned before, I tend to shy away from the historical type books and instead gravitate toward the topical discussion type books.

The Yankee Years Manderlay ipod

– Tom Verducci (Buy the book)

I was actually a little surprised to receive a review copy of this one, but I pleasantly accepted. It’s a Harry Potter type book in terms of # of pages and should be a bit of a marathon to get through. Some would poo poo the idea of reading about the Yankees, but I’m interested in what Joe Torre has to say about what went on when he was there. I believe he has some things to say and I’m ready to hear them.

2009 Minor League Baseball Analyst - Deric McKamey (Buy the book)

Year two that this one found it’s way to my mailbox and I was pleased by that. This one differs a little from the John Sickel’s book in that McKamey doesn’t really go too in depth on each of the prospects. Instead, he provides the book more as a tool for fantasy baseball players to use as a good reference for drafting, especially for keeper leagues. He presents some Major League equivalents for some of the players, which really completes the book.

You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! -

Sharpe’s Peril video

Jonah Winter & Andre Carrilho (Buy the book)

Sick Girl trailer If…. on dvd

This is a children’s picture book and features an awesome cover. The picture to the left doesn’t do it justice. This one has a cool cover that, when moved back and forth, makes Koufax throw a pitch off the mound. The artwork inside is tremendous and I’m very much looking forward to reading this one to my son this season. He’s three and should enjoy looking at the pictures.

The Hardball Times Season Preview 2009 – (Buy the book)

This one makes me laugh a little. In the 2007 edition, Rob G from the Cub Reporter was asked to write the Cubs preview. In 2008, I was asked to write the preview. 2009 bring yet another writer for the Cubs section. Either they haven’t liked what they’ve gotten from Rob and me over the the past few years or they’re looking to get fresh voices each year. I tend to lean toward the former. Oh well, I’m looking forward to reading this one over the next few weeks leading up to opening day.

The Fielding Bible – Volume II – John Dewan (Buy the Book)

This is a new one for me. I didn’t receive volume one and I’m curious to see what this one is all about. It’s loaded with stats and graphs for the dork in me. Jose, a long time reader and commenter we haven’t heard from in awhile, would hate this one. I’m anxious to give it a try, because I love all the things I’ve received from Acta Sports over the years. This one should be no exception.

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Is OF Defense Overrated?

Bruce Miles had a question posed to him the other day that I thought I’d post for discussion:

Q. With Alfonso Soriano in left and Milton Bradley in right, how crucial will the play of Reed Johnson and Kosuke Fukudome be?

Miles: It’ll be especially crucial, with Johnson and Fukudome having to cover a lot of ground.

The Cubs have talked up Bradley’s defensive ability. He played on only 20 games in the outfield last year for Texas, so we’ll have to wait and see. – (Source

Black Book trailer

The Tale of Despereaux video

Starsky & Hutch ipod

Mr. Woodcock video

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So I ask. Do you put as much stock in defense as some do? I tend to be one that leans toward the importance of defense in the IF and C position and that the OF defense, as long as you don’t have Adam Dunn out there, should be satisfactory. What are your thoughts?

Posted in General | 9 Comments »