GirlieView is a day early this week, but with good reason. Guess where this girlie will be tomorrow. Go ahead, guess! Yay! I’ll be at Wrigley in the Dugout Box seats row A in honor of the day of my birth. With any luck part 2 of my birthday present (part 1 being the tickets themselves) will be a Cubs win. I’m a photo junky so I’ll post some during the week.
Meantime, let’s talk about this past week. Feast or famine, huh? Either the Cubs were winning big and looking great, or losing badly and looking like they forgot to show up. I gauge how the week went overall by how much I’m looking forward to recapping it. This week, not so much. But I try hard to see the good in everything, so let’s give this a go!
Fri 24/Sat 25/Sun 26
– Neither feast nor famine Friday in St. Louis, but this tough one run loss was made worse by the injuries to Ramirez and Marmol. This also was the first of a two-day-Lou-experiment with Soriano batting third. He looked awful and I’m happy to have him back in the leadoff spot. I’m not saying he’s a classic leadoff hitter and I’m the very very very last person to cater to anyone’s ego but if he isn’t happy in the other positions he’s not going to do well so if he keeps hitting I’ll live with it. I like talking lineups, in fact it’s one of my favorite topics of discussion, but there’s not much to talk about here. He’s won the spot for whatever reason, and I think he’ll be staying. Saturday, yuck. Famine. 7-2 and not in our favor, with Patton giving up the grand slam to Pujols and taking us out of the game. Sunday, FEAST! Cubs came out scoring and just kept going. 10-3 Chicago. Derrek Lee had neck spasms and had to come out of the game before he even had a chance to play defensively, making an already tentative situation worse. At least we won. Soriano was back to leading off.
Mon 27/Tue 28/Wed 29 – I thought with Soriano’s leadoff home run maybe the run of good luck would hold over from Sunday but no go. Haren pitched a great (full) game and we’re back to famine again. And I think they even looked a little worse than the 7-2 score implies. Bad fielding, bad bullpen, Soto is having a rough time (difficult for me to admit considering he is my favorite Cub) … just a hard game to watch overall. So, I went to bed. Tuesday’s a new day! And it was. Feast! Chicago 11, Arizona 3. This is the kind of game I like to watch. Alas, I fell asleep. I’m a morning person at heart. But I enjoyed reading about it the next day! Wednesday. Famine. Hard to watch, hard to discuss. Very disappointing. What needs done? Anything? Or do we wait it out and see how things progress?
Thurs 30 – Well, I’m writing this before tonight’s game so I can’t say what tonight will bring. It’s a crappy weather day here in Chicagoland though at this point it seems the game should get in. I hope for a strong first game to welcome the Marlins to Chicago but I’d be even happier with a strong game tomorrow (See Paragraph 1).
Even though there were a few feasts in there, the whole week left me with a sour taste in my mouth. I’m not worried, it’s a long year, but I also haven’t found it very enjoyable to watch either. 10-10 record (before Thursday’s game), second to last in the NL Central, injuries all around, bad bullpen, questionable defense … this is not a good time by anyone’s standards. Today (or tomorrow, see Paragraph 1) would be an excellent time to turn things around. I am an optimist at heart, but I’m having a hard time seeing the path out of this mess. I do believe there is one, though!
Some other stuff - I found this week’s chemistry discussion to be really interesting. The “feast or famine” theme played out here as well. Seems folks either think chemistry means a whole lot, or not much at all. I didn’t see a lot of middle ground, yet I think there is some. If chemistry meant nothing, then teams full of great players should never lose, even if they all hate each other. If chemistry meant everything then, heck, I ought to be on the Cubs just by virtue of being a delightful dinner companion. I have a fantastic group of friends with great chemistry among us and I can assure you we are collectively good at almost nothing. So I think there’s merit to both sides. Haven’t you ever worked with a problem employee who brought down the morale of the entire department? It sucks, doesn’t it? Then when s/he leaves all of a sudden it’s better … people aren’t calling in sick anymore, productivity is up, etc. No, I don’t have any hard and fast stats on it. And no, chemistry is not going to turn a bunch of slackers into an award winning department or baseball team. But I think it can turn multiple individual bits of talent into a greater whole.
One last thought – I read with great glee Joe’s post about commenting etiquette, particularly the final paragraph. Because even though I’m a delightful dinner companion with a positive and optimistic attitude who tries to see the good in everything and not intentionally insult anyone, I have a nickname among my previously-referenced group of friends. Longshoreman Lizzie. I swear like a sailor. Though I have absolutely no intention of airing out here, I’m happy to know if I slip it will be ok. Thanks Joe!! 
Lizzie- Who would you say would be the most geniusee in the chemistry debate?
I am a delightful dinner companion also, I love banana’s.
Raker
Knock it off with the banana crap.
I have had dinner with Doc Raker, he is a total bore to the max.
Well, Lizzie, I hope you enjoy the game tomorrow but to be honest, unless something strange happens, there is not a lot of hope right now. Who is pitching well? Hitting well? Fielding well? Running the bases well? The answer is no one, really, for each question. We have so many holes right now it is hard to see us pulling out of this. I do not chalk it all up to injuries, because having subs is a major part of baseball. The Marlins’ best player, one of the best in baseball did not play tonight. Hanley Ramirez is better all-around than anyone in a Cub uniform this season. His substitute made a good defensive play and started the winning rally with a hit. Which Cub could do that this season?
Not really sure what your point is… Hanley Ramirez is better all-around than all but a very small handful of players in the game.
Well, pretty much any of them could it.
The Cubs are in a slump. If anyone thinks that the last week is the real Cubs team, I am not really sure what to say. I guess they are the same people who probably think that Josh Becket will end the season with an ERA over 6.
Thanks Rick! I’m hoping if the Feast or Famine theme holds, today will be a FEAST!!!
The thing to take away from this week is that the bullpen is just really inconsistent. Marmol’s health is definitely a big concern, but also Kevin Gregg is not reliable at all right now. He pitched fine yesterday, but the game before that was anything but. He just doesn’t have the type of stuff that makes you feel like the door is shut. Watching Cleveland Indains games (although Wood gave up a 3 run homer this week)they do have that stopper in the 9th.
You praise Wood, yet bash Gregg for his inconsistency?
Wood currently has a 6.75 ERA, with a WHIP of 1.75.
Gregg has a 5.59 ERA, with a WHIP of 1.97.
They have both been pretty awful.
My point is that Marlins have a better all-around player than we do AND have a reasonable substitute who can help them win a game. We do not. I understand the concept of the slump — I realize things can get better — I hope for that to look even possible every day. But I see far too many holes in this ballclub right now.
Remembering that Marmol was awful in June last year does not prove he will get out of this funk. Recalling that the ballclub went up to Milwaukee at the end of July in a tailspin and righted the ship with a nice sweep does not give me confidence that they can do that again just because there is a lot of time in the season. Lots of teams never come out of a slump. Thirteen months ago Detroit was the favorite to win the AL Central. No one sees that happening any more. I would rather not follow that path.
Besides, being able to vent on a blog sure helps, doesn’t it?