VFTB

In Lou We Trust

“We know what everybody in this city wants, and we’re gonna try and give it to ’em”.

That’s the attitude. We’re all on the same page. We all want the same thing. Keep the eyes on the prize.

We are perfectly positioned to have the best chance for success here. Those who needed rest have gotten it. Those who needed additional playing time have gotten it. Those injuries which could heal have been given every opportunity to do so. Those injuries which won’t be healed in time, like a stress fracture, have been sent home to heal properly.

The team is rested, tuned up, fired up and ready to go. And so am I.

I was out walking Bowser last night, and it was kinda chilly. Even here down by the lake. So Cubbies, wear your gloves and long johns. Hard to play your best when you’re freezin’ to death.

Other than that, let’s do it.

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Meaningless Games

During the past couple of weeks I’ve heard the term “Meaningless Game” used frequently, and I disagree with the whole concept.

I do understand that after a certain point in the season, which team wins a given game may have no impact on the final standings. So, in terms of the final standings, a particular game may be considered to be “meaningless”.

But I say, if the game is truly “meaningless”, it should just be forfeit. Like the bottom of the 9th when the home team is ahead. Why play it at all? Find a beach somewhere to relax on and sip Pina Coladas. I would like to think that these games were not played just for the gate receipts and TV revenues.

In a 162 game schedule, each game has 1/162 impact on the final standings. That’s less than 1% (0.61728% to be exact). I’m not a statistician but in my very limited statistical experience, generally anything less than 5% is considered to be negligible, ie., meaningless.

So, by that logic, each individual game of the regular season is “meaningless”, and by a pretty wide margin. If that’s the case, why do they play ‘em? And why do we watch ‘em?

Because they’re NOT meaningless. Individual games are not meaningless. Spring training is not meaningless. Batting practice is not meaningless. Conditioning and strength training are not meaningless.

I love this game too much to write off any part of it as meaningless.

There are those who consider the World Series to be the only “meaningful” games of the year, for those are the ones which directly determine the championship. For them, the entire regular season and all the playoff games are simply a spinning of wheels among mostly “also ran” teams.

Sorry, folks. I don’t buy it. There were no “meaningless games” during the regular season, and there aren’t going to be any “meaningless games” during October.

Now let’s get it on.

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My Favorite Things

In retrospect, I guess I was a little harsh on NYC last night. I want to set the record straight.

A few years ago I had an opportunity to spend a week in New York City, a first for me. After being exposed to negative reports about NYC my whole life, I was prepared to hate it. I was expecting to hate it. I think I wanted to hate it.

I loved it!

I ran every day in Central Park. I visited Strawberry Fields. I saw the Statue of Liberty and visited Ellis Island. On Monday night I caught Les Paul live. Les Paul!! And every where I went I met good people. Really good people.

Went to a live Broadway show. Ate great food in great restaurants. Did I mention that I had a great time? So I have fond memories of NYC and I hope I get the chance to go back some day.

But that fondness does not extend to the NY Mets. I have no fond memories of the NY Mets. That might be forever. I guess that’s just the way it is. I’m a Cubs fan. Third generation Cubs fan.

Loving the Cubs. Not loving the Mets. These are a few of my favorite things.

Last night The Cubbies pulled together as a team. Jason Marquis was having trouble putting the Mets away from the mound. So he rocked a grand slam, and put the game out of reach that way instead. When Carlos Marmol had a hard time finishing the thing off, Kerry Wood leapt in and put the hammer down. What a team.

Tonight Lou is resting many of the starters. My hope is that Johan Santana wears himself out real good tonight. Whether or not the Cubs win tonight is immaterial. They’ve already won by resting the guys who need rest. And by wearing out a guy who needs to be worn out.

Dee Lee doubles but dies on 2nd. Johan Santana looks strong in the 1st.

Sean Marshall is getting hit pretty solidly in the 1st, but he gets out of the inning with no runs scored. Casey McGehee makes a good play of a shot down the 3rd base line, cutting down the lead runner at 2nd on a fielder’s choice.

McGehee and Fuku get solid back to back doubles off Santana. I like to see that. And it’s still early. Cubs lead 1-0.

I’m going out of my way to not repeat posts from the live blog here, but I will respond. Joe gets his wish. Johan will lead off the third. Good call, Joe.

Cedeno doubles in the 3rd inning. That’s 4 Cub doubles already off Santana tonight. He appears to be hittable. (Hey Joe, I said it first. Great minds think alike!) And Cedeno scores on Johnson’s single to center. Mets go 3 up and 3 down. Marshall Ks the pitcher, and 2 pop outs follow. Cubs lead 2-0 after 3 innings.

Kosuke singles to right. Lou asked us not to refer to his playing of reserves and relievers as “auditions”. So I’ll say that Lou’s tactic of getting maximum at bats for Fuku seems to be working, at least so far.

Lou said in the pregame that he plans to leave Sean Marshall in for only 4 or 5 innings tonight.

Sean walks David Wright, the 1st batter in the bottom of the 4th, and Wright dies at 1st. Cubs lead 2-0 going into the 5th.

Interesting graphic on TV. Marshall has thrown 66 pitches: 22 balls, 44 strikes.

The bags are loaded with 2 out for David Wright as Lou leaves Sean Marshall in. We got to this point by Sean: hitting Evans, giving up a weird infield single to Santana, and walking Castillo. David Wright singles to left, tying the game 2-2. Soriano’s throw to the plate was early but way off track up the 1st base side. The 5th inning ends with the score tied, 2-2.

**CHAD GAUGIN ALERT** Chad Gaudin is pitching for the Cubs in the bottom of the 6th. Delgado doubles inches fair in left. Castro singles to the pitcher. Gaudin errs on the throw, sending Delgado home (with the go-ahead run) and sending Castro to second. Back to back singles to right load the bases with no outs. Welcome back, Chad!

Johan Santana likes to jump around in the batter’s box. We’ll give him an Academy Award for acting. Santana hits into a fielder’s choice, 4-2, and that’s all for Chad Gaudin. Let’s see, a double, three singles and a fielder’s choice. Five batters faced, one out. Thanks for stopping by, Chad.

Kevin Hart is now pitching for the Cubs with 1 out, the bases loaded and speedster Jose Reyes up . Reyes hits a 3 run triple to right. Hello Kevin! Mark DeRosa makes a nice unassisted put out on Castillo at 1st base. Reyes must be winded at third, as he just stands there. David Wright fans and we’re out of the inning. Mets lead 6-2.

The lead off batter in the Cubs lineup, Alfonso Soriano, flies out to left - his fourth out of the evening. Cubs go 3 up and 3 down in the 7th. The ninth position in the Cubs lineup has struck out 3X tonight. That includes a pinch hitter.

Angel Guzman is pitching for the Cubs in the bottom of the 7th. He gives up one walk and gets 3 outs. Mets take a 6-2 lead into the 8th.

Cubs have not gotten a hit since the 4th inning. Johan Ks the 1st 2 batters in the top of the 8th. That’s 4 Ks in the last 2 innings. Reed Johnson singles to right and DeRo works Santana for a walk. And the Cubs strand both runners as McGehee grounds into a 6-4 fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Murphy walks to open the Mets’ 8th. Argenis Reyes, batting for the pitcher, fans. Jose Reyes draws a walk. Castillo fans. Wright lines to Cedeno to end the scoreless inning.

It will be up to Fuku, Blanco & a pinch hitter for the Cubs in the 9th, trailing 6-2. Pedro Feliciano is pitching for the Mets. Cubs have gotten only 1 hit since the 4th inning. Make that 2 hits as Blanco singles through the hole to left. Make it 3 hits as Micah Hoffpauir singles to right. Fuku must have softened up the pitcher, Pedro Feliciano, for these other guys. Ward pops out to end the game. Mets win 6-2.

Carlos Zambrano is scheduled to pitch tomorrow night. I wonder how that will turn out.

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The Worm Has Turned!

Rich Harden walks the first 2 batters. This is starting to look like Deja-Vu all over again. Lordy, I’m sorry for that one there…

Bad decision by Mark DeRosa. Brewers lead 1-0. Oh man, another walk. Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.

The Cubs go 3 up and 3 down in the 1st. Cub batters are not instilling fear into opposing teams lately.

On the other hand, Harden now has 5 Ks in a row. That’s something to admire.

Edmonds bangs a homer to left center. I remember seeing him do exactly that many times when he was playing against us. Score tied 1-1.

Harden seems to have regained his groove. He fans Fielder to end the 3rd.

Soriano walks with 2 outs. A split screen showing the runner and the batter simultaneously would be of interest here. Soriano is thrown out trying to steal 2nd base. How ‘bout a replay of the tag at 2nd base?

Aramis lines one into the left field bleachers. Cubs lead 2-1. I would feel better with 10 more insurance runs (IWFBWTMIR).

And there goes Harden’s no hitter. The Brewers get no runs and strand 3 runners in the top of the 5th. Be still my heart. Harden didn’t seem to have his best control today, but the scoreboard shows only 1 run for the Brewers (to this point). And he allowed only 1 hit in 5 innings.

Soto is called out on strikes. Pitch Tracker shows the ball never crossed the plate. I like Pitch Tracker. Doesn’t help Geovany, though.

Mark DeRosa boots a routine double play ball which would have ended the Brewers 6th. Of course, you can’t assume a double play. Brewers tie the score 2-2. Brewers take the lead 3-2. Brewers lead 4-2. Right handed Randy Wells comes in to pitch. Please stop the bleeding. Brewers lead 5-2. 3 outs. Time for the Cubs’ bats to come to the rescue. Or not. We’ll see.

Cubs do nothing in the bottom of the 6th. Having toasted Yost seems to be working for the Brewers as we move into the 7th.

And we’re treated to one of the worst renditions of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” in the history of mankind. With correspondingly bad results for the Cubs offense in the 7th.

OK, Cubs hitters. We need at least 3 runs and you’ve got only 6 outs to get ‘em. Fuku fans with one out. Pinch hitter Fontenot walks. Soriano fans. Well, it’ll be up to Theriot, Lee & Ramirez in the 9th. Cubs have 3 hits in the game so far.

Neal Cotts comes in to pitch the top of the 9th. He throws one pitch to Fielder which results in a double off the left field wall. That’s it for Cotts. I say Fielder has a heart attack before the end of the season. All that wiggles is not Jell-o.

Randy Wells has glue on his fingers. Brewers’ lead is 6-2. Cory Hart tries to advance to 3rd base when a pitch gets away from Geo. He is safe at 3rd. Fortunately for us, however, Hart is called out ending the top of the 9th.

Bottom of the ninth. Aramis hits a 2 out double. Edmonds gets an RBI base hit up the middle. Score is 6-3. DeRosa’s single puts Cubs base runners at the corners. The tying run is at the plate. His name is Geovany Soto. Soto jacks a 3 run homer to left. Score is 6-6. We have a new ball game. And Fuku grounds out to end the inning.

Marmol is pitching in the top of the 10th. 3 up 3 down. 2 Ks. On to the bottom of the 10th. The worm has turned!

Three up and three down. McClung strikes out the side. Kerry Wood comes in to pitch the top of the 11th.

K. Wood strikes out the side. Culminating with Prince Fielder. Again. That’s the kind of deja-vu I like. Come on, Cubbies. Any kinda run‘ll do.

Dee Lee fans. Ramirez walks, ending a string of 9 continuous strike outs for both sides. The winning run is on base with Edmonds up and 1 out. Edmonds gets tossed out of the game for noticing that the 2 strikes called on him were, in fact, balls. Pie hits into a fielder’s choice. 2 outs. DeRosa singles to left, pushing Pie to 3rd. Meanwhile, Howry is up in the Cubs bullpen. DeRosa takes 2nd base. Soto flies out to end the 11th inning.

Kerry Wood comes back out to pitch the top of the 12th. JJ Hardy singles up the middle. Cory Hart doubles to left center. Brewers have runners at 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Counsell grounds out to 2nd. Runners hold. 1 out. Grounder to Ramirez, they get the lead runner out. 2 outs. Runners on 1st & 2nd. Third out Theriot to Lee. No runs cross the plate. That was good!

Carlos Villanuevo is pitching in the bottom of the 12th. Darryl Ward is swinging at air. Amazingly, Ward walks. Marquis runs for him and represents the winning run on 1st with no outs. Reed Johnson sac bunts the winning run to 2nd base with one out. Alfonso draws an intentional walk. Runners on 1st & 2nd with one out.

Theriot flies out to right. Marquis tags up and advances to 3rd with 2 outs. Smart base running, Jason. Soriano takes second base. He cannot score, but now the possibility of a force out at 2nd base has evaporated. Dee Lee singles up the middle, driving home the winning run. Cubs win 7-6. Dee Lee baby!!

Talk about snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. That was an exciting finish!

Kerry Wood gets the win. Go Cubs Go!

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