Mom, They're Booing Me

Supposedly after Itchy Jones lost a flyball in the sun, costing Big Z a chance at a no-no, when he came up to bat, someone in the $200 seats booed him, catching flack from Jones' mother who was sitting nearby. Well mom, maybe you should have played catch with Itchy more when he was young, or at least taught him how to hit lefties, and maybe he wouldn't get booed so much.

Catching Up

Since my last post of 5/26, the Cubs have gone 2-3. The lowlight of the 3 losses was Sunday, when after scoring 4 in the 9th to tie it, Aramis Ramirez got confused and thought "use your head" referred to how to catch the ball, and after it bounced off his head, the runner who got to 2nd as a result scored the winning run, and the Cubs lost 13-12. Now they have won 2 in a row from Cincy, and no doubt Ron Santo is convinced we are going to the World Series now. Maddux finally won his 6th, and Wood actually won his first. Good times ahead? Don't get too excited just yet.

Isn't a 10 Game Suspension for Barrett more of a Reward than a Punishment?

Just asking. If you want to punish him, you should make him play for this Godawful team.

A Day Too Late

This post was going to be called "Looks Like The Cubs Have A Pulse, After All", after they came back on the Sox yesterday and won 7-4, scoring 4 runs in the 8th. But since I haven't posted until now, after the Marlins beat the Cubs 9-1,ending their 7 game losing streak, I guess they must have been too full from the early bird special, and decided to take a nap instead of play ball. I admit I didn't actually watch the game, but I guess what would have been the point. There has been a lot of talk tht Baker is going to get his extension. How he's earned it (or gotten his "earnies" as he likes to call it) is beyond me. Anyway, the guy who should be manager of the Cubs is in the Marlins dugout. Odds are, he'll have them back in the Series before Baker (or anyone else, for that matter) gets the Cubs there.

At least someone on the Cubs hit something

So far its Grinders 2 games, loafers 0. The hitting has been absent, except for Michael Barrett hitting A J Pierzynski in the jaw after a homeplate collision Saturday. I think the Sox missed a golden opportunity to win some Cub fans over, though. All it would have taken is for Ozzie to deck Dusty, or a few players to pile on Neifi and injure him, and they might have had Cub fans cheering. I generally don't pay close attention to the Cubs-Sox games, because of how they usually turn out. I did have it on when Itchy Jones flied out to deep right field, long enough to hear Ron say something like "Our flyballs end up falling just short of the fence", with his Why Do All Things Bad Always Happen To Us,We're So Unlucky tone. Well, Ron, probably because we're not good.

From Thursday's game

What a surprise -Dusty defends Neifi.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-060518cubsgamer,1,7516221.story?coll=chi-sportsnew-hed
You gotta "love" this jerkoff. Had Ronny Cedeno done it, I'm sure it wouldhave been a "youthful mistake" due to "inexperience", This pud calls it a"good play" when his pet Neifi does it. Maybe a better solution would have been to find someone else that can hit good. Oh wait, fat slobbo didn't bother to sign anyone like that, unless you count Jock Jones. Which wedon't.

Here's a surprise quote

Finally, someone gets it. Ironically, look who it is -
http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/story.asp?id=190388
“He was (rattled) a little,” Baker said. “He wished it hadn’t happened, especially at home. But it can change. Just start scalding that ball. If you start scalding the ball and playing better baseball, it can change, big time.”

That's what these clowns need to realize - if they do something like win the World Series, they won't get booed. Or more immediately, play the game right, hustle, and don't make the same stupid mistakes, and we won't boo you. You get paid enough to comfort yourselves from the big mean fans.

I wonder if the Cubs considered offering the drunk woman that threw the ball at Jock Jones a contract. Looks like she's got a better chance of hitting the cutoff man than Jock does.

Lotta Wood

Well, he looks to be in midseason form today (5 innings, 4 runs). I'm sure we'll hear a lot of BS about how he'll get stronger and better as he goes, at least until the next strain. Whenever Kerry Wood's name comes up, so does his contract status, which is a 13 million or so option for next year (team or mutual, not sure which). I have read a lot of things about letting him go, or signing him to a lesser contract. Since you know once he leaves the Cubs, he'll never be injured again, if I were the Cubs I would do this:

IF he doesn't get injured the rest of this year, and
IF he pitches like we think he should and
IF he will agree to a 2 year extension of between 6 to 10 mil a year (beginning 2008),
THEN I would pick up the 13 million option.

Now that I've solved the Wood issue, next may be Prior.

Loaferball Rules ... so far

1. Win - or quit trying.
2. Coaches that teach? How absurd!
3. Why run all out on a ground ball? What, it'll make a difference 1 out of 100 times?
4. October baseball? Hey, that's when I set my tee times.
5. We sure suck. But the pay is good.
6. The more pitches we take, the longer it makes the game go. I thought we were trying to make the games quicker.
7. It's sunny, and there's a lot of fine looking women in the bleachers. I could stand out here all day and it'd be alright with me.
8. You want me to dive for the ball?
9. I get paid whether or not I'm on the DL
10. When it comes to pitching, it's quantity, not quality.
11. It can't be our fault, it must be the fans' fault.

I've been Loafing - that's why I haven't posted my nest entry till now

I decided rule #1 should be changed to "Win - or quit trying". I was gonna write more but after this weekend's fiasco I decided to point something out instead. I have read many Cubs blogs in the past few years calling for someone to be fired or some sort of change. Until now, I didn't necessarily agree with all the fire someone ideas. After this current fiasco, I do want to point out Andy "pinky out while he sips tea" MacFail has the following to be proud of during his regime:
1996 - 2-14 season ending stretch
1997 - 0-14 start ( or 2-28 for 30 game stretch)
1999 - 10-40 midseason stretch
2000 - 10-40 midseason stretch
2002 - 6-20 September
2004 - 2-7 season ending stretch (when 6-4 would have clinched the playoffs).
2005 - 3 different 0-7 or 0-8 streaks
2006 - The current 2-14 skid.
Quite an impressive streak there, Andy. You deserve an extension for that. In fact, extensions for all.
I have been busy with important stuff, which would be defined as anything not involving to the Cubs. Tomorrow, I hope to post some Loaferball rules.
Don't forget, Friday starts the 3 game Grinder ball vs. Loafer ball series. Wonder how that'll turn out?

Where did Loafer Ball come from?

As many of you who root, root, root for the 25 man waste of time on Chicago's North Side know, the year 2005 was most excruciating, since the team that plays on the South Side ended their 88 year drought and became the World Series champions while the North Side poor excuse for a major league baseball team finished up the tracks with a 79-83 record, leading the world in injuries, a total lack of execution and excuses. So far, 2006 looks to be more of the same type of misery. However, as much as it pains me to watch this unfold - again, I have to admit that the defending champions did hit on a good marketing slogan beginning last year and continuing this year. If you live in Chicago and have seen a CTA bus, you knowI'm talking about "Grinder Ball", complete with different rules. I thought to myself, there must be a way that we Cub fans can come up with something similar about our team. Thus, "Loafer Ball" was born. I plan to publish "Loafer Ball" rules similar to "Grinder Ball". I guarantee you will be able to tell why they are "Loafer Ball" rules. Hopefully, they will make you laugh, since watching this wretched team lose night after night, day after day, is enough to make a fan want to cry, or worse.

Here is the first "Loafer Ball" rule - "Win - or not, what's the difference?"
Please check back. I'd put up more rules now, but I'm following their example - and am loafing.