Blog Archives

March 23, 2008

Cubs Spring Training Game 25: Cubs 7; Padres 3

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Boxscore

Jason Marquis pitching in a spring training game against the PadresThe Cubs marched to spring training victory today, beating the Padres 7-3 in Peoria, AZ.

The Cubs were led in their effort by Jason Marquis, the sucky ex-Cardinal who’s having a surprisingly good spring with the Cubs. Marquis is rocking a 1-1 record and a 2.95 ERA this spring. Kerry Wood made his second-consecutive appearance, allowing one hit and striking out two in his one inning of work.

On the other side of the mound was the excellent (in an aggregate sense) ex-Cub who’s having an equally surprising good spring, considering he’s almost 42 and working on season number 22 in the majors, Greg Maddux. Alas, he didn’t have a surprisingly good game, allowing seven runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks in four innings.

Patterson (Eric, not Corey) led things off for the Cubs going 1-for-5 with an RBI. Aramiz Ramirez contributed two RBI. Ryan Theriot brought in three runs, and Marquis himself knocked in a run to bring the total to 7.

Adrian Gonzalez hit in all of the San Diego runs and was the only Padre with more than one hit on the game, going 2-for-3 with a run scored.

The win brings the Cubs’ Cactus League record to 11-14. Tomorrow the Cubs go up against Jonathan Sanchez and the Giants at 3:05 p.m.

March 17, 2008

Episode 94: A Podcast with No AM Radio

Our Brewers preview interview was postponed last night due to our recording equipment picking up an errant AM radio station. We’ll try again tomorrow, but in the meantime, the Crack Technical Staff and I catch up on what’s been going on around the division.

Ruh-roh, Astros

  • Kaz Matsui has undergone surgery to repair his anal fissure. He’ll be out two to three weeks, and will miss the opening.
  • Utility man Mark Loretta will replace Matsui.

Trouble Brewers
Manager Ned Yost has interesting plans for his lineup.

  • Mike Cameron will bat 2nd when he returns from his drug suspension. Yost wants Cameron’s replacement to also bat 2nd, so as not to disrupt the delicate order of the line-up.
  • Yost will have the pitcher bat 8th.

Tweet tweet Cardinals

  • Finally signed Kyle Lohse for 1 year and $4.25 M. What the hell happened to the consensus best free agent starting pitcher? Collusion? Backlash against Scott Boras?

Da Cubs

  • Rumors that the Cubs will trade with the Orioles for lead-off hitter Brian Roberts continue to abound and be squashed.
  • Kerry Wood looks to be the closer for this season.
  • Ryan Dempster might not make the starting rotation.

Ahoy! Pirates

  • Steve Pearce, one of the Pirates best prospects was cut and send down to AAA camp.
  • Starter Ian Snell signed a long-term deal ($8 M over three years). With options, could buy out a year of free agency.

Watch out for McCarthy, Reds

  • Jeremy Affeldt has been moved to the bullpen.
  • Rotation looks to be Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Josh Fogg, Johnny Cueto, and Edinson Volquez
March 13, 2008

FAIL

Corey Patterson: FAIL

March 12, 2008

NLC Spring Training Cuts

Spring Training in baseball is always exciting, filled with the naive optimism that “We can win it this year.” It always seems the players feel that way, too, so I wonder how the marginal players deal with the cuts. It’s one thing if you’re young and a touted prospect, but to be older and hanging on for one more shot has to be hard.

No major moves have been made yet, but here’s a rundown of the cuts that the National League Central clubs have made in the past few days.

 Just two and a half weeks until Opening Day, and most teams have rosters that are well over the 25 man limit. It seems that teams are taking longer to decide on which 25 to take this year. I find the hand-wringing over all of it a little amusing. I mean, the vast majority of the final 35 or so players all make it to the big leagues at some point. Someone always gets injured.

Until then, keep enjoying the starting rotation battles for the Reds, the closer battle for the Cubs, the 25-man battle for the Pirates, and the Cardinals ongoing search for a Scott Spiezio replacement.

March 11, 2008

Spring Training Game 9: Reds 6, Devil Rays 4

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Boxscore

The Reds won over the Rays on Sunday, 6-4, in St. Petersburg. Our trips to this stadium are invariably wonky. There was the year we thought it was a day game only to find we’d arrived four hours early. There’s been shivering under blankets in the stands. And this year, it was arriving at a tiny little sports complex around 80th street. The CTS thought something was off from the beginning, but we thought maybe they’d just moved where they had the spring training games. However, as we pulled into a half-full parking lot that accommodated 50 cars, max, we were sure something was up. The Rays might not pull in the crowds that some teams do, but they didn’t practice at the softball field.

We did make it back downtown and found the stadium from memory and were in our seats with time to spare before the first pitch.
Does Dunn know who he is now?
Guest instructor Eric Davis was in attendance, showing off his swing before the game. Woo, he’s trim for an ex-player. I wonder if he’s ever considered pitching.

Think he's telling them about how he used to be a good manager?
Dusty Baker hands the line-up card over to a throng of umps.

He's good, but not good enough to skip a road game.
A spring training treat: seeing a real-live starter go three innings with one unearned run on two hits and three walks. Belisle’s a little wild yet, but not as wild as the first inning foul-ball…

Get your hand away from my hole.
…that went right through one of the panes of glass in the press room window. Stuff like that really makes you think about how fragile your skull would be.

You'll get to play someday...when you're a veteran.
Chris Dickerson was among those who didn’t get to skip the road trip. He was 0-1 with a walk.

Marge Simpson would be proud
Ah, the Cowbell Kid, his cow bell and foot-tall blue hair entertaining the masses wherever he went. I actually made my way over to interview him, only to find later that the iRiver had been set to “line-in” instead of “mic” causing nothing to be recorded. If there’s any stupider feeling than talking into your own hand as you walk around the stadium, it’s learning later that your hand had not been recording the conversation.

In any event, he told me that he’s just a fan and pays for tickets for the honor of providing the service he provides. He senses something different about the team this year, which undoubtedly has something to do with the team doubling the payroll. And he gave me an appreciative “I can see that,” when I told him the name of my blog, so he’s got my approval. Oh, and he’s got a grill.

You can read more about him at his mySpace page.

Reds win
The game finally wrapped up, the final score showing a closer outcome than it really was. And after an important and hard-fought battle, the Reds congratulated each other.

Good job, us