Props for Kapper

Very enjoyable show tonight by our good friend David Kaplan on the 'GN. Basically he contacted gms and beat reporters of other NL Central and get the low down.

My favorite highlight was Doug Melvin, up north. When asked, what is your biggest strength, Mel's reply was something to the effect of:

We have 9 really good players that can all play 150 games easily.

Umm...just so we're clear - you're the GM of a baseball franchise, and your greatest strength is your ability to field a complete team?

And you guys wonder why you can't win...

Is Rickie Weeks one of those starters?

Anywho, once again props to Kapper for a very enjoyable show tonight.

Miller Park South???

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1427817,cubs-brewers-amtrak-021209.article

The first 100 Brewers fans who buy tickets to the Cubs’ Sept. 17 game at Wrigley Field will get a free, round-trip ride to Chicago on Amtrak.

The Brewers call the promotion Miller Park South.

[giggle]

You're, um, kidding right? Let's make one thing perfectly clear -

100 fans may be a significant boost to your little team's attendance up there. Down here, 100 fans is the line to the bathroom. You think you can box up 100 peons and send them COD to our town and, what, you think there will be a difference? Please. You've been drinking a bit too much of your sponsor up there kiddies.

Let us know when you wanna play with the big boys. I'll stop laughing in a minute...

P.S. Rickie Weeks is still on your payroll? Silly Beotches...

Woo-hoo!

Boy...those Mets fans sure were excited to beat our minor league team. woo-hoo. Are the Mets really that sad? Well, yeah. I guess so. Man just seeing some of those fan closeups during the series - those are some PO'ed people...like more po'ed than normal New Yorkers. I guess a crappy bullpen will do that to ya.

And speaking of which - our bullpen hasn't been all that wonderful of late. Gaudin, Samardzija, Howry. None of them are really blowing my skirt up these days.

The Hoff had a great day. Gotta love that. Great enough for a playoff spot? Eeeeeeehhhh...that's still TBD. But it sure was a good start.

Now all that needs to be done is b-slap the Boo-hoo crew once more so we get the "Lay-zin' Mets" in round 1, and we're golden. Not to mention, I'd sure like th eopportunity to beat that fat bee-otch one last time...

Open mouth. Insert foot.

A couple days ago, I mentioned that it'd take an unusual set of circumstances for the Cubs to Clinch on the field. Well due to amazingly exceptional circumstances, the odds are doubled now.

2:55 PM The time that BOTH the Cubs and the Brewers games start. Un frickin' real. Even if the Cubbies drop their kibble, they still may be running around the field in front of adoring fans popping corks.

You want the weird part?

What if the Cubs clinch in the 7th inning? How ef'ed up would that be??

We'll just have to see...

I'm spoiled into being a bad Cubs fan...

Not a Cubs fan who is lacking, but a fan of a lacking Cubs team. Two years ago, the Cubs lose this game in any number of ways. Last year, 50-50. This year, I was lured by how bad they'd been in the past. THat post was not edited in any way. I was literally typing that as Rammy hit his double.

Un freakin' beleive able. Woody gets out of a Second-Third no out jam? KERRY Wood??? Nahh...not Kerry....wow. Geo Soto has officially become the OMC MVP and ROY. That's a lot of initials.

Dang. I need to sit...you know...for a minute...

Hate to tell ya folks

Looks like the Cubbies won't be clinching at home... Even if they dio, you won't be here to celebrate.. Too many night games for the Boo-Hoo Crew. It'd take an unusual set of circumstances to clinch at home, after THEIR game. It's possible I suppose, but with the Boo-hooers playing the Reds, I don't see it.

Of course, as I write this, with two outs, Ramirez doubles, Edmonds singles, DeRosa singles, and Soto - MVP Soto - ties the game on a 3 run homer.

Just goes to show, I don't know shizzle about shizzle...

Stay tuned, this game seems to have another minute or two left...

Same result, different reasons

So, I don't expect much from Jason Marquis starts. Haven't all year. Maybe that's not the most fair statement, especially recently, but hey...
With Sheets going to the mound, I gave it about a 30% chance the Cubs would win the game. Turns out I was right, but not for the reason I thought.

Sheets leaves - again - early because of shoulder stiffness. I call it "I'd rather not get slapped around like the little Bee-otch that I am" Stiffness, but you know - po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe. So one of the bottom 3 bullpens in the majors takes over for 7.1 innings, and we can't touch them. Argh. This is pretty much par for the course with how my day was going, so not entirely surprising.

Bottom line, the Boo-hoo Crew needed that game a lot more that the Cubs did. No biggie. We'll just spank Bush tomorrow and clinch over the weekend. Can't argue with that :).

Sheets pitched for about a minute right?

Team of Destiny

Ok...get the barf bags ready...I'm about the one up Dave Freakin' Kaplan...and if Banks is Mr. Cub - Kapper is Mr Cubs fan...

I think that we could argue that the Cubs have been a "Team of Destiny" as evidenced by their best record in baseball status and their unbeatability at home. Recently well I think you could say they've sucked...actually sucked monkey balls...actually sucked the sweat off of dead monkey balls...here's the thing tho...

The Boo-hoo crew has sucked only just a touch less. During this horrid strech from Philly to Houston to Cincy and now Louie the Cubs have lost EXACTLY one game off of their lead.

A lot of things have to happen during a season to come out on top. One of those things is, your opposition needs to suck at times, and it helps if they suck at the same time as you suck.

If there is ANYTHING positive to take out of these two weeks - holy crap it's been two weeks - that's it.

Maybe later I'll feel up to writing about that train wreck in Louie tonight. For now one minute and one more page off the calendar...

Another one bites the dust...

5 game losing streak. At home. Feels weird doesn't it? And not the good "Voice is starting to crack and getting hair in funny places" weird.

The problem from what I heard tonight was frankly trying to hit the ball out of the park, with the wind howling in. Sheesh. Randy Wolf was just serving 'em up over the plate and daring the hitters to hit it out. Yes Wiggington did hit one out, but it was a line drive, not a power bomb. Remember the good ole' days when the hitters hit into the gap? The opposite way?

Eh well. The Brewers and Cardinals have sucked just as much. Better to suck now than suck in October...

A minute, no more, no less...

Another page off the calendar...

Ok folks. Step back from the ledge. It's ok. It's going to be ok. It's actually fascinating to listen to post game callers after a win, after a loss. It's like bi-polar city out there. Yeah baby - World series all the way baby. Oh man, are we even gonna make the playoffs? Argh. As Bob Brenly "talks about all the time" at this point - St Louis and Milwaukee both lost. It's another page off the calendar. The Magic Number sinks even further.

I would've liked to see Hoffpauir - who by the way, I'll be referring to as "The Hoff" from now on - come to bat in the ninth pinch for Lee. What pinch-hit for Lee? Yeah. The Hofff has been hitting everything in sight in AAA and he's just young and stupid enough to think he can hit off of Valverde, and that brings A Ram to the plate. Eh well. Still all-in Kapper.


Another minute off the blog, another page off the calendar.

Magic Number

Magic Number: 24
Home Games Left: 13
Road Games Left: 16
Total games left: 29
Magic number to clinch a post season berth : 20

There are three guarantees in life:
Death
Taxes
Bad Boo-hoo Crew Bullpen

how do you spell Soto?

M - V - P. Not that I think he's going to get it. But, and especially after this last week or so, he's definitely part of the conversation... 7 RBI tonight, including two bases clearing doubles. That's clutch. The pitching wasn't there tonight. Another shaky outing for Z. Thank goodness August is over soon.

The Boo-hoo Crew humiliated the Cards tonight, driving yet another nail into the coffin that is their season. However, the really bad schedule is coming up. A ton of road games and IIRC, all the rest of the games after tomorrow are against over .500 teams. That's scary, but I believe the Cubs can start booking some hotels until well into October.

That's another minute that splits the gap.

8 in 7

Dang, that was quite the offensive explosion today. 8 runs in the 7th inning. Mark DeRosa batted twice as a pinch hitter. That's just awesome. Dempster gets the win - number 14 in mid August - and the Brewers are already losing :).

Not to mention, the Brewers today have not 1, or 2, or 3, but FOUR starters in the lineup batting below .250. _4_. including the pitcher, that's 5 relatively easy outs. Mendoza, party of 5, your table's ready.

How can they be this good when they're this bad???

I'll wait to update the magic number until the Boo-hoo Crew goes final.

Can I have a minute with a side of "I suck"? - Rickie Weeks.

CC in a sling...

That's my prediction for the off season. The Brewers are in a win-win situation here. They dumped a couple of prospects for a rental player. Here's the thing. They can run that fat ba$7ard out there every day if they want to for the rest of the season. What do they care? When was the last time you have the oil changed on a rental car? Same thing here.

The Brewers should not give a rat's patootie how CC feels on Nov 1. He will no longer be their problem. They're not bringing him back. not unless they strike oil in centerfield at the park or something. I just hope CC and his agent are closely monitoring this situation. Because come off season, his huge paycheck could turn into an AARP check real quick.

Just a minute for your thoughts...

And PS - if the Cubs HAD gotten him...same argument...

Twin killing...

I knew Atlanta was pretty bad this year but sheesh! The only thing more brutal than the beating the Cubs gave the Brave - on the road no less - was the tongue lashing I got from my wife for watching two - yes two - games in one day. Since I have to yield the rest of my TV priveledges for the rest of tonight, I figure I'll write up a post.

Marquis threw halfway decent. got himself out of a couple of jams today. Good defensive play getting to first on a shot hit past Lee and almost past DeRosa. Harden looked kinda human today. Certainly not the dominating performance we got the first four starts. But he gets the W, so all's well.

The big story today/tonight was the bats. Up and down the lineup, just hit after hit after hit. Great to see. Maybe these guys have figured out how to hit on the road. Against rookies yes, but I've mentioned in previous posts, rookie seem to give the Cubs trouble.

Overall a pretty happy day, except the Brewers are currently beating the bejesus out of the Padres, so we only gain 1/2 game...considering we lost 1/2 game yesterday, that's not all that encouraging.

One more tomorrow, and that's the way the minute crumbles...

off day...

So the Cubs put the cap on a nice series yesterday. I just love it when the opposing team boots a ball and we turn it into 5 runs...And Chris Carpenter left the game on a medical...Hello Mark Mulder - where ya been? If that's not enough to drive the final nail into the coffin, I don't know what is...

So the Brewers won today - a-holes. The Diamondbacks picked up Adam "Dunn hit ball with little stick!!" (It sounds a lot funnier when I _say_ it, but anyway. Do they really think Dunn is the answer? Nothing against the guy, but boy oh boy, I hope the Dodgers don't have anything planned for October - they'll be busy. At least for 4 games while the Cubs wipe the floor with them. I'm factoring in one loss since we did split the series in LA this year.

Following that, if I had to pick the Phillies/Marlins/Mets vs Brewers, I'm going to have to go Brewers. History has proven though that we can beat them. It'll be an interesting series. I'm thinking Sheets v Zambrano, Sabathia v Harden, Parra v Dempster and with all the extra off days the networks throw in, prolly Sheets v Zambrano again. Or possbily Lilly v Busch? Not even sure where the Brewers rotation depth goes after Parra. We'll see...

I don't even know enough about the AL to make any predictions...

8 run 3rd.

Eight runs with 2 outs??? Wow. Flat out wow. No one saw that coming. This is a great offense, but jeez! Grand slam and a 3 run shot. Marquis' butt was saved, though he did pitch well the rest of the game. Whether that was due to him relaxing a bit after the explosion, or the Astros got deflated, or both, I don't know, but all the same.

Granted Backe ain't no Brandon Webb, but still.

Now we get three games to stomp on the Cardinals' throats like we did to Milwaukee. Going to the game Friday. I've heard Chris Carpenter is pitching. ick.

Anyway - enjoy it cubs fans!

Brewers rumble....

So Prince and Parra got into it last night. Took five guys to hold down the fat ba@!#$. Starting to fray around the edges are we brew-crew?

Actually, kinda reminds me of the Zambrano/Barrett title fight last year, only without the trip to the hospital. Having said that, this means that either:
A. The pressure is getting to this young team.
B. We've just seen the beginning of the end for the Cubs.
C. It don't mean diddly.

Personally, I'm hoping for A, but realistically, it's prolly C.

On a side note - it must suck to be a Brewers fan. The Brewers have been bottom dwellers for a couple of decades and now that they've actually got a good team, here come the Cubs.

Always the bridesmaid, never another minute...

Big Johnson

Oh wait.... hehe. Don't get me wrong, it's great that the Cubs won, but why did our bullpen have to piss away another great start by our pitchers...

The big bats came out again late and spanked the Pirates. I dig the fact that Johnson bunts for a base hit yesterday and hits the game winning HR today :).

Samardzija pitched very well after Lou shortened Z up. Gaudin gave up the lead but he's, been a great find from Oakland. Marmol closed it up. Nice job. Would've liked Z to get to 13, but oh well.

Brew Crew lost. Leads back to five. Hope the Cards get b-slapped, but that's secondary right now.

Astros come to town. We shall have to punish them.

One for the minute....two for the show...

How sweep it is...

Wow. I would've been happy if the Cubs won 3 up north. But a sweep? Wow...

Harden gets his first win! woo hoo! But he only struck out 9 in 7 innings this time, so overall, not a great performance...:)

Great offense, great pitching. Hey Brew Crew - this is how the big boys play. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll catch up to the wild card leader soon enough.

Wow. Went into this series hoping to wrestle 1st place away, and you end up in third. I'd love to say, I'm sorry, but I'm really not.

BTW: Ned, Eric, Prince -...... really? lol