Awesome...

The Cardinals can't even beat our minor league team....and Ryan Dempster...hehe...

Nuff said...

Wow....

The lineup today is crazy -

Fukudome
Cedeno
The Hoff
Ward
Fontenot
Pie
McGahee
Hill
Dempster

Think they clinched last night? I wonder...

There's a minute, which is aobut how long it'll take Looper to get thru the lineup the first time...

Hey Chicago Whaddaya say?

The Cubs are gonna clinch today!

Exciting game. Now, I haven't paid any attention to the Cardinals lately - why would I? but with Ankiel and Molina on the Bench, you send Aarom Miles to pinch hit? Ummmm....ok....

Sucks - Gameday didn't have any video highlights for this one. There were a few plays I wanted to see, but oh well. Bottom line - clear your calendars from October folks - it's gonna be a fun month!

There IS one more team to watch for a few more games...The Mets.

The answer for yesterday's question. The Number 4 is the magic number to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. It is, BTW, now 3.

Party on Cubs fans! There's more work to do, no doubt, but for now, it's Miller Time! At least for a minute or two...

P.S. Eat it Cardinals,...how does it taste?

Woo hoo! We scored!

Yeah baby! It's 12-4 Cardinals. 2 grand slams and we're right back in this thing!

You lilly livered....

How about that Ted Lilly huh? Steals a base earlier this year. Bowls over Molina Molina Molina last night. Gotta love that. Not in love with the pitching this year, but he sure smacked Yaddie down on his butt. Catcher's gear? Who cares.

Pitched a heck of a game last night too. The bulldog eh? I believe it.

As short as minutes come...

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...

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.

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...

Ummmmmm.....yeah.

So Zambrano didn't miss any bats today. Didn't have his good stuff. In fact he didn't have stuff. He pretty much just tossed in those batting practice balls and watched the pretty smoke making rainbows as the balls left the yard. Let the Cards slap him around like a little bee-otch. Wouldn't mind so much, except it IS against the Cardinals... eh well.

Bottom of the 7th and LaRussa's going to the bullpen, so it's not completely lost. I won't be holding by breath however. Hopefully Dempster can miss a few bats tomorrow. Meantime, I need to find a convenient rope to hang myself with.

Some runs, some runs, a minute for some runs!

What's that crunching sound?

Oh yeah...that'd be the Cubs stomping down on the Cardinal's season and crushing their windpipe. Don't get me wrong - if the Cardinals manage to win one or two of the next two, they've got some life - like the amount of life a guy who falls 30 feet off a building onto concrete has. If the Cubs sweep tho, I'll make the prediction now that that's the end. Auf Wiedersehn, buh-bye, get back to us when Izturis isn't your starting shortstop.

There's a minute for you, which is about the total time that Caesar Izturis didn't suck as a Cub.

Make it official Part Deux

So here's another thing I've never put in black and white:

Edmonds was a good sign.

Yeah yeah, he was a Cardinal, blah blah. The point is, he's a cheap date. I think the Cubs are paying him $250K or some ridiculously small amount like that. He was and still is a no risk-high reward signing. Now don't get me wrong - when the worst hitting team in baseball looks at you and says "nuh-uh - that won't do..." ok there's issues. But a nice change of scenery has resurrected careers before. And if he didn't work out after a few weeks, "thanks Jim. 'Preciate it buddy." and everyone goes home happy.

Now, some of you will say "Oh, he's only saying this because he's been so hot recently." Not true. from day 1 - and I was at that game BTW, I've been saying this. I did NOT boo when he first came out to center, nor when he took his first AB. What I did do, was bet a buddy of mine that if he went 2-4 in the game, would he then lick my shorts. He did not take the bet, Edmonds did not go 2-4, and he did not lick my shorts, but ever since a flurry of txt messages have been exchanged. It's all in good fun, but the guy was a good pickup, who has turned out to be a pretty darn good pickup. Not great yet, but I am digging the Johnson/Edmonds platoon.

Edmonds is an ugly ba$7ard BTW...

For these minutes and more, log on to oneminutecubs.blogspot.com - oh wait...you're already here...

What a game.

Edmonds hits two bombs, and he was on deck in the 11th By the way :).

So the Cubs won the "I'm at the game" season series, 2-1 overall. So that's awesome. Great game to be at too. Admittedly by the 8th inning I was dying for a cigarette - no smoking ANYWHERE in Wrigley thank you very much City Council - so I was really hoping score in the 8th, close in the 9th. Eh well. Overall a great game. The Cards botched so many plays it was silly. A failed sac bunt attempt, a failed sac fly, and a failed stolen base. It was funny to watch. And why anyone runs on Soriano, I have no idea. Unless your last name is "Taveras", just don't even bother.

Speaking of which, I need to go on record about Edmonds and Soriano, but those are other minutes...

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!

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...

Going out on a limb here...

Ok, I admit it. I caved...

Magic Number: 51
Home Games Left: 28
Road Games Left: 26
Total games left: 54

There's math here, but also probabilities, but I won't make a mathematically based guess on when/if the Cubbies clinch. The rest of the schedule looks interesting. If the bats can stay alive on the road, and the pitching performs as it has been, life looks pretty rosy. But that's a LOT of ifs, especially with the last 13 games being played vs. STL, MIL, and NYM. Good game tonight. I am now happy. If they get blown out tomorrow, that'll bring me down a bit, but 3 of 4 is more than I realistically expected, so good times.

Keep those bats going and keep the patience at the plate going, and pray that the Ramirez deal goes through depriving Pittsburg of Jason Bay, along with Nady and Marte.

I'd still like to see Sherrill wearing Cubbie Blue.

Another minute in the books.

Last night...

Nothing much to say aobut last night's game. We've just gotta learn how to hit on the road. Lilly pitched a good game, but had no run support. Sucks, but there it is..

Another interesting bit of trivia - The Cubs have not won back-to-back series on the road (oops! Thanks readers!) ONCE this year. Ouch babe. That just isn't going to cut it. I believe there are about 35 or so home games left. That does not bode well.

This is going to be a critical month in the schedule. Most of the games are going to be against Central teams, with I believe 10 or more games between the Brewers and the Cardinals each. I don't' have the numbers, but things can go south real fast.

Pitching hasn't been too much of a concern on the road, but our hitting is just awful...

That's a minute for ya.

Cards and Brew Crew Blow it....

Kinda take the sting out of yesterday's game. The Cardinals Blew a 10-6 lead in the ninth and LOST in extras. THAT'S gotta hurt. Here's the worst part - They blew a 1 run lead IN THE 10TH TOO!

I caught myself last night. Both the Brewers and the Cards have lost games late and I sat there saying to myself "That's what you get for having a crappy bullpen." Oh wait. I realized our bullpen ain't looking much better. I'd love to know what our bullpen's ERA is for the past week or two. I cant' remember a day that our bullpen hasn't given up at least 1 run.

That's not good by any measure. So, we's got's to get out sh^& together too.

Oh, by the way - once again - Best Record in Baseball. That helps a bit too...

There's a minute for ya...

Cubs-Cards Game 2.

You know, driving home from work after the game, I was listening to the post game on 'GN and some schmuck actually called and asked why Pinella didn't leave Marmol in for the ninth?

Ok, first- Wood had converted his last 12 consecutive save opps. Second, have you been WATCHING Marmol lately?? For crap's sake...

I took the positives away from the game. Ramirez broke his 0-28 slump with his homer and Marmol pitched a perfect 8th.

Save or no save, you walk the first to batters in the ninth, and you have issues. Woody just didn't have it. Stuff happens. No worries. As it turns out, we won the series, so all is ok in the end.

Woody's a lights out closer. He won't convert every time, and it will SUCK when he doesn't, but please. Can we NOT get these phone calls every time he doesn't? Please?

Ok, that's my minute.

CC See ya...

Freakin' Brewers! Who said they can have a shot at the division?? Bad enough we have to deal with the overachieving Cardinals. Now they're getting a Cy Young winner for two third graders and a bag of balls? Ok, so LaPorte is a "Hot prospect". Want me to name some other Hot Prospects? Corey Patterson? Felix Pee-AAA? Hot prospect. Like we don't have a prospect or two to throw to the Indians...Actually we don't.

The gauntlet has been thrown Hendry. Think we can survive with Lilly being our number 2? 5 seconds? 4....3....NO! Now get on the phones. And if you counter with Randy Wolf, I swear I'll wait until you get married and then slap your wife!

Ok, that's my minute.