Win today...

No, not today, today.

The one mistake Lou made last October, was a lack of "Win today" mentality. In Game 1, Z was unhittable, and yet Lou pulled him in favor of Marmol, so that Z could come back on short rest in Game 4. Only problem was - there was no Game 4. And Marmol who was as lights out last year as he was this year, got lit up for a Chris Young HR which ended up being the game winner.

In October, there is no tomorrow. No Game other than the one you're playing now. It's like a soldier holding down a fort, but saving ammo for when reinforcements arrive tomorrow. If 200 guys are charging you, USE THE DAMN AMMO!!!

At the point in the game last year, the D-Backs were so happy there was someone on the mound other than Z, it could've been Cy Young himself and they'd have felt on top of the world.

Lesson to be learned - if your starter is mowing them down like a tommy gun at a peace rally, leave him in. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Don't hold back. Kick them while they're down, burn them and then piss on the ashes.

Or there will be no more minutes...

Pitching thouhts for October...

So here's a few thoughts for the rotation in the postseason. First, Harden is a Game 2 or Game 4 guy. Probably game 4. Since it's pretty well documented that he will not be going deep into games, you're going to need to rest the bullpen after a start of his. Games 2 and 4 have an off day, so there ya go.

Dempster pitches better at home than on the road. Is he the #3 starter then? you can make that case. I certainly wouldn't mind.

Lilly can either be brilliant or very hittable. So you're making him starter number 2 or 4 as well for the same reason as Harden. Precautionary.

Zambrano, while he says he doesn't care when he starts - he cares. Make him #1. We'll need his A++ game against Santana, so run with it. He's also strong enough to go deep and if necessary come in in relief in game 3 or 4 to nail down the series, or come back in 5 if it's necessary.

so In the DS, I've got Zambrano, Lilly, Dempster, Harden.

Now a WS thought - not getting too far ahead of ourselves, but...

How about Zambrano and Dempster in Games 3 and 4. They're the best bat handlers in the lineup and those games are at Wrigley - in the NL. THIS CANNOT BE UNDERESTIMATED. In the NL, you have to think Defense and Offense from the number 9 slot. It'd give us one heck of an advantage over the AL counterpart.

Which makes Harden and Lilly games 1 and 2 starters on the road - former AL pitchers, used to the DH. The downside is, there's a better chance of previous AB's against them from the opposing lineup. Unfortunately, this is out-of-the-box thinking and will probably not enter Lou's head. Another option - Zambrano, Harden, Dempster, Lilly . This brings Z back in Game 5, also at Wrigley - if it gets to game 5. But it also means Harden goes game 6 with no off day after...

Soooo many possibilities in such a short minute...

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?

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...