It's now almost the end of August, and the post season realities of the contenders and pretenders are starting to sort themselves out.
It appears that the Colorado Rockies are making Wil Ferrell proud by streaking their way into contention not only for the Wild Card, but they've nearly caught the Dodgers in the West.
The Cardinals have won the Central.
The Phillies will win the East.
There are still some teams that are hanging on to hope, as the Marlins, Braves and Giants of the world chase the Wild Card and lightning in a bottle for one shot at glory.
And then ...
Memo to Lou Piniella: the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.
Reports out of Chicago (by way of Los Angeles) are that Piniella has guaranteed he will remain on the bench as the manager of the Chicago Cubs next year.
Whispers had started that Piniella was considering leaving the Cubs after a disappointing 2009 season.
And, with a change in ownership in the not-too-distant future, the likelihood that there would be changes made around (and potentially above) the manager's role made many question if Piniella would want to stay.
There have also been signs that Piniella is tiring of the current ...
I'm not going to post this article as "breaking news" in hopes that realistic fans of the Chicago Cubs realize that their favorite team isn't going to the playoffs this year.
Sorry folks, they're just not good.
And because of their poor performance, there are lots of questions wandering around the heads of Chicago right now. With Friday's announcement that the sale of the organization has been essentially finalized, now there can hopefully be answers coming in the near future.
But there are some questions I would like answered before November. Indeed, I would like one of them answered before next week.
Why can't ...
There are a lot of things wrong with the 2009 Chicago Cubs.
They’re an expensive team that had the hopes of Chicago riding on them repeating their regular season performance of 2008, in which they had the best record in baseball. Only this time, with the changes made by General Manager Jim Hendry, the post season results should have been different.
Well, those post-season results will be different…I guess. The Cubs will win just as many playoff games this year as they did in 2008; they just won’t have the opportunity to win any this time around.
Hendry’s approach last winter has been ...
There are a lot of things wrong with the 2009 Chicago Cubs. They’re an expensive team that had the hopes of Chicago riding on them repeating their regular season performance of 2008, in which they had the best record in baseball. Only this time, with the changes made by General Manager Jim Hendry, the postseason results should have been different.
Well, those postseason results will be different…I guess. The Cubs will win just as many playoff games this year as they did in 2008; they just won’t have the opportunity to win any this time around.
Hendry’s approach last winter has been ...
There are a lot of changes happening on the baseball teams in Chicago already, and this winter might bring more. But could there be a way the Cubs and White Sox could get together on a deal to make both parties better?
There have been very few instances of there being cross-Chicago trades happening. In fact, in the last 15 years, there have been only two: Jon Garland to the Sox for Matt Karchner (oops) and David Aardsma to the Sox for Neal Cotts (a wash).
Perhaps the most famous trade between the two teams happened in the early 1990s, when the ...
I've tried so hard to play nice, and be eloquent with my arguments regarding the Chicago Cubs. I've given them the benefit of the doubt and even tried to support the cloud's silver lining for months.
I'm done.
What you'll read below is what I really think and feel about the 2009 Chicago Cubs. I'm not writing this piece to be a Pulitzer, but to take off the charm and happy face and tell you where I am at with these Cubs.
If you're personal friends with or are related to anyone in the Cubs organization, please don't take this personally. I don't hate anyone with ...
On Tuesday night, the Chicago Cubs lost to the defending-champion Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 in extra innings. The game was lost on a home run off Kevin Gregg, but the debacle began when Carlos Marmol entered the game.
Marmol's had issues all season and nobody, including manager Lou Piniella, has an idea of why Marmol has been so bad at times this year.
He hasn't been able to locate the strike zone, and is throwing a significantly higher percentage of early-count breaking balls than he did when he was overwhelmingly successful in 2008.
What's the problem with Marmol, and how should the Cubs deal ...
On Tuesday, Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez reportedly received a cortisone shot in his ailing left shoulder. He will be out of the lineup until at least Thursday's finale against Philadelphia.
He should be out until next year's Spring Training.
The Cubs are certainly in a fight for the Wild Card and their division crown. Despite their woeful showing in Colorado this weekend, the numbers would indicate that the Cubs have plenty to play for in August and September.
That shouldn't change the Cubs' approach with Ramirez; he needs to be shut down for the winter now.
Ramirez turned just 31 years old ...
The only statistic that's been impressive for the Chicago Cubs this year has been the list of players to get hurt.
On Friday night, which marked the beginning of an important series in Colorado against a Rockies team the Cubs are currently chasing in the Wild Card standings, the Cubs lost their ace after a handful of warmup pitches before the game ever started.
Carlos Zambrano left his previous start in Florida with a stiff back, and the Cubs had hoped he was simply suffering from dehydration issues; it was in the upper 90s with high humidity when he threw against the ...
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