Aug 27th 2008 3:30AM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Major League Baseball has made the official announcement: instant replay is coming to baseball. As in, soon. As in “by the end of the week.” Come Thursday, umpires will now have the ability to double-check close calls when the field’s boundaries are in question (ie, whether or not a ball fair or foul, whether it cleared the outfield wall or stayed in play, etc.)

It’s a bold move by MLB to install such a radical new system in the middle of a pennant race, but I completely understand the rationale: if the technology exists to guarantee a correct call, why wait? Things have been moving so quickly, though, that not every manager has been kept in the loop to know how it’s all going to work. From Paul Sullivan of the :

“Do you throw out a red handkerchief or something?” Piniella said, laughing. “What’s the format? What do you do? I’d love to be able to throw a red hanky or a green hanky on the field. Can you imagine being able to throw something on the field and you can’t be ejected? Nobody has told us anything. I think we should be schooled on it somehow.”
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Aug 25th 2008 6:00AM by Mullet (author feed)
Dan Uggla has struggled during the second half of the season. Since the infamous All-Star game where Uggla struck out three times and made three errors, Uggla has been awful, sporting a line of .189/.298/.336. The All-Star game may or may not have led to Uggla’s struggles, but Uggla’s struggles have led to him being benched on Sunday by Fredi Gonzalez.”Some guys go through rough spots in the season,” Gonzalez said. “He’s going through one now. He’s a big part of our offense.”

“We need him to get back on track if we’re going to win,” Marlins outfielder Luis Gonzalez said. “He’s huge for us.”

Uggla says he has no explanation for his struggles. He scoffs at the amateur psychologists’ belief that his performance in the All-Star Game - three strikeouts and three errors - plays a factor.

“That was over as soon as the game was over,” he said.But that hasn’t stopped opposing fans from taunting him … especially one group that’s been particularly scorned by Marlins in the past.Continue Reading

Aug 25th 2008 3:08PM by Pat Lackey (author feed)
If you’ve been following the presidential election closely, you know that the Democratic National Convention begins today in Denver. You might have even heard that the theme is going to be “unity,” as the party attempts to quell the anger of the Hillary Clinton supporters who feel that their voices haven’t been heard. As hard as Obama is working to unite his party, he apparently has no problem drawing a line between the baseball fans in his home town of Chicago. In an interview airing tonight, he tells ESPN:
[Stuart] Scott: “If the Cubs and the White Sox both make it to the World Series?
Obama: “I would be going.”
Scott: “Who would you root for?
Obama: “Oh, that’s easy. White Sox. I’m not one of these fair weather fans. You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there. People aren’t watching the game. It’s not serious. White Sox, that’s baseball. Southside.”

I imagine that this will go over far better than Rudy Giuliani’s attempt to play to voters by wearing a Red Sox cap in Boston last fall and telling people that he was a fan of the “American League.” Vacillating on team allegiance is a certain way to make unnecessary enemies at the polls in the fall. And besides, “People that are annoyed by Cubs fans” is a pretty large demographic. City unity my …

Aug 9th 2008 6:03PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)

Part of me feels sorry for Molly Dapier, after all, all she was trying to do was shoot her piece for Mouthpiece Sports when some dumbass Cubs fan in blue body paint decided to dump a cooler of water over her for no reason. On the other hand, though, she at a Cubs game. Idiotic behavior from the drunken fans in attendance is an inherent trait of the ballpark.

It’s a tradition as old as the ivy on the outfield walls.

That being said, the kid who did this is a total idiot. Why did he dump the water on Dapier? To look cool? Somebody should let him know that it’s really hard to look cool when you have no shirt on, a concave chest (had the water been poured on him, a puddle would have formed), and you’re covered in body paint.

Also, anyone think he would have done this if Dapier had been a man? Odds are he wouldn’t have because I know if it had been me he dumped the water on, I would have beaten him half to death right there on the spot. I’m surprised Molly didn’t.

(Via SPORTSbyBROOKS)

Aug 11th 2008 10:46AM by Eamonn Brennan (author feed)
Quietly, without fuss or complaint, Kosuke Fukudome has become something of a liability in the Cubs’ lineup. Where once he drew walk after walk, liner after liner — where once he hit three home runs in the season opener, forever endearing himself to Cubs fans — Fukudome is now struggling. In July, his .236/.306./.382 split was in stark contrast to his early-season performance, and his August (.125/.214/.167) hasn’t gone any better.

Though Fukudome has largely escaped fan fury for his recent failures, they haven’t gone unnoticed by Lou Piniella. Piniella needs to see more from Fukudome, or else: The Cubs manager said if Fukudome didn’t start hitting soon, he’d have to look at “other options” in right. “I just look at trying to put out lineups that produce runs, and we’ve got a couple guys that are swinging the bats, including Reed Johnson, that are not playing,” Piniella said. “Sooner or later, I’ve got to give them opportunities.”By far, the problem with Fukudome isn’t so much that he’s not hitting — it’s that he’s not walking anymore, either. The overriding value to Fukudome was supposed to be his J.D. Drew-like on-base ability, the kind of batters’ eye that keeps him productive even during slumps. That hasn’t happened. Instead, Fukudome’s been bad in almost all facets except his right field defense, which remains strong. Still, he’s been bad, and needs to get better. That this isn’t a big deal is a testament to how popular Fukudome has been at Wrigley all year … but that fandom can vanish quickly if production doesn’t keep up.

In the meantime, Jim Edmonds is hitting well and is rapidly becoming a Cubbie favorite. Worlds colliding. Cats and dogs. Etc.Continue Reading

Aug 11th 2008 1:19PM by Eamonn Brennan (author feed)
Assuming the Cubs make the playoffs — and I stress, for the sake of fate and karma and all that make believe nonsense, that this is still an assumption — they will have a bit of ceremony to pull off. It’s likely, if things keep up this way — and again, merely likely, not assured — the Cubs will play their first round playoff games at home. Who will throw out the first pitch? Mayor Daly? John Cusack?

Or what about this guy: 104-year-old Chicago resident Leo Hildebrand wants his shot. As one of few Chicagoans who was actually alive in 1908, he thinks he deserves first crack, and he has a decent case: Pitching in front of his Bensenville bungalow one day last week, he says he’s got a fastball. He doesn’t. “I’ll do better,” he vows, continuing to pitch. “I’ll give you a sidearm now.” A lifelong Cubs fan, Hildebrand wants to throw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field for a game during the Cubs’ expected playoff run. His neighbor and good friend, Henny Kronvold, tried to persuade the Cubs to let Hildebrand pitch last season, but the Cubs politely told her all of the slots were taken, Kronvold said. The Cubs are going through the requisite public relations steps — saying they’re considering Hildebrand as well as others, and haven’t made decisions yet, and so on. But if Leo Hildebrand, centurian, can indeed throw a baseball across home plate, the Cubs couldn’t possibly deny him. Come on, people. The man is 104, and he’s not actively campaigning for his own euthanasia, which I would be doing if I was 104. He deserves one freaking opening pitch. Make it happen.

Aug 11th 2008 8:40PM by Will Brinson (author feed)
In our country’s history of bizarre endorsements, I don’t think Peter Gammons calling Mark Cuban’s purchase of the Cubs a “great fit” is quite as shocking as say, Hunter S. Thompson rising from the grave to declare the need for another four years of Dubya, but it’s pretty bizarre.

Gammons is as old school as it gets in baseball, but according to his most recent blog post, he wholeheartedly endorses Cuban as Cubs owner, despite the possibility that there may be forces ( Commissioner Bud Selig) working against him.
But there is increasing speculation that Sam Zell, the chairman and chief executive officer of the Tribune Company, is not going to allow the Commissioner’s Office to puppeteer the sale, and that Mark Cuban is in this thing far deeper than Selig and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf want to believe. NBA commissioner David Stern has told those associated with Cubs that Cuban is one of the NBA’s best partners, and everyone appreciates that Cuban understands fans and marketing, and is one of the creative pioneers of the world of new media and would create a tremendous buzz throughout baseball that would be nothing but beneficial to the industry.
Nothing about Cuban is surprising anymore … except perhaps that David Stern is giving him positive reviews. I kid, I kid. Kind of.

Cuban and Stern have gone head to head on plenty of stuff in his tenure as Dallas Mavericks owner, but the fact that he turned the team around and continues to be an innovative owner, desperately trading for Jason Kidd aside.
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Aug 13th 2008 2:55PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
It doesn’t matter what team you root for, but in every Major League city around the country there is that one player on the team who isn’t the biggest star, but draws some kind of cult following anyway. In Chicago with Cubs fans, that player is shortstop Ryan Theriot. He’s been beloved by Cubs fans since about fifteen seconds after he first became a regular player with the team last season.

Which is why the Chicago Tribune asked it’s readers to send in questions for Theriot to answer in the paper, and in Ryan’s answers we find out he’s a pretty likeable guy, and he’s funny to boot. Oh, and we also learn that he could totally beat up his good friend, occasional double play partner, and former college teammate Mike Fontenot. — Erik Burgio, San Francisco

I’d beat Font’s butt, though Z might kill us. But I think Z likes me, or at least I hope he does. I would never fight Font, but if I did, I’d hammer him, and he knows that.This isn’t the only interesting tidbit in the Q&A session,either, as Ryan also informs us that he has nine pitches in his repertoire “all of which are awesome,” Mark DeRosa is the ugliest guy in the clubhouse though he has huge biceps, and that he thinks cats are cool.

All in all it’s a pretty interesting session not filled with the same old boring answers players give to the same boring questions. If you’re looking for some time to kill at work today, I highly recommend it.

Aug 13th 2008 5:30PM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Earlier this week, Lou Piniella admitted that Kosuke Fukudome might lose at-bats to Reed Johnson or Mike Fontenot if he doesn’t start hitting soon. He reinforced that idea again yesterday (even if the headlines in today’s falsely suggests otherwise). But if an impending trip to the bench bothers Fukudome, he didn’t let it show yesterday:
Fukudome seemed oblivious to the slump he’s in, saying through an interpreter: “I haven’t made any drastic changes. I feel just as comfortable as before.”
He’s just as comfortable as before? Forgive me if I don’t believe him. After opening the year hitting .305 in April, he went on to hit .293 in May, .264 in June and .236 in July. Unfortunately, he hasn’t come close to stopping the downward spiral this month, hitting just .107 thus far in August.

His renowned patience has been something less than advertised, as well. After averaging 17 walks the first three months, he was down to nine in July and just three so far this month. Either that’s a hell of a slump … or it only took two months for opposing pitchers to learn the book on him.

Sure, it’s presumptious to write off Fukudome just yet — now that he has his feet wet, maybe he’ll bounce back next season — but as far as year, he’s been a black hole in Chicago’s lineup for the better part of two months, and absolutely nothing about his (admittedly painfully small) track record suggests anything will change soon.

Aug 14th 2008 12:05PM by Pat Lackey (author feed)
When Jeff Samardzija was called up about three weeks ago, lots of people (and this includes me) wondered if he was ready for the big leagues. He’s responded with a mostly dominant 13 and 2/3 innings out of the bullpen, holding opponents to eight hits and two runs while striking out 14 over that span. His dancing 98 mph fastball has made him a real asset in the Cubs bullpen. That may not be enough for the Cubs, who need a starter this Sunday and are considering the ex-receiver for the spot start:
“Might as well just throw it in there,” Samardzija said of the possibility he draws the start for the Cubs Sunday in Florida. “We’ve kind of done a little bit of everything.”
Piniella hasn’t called Samardzija’s number for Sunday, and likely won’t make that decision until the weekend. But he said Wednesday the rookie is one of his options for covering the spot in the rotation that opened because of Tuesday’s rainout in Atlanta.

Samardzija worked as a starter in the minors and it seems likely that his long-term role with the Cubs is, but he’s been so good in the bullpen that I think the Cubs would be slow to move him out of that role before the playoffs. A good starter is always better than a good reliever, but Samardzija won’t be able to overwhelm hitters with his fastball from the rotation and the learning curve is a bit steeper as a starter. Even if he does start on Sunday, it’ll probably be a one-time thing.
Lou Piniella says he’s going to start Marshall and piggy-back him with Samardzija so as to not stretch anyone out too far, which is probably the most logical conclusion here.