--RF Milton Bradley was hitless in his first nine at-bats, but the Cubs liked his approach at the plate and the fact that he was seeing a lot of pitches. Bradley had drawn four walks, including three Wednesday. Manager Lou Piniella also has termed Bradley a "good outfielder" and has said he has no plans to remove him late in games for defense.
--The Cubs opened a season without anybody on the disabled list for the first time since 1986. --RHP Jeff Samardzija is expected to work as a starting pitcher for Class AAA Iowa once he gets settled, but the Cubs expect to limit him to two or three innings at the beginning. Samardzija went to spring training battling to become the fifth starter, a job that went to LHP Sean Marshall. After Marshall won the job, Samardzija went to the bullpen, where he worked in short stints. So the Cubs want to stretch him back out before letting him go long as a starter at Iowa. Samardzija was 0-1 with a 7.63 ERA in the Cactus League.
BY THE NUMBERS: 1 -- RHP Carlos Marmol is the only holdover from the Cubs' opening-day bullpen in 2008. Gone are LHPs Carmen Pignatiello and Scott Eyre and RHPs Michael Wuertz, Bob Howry and Kerry Wood.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It looked like the stars and the moon and the sun and everything was aligned." -- Manager Lou Piniella, lamenting the Cubs reaching the 100th anniversary of their last world championship but failing to deliver last year
