How About Baker and Z
I have to admit that I was a little nervous in this first game against the Giants. We just weren’t putting up enough runs, it was extremely foggy causing the ball to do some weird things and the Giants were putting more runs on the board. In the ninth, Jeff Baker came through with the winning two-run homerun that gave the Cubs the win. It just seems like as a team the Cubs are jiving better now. I’m hoping that after a little rest and then hitting the winter workouts and spring training, this Cubs team can get back to the well oiled cogs that we saw in 2007 and 2008. Mark DeRosa becomes a free agent this year, let’s go get the glue for the clubhouse back. We have a ton of veteran players, which can be a great thing when you have Derrek Lee who is swinging the hottest bat in the major leagues right now and then you follow him up with Aramis Ramirez, which outside of his shoulder injury is still hitting well. This lineup has the talent to get it done, there isn’t one of our current players that I feel doesn’t deserve to be here. I know that Lou is looking for another hot bat to put in the heart with those two guys, but if Soto comes back next year in better shape and swinging more like his rookie year, then there is the other bat. Let’s condition him and get him back to the shape that had him smacking the ball around the field and out. Jeff Baker has proven to be a great addition which is hard for me to take because I love Mike Fontenot and would have liked to see him get more playing time. However, I am not opposed to platooning positions and maybe next year Font can have a better year and we can see him play a little more often. He does have a strong left bat and great defense. I am on the Baker bandwagon now though and I’m glad that we have him. No, it was not the homerun alone that put me there, but the fact that he shows he can go out and help the team and he plays third, second, first and outfield so the versatility will help us down the road.
Alright, how about Big Z on Friday? Holy Cow! I am so happy that they left him in and let him complete the game with a two-hit shut out! Not only was his pitching dead on, but his offense was amazing, too! This was a fun one to watch. I’m hoping today we can go in and win again, taking the series. It’s funny that the Cubs know we have no shot at the post season barring the Cardinals falling completely apart, but we go out and fight and the Cards have to wait still another game to clench our division. I think it’s funny.
Final Score Thursday: Cubs 3 Giants 2
Final Score Friday: Cubs 3 Giants 0
~Milli~
Cubs Cured Too Late–Winning Since Bradley Suspension
The Cubs haven’t lost a game since Jim Hendry suspended Milton Bradley. Definitely all the Cubs woes did not rest on his shoulders, but makes you wonder how the year would have gone without him there.
Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez continue to be hot, with D. Lee the hottest hitter right now. He is seeing every pitch, they just have trouble getting him out. He is going to have some killer stats by the end of the year.
How about Tyler Colvin? He’s just sitting there eating at the Cracker Barrel and gets a call to join the big league, from double A. You could see his nerves in his first game, but he walked a way with a sac fly, walk and first hit. I think this kid is going to be great for the ball club.
In a year that most of the Cubs and fans I’m sure would like to forget, we do have some players that had career years. D. Lee with his homeruns and RBI’s. Ryan Theriot also has a career high in both of those catergories. Like they say, individual stats mean nothing when you aren’t winning ball games.
The year is almost over and unless the Cards bomb in the next few games…yeah right…we are out of the running. So here is looking to next year and hoping that terrible trades aren’t made again.
Let’s sweep the Brewers tonight! Go Cubs Go!
Final Score Monday: Cubs 10 Brewers 2
Final Score Tuesday: Cubs 7 Brewers 2
~Milli~
Jake Fox Flexes Muscle In Cubs Win!
I haven’t blogged much lately because I haven’t got to see the games. The first two of this series were not shown on my tv so it’s a lot harder for me to make comments about it. I did, however, get to see this last game against the Cardinals and am very thankful that Piniella made the decision to use Fox in the later innings.
Jake Fox has a lot of power in his swing and I love seeing him out there. He doesn’t have a select position to play because the two that he can play are tied up with D. Lee at first and Geovany Soto catching, we really have nowhere to keep him. This is a guy who just wants to play and doesn’t really care where. Just like Bobby Scales who is having to learn right field on the job and yes, he has made some mistakes, but he goes out there and gives it his all. He made a nice catch in yesterday’s game, saving some runs and he plays with his heart. Just like Jake
Fox.
Mike Fontenot got another rare start yesterday and I hope Piniella saw something he liked, because he really played hard. He went two for three before he was pulled to put Ryan Theriot in. He also scored our first run, sliding in around Molina and stole second base! Maybe next year if we let him run more we might see a different player. He definitely has the speed for stealing some bags. I just like having the hard players in there. The little guys that go out and make themselves look like they are seven feet tall. Fontenot has that ability to him. He’s not very tall, but he’ll give it everything he has and then some.
Side note, it was great to see Mark DeRosa again. That’s the only real reason I like playing the Cardinals.
We got a lucky break with Holliday running outside of the base path to take out Theriot and after that Fox hit his homerun and with an errant throw we made the game six to three to keep from the sweep. Hopefully we can do some damage at Miller Park! Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Cubs 6 Cardinals 3
~Milli~
*Final thoughts: How do you all feel about Jim Hendry suspending Milton Bradley for the rest of the season? I would like to hear any thoughts on this. I say good riddance and it’s finally time they got his negativity out of the clubhouse. I can’t believe they let it go on this long. What do you think will happen next year? Pretty much either way the Cubs get to pay his salary, but do you think they will trade him or keep him? Also, I just read that they reactivated Reed Johnson! This is fantastic news. I haven’t watched all of yesterday’s game so I will be on later to blog about it.
Cubs Rally One Day And Lose It The Next
Tuesday the Cubs were just piling on the runs, you couldn’t keep them off the bases. Only Bradley and Fukudome went without hits. Carlos Zambrano was pitching a great game until he lost it when the pitcher hit a double off of him and the Brewers came back to put five runs on the board, giving them a one run lead over the Cubs.
Geovany Soto came to the plate and after watching him get frustrated with the way Big Z had come undone, he took it out on the ball for a no doubter homerun tying the game! Derrek Lee and Ryan Theriot both walked four times in this game and even Mike Fontenot got to play and help the team. Earning him a second start, which was fantastic to see.
The next night we just couldn’t get it together. Rich Harden has been struggling which put us in an early hole, then you account for Cubs bad defense and you hand the Brewers a win. I mean, the least we can do right now is tie the series, but I have a good feeling we’ll win today and take the series. 
Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot were stealing some bases, too. These two could run a whole lot more and I hope next year Lou decides to play more of the running game. He has some guys on his team that have some serious speed, maybe during spring training he can work on that. I would get these guys running: Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, Sam Fuld (they would be smart to keep him), Reed Johnson and Kosuke Fukudome. Fukudome being the iffy, though he has the speed I’m not sure he can pick the correct spots to run. Theriot leads the team in steals and I think could steal a lot more given the chance.
Congratulations to Aramis Ramirez for his two-run dinger yesterday. Next year will be better just having him in the lineup all year.
The Brewers announcers were saying that there was an article in Chicago’s own paper that Ryan Theriot doesn’t make a good lead off hitter. What exactly are they wanting from a lead off hitter? Theriot is on base a lot, he takes a lot of pitches letting the guys behind him see what the pitcher has and he walks an awful lot. I’m wondering how that is not a good lead off hitter, not to mention that he seems to be going back to hitting a lot of singles, which is what brought him up to the majors in the first place. The Cubs don’t need him to be a power hitter that’s what they pay Lee, Rammy, Bradley and Soriano for. Though only two of those are any good at it. Geovany Soto is also flexing some power again here towards the end. Last year he had a lot of homeruns and this year, not so much, but I think he is packing his whole year into these last few weeks and I say, Go Cubs Go!
Final Score Tuesday: Cubs 13 Brewers 7
Final Score Wednesday: Brewers 9 Cubs 5
~Milli~
Great Pitching and Defense Lead To Win
This was defensively a fun game to watch. With a little lead to work with Dempster couldn’t afford mistakes and he had to trust the defense to make great plays and they were right there to do that for him. Dempster pitched a fantastic game and then left the guys behind him to do the rest. I absolutely LOVED the double play that Ryan Theriot started on the second base side of the bag, throwing to Aramis Ramirez at second base who made a bad throw to first, but there was the amazing Derrek Lee to apply the tag to the runner! That was a fun one to watch. Then you have the dive in the outfield that definitely saved a run with Kendall on third, but Sam Fuld has proven time and time again why he belongs out there in the outfield. I say we keep him next year.
We can put him in one of the corners and Reed Johnson in center then we’ll have two little sparks out there.
The Cubs came together to manufacture a run late in the game with Mike Fontenot pinch hitting in the eighth. Now I know that this whole run took all three guys to complete, but nobody mentioned the fact that it started with Font getting a lead off, pinch hit double (his second pinch hit double in as many days, you would think that would get him a starting game. I miss having him out there). Anyway, so he lead off with a double, they didn’t have a picture of him hitting the ball, but they did of Ryan Braun missing his ball.
It started with that double, then Ryan Theriot laid down a perfect sac bunt and after an at bat for Fukudome that started terrible he was able to sac fly Fontenot home. Run produced. Baker hasn’t had a hit in at least the last two games, I wish they would put Fontenot out there for a start.
Oh and how about that Derrek Lee? Holy crap he is on fire! He is seeing the ball so well right now, there isn’t anything he can’t hit. I hope this hot streak carries him to the end of the year!
Anyway, I missed a few games due to being ill and not actually getting to watch the games so here are the scores. Go Cubs Go!
Final Score Saturday: Reds 7 Cubs 5 (Soto had a great game with two doubles)!
Final Score Sunday: Cubs 5 Reds 2
Final Score Monday: Cubs 2 Brewers 0
~Milli~
Winning On A Day Of Remembrance
Before I blog about our first game against the Reds, I would like to take a moment to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to those that were effected by the 9/11 attacks. Those that lost loved ones, friends, family and all of the rescue workers that too lost their lives. Please know that you are still thought of today and honored for your noble work and the country is still saddened by the events of that day.
That being said, congratulations to the Cubbies for their fourth straight win. Soto is really swinging a good bat right now and it’s great to see him getting hits and homeruns.
Also, how about Aramis Ramirez? Talk about clutch hitting. These two were driving in the runs like crazy. It was sad to see Harden have such a bad outing and get pulled so early. I actually think he seemed to be settling in, but when he hit that high pitch count they couldn’t let him continue considering he is prone to injuries. Randy Wells is on the mound tomorrow and I expect another win if he can get any kind of run support. Sadly I don’t think I get to see this game again, but I’ll keep track of it on my computer. Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Cubs 6 Reds 4
~Milli~
*Note: I believe I mistakingly said these would be away games in my last blog. We are on a homestand right now.
Cubs Finish With A Sweep Of Bucs
The Cubs finish the Bucs with their first road sweep since sweeping the Nationals in July. It has been nice to see the Cubs come out and get some hits, I loved this game becuase the Cajun Connection was back in full swing. How about Fontenot’s over the shoulder catch? Come on, that was a great play. He had two hits as did Theriot. Each with one that had an RBI! Yay!
Then you have Micah Hoffpauir who is maybe flexing a little for some more playing time. I really like Hoffy and would love to see him get some more time. He hit his tenth homerun in the top of the fifth, his second in as many games.
It’s about time that Carlos Zambrano got the run support for a win. Last outing he pitched fantastic, but the Cubs lost because he was given no run support.
So realistically the Cubs are out of the running this year. There aren’t enough games to really gain any ground anywhere, do they play now for stats? Go on tears hoping to earn some playing time next year? Fontenot stepped up his game, getting two hits, a walk that ended up being intentional because they had already pitched him three balls out of the zone and he had some great fielding. Baker is really making a run for everyday second baseman. I hope his spring sucks and Fontenot’s rocks so that he gets it, but that is probably wishful thinking on my part.
Next year will be a better year for us and ideally here is hoping the team stays healthy. Soto is starting to swing better so maybe next year he’ll be out of this sophmore slump and we’ll see more of his rookie year type playing. I also hope they don’t decide to trade all of our players again, I’m pretty sure that is what hurt us this year. Good luck tomorrow to the Cubbies against the Reds, let’s end this road stand on a positive note! Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Cubs 8 Pirates 5
~Milli~
Cubs Have Fun In Seven Run First
I am so happy that I got to see this game. The first inning alone was totally worth it! The Cubs, as a rule, do very well against the Pirates. This game proved to be no different. Theriot began the game with a single, Bradley tried to sacrifice himself with a bunt to move Theriot to second, however, he ended up at first with a bunt hit. He hustled it the whole way down the line. Lee, Rammy and Baker followed with singles then Soto and Fukudome followed that with doubles bringing the score to six. Scales hit was ruled a single, but it was a gift call for the Cubbies because he should have been out at first making Ronny Cedeno’s amazing play count for nothing, thanks for the gift call. Dempster came up and sac bunted Scales to second and Fukudome to third. Theriot grounded out, driving in the last run of that inning. Seven runs later, the Pirates were in a big hole.
Later Dempster drove in his fifth RBI of the year with a single and Micah Hoffpauir on his first at bat of the game, first pitch he saw he sent it into the bleachers for his ninth homerun on the year. Yay! This game was fun, so the Cubs have won the series now hopefully today we can sweep the series. My hopes of ever seeing Fontenot again are going out the window as Jeff Baker continues to get multiple hits. I should be happy, but I would much rather see Fontenot out there. Maybe next year… Good luck to Big Z, I’ll have to watch the game recorded as it starts very early here and I’ll be at work. Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Cubs 9 Pirates 2
Lee Does It Again!
AMAZING!! That is all I have to say. I didn’t get to see this game, again, but Derrek Lee hit another two homeruns! Keep hitting those for your kids.
I really hate trying to blog about games I don’t get to see.
Yesterday we lost to the Mets, however, we scored two runs which both were driven in by Geovany Soto! It was great to see him getting some hits and driving in some runs.
I guess I can’t say much else because I didn’t get to see it.
Go Cubs Go!
Final Score Sunday: Mets 4 Cubs 2
Final Score Monday: Cubs 4 Pirates 2
~MillI~
Welcome Back, D. Lee
Again, congratulations to Derrek Lee and his wife on the birth of their son, Dylan. He really came back with a bang. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see this game again, but D. Lee hit two homeruns to drive in three RBI’s and Rammy also had a homerun. It’s not a shocker that these two are the power of the line-up. That’s why we have been so off this year, with Rammy’s injury and all. I mean, he has amazing stats and he has missed two months, that just goes to show you what kind of player he is and what he is capable of. Next year is looking much better for us if we can keep these two healthy and on the field.
I was reading an article that said that Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot and Kosuke Fukudome were the only part of our starting lineup that did not have an injury that either sent them to the DL or required that they sit out for several games because of it this year. In fact, Theriot still remains as the player who has appeared in the most games. I think he has missed three, two because of the flu. Hopefully next year we wont be plagued by the injury bug and can show what this lineup is truly capable of. I also really hope that Fontenot has a better year because I would much rather see him out there with Theriot, than to see Baker. I get to watch today’s game, but it will be off of recording because I will be at work when it starts. Let’s pound on the Mets today to take the series! Go Cubs Go!
Final Score Friday: Mets 6 Cubs 2
Final Score Saturday: Cubs 5 Mets 3
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