Hey all. Well, been a long time observer here, but haven't posted.. and today was rough.

Even though today's game wasn't so great and maybe all of our hopes aren't as high as they were right before spring training (or before DeRo was traded for all you DeRo fans), there's one truth that still exists: 

St Louis Sucks. 

I started a t-shirt company to make sure everyone knows that, too. Check it out -- it's  www.RubberOrGlueTees.com -- we've only got the one shirt right now, but soon we'll have a lot more, all revolving around teams/cities that "Suck" -- we're saying the CITY of St Louis Sucks.. and you can interpret that however you'd like :) Giving away free shirts this weekend, but only if you follow us on Twitter will you know where we are. 

I don't normally post because I prefer to sit back and reply when I can...  and I apologize to the mods if this isn't allowed [I'll delete this if it's not. or I'm sure you will] , but I thought I'd put that out there. Everyone loves a free shirt opportunity... 

Go Lee!

Currently reading "Three Nights in August" and finding it quite interesting, especially with the upcoming Cubs/Cardinals series.  I especially enjoyed ( this commentary )

BRAVES
McLouth CF
Prado 3B
Anderson LF
McCann C
Escobar SS
Kotchman 1B
Francoeur RF
Conrad 2B
Vazquez P

CUBS
Samurai CF
The RIOT SS
DLeecious! 1B
HOFFpower! RF
A-Ram 3B
Jogiano LF
I <3 Puppies 2B
Koyieeeeaaaa! C
El Toro P

FINAL
ATL - 2
CHC - 1

W: Vazquez (6-7)
L: Zambrano (4-4)
SV: Soriano (9)

Game Information
Stadium: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Attendance: 40,359 (98.1% full) - % is based on regular season capacity
Game Time: 2:44
Weather: 63 degrees, Overcast
Wind: 10 mph, IR
Umpires: Home - Todd Tichenor, First Base - Jim Joyce, Second Base - Bill Miller, Third Base - Derryl Cousins

Way to go Dempster!!

Ryan Dempster suffered a non-displaced fracture in his right big toe after he climbed over the fence in front of the Cubs' dugout at Wrigley FIeld after Sunday's game, and will miss his scheduled start on Tuesday vs. the Braves.

Lou Piniella said the Cubs feel the best case scenario is that Dempster will be sidelined three weeks, but most likely will be out one month. What happened?

"Sunday after the game, I was coming out of the dugout and I was stepping over the top of the railing and I caught my left foot on the rail as I was coming over," Dempster said. "It spun me around and slammed me into the ground. When I did it, I thought I ripped my nail back on my foot. Unfortunately, the result wasn't funny."

Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee was laughing when he saw Dempster's awkward fall.

"I'm sure it looked hysterical from his angle," Dempster said. "The unfortunate part is my foot, because of the way it hit, came down straight into the ground. My toenail was ripped back and bleeding."

The plan was to get a shot to ease the pain. But X-rays on Tuesday revealed the fracture.

"I'll just drink some Incredible Hulk juice," Dempster said. "It's a weird thing."

In his last start, Dempster took a ball off his shin and kick-saved one to himself. He also took a ball off his face in batting practice recently and was fine.

"I'd like to have some nice gratifying story, like I broke up a double play or something and saved the game, but I don't," he said. "I wasn't going to make up a story because somebody would find a video. ... That's what I get for making fun of guys who go on the DL for burning their faces in a suntan booth."

He'll get X-rays again before the Cubs go to Washington for the first series after the All-Star break. In the meantime, he'll get treatment and keep his foot elevated. Dempster, who could barely walk into the interview room to talk about the accident, planned on pitching Tuesday, but said the risk wasn't worth the reward.

This is not a Cubby occurrence.

"It's a coincidence," Dempster said.

Did Lee apologize for laughing?

"No, I think he's still laughing at me," Dempster said.

Piniella found out when he got a phone call at lunch.

"Well, we were healthy for a day," said Piniella, who got Aramis Ramirez, Reed Johnson and Angel Guzman back on Monday. "We had a pretty good idea this was more than a stub or a bruise or strain."

Kevin Hart, who was optioned to Triple-A Iowa to make room for Guzman, was called back and will start on Wednesday in the series finale vs. the Braves. Zambrano is pitching on short rest, and will start Sunday night against the Cardinals in the last game before the break.

-- Carrie Muskat

And in case any of you were wanting to go watch DeRo and the Cards when they hit town, Carrie Muskat just wrote:

I just read on Len and Bob's Twitter that Ryan Dempster has been placed on the DL for a broken right big toe. Looks like Zambrano will pitch tonight instead and Kevin Hart tomorrow.

Is there any interest with the DC based Cubs fans or those coming to town for the series to meet up before the games on the 17th or 18th?

If there is any interest, I suggest the Hawk 'n' Dove on Capitol Hill as it is walking distance to the ball park. They have decent enough bar food and a nice selection of draft beer. The bartender is a White Sox fan, but we cannot hold that against the bar as it could be worse, he could like the Yankees fan.

Here is the bars web-site: http://www.hawkanddoveonline.com/

Posting this because Sy says I don't post enough.

Nothing of great interest is going on. :)

Yay.

Being that I turn 30 today, I should probably say something.

Over the past few days I've faced the fact that I'm just not that good a person. There are two types of compassion: active and passive. I have always been the passive, never the active. I never seek out a way to bring about good will; I simply am there and, when an opportunity arises e.g. someone says, hey, you want to help out with this?, will not hesitate to pitch in. I am inherently lazy.

This entry is not intended to be a downer, because I am a happy guy. But I have my flaws, and I wish to understand them, and I wish to be a better man, or, more specifically, a man that affects others and things in more positive ways. Or something like that.

I've given up on all creative outlets. I go days without picking up the guitar, I don't role-play, I don't write (which pretty much went with the roleplay). I've thought about possibly getting back into roleplaying a little bit, but I'm so far removed that I (1) lack the confidence in my writing to think I could find it rewarding and (2) don't think I can shake off the prejudices I carry.

Our house has become something that controls us rather than we controlling it. The yard's a wreck and needs serious weeding and landscaping. We need an exterminator to take care of the black widows around the outside of the house. I'd like to lay some stone to extend the patio and maybe even along the side of the house where we keep the trash can and hose, but before I can do that I need a wheelbarrow, and before I can get that I need to organize the shed in order to make room for it, which includes getting rid of the nonfunctional push lawnmower (still need to figure out where to dump it). Ultimately, the yard is no longer a joy, and that's a problem. I would much rather put the work into it myself rather than pay someone to, but I don't know diddly.

In lighter news, I splurged on a road bike a few weeks ago, and have gone out riding three times so far (the last two Sundays and last Thursday) with the Bee Team here in Waxhaw. They are a great group of casual riders who won't leave anyone behind, and they ride on the back roads which is all we really have around here. They meet at the elementary school, which is right down the street from our house. I'm glad I found them. The rides kick my ass (the Sunday rides are 23-25 miles long), but I can already tell they're getting me into better shape.

I also bought a new home PC through work and was finally able to play through Half-Life 2. The game was awesome, except that it felt like it ended way too soon, like there should have been another couple of chapters there where you delve deeper into the Combine lair and confront one of the main Combine leaders or whatnot. Guess I'll have to play the Episodes now, maybe when Episode Three comes out I'll just get them all at once.

Grace is almost 1 and continues to be an untethered dynamo of joy. Her and Beth can duel it out to determine which one is the best thing to ever happen to me.

Once again, what a difference a week makes. After a horrid 1-6 week, the Cubs rebound to go 5-2. Playing in Pittsburgh didn't hurt, nor did playing four at home against the Brewers. Cubs have a crazy home/road split this season. Ten-over at Wrigley, nine-under away, so getting the Brewers in Chicago was just what the team needed.

Some significant transactions this week. Miles was DL'd. Hopefully his condition is terminal. Freel was DFA'd 7/2, then traded to Kansas City for a PTBNL and cash. Aramis is back on the roster, as is Ninja and Guzman. Cubs sent Patton to the DL with a bad groin, and sent Hart and Fuld back to Iowa. Team is finally healthy, and the offense is finally starting to hit. Everything is in place for the Cubs to start winning games.

Series Recaps

Monday: Cubs in Pittsburgh for three. Harden vs Duke. Cubs win 3-1. Harden went seven, giving up one and striking out nine. Riot hit his seventh homer in the 3rd. Gregg got the save. Tuesday: Game two saw Lilly vs Ohlendorf. Cubs lost 3-0. Freddie Sanchez did all the damage, scoring once and driving in the other two. Lilly gave up three (two earned) in seven. Ohlendorf went seven, giving up only four hits and striking out eight. Pirates pen finished the job. Wednesday: Series finale in Pittsburgh. Wells vs Vasquez to start July. Cubs won 4-1. Wells went seven, giving up one. DLee got things going in the 1st with a two-run shot. Cubs never looked back. Pirates countered with a run in the bottom of the inning, but that would be the only offense they would manage all day. Kosuke also homered, while Gregg got his 14th save.

Thursday: Back home in Chicago! Hello Brewers. McClung vs Dempster. Cubs win 9-5. Lee, wanting to upstage himself from the day before, hits a three-run shot in the 1st. Fox added a solo shot to make it 4-0 after one. Cameron got two back for the Brewers in the 2nd. Cubs put the game away in the 4th when Soto hit a solo shot and Lee hit a grand slam. Dempster went 6.2, giving up four (three earned). Heilman gave up a junk run in the 8th. Friday: Game two of four. Suppan vs Z. Cubs win 2-1. Good pitchers duel. Not a lot of K's, but not a lot of offense either. Z walked in a run in the 4th, then made up for it in the 5th with an RBI single. Cubs won in the 10th on a bases loaded walk to Fox, scoring Riot. Z went seven, giving up the one run. Gregg got the win with two innings of scoreless relief. Saturday: Not a good day for the Cubs. Looper vs Harden. Cubs lose 11-2. Brewers were all over Harden, early and often. Harden went two, giving up seven. He just can't pitch at Wrigley this season. Ex-Cub McGehee had four hits and five RBI, including a two-run shot. feh. Sunday: Series finale saw Burns vs Lilly. Cubs win 8-2. Lilly was strong, going 6.1, giving up two runs, and striking out nine. Lee hit his third 1st inning homer of the week, a two run shot. He also had an RBI single in the 5th. Fox hit a two-run shot to cap off a three-run 5th. Heilman and Marmol finished out the game, giving the Cubs the series win against Milwaukee.

Highlights of the Week

- 5-2 on the week, and against the central.
- 3-1 against the Brewers. IN YOUR FACE, MILWAUKEE!
- Derek Lee hitting four home runs and driving in twelve.
- Ted Lilly, All-Star!
- Offense continues to hit and score.
- Miles on the DL.

Lowlights of the Week

- Harden sucking horribly against the Brewers.
- Shutout by the Pirates. WTF?
- Soriano's continued slide into suckitude.

ON

Milton Bradley - .368/.538/.579 with 7H, 12B, 1HR, 3R, 3RBI, 7BB in 19AB. .245/.370/.388 on the year now.
Mike Fontenot- .421/.450/.526 with 8H, 22B, 2R, RBI, BB in 19AB. Modest line, but he's getting on base.
Ryan Theriot - .345/.367/.448 with 10H, 1HR, 5R, RBI, BB, SB. Like Fontenot, he's getting on base, unless he's swinging for the fences.
Kosuke Fukudome - .286/.333/.619 with 6H, 22B, 3B, HR, 3R, 2RBI, 2BB, SF in 21AB. Coming out of his slump, apparently.
Geovany Soto - .286/.360/.571 with 6H, 12B, 13B, 1HR, 3BB, SF, 2R, 3RBI in 20AB. Looks like he's back to normal after a horrific April and shoulder problems.
Hart, Gregg, Marmol, Marshall - combined for 10.1IP of scoreless relief. 10K/2BB. They hit more batters (2) than they surrendered hits (1). Nice.
Wells and Zambrano - Each got a start, each went seven giving up only one run. Wells got a win, Z didn't. Them's the breaks, Carlos.
Ted Lilly - Two starts, 1-1, 2.70ERA, 13.1IP, 16K/2BB. 8-6, 3.32ERA, 17GS, 111IP, 97K/23BB on the season. Enjoy the All-Star game, Ted.

OFF

Rich Harden - Pitched well against the Pirates, but got shelled by Milwaukee.
David Patton - 1G, 2IP, 3H, 2BB, 2R. Now he's on the DL. Been a rough season for the Rule 5 pick. 5.63ERA in 24IP.
Alfonso Soriano - .100/.143/.100. Two singles, HBP, five K's in 20AB. .226/.290/.412 on the season now, which is staggering because he's not this bad of a player by any stretch. He seems to be healthy, so who knows what's wrong.

Player of the Week

Derek Lee! A .250/.276/.679 line. Only seven hits, but four of them went yard. He scored five times and drove in twelve. Didn't walk, but did get plunked. .285/.361/.504 on the year now. So much for that "slow bat" he had back in April.

Miscellanea

Riot has seven homers on the season, as many as Hoff and more than either Bradley or Kosuke...The sale of the team to Ricketts is rumoured to be near completion...Gregg is 14/17 in save chances as a Cub and has lowered his ERA to 3.62...Harden has a 7.65ERA in 37.2IP at Wrigley this season. Last year, he had a 1.80ERA in 40IP at Wrigley...Soriano hasn't homered since June 7th. He's now hitting sixth in the lineup...Cubs have 51 quality starts this season, best in MLB...Cubs are averaging 4.20 runs per game. The NL average is 4.43...Cubs have scored 332 runs this season, good for 15th in the NL...Cubs have hit 88 home runs this season, good for 4th in the NL.

Record

5-2 on the week. 40-39 on the season. 24-14 at home, 16-25 away. The team needs to do something about that road record. Cubs are third in the NLC, 2.5 behind the hated, first place Cardinals, and a game behind the loathed Brewers. Dusty's Reds are a half-game behind the Cubs, while the annoying Astros are only four out of first. The pitiful Pirates reside in the cellar, seven back. Still wide open, and probably will be for the rest of the season.

Week Ahead

Cubs actually have a day off this week, their first since June 15th. Braves come to Wrigley for three starting Monday night. Thursday is the off-day. Friday has the Cardinals come to Wrigley for four. Sunday will be a double-header, with one of the games being a make-up date from April. BRING IT, MORANS!

Probable Pitchers

Jair Jurrjens (6-6, 2.73)
vs.
Randy Wells (3-3, 2.43)

The Braves:

1. McLouth CF
2. Prado 2B
3. Chipper Jones 3B
4. McCann Ca
5. G. Anderson LF
6. Y. Escobar SS
7. Kotchman 1B
8. M. Diaz RF
9. Jar Jar Pi

The Cubs!

1. Kosuke-Sama CF
2. THE RIOT SS
3. D Lee 1B
4. Gameboard RF
5. Back with a Vengeance! 3B
6. Lazyaino LF
7. Geo Soto Ca
8. Wonder Hamster 2B
9. Randy Wells Pi

78 and party cloudy in Wrigleyville, with the wind blowing in from right field at 7 mph.

Braves	2	9	0
Cubs	4	9	1

W: Randy Wells (4-3, 2.48)
L: Jair Jurrjens (6-7, 2.91)
S: Kevin Gregg (15, 3.52)

Holds by Marshall (3) and Marmol (18)

A 2:30 ballgame in front of 40,042.

I'm an LJ posting machine today, eh. I meant to post this in my LJ. Not that I can pout about it--- here's the cost of chasing my dream!
( Vet school tuition hike, and laptop fee increases )

:-(

To put that in perspective.. I think I'm registered for 22 or 23 credits this Fall semester, and then probably another 20 for the spring (at least). It is the mortgage on my life.

Cubs trade INF-OF Freel to Royals

*rolls eyes* I have no words left for this whole debacle.

Do we know yet who got sent back to the minors?!

Being sent for review to MLB.

FINALLY.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/07/cubs-sales-deal-finalized.html

EDIT:

Well, CRAP. Apparently not.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/david-kaplan-chicago-sports/2009/07/the-ricketts-deal-is-not-doneyet.html

From Kaplan's blog

( Read more... )

Is anyone planning to see the Cubs play here in DC during the four game series from July 16-19?

happy 4th of july! rich harden is terrible.

5-0 brewers, top of the 1st.

Cubbies up 4-1 in the first on a 3 run bomb from D Lee and an out of the park homer from Fox

GRAND SLAM FOR DLEE IN THE 4TH TO MAKE IT 9-2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to go to the Cardinals page to get this. Forgive me.

DeRosa relieved wrist injury not serious
Cardinals utility man expected to miss only a few days

By Matthew Leach / MLB.com

07/01/09 8:50 PM ET

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals received encouraging news on infielder/outfielder Mark DeRosa on Wednesday, a day after getting a major scare regarding their new acquisition. DeRosa was diagnosed with a strained tendon in his left wrist and has been told he will miss a few days.

"It's a huge relief," DeRosa said Wednesday afternoon. "Last night back at the hotel I was a little scared. When you hear a pop and when it's in one of those small tendons and joints and stuff like that, you never know. I ruptured my ankle the same way playing in a game against Colorado a few years back and I thought it was nothing and it turned out to be surgery and I missed six to eight weeks."

DeRosa injured the wrist while swinging the bat during Tuesday night's game against the Giants. He was downcast after the game, but encouraged after X-rays taken Wednesday morning came back negative. The same could be said for club officials, who were very worried that their new pickup might be out for an extended period of time.

LINK