Well, for the second game in a row, the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals. Excuse me for a moment as I bang my head against the wall….

Now, I have never managed a Major League team, nor would I want to question Tony LaRusa’s expertise… well no, actually that’s exactly what I want to do. WHY!?! Why are Cardinal pitchers throwing to Lee? Anyone? I didn’t think so. In today’s game Derrek Lee came up with the bases empty in the eighth inning of a tie ballgame. He then proceeded to crank out his second home run in as many days against Cardinal pitching.

Benjamin Franklin once said that “the definition if insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Ben gets it, why cant Tony?

Let’s hope someone in the Cardinals dugout figures it out in time for the Cards to salvage tomorrows game and avoid the sweep. With the Cubs sending a starting pitcher to the mound who spent most of last year in AA-ball, I would hope the Cards would be able to score some runs and avoid any more Derrek Lee-inflicted losses.

Other odds and ends: The Cubs have extended General Manager Jim Hendry’s contract for another two years. To be honest, this comes as somewhat of a surprise to me. Hendry has done a great job with the lineup (getting Lee, Pierre, Ramirez, etc) but many Cub fans were upset with Hendry’s lack of action this winter in regards to the club’s starting pitching. As mentioned earlier, with Wood, Miller, and Prior on the shelf, the Cubs are sending a rookie who hasn’t pitched above the Double A level to the mound in tomorrow’s game. Most Cubs fans aren’t exactly thrilled with that prospect and many felt that Hendry should have made a move to shore up the injury plagued rotation.

With Hendry’s extension done, Dusty Baker’s status becomes the next focal point for the organization. If ownership is satisfied with the club’s performance enough to give Hendry and extension, I’m guessing Baker is probably off the hot seat barring a worse than usual Cub-like collapse during the course of the season.
 

Wow… what a way to start off the season. Both the Cards and Cubs started things off right with big wins. The Cardinals pounded the Phillies 13 to 5 while the Cubs hammered the Reds 16 to 7. Of course the Cubs started last year with a 16 run effort and still ended up missing the playoffs. Opening day had plenty of good signs for both teams. The Cards got homeruns from Albert (two of them) and Scott Rolen. Rolen’s shot (a grand slam) certainly helped to calm some of the fears about his lingering health problems. As has been said here before, Scotty Ballgame could be the key to the Cardinals’ success this year. It certainly looks good to see him jump off to a good start.

Another big question mark in the Cardinals lineup entering the season was second base. Those questions may have been answered in a single game. Aaron Miles went 4 for 5 with two RBI’s starting at second base while previously projected starter, Junior Spivey, was optioned to Memphis. Whether Miles retains the job or Spivey ends up returning, let’s hope the offensive production continues.

The Cardinals weren’t the only ones who got a great performance from players who were question marks a week ago. New leadoff hitter Juan Pierre went 3 for 6 with an RBI and scored three times. Todd Walker, the subject of recent trade speculation, drove in 3 runs on 3 hits and scored twice himself.

As my pops said, “One game does not a season make” but hey… every marathon starts with a single step right?

Wow…. where does the time go? I can’t believe I went this long without blogging. Well to make up for it I will do a fast-forward version of recent events (forgive me if they are out of order… this is more of a stream of consciousness type thing). Here we go:

• Mark Prior, Kerry Wood and Wade Miller are all starting the season on the DL. (Saying I told you so would be overkill here I think…. I told you so!)
• The Cubs’ projected opening day starter is from DOUBLE A. You may now laugh and point.
• Pujols hit three home runs against the Mets this past week. One against Pedro and two against Victor Zambrano… back to back MVP? I think so.
• It looks like Hector Luna might not even make the ball club. That would be a shame what with his incredible skill and natural ability.
• Aaron Miles seems to have won the starting second base job at least for now. At least thats what Stltoday says. (click the picture on the right for the full story)
• Sidney Ponson will be the Cardinals 5th starter and Reyes has been optioned back down to Tripple A. This will allow Reyes to continue get the innings in he needs to progress. (as mentioned earlier on this blog, I’d be surprised if we don’t see Jockety deal from our depth at starting pitching.)
• Adam Wainright will pitch out of the bullpen as a long reliever. I have no idea whether that means he gets the first shot as a backup starter or not. I kind of doubt it but hey, at least Wainright is healthy enough to make the club. (I think AW would be one of the first names mentioned in any significant trade made by the Cardinals. Keeping him in the majors most likely ups his value.)
• John Rodriquez looked to have the starting LF job sewn up until injuring his shoulder yesterday. No word yet on who will start opening day. (again, click the picture on the left for the full story).
• There appears to be little truth to the rumor that the Cardinals were trying to trade for former Redbird, Miquel Cairo.
• All of ESPN.com’s experts are predicting the Cardinals will win the Central this year… I’m not sure I like that.
• Both Jim Hendry and Dusty Baker are entering the last year on their contracts. Somehow I don’t think having Wood, Prior and Miller on the shelf to start will help either of them much.
• I predict there are exactly 153 days until Carlos Zambrano’s arm falls off while he is standing on the mound. It will replay on Sports Center rought 4,305 times and each time roughly 3 million Cubs fans will curse the name of Dusty Baker.
• Bud Selig has started an independent investigation into the steroids problem. This book was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back…. I guess the other 3,478 pieces of evidence could have all been a coincidence but this… this must be legit… we should investigate. (Bud continues to miss the point and only respond when the fans are outraged enough to force his hand. Keep protecting that legacy, Bud, its not like the game will suffer.)

It was a busy day in the baseball world. Cubs fans learned the fate of Mark Prior (sort of) and the United States learned the fate of its team in the World Baseball Classic.

In the WBC, team USA looked sluggish, and tired. In the end, Roger Clemens probably felt like he was pitching for the Astros again. Clemens pitched a pretty good game only giving up a couple of runs, and of course received NO support from his under-achieving offense. While stars like Lee and Damon had to sit out due to injury, the US lineup was still stuffed full with All-Stars that could only come up with one run. To be honest, if that is how you play with your tournament life on the line, you don’t deserve to move on to the next round. And today, team USA didn’t.

Roger, I hope this wasn’t your last game, you deserve better a better end to a Hall of Fame career than the one you were given tonight. You truly did conquer the game.

The other big news in baseball today had to do with the health of Cubs pitcher Mark Prior. Now, as I posted earlier in the week, Prior had been experiencing arm pain and was shut down pending tests. Well, the tests came back and it appears Prior is suffering from a shoulder strain. As is my usual style, I’ll give you the official line, and then I’ll of course let you know what I think.

Company line (Cubs Trainer Mark O’Neal is playing the mouthpiece in this case): “I’m very pleased. There’s bad news, extremely bad news, that could come out of it. Right now, if this is a posterior shoulder strain, we’re going to deal with it like you would a hamstring strain. Unfortunately, it’s in the shoulder. So yes, for us, it’s pretty good news.”

My take: WHAT!?! Did I miss something here? Ok, let me start off by pointing out that this is not exactly the tune they were singing earlier in the week. Cubs GM, Hendry earlier this week said this, “Hopefully, it’s just a little snag and he’s back with a few days setback.” Now correct me if I’m wrong but the news today sounds a bit worse than Hendry’s version doesn’t it? Hendry had him back working in a couple of days and now we hear Prior might not be ready at the start of the season? Sorry, that doesn’t seem like good news for the Cubs.

Secondly, did anyone else notice the tense that O’Neal used? Bad news COULD come out of this. IF its a shoulder strain…. It seems to me that they really don’t have a clue what is going on with this young man’s arm. Would I be shocked if they turned around tomorrow and said it is actually something else? Not at all…. and I bet the Cubs would be pretty pleased about whatever new ailment Prior had too.

“Well, it looks like Mark has an incurable variation of the West Nile Anthrax Death Virus but really we’re really quite pleased about this. This could have been really bad news so if in fact he does have this incredibly rare disease in his lungs we’re going to treat it just as if it were in his arm, but unfortunately for us its not… so he’s probably toast. But all in all, we couldn’t be happier.”

I know I’ve heard that type of double speak before… when was that? Hmm…

oh, and of course…

Come on people! I guarantee you this story doesn’t end here.

Well ladies and gentlemen, I have been getting a TON of emails and comments from both Cardinal and Cubs fans. More than one of you want to know how I will prove that I actually GO to the games and actually ROOT for the Cubs. That’s actually a pretty valid concern. I know I’d be a bit skeptical about something like this. So… how do I take care of all of these concerns in one fell swoop?

Let someone go to the game with me of course!

Now, how to pick who goes with me though? Well a random drawing seems pretty obvious. So, I am announcing the first (of hopefully many) Fan For Hire Tag-Along Contest. For each $50.00 a fan donates, he or she will have their name entered once in the drawing*. When we reach the goal of $10,000 I will pick a name at random and that lucky person will get a free ticket to the game (the seat next to me of course) as well as a round trip plane ticket to the game**. So, if you’d like a chance to win a free Cardinal/Cub ticket and a front row seat to the circus that is sure to ensue when I attend my first game, donate at least $50.00.

* One entry for every $50.00 donated. If a fan donates $100.00, he or she will receive two entries in the drawing.

** Offer only open to residents of the continental United States and only if needed.

Well Cub fans, that dark cloud of dread has most likely already settled in above your head but just in case you haven’t heard, let me be the bearer of bad news. Mark Prior is having his rotator cuff examined. Prior, the talented young pitcher, has spent time on the DL in each of his major league seasons and it appears this season might not be any different. While the extent of his injury is not yet known, this is obviously an odious sign for Cubs fans. With the status of Chicago’s other brittle ace, Kerry Wood, still in doubt, the health of Prior has taken on even more importance. As manager Dusty Baker put it “We have to stay positive and keep our fingers crossed.” Not exactly the answer Cubs fans wanted to hear.

The news out of Cubs camp today added fuel to a slowly growing fire of speculation about Prior’s status. The rumors of a possible trade involving the young pitcher earlier in the spring had also stirred speculation of an injury. Prior’s name came up in trade talk for Baltimore Orioles slugger Miguel Tejada, putting his health in the in the public spotlight. When the deal didn’t go through, rumors of health trouble for the pitcher began to circulate. As spring training started, Prior had been under a “strict program” which had caused even more Cubs fans to speculate about a possible injury. And now the team announces today that Prior will undergo tests on his shoulder and might need an MRI on his rotator cuff. You’ll forgive Cub fans if they say they told you so. The rumors had become so rampant that Cub general manager Jim Hendry was forced to address the concerns of Cubbie nation.

“It’s unfortunate. The first time he’s ever complained of discomfort since we got here is today. It will be perceived any way people want to perceive it. There’s no advantage to us holding back until March 14 and then discussing a problem that we knew about earlier. Hopefully, it’s just a little snag and he’s back with a few days setback and he’s back on his program at the end of the week. Today was the first day that he ever told [O'Neal] or Larry that he had discomfort.”

Whether management knew about it earlier this spring or just found out about it today… this is bad news for the Cubs.

The Cards are playing a Spring Training game today against the Yankees and I have Tivo… I’ll try to make a few observations as I watch….

Ponson is looking good. Granted he isn’t facing the TRUE Yankee lineup but he got Sheffield and Matsui (both starters) to pop up weakly on the infield. The choice to have both Ponson and Reyes pitch today is a good one for interested fans. This will let the two be evaluated against largely the same lineup. Now certainly we fans won’t have the same perspective on that number 5 starting spot as Dave Duncan and LaRusa but it will be nice to see the two candidates side by side.

Duncan just jacked one against Randy Johnson! I think Dunc has a great chance of making the club at this pace.

Luna got a hit and stole a base in the inning as well. I still don’t understand the fascination with Luna… maybe it’s his youth?

Is it just me or does everyone still cringe when Rolen goes to field a ball while a runner is running from second to third? I can’t help but think of Alex Cintron running into him and knocking him out for the playoffs that year… I don’t even like to type those words, much less picture them happening again. Here’s to your health Scotty!

There’s another Luna hit and another stollen base. If he keeps this up, he’ll get the chance to prove whether he’s got what it takes to start in the bigs or not…. Spivey just took one off the hand… hope he’s ok. Luna may win this job just by staying healthy.

Reyes is looking good. The announcers keep talking about how “lively” his stuff is. All I know is that the ball is jumping and he has only given up one run so far. We might have the good problem of having 6 quality starting pitchers… and thats without Wainright in the picture. If Reyes and Ponson keep it up or Wainright comes on strong, the Cardinals might think about trading away Suppan or Marquis. (more on that a little later in the week). The cheeper we can go with our 3,4, and 5 pitchers, the more we can spend to resign Mulder or go out and get a stud corner outfielder (again, more about this later). I just can’t see the Cardinals sending Reyes to the pen or back to Triple A, but hey, who knows?

Juan Encarnacion, one of the Cardinals’ offseason signings, has been having a rough go of it in the WBC. Unlike Pujols, his Dominican Republic teammate, Encarnacion has been struggling mightily. After badly misplaying two balls in the field during yesterday’s game, he followed it up by going 0 for 5 at the plate today. Now I realize that Juan is probably not quite in mid-season form yet but with so many other players having great tournaments (Lee, Pujols, Beltre, Griffey Jr. etc etc) it is frustrating to watch. Encarnacion is supposed to step in and fill the shoes of Reggie Sanders both in the field and the lineup. While Encarnacion has never shown much power (16 HRs last year), he is coming off his second best season in terms of RBI (76). And, looking strictly at the numbers, he would seem to be a perfect replacement for Sanders, but there just seems to be something intangible Reggie brought to the team. Whether it was a timely homer or a key stollen base, Sanders always seemed to be clutch. That little something extra made him more valuable than just his HRs, RBIs, and batting average. Don’t get me wrong, I would love it if Encarnacion ends up being yet another rabbit out of Jockety’s hat… but I have more than a few doubts about this one. I probably should have already learned better than to doubt Wise Walt but I can’t seem to help myself. Here’s to hoping I’m wrong!

First baseman Derek Lee did it again today, hammering a two-run home run against Japan. The long ball was Lee’s third of the tournament and couldn’t have come at a better time as it pulled Team USA back into a 3-3 tie with the very competitve Japanese ballclub. I hate to admit it but it looks like D. Lee is starting right were he left off last year. Of course, Pujols has had a pretty good run with the Dominican Republic (.556 batting average along with 4 walks) so hopefully those two will treat us to another great run for the batting title, MVP, and maybe even the Tripple Crown.

Can I just say right now that the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is one of the best developments for baseball in a long time? I know George (I hate everything good) Steinbrenner thinks it’s a bad idea and you hear all sorts of comments like “What if someone gets hurt?” PLEASE! The players are going to be playing right now anyway whether it is Spring Training (ST) or the WBC. Now sure, the effort and competition is probably not there in ST but as a fan, wouldn’t you rather watch a game where the players are actually trying? I know I would. As a coach or manager or too rich for my own good owner, I would rather let my players get some “real” practice. For the game itself, letting players represent their countries and playing for pride is a BRILLIANT move.

Bottom line… I just cheered when Lee hit a home run and when Brad Lidge struck someone out, and outside of the WBC that would never happen.

Well, it looks like the word is out on my little site here. I have been getting emails most of the day from people with some sort of opinion about the site. The Cards fans seem to think I am a fraud and the Cubs fans seem insulted…. Well, whatever your feelings are, be sure to let me know. I can’t post anything with profanity in it but I’ll try to post as many of the emails and comments that I get. They’re all quite entertaining. Oh… and don’t forget to donate!