January 23, 2008

Astros Man Stuck in Chicago

To steal a line from Steve Campbell of the Houston Chronicle, the Astros are undefeated in 2008. I am confident that will be consistent through the first game. I put my trust in Roy O for game one, even against Jake Peavy. Starters 2-5, I'll take the third string pitcher on my 9 yr olds baseball team over most of the Astros staff. At least we don't have to watch Jason Jennings anymore. Losing Willy "Speedy" Taveres to the Rockies for Jennings was painful. I think Taveres was faster than a Jennings fastball, but I digress.

This years 'Stros is going to make me miss something sacred in baseball. The 2 1/2 hour game. Remember the days in the 'Dome where we won with pitching, speed and defense? Now we're back to the 10 run field days. I'm thinking we'll score more than my slow pitch team, which is obvious if Chachi and Kelly are playing (enough with the inside jokes). I do think it's going to be a great year. With our lineup and the obvious availability of HGH we're going to score lots. I don't think any of the other staffs in the division can keep us off the board. Let's look at the lineup:

Michael Bourne - CF (the biggest question mark. We're excited because he's a hometown guy. Let's see if he can improve on the OBP of .348)
Kaz Matsui - (good defense, disciplined hitter, glad not wierd name like Ichi or Fukudome)
Miguel Tejada - (since off the juice, might be good for bunts, but did win Home Run Derby at Minute Maid Park in 2004)
Carlos Lee - (El Caballo, 32 hr, 119 RBI's in 07)
Lance Berkman - (one of the good guys, avg. over 30 hr, 100 RBI's, multiple All-star)
Hunter Pence - (.322 avg as a rookie, see below for more thoughts)
Ty Wiggington - (How can you not root for someone named Ty? Have you seen Caddyshack?)
J.R. Towles - (.375 avg, .575 slg during late season call up)

To be honest, that's not a bad lineup. Of course if Tejada gets deported then we substitue Mark Loretta who hit .287 with an OBP of .352 as a 1/2 season starter. My opinion is I don't care if Tejada did juice. I'm not a purist. As my friend Kelby says, "I pay to be entertained. These guys did what they did to entertain me." I happen to agree.

So about Hunter Pence. This guy is amazing. He has a hitch in his swing, a hitch in his throwing motion and runs funny. However, he can really hit, has a gun and is fast. He's the Jim Furyk of baseball. You'd never teach your kid to have the fundementals of Pence, but by goodness it works.

To explain the title, I'm a native Houstonian working on a project in Chicago. Normally it's not too bad. That's normally. Last weekend my wife came to visit and the high on Saturday was six degrees. We got up on Sunday to go see a buddy and it was -5. When walking down the Mag Mile on Saturday I was completly bundled. My breath would fog my glasses as it released from my scarf and then would turn to ice as fog is moisture. What the hell is that? Still, it's a novelty to a guy from the south and I enjoy it. We went to dinner at Harry Caray's on Saturday night. It's one of the best steaks I've ever had and the creamed spinich is to die for. The only issue was the Cubs convention was that weekend so most people were wearing those ugly blue uniforms!

Thank goodness spring training starts within the next month so the rest of teams can realize what should be expected in '08. The Astros will dominate!!!!! I predict we could win 86 games which will win this sorry division..

Let's Go Astros!

January 21, 2008

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January 16, 2008

Rollen, Rollen, Rollen... - OR - Tony LaRussa Will Not Have Scott Rolen To Blame For Team's Failure To Beat Cubs In Season Series Any Longer...

One of St. Louis most popular dopey gimps (who is tall enough to ride the Beast roller coaster at King's Island) has been exiled to Canada in favor of doping gimp Tony Glaus.


"And you can't overstate how popular this guy is among small-town Midwesterners. He's exactly the type of player they love: He's not a showboat, he hustles all the time, he looks like he takes IVs of corn starch before every game and he's, of course, white. Not a bad combination for a Midwestern ballplayer."

...from Deadspin

January 11, 2008

Cubs Announce Dates Marking Official Beginning of 2008 World Championship Campaign

Chicago Cubs Spring Training Schedule:

Pitchers & catchers report on February 13 with first workout on February 14.

Position Players report on February 18 with first full workout on February 19.

January 10, 2008

Pencil In Cardinals for Divisional Champs in '08

The roaring locomotive that is the St. Louis Cardinals' off-season activity has picked up further steam as it has been announced the team has signed Josh Phelps to a $750,000 minor league contract.


Phelps, seen here exhibiting one of the traits which will most certainly enamor him with Skipper Tony "The Weasel" LaRussa (cheating), has incentive clauses which could add up to a cool quarter mil'.

January 9, 2008

Waitkus 'til Next Year...

(Chicago Cubs' marketing director Jay) Blunk said the Cubs will hold their first retro game in the coming season. Players will wear replica 1948 uniforms as part of the 60th anniversary of WGN-TV.

"We've never done one at Wrigley," he said. "It seems like a perfect fit. Every day is turn back the clock day at Wrigley."




Coincidentally, the Cubs' '48 opening day line-up featured Eddie Waitkus in his final season with the North Siders.

A bit of trivia: The former Rookie-of-the-Year's subsequent trade to the Phillies the following year triggered (pun intended) a psychological breakdown in the mind of Chicago resident (and Cubs' fan) Ruth Steinhagen.

On the evening of June 14, 1949, Steinhagen paid a bellhop at the Edgewater Hotel to give a note signed "Ruth Ann Burns" to Waitkus' Philadelphia teammate, Russ "Monk" Meyer (who had pitched a 9-2 victory at Wrigley earlier that day).

Monk knew Waitkus was dating a "Ruth Ann", who was from his hometown of Melrose, Mass. (and that her parents were wealthy), and relayed to Eddie he was to meet her at room 1297. When Waitkus arrived Steinhagen told him she was a friend of Ruth Ann's and subsequently proceeded to shoot the NL's leading first baseman in the all-star balloting with a .22 caliber rifle.

Waitkus' subsequent rehab and return to the majors was one of the inspirations for the Roy Hobb's character in Bernard Malamud's novel, "The Natural".