Thursday, April 30, 2009
Today's Game April 30th vs Florida Marlins
Well today we should get to see a great test for the Chicago Cubs. In this game there will be a few interesting facts shown that Cub fans are asking: Was our awful road trip just a fluke? Can we pick it up when we head back to the Friendly Confines? Will our lineup stay off the DL and eventually get HEALTHY? The latter of those questions might prove to be the golden key to the Cubs success. I believe that if we can somehow become healthy everyday that the team will again fight for the lead in the NL Central Division which we now sit 4th. We may be fourth but we are definitely able to make a run at it and leave the rest of the teams in the dust since we are only 4 games back. Hovering around .500 is not an option for this team. Management says they made the right moves this offseason but did they really? Heilman was a success but could we still use DeRosa?? Or how about Wood who was clocked at 98 consistantly in a recent outing? Gregg sure hasn't picked up the slack like they had hoped but the season is very young. The signing of Bradley has been a non factor since he just isn't healthy yet but everyone said that his health problems were behind him...WRONG!! O well I still am and always will be a die hard Cub fan but the disappointment will end at some point won't it? I would like to think so and hope that it can end on this home stand which starts tonight against the Marlins at 7:05 pm CST. GO CUBS!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Cub Chumps....Part DEUCE!!
Here are the bottom ten Chumps from the Cubs in the past 10 years. It is amazing to see how bad some of the players were for the Cubs. Its almost comical.
10. Kyle FarnsworthAll I can say about Kyle Farnsworth is that he could throw the ball hard, real hard. Only problem is that the only guy I can ever remember him getting out was Albert Pujols. Too bad they only play the Cards 18 times per year, and he probably only faces him one time per game, if that. That guy had more physical talent than most people deserve, but just couldn’t get the job done. Plus if they kept stats for team brawls, Farnsworth would really boost the clubs numbers.
9. Felix PieFelix was one of the biggest prospects in the Cubs farm system, before he actually got to the big leagues. As one fellow blogger put it, “he is responsible for some of the most atrocious at bats in the 2008.” Unfortunately when you don’t put the ball in play over 25% of the time, it doesn’t really matter how good of an outfielder you are. Fortunately, ex-Cubs GM Jim Hendry still had a soft spot in his heart for Pie and actively pursuit him this off-season which sent Garrett Olson our way, who we then used to get Aaron Heilman. But, seeing the beginning of this season, it looks like Heilman could eventually end up on this list too.
8. Corey PattersonThe story of Corey Patterson is fairly similar to that of Felix Pie. The only difference is that Patterson at least had some good times in his career. He was having an All-Star year in 2003 before getting injured in a game against the hated Cardinals, and basically everything went downhill after that. Had Corey realized that he didn’t need to hit the ball out of the park to get on base, he had the talent to be a .300 hitter and no one can doubt his fielding skills.
7. Antonio AlfonsecaAntonio Alfonseca has six fingers on his throwing hand.
6. Neifi PerezOne of the biggest things that I really disliked Dusty Baker for was his tendency to play favorites. Neifi played for Dusty in San Francisco, and when the Cubbies needed a backup infielder, guess whom he went and got. There is no doubt that he was an average bench player, but there is no reason that he should have played as much as he did. We were lucky that Dusty didn’t do the same with Spring Training invitee Ray Durham, who was way beyond his prime.
5. Rich HillHere’s a case of a minor league stud that equaled a major league dud. Over the course of the 2005-2006 seasons, Hill pitched for the triple A affiliate Iowa Cubs and had a record of 13-2 with an ERA under 3 and averaging nearly 13 strikeouts per 9 innings. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to come close to these numbers at the major league level. After a slow start for the big league roster in 2008, Rich Hill found himself in extended spring training a little over a month later.
10. Kyle FarnsworthAll I can say about Kyle Farnsworth is that he could throw the ball hard, real hard. Only problem is that the only guy I can ever remember him getting out was Albert Pujols. Too bad they only play the Cards 18 times per year, and he probably only faces him one time per game, if that. That guy had more physical talent than most people deserve, but just couldn’t get the job done. Plus if they kept stats for team brawls, Farnsworth would really boost the clubs numbers.
9. Felix PieFelix was one of the biggest prospects in the Cubs farm system, before he actually got to the big leagues. As one fellow blogger put it, “he is responsible for some of the most atrocious at bats in the 2008.” Unfortunately when you don’t put the ball in play over 25% of the time, it doesn’t really matter how good of an outfielder you are. Fortunately, ex-Cubs GM Jim Hendry still had a soft spot in his heart for Pie and actively pursuit him this off-season which sent Garrett Olson our way, who we then used to get Aaron Heilman. But, seeing the beginning of this season, it looks like Heilman could eventually end up on this list too.
8. Corey PattersonThe story of Corey Patterson is fairly similar to that of Felix Pie. The only difference is that Patterson at least had some good times in his career. He was having an All-Star year in 2003 before getting injured in a game against the hated Cardinals, and basically everything went downhill after that. Had Corey realized that he didn’t need to hit the ball out of the park to get on base, he had the talent to be a .300 hitter and no one can doubt his fielding skills.
7. Antonio AlfonsecaAntonio Alfonseca has six fingers on his throwing hand.
6. Neifi PerezOne of the biggest things that I really disliked Dusty Baker for was his tendency to play favorites. Neifi played for Dusty in San Francisco, and when the Cubbies needed a backup infielder, guess whom he went and got. There is no doubt that he was an average bench player, but there is no reason that he should have played as much as he did. We were lucky that Dusty didn’t do the same with Spring Training invitee Ray Durham, who was way beyond his prime.
5. Rich HillHere’s a case of a minor league stud that equaled a major league dud. Over the course of the 2005-2006 seasons, Hill pitched for the triple A affiliate Iowa Cubs and had a record of 13-2 with an ERA under 3 and averaging nearly 13 strikeouts per 9 innings. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to come close to these numbers at the major league level. After a slow start for the big league roster in 2008, Rich Hill found himself in extended spring training a little over a month later.
Cubs are NOT on track........UGHHHHHH!!!
Well the Cubs did it again, they went from playing great one day to absolutely doing nothing the next day as they got beat by 10-0 today by the D-backs. The winning pitcher today was Doug Davis with a record of now 2-3.....yep you just read that correct, 2-3. How does a pitcher coming in with a 1-3 record only allow two hits in seven innings?? Well the answer was he was lucky enough to catch the Cubs once again on an off day. I know I may sound like Debbie Downer but there comes a point where the Cubs got to suck it up and play ball. Sure there are lots of injuries that are nagging players but if we are a championship caliber team we should be able to fight through them. Theriot and Miles are the only Cubs that got a hit today. After today I believe we have only two or three players in the starting lineup regularly that are hitting over the .300 mark. I think that the Cardinals have about 6 or 7. Unbelievable! On the pitching side all 10 runs were earned, 5 went to Dempster, 4 to Marmol, and 1 to Gregg. I can see a starting pitcher have a bad outing and I am no tupset about that what I am OUTRAGED about is Marmol's 4 walks and 4 runs. I see a DL stint in his future because he did suffer a slight knee injury early this week so maybe his knee is killing him. Lets just hope he can get back to his last year form before its too late. I am not trying to jump off the bangwagon here but there comes a time where things got to turn around or its gonna be too late. Good thing its still April.....
Cubs Back on track????
Well the Cubs jumped all over the Diamondbacks last night. The Cubbies won the game 11-3 to give them a record of 10-9. This game was huge as it was going to show just how bad a funk the Cubs really are in. With Big Z on the mound I felt that the Cubs would be better than they have been. Big Z always seems to fire up the team. He not only fired the pitching staff up but he kick started the offense by himself. Zambrano went 3 for 4 with a homer and a double that was about 3 inches from being another home run. O yeah and he had two RBIs. All this while pitching well through 7 innings and giving up 3 earned runs. Angel Guzman came in to finish out the game and he did very well. It was nice to see a younger guy get some quality innings in there while giving the rest of the guys a break. He pitched two scoreless inning and fanned two D-backs. Koyie Hill was another big story as he went 3 for 5 with an RBI. Soto took another day off to try and get back into form so it was up to Hill to control Big Z. He exceeded my expectations in offensive production so I take my hat off to him. If this could only spark the Cubs to go on a run here I would feel a lot better about this year. Soriano and Fontenot continued their hot streak by belting a home run each. Keep it up CUBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cub Chumps...Part one
I thought I would go back in time and list five of the biggest flops or chumps the Cubs have had in recent years. Read'em and weep fellow Cub fans. I’d like to start our saying that many of these players I feel bad trashing. Some of which were personal favorites of mine throughout the years. The unfortunate and realistic part is that even though I felt this way about some of these guys, they didn’t get it done. Some of this I blame on the Cubs management/coaching staff, and some of it is probably due to professional athletes not learning to change and adjust to weaknesses that are pretty well documented. Also I would have liked to say more about some of these guys, but my disgust for some of them made it difficult to even type their name on the page.
5. Rich HillHere’s a case of a minor league stud that equaled a major league dud. Over the course of the 2005-2006 seasons, Hill pitched for the triple A affiliate Iowa Cubs and had a record of 13-2 with an ERA under 3 and averaging nearly 13 strikeouts per 9 innings. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to come close to these numbers at the major league level. After a slow start for the big league roster in 2008, Rich Hill found himself in extended spring training a little over a month later.
4. Cesar IzturisThe biggest reason that I don’t like Cesar Izturis is because the Cubs didn’t do what it took to get the best shortstop available at the time, Rafael Furcal. Other than that, he didn’t hit that great, and didn’t win any gold gloves. This isn’t acceptable when the Cubs could have a gold glove/silver slugger/all star caliber shortstop.
3. Hee-Seop ChoiThis Korean import was another one of the Cubs top prospects in the late 90s/early 2000s. Coming to the big leagues in 2002, he only hit for an average of .210 over the next two seasons. That’s really not going to cut it for a hitting / power hitting position on the field. Needless to say, after the blown playoff run of the 2003 season, the Cubs dealt his sorry behind and picked up a real first baseman, Derrek Lee.
2. Steve TrachselSteve pitched for the Cubs for 8 years throughout the 90s and in 2007, and in 1994 was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. For as promising as things looked, he only amassed 2 winnings seasons with the north siders, with all of those seasons having an ERA over four.
1. Ronny CedenoAnother guy who unfortunately didn’t get the chance to do everyday work for the Cubs for a whole season, but his inconsistency at the plate was his demise. He batted .252 for the Cubs in his 4 seasons with the big league squad, but high totals in strikeouts and low totals in extra-base hits and RBIs were his undoing. Ronny was a solid defensive player who was often used at shortstop, 2nd base, and 3rd base when his teammates on the injury prone Cubs went down like flies.
5. Rich HillHere’s a case of a minor league stud that equaled a major league dud. Over the course of the 2005-2006 seasons, Hill pitched for the triple A affiliate Iowa Cubs and had a record of 13-2 with an ERA under 3 and averaging nearly 13 strikeouts per 9 innings. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to come close to these numbers at the major league level. After a slow start for the big league roster in 2008, Rich Hill found himself in extended spring training a little over a month later.
4. Cesar IzturisThe biggest reason that I don’t like Cesar Izturis is because the Cubs didn’t do what it took to get the best shortstop available at the time, Rafael Furcal. Other than that, he didn’t hit that great, and didn’t win any gold gloves. This isn’t acceptable when the Cubs could have a gold glove/silver slugger/all star caliber shortstop.
3. Hee-Seop ChoiThis Korean import was another one of the Cubs top prospects in the late 90s/early 2000s. Coming to the big leagues in 2002, he only hit for an average of .210 over the next two seasons. That’s really not going to cut it for a hitting / power hitting position on the field. Needless to say, after the blown playoff run of the 2003 season, the Cubs dealt his sorry behind and picked up a real first baseman, Derrek Lee.
2. Steve TrachselSteve pitched for the Cubs for 8 years throughout the 90s and in 2007, and in 1994 was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. For as promising as things looked, he only amassed 2 winnings seasons with the north siders, with all of those seasons having an ERA over four.
1. Ronny CedenoAnother guy who unfortunately didn’t get the chance to do everyday work for the Cubs for a whole season, but his inconsistency at the plate was his demise. He batted .252 for the Cubs in his 4 seasons with the big league squad, but high totals in strikeouts and low totals in extra-base hits and RBIs were his undoing. Ronny was a solid defensive player who was often used at shortstop, 2nd base, and 3rd base when his teammates on the injury prone Cubs went down like flies.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Kosuke Fukudome
I like many Chicago Cubs fans look at Kosuke Fukudome and see a mystery. I think that our fan base does not know much about him and his past while he played in Japan for nine years prior to Chicago “importing” his talents. In this article I am going to try and shed some light on Fukudome's past.
Kosuke Fukudome was born on April 26th, 1977 in Osaki, Soo District, Kagoshima, Japan. He started out his baseball career attending PL Gakuen High School in Japan. There he excelled as a center fielder and quickly attached the attention of Japanese scouts. Many of these scouts projected him to go in the first round of the 1995 draft. Since the Japanese draft is much different than that of Major League Baseball, Kosuke Fukudome got drafted by seven teams. Upon drafting Fukudome these teams earn the right to negotiate with him. The Kintetsu Buffaloes ended up winning the right to negotiate a final contract with Kosuke Fukudome. Unfortunately for them Fukudome had already made his mind up as to who he would play for. He wanted the chance to play for either the Chinichi Dragons or the Yomiuri Giants. Both of these teams are somewhat familiar to baseball fans here in the states because of the 1992 movie “Mr. Baseball”. In the movie Tom Sellek actually played for the Chinichi Dragons and his team can be seen playing against the Yomiuri Giants. Since Kosuke Fukudome didn't receive an offer from his particular teams he went to play for the Nihon Seimei. The Nihon Seimei would be the equivalent of America's independent league. There he could play baseball earning more experience against decent competition.
In 1996 Kosuke Fukudome was the youngest player selected to the Japanese Olympic team. He would go on to play for Japan in Atlanta and help the Japanese team win a silver medal in baseball. He continued his progression as a player and in 1998 was drafted in the first round by the Chunichi Dragons but not as a center fielder. There he would play his days as a shortstop. Playing for the Dragons had been a dream of Fukudome's since he was a child so he did not care where he played at on the team. In his first season with the Dragons Fukudome batted .284 with 16 home runs. This was a significant contribution to the Dragons' league championship that year. The Dragons went on to the Japan Series where Fukudome would make many errors and taken out of numerous games for it. The errors also proved costly for the Dragons as they lost the Japan Series.
In his sophomore year with the Dragons Fukudome was moved over to third base. The move did not improve his fielding the way management had hoped so in his third season he was moved to right field. There he would become more comfortable and possess a good arm to keep runners from stretching their hits into extra bases. With this improved comfort in the field came more confidence at the plate. In 2002 he would stop future New York Yankee great Hideki Matsui in his run for the triple crown of Japanese baseball. Fukudome batted .343 with 19 home runs. He continued his progression the next year belting a career high 34 home runs while sustaining a .313 batting average. These are the kind of numbers that attracted the Chicago Cubs scouts to him.
In November of 2007 Kosuke Fukudome became a free agent from the Chunichi Dragons. He wanted to weigh his options and see if he had the possibility to play on the World's biggest baseball stage. He saw great players like Matsui and Matsuzaka come over sees and make big bucks playing for some of the best teams in the world. On December 11, 2007 the Chicago Cubs signed the Japanese player to a four year 48 million dollar contract. Fukudome had been quoted as saying he wanted to come to the Chicago Cubs to become their first Japanese player in hopes that more could follow. He indeed set the way for the Cubs as they invited Ken Kadokura to Spring Training. Although things did not turn out quite as well as Fukudome has so Kadokura did not make any roster spots throughout the Cubs' organization. I still believe that the Cubs have a massive presence in Japan and will continue to look for talent that may pop up there.
In Fukudome's rookie season he started off hotter than anybody on the Cubs' roster. Cubs' management looked like geniuses for getting Fukudome to come and play for the Chicago Cubs but a horrendous second half of the season killed Fukudome's hopes at acquiring a Rookie of the Year award. The award would go to his young teammate Geovany Soto instead of Fukudome. He ended up hitting a measly .257 with only 10 home runs in 150 games. Some may say that that the transition from Japan to America hurt him. While others say that the pitchers just saw a huge hole in Fukudome's swing. I say that it was probably a mix of everything. I couldn't go overseas and just perform like everyone else. Especially when you have to talk through another person to say anything.
Again in 2009 Fukudome has started off hot early. Can he put together a solid WHOLE season for the Cubbies? I sure hope so because they are going to need him.
Kosuke Fukudome was born on April 26th, 1977 in Osaki, Soo District, Kagoshima, Japan. He started out his baseball career attending PL Gakuen High School in Japan. There he excelled as a center fielder and quickly attached the attention of Japanese scouts. Many of these scouts projected him to go in the first round of the 1995 draft. Since the Japanese draft is much different than that of Major League Baseball, Kosuke Fukudome got drafted by seven teams. Upon drafting Fukudome these teams earn the right to negotiate with him. The Kintetsu Buffaloes ended up winning the right to negotiate a final contract with Kosuke Fukudome. Unfortunately for them Fukudome had already made his mind up as to who he would play for. He wanted the chance to play for either the Chinichi Dragons or the Yomiuri Giants. Both of these teams are somewhat familiar to baseball fans here in the states because of the 1992 movie “Mr. Baseball”. In the movie Tom Sellek actually played for the Chinichi Dragons and his team can be seen playing against the Yomiuri Giants. Since Kosuke Fukudome didn't receive an offer from his particular teams he went to play for the Nihon Seimei. The Nihon Seimei would be the equivalent of America's independent league. There he could play baseball earning more experience against decent competition.
In 1996 Kosuke Fukudome was the youngest player selected to the Japanese Olympic team. He would go on to play for Japan in Atlanta and help the Japanese team win a silver medal in baseball. He continued his progression as a player and in 1998 was drafted in the first round by the Chunichi Dragons but not as a center fielder. There he would play his days as a shortstop. Playing for the Dragons had been a dream of Fukudome's since he was a child so he did not care where he played at on the team. In his first season with the Dragons Fukudome batted .284 with 16 home runs. This was a significant contribution to the Dragons' league championship that year. The Dragons went on to the Japan Series where Fukudome would make many errors and taken out of numerous games for it. The errors also proved costly for the Dragons as they lost the Japan Series.
In his sophomore year with the Dragons Fukudome was moved over to third base. The move did not improve his fielding the way management had hoped so in his third season he was moved to right field. There he would become more comfortable and possess a good arm to keep runners from stretching their hits into extra bases. With this improved comfort in the field came more confidence at the plate. In 2002 he would stop future New York Yankee great Hideki Matsui in his run for the triple crown of Japanese baseball. Fukudome batted .343 with 19 home runs. He continued his progression the next year belting a career high 34 home runs while sustaining a .313 batting average. These are the kind of numbers that attracted the Chicago Cubs scouts to him.
In November of 2007 Kosuke Fukudome became a free agent from the Chunichi Dragons. He wanted to weigh his options and see if he had the possibility to play on the World's biggest baseball stage. He saw great players like Matsui and Matsuzaka come over sees and make big bucks playing for some of the best teams in the world. On December 11, 2007 the Chicago Cubs signed the Japanese player to a four year 48 million dollar contract. Fukudome had been quoted as saying he wanted to come to the Chicago Cubs to become their first Japanese player in hopes that more could follow. He indeed set the way for the Cubs as they invited Ken Kadokura to Spring Training. Although things did not turn out quite as well as Fukudome has so Kadokura did not make any roster spots throughout the Cubs' organization. I still believe that the Cubs have a massive presence in Japan and will continue to look for talent that may pop up there.
In Fukudome's rookie season he started off hotter than anybody on the Cubs' roster. Cubs' management looked like geniuses for getting Fukudome to come and play for the Chicago Cubs but a horrendous second half of the season killed Fukudome's hopes at acquiring a Rookie of the Year award. The award would go to his young teammate Geovany Soto instead of Fukudome. He ended up hitting a measly .257 with only 10 home runs in 150 games. Some may say that that the transition from Japan to America hurt him. While others say that the pitchers just saw a huge hole in Fukudome's swing. I say that it was probably a mix of everything. I couldn't go overseas and just perform like everyone else. Especially when you have to talk through another person to say anything.
Again in 2009 Fukudome has started off hot early. Can he put together a solid WHOLE season for the Cubbies? I sure hope so because they are going to need him.
Cubs offense struggles again
Well the Cubs lost their 5th game of the last 6 they have played. The offensive production was again not there while Lilly gave up 5 runs, two of the runs coming off a hit by pitcher Dan Haren. I can't believe what I am seeing from the Cubs right now. They are playing absolutely horrible. Lilly who had been pretty good so far this year gives up back to back two run doubles in the fourth inning to break the tie and not keep the Cubs in the ball game. Soriano once again showed his amazing ability to hit one of the first pitched thrown in the ball game by belting his 3rd 1st inning home run and 52nd of his career. Haren would go on to allow only two more hits (Fontenot, and Lilly of all people) and retire 20 of the last 21 batters. Fontenot's hit was also a home run but was not enough help. Someone has got to get Soto going!! He is batting a measily 119. Lee, Ramirez, and Bradley continue to sit on the bench from nagging injuries. Bradley at least got a pinch hit appearance last night signaling that maybe he will be back soon. But it won't do anything but hurt the Cubs since he struck out and dropped his batting average to 42....YES!! 42... COME ON CUBBIES!
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