It's cold. Damned cold. My old ass heater is loud and wakes me up at night. It's baseball season people. The taxes are paid. Why can't I watch a game at Wrigley field without wearing long johns and a parka!? I blame the lord fighting back against the dark magic of the goat head.
Speaking of goat heads. Check out the new Podcast here, where the lovable Lou Sears and Son Ranto sing "Goat Heads" to the tune of fish heads. Classy.... There's also an interview with Brent "Leprechaun" Lillibridge from Opening Day. And some "reality radio" from a roof top, where a fan obsessed with the 1984 Cubs says how we can win the World series this year. It's a drunken mess.
Ok. So Yesterday, after purchasing 6$ tickets to sit in terrace reserved, I walked through Challenger park in the cold mist towards Wrigley field, feeling confident that the Cubbies could scratch out some runs, and hand a loss to Los Gigantes. How wrong I was. Castro boots an easy grounder. And Chinstrap Feldman can't cover first base (twice). Result 4 runs. Boy. When the wheels come off the bus for the Chicago Cubs, the bus also bursts into flames, under an acid rain cloud, while an earth quake tears the ground on which Mongol warriors slaughter the women and children. The Cubs crack under pressure. They cant handle pressure or adversity, and before you know it, there are 7 runs on the board for the other guys. As a Cub fan, I know better to be confident, ever. Winning by 5 runs in the middle of the game does not guarantee a victory. Especially when you give the World Champion Giants 5 outs in an inning. But we could have won this one. Castro fields the grounder and we win.
Further illustrating the Cubs cracking under pressure when the chips are down, are the strikeouts of Clevenger (8th), Rizzo and Castro (9th), with a runner in scoring position. All it would have taken was for one of these guys to get a base hit, and the games at least tied. And Rizzo and Castro are our best players! They just can't deliver when the game is on the line. And that's just sad. Theo has emphasized only swinging at pitches you can do something with. Pitch selection. But now these guys just stand there with the bat on their shoulder watching called strikes whizz by them. Listen. I'm not saying I can do better. But this new approach seems to result in called third strikes. No me Gusta! I have not drunk the Theo Kool Aid as of yet. This whole "process thing" from the wonder boy from Boston. Remember where the Red Sox finished after he left? Last place. Remember where all those high priced free agents Theo signed are now? Yeah. Dodgers. I'm not going to sit and trust this "process" when it results in losses. So, this is a rebuilding year....blah blah blah....what the hell are we building? Great pitching? Defense? Slugging? Speed? What?! I don't see it. Maybe all the future wins are buried in saber metrics.
Speaking of metrics. I mentioned I only paid 6$ for Terrace reserved yesterday, which of course means 6$ for terrace box (you gotta sneak past the old man ushers if you wanna sit further down). 6$ on Stub Hub. And if you recall a story from this winter about the Cubs doing a different deal with Stub Hub, the result is you have to buy tickets by 7:20 AM for a 1:20 start. 6 hours before game time. Instead of last years 2 hours. I waited til 7:19 and bought the tickets. The price had not changed since the night before. But the moment I bought the tickets. The prices shot up to 7$. Like, just because I'm an idiot who wants to sit in the cold rain, and watch a team that has a good chance at finishing in last place, there must be other idiots like me ready to snatch up tickets. First of all. I'm resentful at the Ricketts for the 6 hour cut off time. It's ridiculous! Do you want people to come to these games or not? Do you know what looks terrible on TV? An empty stadium. Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd. And with no one there, it looks like a lame scene. Who is sitting there at home watching this sparse crowd, and saying to themselves..."Hey! That looks like fun! I'm gonna sit in the freezing rain with nobody and watch the Cubs lose!" The only excited fans yesterday were school groups. They should just let kids in for free. Hell they should let us all in for free. I spent 34$ on a Stanley Burger (which was quite good), and 3 beers. So yeah...they should go back to the 2 hour window. It's just petty, and annoying considering the team they are currently fielding.
So what's on tap? I gotta work today, and watch some little kids play soccer in the burbs tomorrow. But I'll be back at the game Sunday! It's supposed to be nice and warm and sunny! I'll be singing a different tune by then I hope. Come on boys. Lets get em today.
Go Cubbies!
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