Too bad the Cubs are playing tonight under the lights.
The Cubbies come home from a road trip that saw them swept 0-3 in Milwaukee, 1-2 against the Reds, and 3-1 against the Marlins. So we went 4-6. Not terrible, but it could have gone better of course. We lost 3 of the games by one run, and 2 of the games by 2 runs. So we were in almost all the games. We also haven't had any laughers, win or lose. Haven't been blown out, or blown anybody out. It's nice to not feel like turning off the game after the third inning because we are already losing by 7 runs. Something I did all too often last year. Still on the fence as to whether or not I should feel positive about how we are in all of these games. It's tough to see the forest for the trees in situations where you get beaten by good teams by a run, and beat bad teams by a run. Does that just mean you're average?
Some good news from the trip.... Anthony Rizzo returns home with a batting average over .200, and a total of 8 Homers. We can only hope that as the weather heats up, so will his bat. He was visiting his hometown during the Miami series, and had lots of family and friends at the park cheering him on. Maybe some of us in Chicago could become his surrogate family so he feels more comfortable in the friendly confines. Someone should invite him to their family dinner. Or maybe adopt him as your son?! He's got money!! Also The surprise return of 2009's closer, Kevin "Goggles" Gregg has also proved to be an asset to the Cubs. He has yet to allow a run this year. Which is important of course for a team like the Cubs, who are dead last in the majors with runners in scoring position with a paltry average of .151.
Other than that, my takeaway is that we play all teams pretty tough, and if it wasn't for a few costly errors and lack of clutch hitting, we could have won at least half of the games we lost. You've got to wonder when the Cubs' luck will turn around? We are competitive in all of these games, against pretty good teams too, except the loser Marlins. My hope is that we can click, and start to build a team, or core of players that you can trust into the future. Are Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo players we can trust with this ball club for the next 5 years and beyond? 2 things have to happen. Castro needs to get better at shortstop, or be moved to 3rd base, and Rizzo needs to start hitting for average. The whole team needs to cut out on strikeouts and unproductive outs as well. The lack of fundamental baseball play the Cubs have shown thus far this season, is disconcerting. Passed balls and Wild pitches. Lots of costly errors. And especially, a lack of clutch hitting, and situational hitting. I understand all players will make mistakes from time to time. But our errors are not for a lack of talent, but rather for a lack of mental awareness. We're just not playing smart baseball.
Luckily, the San Diego Padres are in town! And they suck. Well, at least as bad as we do. We are both 9-15. In my estimation we have a better chance at winning tonight. I'll be cheering from the bleachers with the Lovable Lou Sears at my side. We should have a new podcast up by game time too. So be on the lookout. We've got The Shark going up against Clayton Richard, who is 0-2 with a 7.94 ERA. So I like our chances. May even show up early and try and shag some home runs at batting practice. But I'll probably just do a little pre gaming at home.
I also wish this game was going on under the sunshine instead of the lights. I said it as a 13 year old in 1987, and I say it today. No Lights at Wrigley. Don't want a scoreboard either. Ugly ad screaming product pusher. It was better the other way and you all know it!
Go Cubbies!
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