Mountain Man Wood Lifts Cubs over Men From Mountains!

I sat on a rooftop last night to watch the Cubs clobber the Rockies 9-1.  Living Social offered a 69$ deal for all you can drink and eat, so as I write this, I am most likely drunk, because I still feel good.  Or maybe, I still feel good because the Cubs, who are dwelling the basement of the NL Central have won 3 straight, and at 60 degrees, going up to 82, it actually feels like Spring today in Chicago.

Lefty Travis Wood was brilliant last night, allowing only 2 hits, and 3 walks over 7 innings.  He lowered his ERA to 2.03, and his beard looks awesome too!  No hipster coiffe for him!  No Way!

This mountain man, mowed down the men from the mountains.  Wood quieted the bats of a Rockies team that is top 5-10 in the Major Leagues in almost every hitting category that counts.  RBI's, OPS, Runs scored, Home Runs.  The Rockies couldn't figure out Wood, who was dominant the entire evening.  Travis "Kerry Who?" Wood also went 2-3 at the plate, hitting a single and a double, and knocing in and scoring a run.  So this boy does it all!  That Sean Marshall trade is starting to look pretty good on the north side of Chicago.  I wish they were both on the team though!

Wood received tons of run support as well, with the Cubs pounding out 9 runs on 14 hits.  DeJesus, Castro, Soriano (HR), Schierholz, Castillo, and Wood, all had 2 hits.  The Cubs are still the worst in the majors as far as batting average with runners in scoring position, but at least we are up above the "Mendoza Line" at .204.  Watch your back Diamondbacks!  We coming for you at .214!!

Unfortunately, Anthony Rizzo celebrated his new long contract by going 1-5 and leaving 6 on base.  But he was probably tired from being at the Ferrari dealership all day, and buying houses for his Mom. Darwin Barney went 1-4, which unfortunately raises his batting average slightly to .159.  Travis Wood, the pitcher, is batting .235.  Also, The cubs would have had their first shut out of the year, but you guessed it, Carlos Marmol came in and gave up a solo homerun to Rockies second baseman Josh Rutledge.  At least it was 9-0 when Marmol came in.  Though no lead truly feels safe either with our bullpen.

Regardless, the Cubs won!  I drank a bunch of beer!  and let's get em tonight!!

Tonight, Carlos Villanueva 1-2 3.02 takes on Jeff Francis 1-3 6.90.  On paper we win this one too, though Francis is a lefty, and our lefty platoon pretty much stinks.  Hey! At least we don't have to see Dave Sappelt!  But  Scott Hairston will most likely be out there and he's only batting .136.  Between him and Barney and the pitchers spot, at least I'll have time to visit the Wrigley trough and not miss anything.  Sitting in 6$ terrace reserved tonight!

In the meantime, check out the new podcast!

And buy us tickets and beer by using the Amazon Search bar at http://www.sonranto.com

Go Cubbies!  

Cubs Lose Opener. Wrigley Still Fun.

From our slightly obstructed view, Terrace Reserved seats behind home plate, The Lovable Lou Sears and I, Son Ranto witnessed a ball game where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.  Yes, 30mph wind was wreaking havoc upon any fly ball hit, too bad the Cubs didn't hit too many balls in the air.  Yes.  Starlin Castro's 9th inning fly out would have been a walk off grand slam, or a bases clearing double 2 innings earlier, but the wind started blowing in, and it was an out.  Yes. If Darwin Barney had been playing second, or Valbuena would have tried to turn two instead of throwing home, the brewers wouldn't have scored 4 in the first.  But that's what happened, and these are all excuses as to why we lost the game yesterday. Excuses excuses excuses.

This is going to a season of excuses.  But I'd like to dig deeper.  Why did Starlin Castro try to hit a homerun when he knew the wind was blowing in?  I woulda settled for a single.  Why is Brent Lillibridge on the team at all?  Granted Barney's hurt and Javier Baez is not ready, but it would just be a few weeks, and we wouldn't have to watch Lilliput...the troll out there not fielding, or hitting!  He's batting .000.  His OBP?  .000.  The most exciting thing he's ever done for the Cubs was yesterday thrilling fielders choice.  Another excuse, and over heard in the stands..."Barney would have gotten to that ball"....You know who else would have?  Javier Baez, or Junior Lake.

Now here's the big mystery of the year.  Why can't our catcher catch the ball?  Beef Wellington's only been charged with one passed ball, but there have been numerous wild pitches and just straight up cross ups.  Other, better defensive catchers would have gotten to some of those wild pitches.  Sometimes.  Castillo just straight up misses the ball with the glove.  All I'm saying is, the whole battery looks shaky.

The boo birds were out for Carlos Marmol yesterday too.  And the vitriol I heard spewing from the fans around me is unprintable.  Here's my question?  Do you want him to do well or poorly?  Why boo the guy?  He's already having a bad time of it?  What if you were at work and having trouble getting something right, and everyone just came around telling you that you suck?  Wouldn't that make it infinitely harder to do your job?  I mean, Christ!  It's not like we're going to win the world series this year.  Let's just support these guys.  It's our team.  Team team team.  Are you on it or just some drunken nay sayers?

Speaking of drunken nay sayers.  The shadow unemployment in our society was well represented and explained yesterday, as on a Monday afternoon, unemployed alcoholics from all over the midwest showed up to watch the Cubbies lose this stinker of a ball game.  They were quite hilarious though.  And I look forward to recording these hilarious low lifes as the season goes on, and giving you out there who can't afford the 6$ to go to a game a window into how drunk Subs fans truly are.  It's gonna be ugly people.

Speaking of the podcast...listen to it here...  https://soundcloud.com/danny-rockett/son-ranto-home-opener.  There's a problem with our itunes feed right now...in the process of fixing it....

Well...Lou Sears and I will be on a rooftop tonight getting shit faced if you wanna look us up....email sonranto@gmail.com , and we can commiserate in our misery....

Excuses excuses excuses.....

Home Opener! Dream come True....

Hooray!  We've all made it another year!!  Now it's time to accomplish my life long dream of walking to Wrigley Field from my very own North Side apartment!!! As a child, I dreamed of living in one of the flats across the street (where the current 'rooftops' are).  This was back in the 80s when I think the main people sitting up there were actual tenants, just sitting on lawn chairs.  But alas, I can't afford to live closer than a neighborhood away...damned yuppies.....but still, I can walk to Wrigley in 25 minutes, and I'm freakin giddy as a japanese school girl about it.  (Is that racist?  make sense?)  I'll be joined in the stands today at the Cubs home opener against by the Milwaukee Brewers, but we're starting out the festivities with a little Champagne Brunch at the Ranto Crib.  And hopefully this morning rain will subside, and Tom Skilling's prediction of a decent afternoon will be fulfilled.  Either way, I think they'll get the game in.  And even though the Cubs looked horrible this weekend in Atlanta, there's nothing that can't contain my excitement about watching a game at Wrigley Field today.

OK.  Enough wistful rhetoric about how awesome my life is right  now.  And onto how terrible the Cubs are.

Carlos Marmol.  There's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said.  And unfortunately, I've been saying this for two years now.  Carlos Marmol is not a very good pitcher anymore.  Every batter in the league played fly swatter with his slider for years, and then figured out that if they didn't swing, one of two things would happen; they would walk, or get hit by the pitch.  Either way.  They'd end up at first base.  So then, the Cubs made him develop his fastball.  So, Marmol starts throwing straight darts down the middle of the plate in addition to the slider (which was usually a ball), and it was like batting practice.  His slider has or had crazy movement, his fastball has none.  Whatever the pitching coaches turned Carlos Marmol into, the result is horrific.  And I feel horrifically bad for the man because I used to love watching him pitch....in the 8th inning.  He never should have been the closer.  I've said it from the beginning.  Why take him out of the 8th inning when he's doing great in that role.  Don't fix it if it ain't broke.  Well now it's broke, and I don't think anyone can fix it.  It's over for Marmol and the Cubs.  My hope is that he goes to another team....preferably in the American League, where some dynamo pitching coach can help him straighten out everything.  I wish the man success, I loved watching him pitch,  but I just don't want to watch it anymore.  It's a train wreck.

The news then broke Sunday, that Marmol's out as closer, and Fujikawa's in.  Great.  Fabulous.  Sound the trumpets.  They finally did what I've been saying they should do for two full seasons now.
The real question about the Cubs front office when it comes to Marmol is..."why is he even on the team still?".  They could have traded him for Dan Haren in the off season, and didn't because Dan Haren has a nagging hip problem.  Well Carlos Marmol has a nagging pitching badly problem.  And has for some time.  I woulda traded Marmol for the organist for the Las Vegas Area 51's and a couple of Ho Ho Kams this off season.  Seriously.

OK.  Now I'm getting depressed...but today is Opening Day at Wrigley!  Just checked the Sattelite, and it's looking good for weather this afternoon!  Come say Hi!!!! We will be in Terrace Reserved to the third base side behind home plate.  Look for two devastatingly handsome men sitting with an old lady (Mom Ranto)

In the meantime.... here's the podcast link for today!

https://soundcloud.com/danny-rockett/son-ranto-home-opener

The Cubs Look Bad in Hotlanta and other Matters

Here is a list of Cubs position players in Atlanta last night who do not have a hit this year.  Sappelt, DeJesus, Lillibridge, Valbuena.  Here is a list of Position players batting under .200.  Hairston,  Navarro, Rizzo, Soriano.  This is not good.  Obviously not good.  Terrible.  Ok.  Fine it's April and it's colder.  As far as I'm concerned.  Excuses Excuses.  The cold doesn't make a batter swing at a pitch one foot outside the strike zone does it?  Does the cold make you miss hit and run signs?  I mean, as exciting as Dionner "la casa" Navarro is trying to steal second base is, I still only want to see that sort of thing on Celebrity Fit Club not in a Major League baseball game.

Other reasons why the Cubs look bad.  I think Scott Feldman and Beef Wellington Castillo need an interpreter more than Takahashi.  Judging by Feldmans chin strap beard, he is obviously Amish and speaks an obscure German dialect, while Castillo's original language is Spanish.  How else could you explain 2 wild pitches, 4 walks, a hit batsman and 3 stolen bases?  The battery looked like it was shorting out last night.  To further pick on Feldman, while attempting to cover first base on a grounder to Rizzo, Feldman missed the base by a few inches, and that run later scored.  How many times did they run that drill in Spring Training?  1000?  I don't know.  Except for that it's just fundamentally shitty fielding.  Feldman also committed an error.  Did I mention he kind of pitched like shit too?  Well.  He did.  So far, not a fan of the chinstrap.

Ok.  I would rather watch Ron Santo's legless ghost play 3rd base than Brent Lillibridge.  Not only is he a career .209 hitter who belongs in his home town in Washington State coaching high school baseball and teaching remedial math class to learning disabled kids, but he's also a leprechaun.  Nuff said.  My prediction?  The pot of gold is hidden under home plate, because he doesn't ever leave the batters box when its his turn at bat.

Anthony Rizzo struck out thrice last night.  He chased pitches all night long.  He looked like shit.  This is the future people.  Our future.  I know we all think he's the second less drunk coming of Mark Grace, but it's unproven.  Professional pitchers know how to miss his bat.

Other miscues...Alberto Gonzales clearly was out of position to tag a runner stealing second, which pissed off Beef Wellington, resulting in some of those afore mentioned pitcher/ catcher crossups, and a run.  The Cubs struck out 9 times and didn't walk once.  Swinging and missing badly on many a third strike.  Oh....and they only scored one run.  On a home run, with no one on base.  And they lost.

The one positive take away?  Carlos Marmol did not appear in this game.

Now on the podcast, located here,  I predicted we would lose this game and win the next two.  So far I'm right, I just didn't think the Cubbies would look so bad losing.  One the bright side, Carlos Villanueva is going against Julio Teheran who is basically a rookie.  Gives me some semblance of hope we can scratch a win out.

One interesting thing to watch for, and I'm going to predict it here.  There will be a fist fight in this series.  You may know about the Braves GM waving the Cubs relief pitchers off the field while they were playing catch in the outfield.  Check the story out here...There were two hit batters last night.  Add a little batting frustration, and you got yourself a Donnybrook!  Maybe it'll light a fire under their ass....

OK.  Enough with the nay saying!  Let's go get em tonight!!!

Morning baseball!

No sooner had I woken up red lipped and hung over from hanging out with the lovable Lou Sears last night at Quartino on State, then it was time for baseball! It seems we drink more when the Cubs don't score. Drink drink drink. That's all we do as batter after batter comes to the plate, failing miserably. Lou and my livers fail with them. Anyway. Last nights 3-0 loss to the Pirates sucked and I don't want to talk about it cause I'm hung over as fuck.

So yesterday, I headed down into enemy territory. South side. Sox park. The cell. Lets just put it this way. I paid 8$ for box seats right behind home plate. I lost the ball under hat game on the scoreboard. And if some recording tells me to clap my hands one more time I'm gonna kick a cop. The cell is nice. The food is good. The fans are drunk and all look like they were born in an Irish bar. And the white sox hit more dingers than there were fans at the game. And then there was this guy! See pic.



It was nice to sit in the sun and hear the crack of the bat. It's baseball time and I can't wait to do the real thing at wrigley on Monday.

So. Lets win this series eh? The game starts now. So I'm gonna shut up and drink water.

Go cubbies!