How Bout...The Cubs Won Last 5 of 7 Series!

Why the Cubs couldn't win the only game I went to this weekend, Friday, is beyond me.  Just bad luck I guess. But I was able to at least watch on TV, covered in my sisters 3 kids, the late inning dramatics of Dioner Navarro, as he launched a Sac Fly in the 11th to give the Cubs a walk off style win!  As Josephine on Twitter wrote..."It ain't over til the fat man swings!"  Of course this was after Kevin Gregg did his best 2009 impression of himself and gave up a 2 out, top of the 9th game tying homer to the Pirates, Starling Marte, for the Cubs MLB leading 18th blown save of the year.  As they say, "alls well that ends well". And I'm starting to think, after the Cubs have won 5 of their last 7 series', that that particular phrase will hopefully be affixed to the season as a whole.  And of those two lost series, only the Cardinals seemed to have the Cubs overmatched.  In the series lost to Oakland, the Cubs actually scored as many runs over the course of the series as the first place A's, and they blew a save in the 8th and lost the other game 1-0.  Furthermore, the games lost against the Mets and Astros both had blown saves, and could have been sweeps.  So, as the Cubs get blown up trade deadline style for the next month, I think it's important to focus on what this team needs to be competitive.  Within the last week, Scott Hairston, Scott Feldman, Carlos Marmol, and Steve Clevenger have all been traded.  What for?

Well, relief pitching basically.  Righty's Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop came from the Orioles Pen, and Matt Guerrier from the Dodgers.  Hairston fetched a minor league pitcher to be named later.  Arrieta is a 27 year old minor league starter, who was in the pen in Baltimore, though had a spot start or two.  Strop had a 2.44 ERA in 70 games last year, but has gone south this year.  Guerrier is 35 years old, and most likely NOT part of the Cubs future plans.  This trade was a way to get Marmol out of Chicago.  Carlos was booed for throwing ball one at Wrigley, and it was an unpleasant and crappy situation for the fans and Carlos.  BTW.  Marmol has accepted a minor league assignment to work out mechanical flaws.  Umm...why didn't the Cubs think of that?  With 18 blown saves, the Cubs sorely need more depth in the pen, and we got it with these 3 guys.  Now what else do we need?  A bat!!

Starlin Castro is having an awful season.  And Anthony Rizzo is probably Starlin's best friend right now, because Rizzo is batting .242 to Starlins .233.  If Starlin was batting even .270, we'd be saying what happened to Rizzo instead.  Fact of the matter is, we need these guys to hit if the Cubs are ever to compete.  Right now, it's our scrap heap guys, the injured Sweeney, Dioner Navarro, and Schierholtz that are keeping this team 10 games under .500.  Plus the surprisingly great starting pitching.  But honestly, you cannot pin all of the blown saves on the bullpen.  These guys are pitching day in day out with one run leads.  The lack of offense has left the pen with no margin for error most games.  The Cubs have the second worst OBP in the National league, and the second worst batting average with RISP.  The last place team is surprisingly the Pirates who have the worst average with RISP, but have the best record in baseball.  So what's the answer here?  Castro and Rizzo have to hit.  If by next year this time, they still aren't hitting, it's time to worry.  Especially because these unproven youngsters are signed to looooooong contracts.  But as fans, we've got to hope they're going to figure it out eventually.    Both Rizzo and Castro are under 25.  Patience.....

Other areas in need of improvement....defense....the Cubs have committed 60 errors this year, and are 8th in the majors in this category.  And passed balls and wild pitches, even dropped third strikes have been an issue.  This is not a question of trading for better defense.  It's a question of training and practice.  Execution and smarter playing.  Is Dale Sveum the right manager for this?  I personally do not think so, but Theo seems high on him, and I don't get a say in the matter.  Soooooo....go Cubs!

Right now, the Cubs are doing what they're supposed to do.  Trade away players who are placeholders, like Hairston, and get what you can for em.  Get younger, meaner, leaner, and save the money for maybe a big free agent in a year or two.  As much as I hate to see the Cubs blow the team up, Feldman and Hairston were hardly Cubs, and Marmol needed a fresh start.  The thing I haven't mentioned is that the Cubs are going to be big money players in the international market as well.  Many of these trades have included "slots" and extra cash to be spent on the World stage.  This is a VERY good thing.  Sure, these guys are 16 years old now, but so was Big Papi once.  Aroldis Chapman.  Fukudome....hahahaha...JK.  What I'm hoping for with this team teardown and build up is for the Cubs to build a competitive team for always.  Like the Yanks or Cards.  We in Chicago deserve it.  This is a great baseball town.  And after 1 World Series championship, it'll be on.  Curse off.  Rings on.

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Went to Wrigley, Forgot My ID, Cubs Lost

Does this look like the face of someone under 21 years of age?  

Good thing I pre gamed with some Whiskey, and had someone with me WITH an ID, because I went to Wrigley without one, got carded, and not served.  But I knew this game was gonna blow as soon as I paid 30$ for a nosebleed ticket.  The price fixers of MLB and Stubhub never let price get below 45$ for yesterdays, nearly sold out, 6-2 loss to the First Place Pirates.  It was pretty packed, but the bleachers weren't totally jammed, and I was easily able to sit the entire game in Upper Deck Box, instead of my assigned "behind a pole"seats.  Rickett's needs 10$ tickets to fill the place.  Hey, we'll buy you 6$ Hot dogs and 8$ beers, just make it affordable Daddy Warbucks!

As far as the baseball went yesterday, it was pretty terrible.  Shark Smardkbferbfowebf was mediocre for an "Ace".  5 runs, 5 walks, only 3K's over 6.  For some reason, Dale "Evil Genius" Sveum walked the 8 hitter in the second inning to pitch to Liriano, the Pirates pitcher, who promptly drove in the first run of the game.  Why are you walking the 8 hitter?  Chicken?  It makes the Cubs look weak.  Go after the 8 hitter!  It's not like it's Pete Rose up there!  It's Jordy freakin Mercer for Crissakes!  His names Jordy! Lame Dale...real lame...

And every player who did something good yesterday, also did something bad.  The Cubs had only 4 hits, two by the beefy back up catcher Dioner Navarro, who also hurt himself, and allowed a run to score from third with a high throw to second.  

Poor Dioner...McCutchen's bat hit him in the funnybone, the one place Navarro has no..."extra"...human padding.

Scott Hairston hit a 2 run homer!  But he also needlessly dove for, and missed this ball....

With nobody on and two out....he wasn't even close, and it ended up being a triple.  

And Starlin Castro Struck out on this pitch...

And on this pitch...

Then he hit a double!!!

Look how confidently Starlin smells his 8 inning ripened arm pit!

Then.....

He got picked off second...

Then called out...

Then Starlin pouted on all 4's, wondering if the hot girl in box seats he was looking at when he got picked off, liked his butt

Ahoy!  That game blew, but it was a beautiful day at the Wrigs....and I got drunk regardless of my lack of ID.  And even though the Cubs lost with blame to go around, I had a blast.  

Let's get em today eh?!!!

Charlie Morton, who's only pitched in 4 games this year, but has a 2.50 era goes for the Bucs vs.  Edwin Jackson, who unfortunately pitches worse at home and in the day time.  Well....at least it's a beautiful day for a ballgame!

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Cubs Beat Old Fat Guy 3-1

The Cubs beat the A's fattest pitcher Bartolo Colon', who has gained weight during his 16 year career for teams such as the Expos, Cleveland, Yankees, and The White sox.  Colon, no doubt, has sampled the Cuisine from these great cities, and now weighs in at 265 lbs, while standing only 5'11".  That my friends is FAT!  Here's Colon in 2011 with the Yanks.

Pretty impressive that Colon at his current generous poundage is 11-3 with a 2.78 ERA.  I'm 5'10" 200lbs, and can barely walk up the stairs!  Maybe we could get Edwin Jackson to gain 100 lbs, and he can be as dominant as Colon.  Hey, I'll try anything to get his contract to be worth it!

Though not as fat, the girthy Dioner Navarro does not seem to be hampered by his largess.  As a back up catcher with only 104 at bats, he's hit 8 Homeruns, has 18 RBI's and is batting .288. I've made fun of Navarro chugging around the bases many times this year, but at least he's ON the bases, which is more than I can say for some of the other Cubs players.  

Don't make the man play the field!  Just let him hit!!!

Navarro is 5'9" 205 Lbs, but I really have trouble believing those numbers.  Who cares.  Hit the buffet! And keep the hits coming!  

Now lets take a look at some other fat baseball players....

As a Chubby kid, John Kruk gave me hope that I could at least play first base, and possibly catch as a Big leaguer someday.  Of course this didn't happen, and now I'm a fat blogger and musician.  But his fatness didn't hurt him much....he had a career OPS of .843, and 100 HRs.  Baseball reference has him listed at 5'11", 170.  I wonder how much he paid to doctor those stats?

But look at him now....so sad...

Another one of my favorite fat ball players.... Prince Fielder...

Prince has 274 HR's and is in his 9th major league season.  And has a career OPS of .923.  Not too shabby for a big fat guy.  Fielder is 5' 11" 275.  Now that is FAAAAATTTT....but he's gonna eat his way to the Hall of Fame.  He truly is an inspiration to fat athletes everywhere....

And now,of course the fattest, and possibly greatest player in history.  Babe Ruth.

Listed at 6'2" 215, he doesn't seem fat, because like most of us, he didn't really get fat until he was in his 30's.  Of course that's when all the news reels were invented, so there is more video of him fat, than when he was in shape in his 20's.  Babe Ruth was a better pitcher than Fat man Colon, and a better hitter than Prince Fielder, making him the greatest of all the obese players!

With a career OPS of 1.164, and a pitching record of 94-46, and a 2.28 ERA.  Babe Ruth was the greatest of the greats....and the fattest of the fats...

His production did drop off the fatter he got, later in his career.  But his ability to eat copious amounts of food, while simultaneously drinking, smoking, and leading the league in all time pitching and hitting categories for decades to come is a true inspiration, to fattys and drunks.  Thank you Babe for all you've done for fat guy acceptance!  Now lets watch fat Babe calling his shot at Wrigley Field in the 1932 World Series!

Did he or didn't he call the shot?  All we know is that he was FAT, when he hit that homer against the Cubbies.  

Well, to fat guys and gals everywhere, there's hope for us in softball leagues, and maybe the majors.  So you obese kids out there...keep dreaming, and keep eating!

Check out the new podcast!

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I Must Be in the Front Row!

Some of you may be too young to remember, but in the 80's, there was a Miller Lite commercial featuring Bob Uecker where he gets booted from his seat for acting rowdy.  When security comes to get him, and tells him he's in the wrong seat, Uecker says, "I must be in the front row...". Of course, he ends up in nose bleed seats, and the last shot of him is in the last row of the stadium screaming, "He missed the tag!"  It's hilarious, and unfortunately, I couldn't find a Youtube of it as all the links were broken due to copyright infringement...boo-urns...

Unlike Uecker, yours truly, Son Ranto did sit in the first row yesterday.  For the first time since a 16 inning game against the Atlanta Braves in 1987, I successfully snuck down the the First Row of box seats.  Right behind the Brewers Ball Boy.  I had a little help from my Brother in law, and his neighbor Paul, who actually had tickets in the section.  We did the old, ticket exchange every time someone got up.  I personally paid 10$ for a scalped ticket right in front of the Stadium.  Not bad seats for 10$ eh?

It was a great place to watch the Cubs beat the Brewers 7-2 for the series win anyway.  The only surprises in the game, besides the Cubs scoring 7 runs, was that Matt Garza, who usually swings the bat terribly, had 2 hits!  And his trade baitability, increased 10 fold because of a 7 inning, 7 strikeout appearance.  With Garza's contract up this year, and his proneness to injury, I actually hope he's gone by tonight.  It's a damned shame too, because it would be nice to have Garza as a Cub for the next few years.  I think he's a great pitcher when he's healthy.  Possibly we can resign him in the off season.  He fits in well in Chicago.  

Another notable achievement from yesterday was 2 hits from my man, Starlin Castro.  Now, I've been hard on Starlin this year, but since his benching on Tuesday, he has gone 2-5 in the next two games.  Could this be the turn around we're all waiting for?  Let's hope.  Because if the Cubs are going to complete their World Series plans in 2015, Starlin's going to have to be a part of it.  Too bad Dale didn't bench Castro two weeks ago, when almost every fan in the stands said that's what needed to happen.

Another notable achievement from the game, was Dioner Navarro's 7th home run, a line drive, 3 run shot to right.  He has to be the best hitting back up catcher in the majors. with 7 home runs and 17 RBI's in only 89 at bats over 36 games.  The offensive production out of the Catcher's spot has been impressive, along with Castillo.  The defense, not so much, but as a Cubs' fan in 2013, I'll take what I can get.... 

Like Front Row Seats!!!! 

Check out how close I was to the Sausage Races!

Go Hot Dog!!!!

Hot Dog Wins!!!!

The Sausages exited up my row!!! I'm awesome!!!

Just a quick note if you plan on gambling on the Sausage races, which I did the previous evening, winning a dollar off the Rally Banana.  The Brewers Ballboy told me that there's a broken piece in the Chorizo costume, and it's also the most top heavy.  Chorizo hardly ever wins.  Do you think the Brewers are racist?  Making the latino sausage slowest?  Probably....

Yes.  The front row is definitely the way to watch the Cubs win Matt Garza's last start in pinstripes.  I suggest you all try it sometime.  

Well, it's time to start falling asleep in fron of the TV while watching the game again.  Cubs are in Seattle tonight.  I really wish I could go, but alas, I cannot afford it.  We got Travis Wood 5-6, 2.85 vs Hisashi Iwakuma 7-3, 2.26.  I know nothing about the Mariners except for that they have virtually the same record as the Cubs, and none of their starters are batting over .300, and Aaron Harang, who the Cubs face Saturday, is on their team now.  The good news is, we don't have to face King Felix Hernandez!

Well, I won't be at another game until the Cubs come home 7/5.  In the meantime...

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Foggy Wrigley Clouds Cubs Loss

Yes, there's a game out there somewhere....

From my favorite fence leaning seats in right field, I took this picture in the 2nd inning of yesterday's 6-2 loss to the Reds.  Why the umpires let this game start on time is beyond me, as the first few innings made for some treacherous plays.  Including this one....

Luis Valbuena will drop this popup, yet was not charged with an error.  I mean, there's no way he could have even seen this ball.  None of them can!  The Cubs are pretty darn bad defensively, and they don't need any help sucking at fielding by some pea soup fog!   Ri-freaking-diculous!

Scott Feldman, pitched OK, except for the part where he gave up a grand slam. in the 3rd inning  Can't blame the fog for that though.  Feldman gave up 7 hits, and 5 runs over 6 innings.  The main problem was the Cubs offense, again.  They collected only 6 hits, 2 by Schierholtz, (boy I'm gonna miss him when they trade him to a contender for a player to be named later), and 1 by the pitcher Feldman.  It's great that the Cubs pitchers can swing the bat, but it sure would be nice if the position players could do the same.  Yesterday, the Cubs were 2-11 with men in scoring position.  Rizzo went 0-3, and Soriano struck out three times.  Nope.  Not gonna win any ball games with that kind of performance.  Starlin Castro finally did get a hit, a double in the 9th, that actually plated a run, during the Cubs fake rally in the 9th.  Castro wears his heart on his sleeve after this double.  Look at the relief in his eyes.  I don't think he's ever struggled like this in his 23 years on earth.  He's batting .243.  Ouch.

This fake rally that the Cubs are so fond of staging late in the game, actually could have gotten us somewhere ,if not for 2 defensive gems by the Reds, especially Brandon Phillips, who unlike Darwin Barney, can hit too.  It's not just that the Reds have 27 errors to our 42, but it's that they make the big play when the games on the line.  Diving sliding catches, over the shoulder grabs.  You know, stuff the Cubs usually don't do, like robbing teams of doubles and base hits.  I wish the Cubs would do that.  Now here's a thing the Cubs should NEVER do.... Send Dioner Navarro on contact from third base.  Unless he's running towards a Chinese Buffet, you're not going to get much juice outta this guy.

Umm, yeah, you've been out for a while now Dioner.  I wish he woulda run over the catcher Pete Rose style.  

Well, that was game one of a 4 game set.  Tonight, Tony Cingriani, 2-0, 3.27, goes up against Matt Garza 1-0, 4.03.  Hopefully the Cubs memory of last night will be as foggy as the first few innings of yesterday's game.  My memory of last evening is a bit foggy too, but I think that's the Old Style.

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I wanna hang with these dudes!

I Knew the Cubs Would Lose, But Still....

I guess Dale Sveum didn't get the memo from Rahm Emmanuel, that the people of the city of Chicago don't want to watch Carlos Marmol pitch anymore.  His 3 walk appearance in yesterday's 8-4 loss to the D'Backs, didn't decide the game, but it was a typically ugly outing for the beleaguered reliever, and the smattering of fans that braved the unseasonably cold weather at Wrigley Sunday, made clear their feelings to Mr. Marmol.  Boooooo!  They Said....Boooo!!!!  Now I've written about booing before.  I am a boo-er as well, but I reserve my booing for lack of effort, or concentration, and the players of opposing teams.  People my people.  Do you want the Cubs to win or not?  Marmol is out there trying his best.  He wants to succeed!  The last people to stand in his way should be the Cubs' fans!  The next time he pitches....oh god...please no....the fans should stand in support for Marmol.  Cheer him.  Help him to do better this time.  Just my two cents.

You ready for more bad news?  Edwin Jackson the Cubs big off season signing has been a bust so far.  Not only is he 1-8 with a 6.29 ERA, but the Cubs are paying Jackson a lot of money for the next 4 years to basically be a mediocre number 5 starter, and unfortunately, I'm not surprised.  When the Cubs signed Jackson, I looked up his stats immediately and was not impressed.  Jackson has 7 full seasons in the majors as a starter, and has a sub 4 ERA in only two of those seasons.  He's also a journeyman who has played on 8 different teams in his 10 years in and out of the majors.  It really makes you wonder about a guy when so many teams have let him go.  So what did Theo and Jed see in him?  Well, whatever they saw, it ain't there now.  Check out this chart I found on the interwebs....

Yes, this one man, who plays every 5 days takes up 12.2% of the payroll.  At least Soriano, who pretty much takes the rest of it, plays everyday.  I hope things even out for Jackson.  He seems like a nice guy.  Just one decent outing could spark things in a better direction, but so far....it's been pretty ugly.  Jackson himself said yesterday, after the game "This is probably one of the most frustrating seasons I've been through,"  We know Edwin.  We know.  Welcome to the Chicago Cubs.  Hey, at least he got a hit and an RBI yesterday, which is more than I can say for Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo, the cornerstones of the 2015 World Champion Chicago Cubs.  To be fair, Rizzo did walk twice.

I have a question.  Why are there so many damned lefty hitters on this team.  There are currently 6 on the Cubs active roster, and it seems as if we are facing a lefty opponent pitcher every third day.  Don't you think other teams look at our roster and try to make certain they face the Cubs with a lefty?  The Cubs are 23rd out of 30 teams in batting average against lefty's and 13th against righty's.  I think most of the problem stems from micro-managing the game in the first place.  Lefty hitters don't even get to practice against left handed pitchers.  If they didn't over specialize, maybe lefty hitters could learn to hit lefty pitching better.  For example, DeJesus sucks against lefty's possibly because he doesn't face them too often.  In only 28 at bats against lefty's this year, he's batting .179, but against righty's, he's .297.  So, instead, yesterday, because the Cubs don't have 3 right handed outfielders, Julio Borbon played, who's batting a slightly better .222 aginst lefty's, and he drops an easy fly ball, leading to at least 2 unearned runs.  Took a couple of screen shots of Borbon's Bor-boner.

I Got It!!

I Got It?

I lost it......

Speaking of defense.  We still have "missers" instead of "catchers".  Did you know that Welington Castillo, or "Beef Castle", as he is known to many has the most errors of any catcher in the major leagues?  Navarro, our backup doesn't look much better back there.  Dropped third strikes are his thing.  The Cubs lead the league in Wild Pitches, and are 8th in passed balls.  In general, the Cubs are the second worst fielding team in the majors.  Here's a couple of shots of Navarro taking one off the face mask yesterday.

It has not been a stellar year for the Cubs behind the plate, but at least these guys can hit!  Castillo has a higher batting average than Castro and Rizzo, and Navarro, who doesn't even play everyday, has twice as many homers as Castro, and is tied with Soriano with 6.  

Well, today's an off day.  Thank god.  It might sound crazy, stupid, or both, but the Cubs are off to Anaheim to play two games against the Angels, have another off day on Thursday, only to return home to Wrigley on Friday to play the Pirates.  What the hell kind of scheduling is that?  

New podcast coming soon.  In the meantime....check out my awesome Sveum video!

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10 Day Cubs Baseball Binge; Now I Have a Sveum-over

After spending 9 of the last 10 days in the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field, missing only the cold and wet Friday game against the Reds, I can truly say that for the first time in my life, I'm glad the Cubs are on the road for a 3 game set against the Nationals. The Cubs were 4-6 on this homestand, splitting a 4 game series with the Padres, swept by the Reds in 3, they clobbered the Rangers in a makeup game, and then split the 2 game series with Cardinals to finish it off.  Besides the obviously exhausting problem of drinking too much, talking too much, and eating too much at these 9 ball games,  I am actually hung over from the Baseball itself.  Once again, as in earlier series this year, we were close in almost all of these games, but ended with a losing record for the homestand.  Why can't this team get over the hump?  Why do they make stupid errors?  Why is Carlos Marmol given the ball in close games?  Why do we allow teams 5 outs an inning due to misplays?  And most importantly, why is Dale Sveum still the manager?

Let's take yesterday's 5-4 loss to the Cardinals, a game we were winning until the 7th inning, and didn't go behind until the 8th.  The Cubs starter, Carlos "the stache" Villanueva had 2 outs in the 7th, and was due up second in the bottom of the inning.  Sveum pulls him after 101 pitches, because his arm was tired from twirling his mustache between innings,  and in comes James Russel, who has been great, until yesterday, gives up a double and a single.  Tie game.  Now I'm not a big fan of the whole lefty/righty match up thing, especially with Villanueva due up second in the inning, it makes no sense to use your lefty in the 7th for one batter, Matt Carpenter, when the next 4 Cardinals are switch hitters, or righty's.  Russel gives up the double to Carpenter, and then Beltran, a switch hitter, brings him home with a single.  Russel then stays in to get the final out against righty Holliday.  So what's the point of the lefty match up, when Russel comes in and faces two righty's anyway?  Stupid.

Sveum, then pinch hits Borbon in the 7th for Russel, who attempts to bunt Cody Ransom to second, but runs to first base on the grass side of the baseline, and is called out on interference.  Ransom goes back to first.  DeJesus comes up, grounds into a double play, inning over.  Why the hell doesn't Borbon run in the damned baseline?!  The man has been in and out of the big leagues since 2009, but can't do something simple like run down to first base!  Why?!  Sloppy play= crappy coaching.

Then in the 8th inning, Michael Bowden come in for the Cubs, and the Cardinals take the lead because of a single, a wild pitch (our league leading 21st), and another single.  Why all the wild pitches?  They don't score without a wild pitch!  We have 2 Missers....I mean Catchers that can't catch or block the damn ball.  Your called a Catcher!  What you are supposed to do is in the damn job title!  I don't know if these are pitch crossups, lack of communication, sheer ineptitude, or a combination of the 3.  But I do know, when something negative happens enough in your game play, that you must work to fix said negative problem.  Once again...sloppy play=crappy coaching.

So, that's how we lost yesterdays game, but what did we do to not win it?  Well, ground into 4 double plays for one.  Two of them reflecting on coaching or management in my opinion.  The first one that bugged me was Dioner Navarro's DP in the 6th inning.  With men on first and third.  Navarro, who is visibly fat, hit a 2 bouncer to second.  Just about every other player on the team would have beat that out, but not Sir Chuggington Navarro.  He is listed as 5'9" 205 lbs.  Which is the exact weight and height same as me.  And I'm fat.  About 25-30 lbs overweight.  How is this guy a professional athlete, and allowed to stay this rotund?  The run from third would have scored had he been able to leg it out.  Maybe I can shame him into losing weight by sitting near the first base line, and yelling Boom Babba Boom Babba Boom as he runs down the line.  Don't these guys have dietitians and conditioning coaches?  Why is nobody demanding this guy get fit?  He gets paid millions of dollars to play a kids game!  Ever hear of Seattle Sutton's healthy eating?  They're a freakin Cubs sponsor for Crissakes!  But do you think Dale Sveum went up to Navarro and told him, "you know you would have beaten that out if you weighed 15 lbs less".  No.  Probably not.  Sloppy Body=Crappy Coaching.

The other Double play I will second guess Sveum on happened in the 8th inning.  Now granted, Nate Schierholz has been one of the best players on the Cubs this year.  But he rarely plays against leftys.  In fact, he's had only 9 at bats and 1 hit against lefty's this year and is batting .111.  The Cubs have first and third, one out.  Now, Sveum has Alfonso Soriano on the bench,  and all we need is a sac fly to tie the game.  Soriano is batting .421 against leftys.  Yes, .421 vs. .111 with the game on the line in the 8th inning against the hated Cardinals.  What does Sveum do?  Nothing.  Schierholz bounces into the Cubs 4th double play of the day.  Inning over. Chance squandered. Cubs go 1-9 with men in scoring position and......Ugh... Soriano did end up making an appearance in the on deck circle in the bottom of the 9th where he would have faced a righty though.  As I said, I'm not a fan of the lefty righty thing.  Maybe Schierholz would be better against leftys if he actually got to face them once in a while, but Sveum loses the lead by using a lefty matchup with James Russel, and then fails to do the exact same thing on offense an inning later.    This team is inconsistent.  Dale Sveum is among the most inconsistent.  Actually, I take that back.  He is incredibly consistent, at losing baseball games.

Further reasons why Sveum sucks and should be canned.  Even though we beat the Cards on Tuesday, why was Marmol allowed into that game?  We were only winning 2-1, and Marmol gave up a walk and 2 hits in an inning and a third.  We were lucky that the Cardinals Molina made a stupid base running play and was picked off.  Marmol needs to work out some kinks, yet he didn't pitch in the blowout against the Rangers on Monday.  It would have been the perfect time to let him get out there with no pressure.  Because under pressure, he blows it.  Every time.  Yet, we did see James Russel, our lefty specialist in the blowout.  Why?  What was the point of that?  Bad decisions.  Bad coaching.  Yesterday, Rizzo tries to steal third with 2 out in the first.  Why?  He's already in scoring position!  What's the point?  Dumb Dumb Dumb.  Bad Coaching.

So, yeah.  I'm calling for Sveums head.  These young players who apparently don't know the simple fundamentals of baseball like running in the baseline, or not stealing a base when it's unnecessary, or being fit enough to run, need a manager like Bobby Cox, or Piniella in his hey day.  Someone old school who will teach them how to play the game right.  Why they already don't know that at this point, as professional millionaire ball players is beyond me.  I guess jocks are dumb.  But the Cubs make me feel like I'm at the blackjack table, and someone next to me keeps taking my Ace, by hitting on 16 when the dealer has a bust card.   They're just playing the game wrong, and it's killing us.

Well...what's on tap?  A new podcast with the Lovable Lou Sears for one.  Check out the expiring one here....   You can follow us on Soundcloud or subscribe on itunes!  And you will be notified accordingly...

In the meantine...check out http://www.Sonranto.com and Go Cubbies!

Let's Kill dem Nats in DC!!!