Cubs Win the Game; Lose Players

In what will prove to be the most bittersweet "W" of the year, the Cubs beat the Phillies 5-2, with 4 of the runs coming on 2 Donnie Murphy Homers, but the Northsiders also lost 2 players in an ugly 7th inning.  Thomas Neal went down in a heap in his 1st start as a Cub with a dislocated shoulder.  (I guess we all just found out why the Yankees released him).

While Dionner Navarro, only a few minutes later was mowed over by Chase Utley for a game saving out at the plate.

Which resulted in this....

And then this....

This is the face of a man who's season might be over.  Anyone got a catcher they can spare for today's day game?

Dionner has a Right ankle sprain, no fractures thank Jeebus, and Neal's shoulder popped out.  Both injuries could have been much worse.  Think Buster Posey and his year ending broken ankle a few years back.  Either way, both these injuries are a blow to a Cubs team who has already used 50 players in this season, having sold high during the trade deadline sweepstakes.  And now, I have to listen to my mother, complain about how she doesn't know the players anymore....thanks Theo and Jed....

So, say "Welcome Back" to Julio Borbon or Dave Sappelt, and some catcher from the minors, because that's what the team's gonna be now....Ugh...not good.

But I don't want to dwell on the negative too long, because the Cubs actually won this game, thanks to Donnie Murphy's 3 run blast in the 9th inning, breaking a 2-2 tie.  In his 3rd game as a Cub, the veteran socked his second homer of the game into the Left field bleachers, knocking in what proved to be the game winning run.  You got to hand it to Theo and Jed, finding these place holders like Murphy to take over spots for injured players, and excel at the opportunity.  But my Mom still doesn't know who the hell they are...just saying...again...

Junior Lake, everybody's new favorite Cub, is also batting .333, and went 2-4 last night.  He now has 84 at bats in the bigs, which is about 1/5 of a season.  Not the smallest sample size to judge him by, but we've all seen prospects come out swinging, only to fade once the pitchers figure him out.  Lake is a free and aggressive swinger like Starlin Castro.  So just wait till the "Cubs Way" gets a hold of him, and they make him take pitches down the middle just to maybe draw a walk.  Yeah, he will probably suck then too, just like Castro sucks this year.  Batting .245 with only 7 dingers, a full 40 points lower than last year (which we all thought was his down year), and unless he goes on a tear with the home runs, he'll be lucky to hit 10, 4 less than last year.  Is Starlin a bust?

Rizzo was out of the lineup last night too.  He went 1-5 the night before and is only batting .240.  This is also not good.  It's a sad state of affairs when your catchers are batting better than your "prospects".  Unfortunately, one of those catchers bit the dust last night.  Let's hope he heals fast.  Dionner, if you read this, the Casino buffet's on me buddy...

Well, we have a good chance to win this series in Philadelphia, a city I loathe thoroughly.  Trust me, I lived there twice.  What can you say for a city whose claim to fame is a Pretzel that's not pretzel shaped, and a beef sandwich covered in Cheese Whiz?  Plus...they have the rudest fans...remember this guy?

Let's hope Shark Samarkbfoq3[4r09r can shut down the Phils' who are "throwing up". Ethan Martin, who is 0-1 with a 12.46 era.  Doesn't he look like the "barfer"?  I think so.  

Let's hope he  makes Philly fans vomit with his sickeningly bad performance against the Cubs today.  

Go Cubbies!

http://www.sonranto.com

Slams, Shams, and Sveums!

Do you know what the best thing about the 2 Grand Slams hit by the Chicago Cubs in the last 2 days is?  They were hit by both a platoon outfielder and a pitcher.  Did I mention that the back up catcher had a 3 homer day the day before?  Depth depth depth, is what you need to win a Championship.  Injuries and slumps take their toll on every team throughout the year, and you've got to have a backup plan.  Look at the Yankees who's entire starting lineup is a back up plan.  They are in second place.  The Cubs backup plan guys are now sparking the team, and hitting the cover off the ball.  But what of our original plan guys?  Ummmm...not so much.....

Sorry to bring up the negative while we are on a 5 game winning streak, but winning these games so decisively, with such incredible displays of hitting prowess, has me asking "who in the hell are these guys?!"  Castro and Rizzo, the cornerstones of this organization have struggled consistently this year.  Rizzo with a painfully slow start, including 45 strikeouts.  And Castro with a batting average of .264, far below what many of us expected from him.  Soriano is also playing below potential with only 6 homeruns.  And Darwin Barney, though a fielding phenom, is hovering precariously just above the Mendoza line at .209.  The Cubs in general are 7 games under .500, even though they have scored more runs than their opponents.  The only team to find themselves with this unlikely predicament of a stat in the majors.  They rank 6th in starting pitcher ERA, (9th overall), and they just don't hit on the road.

Wondering out loud.....Why did Sveum sit Navarro the day after his 3 homer game?  Why do the Cubs have 40 errors?  Half by the Pitchers and Catchers?  Why are we 7 games under .500 when an ancient greek philosopher named Pythagorus says we should be 2 games over.  Why?  Maybe it's because baseball isn't a "math problem" and wasn't invented in ancient Greece.  It's an American game, and as a people, Americans hate Math.  There is a place for stats as far as making decisions in this game.  Managers need to find the right matchups.  Lefty righty, double switches.  Defensive replacements.  There certainly are many factors to consider, but then there's just good old fashioned heart and gumption.  The intangibles like when a guy gets on a hot streak, or the converse, when you just know the starting pitcher doesn't have his stuff, but you try and get 5 innings anyway.  The innovations that sabermetrics has brought to the game of baseball are interesting at best.  The run expectancy charts in certain situations.   How a player hits against a specific pitcher.  Or how many strikeouts can be expected on a Tuesday, when it's partly cloudy, and the home plate umpire has explosive diarrhea.  But in my opinion, most of it is total BS.  Statistics don't play games, people do.  People with emotions, interpersonal chemistry, and good days and bad days.  Just like everyone on the planet.  I'm not calling Pythagorus a sham, I'm sure his theories are one of the reasons I'm even typing on a computer right now, but I don't think it applies to baseball as much as people involved in the front office, especially those who crave understanding and control of all things, want it to.  It's just a sham for baseball.  Better to be lucky than smart.

Speaking of smart!  Dale Sveum, our fearless bullet magnet of a manager, has come out and said he believes the team to be playing under their potential.  Well....duh...Dale were you also aware that the sun rises in the east, sets in the west, and puts two scoops of raisins in every box of Kellogs Raisin Bran?  I'm asking questions too here Dale.  Questions like why do the Cubs have an inexperienced manager, managing inexperienced players?  Was Brent Lillibridge really a leprechaun?  Should I get a 2013 World Champion Chicago Cubs tattoo?  I've been hard on Sveum in the past.  It's easy to criticize, and be a Monday morning quarterback, but seriously, I really hope, if the Cubs sell off the team that's currently winning ballgames, that he's part of the sell off too.  If they are truly thinking of Sveum, along with Rizzo, Castro, Jackson and Smardwjfbbferfbwhj as the core of this team, we might be 3/5 short of a core.  However, if we keep winning with Grand Slams by utility players and pitchers, I'll just shut up and take the wins, and quit complaining.  Son Ranto quit complaining?!  That'll be the day....

Check out the new podcast at http://www.sonranto.com  Or on Soundcloud

Navarro Hit's 3 Homers as Cubs Win 3rd Straight!

Obviously tired of running hard to try and beat out double plays, Dionner Navarro hit three homers and walked yesterday, to ensure he would have to break into nothing more than a trot throughout Wednesdays blowout 9-3 win over the White Sox.  Honestly, in my 39 years on this god forsaken planet, I don't think I've ever seen a back up catcher hit 3 home runs in a game.  Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I googled it, and though I found a great slideshow from Bleacher Report about unlikely hat trickers of the last decade, not one of them was a back up catcher.  Pretty impressive Navarro.  Even more impressive, is the the Cubs putting up 16 runs against the sox in the last 2 games, as opposed to the total of 17 they scored in 6 games on the last road trip against Reds and Pirates, where they went 1-5.  If you haven't seen my writeup on Bleed Bubbie Blue about my road exploits, check it out here!  It's a good read with great pics!  So, what is it about Sweet Home Chicago that causes the Cubs to actually play decent baseball?  Considering all you hear about how the Club Houses are so terrible at Wrigley, there's no batting cage, or scoreboard, or walk up music, and that's why we lose?  I've got to call BS on that.  The Cubs are batting .275 at home and .222 on the road.   They are 24th in the league in Homers on the road, and 6th at home.  As far as wins and losses go, they are only 3 games better at home than on the road, but that has more to do with errors and the bullpen.  Hey, maybe the players would enjoy a fancier clubhouse with more amenities, but when they have it in newer stadiums like PNC, and Great American, they stink.  Explain.

The Cubs won Monday as well, Jeff Samjenfir3bfrbfrbjrhfi44843 was brilliant, pitching the first complete game shut out of his career. Which in this day and age is a big deal!  I wonder what Fergie Jenkins thinks about all this?  Between 1965 and 1983, he pitched 267 complete games and 49 shutouts.  Plus, he didn't make half as much money as these clowns do today.  But Jeff was "dealing" as our announcers like to say these days, giving up only 2 hits, with the final score at the Cell 7-0.  In this game, Borbon proved the whole lefty/righty platoon thing can be bad strategy,  Going 2-5 with a homer.  Castro, Rizzo, and Soriano all had multi hit games, showing that when these guys hit, we win.  And when they don't we lose.  In other, hitting news, Scott Hairston is now batting over .150.  If Hairston's numbers even out, .263 with 20 homers last year with the Mets, we could be in for quite a show as the weather warms up.

On a side note. Does anyone else notice that when Castro strikes out, or is called out at first base, he throws mini temper tantrums?  My theory is that it's just a show to demonstrate to the fans that he is really trying hard.  It looks put on and fake to me.  I understand the emotion, but every time Starlin?  It's like he's acting out his character on MLB The Show.

And of course every silver lining has a grey cloud....Kyuji Fujikawa is going to have Tommy John surgery, and well, I guess that means we've seen the last of him.  I wonder if Fujikawa even knows who Tommy John is?  I'm sure they call it elbow ligament surgery in Japan, but we like to name our surgery's after people who had the surgery.  How did his interpreter translate?  Fascinating.  I wish I knew the answer.  This might be a question for Muskat on the inside....I'm emailing now.  I do think we should start naming all surgery's after people.  How about the "Kenny Rogers" face lift, women can get their breasts "Jolie'd", and of course, double leg amputation........even I don't want to complete this joke...sorry I made you do it yourself....

Ok!  Check out the new Podcast!  Where Lou Sears and I talk about my treacherous travels around the midwest watching Cubs games in enemy territory.

Today, Jake Peavy takes on Travis Wood at Wrigley.  This should be a great game.  Wish I could be there, but alas, I am in NYC playing the funny songs festival with my band "Bad Teenage Moustache".  Going to the Mets Yankees tonight though.  I hate Yankee Stadium.  The old and the new.  I suppose I would like it more if it weren't full of Yankee fans....but it always is....I always viewed the Cubs as the Anti-Yankees.  One team famous for winning 27 World Championships with baseballs most legendary players, and the other team famous for.....you'll have to complete this joke yourself too.

http://www.sonranto.com

Cubs Try to Lose; Win Anyway!

If there was any question as to how "Marmol" is spelled in japanese, I looked it up, and it's "F-U-J-I-K-A-W-A".  In a dismal 9th inning appearance, trying to preserve Carlos Villanueva's 2-0 gem, Kuji-Fuji, as he will be referred to from here on in, stank up the joint,  allowing 3 runs on 3 hits, plus a wild pitch, and he hit a batter (Buster Posey).  I was really hoping the plunked Posey would charge the mound ala Carlos Quentin vs Zack Greinke (video of melee in link), and break Kuji-Fuji's collar bone too.  At least I could have forgiven the 2 more runs he gave up, as I imagine it's tough to pitch with a broken collarbone.  But alas, cooler heads prevailed, and Posey trotted down to first, giving the Giants one more chance to go ahead.  And go ahead they did. Eventually,leading 3-2 going into the Cub's half of the 9th inning.

What is it with Cubs closers this year?  I've talked on the podcast with the lovable Lou Sears about  how these pitchers trying to close out the game, put extra pressure on themselves to wrap it up for a win.  That unnecessary extra pressure results in mistakes, thus runs, thus blown saves, and thus losses.  Granted, the fans in the stands are all a titter about going home with a win, standing, drunkenly chanting, and clapping randomly, but the closer, whoever it is, needs to just pretend it's the 3rd inning, and approach it as the routine 1-2-3 we Cub fans long for.  Maybe the fans could help set the scene by getting up to take a leak and buy a hot dog.  Let's all just pretend it's the third inning, and listen to the "W" from the bathroom, standing shoulder to shoulder singing "Go Cubs Go" from the iconic pee troughs of the Wrigley Field men's bathroom.  (Ladies, if you don't know what I'm talking about, find out by grabbing any random man in a Cubs hat and just say "Wrigley trough". Actually don't do that, it's weird... ).  So what changes in the 9th?  The only thing I can think of is that they stop selling beer, so many alcoholic fans have retreated to the Captain Morgans club, or one of Wrigleyville's many watering holes to watch the end of the game.  Maybe the absence of the constant chatter of "Beer here!", and "Get your Old Style", is unnerving to the pitcher.  It may be breaking the law to sell beer after the 8th, but I feel like we have to think outside the box for solutions.  I, Son Ranto, for one would be happy to 'take one for the team' and buy beer from vendors in the 9th.  Hell!  I'll even make the sacrifice to buy and drink beer  in extra innings.  Yes.  I love the Cubs that much.  It's all about sacrifice.

OK.  Ranto Rant over.....We won the game!!!!  And I was there!!!!

I took a little time off of my busy schedule of complaining about everything, procrastinating and drinking at home, to ride my bike the mile or so down to the Friendly Confines.  I was feeling generous, so I gave a scalper 10$ for a Box Seat and got to the game around the 5th inning.  Might I add, I decided to go down there in the 15 minute period where the sun was out.  I had been listening on the radio, as my poverty lacks Comcast Sports net and  It was 1-0 when I got to the stadium.  I heard Castro's homer from the roar of the crowd and Captain Morgan's amplified broadcadst, and found me a scalper.  2-0 is where it stayed until the fiasco 9th.  And I was like "Just great!  I come down here to sit in the cold rain to watch the Cubs blow another one. 2 damn days in a damned row".  I was truly questioning my purpose on earth, along with my horrific life choices, when the Cubs came to bat in the 9th...and from the ashes rose the phoenix!

The 9th started wonderfully with Dionner Navarro, who's aversion to running the bases, gives him extra incentive to hit home runs, did just that.  At 5'9", and 205 lbs, he prefers a trot as opposed to a full out sprint.  But it's fine by me.  Trot away Dionner!  So tie game, and I'm figuring extra innings, basically, because I don't have a whole ton of faith in this team to score twice off  Romo, the Giants closer, who was lights out the day before.  My pessimism was briefly vindicated by watching Valbuena and "Oh God!  why is this guy still on the team?" Brent Lillibridge strike out.  So two outs, and DeJesus doubles, Castro singles.  We win!!!

I must admit, I welled up a bit while singing "Go Cubs Go" with my drunken brethren.  To steal a victory from the jaws of defeat with my fellow inebriated Chicagoans was just as sweet as any thing that's happened to me ever.  Seriously.  Ever.  There are few better feelings for a baseball fan than a walk off win.  Of course I prefer it happen in a 4 game sweep of  the World Series (don't think my heart can take a 7 gamer).  But I felt great walking out of there!  Seriously wonderful!  The fans were still singing on the streets.  The atmosphere was jubilant!  Hopefully, this walk off win can carry the team with confidence into the weekend and beyond.  Especially Starlin Castro, who has failed miserably to be the hero all season until yesterday.  Way to go Starlin!  You acted the champion we all hope you'll be!

So, unfortunately, I will not be able to attend todays 12:05 start.  I'm going to watch some little kids play soccer in the burbs, and hang out with my Michigan cousins.  But I'll be back in the Friendly Confines tomorrow.  Up in the FC!  Got tickets?  Cause I don't.  Hit me up at sonranto@gmail.com, and of course http://www.sonranto.com.  Don't forget to check out the podcast here!

Let's go get a W today!  It's Madison Bumgarner (who I understand garners bums for the Giants) vs.  Our very own ace Shark Samardzija.

Let's go Cubbies!

PS.  Clevenger looked good at 3rd.  Get rid of Lillibridge!

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!!!

Cubs Predictions for 2013

Today is the day that Zombie Jesus rides again.  And this year. Every MLB sportswriter in the world makes their predictions for the coming season.  Well...this is a Cub's Centric blog, so I'm not going to waste time talking about other teams.  but I will waste time talking about what I think will happen to the Chicago Cubs this year....

The team:
 With Ron Santo's ghost out for the season with no legs, the Cubs enter 2013 with no third baseman.  However Santo's ghost is being fitted with those awesome prosthetics that that olympian murderer runner wore.  Santo's ghost could be ready for a playoff run.

Andre Dawson will make another hilarious video with Kerry Wood, however this time it will be a sex tape called "Gerry Curl's got Wood".

The Astros will have not won a single game by July 10th, and demand to play the Cubs at least 12 times a season in order to have a fighting chance.

The ivy will die on the walls due to a disease similar to the Irish Potato blight, causing Cub's chairman Tom Rickett's to replace the iconic ivy with Chia Pet's in an effort to raise advertising revenue for the club.  Every time an opposing batter strikes out the jingle "CH-CH-CH-Chia!" will be played.

A drunken Billy Corgan will die falling out of the broadcast booth while singing 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game".  Tribune headline reads. "Corgan Smashes Pumpkins; Cubs Lose 14th straight".

Marla Collins will return as ball girl, but unfortunately she looks like this now....

Now on to the individual players.

Jeff Samardzija will be sued and forced to shave his head, by Mitch Williams who copyrighted his mullet while playing in chicago in 1989.

Darwin Barney will gain the nickname "Dar Bar" and consequentially launch a new 'healthy' candy bar of the same name.  Unfortunately, the confection will be a complete failure because the people of Chicago don't care about their health.

Dionner Navarro will suffer a massive heart attack at Gibson's Steakhouse on August 15th (an off day), but return to the lineup the next day and go 3-4 with a home run and a double against the hated Cardinals.

Alfonso Soriano quits baseball forever to start a new career in Acting where he will play 'The Cowardly Lion' in Marriot Lincolnshire's production of "The Wiz" this fall.

David DeJesus's hot wife Kim leaves him for me.

Starlin Castro is assaulted on the field in NYC by a woman 8 months pregnant claiming Starlin to be the Father, however further DNA tests after the babies birth confirm the child to be David DeJesus's, whose wife then leaves him for me.

Kyuji Fujikawa will get into a fistfight in the bullpen with Carlos Marmol over whether the original Karate Kid from the 80's was better than the one with Will Smith's daughter.  Fujikawa will win with the Daniel San's Crane kick because Marmol never saw the original movie and didn't see the other foot coming.

I'll keep these predictions sealed in a pickle jar to be opened at the end of the season.  Let's see how many come true!!