The Cubs have managed to win the last 3 series! There's something I haven't said all year. Fortunately, there was a lull in the schedule, and we faced 3 teams worse than the Chicago Cubs. The Astros, Brewers, and Mariners. We now sit 10 games under .500, 1 game away from the halfway point, and with the trade deadline looming, and key players expected to depart Chicago for prospects and cash, the future doesn't look so bright. Or does it? Oh yeah....2015....
Except for one game against the WhiteSox, the Cubs don't face a single bad team this month, until Milwaukee comes in for 4 the last 3 days of July (double header). With Sweeney and DeJesus on the shelf, Marmol off the team, and the rest of the offensive regulars underperforming, what will stop the Cubs from scuffling the rest of the way? The bullpen, except Kevin Gregg, already looks shot, and we're not even half way through the season! Kevin Gregg will be gone soon anyway, and then who will close? Russel? Then who's the lefty? Fujikawa's getting the Tommy John. And with Garza and Feldman on the trading block, who will start? Who will be the long reliever when Carlos Villanueva comes back to the rotation? Soooo many questions. No answers. Oh yeah....2015....
Recently, Theo Epstein has come out in recent support of Sveum and his management skills, saying we've put an imperfect team on the field, and it's not his fault. Then whose fault is it boy wonder? Oh yeah...yours! Your big free agent signing has been a bust so far in Edwin Jackson. And even though Schierholtz and Sweeney, fill in signings, have performed well, the core of the team in Castro, Barney and Rizzo has underperformed. What exactly are you building Theo? Besides a scoreboard and a hotel. You do realize that in 2015, all bets are off, and those fans who drank the Kool Aid you fed them a year ago, will be demanding a championship, or at least a decent playoff run. You have a window of opportunity here in Chicago, and it's closing fast Theo. In 2015....
I am impatient by nature, and I'm not going to pretend putting a winning baseball team together is an easy task. But so far....meh....I don't see too many glimmers of hope except for starting pitching, and as always, you're an injury away from a huge roster hole. Especially after trading away any pitching depth and experience we might have. And Cubs fans have had it! Wrigley is a great place to see a ball game, but people have stopped showing up because there's nothing to really watch. There is not a single Cubs hitter who strikes fear in the hearts of the other team. Not one. In 1987, at least the last place Cubs had Dawson and Sandberg. Who do we have now? A bunch of kids. And if they don't develop, it's your ass Theo, it really is. In 2015.
Who will these Cubs be in 2 years? Will Castro be a .300 hitter? Will Rizzo hit 40 homers? Will Darwin Barney bat .270 AND win a Gold Glove? Will Samardskjbfkeb have 20 wins? Will Jorger Soler win rookie of the year? All this has to at least come close to happening, in order for the Cubs to make a run at it in 2015. Everything, and everyone else is a question mark. Well....Enjoy the second half! I know I will.....in 2015.....
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Showing posts with label rizzo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rizzo. Show all posts
Monday, July 1, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
Cubs Swept in Pittsburgh; But I Won!
Well, at least I won 42$ at video roulette at Rivers Casino after the ballgame. But unfortunately, I seem to be the only entity associated with the Cubs, who has anything to do with the word "win". It was a stormy Thursday afternoon in Pittsburgh, and with Edwin Jackson showing early in the game that he didn't have his best stuff, getting tagged for 2 runs in each of the first two innings, the rains came as a Cub rally killer with 2 outs, 1 in and 2 on in the 4th. Ending both Jackson's day and my afternoon sobriety. Even though I said I wasn't going to drink at this one, a two hour rain delay in a stadium where you can't smoke has a way of changing these self made promises. The game continued, and our bullpen was lights out! Unfortunately, the lights were also out on the Cubs bats. Millionaire Cubs such as Anthony "Fo Shizzo" Rizzo went 0-13 in the series, Soriano 3-12, Castro 3-13, and overall the Cubs failed to score runs. So either the Pirates are really good, or the Cubs are terrible. You pick.
The best thing about yesterday's game was sitting in the left field, where I had a great view of Soriano's butt. I like Soriano, he engages the hecklers in aloof and confusing ways, he dances to the opposing batters walk up music, and he likes to watch the replays of him and his fellow teammates on the video screen in left field. Here he is getting ready for nothing to happen.
The best thing about yesterday's game was sitting in the left field, where I had a great view of Soriano's butt. I like Soriano, he engages the hecklers in aloof and confusing ways, he dances to the opposing batters walk up music, and he likes to watch the replays of him and his fellow teammates on the video screen in left field. Here he is getting ready for nothing to happen.
After the rain delay, I correctly predicted that people were going to be inebriated at the resumption of the game. I was right. A Pirate fan who looked like actor Paul Giamatti when he played "Pig Vomit" in the Howard Stern movie, began to heckle Soriano as soon as he took the field in the 5th. This man was not as funny as he thought he was, and was told repeatedly by the staff to sit down and be quiet. I retaliated Son Ranto style and heckled Pig Vomit by yelling to Soriano in spanish. "Los fanaticos son gordos y pelados!" Translated, "the fans are fat and bald". Which they are. I include myself in this as well. The Pirates are very serious about their fans conduct, and lay out rules before the game about swearing and fighting, as to socially engineer their fans into acting respectfully. Judging by the mustachioed gentlemen spitting his Skoal laden chaw onto the floor as he topped the escalator, I would say these rule reminders are probably justified around these parts. But overall, everyone was very nice to me. Mostly because I'm a Cub fan and they feel bad for me. But the long suffering Pirate fans deserve a decent ball club after over 20 seasons of losing baseball. I hope Pig Vomit and Skoal man get their championship. They deserve it before they die of some horrible disease in 5 or 6 years.
Speaking of dying of a horrible disease! When entering the ballpark yesterday, I saw paramedics wheeling a wheezing man, clutching his chest. He was apparently dying of a heart attack, but there didn't seem to be much urgency in the step of the paramedics. Judging by the food options at the stadium, this is probably just a work a day event for these guys. Note to self, don't have a heart attack at PNC park. It probably wasn't the best idea to eat this pulled pork pierogi sandwich. In fact, the invention of a pulled pork pierogi sandwich was also not the best idea.
It's as delicious as it looks. Whatever that means to you....
All in all, Pittsburghs a great town! There are lots of gays. IE good food, and cool shops. My cousin took me to her friend Stu's Zombie store, House of the Dead. Check it out if your in Pitt. Stu's awesome and knows a ton about the history of Zombies in Pittsburgh. We saw an Oompah band playing 80's songs and danced on the tables. The Casino is walking distance to the ballpark and you can park there for free. Did I mention I won 42$?! I went to Banjo night at the Elks lodge and drank 6$ pitchers of beer AND I could smoke in my hotel room! Something that never happens anymore. Ever. So, thanks Pittsburgh! I had a great time even though the Cubs didnt......
Off to Cincinnati now. Lets hope we don't get swept again. But I have a bad feeling. Tonight, we've got Scott Feldman against the Reds Bronson Arroyo. We shall see. Go Cubbies!
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Oh! And look at these purty picthahs!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
I Came to Pittsburgh For This?
Oh my dear Chicago Cubs....I drove 8 hours through the rain to come watch you blow monkey chunks. Seriously?! Bases loaded, nobody out and you can't score a single run? And two of the outs come from our "future superstars" Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo? Starlin, I'm sorry I missed your 7th error of the year too. I was looking for a place to smoke. I'd like to thank PNC Park for A. Being beautiful, one of the nicest parks I've seen on my travels. And B. For selling me giant beers to wash down the disappointment of watching both Matt Garza and Jeff Smdebiebifnodnjiee pitch incredibly, allowing only 4 hits over 12 innings to the Pirates, only to have our bullpen blow it on Tuesday, and to not be able to hit at all on Wednesday. Ugh... Here's a pic of our loser bullpen walking sadly in after the loss.
Me and the smattering of fans who attended Wednesday nights game were treated to either a "pitchers duel", or a "crappy hitters showcase". Not sure which. And I can only say, thank god that stadium is beautiful, because the baseball sure wasn't. Seriously, PNC Park is a great place to watch a game and drink giant beers. They have awesome salty sweet roasted almonds, and the nachos, though sizable and typical, didn't come in an awesome batting helmet for me to hilariously wear later and get cheese on my ear. No, that never happened. But the baseball!!!!??? Rizzo and Soriano. 3 K's each. Castro and Rizzo 0-4 with 4 each LOB. The team went 0-6 with runners in scoring position, resulting in, you guessed it, 0 runs! And I've never heard of a team winning with 0 runs. Have you? Well at least I did this!
Me and the smattering of fans who attended Wednesday nights game were treated to either a "pitchers duel", or a "crappy hitters showcase". Not sure which. And I can only say, thank god that stadium is beautiful, because the baseball sure wasn't. Seriously, PNC Park is a great place to watch a game and drink giant beers. They have awesome salty sweet roasted almonds, and the nachos, though sizable and typical, didn't come in an awesome batting helmet for me to hilariously wear later and get cheese on my ear. No, that never happened. But the baseball!!!!??? Rizzo and Soriano. 3 K's each. Castro and Rizzo 0-4 with 4 each LOB. The team went 0-6 with runners in scoring position, resulting in, you guessed it, 0 runs! And I've never heard of a team winning with 0 runs. Have you? Well at least I did this!
That's me! Catching behind the great Willie Stargell! Do I look like Johnny Bench?
Ok...how bout Tuesdays game? Two words. Grand Slam. Bullpen fail. The only good thing besides Matt Garza looking pretty sharp in his return about this game, was I discovered the hashtag #bullpenisterrible really says bull penis terrible. Which is hilarious. Oh yeah, Rizzo our new multi million dollar man went 0-5 and struck out to end the game.
Here's a question pertaining to both evenings? Why is Scott Hairston's head so big? And why is he still playing professional baseball? I would rather see a gory middle ages public execution than ever ever ever watching Scott Hairston try to hit a baseball again. Seriously, he reached on an error last night, and he looked so confused because he hasn't run the bases since Spring Training. This has got to stop. Send him down, and he and Brent Lillibridge can knock the cover off the ball in Des Moines. Ugh.
Well, I gotta go catch this afternoon game for some reason. It starts in 2 hours. Oh yeah...I'm an idiot and bought a ticket. Hopefully Edwin Jackson can stop the bleeding against Jeanmar Gomez. I'm parking at the Casino for free....yeah right....ain't nothing free at a Casino, at least not when I'm around.....Check out more pics from last night....and the new podcast is out!
http://www.sonranto.com
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Cubs Beat Rockies; No Wave at Wrigley!
You may find this hard to believe, but the Cubs are actually a .500 ball club in May. It was law enforcement appreciation night at Wrigley, and Shark Samardzija was enforcing the laws of pitching, giving up 2 runs over 8 innings for his second win of the year. No meltdowns, no extra pressure put on himself, causing stupid mistakes, just good solid pitching. Shark even hit a 2 run homer to help his own cause. Yes, the Cubs were firing on all cylinders last night, and are a much better team than their 17-23 record illustrates. As far as the hitting went, Rizzo, Castro and DeJesus all had 2 hit games, and DeJesus hit a homerun to lead off the Cubs 1st. The Cubs scored 6 runs, and won the game 6-3, and it was especially helpful to have the extra run padding, as Kevin "goggles" Gregg gave up a run in the 9th on 2 hits, and also committed an error. So the game ended with the tying run at the plate. Never a good thing when you're a Cubs fan.
The only thing I didn't like to see, besides two bad base running plays by Rizzo and Valbuena, was the throngs of morons doing the damned wave at Wrigley. I sat down on my bleacher seat every time the damned wave came around. Don't you out of town, non game watching bro's and ho's, understand that at Wrigley Field, we don't do the wave. I know this may come as a surprise to some of you strapping Iowa farm boys who grew up in a town where ears of corn outnumber the people 999999999999999999999999 to 1, but we don't do the wave at Wrigley Field. If you don't believe me, just start typing into Google, "No Wave at...." and automatically, it completes as "Wrigley". Why is this you ask? You think the Wave is fun? Well. You're an idiot. Fun is drinking beer and watching baseball. Not standing up and down in order. For a little history about why we don't do the wave, I can pretty much pinpoint it to 1984, when the wave was just getting going as a phenomena. The Cubs won the first two games at Wrigley, and then went to San Diego and lost the next 3, all the while, the Insipid Padres fans did the wave. True story. If you don't believe me. Next time you're at Wrigley ask an old lady. She'll tell ya. No Wave. The Wave is reserved for domed stadiums and astroturf. Not to mention, how do you think people in wheelchairs feel when the wave comes around? You insensitive fools....
I'm sure Lou Sears and I will talk about it on the next podcast. There is also a great interview with a Wrigley first timer from the improv olympics, and a hilarious exchange from last night's game, when I ask a girl who's 27th birthday was being held in my section of the left field bleachers if she knew what the score was....she didn't...and last night, being law enforcement appreciation night, there was a a dude with a gun sitting in the bleachers, who was asked to see his permit....such excitement....
Now let's talk about those bad base running plays. Rizzo was standing on second, when a ball was hit to 3rd. Rizzo holds up, and the third baseman fakes a throw to first, and Rizzo takes off for 3rd and is easily tagged out. I like that the Cubs are aggressive on the base paths, but seriously, wait until he throws the ball next time Rizz? Also, Luis Valbuena who started stealing second, but thought the batter at the plate, Navarro had walked was thrown out at second in a strike em out, throw em out double play. Not cute Luis. First of all, why are you looking to see what happened. Just run to second and slide. That's your freaking job. Valbuena looked in at home plate as if to say..."but I thought he walked!". Well, he didn't and you looked foolish.
Alright! What's on tap? My second favorite team comes to town...the New York Mets! And unfortunately on Friday our very own Edwin Jackson 1-6, 6.02 will face their ace pitcher Matt Harvey 4-0, 1.44. The Mets are a worse team than the Cubs 14-23, but I don't have a lot of hope for Friday's game. Hey! Maybe Harvey's due for a clunky start! Let's hope! Either way, I'll be there, with some family....and Lou Sears and I will be at the game Saturday.....
As always go to http://www.sonranto.com and like us on Facebook....follow us on twitter at @sonranto
Here are some pics from this series!
The only thing I didn't like to see, besides two bad base running plays by Rizzo and Valbuena, was the throngs of morons doing the damned wave at Wrigley. I sat down on my bleacher seat every time the damned wave came around. Don't you out of town, non game watching bro's and ho's, understand that at Wrigley Field, we don't do the wave. I know this may come as a surprise to some of you strapping Iowa farm boys who grew up in a town where ears of corn outnumber the people 999999999999999999999999 to 1, but we don't do the wave at Wrigley Field. If you don't believe me, just start typing into Google, "No Wave at...." and automatically, it completes as "Wrigley". Why is this you ask? You think the Wave is fun? Well. You're an idiot. Fun is drinking beer and watching baseball. Not standing up and down in order. For a little history about why we don't do the wave, I can pretty much pinpoint it to 1984, when the wave was just getting going as a phenomena. The Cubs won the first two games at Wrigley, and then went to San Diego and lost the next 3, all the while, the Insipid Padres fans did the wave. True story. If you don't believe me. Next time you're at Wrigley ask an old lady. She'll tell ya. No Wave. The Wave is reserved for domed stadiums and astroturf. Not to mention, how do you think people in wheelchairs feel when the wave comes around? You insensitive fools....
I'm sure Lou Sears and I will talk about it on the next podcast. There is also a great interview with a Wrigley first timer from the improv olympics, and a hilarious exchange from last night's game, when I ask a girl who's 27th birthday was being held in my section of the left field bleachers if she knew what the score was....she didn't...and last night, being law enforcement appreciation night, there was a a dude with a gun sitting in the bleachers, who was asked to see his permit....such excitement....
Now let's talk about those bad base running plays. Rizzo was standing on second, when a ball was hit to 3rd. Rizzo holds up, and the third baseman fakes a throw to first, and Rizzo takes off for 3rd and is easily tagged out. I like that the Cubs are aggressive on the base paths, but seriously, wait until he throws the ball next time Rizz? Also, Luis Valbuena who started stealing second, but thought the batter at the plate, Navarro had walked was thrown out at second in a strike em out, throw em out double play. Not cute Luis. First of all, why are you looking to see what happened. Just run to second and slide. That's your freaking job. Valbuena looked in at home plate as if to say..."but I thought he walked!". Well, he didn't and you looked foolish.
Alright! What's on tap? My second favorite team comes to town...the New York Mets! And unfortunately on Friday our very own Edwin Jackson 1-6, 6.02 will face their ace pitcher Matt Harvey 4-0, 1.44. The Mets are a worse team than the Cubs 14-23, but I don't have a lot of hope for Friday's game. Hey! Maybe Harvey's due for a clunky start! Let's hope! Either way, I'll be there, with some family....and Lou Sears and I will be at the game Saturday.....
As always go to http://www.sonranto.com and like us on Facebook....follow us on twitter at @sonranto
Here are some pics from this series!
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Shark Tanked; Cubs Lose in DC
Washington DC is a city filled with wealthy do nothings who disappoint their constituencies on a regular basis by wielding power in ineffectual ways. Last night, there were 25 extra humans wearing blue in our nations capitol similarly ineffectually wielding power. They are called the Chicago Cubs, and I wouldn't vote for any of them for dog catcher if they were running for office. The Cubs wielded some power last night, collecting 7 doubles among their 10 hits, and yet managed only 3 runs in this game that mercifully lasted 2 hours and 23 minutes. The hapless Cubs went 2-14 with runners in scoring position, and an error by pitcher Jeff Samardzija led to the first 2 of Washington's 7 runs. Isn't it a kick in the pants that when the pitcher makes an error, he is not charged with earned runs on the play? Technically, the Shark allowed only 5 runs, but really, it was 7. All 7. In 5 innings. Shark tanked.
So, how else are the Chicago Cubs like the politicians that ubiquitously roam around DC looking for attention and favors from lobbyists and special interest groups? Well, the Cubs campaign slogan for one. Most politicians utilize buzz words like "freedom" or "moving forward", which really doesn't mean anything. Freedom to do what? Moving forward into what? Similarly, the Chicago Cubs' campaign slogan of this year, "Committed" is also an empty buzz word. Committed to what? Apparently, committed to leaving men on base. The boys in blue are batting only .181 with runners in scoring position, a full 28 points below the next closest cellar dweller, the Toronto Bluejays. We all had a good laugh over the "committed" slogan when it first came out because of the empty rhetoric inherent in the term. Like when someone says, "it is what it is". Well of course it is what it is. You didn't have to remind me that "it" is what "it" is. The only people that should be "committed" are the idiot fans like me that continue to suffer through these poorly played baseball games, both in the stands and on television. Yeah, committed to a mental institution, or some sort of baseball rehab. Yes, the Cubs are certainly committed to losing baseball games in frustrating ways, like a politician "moving forward", which usually means your rear end is gonna be left in the dust.
I've put a ton of blame on the management, IE Dale "please don't shoot me, I'm not a Quail" Sveum, and it resulted in this song that I wrote yesterday. So at least adversity breeds art....
Good things? Besides my awesome new song? Darwin Barney ended his 0 for 1,245,674 streak by hitting another useless Cub double with one out in the 9th. So, he's got to feel pretty good about that. Go Dar Bar! Skies the limit! Rizzo went 2-4. New Cub lefty, Ryan Sweeney went 2-3 against a left hander. Castro hit 2 doubles from the leadoff spot, and our relievers, Rondon, Fujikawa, and Camp actually held the Nats to 0 runs and 1 hit over 3 innings. They always seem to come through when the game is not on the line.
Bad things? Alfonso "how much longer on this contract?" Soriano went 0-4, as did Welington "my batting average is like water seeking it's level" Castillo. And Jeff Smadfebkvbkfbgebgvvzija basically sucked. Jeff's an emotional player, and I like that, except for that it makes him screw up. He was pretty terrible at controlling his emotions last night. It made him lose focus, and well, lose the game.
So, yes, the Cubs are Committed. Committed to being one of the worst teams in baseball. Committed to leaving runners on base. Committed to frustrating their fans. Committed to building a giant scoreboard at Wrigley Field, so we can watch them stink twice.
You can hear me and the Lovable Lou Sears complain all about it on the new podcast....
So, today, it's Edwin Jackson vs. Steven Strasburg at 3:05. This should be fun....
Go Cubbies!
So, how else are the Chicago Cubs like the politicians that ubiquitously roam around DC looking for attention and favors from lobbyists and special interest groups? Well, the Cubs campaign slogan for one. Most politicians utilize buzz words like "freedom" or "moving forward", which really doesn't mean anything. Freedom to do what? Moving forward into what? Similarly, the Chicago Cubs' campaign slogan of this year, "Committed" is also an empty buzz word. Committed to what? Apparently, committed to leaving men on base. The boys in blue are batting only .181 with runners in scoring position, a full 28 points below the next closest cellar dweller, the Toronto Bluejays. We all had a good laugh over the "committed" slogan when it first came out because of the empty rhetoric inherent in the term. Like when someone says, "it is what it is". Well of course it is what it is. You didn't have to remind me that "it" is what "it" is. The only people that should be "committed" are the idiot fans like me that continue to suffer through these poorly played baseball games, both in the stands and on television. Yeah, committed to a mental institution, or some sort of baseball rehab. Yes, the Cubs are certainly committed to losing baseball games in frustrating ways, like a politician "moving forward", which usually means your rear end is gonna be left in the dust.
I've put a ton of blame on the management, IE Dale "please don't shoot me, I'm not a Quail" Sveum, and it resulted in this song that I wrote yesterday. So at least adversity breeds art....
Good things? Besides my awesome new song? Darwin Barney ended his 0 for 1,245,674 streak by hitting another useless Cub double with one out in the 9th. So, he's got to feel pretty good about that. Go Dar Bar! Skies the limit! Rizzo went 2-4. New Cub lefty, Ryan Sweeney went 2-3 against a left hander. Castro hit 2 doubles from the leadoff spot, and our relievers, Rondon, Fujikawa, and Camp actually held the Nats to 0 runs and 1 hit over 3 innings. They always seem to come through when the game is not on the line.
Bad things? Alfonso "how much longer on this contract?" Soriano went 0-4, as did Welington "my batting average is like water seeking it's level" Castillo. And Jeff Smadfebkvbkfbgebgvvzija basically sucked. Jeff's an emotional player, and I like that, except for that it makes him screw up. He was pretty terrible at controlling his emotions last night. It made him lose focus, and well, lose the game.
So, yes, the Cubs are Committed. Committed to being one of the worst teams in baseball. Committed to leaving runners on base. Committed to frustrating their fans. Committed to building a giant scoreboard at Wrigley Field, so we can watch them stink twice.
You can hear me and the Lovable Lou Sears complain all about it on the new podcast....
So, today, it's Edwin Jackson vs. Steven Strasburg at 3:05. This should be fun....
Go Cubbies!
Thursday, May 9, 2013
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!!!
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!!!
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Cubs Blowout Rangers!
I almost forgot what it was like to sit in Wrigley Field high fiving strangers, cheering with delight, and being proud of my Chicago Cubs. The Cubs blew out the Rangers 9-2 for a sweep of their one game series makeup game, by putting up a 5 spot in the 4th inning. Of course there were murmors in the crowd that the lead was not enough once our bullpen got in there. Chinstrap Feldman pitched amazingly again by following up his complete game 3 hitter with a 2 hit 7 inning appearance. I wasn't sure about this Feldman guy at first. He has three errors and couldn't cover first base for shit. But those kinks seem to be worked out at this point and the guys on a roll. Chinstrap even knocked in and scored a run in the 5 run 4th. I was at the game with my friend Scotty, who's Jewish, so he was particularly thrilled to see who he assumed to be a fellow Jew playing so well. He said, there's not a lot of us in baseball, so we gotta cheer for the guys we got! I think I'm going to start doing that for players of mixed European descent instead of wasting my cheers on other races....Sheeessh!
Other positives.... The Cubs drew 7 walks last night! Two of which were drawn by Darwin Barney, who really isn't getting on base any other way. The Cubs also rallyed with 2 outs! Yes. You heard that right. All 5 runs came with 2 outs. Castro came through in the clutch. Rizzo homered. Luis "Ian Stewart Who?" Valbuena went 3-4, and the Cubs generally looked like a dominant baseball team. This, after such an abysmal weekend of losing to the Reds. It was nice to see, and the fans responded with the most intense fanatical cheering I've seen at the ballpark this year. The best thing about last night? We put up 9 runs against the Rangers, a team with the lowest ERA of any major league club. At least they were until last night! They got knocked down a notch because of us!! And a Huge positive from yesterday.....Son Ranto and the Lovable Lou Sears's new podcast is ready for consumption!
Some negatives from the game. Soriano went 0-4, lowering his average to .267, however he did draw a walk to force in a run. Also, our Misser, ummm, I mean Catcher, Castillo, committed a throwing error. But the most negative event of the night was not getting to the ballpark in time to get my free winter hat! It would have gone so perfectly with my texting gloves from the second game of the season too!
Now I mentioned the Rangers were knocked out of 1st in ERA, but guess who is first now? That's right. The St. Louis Cardinals, and they're here in Chicago for a 2 game set. Tonight, Lance Lynn who is 5-0 with a 2.75 ERA goes up against Travis "I'm not kerry" Wood, who is 2-2 with a 2.50 ERA. If you go on runs alone, we will best their starter by .25 runs. And here is the key to winning these games. We gotta get to their bullpen. I know this is hard to believe when you consider the Cubs are 12-20 and the Cards are 20-11 and in first place. But the Cardinals bullpen is dead last in team ERA with a 5.45 compared to the Cubs pen of 4.60. So Dale Sveum....if you read this blog....please tell the team to take some damn pitches tonight and get to the Cards pen. It truly is our only chance at winning. Patience. Patience. Patience. Let's take another 7 walks eh? Tomorrow, Jake Westbrook who is 2-1 with a 1.07 ERA goes agains The Mustache, Carlos Villanueva who is 1-2 with a 2.85 ERA. Both of these games have all the makings of pitchers duels....well....at least until the bullpens are tapped....then it might get ugly....
Let's do what we did last night! Keep the rally going!
See more at http://www.sonranto.com
Go Cubbies!
Other positives.... The Cubs drew 7 walks last night! Two of which were drawn by Darwin Barney, who really isn't getting on base any other way. The Cubs also rallyed with 2 outs! Yes. You heard that right. All 5 runs came with 2 outs. Castro came through in the clutch. Rizzo homered. Luis "Ian Stewart Who?" Valbuena went 3-4, and the Cubs generally looked like a dominant baseball team. This, after such an abysmal weekend of losing to the Reds. It was nice to see, and the fans responded with the most intense fanatical cheering I've seen at the ballpark this year. The best thing about last night? We put up 9 runs against the Rangers, a team with the lowest ERA of any major league club. At least they were until last night! They got knocked down a notch because of us!! And a Huge positive from yesterday.....Son Ranto and the Lovable Lou Sears's new podcast is ready for consumption!
Some negatives from the game. Soriano went 0-4, lowering his average to .267, however he did draw a walk to force in a run. Also, our Misser, ummm, I mean Catcher, Castillo, committed a throwing error. But the most negative event of the night was not getting to the ballpark in time to get my free winter hat! It would have gone so perfectly with my texting gloves from the second game of the season too!
Now I mentioned the Rangers were knocked out of 1st in ERA, but guess who is first now? That's right. The St. Louis Cardinals, and they're here in Chicago for a 2 game set. Tonight, Lance Lynn who is 5-0 with a 2.75 ERA goes up against Travis "I'm not kerry" Wood, who is 2-2 with a 2.50 ERA. If you go on runs alone, we will best their starter by .25 runs. And here is the key to winning these games. We gotta get to their bullpen. I know this is hard to believe when you consider the Cubs are 12-20 and the Cards are 20-11 and in first place. But the Cardinals bullpen is dead last in team ERA with a 5.45 compared to the Cubs pen of 4.60. So Dale Sveum....if you read this blog....please tell the team to take some damn pitches tonight and get to the Cards pen. It truly is our only chance at winning. Patience. Patience. Patience. Let's take another 7 walks eh? Tomorrow, Jake Westbrook who is 2-1 with a 1.07 ERA goes agains The Mustache, Carlos Villanueva who is 1-2 with a 2.85 ERA. Both of these games have all the makings of pitchers duels....well....at least until the bullpens are tapped....then it might get ugly....
Let's do what we did last night! Keep the rally going!
See more at http://www.sonranto.com
Go Cubbies!
Sunday, May 5, 2013
We Got Marmoled!
We were Marmoled once again yesterday at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field. What can you say about a pitcher who gives up 2 walks, hits a batter, and doesn't record a single out? The Cubs were leading 4-2, when Marmol strode to the mound in his former inning of glory, the 8th. He then proceded to singlehandedly lose the game for the Cubs with a performance that can only be described as horrific. Now, I admit I am a boo-er, but I reserve my booing for opposing teams, umpires, and lack of effort on behalf of the Cubs. I never saw the point in booing your own player who is obviously not sucking on purpose. We want him to perform well the next time right? What if a bunch of people came to your job and booed you as you tried to organize a spread sheet? What if when you walked to work in the morning, people yelled "You Suck!". I doubt any of us have the capacity to perform well under these circumstances, So why do we expect it from our ballplayers? I'm familiar with the counter argument. "Hey! These guys get paid millions of dollars to play a kids game, they can handle a little booing." I certainly don't know what it's like to be a millionaire, but I do know that having more or less money doesn't make you any less human. So fans, as much as I'd like to boo Marmol, we shouldn't, because unless the Cubs find someone stupid enough to take him, he's our guy. Now Dale Sveum on the other hand should be booed, and booed heartily.
Since taking the helm in Chicago, Mr Sveum has presided over talented players that have performed incredibly poorly. This is a young Cubs team with a relatively young and inexperienced manager in Sveum. Mr. Sveum has had success as a coach for other teams, winning it all with the Red Sox in 2004, and taking the Brewers to the playoffs as interim manager in 2008. However, his only full year as manager was last year, 2012, and the Cubs lost 101 games for one of the worst finishes in team history. The Cubs lost 103 games in 1962 and 1966. So please tell me Wonderboy Epstein, and Mr. "My Family is named after a disease" Ricketts, what sense does it make to have an inexperienced manager, training inexperienced players? Oh yeah, maybe because we have an inexperienced owner, and a one hit wonder from Boston running the show! Theo did win a World Championship for the Red Sox 2 years after taking the helm, but he's not magic! That team was already built for the most part when he took the helm. That Red Sox team was about the right mix of guys and chemistry. The superstars were already there. Pedro Martinez. Manny Ramirez. Johnny Damon. As far as I can tell, David Ortiz was probably Theo's best signing ever, and that was 10 years ago! But Big Papi and Theo didn't win the World Series. The Red Sox did, with a mix of young blood, future Hall of Famers, and wily veterans. Can you name one Chicago Cub today who you imagine will be in the Hall of Fame someday? We can hope for guys like Rizzo and Castro to keep hitting, but they are by no means dominant players at this point in their career. So the Red Sox get Big Papi and who do we get? Scott Fucking Hairston who's batting .108 and pretty much only plays against leftys. What else has the boy genius Epstein done? DeJesus? Edwin 0-4 Jackson? Who?!? Nobody. That's who. The Chicago Cubs have no great players. None. Who do you blame?
How about Tom Ricketts? The typical rich fuck who thinks he can just hire some sniveling, privileged, silver spoon sucking wonderkid, and put together a championship. Did anyone see Spiderman on Broadway? It sucks. U2 Wrote the music, Julie Taymore, a Tony Award winning director, conceived of the script, and It became a case of the Emporer wears no clothes. All these talented, famous people couldn't bring themselves to tell each other that their ideas were not cohesive, and they had no real plot for their characters to live through. They just assumed it was going to work because of their past successes. So the producers threw millions of dollars at the production which was quite spectacular with the Green Goblin and Spiderman performing aerial stunts over the audience. But it was all just bells and whistles. The music sounded like U2's B sides, and was completely untheatrical. While the conceived plot was virtually non existant and difficult to follow. The producers kept throwing good money after bad, until Taymore was finally canned. I see Tommy Ricketts doing the same thing. Throwing money around on scoreboards to advertise at us, and hotels so his family can remain in the top 1 percent of the 1 percent and basically live off the Cubs forever. I agree with most of the changes he's proposed, But when are we going to see a fucking team on the field capable of winning? I for one am frustrated as hell about it. Ricketts is like one of those spiderman producers who just bought a bunch of nothing and keeps trying to sell it to us. Hell. I keep buying it. I've only missed 3 home games this year. But that also gives me the right to complain about it!
So where does the blame lie? Booooooooo! Tom Ricketts! Boooooooooo! Theo Epstein!!! Boooooooooo! Dale Sveum!!!!!
But leave poor Carlos Marmol alone. He can't help that he sucks now.
Well...I gotta go....game time in an hour, and I'll be there....ready to Booooooooooooooo........
Since taking the helm in Chicago, Mr Sveum has presided over talented players that have performed incredibly poorly. This is a young Cubs team with a relatively young and inexperienced manager in Sveum. Mr. Sveum has had success as a coach for other teams, winning it all with the Red Sox in 2004, and taking the Brewers to the playoffs as interim manager in 2008. However, his only full year as manager was last year, 2012, and the Cubs lost 101 games for one of the worst finishes in team history. The Cubs lost 103 games in 1962 and 1966. So please tell me Wonderboy Epstein, and Mr. "My Family is named after a disease" Ricketts, what sense does it make to have an inexperienced manager, training inexperienced players? Oh yeah, maybe because we have an inexperienced owner, and a one hit wonder from Boston running the show! Theo did win a World Championship for the Red Sox 2 years after taking the helm, but he's not magic! That team was already built for the most part when he took the helm. That Red Sox team was about the right mix of guys and chemistry. The superstars were already there. Pedro Martinez. Manny Ramirez. Johnny Damon. As far as I can tell, David Ortiz was probably Theo's best signing ever, and that was 10 years ago! But Big Papi and Theo didn't win the World Series. The Red Sox did, with a mix of young blood, future Hall of Famers, and wily veterans. Can you name one Chicago Cub today who you imagine will be in the Hall of Fame someday? We can hope for guys like Rizzo and Castro to keep hitting, but they are by no means dominant players at this point in their career. So the Red Sox get Big Papi and who do we get? Scott Fucking Hairston who's batting .108 and pretty much only plays against leftys. What else has the boy genius Epstein done? DeJesus? Edwin 0-4 Jackson? Who?!? Nobody. That's who. The Chicago Cubs have no great players. None. Who do you blame?
How about Tom Ricketts? The typical rich fuck who thinks he can just hire some sniveling, privileged, silver spoon sucking wonderkid, and put together a championship. Did anyone see Spiderman on Broadway? It sucks. U2 Wrote the music, Julie Taymore, a Tony Award winning director, conceived of the script, and It became a case of the Emporer wears no clothes. All these talented, famous people couldn't bring themselves to tell each other that their ideas were not cohesive, and they had no real plot for their characters to live through. They just assumed it was going to work because of their past successes. So the producers threw millions of dollars at the production which was quite spectacular with the Green Goblin and Spiderman performing aerial stunts over the audience. But it was all just bells and whistles. The music sounded like U2's B sides, and was completely untheatrical. While the conceived plot was virtually non existant and difficult to follow. The producers kept throwing good money after bad, until Taymore was finally canned. I see Tommy Ricketts doing the same thing. Throwing money around on scoreboards to advertise at us, and hotels so his family can remain in the top 1 percent of the 1 percent and basically live off the Cubs forever. I agree with most of the changes he's proposed, But when are we going to see a fucking team on the field capable of winning? I for one am frustrated as hell about it. Ricketts is like one of those spiderman producers who just bought a bunch of nothing and keeps trying to sell it to us. Hell. I keep buying it. I've only missed 3 home games this year. But that also gives me the right to complain about it!
So where does the blame lie? Booooooooo! Tom Ricketts! Boooooooooo! Theo Epstein!!! Boooooooooo! Dale Sveum!!!!!
But leave poor Carlos Marmol alone. He can't help that he sucks now.
Well...I gotta go....game time in an hour, and I'll be there....ready to Booooooooooooooo........
Monday, April 29, 2013
It's a Beautiful Day For Cubs Baseball!
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!
http://www.sonranto.com
https://www.facebook.com/SonRanto?ref=hl
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!
http://www.sonranto.com
https://www.facebook.com/SonRanto?ref=hl
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Cubs Almost Win; Lose Anyway
In the Chicago Cub's 2013 effort to lose in new and exciting ways, the Cubs last night gave up a 2 run lead in the bottom of the 13th to lose to the Reds. What was the culprit this time? Defense? Sappelt's misplayed ball in Right field? Michael Bowden getting shelled for the loss? Certainly, these plays directly effected our loss in the 13th. But the game should not have gotten this far. The Cubs got 11 hits, 4 walks, and benefited from 3 Red errors, and you're telling me we could only score 2 runs until the 13th inning where we got 2 more?
Well, except for the homeruns by DeJesus (to lead off the game) and Luis "I put arsenic in Ian Stewarts Cheerios" Valbuena, not one of the Cubs other 9 hits were for extra bases. And many of the singles came with 2 out in the inning, not giving much chance to get the guy in. Starlin Castro, who's hitting streak is now at 14, also left 4 men on base. Anthony Rizzo, presumably our best hitter, as he is positioned in the 3 hole went 0-6 with 3 strikeouts. He is batting .191 as well. Terrible! Speaking of strikeouts....umm...we struck out 16 times last night. Granted the Reds relief pitchers looked damned good. Especially fireballer Aroldis Chapman. But damn! It's hard to move runners up when you can't make contact. Some of these swings and misses are just embarassing! There was actually a moment in Sundays game when Luis Valbuena struck out and looked at his bat as if there must have been a hole in it. Apparently there are holes in many of the Cubs' bats. Oh...did I mention that pitcher Travis Wood has a higher batting average than our starting second baseman Darwin Barney, and 2 of the 3 pinch hitters we used last night? This is getting sad people....
Son Ranto and Lou Sears explain it all in the most recent podcast....
Ok. You want a bright spot? A glimmer of hope? Our starting pitching has been excellent. Over all, top notch. I hope it can last, but with our defense kicking the ball around out there, it's a matter of time before exhaustion will set in from all the extra pressure put on by constantly having to get 5 outs an inning. Stay Positive Ranto!! Umm....Starlin Castro made a couple of nice plays last night. It's those routine grounders he can't quite seem to handle... damnit Ranto!!!! Stay Positive!! Ummm errr...David DeJesus is turning out to be a power lead off man? He already has 3 homeruns and he only hit 9 last year....and his wife is smoking hot!! There I got through at least one Cub without both a positive and negative to share. Whew!!! David D for MVP! (of the Cubs anyway). Although to get excited about 3 homeruns, and someone elses hot wife is pretty pathetic.....Damn!!!! Can't do it!!! I have something bad to say about all of them!!! Except......starting pitching. It's been great. Keep up the good work boys, and lets hope these guys behind you can learn how to, score runs, and, well, just not look so terrible.
So what can I say? Let's get em tonight! We got 'The Stache' Carlos Villanueva vs. Reds lefty Tony Cingiani, who I understand mades a killer baked Ziti in the off season. I think we can win at least 1 of these games in Cincy...right? Cant we? I'll be hanging out with the Lovable Lou Sears at Three Aces Bar at 1321 W. Taylor if you want to come by. We will be the best looking guys in the bar, so you can't miss us!
So listen to the podcast, give us free tickets, and say hi! sonranto@gmail.com or http://www.sonranto.com
Well, except for the homeruns by DeJesus (to lead off the game) and Luis "I put arsenic in Ian Stewarts Cheerios" Valbuena, not one of the Cubs other 9 hits were for extra bases. And many of the singles came with 2 out in the inning, not giving much chance to get the guy in. Starlin Castro, who's hitting streak is now at 14, also left 4 men on base. Anthony Rizzo, presumably our best hitter, as he is positioned in the 3 hole went 0-6 with 3 strikeouts. He is batting .191 as well. Terrible! Speaking of strikeouts....umm...we struck out 16 times last night. Granted the Reds relief pitchers looked damned good. Especially fireballer Aroldis Chapman. But damn! It's hard to move runners up when you can't make contact. Some of these swings and misses are just embarassing! There was actually a moment in Sundays game when Luis Valbuena struck out and looked at his bat as if there must have been a hole in it. Apparently there are holes in many of the Cubs' bats. Oh...did I mention that pitcher Travis Wood has a higher batting average than our starting second baseman Darwin Barney, and 2 of the 3 pinch hitters we used last night? This is getting sad people....
Son Ranto and Lou Sears explain it all in the most recent podcast....
Ok. You want a bright spot? A glimmer of hope? Our starting pitching has been excellent. Over all, top notch. I hope it can last, but with our defense kicking the ball around out there, it's a matter of time before exhaustion will set in from all the extra pressure put on by constantly having to get 5 outs an inning. Stay Positive Ranto!! Umm....Starlin Castro made a couple of nice plays last night. It's those routine grounders he can't quite seem to handle... damnit Ranto!!!! Stay Positive!! Ummm errr...David DeJesus is turning out to be a power lead off man? He already has 3 homeruns and he only hit 9 last year....and his wife is smoking hot!! There I got through at least one Cub without both a positive and negative to share. Whew!!! David D for MVP! (of the Cubs anyway). Although to get excited about 3 homeruns, and someone elses hot wife is pretty pathetic.....Damn!!!! Can't do it!!! I have something bad to say about all of them!!! Except......starting pitching. It's been great. Keep up the good work boys, and lets hope these guys behind you can learn how to, score runs, and, well, just not look so terrible.
So what can I say? Let's get em tonight! We got 'The Stache' Carlos Villanueva vs. Reds lefty Tony Cingiani, who I understand mades a killer baked Ziti in the off season. I think we can win at least 1 of these games in Cincy...right? Cant we? I'll be hanging out with the Lovable Lou Sears at Three Aces Bar at 1321 W. Taylor if you want to come by. We will be the best looking guys in the bar, so you can't miss us!
So listen to the podcast, give us free tickets, and say hi! sonranto@gmail.com or http://www.sonranto.com
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Bad News Bears Give Birth to Cubs
The folly of men dressed in Cub's uniforms, attempting to play a game called baseball, continued Saturday night to a sell out crowd in Milwaukee. Giving up 5 runs (only one of which was earned), on only 6 hits and 3 walks. Three errors were the cause of the other 4 earned runs, by Soriano, Castro, and the pitcher Jackson himself. In fact, the Cubs have committed a major league leading 15 errors this season and given up 11 unearned runs. Put these unearned runs up against our 3rd to last runs scored statistic, and you have a 2013 Cubs Ballclub that is 5-11, and well, just looks kind of crappy. The most craptastic thing about these errors is that they are being committed by the young "stars" the Cubs are currently building their team around. Well, maybe not Soriano. He will be laying in a hammock listening to the game from his estate in the Dominican Republic, and playing with his grandchildren by the time the Cubs win the World series (I hope). But Castro? This is 3 years now we've basically watched this kid barely get better in the field. Certainly, he has great range, and gets to a lot of balls. But those damn easy one hoppers? Can't quite seem to handle the routine plays. And it's killing us.
Rizzo too looks shaky. His error on the first batter of the game Friday night resulted in a 4 run 1st inning for the Brewers. And last night, he bobbled a ball badly trying to step on first base. And Edwin Jackson? Our 52 million dollar man? Why he chucked a ball 15 feet over second base on what could have been an inning ending double play last night. You're just giving away the game with these stupid errors. It's disheartening as hell. If the errors were all being committed by Luis Valbuena, it wouldn't be as awful because he's not a building bock of the future (I hope), but rather by our stars. I think these guys need an exorcism. They've got the Yips as a team. Goat head?
And our poor pitchers! Having to make all these extra pitches, face extra batters. It's got to be disheartening when you have little to no confidence in who is fielding behind you. It makes you feel as if you have to strike out every batter and be damn near perfect because you have no run support anyway. The Cubs are 3rd to last in runs scored, and walks taken, and 5th to last in hits. The Cubs are of course first place in Wild Pitches, with 13 (5 coming in one inning), and second in passed balls. That's a ton of runners moving around the bases, many of which shouldn't have been on base to begin with! This team needs a serious shake up! If things don't change, and change soon. This season will not only be forgettable, but will leave us with a terrible taste in our mouths all winter long. Young teams are supposed to get better little by little. And right now, even though we have not been blown out as of yet, we look worse than last year. Or did I just forget how bad we were?
But enough about baseball....let's talk about how drunk Milwaukee Brewers fans are...
I went to the game on Friday night up in Brew Town, checked into the local Ramada, which was jam packed with Harley Davidson fanatics from all over the world. Apparently, they are having some biker convention. Boy, how times have changed since "The Wild Ones" when it comes to bikers and biker gangs. First of all these guys are all old, fat and grizzled, and instead of dealing drugs and rough necking it, hard drinking, and loose women, the bikers now hold charity events and raise money for cancer research. Basically, they are really good people now, and I'm the asshole that wishes they were still dangerous outlaws scaring up the straights in small town USA. Those days seem to be long gone.
So, we get to the game, and a severely drunken, likely underage, girl comes stumbling up the stairs with her friends. I mean this girl can barely stand up. She sits down in the aisle and kind of blankly stares at a stranger as if to say, "where the fuck am I? What is going on?" So I see this girl needs a little help, not from me, but one of her more sober friends who got her this drunk in the first place So I tap her friend on the shoulder and say, hey, your friend needs help. You gotta get her outta here. Especially with all the Bro's sitting around us who looked basically like date rapers eyeing her as a possible conquest from afar. But instead the friend proceeds to take shit loads of pictures of herself with the same dums ass smile with all here more sober friends, she of course stylized them with some instagram filter, and posted them to facebook, and basically ignored her friend who looked as if she was gonna hurl at any second. A sad scene. Then this red haired girl comes up who instead of helping her basically admonishes her for her behavior. But that doesn't help at all, yelling at the person while they're drunk. Just ask my ex wife. So, We left our seats to go smoke a ciggy, and when we came back an inning or 2 later, she was surrounded by cops. So at least she was in better hands? Who knows? Either way....kinda ugly scene...she showed up in the first inning like that....
I also witnessed a Brewer fan homoerotically pantomime face fucking his Cub Fan friend after the Brewers scored a run. He was one of the "date rapers" I tracked earlier. And while at the Brewers little patio bar, a Black eyed Broham elbowed my friend in the back, and instead of apologizing for it, tried to start a fight with us. I redirected his sloppy ire and diffused the situation, and I wish I had this on tape, but he was describing himself, and the evening he was having, and he said something to the effect of..."My friends, they were like, lets go out, and we can do something, and I'm like, yeah man, I don't really care, whatever". I just said, well, you sound like a man who knows what he wants out of life. And quickly left the conversation and the area.
All in all, and I've been twice now, Miller Park is tolerable on a sunny day with the roof open, and a dark chasm of drunken date rapers on a Friday night. Hey, at least they let you smoke.
After that we went to the Casino. BTW. They have free shuttles all around Miller Park that can get you close to where you're going. I won a little money on a slot, my friend lost, so we left. All in all, meh, I prefer the Indiana boats. Potawotami Casino is trying to be Vegas, and they totally forgot that they are in shitty ass Milwaukee and a bunch of cheesers. Hey Milwaukee, you're not cool and you look stupid trying.
So, what do we have to look forward to today? Little Chinstrap "I don't know how to cover first base" Feldman vs. Wily Peralta. Ugh...I just don't have a good feeling about this....not at all....
But...
Go Cubbies!!!!
Rizzo too looks shaky. His error on the first batter of the game Friday night resulted in a 4 run 1st inning for the Brewers. And last night, he bobbled a ball badly trying to step on first base. And Edwin Jackson? Our 52 million dollar man? Why he chucked a ball 15 feet over second base on what could have been an inning ending double play last night. You're just giving away the game with these stupid errors. It's disheartening as hell. If the errors were all being committed by Luis Valbuena, it wouldn't be as awful because he's not a building bock of the future (I hope), but rather by our stars. I think these guys need an exorcism. They've got the Yips as a team. Goat head?
And our poor pitchers! Having to make all these extra pitches, face extra batters. It's got to be disheartening when you have little to no confidence in who is fielding behind you. It makes you feel as if you have to strike out every batter and be damn near perfect because you have no run support anyway. The Cubs are 3rd to last in runs scored, and walks taken, and 5th to last in hits. The Cubs are of course first place in Wild Pitches, with 13 (5 coming in one inning), and second in passed balls. That's a ton of runners moving around the bases, many of which shouldn't have been on base to begin with! This team needs a serious shake up! If things don't change, and change soon. This season will not only be forgettable, but will leave us with a terrible taste in our mouths all winter long. Young teams are supposed to get better little by little. And right now, even though we have not been blown out as of yet, we look worse than last year. Or did I just forget how bad we were?
But enough about baseball....let's talk about how drunk Milwaukee Brewers fans are...
I went to the game on Friday night up in Brew Town, checked into the local Ramada, which was jam packed with Harley Davidson fanatics from all over the world. Apparently, they are having some biker convention. Boy, how times have changed since "The Wild Ones" when it comes to bikers and biker gangs. First of all these guys are all old, fat and grizzled, and instead of dealing drugs and rough necking it, hard drinking, and loose women, the bikers now hold charity events and raise money for cancer research. Basically, they are really good people now, and I'm the asshole that wishes they were still dangerous outlaws scaring up the straights in small town USA. Those days seem to be long gone.
So, we get to the game, and a severely drunken, likely underage, girl comes stumbling up the stairs with her friends. I mean this girl can barely stand up. She sits down in the aisle and kind of blankly stares at a stranger as if to say, "where the fuck am I? What is going on?" So I see this girl needs a little help, not from me, but one of her more sober friends who got her this drunk in the first place So I tap her friend on the shoulder and say, hey, your friend needs help. You gotta get her outta here. Especially with all the Bro's sitting around us who looked basically like date rapers eyeing her as a possible conquest from afar. But instead the friend proceeds to take shit loads of pictures of herself with the same dums ass smile with all here more sober friends, she of course stylized them with some instagram filter, and posted them to facebook, and basically ignored her friend who looked as if she was gonna hurl at any second. A sad scene. Then this red haired girl comes up who instead of helping her basically admonishes her for her behavior. But that doesn't help at all, yelling at the person while they're drunk. Just ask my ex wife. So, We left our seats to go smoke a ciggy, and when we came back an inning or 2 later, she was surrounded by cops. So at least she was in better hands? Who knows? Either way....kinda ugly scene...she showed up in the first inning like that....
I also witnessed a Brewer fan homoerotically pantomime face fucking his Cub Fan friend after the Brewers scored a run. He was one of the "date rapers" I tracked earlier. And while at the Brewers little patio bar, a Black eyed Broham elbowed my friend in the back, and instead of apologizing for it, tried to start a fight with us. I redirected his sloppy ire and diffused the situation, and I wish I had this on tape, but he was describing himself, and the evening he was having, and he said something to the effect of..."My friends, they were like, lets go out, and we can do something, and I'm like, yeah man, I don't really care, whatever". I just said, well, you sound like a man who knows what he wants out of life. And quickly left the conversation and the area.
All in all, and I've been twice now, Miller Park is tolerable on a sunny day with the roof open, and a dark chasm of drunken date rapers on a Friday night. Hey, at least they let you smoke.
After that we went to the Casino. BTW. They have free shuttles all around Miller Park that can get you close to where you're going. I won a little money on a slot, my friend lost, so we left. All in all, meh, I prefer the Indiana boats. Potawotami Casino is trying to be Vegas, and they totally forgot that they are in shitty ass Milwaukee and a bunch of cheesers. Hey Milwaukee, you're not cool and you look stupid trying.
So, what do we have to look forward to today? Little Chinstrap "I don't know how to cover first base" Feldman vs. Wily Peralta. Ugh...I just don't have a good feeling about this....not at all....
But...
Go Cubbies!!!!
Friday, April 19, 2013
Sitting at Wrigley with a French Guy
Yesterday was awesome. Not only did I get to send the Cubbies off to Milwaukee with a little "Go Cubs Go" from my 6$ terrace reserved seats, but the rain held off long enough to watch Carlos "The Stache" Villanueva to provide the Cubs with his 3rd strong outing of the season. Allowing only 4 hits, two runs (on solo homers), and striking out 6, Car-ville is what every manager in the MLB would LOVE out of a 5th starter. My only regret is that he didn't come out of the game in the middle of an inning so as to give him a standing ovation while he left the field. Hopefully, his great performances continue, and he will inspire legions of fans to sport his old tyme moustache look. Check it out!
Other positives include back to back homeruns by Rizzo and Soriano, and a 4 hit game by Catcher "Beef" Wellington Castillo who is now batting .425. Given Castillo's hitting prowess, I don't even mind all the wild pitches and passes balls today. All in all, a great game where the Cubs fired on all cylinders. Even Carlos Marmol, save for a couple of out of control pitches was lights out on the mound in the 9th. Great to see him succeed, even if he still doesn't seem to be up to his old form again yet. James Russel was awesome as always and still has not allowed a run this year.
Another cool thing about yesterday is, I went to the game with a french theater director named Valery who had never seen a baseball game before. He drank an Old Style, ate a Chicago Dog, and we had a great time discussing art history between plays. I always love bringing foreigners to ballgames. As I try to explain what happens on the field, I realize the idiosyncrasies of the game, as well as how strange some of our baseball traditions seem to an outsider. For example, when the 7th inning stretch came around, I turned to Valery and said, "OK, now every one stands and sings a song together." He looked incredulous, as if those words could not have possibly just come out of my mouth. It is a rather odd tradition to someone unfamiliar with the custom. He also thought the on deck batter could somehow be involved in the play, just because he was standing on the side swinging a bat. That would be awesome if the on deck hitter could run into the field after the ball is batted and try to disrupt the play. Arena Baseball! Well, at least Valery speaks English. Last time I went to a ball game with a foreigner was when I brought an Argentinian to Yankee Stadium on opening day. Trying to explain the rules of baseball is hard enough, let alone trying to explain it in intermediate level spanish. "Cuando este hombre tira la pelota...." Further confusion and hilarity reigned when I found out that the Spanish word for catch "cojer", is slang for "sex" in Argentina. So when I said "Coje la pelota", in his country it would mean "make love" to the ball. That's a whole new ballgame....
Back to baseball.
So what can you say about a team that's capable of beating the Rangers so solidly? I know it's only one game, but if these young Cubs start to believe in themselves, the sky seems to be the limit. There's no reason we can't go to Wrigley North this weekend in Milwaukee and steal back 4th place from the Brew Crew. We have been competitive in every single game this season. Well....at least we haven't been blown out. And our record would be a lot better than the 5-9 where we currently stand if it wasn't for just a few mental errors and miscues. The Cubs may be bad this year, we may not win the World Series this year, but I think we will look better building towards a brighter tomorrow this year. What I'm saying is, I don't think we will lose embarrassingly, nor do I think we will lose 100 games.
This afternoon, I will be driving up to Milwaukee to watch at least Friday night's game, and do a little gambling at Potawotami Bingo Casino. Send good JUJU my way so I can afford to continue my lifestyle and career as a professional Cubs fan. The new podcast will be out soon too, as soon as the lovable Lou Sear's drunken ass picks up the phone. In the meantime. Take a look at the website....maybe buy some Amazon stuff through our search bar? http://www.sonranto.com
You can help Lou and I in tickets and beer!
Go Cubbies!!!!
Friday, April 12, 2013
Its a Great Day for Cubs Baseball! Not!!
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!
http://www.sonranto.com
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!
http://www.sonranto.com
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