Best Of Game Notes Vol. 5

You might not believe this, but ignoring the pitcher, the Cubs have used a different starting lineup in 13 consecutive games. The last time they used two identical starting lineups were the 4th and 8th of June. How is this possible? This has to be another nefarious record... kind of like the 8 HRs allowed today, tying a club record that was set earlier this year.



I realize there’s the Dusty factor, and that’s most of it with the lineups, but even so, he hasn’t had the pieces to use.

No excuses for Dusty because that’s just plain bad lineup-making, but no one is hitting like a leadoff hitter, or a 3-hitter, or a cleanup hitter, and so on. The Cubs these days have a lineup full of 7 hitters (with Neifi batting 8th - ba dum ching!). Murton’s slumping, Jones rolled out to second 3 times today, and Cedeno’s hitting .192 against lefties.



And so the Cubs find themselves on another 6 game losing streak. So far their longest win streak is 3 games, as Len pointed out today. Losing, they’ve had 8, 4, 6, & 6-and-counting.



What can you say? Meanwhile, I’ve totally dropped off the map with my Game Notes. I’ve decided that I can’t make time to continue posting the innings’ events and Key Moments. Instead, I’m just going to keep a notepad next to my clipboard where I keep score, and every two weeks I’ll just post the jokes. We’ll see how that goes, anyway.



So here’s at least another brief round, and we’ll go from here.

• Phil Nevin for JH Jr! OK. KJM via text: “MJH (Mac, Jurko & Harry) tried to goad him into slamming the Cubs and Dusty but JHJr was total class a true gentleman current score KJM 3 beers that is.”
  
  
  
  
• Griffey hits one up the middle, E6 off Cedeno’s glove. Then Cedeno throws to third with no one covering because of the shift, another E6. Only the ’06 Cubs could have two guys make two errors each on two plays in the same week. Are you kidding me?
  
  
  
  
• Clemens is signed by the Astros? Crap. It’s starting to look like a 2 horse race, and the Cubs are a donkey.
  
  
  
  
• Jerry Krause is on hand. Who’s he scouting. Hey Jerry -- let me tell you about this guy with versatility, solid defense, and tremendous upside potential. They call him The Neifi.
  
  
  
  
• Holy cow - Clemens is pitching at Dell Diamond in a few weeks? Should I buy tickets now? I think I will ... online ... sold out already? HELL. There’s like 7 baseball fans in this whole town and yet somehow the Express sold out hours after the announcement. Frickin’ Clemens.
  
  
  
  
• Fan cam - 8 for 14, and the 8? Wow! Some of the best fan cam femmes all season.
  
  
  
  
• The heat of the order for the Cubs go 1-2-3 on 6 pitches. I feel like throwing my clipboard at the wall.
  
  
  
  
• That’s right! I’m typing up my Game Notes and Entourage is on, and Turtle dropped a Freddy Boom Boom Washington line last season. Don’t call it a comeback -- the Sweathogs were never gone.
  
  
  
  
• The FSN Midwest / St. Louis guys are having fun with the “slugger” Michael Barrett. Get it? That’s a double entendre, folks.
  
  
  
  
• Eyre gets an AB in the 6th spot. Sweet, Dusty. Sweet. I don’t think there’s anyone worse at keeping a contingency plan for extra innings.
  
  
  
  
• Doh! The TiVo stopped recording. 4:50 was not long enough. Going online... Cubs win in 14 innings!
  
  
  
  
• Tim McCarver on Murton rounding second: “He never stopped completely.” [The replay shows Murton stopped dead for a good second or more.] “Oh, well, I guess he did stop.” Nice one, Tim.
  
  
  
  
• Ouch - the exit to commercial music is “I Got The Power” by Snap!. And yes, I knew that off the top of my head. Don’t judge me.
  
  
  
  
• Fan Cam goes 2 for 7. The theme is sunglasses. I say, big lenses = bad. Unless they’re Harry Caray tribute glasses, let’s see some cheekbones, ladies.
  
  
  
  
• Hey New Busch Stadium -- What’s with all the easy ground rule doubles?
  
  
  
  
• Fan Cam: 8 for 17. They slipped in a good camera shot at the end. AWL: “The pigtails helped.”
  
  
  
  
• AWL, on being alerted that he just made Best of Game Notes: “Yes! I’m back, baby!”
  
  
  
  
• Jeremy Piven throws the first pitch. We all love him in Entourage, sure, but PCU -- now Droz was Piven’s Double Down Trent. “What is this? You're going to wear the shirt of the band you're going to see? Don't be that guy.”