Len & Bob

I’m eventually writing about Len Kasper and Bob Brenley, but in order to understand anything about Cubs TV broadcasters you have to delve into history a little bit. Inevitably, we compare these two to the broadcasters who preceded them, and I always enjoyed Steve Stone. A lot of color guys can take you into the strategy of a game, but nobody was better than Stone at going a level closer to break down the strategy of a single at-bat. His partner, Chip Caray, was decent. He suffered -- as we all did -- during the Joe Carter and Dave Otto seasons, and with Stone back I thought Chip was getting better, (although a little too wholesome and corny at times for my taste). (continue...)

When It's Fun

Well, today’s game was as good as it gets for Cubs fans lately. We haven’t had many recent occasions to enjoy ourselves with this team, but today was one. It stands out even more for how glum the month has been, but today would have been a highlight even if the season had a lot of them. It’s a nice reminder that on any given day, baseball can be brilliant. (continue...)

It's Baseball

* * *       It was a very good day for a game, and without being aware of it The Kid began to settle down and relax. He caught The Shooter looking at him several times, and once he winked at The Kid. (continue...)

So That's That

You know, the Cubs are only 19 games behind the Cardinals with 35 games to go. I think they can do it. At least there are only three teams ahead of them in the division. In the Wild Card, it's six. (continue...)

On Aramis Ramirez

I have to admit: I was a little surprised when Aramis Ramirez made the All Star team this season. He started so slowly those first six weeks that it took us a while to notice that he was putting up impressive numbers. It probably didn’t hurt that at third base, Rolen was hurt and Lowell has struggled, but still: Ramirez deserved to be an All Star, and hasn’t slowed down since. He’s having a brilliant season. (continue...)

Best Of Game Notes Vol. 10

Well, it's been another brutal two weeks. The Cubs had a chance to get back to .500 with two games to go in Colorado, against vulnerable pitching. Instead, they dropped them both and tumbled right back to the bottom of the hole they're trying to climb out from.

Anyway, here are the Game Notes highlights from the last two weeks, in search of a tiny bit of levity as always. (continue...)

Questions About The Bygone Era

Well, those last two losses were just taxing. What little enthusiasm the Cubs had inspired in some of us is nearly dissipated. Watching them lose a pair of winnable games to a team like Colorado, it's starting to feel like the Cubs will be lucky to win 81, rather than 89 or 90. Worse, it's been so much of a repeating, numbing pattern that it's hard to feel more than lukewarm disappointment. I hate that. (continue...)

Mindset For The Final Six Weeks

When I started Barack Obama’s book Dreams From My Father last week, two passages stood out about a third of the way in. This is the first, recalled from a meeting when Obama was considering a move to Chicago to take a community organizer position: (continue...)

Something To Prove

7 games back in the loss column, 42 games to go.

So let’s just say that maybe it’s too late, that 32-10 is too much to hope for. I’m not suggesting that, because I have Cubs disease, but part of me acknowledges how tough it will be. Is there anything else worth watching for in the last six-and-a-half weeks? (continue...)

Earning A Tiny Bit Of Optimism

How many different Wild Card scenarios have you run through in your mind? I’m well into the dozens, and nearly all of them involve the Cubs sweeping Houston this week. That’s where it has to start, the cautious optimists think, because even winning the series only subtracts 1 from the gap in the loss column. Subtract 3 and Cub Nation's optimism will reemerge in full bloom. (continue...)

It's Not Second Guessing

On Monday I asserted that Dusty Baker hasn’t managed the 2005 Cubs like a team that was certain to play in a lot of close games. A request came in for examples as evidence, so I went back through and spot-checked my Game Notes, looking for specific instances that I had noticed at the time. I found over a dozen of them in a short period of time.

(This is pushing 4000 words, and it's painful to relive some of these moments, so don't say I didn't warn you.) (continue...)

Best Of Game Notes Vol. 9

Well, it's been another two weeks, which pretty well sucked in every respect. The games the Cubs did win, they got pretty lucky. And once Felipe Alou left town, those games were absent.

I've never picked a favorite Game Note punchline, but this time I will: "Maybe Dusty was listening to the Beastie Boys on his way to Queens: "Listen all of y'all it's a SABOTAGE."" For more on that, read the column I posted last night.

Anyway, read on for the best of the Game Notes, because if you're mad, you might as well at least try to get a laugh. (continue...)

Well, Who Should We Blame?

If you read Rick Morrissey’s column “Laying all blame on Baker not fair” in the Tribune, you saw that the counter-backlash to all of the Dusty Baker backlash has begun. I’m singling out Morrissey, but this is also what we hear from the Cubs management and staff. The central point is that the Cubs collapse cannot be entirely the manager’s fault. I agree with Morrissey, and I think it’s awful how venomous some people become. No one is saying Morrissey and Hendry and the others don’t have a point. Yet, while this is true, I also think this is an example of the media and the Cubs staff trying to have it both ways. (continue...)

Nomar Or Bust!

Well, it’s hard to be more annoyed with the Cubs than we are right now. They’re right back at .500: 54 wins with 54 games to go. They keep conjuring new ways to lose close ballgames.

Best case, I’ll estimate that 87 wins will win the Wild Card. That means 33-21. More likely, with Houston streaking, it will take 88 to 90 wins. 90 wins means 36-18 -- .667. Two thirds down and two thirds to win with one third to go. If nothing else, at least the math is symmetrical. Probably impossible, but symmetrical nonetheless. (continue...)

On Carlos Zambrano

One of the things with pitchers that you cannot quantify is mound presence. It’s that swarthy arrogance that comes out when a pitcher knows he’s in control. It’s the acknowledgement in the back of your mind that at some point you might see a fastball near a chin. It’s the willingness to forego strategy when necessary -- to simply throw your best pitch, holding nothing back, challenging the hitter to hit it if he can. (continue...)

The Astros: Could It Have Been Anyone Else?

Let’s get one thing clear: the Astros are the team to beat for the Cubs. I’ll be the last one to concede the division to the Cardinals until it’s mathematically decided, and right now the Cubs are only 13.5 back. (“Umm, only?”) However, the way I figure it, if the Cubs somehow make a run at the Cardinals, it means the Astros will make a run at them first. If the Cardinals hold onto their lead, then it will be the Astros driving the Wild Card race. (continue...)

The View From Wrigleyville
Down and Out
The opera ain't over but the fat lady is surely warming up in the bullpen for the wilting '05 Chicago Cubs. The sense of frustration here in Wrigleyville could not be much stronger; I will be interested to see and hear how the crowd reacts at tonight's game and throughout the coming "make or break'' homestand. (continue...)

The Eye Of The Beerholder


Westside Wavelength