A Cloud of Sullenness

Well, the way I cash it out, the Cubs have a 2 game losing streak in which they were outscored 25 to 2, an entire lineup slumping, a drastically overused bullpen, and 2 rookie starters due to pitch against Pittsburgh. The only good news? They’re hosting Pittsburgh. A.K.A., the NL central division’s bitch. That is, unless the Cubs are the bitch right now. You know what they say about spotting the sucker at the poker table.

The biggest concern taking shape, however, is Zambrano’s utter lack of focus. He’s walked too many hitters every single game – 25 in 6 starts – and has yet to win a start. 0-2, 5.35. Not good folks. (continue...)

On Ryan Dempster

The shadows were finally creeping towards home plate on a cool April afternoon in Chicago as Ryan Dempster peered out from the Wrigley Field dugout and realized the Cubs might need him again today. Down 6 to 3 when the bottom of the eighth inning started, a series of walks and a clutch two-out line drive smacked up the middle by Matt Murton had brought the Cubs within a run. One more hit, and the Cubs would certainly turn the corner. Or maybe it would be more accurate to put it on the Marlins, an inexperienced team who couldn't help but think "Here we go again," as another lead dissipated; maybe one more hit and they would settle into despondency.

Dempster had already pitched in three consecutive games, on three consecutive days. He could certainly use a day off, especially to take full advantage of an off day tomorrow. But, since Williamson had already tanked -- walking 3 batters who eventually came around to score in the top of the eighth -- there was now probably no choice for the top of the 9th if the Cubs could take the lead. Maybe Scott Eyre... but nah -- Dusty would give it to Dempster. "Suck it up, and work quickly," he thought to himself. "Throw strikes." (continue...)

Yet Another Deep Breath

OK, so maybe it’s not so bad as it seemed at first, this crisis of losing Lee for the first half. Not that the Cubs didn’t listlessly drop a pair, but there was no weekend freefall. Greg Maddux outmaneuvered the Cardinals lineup twice around, and they won the afternoon game today. If we think about it, there’s a good chance the Cubs would have only won 1 out of 3 in St. Louis even if Lee was in the lineup, especially with Glendon Rusch and Jerome Williams starting. Things might have unfolded exactly as they would have otherwise. (continue...)

An Open Letter

An open letter to the baseball gods, powers that be, and other assorted deities.

20 April 2006

Guys,

OK, seriously: what the hell?

Wait, let me start over. You see, I’ve been drinking. I should admit that outright. I must choose my words carefully. And then run spellcheck. That’s what tequila demands from a guy who sits at a keyboard approaching midnight. (continue...)

It's Fun Again

Well, I hope everyone else is enjoying this as much as I am. The Cubs have started out of the gate better than we had a right to hope for and I’m simply thrilled. Not only is Cubs baseball thoroughly fun again for the first time since last July or so, but right now it’s really fun. So far, there’s been little evidence prompting caution; my mental voice has yet to say “Enjoy it while it lasts, sucker.” Despite its flaws, this team is going to be fun to watch all season long.

Fun might not be the same thing as winning a division, but they’re not that far apart either. I say give into it! At least for now, what's not to enjoy? More to the point, you can answer that question if you want, but why bother? (continue...)

Best of Game Notes Vol. 1

That’s right -- two weeks into the season, the Cubs are a half game out of first, and it’s been a fun time already. Time to recap the best of the Game Notes so far, volume 1 of season 2. Hope you enjoy! (continue...)

Buffalo, Etc.

Editor’s Note: I drafted this in the Buffalo airport yesterday morning, but didn’t get a chance to post it until now.

Niagara Falls at night is beautiful because they train bright colorful spotlights on the falls and the mist swirls around uniquely, sort of like steam or smoke, but not quite, since parts of the cloud fall while others rise. In any case, it was also much too cold, for me anyway. It was 34 degrees nearing 10:00 PM, and as I stood on Goat Island overlooking Horseshoe Falls, the wind kicked up and sprayed me with mist that somehow felt colder than ice. I walked away from the edge a bit, and soon drove back to my motel in time to watch the end of the Cubs game on Sunday Night Baseball. (continue...)

Finding A Groove

Now it feels like baseball season. This morning as I went for a run around Town Lake here in Austin it was 60 degrees and sunny. It got up to about 70 this afternoon, much more appropriate than the 93 it was last week. There was just something odd about driving home in 90 degree weather to watch April baseball. I wonder if I’ll ever live in Texas long enough to acclimate to that phenomenon, or if acclimation is even possible for one who grew up in the Midwest.

The baseball cover issue of the New Yorker arrived yesterday, too. This year it’s “Bigger than the Game” by Barry Blitt, depicting Barry Bonds in left field about 10 times as big as the other players on the field, although his head is still tiny, which is a nice touch. (Last year it was “Over the Top,” also by Blitt, featuring lanky Randy Johnson in a Yankees uniform.) It's a nice reminder that something important has once again begun. (continue...)

A Great Wind

Is anyone else dying to know who put that Ojibwe saying on Tony Soprano’s bulletin board? “Sometimes I go about in pity for myself, and all the while a great wind carries me across the sky,” it reads. I just can’t shake the feeling that this is a clue to interpreting the series... which brings me to my first meandering point:

For the Cubs, the early clues are less obfuscating, and far less tantalizing. Walks, walks, walks. Too many walks by the starters, way too many walks by the bullpen, and way too few walks taken by the lineup. Decrying the walk problem was a refrain last season, and if that pattern repeats I am going to get very negative in a hurry. It’s such a little thing, except that it isn’t, like Chinese water torture. Let’s just hope it doesn’t turn into as huge a problem as it could. (continue...)

Quick Admin Notes

A couple of quick administrative items:

• The forum for Game Notes is back up. The link is on the left. I archived the old forum and installed a new version of YaBB, the forum software I prefer. This means that anyone who wants to weigh in with insights, quips or analysis will need to create a login account all over again. Please do!

(continue...)

Here's To 2006

Baseball-watchers need spring training, too. During an insignificant game between the have-not Cubs and Padres at Scottsdale, I sat in the sun-drenched open grandstand behind first base and allowed my interior clock to begin slowing itself to the pace of summer, to baseball time. As I watched the movements and patterns on the field, my interest in the game merged imperceptibly with my pleasure in the place and the weather. The sunlight was dazing, almost a weight on my head and arms, and my shadow, thrown on the empty bench to my right, had edge and substance. After an infield play, I wrote “4 – 3” with my pencil in a box on the scorecard on my lap, and a drop of sweat fell from my wrist and made its own blurry entry on the same page. The Cub coaches sat together on a row of folding chairs outside the home-plate end of their dugout, leaning back against the foul screen with their arms folded and their caps tipped low over their foreheads, and the Padre brain trust, over on the first-base side, made an identical frieze. We were a scattered, inattentive crowd, at times nearly silent, and between pitches we stared off at the jagged, blue-tan silhouettes of low desert peaks set about the distant rim of our gaze.

--Roger Angell in Five Seasons, Simon & Schuster 1977.

Well, we’ve entered Daylight Savings Time, Tony Soprano has returned home from the hospital, and it’s opening day of the Cubs 2006 baseball season. I guess you could say that things, if not right in the world, are at least looking up. Maybe we’re all on borrowed time, but at least at the moment there’s plenty to enjoy. (continue...)

The View From Wrigleyville


The Eye Of The Beerholder
04.09.06 Opening Weekend II
Cubs versus Cardinals at Wrigley Field
Aisle 104 Row 5 Seat 101 (continue...) 04.08.06 Opening Weekend
Cubs versus Cardinals at Wrigley Field
Section BLEACHERS Row GA Seat 658 (continue...)

Westside Wavelength