Chicago Cubs
Huge Weekend for Chicago MLB Baseball Teams — Cubs & White Sox Both Sweep Weekend Series
Monday, April 26th, 2010 | Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, MLB, Sports | No Comments
WOW — what a great weekend for both Chicago MLB baseball teams. Both the Cubs and White Sox pulled off weekend sweeps to get back on track after a slow start to the 2010 MLB schedule.
The Cubs outscored the Brewers 25-4 in their 3-game weekend series at Miller Park in Milwaukee. The Cubs bats finally came to life and the pitching was just as impressive. Kosuke Fukudome and Tyler Colvin each hit 2 home runs in the series and Ryan Theriot racked up 9 hits in the series (with 14 hits in his last 5 games) to raise his batting average to .329. Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly and Randy Wells picked up the wins and Carlos Zambrano made his 1st appearance out of the bullpen in Saturday’s win (although he did give up an earned run).
The Cubs are now 9-10. They trail the 1st place St. Louis Cardinals by 2 and one half 5 games in the National League Central Division and open up a 7-game homestand against the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks. If Carlos Silva and the Cubs win tonight at Wrigley Field, the Cubs will be back at .500 with a 10-10 record.
The White Sox, meanwhile, took 3 straight games from the Seattle Mariners on home runs in their final at-bat in each game at U.S. Cellular Field over the weekend. In Friday’s 7-6 win, Andruw Jones’ 2nd home run of the game on his birthday gave the Sox the walk-off win in the bottom of the 9th inning. Saturday’s win was even more thrilling. After Bobby Jenks surrendered 2 runs in the top of the 9th inning in a 2-2 tie, the Sox found themselves in a big hole. But with one out, Paul Konerko hit his 6th home run of the season to get the Sox within 1. Then with 2 outs, Carlos Quentin walked to set up Alex Rios’ game-winning, walk-off home run to deep left field that gave the White Sox the 5-4. Paul Konerko followed up his Saturday performance with another big home run in the bottom of the 8th inning that broke a 2-2. 3 straight days – 3 straight game-winning home runs for the White Sox in their last at-bat. Incredible!
The White Sox are now 8-11. They trail the 1st place Minnesota Twins by 5 games in the American League Central Division and start a 6-game road trip against the Rangers in Texas and the Yankees in New York.
These 2 teams are far from being playoff teams right now, but more games like this and we could be seeing a “Red Line Series” in Chicago very very soon…
Chicago Sports Teams – Downright Bad – Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls…
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 | Chicago 2016 Olympics, Chicago Bears, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, Rio de Janeiro, Sports | 1 Comment
WOW – it has been a rough year for Chicago sports teams. The Bears and Bulls are just continuing the downward trend for Chicago sports teams. Throw in the fact that the City lost out on the bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics this past October, and you wonder why they even field teams in the “Second City.”
Both MLB teams allowed August collapses to dictate disappointing finishes in 2009. The White Sox (79-83; .488 winning percentage) finished 7.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central Division, while the Cubs (83-78; .516 winning percentage) finished 7.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the American League Central Division. Obviously neither team qualified for the playoffs.
While the Bears and Bulls had promising starts to their respective seasons, things have quickly turned for the worse for each team.
The Bears started off by winning 3 of their first 4 games, but a current 4-game losing streak has the Bears sitting at 4-7. With games against the Vikings, Ravens and Packers (teams with winning records) still on the schedule, a 6-10 finish looks like a best-case scenario. A Bears loss to either the Rams (1 win) or Lions (2 wins) could end up costing Head Coach Lovie Smith his job. While the defense has been pretty awful all season long, the biggest disappointments come on the offensive side of the ball. During the off-season preceding the season, the Bears traded 2 1st round draft picks and then-starting QB Kyle Orton to acquire “franchise player” Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos. Cutler has been a huge enigma in 2009 – while he has thrown for 2671 yards and 16 TD’s and completed over 62% of his passes, he has also thrown a league-high 20 interceptions. His 74.4 passer rating is well below his career 83.9 passer rating. Coupled with Matt Forte’s sophomore slump (1,238 yards rushing with 8 TD’s in 2008 v. 543 yards rushing with 3 TD’s in 2009), it looks like the Bears have a lot of work to do if they want to turn this thing around.
The same could be said for the Bulls. The Bulls started the season with a 6-4 record through their 1st 10 games. But their annual “Circus Road Trip” away from the United Center proved costly. They lost the last 5 games of the trip and now sit at a dismal 6-9. Kirk Hinrich and Tyrus Thomas are both injured, and Derrick Rose is still trying to get back to his top form after dealing with an ankle injury during the pre-season which limited his play. There are a few bright spots for the Bulls. #1 – the Eastern Conference is just awful – even at 3 games under .500 the Bulls would still qualify for the playoffs if the season ended today. #2 – Luol Deng (18.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game) and Joakim Noah (11.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per game) have looked great early on. #3 – the Bulls are set up well salary-cap-wise for the 2010 free agent feeding frenzy – which will include the likes of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Amari Stoudamire and Chris Bosh.
Sorry Chicago sports fans – looks like you better root real hard for the Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup in 2010…
Cubs deal is done will they still suck?
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 | Chicago Cubs | No Comments
Major League Baseball voted Tuesday and unanimously approved the sale of the Chicago Cubs to the Ricketts family. Tom Ricketts who is the head of the family for the sale could take day-to-day control of the Cubs by the end of the month. The Chicago Tribune who currently owns the team bought the Cubs for $20.5 million in 1981 and the sales this year is reportedly valued at $845 million. The Tribune will keep a 5% stake in the team and Wrigley Field and give up their 25% share in Comcast Sportsnet Chicago.
I think what Cubs fans really care about is will this team ever win anything? Is this deal a good thing for Chicago? There have been rumors for months that the Ricketts family have been have problems with financing for the deal and that it was in risk of falling apart many times. If this is the case what can the Ricketts family do for the Cubs? I think these guys are not going to have the money or be willing to spend the money to put a winning team on the field. This could end up being the Tribune all over again, but I guess we will have to wait and see what 2010 brings us. I hope Tom doesn’t start off talking about how they want to fix up Wrigley field to bring in more money, this will be the first sign of another 100 years of nothing.
For all of the Cubs fans that can’t wait for next year we put up the 2010 schedule and tickets. They are all up on the web site.
2 Chicago MLB Teams, 2 Double-Headers, 4 Meaningless Games – What a Joke!
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 | Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, General, MLB, Mark Buerhle, Sports | No Comments
It is a sad day for the 2 Chicago baseball teams. Both Chicago baseball teams – the Cubs and the White Sox – have already been officially eliminated from the 2009 MLB playoffs. But because of rain outs, each team is playing a meaningless double-header today. Painful…
The 82-74 Cubs (7.5 games behind the Cardinals for 1st place in the NL Central) take on the 59-97 Pirates at Wrigley Field. Ted Lilly (12-8) pitches in the opener, while Carlos Zambrano (9-6) pitches in the night cap. Why are they even playing these games – the almighty dollar!
The 76-81 White Sox (8 games behind the Tigers for 1st place in the AL Central) take on the 64-92 Indians at Jacobs Field. Carlos Torres (1-1) pitches in Game 1 of the traditional double-header while White Sox ace Mark Buerhle (12-10) pitches in Game 2. Meanwhile, the Indians just fired manager Eric Wedge after 7 years managing the Indians. Not sure why they are playing both games since there is no separate admission for each game like at Wrigley Field.
Get your TV sets tuned in early today – Cubs and Pirates have already started in Chicago with the pesky Pirates out to a 4-0 lead over the lovable losers at the Friendly Confines…
Another Cubby Occurrence – Derrek Lee Injured By Teammate in HR Celebration…
Friday, September 25th, 2009 | Chicago Cubs, Derrek Lee, General, Jeff Baker, MLB, Milton Bradley, Sports | No Comments
Gotta love this one – - we have another “Cubby Occurrence”. In last night’s Chicago Cubs dramatic come from behind 3-2 win over the San Francisco Giants, Derrek Lee was injured by teammate Angel Guzman while celebrating Jeff Baker’s 2-out, 2-run home run to win the game. Beautiful. In a frustrating season for Cubs fans all across the country, this is the icing on the cake.
The Cubs were a team that won 97 games in 2008 with the best offense in the National League, only to get swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the divisional round of the playoffs. Cubs fans once again had high hopes for the Cubs in 2009, but it has been a year of frustration instead. Off-season trades of likable players like Mark DeRosa and Jason Marquis for the unlikable Milton Bradley and Kevin Gregg. Enduring the over-paid Bradley and Alfonso Soriano botch fly ball after fly ball in the outfield and being forced to listen to their pointless excuses. Enduring 2 DL stints from ace Carlos Zambrano – one because he pulled a hamstring trying to beat out a sacrifice bunt and one because he threw out his back swinging too hard during batting practice. Enduring a DL stint for Ryan Dempster who fractured a toe when he jumped over the Cubs dugout fence to celebrate a win at Wrigley Field. And now to this latest crazy injury – another “Cubby Occurrence” – an injury that could only happen to a Cubs player.
Don’t worry Cubs fans, the season is almost over – just 10 games left. And look on the bright side – despite how poorly your team has played, the Cubs still have a 79-73 and need just 3 more wins to avoid a losing season…
MLB Players Union – Most Powerful Organization in the World?!
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 | Chicago Cubs, General, MLB, MLB Players Association, Milton Bradley, Sports | No Comments
Gotta love this – the Cubs suspended disgruntled and controversial outfielder Milton Bradley for conduct detrimental to the team. Now it looks like the MLB Players Association is going to file a grievance against the Cubs and MLB to make sure Bradley gets paid. Guess you can say whatever you want about your team, your teammates and your bosses, get fired/suspended, and get paid. Gotta love it. As if professional athletes don’t have it good enough already. The MLB Players Association (union) may seriously be the most powerful organization in the world…
Bradley Cubs fans hate you because you suck!
Friday, August 28th, 2009 | Chicago Cubs, MLB, Sports | No Comments
The Chicago Cubs Milton Bradley had some super smart things to say yesterday after he went 0-5 playing the Nats. Milton is upset that fans do not like him and said “When I go home and look in the mirror, I like what I see” “My family is there, I have people I can talk to who are very supportive, in spite of everything and all the adversity and the hatred you face on a daily basis. Bu I’ll be all right. I always have” The genius also added “I’m talking about hatred, period. I’m talking about when I go to eat at a restaurant. I’ve got to listen to the waiters badmouthing me at another table, sitting in a restaurant.”
So Milton fans dislike you because of race? Oh man has this guy lost it. No Bradley, fans hate you because you make $10 million a year and play like a fat kid in fifth grade gym class. Professional athletes are so out of touch with reality it is getting crazy. Bradley is on his seventh team in nine years now and why do you think that is? Looks like Bradley wants to be the next Steve Bartman. Lets make it eight teams in ten years for this joker.
The Chicago Cubs can’t get anything right
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 | Chicago Cubs, MLB | No Comments
We have a team that has not won a World Series in over 100 years and it doesn’t look like this year will turn out any better. To make things worse the Chicago Cubs can’t even sell themselves. This is a team that is always a top ten team when it comes to ticket sales and sold out games. Yesterday it was reported that the Ricketts bid was finalized and the deal was moving forward even though they lowered the price a little from the $900 million that was originally reported. Today, we hear that none of this was true and that Marc Utay private equity group is still in the running and that they have an agreed upon deal that is for more then $900 million but would offer less cash upfront. To all of this I say WHAT? Come on Cubs fans how are you still going to games and watching these games on TV? What is it going to take for you guys to get fed up and tell this team if you do not do something right we are out of here?
Oh yeah one thing I left out was Ryan Dempster is on the DL for a broken toe after he jumped over a railing going into the dugout. At this point this team is a joke, fans need to boycott this team until they do something other then just raise ticket prices and food prices. Maybe if Lou wakes up and Jim Hendry makes some more great deals like the Soriano and Bradley deals, they really paid off.
I think Ozzie Guillen tried to insult Cubs fans
Monday, June 29th, 2009 | Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, MLB | No Comments
Its that time of the year the Cubs and White Sox series is coming to an end and both of these teams do not have much to be proud of this seasons. As always the series is good for some great insults from both sides and this year was no different. Lou Piniella started off with taking a swipe at the jump in attendance when the Cubs travel down to the south side. He noted that there were 20,000 more fans at the park this weekend and not even the Dodgers that visited the weekend before could bring in numbers like this. Ozzie shot back with
“Because our fans are not stupid like Cubs fans, Guillen said. “They know wer’re {expletive}.
Gullen said Cubs fans will watch any game at Wrigley Field because “Wrigley Field is just a bar.”
This was funny because its kind of true, but I’m not 100% sure if he also didn’t insults White Sox fans. Oh man you got to love Chicago baseball.
Lou Piniella had a drug problem
Saturday, June 27th, 2009 | Chicago Cubs, MLB | No Comments
No, Lou Piniella did not have a drug problem I was just joking, but he did say this week that he has tried out marijuana one time. This was when he was talking about the news the Soto tested positive for marijuana early this year. Lou said
“Look, I have smoked dope one time in my life, and it didn’t do a damn thing for me, and I never tried it again,” he said. “And I’m fortunate because of that. But a lot of people do [smoke marijuana]. You can buy it in California from a pharmacy.”
Lou has had a busy week as he also told Milton Bradley to go home during Fridays game after he had a blow up from his pop up for an out in the top of the 6th. Milton you make $10 million a year and Cubs fans think you are the biggest waste only one person to blame buddy.
