Cubs: July 2008 Archives

By Andy Rohr
Staff Writer

Although, the world will now be fixated on the three-team Manny Ramirez trade that will land the eccentric left fielder in Dodger blue. Here in Chicago, all the talk has been about the acquisition of future Hall-of-Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

All "this would have been a great deal 8 years ago" joking aside, Sox fans should hope that Griffey can emulate the output of another potential Hall-of-Famer playing in Chicago, Jim Edmonds.

Since being let go by San Diego, Edmonds has torn it up with the Cubs. A two-homer performance that capped the Cubs four-game sweep of the Brewers only cemented his status as a great pick-up.

Since suiting up with the Northsiders, Edmonds has hit .277 with 12 homers and 36 RBIs. Throw in a .372 OBP and a .587 slugging percentage and you can see why Cubs fans are now huge fans of the one-time Cardinal.

Sox fans should hope for similar production from "The Kid," who at 38 has seen a drop-off in production but is still someone that the opposition has to take notice of.

The main question most Sox fans have concerns where Griffey will fit in the lineup. The guess here is that Nick Swisher, Jim Thome and especially Paul Konerko will have to give up some playing time. Having lineup depth like this heading into the stretch run is always a nice commodity and something the Sox rarely have.

By Erik Jacobsen
Staff Writer

I officially stand corrected on the prediction I made last weekend in this space that the Cubs would stand no chance against the Brewers.

Now that the Cubs have gone into Milwaukee and taken the first three games of the four-game series, it's clear that I underestimated the Cubs' character and the overestimated the Brewers' swagger.

With the way the Cubs were tanking after the All-Star break, I felt all signs were pointing to Lou Piniella's squad going belly-up like so many Cubs teams have before. However, with selfless hard workers like Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot and Kosuke Fukudome in the lineup and determined winners like Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster on the mound, I guess should have seen this coming.

The Cubs still aren't out of the woods because of their penchant for slumping on offense. However, the chances of this team missing the playoffs now appear to be very slim. A September schedule packed with challenging road trips could cause the Cubs to slip to wild-card status, but this team will be playing in October one way or another.

As for my prediction that the Cubs would be chopped to pieces by the Brewers' buzz saw, I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again. In the end, it's me and the Brewers who look like bums.

By Erik Jacobsen
Staff Writer

Enjoy being in first place Cubs fans, because it probably isn't going to last long.

Expect a blood bath when the Cubs travel to Milwaukee for a four-game series next week. Considering the way the North Siders have been hitting the ball lately and how they've played on the road all year, they will likely be chopped to pieces by the Brewers buzz saw that's been almost unstoppable since signing CC Sabathia earlier this month.

I'm thinking Milwaukee will win at least three of the four games, but the good news is that the Cubs should have a decent lead in the wild card race after relinquishing the top spot in the NL Central.

It's definitely time for Cubs Nation to recalibrate the expectations because the Brewers look like the team to beat in the National League at the moment.

By Erik Jacobsen
Staff Writer

Here are a few numbers to chew on in the wake of the Cubs' 6-3 win against the Marlins on Thursday night.

-The Cubs are now 38-12 at home this season and 22-30 on the road.

-The Cubs lost their first two home games, meaning they've won 38 of their past 48 at home. They haven't lost back-to-back home games since those first two contests at Wrigley Field this season.

-The Cubs are 1-4 at home against the Milwaukee Brewers and 37-8 at home against all other teams.

-The Cubs have 31 home games remaining and 29 road games remaining.

-22 of those 31 remaining home games will take place in August.

-16 of those 29 remaining road games will take place in September, a month that includes trips to New York to play the Mets and Milwaukee in the final week of the season.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Judging on how the Cubs have played at home and on the road this season, they will need to mop up at the Friendly Confines in August if they hope to coast into the playoffs.

I think 97 wins will assure a playoff spot, meaning the Cubs will need to go 37-23 the rest of the way. If the Cubs play near .500 ball on the road for the rest of the year, that means they'll need to go 23-8 at home to reach that magic 97 number.

By Erik Jacobsen
Staff Writer

In Rich Harden's brief Cubs career, he's pitched 12 1/3 innings, struck out 19 batters and allowed one run, amounting to a 0.73 ERA. Yet he owns an 0-1 record after being completely let down by his offense Monday night in Arizona.

The lack of offense is nothing new as the Cubs continued to struggle to score runs on the road. Since the All-Star break, the Cubs are 1-3, and yet their pitching staff has allowed only six runs in those four games.

Having a staff with aces like Harden, Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster is nice, but it likely won't amount to anything if the Cubs don't score and their top hitters continue to prove susceptible to lengthy slumps.

Some might think this sounds hysterical considering how well the Cubs have hit at home and that Alfonso Soriano has been out of the lineup with a broken hand. However, this current trip to the desert should conjure memories of last year's playoff trip when Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano were completely unheard from as the Cubs were swept out of the Division Series by the D-Backs.

Lee and Ramirez have fallen off the face of the planet again. Lee hit into a backbreaking double play in the ninth Tuesday -- the 20th time he's hit into a twin killing this year -- and Ramirez is a pitiful 0-for-17 since the All-Star break.

There's no doubt the Cubs are one of the best teams in baseball when their offense is in high gear. But as talk of a trip to the World Series builds, fans must take a reality check and realize that the team's top hitters have never proven able to avoid big slumps at crunch time.

Last year, people said it was a fluke that Ramirez, Lee and Soriano all went ice cold at the same time once the postseason arrived. I say it will be a fluke if those three can contribute consistently over a 20-game stretch in the playoffs this year and lead the team to the promised land.

The bottom line is the Cubs' top hitters simply aren't reliable enough to make the team a clear favorite in the National League.

By Chris Pummer
Staff Writer

The Cubs and White Sox begin the second halves of their seasons tonight, so here's how the clubs have done after the All-Star break over the past decade, with their final records in parenthesis:

Cubs
2008: ???? (????)
2007: 41-34 (85-77)
2006: 32-42 (66-96)
2005: 36-39 (79-83)
2004: 42-33 (89-73)
2003: 41-27 (88-74)
2002: 32-44 (67-95)
2001: 37-39 (88-74)
2000: 30-46 (65-97)
1999: 26-51 (67-95)
1998: 42-34 (90-73)

White Sox
2008: ???? (????)
2007: 33-43 (72-90)
2006: 33-41 (90-72)
2005: 42-34 (99-63)
2004: 37-41 (83-79)
2003: 41-27 (86-76)
2002: 39-35 (81-81)
2001: 42-35 (83-79)
2000: 40-35 (95-67)
1999: 33-43 (75-86)
1998: 45-31 (80-82)

Things that jump out at me:

-- The Sox have been bad in the second half each of the last two years, though last year was just a continuation of their miserable first half.

-- Jim Riggleman, with the help of an extra game, is the only Cubs manager to win 90 games since the start of the 90s. Are you kidding me?

-- The 2003 Sox didn't lose it in the last devastating series in Minnesota. They blew it in the first half.

-- It's hard to lose more than 50 games after the All-Star break, but the 1999 Cubs did it. I guess that also has to go in Riggleman's scorebook.

-- What a lift the Jose Canseco pickup was to the Sox in 2001!

By Chris Pummer
Staff Writer

While the consensus is that the Cubs committed highway robbery in last week's deal for A's hurler Rich Harden, that can only be the case if Harden stays healthy and dominates down the stretch.

Can he stay healthy, though? Nobody knows, but a lot of people are trying to make educated guesses.

If you're into looking at a pitcher's mechanics for clues to this kind of thing, Alex Eisenberg at Baseball-Intellect has an article breaking down Harden. His conclusion: He doesn't know if Harden will hold up either.

Mechanics might not be the best place to assess a pitcher's injury risk, anyway. After all, I remember a guy who supposedly had mechanics so flawless he would never get hurt.

By Chris Pummer
Staff Writer

With one more series to go before the All-Star break, how about a look where the Cubs and White Sox have been at the season's intermission the past few years.

Cubs
2008: ????
2007: 44-43, (2nd place, 4.5 games back)
2006: 34-54 (5th, 14.5 GB)
2005: 43-44 (3rd, 12.5 GB)
2004: 47-40 (2nd, 7 GB)
2003: 47-47 (3rd, 3 GB)
2002: 35-51 (5th, 12.5)
2001: 51-35 (1st, 3 games up)
2000: 35-51 (5th, 15.5 GB)
1999: 41-44 (6th, 8.5 GB)
1998: 48-39 (2nd, 5 GB)

White Sox
2008: ????
2007: 39-47 (4th place, 13 games back)
2006: 57-31 (2nd, 2 GB)
2005: 57-29 (1st, 9 games up)
2004: 46-38 (1st, 0.5 games up)
2003: 45-49 (2nd, 7 GB)
2002: 42-46 (2nd, 7.5 GB)
2001: 41-44 (3rd, 13 GB)
2000: 55-32 (1st, 10.5 games up)
1999: 42-43 (2nd, 13 GB)
1998: 35-51 (4th, 15.5 GB)

Bonus fun fact: The Cubs beat the Sox two out of three in interleague play wrap up the first half in both 1999 and 2000.The Sox exacted some measure of revenge in 2001 when they took two of three from the Cubs coming out of the break

By R.J. Gerber
Sports Editor

Juan Pablo Montoya did it.
The NASCAR driver's rendition of the Seventh-Inning Stretch at Wrigley Field on Wednesday night and subsequent interview in the bottom of the frame were enough for me.
When asked if he grew up a baseball fan, in another awkward moment for play-by-play man Len Kasper, the Colombian responded, No.
That was the final straw for me after the non-baseball man rushed horribly through the song, finishing reading his cheat sheet as the crowd finally caught up seconds later.
The Cubs should trash the interview after the singing -- which is making me more and more uncomfortable.
Especially since Cubs' games for the rest of the season apparently will grow in significance as the divisional race intensifies.
The last thing I want to hear during a key moment late in the game is that the guy in the middle of Len and Bob doesn't like the sport.
Let 'em sing and then show 'em the door.