One day this team looks like one of the best teams in baseball.
The next, it looks like one of the worst.
I'm not sure anyone picked up on this, but I was a little dismayed last night by the fact that Dempster pitched through the 7th inning last night. Yes, he gave up no runs in that inning...luckily...but, for the first time in a long time, Dempster looked completely spent out there on the mound and was just throwing junk in that 7th inning. He shouldn't have been out there for that inning. Luckily, he was able to get through it without any damage done.
Oh well.
Offensively, the Cubs went into hiding again. Actually, they had a number of base runners, but only scored on a couple of solo shots by Soriano and Soto.
The big hit disappeared again. :(
Dempster wasn't all that sharp last night but held the damage down quite well only giving up two homers which accounted for all the Pirates scoring.
At this point, Lou probably should consider batting the "right handed pitcher lineup" against some lefties....Jeff Baker is hitting only .217 and Xavier Nady is batting only .176 right now. As much as it pains me to say it, I think I'd rather have Fontenot and Fukudome in there.
Theriot is starting to scare me a bit. Yes, he only sees about 1.5 pitches per at bat, but he's getting on base right now at a frighteningly high rate. (Frank, it's ok, you can still complain about him!)
Soriano's homer was his 5th in 4 games. Soto almost had a second homer as he flew out deep to the warning track in dead center field in the 4th inning.
Tonight: Lilly-pad verse Charlie Wilson's war...oops, Charlie Morton. Watch Lilly's pitch speed tonight and see if he can get that fastball back up to the upper 80's. I didn't see him top 86 in his last start, and he got hit hard by the D-Backs.
Charlie Morton has been horrible this year. Hopefully the Cubs can continue to keep him being horrible.
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April 13, 1984
That was a very memorable day for me for some strange reason. At the time was living in Michigan. My family moved back to the Chicago area after school was over that summer. But on that day that spring, I had the pleasure to listen, on the radio, to a game between the Tigers and Red Sox.
Why was this game so memorable? Well, the starting pitchers for this game pitched a total of 1.0 innings. The Tigers scored 8 runs in the first inning; the Red Sox then scored 5 runs in response.
Ernie Harwell was calling that game as I listened to it on my radio. I remember listening to that game...not sure why...I was in my infancy as a Cubs fan at that point but was trying to get in as many baseball games as possible...I heard that game and remembered being mesmerized by it
Ernie Harwell passed away yesterday...he was a class act up to the end, and handled his last few months with enormous dignity as he slowly died from cancer. He's near the top of all time broadcasters and was one of those eternal voices you prayed would never be silenced.
