I am very excited to look ahead to this three game series against the Cardinals.  I am a lifelong Cubs fan currently living in the St. Louis area.  Let's hope we put the Cardinals out further out of the race by Sunday.  I have tickets for Fridays game which will be my first at Wrigley this year, but it is already turning out to be one of the most special trips to Wrigley.  Here is why...

Friday of course is August 8, 2008 (08-08-08).  This is my grandfather's birthday, and he is turning...88 (born Aug 8, 1920). We have obtained tickets behind the visting dugout... 8 rows back and includes seat 8 (yes, that is where Grandpa will sit).  I told Grandpa that he needs to have 8 beers by the 8th inning and paint a big 88 on his chest.  Those things probably won't happen...what I would like to see though for sure is an 8-0 win.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!  Let's hope we are watching baseball on October 8th and beyond.

Did anyone catch the Hawks management team on The Score last night before the game?  If so, I would be interested to hear what people thought.  It has been great to see the change in the organization and makes me excited about hockey again.  It is good to see the Hawks on a roll again after  a rough stretch.

I am not sure if we are going to be able to get this together or not.  THere was a lot of initial interest but that has dwindled down.  I am not sure if people do not want to go or if there are just so many diaries the last couple of days it is hard to keep track.

I will say we will meet at the Kriegers at 270 and Dorsett.  Be there at 9:00.  Please reply if you will be there.  With the late start time, I do not want to go out there if no one else is going to be there.  I would look for probably 3 or 4 more people to go before I am sure I will make the trip.

Please respond to this diary or email me at kcreutz at gmail dot com.  

It has been cool to see some fans from cities all around trying to get together and watch games here at the end of the season.  Are there any fans in the St. Louis area that are already getting together somewhere?  If not, are there some people here who would like to find a place to watch some games?  Hopefully we will clinch Friday or Saturday which would be fun to get together.  What kind of interest is out there and what do you have any ideas for places to go?

I am not sure if anyone here has posted anything about the new Busch Stadium.  I was able to attend the game today and wanted to share my thoughts.

First of all, I have to start with Albert Pujols.  I am a lifelong Cubs fan and in no way do I go to Busch to root for the Cardinals.  However, when Pujols comes to bat, I always pay close attention.  You have to respect what this guy has done, and appreciate seeing a guy who is on his way to the hall of fame... if he keeps this up.  I have seen three home runs hit in a game once, by Sosa, back in 2001 I believe (it might have been just a few days before the cork incident, Im not sure).  Pujols' three homers today were all just so dramatic.  It was  tighter game than when Sosa did it.  The walk off was very impressive.  You almost knew it was coming.

The ballpark is nice.  The only other park that I have been to that has been built recently is Miller Park, and I felt like Busch was a bit nicer.  I think there is just a different feel to a stadium that doesnt have a roof, retractable or otherwise.  The stadium has a nice view of the St Louis "skyline" (I use that word loosely) and I believe they are supposed to put some condos behind left field with some rooftop views, similar to Wrigley.  When those are finished, it should look even nicer.  Of course the concourses were very wide, which is nice.  We were in the Redbird Club which I guess is a step up from a normal seat, and a step down from a luxury sweet.  I considered it one big luxury seat that about 20 sections could use, and that you had to pay for your food and drinks.  I also payed 7 bucks each for two ice cream cones.  There was no sign that said how much they were so I had this sneaky suspicion that I was over charged.  Sure enough, when I was walking out, I saw another ice cream vendor who was selling them for 6.50.  They ripped me off by a buck!!

Other things that happened, that I absolutely hate.  The wave went around the stadium about 10 times.  Thankfully someone on the Reds made the third out of an inning and it ended.  Also, the curtain calls.  WHY do these St Louis fans want a curtain call after EVERY single home run.  Give it a break.  It gets old.

All in all, a decent new stadium.  I enjoyed the game there today.  Is anyone going to the games next weekend???  I will be there on Sunday.  I do want to make a suggestion for all Cubs fans heading down.  It may be a ridiculous thing to ask, it might not, but here it goes.  Where BLUE to the games in St. Louis.  They put in all red seats in the stadium.  So of course, everyone there wears red and white.  We need to counter that by wearing as much blue as possible.  No white, you will just blend in with the Cardinal fans.
Hope to see you next Sunday... and be careful when you buy Ice Cream.

I have started a salary cap challenge on the Sporting News website.  
The league name is...Bleed Cubbie Blue
The password to get in the league is...Ivy

This is how it works.  You sign up and pick a team name. You have $30 Million to buy 8 players.  Once opening day comes you have 2 trades per week.  A trade is where you drop one of your players.  You do not get charged for picking up a replacement.  It has been suggested that we only use the free trades given to us.  To keep it an even playing field, let's make an agreement to not buy any more trades.  Each week they will give you two more trades.  The trades rollover so you can save them for the season.  Players receive points based on their performance, Im not going to list all the point values, you can read that. So go ahead and sign up.  It would be fun to have as many people as possible playing the game. 

Sign Up Here 

I am in a online simulation baseball league that is pretty cool.  If any of you are REALLY into fantasy baseball and think it would be cool to be a GM of a baseball team, this league is for you.  Year round baseball fun.  If you are interested read on.  I have copied a little piece that our commisioner wrote up explaining the league.  We are looking to expand in '06 a need a few good people.  Thanks!

---

With 2005 as its 8th season, the Fairweather Johnson Baseball League (FJBL) continues its evolution as one of the very finest, most in-depth Diamond-Mind baseball on-line leagues.

Recently our owners, with the approval of the Commissioner's office, made the decision to expand the league in the upcoming 2006 season to 24-teams, from its present 20-team format. With this four-team expansion, our player pool will be enlarged to include all major league teams (a first for the league).

To aid us in finding outstanding candidates to lead these new franchises, we have already started taking applications from interested owners.
Potential expansion owners will be given an opportunity to work through the 2005 season as an assistant-GM with one of our current franchises. This will allow an opportunity to learn the intricacies of the FJBL and give a new owner the best possible chance for success in 2006. An owner, who successfully completes this program, will be given an opportunity to prove his skills by running one of the expansion teams for the 2006 season.

The FJBL includes an on-line auction each winter, inactive player and prospect drafts, four divisions, player contracts, exceptional owner involvement, a fresh web site, an active message board, daily results, news articles, inter-league play and more that add an unparalleled depth and richness to the league.

Describing his league experience, one GM recently wrote, "I love this league! I have looked around at other leagues online and have yet to find anything that appeals to me half as much as the FJBL. I was looking for a league that would make me feel like an MLB GM...I feel the FJBL hits that sweet spot -- complex enough to be realistic and interesting and simple enough to be manageable."

To learn more, please visit our web site at www.fjbl.net or email Commissioner Myers at braycon@wowway.com for an ownership application or to request additional information.

If I go to a minor league baseball game I expect to see ads plastered all over the outfield fence.  I am happy that the majors have not gone as far as minor league parks have with that.  However, the Diamondbacks might lead the league with behind home plate ads.  Holy smokes how many can you fit back there?  I counted three of them and it striked me as a little more than usual.  

Anways, on to the game.

It was upsetting to see them lose this game, especially with the chances they had in the eighth inning.  Patterson and Walker are at 2nd and 3rd with no outs.  Then, Nomar doesnt look great (although he drove in the run) and Ramirez goes down too.  It is hard to make Ramirez look bad, but he really did in that at-bat.  As nice as yesterday was, it would have been nice to get those two runs in the eighth.  But they failed to push them across and it just gives me that same uneasy feeling I had last year.  I hope they can get better at that as the season moves on.

Good things about the game...I am really enjoying the Kasper/Brenly team.  They really are doing a great job.  The only bad thing about good 'ol Len was when he mentioned that Chad Fox was the Marlin who was credited with the 'W' in game 6 of the NLCS.  Kasper said that will be the only time he mentions that.  IT BETTER BE THE LAST TIME LENNY  ;)
Speaking of Fox he also had a nice outing today.  Good to see the bullpen getting the job today.  

I have had a friend tell me he has heard rumors that Corey has been trade bait for Hendry in order to get a closer.  Im sure this is just rumor/speculation that someone thought up, but has anyone heard anything along those lines.

My thoughts...I would not be the end of the world for me to see Corey go.  We have power in the IF and at both corner OF positions.  Our CF right now has to be the one who gets on base.  Corey can not do that.  I dont think he ever will.  If we keep Corey for the future, then we have to look at another postition to fill that on-base/speed/leadoff need.

I guess I see Hairston as a replacement for Corey.  Especially if Corey can get us that lockdown closer for the ninth.  With Remlinger, Hawkins, a healthy JoBo, and the other young guys, plus a solid closer, we have a whole different bullpen.

I'm not sure if the Burnitz, Hairston, and Hollandsworth/Dubois OF could get us anywhere in the playoffs though.  Unless, Dubois gets a shot and really does well, then Hollandsowrth is coming off the bench, Burnitz stays healthy, Hairston has an OBP of .390, hmmmmmm......maybe....

I am in this incredible fantasy baseball league.  We sim a 162 game schedule.  The computer sims the game and all player performance is based on their previous stats in real MLB.  Diamond Mind is the program we use, some of you might have heard about that.  We also have a prospect draft where we can pick minor league players to place on our roster.  If they do well enough when they are called up, we can sign them to a contract.  I was doing research for our current prospect draft and came across two interesting names.  Thought it would be cool if we could come up with as many great (or not so great) names of players that are fitting for a baseball player.  Here are the two that I came up with.

Cool baseball name - THOMAS DIAMOND P Texas organization

Not so cool name (for a pitcher) - STEVE SHELL P Angels organization "Man, Shell got SHELLED yesterday"

What names can you come up with?  (majors or minors)