I purchased tickets online from Tickets.com on 9/22 for the NU v Illini football game scheduled for 11/20 at Wrigley Field.  I was able to do this as a perk for being a Cubs season ticket holder.

As of today I have not received my tickets in the mail and needless to say, the customer service support at Tickets.com is of absolutely no help.  They told me the tickets were mailed, cannot be tracked and I cannot do anything at this point.  I need to wait 48 hours prior to the game to request duplicate tickets.

I am trying to find out from other Cubs season ticket holders if you purchased tickets to this game and if you have received your tickets via mail yet.

Thank you.

The Yankees made a record-breaking six-year, $140 million offer to free-agent starter CC Sabathia on Friday, according to multiple industry sources, the first part of their plan to overhaul their rotation. The Bombers have also readied offers for top free agents Derek Lowe and A.J. Burnett

More on MLB.com

Guess we won't have to worry about CC in the NL Central next year.  I don't think he will walk away from 40 million seeing how the Brewers reportedly offered him $100 million.  

I would have to say mine is DISGUST.  This goes way beyond disappointed, discouraged, or upset, this is truly disgusting.  In my opinion this is worse than 2003 and does not even come close to 2007.  '84 was disappointing, '03 was upsetting, '07 was discouraging, this is just disgusting.

Really, can you even imagine attending the Cubs Convention this year? For what, to hear about all the hope in 2009?  How they learned their lesson in the 2008 and 2007 playoffs? 

–verb (used with object)

Sounds like a good idea for a contest.  Name which company will step up and purchase the naming rights to what is now referred to as Wrigley Field.  Ok, I'll go first.  Looking at the larger local companies it seems to me a good match would be WALGREENS.  Headquartered in Deerfield (North Suburb) and with annual revenue of 55 billion they can definetly afford it.  They have stores in 48 states as well as Puerto Rico.

This is a company which is facing competition from CVS as well as others so it would seem to make sense to get their name exposed.

I don't think the name sounds so bad either, Walgreens Field.  

Any other predictions?  

Tried with no success to get two Cubs Convention tickets.  I would love to buy two and am willing to pay $25 over ticket price.  Please let me know if you have 2 to sell.  Thanks, I really appreciate it.  Would also consider trade of two regular season tickets, depending on the game of course.

davom (at) yahoo (dot) com

I entered with 3 e-mail addresses but have not received any notice, positive or negative.

Has anyone been notified yet, either way?

Those who are selected to be given the first opportunity to purchase tickets will be notified on Tuesday, March 13. The winners will then be allowed to purchase on Thursday, March 15, in a designated time period, up to six Dugout, Bullpen or Bleacher Box tickets for one game. Additional registered fans will be given the opportunity to purchase tickets as long as inventory remains available

I used to download different MLB.com podcasts from the iTunes software almost on a daily basis.  I can't seem to find them available anymore.  I have tried a search and there no longer seems to be any MLB.com podcasts avaialable.  

Please don't tell me MLB no longer allows this!

Anyone have any information on this?

Probably not worth starting a new diary but hey, it's a slow news day and who doesn't enjoy talkin' some Sammy Sosa?

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070115&content_id=1779599&vkey=hotstove 2006&fext=.jsp

Get your tickets now, March 21st vs the Cubs in Mesa.  Too bad the Cubs travel to Texas this year instead of them coming to Wrigley.  That would be very interesting to see the reaction from the Wrigley crowd.  

The Padres have decided to make Angels pitching coach Bud Black their new manager, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

As I mentioned in a preior diary, Baker's interview was a mere courtesy for whatever reason.  He will not manage again.  Why would you hire him after watching his teams play progressively worse?

The article linked below talks about how the White Sox will start 50 games at 7:11 PM in consideration for $500,000 from 7-11 corporation.

Kind of clever and not a bad way to take in $500,000 for moving games 6 minutes later.

I could only imagine the flak Tribco would have taken had they agreed to something like this.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/cs-0610110236oct11,1,7200903.story?coll=chi-s portstop-hed

A few weeks ago the Trib printed my letter of disgust about the Cubs in their Saturday edition.  My latest letter did not make the print verion but is posted online...See letter below as well as e-mail from Trib...

Your letter to the editor is currently posted in the Voice of the people
section on ChicagoTribune.com.
> Here is the link: www.chicagotribune.com/letters.
> We now post additional letters in the online version of Voice of the people;
while there isn> '> t room in the print version of the Chicago Tribune to
publish these letters,    we are excited to be able to let many more voices,
including yours, > "> be heard> ">  online.
> Thanks for writing.
> Sincerely,
> Dodie Hofstetter
> Editor, Voice of the people
> Kristin Samuelson
> Chicago Tribune

Originally posted: September 6, 2006

No more excuses for Cubs fans

In May when the Cubs were a mere seven games below .500, Cubs brass would constantly remind us how the Houston Astros had a similar record the previous season and still managed to make the playoffs. This was their way of telling us to not give up and that the season was not lost.

Well, now it's our turn to point to another team as an example. Instead of bemoaning all of the rookie pitchers and injuries as an excuse to this horrible season, I will point to the Florida Marlins who have more rookie pitchers than the Cubs, a $15 million dollar payroll and they also had a worse record than the Cubs had in May, yet they are near the .500 mark and fighting for a playoff spot.

The 2006 Cubs are an absolute disgrace and it is the result of a complete failure from the club president down. Please don't insult Cubs fans with any more lame excuses

The Astros who actually have a worse team batting average than the Cubs fired their hitting coach last night.  Most all other offensive stats favor the Astros over the Cubs.

Seems like GM Purpura was not pleased with the offense.  Second move by Houston during the break while Cubs are apparently content to see how things shake out in the second half.  

As if things will actually be different.  

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/9551709

Interesting article in today's trib by Paul Sullivan about a Sports Illustrated report that says Baker was offered an extension but turned it down.  Baker vehemently denies this.  

What I found most interesting about this article is that it reports Rothschild and Speir would be safe if Baker and his coaches (Clines, Pole, Matthews) were let go.

Rothschild safe?  Why? I would hope he would be axed as well.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-0607080115jul08,1,3726355.story?coll=chi-spor tsnew-hed

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that "Cubs director of player development Oneri Fleita believes the organization has landed a future pitching star. He was excited to announce the signing of right-hander Larry Suarez, 16, who was given a signing bonus of $850,000."

$850k for a 16 year old?  Wow!  Does anyone have any information on this kid, and I mean kid?  Imagine the sweet 16 party he can throw.

The Pirates who have won four in a row and are 6-4 in their last ten have tied the Cubs in wins with 20.  The Pirates still trail the Cubs by percentage points since they have two more losses than the Cubs.  This leaves KC and Florida as the only clubs with less wins than the Cubs.

Given that the Cubs may soon have to climb over five teams and that in my opinion they do not have the talent to do it, I would support a "sell now" strategy.  

The first person I would attempt to get rid of is Juan Pierre.  

Who, if you agree with this strategy would you want to move in hopes of getting some decent talent in return?

"If they're not willing to play, there's going to be a lot of changes to this lineup pretty soon," said Guillen, whose team is in second place in the AL Central with a 31-17 record.

"The execution was terrible, horrible. We didn't lose this game because of a home run, we lost this game because we didn't do what we're supposed to do on the field from the first inning. We didn't bunt the ball when we were supposed to bunt the ball."

Wouldn't you like to read something like this from Dusty instead of listening to him say "this never happens to my teams".

In the meantime, Dusty gets a vote of confidence from Hendy today who said he will not be making any changes because Dusty needs to manage the team once everyone gets healthy.

Many fans were against the Cubs making a play for Soriano in the off-season because of his attitude and the promise of Matt Murton.  Pretty soon you'll be seeing Womack in LF while Murton continues to ride the pine. Let's see, Womack or Soriano?  

All Soriano has done up until now is hit .303, 17HR, 34RBI and 12 SB.  He also has 9 assists, a high in the NL.  You can say what you want about not having a spot for him during Spring training because of the glut of 2b and Murton out in LF but there's no doubt he could have been had for not a whole lot.

Sure this is hindsight but I think Cubs fans are guilty of once again overrating their own (Murton) while thumbing thier nose at players who they feel may not fit in.

I spend quite a bit of time in St Pete and attend some Devil Rays games while down here.  The Devil Rays and their 34 million dollar payroll, $550k median salary and 1.1 million fans compared to the Cubs 94 million dollar payroll, 2.5 million median  salary and 3.1 million fans have a better record than the Cubs as of today at 19-24 compared to the Cubs ar 17-25.

 Please don't tell me about injuries as the Rays have been without Cantu, Lugo, and Huff during the year.

How is it that the Rays, playing in the AL East have a better record than the Cubs?

The Rays go on a very tough road trip facing the Blue Jays, Bo Sox and Yankees. Still, I like my chances that the Rays end up with a better record than these pathetic 2006 Cubs.

I will be tracking this and posting the comparisons through out the year.

Sorry but you know what, Cubs just flat out SUCK!

GO RAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Would Derek Lee have been able to get more money (I know he's not all about the $$) if he hadn't signed his contract prior to his injury?  Do you think this would have driven home the point to the Cubs brass at how truly valuable he is and Lee's agent could have used this to their advantage?  

I do.  I think if that contract was not signed when it was and the injury occured and assuming he came back and had a productive remainder of the year, it would have either caused him to seek free agency or he would have earned significantly more than what he had signed for.

I understand it's a moot point but in my opinion the Cubs lucked out by locking him up prior to his injury.

I picked up my brother and his family tonight at O'Hare as they were returning from a week in Phoenix.  My 13 year old newphew was excited to report to me that Mark Prior was on his plane.  

Naturally my newphew pressed him on when he thinks he is will be returning.  Prior said "when I feel better".  My newphew asked when he thought that would be and Prior shrugged and said, "I don't know, maybe Mid-May".

Hey, it's something, isn't it?  

Glad I made it back in time to see the Slam!!!!

Is it just my imagination or does there seem to be an increase in the amount of players starting the year on the DL?  Without looking everyone up I recall Lofton, Benitez, Todd Jones, Prior, Badelli, and Wells (not to mention the obvious Wood and Bagwell) starting the year on the DL.  What do these guys do during the off-season?  

Can you imagine the outrage had any of these been the result of playing in the WBC?

Seems to me that even with all of the advancement in medicine, training, etc. these guys are not preparing the way they should to start a season.  

Pierre, CF
Walker, 2B
Lee, 1B
Ramirez, 3B
Jones, RF
Barrett, C
Murton LF
Cedeno, SS
Zambrano P

Pitching Matchup:

CIN: RHP Aaron Harang

I just noticed on the Cubs.com site and coincedentally received in the mail today, notification of the "Replay Ticket" option in which season ticket holders can sell their season tickets.  What an absolute rip-off!  They charge the seller 30% of the asking price and send you a check at the end of the year! You are limited to selling 20 of your games.  The buyer is gouged as well with a $20 cconvenience fee along with an 8% tax.  

This is a n agreement with Tickets.com, MLB Advanced Media and Wrigley Field Premium Ticket services.

Sorry, but if I want to resell these at higher than face I'll use E-bay and pay the approximate $4 listing fee.

Well, I was not one of the "lucky" ones as my e-mail from the Cubs below shows.  

Anyone get lucky?

March 13, 2006

Thank you for registering for a chance to purchase tickets
for a future Cubs home game. Unfortunately your entry was not
selected for this Dugout, Bullpen or Bleacher Box Seat ticket offer.

Please be aware that these tickets could still become available
later this week and we will notify you if there is another
opportunity for you to purchase them.

Thank you again for your participation.  

Based on my being able to get in on 6 different occasions, reported success from other BCB posters and the relatively short lines for the wrist bands what do we think this means?

Is this a sign that the fans are starting to get fed up with the Tribune and their perceived arrogance?  Did the Sox winning the World Series and having much better ticket sale success have anything to do with this?  Did the 1800 additional bleacher seats create that much more availability?

I do think there is a message in what has occurred the last couple of days but frankly I'm not sure what it is.  

I recall many times when what Baker says is contradicted by someone else.  He can't seem to help himself from telling all of these white lies.  Here is an excerpt from an article in this morning's Trib by Paul Sullivan.  When I read it I immediately knew Baker was not being truthful and my suspicions were confirmed by "Walk".

Excerpt from article...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-060220cubs,1,3035451.story?coll=chi-sportsnew- hed

I've been talking to him all winter," manager Dusty Baker said. "He knows we've got some competition for that job. Like I said earlier, he's probably the front-runner for that position. It's just a matter of how healthy he is, because at the end [of last season] he had a few health issues. But we've got room for everybody."

Walker insisted he didn't speak to Baker this winter.

"He called, but we kept missing each other," he said.

Card, Astros, Brewers, Cubs, Pirates, Reds

Not a lot to disagree with in this article from MLB.com  

I also have them finsihing fourth.

Cubs  
Every year, people look at this team and say: "If their pitching stays healthy, they could win it all." And then the pitching doesn't stay healthy. On paper, Carlos Zambrano, Mark Prior, Greg Maddux, Kerry Wood (returning from shoulder surgery) and Jerome Williams and/or Glendon Rusch, is a top-shelf rotation. The Cubs also bolstered the bullpen in the offseason. They are fine at the infield corners with Derrek Lee coming off a magnificent season and Aramis Ramirez. And they now have a genuine leadoff hitter, and plenty of added speed, with center fielder Juan Pierre. But they have untested players at shortstop (Ronny Cedeno) and in left (Matt Murton). The presumption of good health among the pitchers has been tested, but not with particular success.

Projected regular-season finish: Fourth place

Biggest Spring Training challenge: The Cubs will have to determine early if Cedeno and Murton are the answers. They will also need to patiently nurse Wood along the path to full and productive health. He is not expected to be ready for Opening Day, but this is a case of the sooner, the better for the Cubs.

Best position battles: Who will play second base? Who will bat second? Incumbent second baseman Todd Walker might be the obvious answer, but he also might be headed elsewhere. A happy solution at the second spot in the lineup would be the emergence of either Cedeno or Murton. At second base, Jerry Hairston and Neifi Perez, who was invaluable filling in at short last season, remain as alternatives.

Wild Card: You know the answer to this one. Everyone talks about Prior and Wood, but the Cubs' most dependable starter over the last two seasons has clearly been Zambrano, not only because of his talent, but because he is regularly healthy enough to take the ball. He has started 64 games over the last two years, to 48 for Prior and 32 for Wood. If the rotation stays healthy, this is obviously a contending club. If not, this could be a fifth-place club.

The Cubs season over-under win total at PinnacleSports.com is listed at 85.  

Other notables:

White Sox 91.5
Cardinals:94
Houston 83.5
Brewers:80.5
Cincy 74
Braves 89
LA Dodgers 85.5
Yanks 100.5
BoSox 91.5

Now, IF you were a betting person, is there any win total that you would definetly say Over or Under from the above totals?

I MUST keep 7 keepers this year and up to 2 rookie keepers.  In our league the keepers are only on your team for this season so technically they are not "real keepers".  

Anyway, I have narrowed my choices to the following: C. Utley,  J.Francouer, S. Podesdnik, J.Gathright, C.Ganderson, S.Kazmir, D Harden, R. Dempster, and B. McCarthy.

(I am keeping Bobby Jenks as my rookie keeper)

Which 2 from the above list should NOT be kept this year?