SB Nation User Blog: Unique

I look forward to seeing Harden pitch

Unique — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:06:17 -0000

Since I've became a Cub fan when I was 6 years old -- I've always had my favorite players. First it was Ryne Sandberg, Dawson, Sutcliffe... then it was Sosa, Grace, and Wood. I always loved seeing Sosa at bat, because I knew greatness was a very high possibility when he came up to bat. I always loved watching Wood pitch because he always had a chance to throw a no-hitter with the stuff he had. When Prior came up -- I never missed a start.. always had to make sure I was either at the game, or I saw it on TV.

In this generation of Cubs - I have a favorite hitter and pitcher that I have to see almost every at-bat or every single pitch. Aramis Ramirez has always been a joy to watch and he always has the potential to make something happen when he comes up to the plate. On the pitching side - I love to see Harden pitch. Just a pure domination most of the time when he pitches. When we acquired him last year, I was happy as punch because as much as we love Z sometimes we don't know if he is gonna be lights out the way Harden can be.

I thought I would share my perspective just so we could all express who we love to see come to bat and who we have to see pitch. We all have different favorites for different reason, so feel free to say who you love to see play!

Bradley suspended 2 games

Unique — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:22:29 -0000

Bradley suspended 2 games

That's harsh. Very harsh in my opinion. If Albert Pujols does the same thing does he get 2 games? Not in my opinion.

You tell me your 2009 Cub story (what will happen this year?)

Unique — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:11:13 -0000

We are getting closer and closer folks! Will this be the year? Will we finally see a playoff win or maybe even advance?! Well this diary is dedicated to all who think they might be able to tell the story of the 2009 Cubs.

Give me your MVP's, your "ace" pitcher of the year, and the surprise player of the year .. and of course .. give your story!

Ok, I'll start. First and foremost.. i'll start to paint the story by giving my MVP's and so on.

Team MVP: Derrek Lee / Milton Bradley

Ace Pitcher of Year: Rich Harden (16-3, 2.87 ERA, 1 CG)

Surprise Player: Mike Fontenot (.280 AVG, 12 HR, 70 RBI)

My 2009 Cubs story: The 2009 Cubs start out "ok" .. flirting with .500 for the first 20 or so games. From that moment on .. the Derrek Lee led Cubs go on a tear. Derrek Lee has a strong year and will gather some league MVP consideration as he hits .305 .. with 34 HR and 115 RBIs to go along with 46 doubles. Milton Bradley performs near his 2008 numbers, and proves to be the left handed bat needed in the middle of the lineup. Soriano has a 30-30 season, also. Like 2008, the Cubs flirt with 100 wins .. but this time they advance in the playoffs.

Aramis Ramirez is the big hero in the NLDS, along with staff ace Rich Harden. Harden -- who still needs his regular rest to be the potent pitcher that we all know he can be -- is determined to prove that he can be healthy over a full season. In the end the Cubs win ar World Series title and their first in 101 years.

What's your 2009 Cub story?

Fukudome in danger of losing starting job

Unique — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:03:05 -0000

"We need him to start hitting," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said before Sunday night's game against the Cardinals. "If not, I'm going to have to start looking for other options."

Fukudome's batting average splits have decreased each month: .305 in April, .293 in May, .264 in June, .236 in July and .125 in 24 August at-bats. He has one home run since the Fourth of July and has started sitting against the occasional left-hander.

Meanwhile, reserve infielder Mike Fontenot is .406 (13-for-32) since the All-Star break. Platoon outfielder Reed Johnson is even hotter, .474 (18-for-38) in the second half.

From MLB.com

I know he's slumping -- but I didn't think Pinella would be bold in sitting Fukudome (who has a 48 million - 4 year deal).

Fukudome looks like a completely different player than what he was in the beginning part of the season (besides his defense). But if Fukudome continues to struggle this month, would you sit him if you were Lou?

Carlos Marmol to replace Kerry Wood on All-Star roster

Unique — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:16:41 -0000

Making it 8?

Wood will not play in the 2008 All-Star Game but will attend the festivities. Marmol (2-3, 4.13 ERA, 3 Sv, 52.1 IP, 29 H, 70 SO) was selected because he was the relief pitcher who received the next highest vote total on the Player Ballot.

Press Release (MLB.com)

I'm hoping he doesn't pitch in the game -- he really needs the time off, maybe even moreso than Wood.

More on Rich Harden's day

Unique — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 04:30:56 -0000

Due to all the dramatics in the latter inning -- the orginal story of the game on Saturday was how well Rich Harden pitched. I've only seen the guy pitch via SportsCenter highlights and I was really, really impressed. Not only that - I love the guys attitude - he doesn't avoid questions, seems like a real stand up guy and really doesn't sugarcoat anything. If the guy stays healthy, he has one hell of a future as a Chicago Cub.

Just my input. Onto the articles:

Harden gets first taste of Cubs (also video post-game press conference of Saturday's win vs. Giants) (Courtesy of ChicagoSports.com)

Harden enjoys Wrigley experience (Courtesy of MLB.com) (Note: some of the quotes are the same as the previous article)

Minor League Wrap - July 8

Unique — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:32:51 -0000

Another quickie tonight.

MINOR LEAGUE SWEEP TONIGHT!

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs beat the Round Rock Express, 8 to 2.

Justin Berg started today and lasted 5 innings -- during that span he allowed 3 hits, 2 runs (0 earned), 3 BB and 5 K. Berg is now 4-4 on the season.

Koyie Hill hit his 8th homer of the year on his 2 for 4 day. Jason Dubois hit his 13th homer of the year. And no Micah Hoffpauir didn't hit a double today. He actually didn't even get any hits today -- the Hoff was 0 for 3.

The I-Cubs are now 19 games over .500, with a 56-37 record, 4.5 games ahead in first.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies beat the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, 5 to 2.

Mark Holliman started and lasted 4 innings, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits, 4 walks and 4 strikeouts.

Matt Avery picked up the win in relief.

Josh Lansford had a nice day, going 2 for 4 with 2 RBI. Tyler Colvin was 1 for 4 with a triple.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs beat the Dunedin Blue Jays, 8 to 5

Billy Muldowney started today and picked up the win. Muldowney allowed 4 runs on 7 hits, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts.

Second baseman Tony Thomas was 2 for 5 with a double and a triple. Thomas drove in one. His average for the year now stands at .271.

Peoria Chiefs

OFF DAY

Boise Hawks

OFF DAY

AZL Cubs

The AZL Cubs beat the AZL Mariners, 6 to 3.

Minor League Wrap - July 7

Unique — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:36:24 -0000

I'm sorry this is up so late. I had to work some overtime to pay for some extra baby stuff. I'm so tired. I will ask all questions as soon as possible.

Quick recap tonight.

Iowa Cubs

Game postponed due to rain.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies narrowly beat the Carolina Mudcats 8 to 7. (10 innings)

Donnie Veal turned a dominating start -- over 5.2 innings he allowed 1 run on 4 hits, 3 walks and Veal struck out 9.

Casey Lambert got the win in relief by pitching a scoreless 9th. Jose Ceda picked up his fifth save.

Tyler Colvin was 1 for 4 with a 2-run double. Jake Fox was also 1 for 4 with a 2-run homer

Daytona Cubs

Daytona lost to the Dunedin Blue Jays, 7 to 4.

Marco Carrillo started and picked up the loss. Carrillo lasted 5 innings and allowed 5 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.

Second baseman Tony Thomas had a nice day, going 3 for 5 with a run scored. His season average stands at .269.

Peoria Chiefs

Peoria lost to the Quad Cities Bandits, 8 to 2.

Robert Hernandez started and picked up the loss. Hernandez pitched 4.2 innings and over that span, allowed 6 runs (5 earned) on 6 hits, 2 walks and 3 strikeouts.

Catcher Luis Bautista had the only notable day, providing all 2 of Peoria's runs on his 9th home run of the year. Overall Bautista was 2 for 4 for the day.

Boise Hawks

Boise beat the Vancouver Canadians, 8 to 1.

Casey Coleman started and pitched pretty well. Coleman allowed 1 run over four innings on 2 hits and no walks. Coleman struck out 4.

Tommy Mejia picked up the win in relief.

Outfielder Kyler Burke was a one man wrecking crew, hitting his second home run of the season and driving in 6 of the 8 Hawks runs today.

AZL Cubs

The AZL Cubs beat up the AZL Giants, 17 to 4.

Eric Allen picked up the win in relief despite allowing 2 runs on 3 hits. Allen didn't walk nor strike out a batter.

Matthew Cerda had a good day, going 2 for 4 and 3 runs scored. Cerda drove in 1.

Jericho Jones had a monster game, going 4 for 5 with a double, triple and 3 runs scored. Jones walked once and drove in 3.

Minor League Wrap -- July 06

Unique — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:11:21 -0000

Quote Of The Day: You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.

AZL Cubs

The AZL Cubs beat the AZL Brewers, winning 6 to 1.

Did Rich Hill finally figure it out? We can only hope so -- as he dominated the AZL Brewers today by throwing 4 shutout innings today. Hill's overall line was: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, and 6 K. Hopefully he is reassigned to AAA and starts dominating there also.

Ryan Acosta pitched one inning of relief, allowing no hits, while walking one and striking out three.

Yohan Gonzalez pitched 3 innings of relief and picked up the win. Gonzalez allowed one unearned run, while walking one and striking out two.

Nelson Perez hit a home run and drove in two for the day.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs whipped up on the Oklahoma RedHawks, winning 12 to 5.

Kevin Hart picked up the win, going the minimum 5 IP, allowing three runs on three hits. Hart walked two, and struck out five.

I'm starting to worry about Jose Ascanio. He pitched an inning, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk. He didn't record a single strikeout. A guy with the stuff of his caliber -- should be dominating AAA hitters.

Micah Hoffpauir had a nice day going 3 for 5 with a double (wow, who would of thunk it?), and a solo home run. Hoffpauir drove in two for the day. Jason Dubois had a 3 for 4 day -- hitting his 12th home run of the year. Dubois drove in three.

For those wondering, Felix Pie had a 1 for 5 day with a walk and a strikeout.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennesse Smokies dominated the Carolina Mudcats, winning 8 to 0.

Mitch Atkins dominated in his 7.1 IP. He allowed 5 hits and no runs. Atkins walked one and struck out three.

Tyler Colvin had a big day -- going 4 for 5 with a double and two runs scored. Colvin also stole his sixth base of the year.

Kyle Reynolds and Jake Fox both provided two run home runs.

Daytona Cubs

Daytona used a 3-run 9th to beat the Brevard County Manatees, 7 to 4.

Hung-Wen Chen started and pitched 5.2 innings -- allowing four hits and three runs (all via HR), walking one and striking out two.

I'm not sure if you all have seen it, but Chen is a featured player on Peoria's website and he was asked some questions and you can see his answers here.

Todd Blackford got the win in relief despite allowing an inherited run to score, via sacrifice fly. Overall Blackford pitched 1.2 innings, allowing no hits and no runs. Blackwell walked one and struck out no one.

Nobody on Daytona had any extra basehits today, although, leadoff hitter James Adduci had two RBI on the day. DH Blake Lalli was 1-4 with 3 RBI.

Peoria Chiefs

The Peoria Chiefs shutout the Quad Cities Bandits, winning 1 to 0.

Chris Siegfried pitched 5 innings of shutout ball, allowing only one hit. Siegfried walked none and struck out one. Stephen Vento pitched the final two innings for his 9th save of the year. Vento walked one and struck out two.

Marquez Smith went 2 for 4 with his 14th home run of the year. That solo shot proved to be the game-winning homer.

Boise Hawks

Boise made it close in the latter innings, but eventually lost to the Vancouver Canadians, 10 to 7.

James Leverton took the lost today -- pitching 4 innings and allowing five runs on six hits. Leverton walked one and struck out three.

1st baseman Rebel Ridling continues to hit, going 2 for 4 with his 4th homerun on the year. Catcher Carlos Perez had a 3 for 5 day with two doubles.

Josh Vitters went 0 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.

Minor League Wrap - July 1st

Unique — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:51:07 -0000

Happy, joyful, enjoyable day today for me. Me and my wife got accepted for our first house together -- and it's a beautiful home. We went to one of our (birthing) classes today, and I went to work and everything seems to be going our way lately. Now, only if Rich Hill could say the same.

AZL Cubs will go first, due to Rich Hill making the start.

AZL Cubs

As bergs55 stated in his diary, Rich Hill continues to be one of the biggest disappoinments in a long time. It's beyond sad on what's happened to him. He's actually older than C.C Sabathia (28), so Hill should be nearing his peak sometime soon. Unfortunately, he's on the downfall, at the very least with the Cubs organization.

Hill's line against rookie ball hitters was 1/3 IP, one hit, five runs (three earned). Hill walked five and struck out no one. Hill eventually took the loss as the AZL Cubs lost to the AZL Padres, 9 to 2.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs beat the Omaha Royals, 10 to 4.

Kevin Hart started the game, pitching 3.2 innings of 2-hit shutout ball. Hart struck out four, but walked two. Mike Burns got the win in relief, lasting 4.1 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits. Burns didn't walk a batter and struck out five.

Felix Pie is back in AAA, and is seriously starting to hit like we all thought he would. Pie went 2 for 4 overall, hitting his fifth home run of the year. Pie scored twice and drove in two. He walked once, and didn't strike out at all. I guess he's the anti-Rich Hill.

Casey McGehee had three hits on the day, raising his average to .282 for the year. McGehee drove in two.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies beat the Huntsville Stars, 6 to 4.

Mitch Atkins started and picked up the win, lasting 7 innings while giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits. Atkins didn't walk a soul and struck out eight.

Jose Ceda is starting to get used to this closer thing. Ceda pitched the last 4 outs of the game, didn't allow a hit and struck out two. Since being promoted to AA, Ceda has pitched 10 innings of relief for Tennessee, allowing one run on seven hits, striking out 17 and only walking 2. His ERA right now is 0.90.

Catcher Mark Reed had the only notable line of the night, going 3 for 4 with two runs scored and 3 RBI.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs squeak by the St. Lucie Mets, winning 7 to 6 (10 innings).

Hung-Wen Chen started and pitched six innings, allowing three runs on six hits. Chen struck out nine and didn't walk anyone. Blake Parker who has been reassigned to Daytona from Iowa (he was orginally in Peoria), picked up the win striking out the only two batters he faced.

Tony Thomas was 1 for 6 but his lone hit drove in the game-winning run in 10th inning. Robinson Chirinos, Steve Clevenger and Jonathan Mota all hit home runs in the game.

Ryan Harvey was 3 for 4 with a run scored and a RBI.

Peoria Chiefs

The Peoria Chiefs beat the Wisconsin Rattlers, 5 to 1.

Kevin Kreier started the game, pitching 3.2 shutout innings, allowing one hit. Kreier walked three and struck out two. Zachary Ashwood picked up the win in relief, pitching 3 innings, allowing one run on four hits and no walks. Ashwood struck out two.

Shortstop Nate Samson went 2 for 4 on the day, scoring once. Jovan Rosa went 1 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI.

Boise Hawks

The Boise Hawks beat the Tri-City Dust Devils, 5 to 3.

Mike Perconte started and lasted 3.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks. Perconte struck out five. Casey Coleman picked up the win in relief, pitching 3 innings while allowing one run on five hits and one walk. Coleman struck out seven.

John Muller pitched the final 2 innings, resulting in a save. Muller struck out all six batters he faced.

Ryan Flaherty was 2 for 5 tonight with a triple and two RBI. Kurt Calvert was 3 for 3 with a run scored and a walk.

Josh Vitters did not play. Hopefully Josh gets to see him play.

Goodnight all. I'm going to get some much needed rest. If you have any questions or concerns, you leave them here and I will be sure to respond once I get the chance!