I was planning out my schedule for Cubs games I want to go to this year. Being that I live in CT, I really hope Cubs are better than we are projecting because for the first time in a while, East Coast Cubs fans have a really nice schedule for seeing the team.  There are weekend series against Mets, Red Sox and Phillies. Plus July 4th is against the Nationals. 

However, looking at the schedule I couldn't help but notice that the Cubs are playing the Mets on 9/11 in NYC...the tenth anniversary of the horrible attacks. The Yankees by the way are in LA that weekend. Personally, if one team should be playing in NY that day I think it should be the Yankees since they symbolized the state in the 2001 World Series.

Regardless, has anyone heard of this game being a special attraction? Any special guests, moment of silence, etc? Is there any specific reason why Cubs are in NY that weekend? Is it more than just the random schedule being made? I know I'm looking into this probably too much but am I the only one who thinks it's a bit strange that any game is being played in NY on 9/11? 

I was reading the post below about 25 years for the Royals and how some teams just can't draw fans no matter how well they play (aka Rays). So I thought it would be interesting to discuss which cities/states could draw if a baseball team moved there.

In my opinion Raleigh, NC or Oklahoma City could be two viable cities with large enough markets to draw for a team. 

It sometimes blows my mind that California has 5 teams! 

So not really a Cubs topic but with the playoffs happening and a managerial search probably not being decisive for a few weeks I figured we could all have an interesting take on this. 

I'm not sure if its being repeated on MLB Network or syndicated elsewhere this week but "This Week in Baseball" had a fun feature on the Cubs during Spring Training.

It highlighted Ryan Dempster hosting a Cubs American Idol with many of the rookies in the camp. It's quite entertaining. If I can find a link on youtube I'll send it out but definitely try to DVR it. 

Cubs should be featured in more mindless/fun activities throughout the season and off-season.

Ok, being that many of you are from Chicago, this post might not be for you.  However for all of us out of staters, I heard from a friend and trying to find clarification (looks to be true) that CitiField will or already has Chicago Style Hot-Dogs in their park.

When I went there last year I certainly didn't see any but I wasn't looking. Apparently these dogs are being offered at CitiField's "Shake Shack" which does offer Chicago Dogs in their other locations (apparently authentic Vienna Beef). Does anyone from the NY area know if this is true about CitiField? Getting a Chicago Dog would convince me to go to 3-4 games at CitiField this year instead of 1-2.

*Just for the record, once you get to the East Coast you can't get Chicago Dogs, Italian Beef or Deep Dish Pizza so this is kind of a big deal to me.

As we're heading towards the World Series and the 2010 season, we're going to hear the saying that it's been 102 years since the Cubs won the World Series. Yes it gets old and if you're like me and get Extra Innings, you know every time it's not a Cubs broadcast, we'll hear those words.

However, I'm a 4th generation Cubs fan and no one in my family has ever seen the Cubs win the World Series. My family came to American in 1915 and became Cubs fans shortly thereafter (or so the story goes).

So my question to you guys is, do you have family that were Cubs fans in 1908 and have they told you what they remember of the World Series. Did they go to the games or maybe hear it on the radio.

As sad as it seems, we might be getting to the point in the next few years where nobody can recount a story of their grandparents or great grandparents seeing the Cubs win the World Series.

Please share your stories, if you have one.

Okay, so I'm frustrated like everyone else and I've made a pact to myself.  Tomorrow is Friday night, I want to have fun and not waste the evening watching the Cubs despite if they win or lose.

Therefore instead of bitching I wrote a Letterman style "Top 10 Reasons Why I will not watch the Cubs this Friday Night".

Try doing your own and without being angry.

10. If Lou isn't paying attention to the game, why should I?

9. If the Cubs are playing that means Soto hasn't touched the all you can eat buffet.

8. I'll strike out with the ladies a lot less than Soriano will at the plate.

7. Alcohol helps me forget about the playoffs in 2008 more than any weekend series in LA.

6. When I hang out with my friends, we don't call the guy we can't stand. Unfortunately the Cubs are too nice and  will call Aaron Miles to pinch hit.

5. We're not capable of landing on the DL even with our excessive alcohol consumption.

4. If I go out in NY, I can still laugh at Mets fans.

3. We don't believe in sausage fests so wherever we go there will be a lot less balls then what Marmol throws.

2. We don't know anybody with a first or last name spelled Gregg with two G's.

And the number 1 reason I won't be watching the Cubs tomorrow night:

1. I can't complain on Saturday about a game I haven't seen the night before.

Wow this was harder than I thought.  But once I got to #4 I couldn't give up. I'm sure some of the creative people on here can come up with better ones. Oh and if Cubs made some miraculous comeback. well this was all done in fun :)

To take a line from one of the greatest comedy routines ever "Who's on First", tonight's game was one of the most interesting scenarios I've ever seen in baseball. A sport that truly defines every week that something new can happen, has happened...at least for me.  I've never seen a pitcher moved to another position for one at-bat just to be preserved for later in the game. And it worked!

I have a feeling this might not be the only time Lou does this during the season...in fact, the genius approach might have other managers scratch their heads and realize that a specialty pitcher can in fact stay in the game after one at-bat.

But that isn't the entire point of this post. I thought during the All Star Break we can talk about some of the strangest things you can remember a manager on the Cubs or another team has done.

The only other oddity I've ever seen was a Mets game in what had to be the 90s when they had 6 infielders for one at-bat. Wish I could remember more to the game.

So share, I bet there are some strange moments we can all recall!

Well the National League All Star Game representatives have been chosen and Ted Lilly is our lone representative on the team (and only starting pitcher from NL Central I believe).

Personally, I think he has earned this selection and probably could have been on the team the last two years as well. Jason Marquis also got selected on the team this year.

Unless we're part of the fan-voting for the final player (Derrek Lee could pop up on there), Ted Lilly is our only man.  Do you guys think any other of our pitchers should have made the roster? What do you all think about the team in general? I actually think the NL team seems a little weak this year actually.

According to the Chicago Tribune Article Aramis Ramirez should start his re-hab stint this Thursday if batting practice goes well.

They state he could be back next week for the Atlanta Braves series. 

So this is good news. News wanted to hear. How about winning the series (even a sweep) with the Pirate and take 2 of 3 from the Brewers and then end the All Star Break on a high note.

I think we can all agree, Ramirez is not going to be at 100%, win every game for us, etc but no one can take away the fact that his bat in the lineup is a gigantic improvement over the days of Fontenot standing there.

I guess the big question to ask is, who gets demoted to AAA or do the Cubs consider releasing someone like Ryan Freel?

I'm not one to complain about the teams performance, say we should bench a player, trade for a player, etc....

However, some of these batting averages are getting alarming. If it were one player such as Soto or DLee I would say that one player is struggling but look at this lineup:

-Lee .229

-Soto .198

-Bradley .188

-Miles .209

-Fontenot .207

-Johnson .236

Clearly this is a problem. On ESPN tonight they made a point that if this were April we'd say it's the beginning of the season and everyone is warming up but it's almost 2 months of baseball.  These numbers are alarming.

Do we blame Gerald Perry for his work with the players this year? Who would have to accept this responsibility? Are there better options for promotions in the minor leagues?

With are starters having batting averages like they do, we're lucky to be over .500 right now. Thankfully there is room for improvement in hitting.

What are your thoughts on this?

Anyone who might have been at the Allstate Arena or saw on TV witnessed ex-reality star and now WWE wrestler, The Miz confront Alfonso Soriano who was ringside for the event.

The Miz began his interview by calling the winner of the last match a "lovable loser". You know where this led to. He then called out Soriano to come into the ring and fight him.Before Soriano could Miz got a "phone call" from Lou Pinella who stated he'd rather see Soriano get his annual injury on the field instead of the ring.

Later in the show, John Cena who does the trademark "You Can't See Me" did it with Soriano after his match. I'll try to grab a still at work tomorrow and post it here for anyone who might want to see it.

Here are some photos from the Miz and Soriano: http://www.wwe.com/shows/judgmentday/photos/mizspeaks/

Also, in other observation the Bears were there and so was Rich Harden and Ryan Theriot.  Theriot was on the other side of the front row about 30 seats down from Soriano and you could tell he was absolutely not enjoying himself there. They didn't put him on TV. Harden was not in the front but rather nose bleeds.  He doesn't seem to get that he can get free tickets so he just purchases them day of.

So my final note from the fun Soriano/Miz incident is what do you guys think about Cubs being in other forms of  media. If it's jokes on Family Guy or wrestling or whatever else. While I'm not allowed to promote looking for this on YouTube, if they post the segment with Soriano/Miz on wwe.com check it out!

I noticed today on Cubs.com that all the players have their 2009 headshots up.  I remember last year everyone enjoyed discussing and laughing at some of them.  Chad Gaudin definitely wins craziest facial hair award. 

Well take a look at http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/team/roster_active.jsp?c_id=chc to see them all! So which guys look like they were posing for a mug shot this year? And which guys pictures will never be seen on a major league website again?

 I didn't see anyone else post this but Ronny Cedeno officially agreed to a one year deal with the Cubs for $822,000.  While we've heard he's most likely going to be traded, he will be a cheap infielder for at least a couple more years. 

Oddly enough Cubs.com referred to him as a "veteran reserve infielder".  Since when did a 26 year old become a veteran?

Wuertz and Gregg have not had arbitration agreements yet.

With recent trade talk of Peavy and how we need to resign Dempster I started to wonder the status of Carlos Zambrano.  Have there been any updates on how his shoulder is doing?

The urgency for Cubs to get another front line starter has me questioning the health of Z.  What are your thoughts on how he's going to do in 2009 considering we had a couple scares with him so far in '08.