I like Ryan Sandberg and think he'd be a good manager for the Cubs.

But with Terry Francona reportedly about to get the axe in Boston, there's no question whatsoever as to who the Cubs should be looking at.

Mr. Francona, the Bobby Cox of the American League.

Mr. Quade, you have utilized over 120 million dollars of Cubs payroll and millions more in marketing, not to mention the social engineering phenomenon that energizes the Cubs fanbase for over a year. The results are clear. You have earned a well deserved retirement from the helm, sir. 

Come on, Mr. Ricketts. Wake up and smell the pizza already.

With the continuing debacle of Quaderophenia now an ongoing train wreck of suckitude that will likely threaten the 2011 Chicago Cubs ability to hope for a close to .500 season, a time of decision is upon us.

This is where the power of the Internet, Cubs fans rage and creative Cubs marketing managers can make a difference!

As we recall from our collective nation's Cub lore, pathos and tragedy, the infamy that was the Chicago Cubs' College of Coaches from 1961-1962 (and well rehearsed by Al here) was a hideous abomination best left forgotten.

But not at Bleed Cubbie Blue! We certainly have seen more than our share of bizarro coaching decisions this year, so what the hey, why not start a grassroots move to have the College of Coaches V. 2.0 reintroduced? This could be the reboot of the franchise that might make the difference! We might even say it was a brainstorm that now can be squarely reconsidered for saving the hopes of the Cubs Nation this year. They didn't have Twitter, cell phones or the Net back in those ancient times, but we could sure use it now to make the fan base of the Cubs the most interactive driving force behind a new win streak! Imagine a College Coach taking your suggestion to, ahem, Grabes in the bottom of the ninth with the Cardinals tied in Blech Stadium, bases loaded, no one out, and making it THE pitch, even as LaRussa's suicide squeeze is coming in!

Who would you nominate?  Here from my moving box filled lair in the Holy City, I'd like to suggest the following:

1)  My Bloom high school teacher  Mr. Krieger - he always would spit when he mentioned how he could coach the blankety blank Cubs better than anyone else. Here's his chance!

2)  Ernie Banks - he'd be the consummate positive go to guy, would remind us of how beautiful the day was, and would support the self-esteem of the Cubs on a rough stretch

3)  Bobby Cox - Always the 10th man of the lineup, he'd only have to be around a few days a month and could readily enjoy more of it when he gets tossed from the game for the 200th time.

4)  Blue Mike - His stellar assessments of the Cubs' shortcomings are legendary here on BCB. There is wisdom here that mustn't be overlooked. I believe he could easily call upon TJ11 for back up or even have him fill in.

5)  My niece Maggie - the fanshot I did a while back where she astutely analyzed the 2010 Cubs' weaknesses shows she knows the game better than Quade does. And in a pinch, she can lead in "Determinate" better than Carlos Marmol ever can ..

Let's hear who you'd nominate and hopefully the Ricketts will get their focus groups focusing .. and we can see winning Baseball once again.

DISCLAIMER: If you didn't like the post and felt dumber for reading it, you were warned at the outset just by the title. If you read it, were able to stop half way through and didn't, well remember, you'd only be half as dumb as you are now for doing so.

Have fun .. and .. Eamus Catuli!

Ok, due to some very sad and some very nice circumstances sequentially occurring, I've been in Chicago twice in the past two weeks. An unexpected funeral last week in Palatine and my nephew's breaking a leg in his school's production of "Mulan" this weekend in Lansing has required me to come back twice (and how bad I'd like to not LEAVE again).

I've not looked real hard but I have put some effort into this and for the life of me, I can't find any sporting goods stores anywhere locally in the South Suburbs  selling the Ron Santo "10" patch. I know I can hassle with Ebay, but I'm so tired of playing around with PayPal's system  refusal to recognize my checking account in my bank (and the robots who run their call centers who don't have a clue what to do when things don't work like their scripts say they should). Does anyone know where in the Hammond/Lansing and Munster areas that sells them? I'm only going to be in town 2 more days .. help out a Cubs fan, if you can!

Sorry, Al, I dug around on BCB with searching and if there's a thread out there answering this, I'm sorry.

... if the Cubs' could time warp back about 2 months after smearing the Phillies.

FEH

I'm glad my sick die hard Cubs fan mom healed up well through April to withstand the nose dive in May.

My 9 year old niece pegged the Cubs well. She, her sister and her older brother are being raised, God bless them, to be Cubs fans. They've gone to a lot of games at Wrigley and never seen them win once there. Before the game, they were polled and only my nephew Alex thought they might win. Poor guy was so disappointed with the Cubs that while we were at the Lego Store in Chicago, I bought him a set and asked him to not give up on them (remembering what Steve Goodman sang about).

Anyway, when asked about what they need to do differently as we left Wrigley after that stinker on August 6 .. without a beat, Maggie said "The Cubs need to work HARDER."

Out of the mouth of babes .. I need to send this hardhitting and astute baseball analysis I caught on video to the Cubs' front office, mebbe,

ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ENNUI ...

Well, I've had a lot going on in my personal life the past several months that's been tough to deal with and I'd hoped this season's version of the Chicago Cubs could have been a decent diversion. I was so pumped when Opening Day came. And the Cubs, they have been diverting alright, but of course, not the way I'd hoped they'd be. Figures ..

I remember the old joke of a dentist who didn't apply the right amount of anesthesia to a Cubs fan getting a root canal and the Cubs fan says "Drill away, doc, I'm a Cubs fan. I have a high tolerance to pain."    But this year, for me personally, that's been harder to pull on and I frankly haven't had the patience with the Cubs this year and stopped watching them and looks like, unfortunately, I haven't missed much. I haven't logged onto BCB for a bit, but every now and then, I'll jump on for the latest news on them.  Again, not much encouraging is seen. As Al says, the drip drip drip of mediocrity continues. Ech ..

I finally had enough visceral fortitude to watch them this week, while here in Chicago helping my mom convalesce from another hospital stay. I was on the first Seattle game thread for a second or so .. and then after the Colvin double play, I took my Cubs hat off and went to sleep. Ugh ..

It's been an eternal slog in the majors this year. I look at the Cubs and wonder if the dripping can be changed by any kind of sparking at all.  Tossing Lou isn't going to the job, I think .. there's too many deficits all the way around. And what's so frustrating, like the Cubs beat reporter on the ST said, is that on Sunday against the Angels, the Cubs showed they have the power to change things.

So I have to wonder, given that the season's still got a ways to go, what sparks are going to have to happen? What can conceivably happen which the team has control over (hitting with men on base might be nice, I think). I can remember the meltdown and retooling of the team in mid June when Barrett v Zambrano seemed to facilitate a couple years ago.  The Cubs are my team and who I'll always root for but I honestly can't quite get my hands on what is going to turn the rest of this season around. 

The recent sad history of John Smoltz was vigorously discussed on BCB last August at

http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/8/18/993375/should-the-cubs-sign-john-smoltz

With the recent issues relating to shutting down Guzman, perhaps John can be a stop gap issue if the price is right. It's possible he may have enough in his tank left to come out of the pen in long relief or even spot starting.  I'm not sure that the Cards used his present skill set and capabilities well in the roles they placed him in, but I think he'd fit serviceably well in with the Cubs. What are your thoughts?

Random observations of Lou Pinella on the live interview

1) Zambrano's pitching looks better earlier than every before

2) Soto had a winter involving nutritionists, weight loss and a lot of work and looks awesome. He's light on his feet, handling the ball better and that they are jumping off his bat also

3) Lou loves Byrd's presence as the "anti-Bradley"-- a fine young man.

4) There's going to be a better clubhouse, better chemistry this year .. and that the team feels they want to have fun this year

5) Rudy Jaramillo has made it clear he wants every team the Cubs face this year understand that when the Cubs are in town they are there to score RUNS

6) The maddening decimation and slumping of the Cubs last year did indeed about exhaust Lou last year, admitting that yes, he was pretty tired and frustrated much of the time.

And God, it looked wonderful to see Greg Maddux working in the cage with the pitchers.

Tuesday, your 2010 Cubs will be on the field for the full first workout.

First Spring training game on TV is March 5, and my mom won't move from her hospital room that day.

Thank you, Jesus, for this wonderful game.

My mother, Delia Martinez, has been a Cubs fan ever since she moved to Chicago from Kansas City in 1953 and was instrumental in getting me hooked too. She moved into the neighborhoods around Wrigleyville there where my grandmother and step grandfather (who both worked at the Chicago Club downtown) and started hanging out at Wrigley Field with friends to watch the Cubs. I was just home in December and she shared with me a bit about that, sharing her baseball memories and what Ladies Day was like, etc. I was mesmerized. Why didn't I ask sooner???

She likely was the one who inspired my father to buy me a Ferguson Jenkins mitt for my ninth birthday, August 19, 1969, a date etched into every long time Cub fan's mind.  That happy confluence of date and year made me stupid for the Cubs ever since and neither my mom or I have ever looked back. The Cubs have been her team ever since, and through all the tough and often tragic times in her life since then, they have been an outlet and a release for her. I could call her up and hear her ask  over the years  "Hey did you watch what Dawson did?" "Did you watch the game in LA last night?" "What about that Zambrano, huh!" and feel her completely adoring Cubs fan heart gush from the phone. She raised five sons virtually alone and made us all Cubs fans, and to this day, three of us are still diehards and we still root for them .. as does she. My mom is one of the most longsuffering and loyal Cubs fans you'd ever meet, as well as vocal as to her opinions on all things Cubs related  (if she was blogging, she'd be here) and the Cubs are her passion during the years. My parents had a ferocious divorce in 1982 and since then, she's been alone when her last son finally married and moved out in 1996. It's not been easy for her, but her faith in God and the support of five sons has been an aid to her .. and the Chicago Cubs have been an outlet for her.

Well, sadly, she's not doing well physically now. She's suffered with congestive heart failure and renal issues for three years and they are slowly degrading .. and now she's now hospitalized at Margaret Mercy in Dyer. We're not sure what's happening with another lower GI issue she's now suffering pain from, but she's up for another procedure tomorrow.  We're taking it a day at a time.

Any of you Cubs fans who feel you could find a place in your daily lives to say a prayer for her recovery and for wisdom in her decisions as to how her care is going to from now on are people I'd truly be thankful for.  My mom would pray for any of you for anything in a heart beat .. and the Cubs have been a recipient of no small part of that as well .. and this old Cubs fan would appreciate it too.

My mom means the world to me and whatever character I have I owe all to her. I know she'd love to be watching spring training if its televised right now. I would love to see her to live long enough for me to get her into Wrigley one more time, even if in a wheelchair, along with some of her grandkids.  I don't know how much that might cost, but just to see her in Wrigleyville again for one more time would be a dream. That thought alone gets me a bit misty eyed and I'd better not say anymore. But for you good folks who understand, thanks for any of your consideration and your own agreement in prayer.   My faith in God is the link my mom and I have through all of this and I'm just doing my best to trust the One whom she taught me to. Being poised on the balls of my feet ready to get home back to Chicago if something changes abruptly is very hard for me now .. and having to be forced to drive is hard enough. My wife won't even be able to come due to work. If anything, thanks for reading and allowing me a bit of release.

via www.chicagobreakingsports.com

Hey, I'd smile too if I made that kind of bread without having to be in a rotation too.

FWIW, the one time Cubs pitcher once again is going to try to mount still another comeback. 

Honestly, I kind of find it hard to believe anyone thinks Mark's worth the look. I guess throwing on flat ground is one way to build it so they (the scouts) will come.

I like Mark -- will never forget the 2003 and 2004 seasons in which he shone like a comet and when his afterburners began to flame out on the long slow powerdive down. But unless there's some magic the million dollars of rehab the Pads poured into him last year, he's done.

Well, it's week number 10. Both teams are truckloads of suckitude trying to see if they can fit in the playoff feature. The Davis-Ogunleye dust up a few moments ago on the field appears to be - if the Four Horsemen of the NFL Channel are to be believed - allegedly a precursor to a "play off atmosphere." Heh.

But who knows what will happen. Anyone want to settle in and watch and chat, let's see where this goes. The NFL Channel is carrying it and I guess I'll sit here and watch it. And maybe between plays we can help the Cubs figure out what they need to do, if Milton and Kevin are going to swap jerseys according to the next tweet, and if the grave of the Yum Yum Donuts building will really help the Cubs.

I just hope Hester and Cutler bring it. And Deion, I fear, is right. Davis will talk the smack but he'll bring his game.

<img src="http://www.spiritwatch.org/cubscincy08.JPG"/>

My utterly adorable niece Maggie and nephew Alex, both about 8 and 10 years old each and hopelessly  indoctrinated into being Cubs fans by our Cubs-crazy family, have suddenly decided they want to start learning how to play guitar. 

I kinda sorta plunk along with it, and am frankly not that great at it, but I want to encourage them to do so. I will be spending some time with them this Christmas and giving them real kid sized guitars to play with to see if they really want to do this long term. And as anyone knows who teaches music to kids, for them to put it all together, you have to help them learn to play something simple quickly that helps them feel like they're achieving something that gives them the payback for the attention to detail they'll have to put into it, plus whatever basic chord/music stuff I can rummage up for them.

I would really like to teach them Steve Goodman's  "Go Cubs Go" but can't find any tabs for it anywhere. Any guitar playing Cubs fans out there who can help me figure them out or know somewhere on the net they might be posted, your help would be really appreciated, plus any other suggestions on simple songs I could direct them to.

Just not "Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" .. puhleeze!

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Umpire-Tim-McClelland-makes-the-worst-call-of-al?urn=mlb,197210

Heads up defense by the Angels was, as usual, miffed by their offense and pitching (thank goodness the Cubs didn't get Kazmir) and the Yanks blew them out of the water 10-1.

But there's no doubt in my military mind that yes, that really was probably one of IF not the worst umpiring call of all time in the ALCS game last night in the Angels v Yankees debacle. Preceded of course by that play in which New York's Swisher was picked off at second by a full foot off the bag, and - of course - missed by the ump also.

No, really. As if the Yanks didn't get another break that was pathetic in and of itself when playing the Twins, now this? I had to pick my jaw up when I watched this. I screamed "OUT!" twice when I saw the Angels' catcher nail the two base runners .. and then watch the AL ump call ONE of them out. That is absolutely insane. The reasoning the ump for missing it was specious .. he had several seconds to watch what was going on and he was RIGHT there!

Look, umps are as human as baseball players. They miss their calling on occasion just as the biggest superstar might. But how many more blown calls will we have to endure before Bud Selig decides to join the 21st century and start using the technology available to them to review these things in instant replay just like the NFL does?

The Twins may not have been able to see what happened in the depths of that left field hole in the Bronx they call a stadium in the ALDS, but there's no way you could miss what happened last night in the ALCS. This was absolutely absurd and an affront to this game, and Selig needs a serious check up from the neck up if he's going to keep putting that kind of review option on the shelf. Oh, wait, I forgot about the Magical Fox Wizard manifestation which reflects the equally stupid way they divvy up viewing of MLB games, so what can we expect?

via blogs.suntimes.com

I really could care less about postseason baseball play this year for obvious reasons.  When the Cubs folded their tent a week ago, that was it for me. Just because the Cards have been choking, I decided to watch the game last night between NY and Minnesota.  Because there's not a single sports team east of Baltimore that I remotely care for, especially the Yankees, I was rooting for the Twinkies.

And then THAT happened. I was absolutely stunned. Not one but TWO umpires on that line. I can see the one behind the back up missing it. The one RIGHT on top of it, one Phil Cuzzi, blew this so badly my half blinded saintly mom wouldn't have missed it. The picture shows just after landing within the foul line with the little puff of dirt showing the contact point .. and as it was on the bounce back up. Outstanding work by Getty.

That hit would have put Joe Mauer on first base at minimum with no outs and would have, with the three singles in a row after wards by the Twinks, brought him around to break the tie. I have no dog in the hunt, but boy does that call really have to go down as one of the worst of all time. And there was no provision for an appeal to video review of any of this last night? Unbelievable.

I remember interest back in October 2008 for this.

It now seems incumbent upon us to consider the possibility for the need of our healing community to once again convene. Heck, when we have to start thinking about this in August after the last couple years, then I gots the feeling it's going to be really, really needed come this fall.

I haven't given up on this season yet. Not at all. But prudent preparation is always good.

Even the biggest Cubs fans need a hug now and then. Remember what the Muppet on Sesame Street said, staring into the PBS cameras with plastic button eyes and street smarts: You ain't never too cool to cry.

It was sweet to watch the Cubs today, at least, look like a bunch of professionals playing like they're in synch.

Everyone contributed, and they played like the team we saw last year. It was a work of art. Even during the Philadelphia series, they kept scratching and fighting .. perhaps it was that test with the 2008 champs that really lit a fire up within them because it looks like they haven't looked back. So far.

This team played with a wonderful focus that was a thing of beauty today. Fukudome's cannon at work with his gun down of the Reds runner, Hill's first ever triple, Harden and the bullpen working up a victory and ARam scattering hits and power even though he's still not where he should be was joy to watch. Milton Bradley's continued improvement is certainly a great encouragement, and was that not a sweet basket catch even as he barreled into the Reds bullpen? And anytime we can bring Dusty screaming out of the dugout is fine with me.

NOW, where do the Cubs go from here? God alone only knows, but their destiny is largely going to be in their hands this week in the NL Central when they host a headlong collision with the Astros. Now the all out bar room brawl begins .. the fight to hold the summit and defend their crown.

Do the Cubs have what it takes to hold on?  Will Lilly and Dempster return to form and will Soriano launch an offensive streak that will last all the way to a Game Seven? What acquisitions should the Cubs still need to make? Will what we have last  to October and beyond?

I just know one thing .. like my nephew Alex said in Cincy: we got a fever in the Martinez household and it don't involve cowbell ..

May the Cubs Nation end up LIKING October baseball more this year than in any other time in many years .. GO CUBS!

After last night's unreal catch that Cliffy Reed made to rob Fielder (and he was classy enough to tip his hat, so you have to respect the man for that), the mind boggles: would Milton have made that catch without going on the DL?  I mean I think he'd have made a heck of a try, but would it have happened?

And I'm not here to bomb or blast Milton .. so let's lay off the guy for his groin pull .. just to ask do you think his skill set would have matched that of Cliff's Reed?

(PART II : I promise hereafter to ensure my medications are up to date, properly consumed, and in circulation within my synapses before ever turning to BCB again .. Promise.

Thanks for the Thread Police to keep me straight - YOU have a purpose!)