SB Nation User Blog: keepscore

Oy Vent!

keepscore — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 04:48:45 -0000

I normally like to keep my mouth shut and just read the blogs - unless I'm attending the away games Al is not - but I just need to blow off some steam.

Yesterday the Sun Times said Hendry's not ready to push the panic button:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/cubs/cst-spt-kiley06.html

After today's two unbelievably horrible showings (and yesterdays, and the day before that, and...), I hope he's changed his tune. Right now the Cubs seem disheartened. That is, they seem to have lost determination and confidence, both at the plate and in the bullpen. This mid-season, all-around slump is not unusual for the Cubs, but this was not supposed to be the usual Cubs team (or was it?).

The solution, IMHO, is we need a Garciappara-like trade (which happened on Aug 2, 2004, and possibly a little too late) - a shake up - something to return this team's heart and confidence - to have any sort of chance. I know it didn't work last year, but last year we had other drama to deal with when a superstar entered the territory of another superstar. This year I don't think we'll have such a clash of egos. Hendry needs to be pushing for a Dunn trade, or better.

But the continued question is, is this possible given the amount of money the Cubs are shelling out currently for players and former players? Are the obvious parties willing to shell out more $$$?

Another question - would it really be worth it? I mean, does this team really have the talent to do something special? When I think about who we're talking about, Lee, Prior, Wood, Ramirez, Maddux, et al. (incl. Garciaparra?) - I think this team looks like it has talent - so what's missing right now?

Either Dusty's lost his touch or this team is just too much for him. A team that's faced so many severe ups and downs in terms of expectations and injuries has got to be hard to handle. Is it really a lack of talent? Is it really Dusty's fault he can't find a lead-off hitter (I haven't seen Walker lead off in a while)? It may be that Dusty can't handle this bi-polar team (remember the Southern California 6 of 7? I do.) on his own and he needs the continued aid of Hendry's magic wand. Please Jim, for the sake of salvaging a season in which we should really have some sort of chance to make the playoffs or better, it's just about All-Star break time, it's time to shake things up (don't wait until it too late).

Thanks for letting me vent and if you have answers or opinions about my many questions, I would love to hear them - or if you just want to vent...

Clay

What a SoCal trip! - the last post.

keepscore — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 05:35:41 -0000

Just got back to L.A. after a two-game trip to San Diego. These last two years in San Diego have been good ones. Last year we left L.A. after watching Kerry Wood get knocked around and then out of the game to be put on the DL for an extended period. We had low expectations for the Cubs in San Diego after that, but got to watch Mitre pitch well and the Cubs sweep the Padres in three. This year we saw the Cubs take the series against the Padres 3 out of 4 with some good offensive rhythm and luck. I say luck because the Padres have been awesome at home this year, but this weekend they were struck by a clubhouse infection that kept Peavy, Klesko, Loretta, and Blum out of the series, and as the San Diego Union Tribune reported this morning, Giles had a 101 fever hours before yesterday's Cubs win. Regardless, every team has to have some luck on their side to be a playoff contender.

If you've never been to Petco Park, I highly recommend it. After putting up with Jack Murphy/Qualcomm Stadium for eight years, which was never set up well for baseball in my opinion, Petco is a beautiful park with many amenities and great sight lines. If you ever get to San Diego for baseball be sure to try a fish taco or two (trust me, if you like fish and Mexican food at all, they're worth a try) or if you want to be more traditional, Randy Jones barbeque behind the bleachers has a ½ pound hot dog he invented because he was sick of hearing about the "big" Dodger dogs all the years he was in San Diego.

It was an over cast cool day today, what they call "June Gloom" here in Southern California, which is a thick marine layer that hangs out on the coast. However, that didn't stop the Cubs fans who were in full force again today and the Padres fan behind us said to his friend on the phone "There are more Cubs fans here than white on rice" (not the best choice of comparisons in my opinion, but you get the picture). It made me wonder what it's like to be a fan in his or her home ballpark only to find the visiting team is as predominant as the Cubs fans are. Having always been a Cubs fan I can only imagine it's got to be frustrating, especially when the home team loses.

As Al noted, Zambrano labored through the first inning walking the first three batters. Things did not look good, but then he faced the minimum in the second, fourth, fifth, and seventh, and only four batters in the third and five in the sixth. In the first, we got worried Zambrano would have a signature meltdown, but he kept his composure and ended up with a seven inning shutout outing. Woody Williams, having come off the DL to fill in for a sick Peavy had a good outing as well. The Padres couldn't have asked for much more than his four hit, one run, four innings, Especially after Bruce Bochy announced before the game that Woody would only go 80 pitches (he finished with 88). Also, his leaving the game wasn't a doorway to a weak set of relievers as it is with so many other teams, the Padres bench has been very strong this year. Therefore, we can only conclude that although it wasn't the prettiest outing, the Cubs got it done with relatively solid pitching and offense.

Walker still seems to be having trouble finding his groove, going 0 for 5, but Neifi (3 for 5) and Lee (3 for 5) and Burnitz (2 for 3) continued to click. After all my years going to Padres games (10) and seeing Trevor Hoffman come in to incredibly loud AC/DC and crowd exuberance, it was almost sad to see him come in without any fanfare and end up getting knocked around a bit for 2 hits and a run in 1 inning. However, that ping of pity turned into a great day when Ryan Dempster's one mistake (a fastball hanging over the plate to Phil Nevin for a base hit) turned into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game. Three of 4 in San Diego and 6 of 7 on this west coast trip felt really good and all of the Cubs fans walked out of Petco Park with a smile on their faces.

This is my last set of Southern California Cubs games as a resident and I really enjoyed sharing my experiences here. I'm moving back to weather with seasons and if anyone knows of Cubs fans in or visits Fargo, North Dakota, please let me know. I'd love to have a fan base in my new home.

Thanks Al for a marvelous web site that has and will continue to keep me close to Wrigley when I'm not there. And thanks to all of you for putting up with my clumsy blogs telling of my west coast experiences at the ballparks this year.

Go Cubs! See you at Wrigley the end of this month!

Clay

Priors pain->Cubs Urgency? Quick note from Petco Park

keepscore — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 15:54:40 -0000

So my question is, did Prior's freak injury cause a sense of urgency in the Cubs? When the liner came back and smacked Prior on his throwing arm, causing a bone to fracture and every Cubs fan to roll their eyes and say to themselves, "Oh no, here we go again," the Cubs started hitting the ball. Perhaps at that point they felt they had to start winning games for a guy that has been gutting it out, working through injuries, and throwing well but ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Perhaps the Cubs got angy after this and said "Enough!" and this anger energized and focused them leading to an offensive rhythm that had up to then been absent. Perhaps when Mark went down the Cubs realized that they weren't going to be able to rely on their pitching staff the way everyone has expected them to be able to. Whether it was anger or urgency, I don't care. The Cubs went into Petco Park last night and smacked the Padres around for an 11 to 5 win.

This post must be short as we're going to brunch for my fiancée's birthday and then off to the ball park to see the day game. But, for those who couldn't stay up to watch the game - Maddux was 2005 Maddux, hanging in there, not consistently hitting his corners, but eventually getting them in there. I'm sorry if you didn't stay awake through the 5th inning. It seemed like it was never going to end and we were hoping it wouldn't (sort of). That is, I got out of the middle of my row to wait in an aisle so I could run to the restroom after the Cubs third out of the inning - and it just wouldn't come! I was afraid to leave in case I'd miss - oh, there it is! - another hit. It just kept going and the Cubs fans were ecstatic as you might imagine. The seven run fifth was all we needed. Then even my Red Sox buddy and his wife said, "Looks like you're bringing in the third string."

I'd like to write more about (corporate name) ballpark and baseball in San Diego, but we're off to brunch and then to the ballpark for a day game we're very excited about. So I'll blog more later.

Clay

Schweeep!

keepscore — Thu, 02 Jun 2005 09:42:44 -0000

Tonight was yet another beautiful Southern California evening, perfect for baseball, and because my best friend and fiancée was at her evening class, I attended the game at Dodgers Stadium with a Wrigley Field bleachers season ticket holder who some may know - Tony Brown. I must admit, I, a much more skeptical Cubs fan, and Tony, a more optimistic, "Yellon-esque" fan, both entered this game acknowledging that it was a mismatch which pitted John Konseco/Koleco/Karunko (I couldn't get his unfamiliar name right all night) - John Koronka, newly up from AAA, against Derek Lowe whose been 4-1 lights out at home so far this season. However, as I'm sure you are already aware, Derek Lowe didn't have his best stuff and Derrek Lee did.

As I didn't keep score this game and instead partook in a discussion with Tony regarding baseball, Dodgers Stadium, and Wrigley experiences, I'm not going to go into detail recapping the game. I will only say that despite a lack of control, Koronka kept his cool and this impressed both Tony and me. It was nice to see the Cubs getting it done with offense when they needed to. The first base umpire made a couple of close calls against the Cubs that had me miffed. Although he was probably right. Oh, and Derrek Lee went 5 for 5!

This trip made me remember why Dodgers Stadium is a highlight to living in Los Angeles. We sat in the Reserved Section behind home plate, which is the third of four levels and gives a great view of the field for the money ($17). Also, from that vantage point you can see rolling hills and palm trees along with the "Think Blue" Hollywood-esque sign mentioned in Josh's earlier post just beyond the bleachers. Recently there's been talk in L.A. about building a new stadium downtown, but Tony and I discussed this and while Tony likes the idea of a ballpark in the middle of the city, my point of view is that Chavez Ravine gives the ballpark a better feel and more character. By looking out at the hills you forget the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles and knowing you're in the Ravine makes you feel like you're on an island, on a bit of a vacation.

This game had the largest attendance of the three games, reported to be 54,093. Cubs fans, while still there in numbers, appeared far more outnumbered than last night's game and this probably had something to do with the 50,000 Cesar Izturis bobbleheads being handed out at the gates.

There was one heckler behind us who kept yelling "Where's Sosa?!" "Sosa would've caught that!" "You traded Sosa!" and the Dodger fan sitting next to me sarcastically said, "Oooo, I bet that stings... and Ernie Banks retired." We all laughed at that one. This is the second night I had a heckler use a Sosa remark like this and I think it's interesting (and appropriate) to see what an impact Sosa had on baseball fans in general. That is, like Tony said, there probably would've been 2000-5000 more fans at the first two games if Sosa were here and 5,000-7,000 if he was playing well. The heckles suggested to me that much of the general baseball public thinks that all of Cub-dom feels betrayed by the organization since Sammy was traded. Though my point of view is that it was sad to see Sammy go, but it was just something that had to be done - we had grown apart. While the heckler was trying to get on my nerves what he really did was made me think about how much I do appreciate what Sammy did as a Cub and a baseball player (along with a couple mistakes, but everyone makes mistakes, right?), and yeah, I guess I do miss the big guy and the excitement he brought every time he went to the plate. But enough reminiscing - Cubs 2005 seem to be finding a rhythm, and it's not necessarily the one we all expected (referring to the names on the current rotation).

It was a great night of baseball. I'm not sure why Dempster threw in the ninth in a non-save situation thanks to Derrek Lee's three-run dinger, but it was an efficient four-pitch outing. The Cubs won their sixth in a row 9 to 5, sweeping the Dodgers at home. Now on to San Diego where the Cubs swept the Padres last year, but this year the Padres are a much better team. I'll be there for the last two and try to post something if and when I get the chance.

Clay

Hecklers and D-Neifi! at the Ravine

keepscore — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 07:40:52 -0000

The not-so-good news is that after an eight inning, one hit, one unearned run, nine-strikeout effort, Carlos Zambrano ended up with no-decision. The good news - the game ended in ten innings with a 2-1 Cubs victory - their fifth in a row.

Before I talk more about a very exciting game, which pitted two great pitchers who gave great performances against one another, let me tell you a bit about my first visit to Chavez Ravine this year.I've been going to Dodgers games since I moved to Southern California ten years ago and as was noted yesterday the Dodgers fans have changed, but more on that later. The Ravine has changed too. Some interesting pre-game notes about Dodger Stadium included the following 2005 additions: the rubber warning track is now dirt, the grass is now a Bermuda hybrid found in most other ballparks, and the largest strip of video projection screen is now in place around the stadium at the Loge level. These updates seemed nice. I always thought the warning track looked a little funny, and I think the strip of video around the stadium is pretty common in other ballparks (e.g., the Big A) and makes for a bit of an updated look in an otherwise dated ballpark (see Josh's post from yesterday).

As for the "new" fans, for those of you who don't know the reputation, my experience in years past was that a significant number of Dodger fans don't show up until the third inning and almost as many leave in the seventh. This is not meant to be a Dodger fan bashing, I know and respect many Dodger fans. It's just a fact. In the past I've thought much of this behavior may have been due to a laid back nature and have sat near fellow scorekeepers in Dodger blue and discussed baseball among other things in a cordial manner. Of course there's always an obnoxious heckler here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary. However, this time we had the mother of all bad hecklers sitting two rows behind us and when I say "bad" I mean really bad. If you want to hear some original, witty heckling, go to Fenway. But if you want to hear some of the most inane heckling, well I had to restrain myself from responding to the "heckles" I will share as I write a bit about the game (my inner thoughts in parentheses).

We arrived during Cubs batting practice as the sun was setting behind the third base line on another beautiful Southern California evening. The stadium was near empty with handfuls of Cubs fans scattered throughout. As game-time approached and some Dodger fans began to arrive and this included some of the "pissy" fans referred to in previous posts. I was surprised to hear three or four random "f#@* the Cubs!" remarks before the game. I also noticed this chant occurring during the game in some areas. I'm not sure where this bitterness has come from, perhaps a spillover from the Yankees visit last year (that was a tough game to sit through), the playoff failure last year, or the tough time the Dodgers have been having since their great start (?) Who knows?

The heckler behind me thought that since the Cubs were in their blues, a great taunt was "That's not Dodger blue! You wish you were in Dodger blue!" (I don't think so).

Penny got in a jam in the second giving up two hits and an infield sacrifice RBI to Henry Blanco. Zambrano didn't get into trouble until the third when Hee-Sop Choi (now a favorite of the Dodger fans) reached on a strike three passed ball. The pitch looked nasty from where I was sitting. That is, if a catcher with a glove like Blanco's couldn't catch it I don't know if many catchers could. Two batters later Cesar Izturis hit a double for the RBI.

When this RBI was hit the heckler behind me yelled "Carlos is going back to Chicago!" (I hope so, he plays baseball there). It was also about this time the beach balls were beginning to arrive and the wave was being started in the bleachers. (By the way, FYI, if you ever go to Dodger Stadium, know this, they do not serve alcohol in the bleachers. This mystifies me, because this is where all of the shenanigans seem to be most prominent).

Today, Neifi! had a not-so-good offensive day with one hit in five appearances (more on that hit later), but he had a defensive day that was, well, awesome. If you didn't see it, look for highlights. My scorecard has him making a GC! (great catch!) in the fifth and eighth, and I thought he made one more, but the one I remember most is when he went completely airborne and horizontal - believe in the Neifi! And vote for him to go to the ASG.

In response to this catch, the heckler yelled, "Tony Womack is a cheater, he's on steroids!" (I'm not kidding, that's what he yelled).

As I mentioned Zambrano had a great outing, striking out nine total, my favorite was when he ended the sixth with Werth and Drew looking at pitches and started the seventh with Kent looking at strike three.

The seventh inning was a strange one for the Cubs. Corey lead off with a single and then was "caught stealing" on a strike-out / throw-out that was actually due to an interference ruling. The umpire said that after swinging at the third strike, Dubois stepped in the way of Mike Rose, a catcher called up from AAA today, preventing him from throwing to second base. I don't know, but from where I sat it looked like it may have been a "flop" and that Rose purposely stepped into Dubois. But, I was way down the first base line, so those who saw replays will know more.

Before leaving sometime in the seventh the heckler thought he was a genius when he yelled "Where's Sosa?!" (Baltimore). It was also about this time the two children behind us were hitting their peak sugar-buzz and the backs of our seats as they had been eating the spun sugar and red-vines since the second inning. I suppose this is one reason Al sits where no one can sit behind him (?).

I thought we had it in the ninth with Ramirez on second and Burnitz on third and one out. But Gagne is tough. He through an 83 mph changeup and breaking ball, followed by a 93 mph fastball. That's gotta be a tough adjustment. Weurtz followed Gagne in the bottom of the ninth with a BB, but then efficiently struck out the side.

In the beginning of the tenth the remaining fans had to be more than half Cubs fans (yes, we are everywhere). That's when we actually produced a run (note, not a single HR this game) with a single, a sac bunt, and Neifi's! one hit/RBI of the game (believe!).

Finally, our closer came in (yes, I used the c word), and Ryan Dempster scared quite a few people when he hit Antonio Perez in the helmet (or was it the bat - again, those who saw the replays know more than I). However, after a sac bunt, flyball, and 6-3 out Dempster got his sixth save in seven tries and ended a rather exciting game. I really enjoyed the game despite the bitter fans, and am headed back tomorrow and down to Petco this weekend. If anything exciting happens I'll let you know.

Boy this ended up being a long post - sorry 'bout that.

Clay