March 2009
Who Remembers Corey Patterson?
The Nationals have just sent the ex-Cub down to the minors. Patterson, who was 5-for-40 in March, batted only .205 last year for the Reds. (Cincinnati also demoted Patterson to AAA at one point in 2008.) The Nationals and the Reds are the bottom of the barrel in the National League, so it doesn’t look good for another team to make an offer before the season starts.
Cubs fans don’t have the fondest memories of Patterson. In six seasons with the Cubs, the former 1st-round pick never lived up to expectations. He was frequently praised as being “gifted with tools”, but lacked the drive to utilize those tools to their fullest.
Derrek Lee Finally Goes Deep! It’s a Rare Spring Training Miracle
Lee just hit a home run against the Oakland Athletics. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a homer (or any offense, for that matter) from the Cubs’ everyday first-baseman. The last time that Lee connected for a long ball was almost six months ago, on September 22nd against the Mets.
Not to be outdone, the Man Who Would Be Cubs’ First-Baseman, Micah Hoffpauir, hit his second double of the day following Lee’s homer. Hoffpauir is hitting .273 with four home runs this spring.
Since returning from a wrist injury in 2007, Lee has hit fewer than 22 home runs in each of the past two years–just half of the total of his career high 2005 season, when he hit 46 home runs.
Fukudome Sits in Japan’s Win Over Korea
Kosuke Fukudome, who’s batting just .235 in the World Baseball Classic, sat out last night’s win over Korea. He may have to get used to being on the bench if his offensive numbers don’t improve once he eventually joins the Cubs in Mesa.
Last April, Fukudome was the Cubs’ offensive MVP. He brought a new style of playing to the team: patience. He led the majors with most pitches seen per at-bat. He looked the best $48 million that Jim Hendry had spent. As the year dragged on, however, his performance sagged, to the point Piniella effectively benched him for the last few months of the season.
Commentators pointed fingers at the “long US baseball season” for Fukudome’s slide. That explanation always struck me as condescending, like American baseball is uniquely difficult and grueling compared to the “baseball lite” that is played in Asia. Whatever the reason for the downward spiral, Fukudome ended the season with a dreadful 1-for-10 performance in the Divisional Series.
“He probably learned a lot last year,” Piniella has said. Let’s hope he’s right. Unfortunately for Piniella and Cubs fans, Fukudome is a question that may not get answered until the season starts.
Bradley Misses Another Game
This time, his “wife was in labor”. Uh huh. Yeah. How many times will we hear this particular excuse for sitting out this season?*
* The correct answer is: Twelve times.
Cubs to Install Jumbotrons?
Cubs’ ownership is considering installing giant Jumbotrons at Wrigley. Not to see the action close-up, mind you, but to cater to fantasy fans who require up-to-date stats from around the league. The current scoreboard, you see, just wasn’t built with today’s fantasy baseball fan in mind.
Please, Kenney–rather than destroying its beauty bit by bit, just bulldoze the field and completely rebuild it. Let’s just get it over with quick.
From a Cubs.com story:
“The element of preserving the scoreboard and yet giving the fans more information about the game, there could be an argument that that’s a positive,” Kenney said. The Cubs would have to get the city of Chicago’s approval to install large video scoreboards.
“On the one side, you have a great number of fans who are fantasy players who crave statistical information,” he said, “and our hand-operated scoreboard doesn’t provide much, particularly about the other games that are occurring, and there’s no replay capability.”
Milton Bradley Misses Another Game
For the second time this spring, Milton Bradley sat out due to hypochondria “the flu”. He was also sidelined with “tightness in his thigh” for the first few games this spring.
Bradley, who missed 36 games last season for the Rangers due to “days he didn’t feel 100%”, has played in only 1/3rd of the Cubs’ spring training games to date. This isn’t a good omen for Chicago fans.
Of course, the upside is tremendous: Bradley hit a career-high .321 in the games he did play last year. He plays hard,” Rich Harden said. ”If I’m on the mound, I definitely want a guy like that playing behind me.” (That’s if he decides he feels well enough to play when you’re pitching, Rich.)
Cubs GM Jim Hendry said, “We’re not expecting him to play 150 games. We have other good outfielders.” If Bradley continues being Bradley, let’s hope that Hendry’s not expecting him to even play 100 games in the outfield–that’s a mark that he reached only once in his career, in 2004 with the Dodgers.
Link: cubs.com
It’s Spring Training…Time For Another Mark Prior Story
Mark Prior, the ex-Cub who hasn’t thrown a pitch on the senior circuit in almost three years, is still working on that comeback.
According to an MLB.com story, he’s keeping hope alive. “The door hasn’t been closed on me,” Prior said. “And until someone tells me I don’t have a job or a spot, I’m going to keep going… Until my body tells me that it’s not going to work, I’m going to make every effort to make this work.”
RIIING RIIING.
Prior: “Hello?”
On the Phone: “This is your body calling, Mark. I just don’t think this is going to work out.”
Prior: “I’m sorry, you’re fading out…”
On the Phone: “It’s time to give up, Mark.”
Prior: “You’re breaking up. This connection isn’t very good–could you call back, like, after spring training? Thanks.”
On the Phone: “Wait, don’t hang up on–”
CLICK.
Reed Johnson’s Blog is Now Live
And it sounds like it’s going to be a fun one to follow this season. Johnson promises that “there will always be some joke about Mike Fontenot at the end. Every day, he does something that has to be talked about.” He also swears that his blog will be “better than DeRosa’s”, whose Cubs blog he is replacing this year.
See Your Name on the Big Screen
The producers of the forthcoming Cubs documentary “We Believe” (no relation to the Red Sox film “Still, We Believe”) are offering fans the chance to see their names listed in the theatrical release closing credits for just $100.
Yes, your name could be on the big screen, right after the key grip and stunt doubles! Let the world know that you are a Cubs fan and that you have had $100 to prove it.
Link: http://www.webelievethemovie.com/index.php?app=CreditInitiative
Midget Wrestling: Aaron Miles vs. Mike Fontenot
At 5’8″, both Aaron Miles and Mike Fontenot are five inches under the average Major League height. But their stats are both average to above average: both have career .290 averages (.289 Miles, .290 Fontenot) and OBP over .325 (.329 Miles, .369 Fontenot).
With two nearly identical players, who is going to come out on top? And who will get the short (no pun intended) end of the stick? The winner gets the everyday position at 2nd base. The loser will platoon and watch the action from the bench.
Round One: Offense – The Cubs signed Miles after his career year in 2008, when he batted .317. Not to be outdone, Fontenot also had a career year, batting .305. Fontenot is having a torrid spring (.367 average). Miles (.222 this spring) praised Fontenot’s performance, telling the Chicago Tribune that “he’s a great guy and he’s hitting the ball better than I am right now, that’s for sure”.
Round Two: Versatility – The Cubs signed Miles as, ostensibly, a replacement for the dearly departed Mark DeRosa. “Another left-handed bat in the line-up.” While Fontenot is also a left-handed hitter, Miles can also bat right-handed. And Miles has more versatility on defense: He can also play second-base.
Expect to see Fontenot as an everyday player in Lou’s line-up, thanks to his bat. Miles’s 2008 performance looks more likely to be a fluke when compared to his career average. Plus, he will be more valuable coming off of the bench since he is a switch-hitter and utility man.
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