Hoffpauir, Ramirez, Ward, Fukudome, Cedeno, Theriot, DeRosa, Soto, Blanco, Lee, Fontenot, and Johnson.

Give up? They all have higher on-base percentages than lead-off hitter Alfonso Soriano. Aramis Ramirez, who has taken the second-most walks on the team behind Fukudome, is a full .90 points above Soriano in terms of OBP.

If Soriano was speedier, it might make sense to bat him leadoff to get him into scoring position. Too bad that he only has 3 stolen bases this year.

At this time, the only reason to bat him leadoff appears to be that you don't fix what is broken: The Cubs have the best record in the Major Leagues, and they've played at that level for most of the year with Soriano leading off. As long as the Cubs are on top, I don't expect any changes at the top of the order. If losses start to mount, however, the Cubs may need to look at changing their sparkplug.

"The way the flags were blowing at Wrigley, we were never out of it," DeRosa said on XM Radio's Dibble and Kennedy Show this afternoon. "A couple bloops and a blast, and we can win this game... Every ball that was getting up in the air today was finding a way into the seats."

Kevin Kennedy asked him about the Cubs' ridiculous record at home vs. on the road. "We've had some tough one-run losses [on the road]--just some weird, weird stuff happening on the road," DeRosa said. "Nobody's buying into [any reason behind the road/home discrepancy]."

This is a game that people will be talking about for a long time. After a short rain delay, the Cubs found themselves down 7-0 in the third inning. Did they roll over? Give up? Not a chance--this isn't your father's Cubs. (Although it wasn't for a lack of Lou trying--he rested Ramirez, pulled Soto after 2 at-bats, and used two pitchers as pinch-hitters.)

Jim Edmonds finally came through at the plate, picking up 3 RBIs on a home run and a double. After Mark DeRosa put the Cubs ahead 10-9 in the bottom of the seventh, the one-two punch of Marmol and Wood put it away for Chicago.

From mlb.com: [A Major League scout said that] Harden, who has been on the disabled list six times since the start of 2005, is unlikely to draw a Haren-sized package. "Too risky," he said. "He's Mark Prior right now. I don't care if he makes 10 dominant starts in a row. You just get the feeling another breakdown is coming."

"That's his job," Kenney said of Brenly's critical comments regarding "superstar" Alfonso Soriano. "If [Brenly] weren't doing his job, it'd be like me asking you to write something favorable about the team when we didn't deserve it. I thought Brenly was doing his job. I don't think anyone on the team had a problem with it from what I can tell." (from a Cubs.com interview by Carrie Muskrat)

There still hasn't been any official word from WGN or Comcast on Bob Brenly's critical comments towards "superstar" leftfield Alfonso Soriano ("You could throw a dart at that dugout and find a better defender in left field"). And it doesn't look as if he will receive any heat, either. The dust-up between Steve Stone and Cubs management in 2004 over Stone's critical on-the-air remarks was characterized as "personal" between Stone and Baker. Brenly's on-the-air remarks were directed more towards Soriano, and not at Cubs management, so it's unlikely that anyone's feathers will be ruffled too much. "I've been down there [in the manager's office]," Brenly said later. "[Lou] understands there's a definite separation. There's a job to do up here. There's a job to do down there. I've had no problems with Lou. None at all."

One thing that I do know: If Brenly keeps tossing darts, I may need to start turning up the volume on the TV feed instead of tuning Len and Bob out in favor of Pat and Ron's radio broadcast. "Part of my job is to entertain up here," Brenly said. Job well done, sir.

...and when I return, I find out that Jim Hendry signed Jim Edmonds to platoon with the red-hot Reed Johnson in centerfield.

Ah, Jim Edmonds. I have such fond memories of heckling him from the bleachers when he was with the Cards. My favorite heckle, though, was a bleacher bum who yelled at Edmonds, "Quit scratchin' yer nuts, Edmonds! There's f**kin' women and children up here!"

Sports Illustrated's current issue features the Cubs' Fokudome, along with a sidebar about the Cubs' newfound focus on on-base percentage. Speaking through his interpreter about the dreaded "SI cover jinx," Kosuke told the Chicago Tribune that, "I'll try my best not to follow the footsteps of the other people on the cover [and let it jinx my performance]."

Thanks for the three groundouts to begin today's game! I knew that there was something in the Cubs' offense that wasn't clicking, especially after that 19-run offensive explosion on Wednesday.

Note to Lou: It doesn't matter how fast your lead-off hitter is, he still has to reach base in order to steal a base. Soriano has a career .326 On-Base Percentage, while Reed Johnson, his erstwhile replacement over the past 15 days, has a .344 On-Base Percentage. Even The Riot, Ryan Theriot, has a .348 career On-Base Percentage--yet he's batting after the streaky Soriano.

Just because the Cubs have sunk a ton of money into Soriano, it doesn't make sense to keep batting him lead-off with his slump (.175 this year batting average) or even career OBP statistics. The money has already been spent on Soriano--to continue to play him in such a key spot in the order doesn't make the "investment" any less of a disaster for Chicago. Keep Soriano, but bat him lower in the order where a .326 OBP belongs.