After two hard-fought losses against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Cubs enter tonight's series finale with three walking wounded. Zambrano is returning to Chicago for an MRI on his shoulder; Edmonds (foot) and Reed Johnson (back) are listed as day-to-day. While no one expected either Edmonds or Johnson to play full-time in the outfield, their minor injuries may mean that the Cubs back off from moving Matt Murton. Murton was rumored to be on the trading block once again, but that could be up in the air.
That's the question posed (and answered) by Dan Szymborski at the Baseball Think Factory. His answer, based on data before Bonds's skull started to magically grow, is "somewhere between 590 and 650 home runs." (Read the article here.)
It's a question that's been asked since "Game of Shadows" hit bookstores. Ultimately, it's an unanswerable question, no matter how many statistics and extrapolations are available. Bonds played in what could arguably be called the Steroids Era, in which hitters weren't the only ones juicing: The players named in the Mitchell Report were split about 50/50 between pitchers and position players. How can one break out the advantages pitchers on HGH, steroids, and other drugs enjoyed?
The experts don't know. I don't know. And, barring the invention of a time machine, nobody will ever be able to answer questions about the Steroid Era with a degree of certainty that would satisfy most hardcore baseball fans. We're still living under the shadow of the asterisk.
After Chien-Ming Wang pulled up lame after running the bases in an interleague matchup, the Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner wasn't too thrilled to hear that Wang could be out up to 10 weeks. "The National League needs to join the 21st century. They need to grow up and join the 21st century [and use designated hitters]," Steinbrenner said. "I've got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt."
While it's an unfortunate occurrence that Wang was injured, one lone incident isn't enough to prompt the National League to adopt the DH rule. Freak injuries happen. Alfonso Soriano was injured earlier this year catching a ball--should we abolish the time-honored tradition of shagging fly balls? Derrek Lee was injured two years ago running to first base...perhaps we should just let hitters take first base. Many injuries also happen off of the field. Sammy Sosa once missed a game because he "slept on the wrong shoulder." Should we dissuade players from sleeping at night?
Long live the National League!
The latest All-Star balloting results are in, and as of Tuesday, both Alfonso Soriano and rookie catcher Geovony Soto have comfortable leads in their respective categories. With three starting spots available in the National League outfield, Fukudome is making a strong bid to be a starter in his first Major League season as well, with 100,000 more votes than the veteran Ken Griffey Jr. (Griffey let the NL ballot last year with 2,986,818 votes; this year's leader so far in all categories is Chase Utley with 1,743,548, or 1 million more than his closest competition, the Cubs' Mark DeRosa).
| RANK | PLAYER NAME | NL TEAM | TOTAL VOTES |
| 1. | Soto, G. | Cubs | 1,248,216 |
| 2. | McCann, B. | Braves | 742,689 |
| RANK | PLAYER NAME | NL TEAM | TOTAL VOTES |
| 1. | Soriano, A. | Cubs | 1,444,153 |
| 2. | Fukudome, K. | Cubs | 1,188,459 |
| 3. | Griffey, K. | Reds | 1,081,665 |
| 4. | Braun, R. | Brewers | 885,932 |
| 5. | Lee, C. | Astros | 709,797 |
There's still plenty of time to vote before the July 4 deadline, so get over to MLB.com to cast your 25 ballots!
You get thrown out stealing third--
with two down in the seventh.
"A baserunning mistake."
But then...
...you almost tie it
in the ninth.
Almost.
(With the best bunt a Cub has laid down
since Greg Maddux was on the team.)
Just know:
Two fluke plays
do not
a season
make.
Keep playing hard and fast.
With the Cubs in the midst of a interleague play, Piniella will have an intriguing decision to make when Carlos Zambrano pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays this week: Will Zambrano DH for himself in the American League ballpark? (The DH is an optional spot in the lineup, and pitchers are allowed to hit for themselves under American League rules.) While the option is tantalizing to Cubs fans who worship at the altar of the .362-hitting pitcher, the answer is most likely "no."
Piniella already struck down calls for Zambrano to DH on his non-starting days, instead putting Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez in the DH spot this past weekend against the Blue Jays. According to Cubs.com, "Piniella said...that he'd consider Lee, Ramirez, and regular right fielder Kosuke Fukudome in the role [on Wednesday, Zambrano's next scheduled start]."
The Iowa Cubs' staff is sandbagging Principal Park this week in preparation for the likely flooding of the Des Moines River. The Des Moines Register reports that "projections Wednesday afternoon showed that the Des Moines River was expected to come within 6 inches of the record height it reached during the 1993 flood that engulfed the stadium's outfield, parking lot and administrative building."
This sounds like it has the potential to throw a wrench in my weekend plans to visit Des Moines for the I-Cubs' Sunday double-header. Part or all of the weekend series vs. Nashville may be moved, to either another location in Des Moines or to Memphis. "I'm going to wait as long as possible before making a decision," general manager Sam Bernabe said on Wednesday.
Here's an image from the 1993 flood of the then-Sec Taylor Stadium, courtesy of Larry Woolis:
Soriano is out--
Now it's time for Lou to play
Some lead-off roulette!
In perhaps the most surprising turn of his career, Wood has pitched himself to the upper tier of National League closers in his first full season in the role: He leads the league with 18 saves. What's not surprising is that the former "Kid K" also leads all NL closers in strikeouts with 40 k's.
His ERA isn't as superhuman as Brad Lidge's 0.96, and his 6 hit-batsmen stings a little, but as long as Wood can stay healthy, expect him to work through the problems that he's faced and hold down the Cubs' closer role until the final out of the 2008 World Series. After that? 2008 is his contract year. With the red-hot Marmol waiting in the wings with his half-a-million dollar contract (compared to Wood's $4.2 million this year), we could be witnessing Kid K's final season in Chicago.
First to forty wins,
First place in their division--
Hurry up, October!
Sean Gallagher, 3-1 with a 4.55 ERA this season, will continue to hold down the back of the rotation in the 5th spot when he faces the Dodgers tonight at 9:40pm CT. Nothing says "Put me in the game, Lou" like Gallagher's baby-faced headshot from MLB.com. While he's only 22 years old, this picture makes him look like he's 12. As long as he continues to outpitch the other young pitchers who've been tested in the 5th spot (Marshall and Hill), Lou will keep him in the rotation. "I can see him staying in the rotation for this year, and years to come with success," Piniella told Cubs.com's Carrie Muskrat.
