By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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It was the greatest game of the season. The Cubs trailed 9-1 at one point, and managed to come from behind for another outstanding victory, this time 10-9 over the Rockies.
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I was watching it DVR-delayed and began taking in what was a troubling first few innings at about 3 p.m. Now, I hate to watch games delayed or taped, because I’m always ultra alert to people’s tone of voice when they know what happened, but “aren’t telling you.” There are often other things that come up to tip me off.
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Ironically, when I was in the fifth inning, Kosuke Fukudome had just hit his homer, and my phone rang four times from four different folks right around the time the game would be concluded.
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It’s OK. While I had an inkling something was going to happen, there was still a chance the callers were going to say, “I can’t believe they came all the way back and blew it.”
By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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The Cubs are winners of four straight after Thursday’s 8-4 win over the Rockies. The Cubs also have the best record in baseball because of it.
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I love it.
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On Thursday, they kept with it, even after losing their early lead to a 3-3 tie in the middle of the contest. Jason Marquis, again was OK, and we saw the reappearance of Neal Cotts. This was his first appearance in 2008. He took the spot of Jose Ascanio who was sent down.
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That was the puzzling part of the move for some. Ascanio pitched in four games this season. In five innings, he gave up four hits and a single run. He did not carry a record and sported a 1.80 ERA.
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A lot of folks were high on Ascanio — myself included. I suppose I understand the desire to bring up Cotts. He’s a lefty who had been throwing well in Triple-A, and Scott Eyre is not necessarily unflappable.
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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I love a good walk-off. So, that’s what I’m going to do.
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Inspired Wednesday’s 2-1 Cubs walk-off win (and comeback win, mind you) I’m going to walk off the VetoPower blog for one week (also called vacation), Sunday, June 1 through Saturday, June 7.
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But the VetoPower blog isn’t going to shut down. Oh no. I want the faithful readers to get their day in the limelight, and do my work for me (you know… in the spirit of true vacation).
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So, starting today through Saturday, May 31, I want to hear from the regulars and the lurkers (I know you’re out there) to the daily VetoPower Cubs blog. If you want to be considered as a guest, Cubs blogger for a day, two days, or the whole week, drop me a line at mveto@qconline.com saying so. I’ll pull names out of a hat to determine the days you’ll be writing.
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Warm up by giving me your best blog on any burning topic you have out there — the game, Sammy Sosa wanting to play in the World Baseball Classic, whatever — and paste it into the comment box. Don’t forget to E-mail me, though, if you want a day to write.
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The blog entry doesn’t need to be long and it doesn’t need to be polished. I’ll be around (around = golfing), but I’ll have you send it to me by E-mail for editing and posting.
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Express your Cubs voice!
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Talk about a nail-biter. The Cubs got a little help on Wednesday, but I’ll take it. It’s nice to see Alfonso Soriano come through in the clutch, but I’m baffled by Mark DeRosa’s inability to do the same.
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Z remains undefeated at Wrigley though, and the Cubs continue to roll.
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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June is around the corner which means it’s about two months until the trade deadline. It’s the home stretch for some of those on-the-bubble types (Jim Edmonds), and the chance for trade bait to showcase.
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Who would you put on the block?
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Right now, center field is the Cubs weakest position (unless you count left field, but for the sake of arguing the obvious, I won’t). From the looks of things, there will be no more shuffling center fielders from Triple-A Iowa as Sam Fuld continues to bat .222, and this guy named Jason Dubois (yes, THE Jason Dubois) is hitting a shade under .200 — yet is still trumping Felix Pie’s batting average.
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If Fukudome is going to play center field before too long, that might make Pie one of those odd men out. He’s not bad — in fact I think he has great potential – but Reed Johnson is getting an awful lot of playing time and has truly impressed. And Pie might have gotton just enough taste of the bigs to consider prodding for an opportunity elsewhere.
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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Alex Rodriguez should have one more home run than he has been credited for this season. And there are many other players that have been been unduly denied home runs, base hits and runs scored thanks to that oh-so-fallible “human element” that sports embraces.
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To combat this “faulty” method of officiating, Major League Baseball is considering employing the watchful, shuttered eye of the camera to help the men in blue get the call right. Rodriguez’s uncredited homer will be just one of many incidents that supporters of instant replay will point toward.
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There is something to be said for the honor of making a call and sticking to it, even if you know you might not have seen it correctly. Perhaps you blinked, were shielded by a glove or just made the wrong arm motion in a fit of excitement. In his mind, an umpire may want very badly to go back and change the call, but the unwritten rule against that is too deeply set in stone.
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It’s easy for us viewers to jump on an official after we get to see their blown call slowly — frame by frame — over and over again. I’ve been in the unenviable position as a Little League umpire, and I tell you, I admire those who choose to made it their profession.
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They have to be a little crazy, though, right?
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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Regulation games are overrated.
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The Cubs have gone to extras with the Pirates in four out of the six games they’ve played at PNC Park. The 11-inning, 6-5 loss on Sunday was the second straight loss in extras to the Pirates and both times Jason Bay has delivered the walk off.
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But all I heard about was, “routine fly ball” and “two outs in the ninth” and my first thought was Alfonso Soriano.
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Sadly, Soriano dropped a fly ball with two outs and a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, but just as former catchers defend catchers, and pitchers defend pitchers, I can say as a former outfielder, it happens. Sometimes the ball climbs so high that it seems to sit in the sun.
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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Here you go… 14-innings worth of random thoughts from Saturday’s game.
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Every high school runner in the state dreams of competing today for a championship. Not all dreams come true, but for a select group of QC-area athletes, their dreams are about to become a reality.
12:40 p.m. – Class A 4×100: Aledo-Westmer – 4th
1:15 p.m. – Class AA 3200: Tim Hird, Alleman – 16th
1:40 p.m. – Class AA 110H: Shawn Ledbetter, Moline – 4th; Josh Pope, United Twp. – 9th
2:30 p.m. – Class AA 4×200: United Township – 9th
2:40 p.m. – Class A 400: Tanner Carlson, Annawan-Wethersfield – 5th
2:55 p.m. – Class AA 300H: Shawn Ledbetter, Moline – 7th
3:30 p.m. – Class A 4×400: Annawan-Wethersfield – 8th
7 PM — Okay, we’re off and rolling and the Class AA prelims are going really fast! They’re rolling through the schedule instead of going on a time schedule… here’s what’s happened with the AA locals:
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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As the days go on, this blog has naturally evolved, and the next evolution will be the off-day toss up.
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Our last off-day topic was pretty random, and got a great number of hits. So, each off day I’ll open the floor to you readers to leave me your thoughts on a particular toss up question. I’ll aim to find a question that both the casual reader and die-hard Cubs fan can muse upon.
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Here we go…
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–Who is your favorite Cub of all time? Why? And give me a particular fond memory you have about that Cub.
–And for our die hards, extra credit for naming your favorite obscure Cub of all time, and why.
