By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com,
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I’m still here. No need to send cards or letters. I was just cheap, and didn’t want to buy Internet access at the hotel I’m at in St. Louis — on hand for a three-day sports writing conference (maybe I’ll finally improve). I found some free Wi-fi for now, but pardon the lack of blogging over the last two days.
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So, in about two hours, I’m disgracefully going to be attending my second Cardinals game of the season — equal to the number of Cubs game I’ll have been to. The sad part is that will be surpassed by my third Cardinals game of the year on Tuesday. (No, I don’t need a red shirt to borrow).
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I’m going to keep a keen eye out for Jim Edmonds jerseys, though. I’m going to wager I’ll see at least 10 each game. Let that be a lesson to the folks that bought Juan Pierre jerseys. (I recently saw a Pierre jersey changed into a Pie jersey though. Ha!)
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The Cubs… they’re not playing well. What do you do? Panic. Some will.
By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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Ryan Dempster had his worst start of the year, and I was speculating with a buddy of mine and we wonder if that might not be his chance of making the All-Star team gone by the wayside.
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Nick Swisher’s grand slam — just one monsterous hit –Â sapped every bit of energy I had left in my hopefulness of another Cubs sweep.
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But while I always had hope, I didn’t see it as a reality. The Cubs have swept one road series all season — the first one they had in Pittsburgh. Now they have to rely on Sean Gallagher and a beat up line up to salvage a series win.
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Out are Reed Johnson, Alfonso Soriano, Scott “Steve” Eyre and Carlos Zambrano. Hobbling are Jim Edmonds and Kosuke Fukudome. We’ve touched many times on the “tests” the Cubs would be faced with along the road — that long road trip to the west, Dempster’s role as a starter and Wood’s as a closer.
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Call this the injury test. Can they win without their major stars? Eric Patterson is young and is not an outfielder by trade. Daryle Ward is a pinch hitter and is not intended to be used as an outfielder. Matt Murton is average by all accounts, though I do like him as a player. Edmonds has certainly been a nice asset, even when he’s injured.
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And when do you start looking over your shoulder? “They” always say ”It’s too early to look at the standings.” I don’t think it’s ever too early to know what your competition is doing. It’s too early to worry about it, but I don’t think it’s ever too early to understand the importance of maintaining a comfortable lead in the divisional race.
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St. Louis and Milwaukee each lost (thankfully) as well on Friday. Both teams are within striking distance, and I’m not keen on that. The Cubs have been in first or tied for first every day since May 11.
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Go get ‘em Gallagher.
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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I fell asleep while watching the Cubs Thursday with the Cubs trailing 8-0 after the fifth inning. And just like on Christmas morning, I rushed out of my slumber toward the TV and got just what I thought I would — the Cubs had lost 11-4 to lose the series to the Orioles.
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Of course, I was talking about that Christmas morning where you wake up and look under the tree for the keys to that SUV you asked for and find out you got singing Christmas socks instead.
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There was no singing after the Cubs game Thursday. Believe me, there wasn’t much to sing about. Ask “Corey” who writes for the “Ivy Envy” blog and is a frequent visitor to the VetoPower blog. He had to suffer through that thing in person and writes, “Today’s game was painful to witness.”
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He also said there are no Edmonds jerseys in any of the stores he visited outside of the ballpark.
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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I’d like an answer from some Cardinals fans out there. If a Cardinals fan still has a Jim Edmonds jersey, will they wear it anymore?
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Edmonds continues to be a huge boost to the Cubs offense, homering again Wednesday night. It was also nice to see that Geovany Soto came around to drive in a few runs.
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Now let’s take it a step further. When they make the Edmonds Cubs jersey (if they already haven’t, I haven’t been up to Wrigley in a while) will you wear one?
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Kosuke Fukudome was out of the line up because of tightness in his calf, and it looks a little like old times with a “Patterson” at the top of the line up. And we dogged Soriano for striking out. Seems to me that Corey Patterson struck out about as often.
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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Len Kasper provided the line that gave me all the information I needed to know the comeback was not going to happen.
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“And Henry Blanco will represent the Cubs last chance.”
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They were down 7-1, got a huge seventh-inning, three-run homer from Jim Edmonds to make it 7-4, but started to play the “lefty, righty” matchup with the game on the line in the eighth (where they made it 7-5, but should have gotton more) and ninth, pinch hitting Matt Murton for Edmonds with the go-ahead run on base in the eighth and Blanco for Eric Patterson with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth.Â
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I understand the odds — right handers hit better against lefties, yada, yada, yada. But I’m just not sure giving Edmonds a chance in the eighth or Patterson a chance in the ninth isn’t a better idea. I suppose if they fail, we have the opposing argument. I just think giving the guy whose warmed up and ready a chance over a guy that hasn’t seen live pitching all game might at least sometimes make sense. When those situations come up, it’s like Major League Baseball has made it a rule that if the numbers say so, even if we’re talking about .080 difference in success, you must make the move.
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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First a little news. Jeff Samardzija was promoted to AAA Iowa, Cubs.com reported Monday. He’s still got a 4-plus ERA going in AA, but Rich Hill and Felix Pie were each sent down, so there was some room for forward motion.
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A lot of people have been high on Samardzja, wondering if he could be a guy to break the 40-man someday soon. He’s in the right place at this point.
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Other than that, there’s little Cubs news rolling on the wires, so I thought it might be fun to play a little Cubs triva today. Five questions — feel free to leave your answers and any quick-witted comments in the comment box. No cheating (I mean you, WikiGoogle guy). These are all questions off of the top of my head that I have verified to be sure I remembered my facts correctly.
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(Of course, you understand I won’t be posting your comments until later in the day!)
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Question 1: What Cubs pitcher homered in his first plate appearance in 1992?
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Question 2:Â There were three different Cubs coaches from 1993-1995. Who were they?
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Question 3: Mark McGwire hit two historical home runs off of Cubs pitchers. Who gave up homer No. 61 and who gave up homer No. 62? Hint: Awful, and off-and-on awful.
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Question 4: Two historic Cubs feats have taken place on May 9. Name them and the years they occurred.
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Question 5: Turk Wendell surrounded himself with superstitions, but aside from wearing No. 13, there were a series of three superstitions that he executed multiple times each game. Name them.
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Thanks for playing. Check back for the answers in my next blog.
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com
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Kiel from CV prompted the first topic of this blog.
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After Ryan Dempster threw eight innings to earn a beautiful 7-1 win over the White Sox — securing the most satisfying sweep of the season — he asked simply, “Who’s the National League All-Stars’ starting pitcher going to be?”
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Hmmm…
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Brandon Webb has 11 wins, Aaron Cook and Edison Volquez each have 10 wins. Dempster is 9-2 on the season — with two fewer losses than Webb and Cook — and he has a stellar 2.63 ERA.
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Dempster is 9-0 at Wrigley Field and has been one of the most consistent starters for the best team in baseball.
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com,
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What makes a player a true member of the Chicago Cubs? Or any team?
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He’s successful in the clutch. He looks like he “loves the game.” He gets standing ovations from the fans. He wears a Cubs jersey.
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By all of those descriptions, Jim Edmonds is a Cub.
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With two home runs in fourth inning — with back-to-back pals Aramis Ramirez and Mike Fontenot making it an even four bombs in the frame — Edmonds led the Cubs to an 11-7, come-from-behind win over the White Sox at Wrigley Field.
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It led to his first standing ovation at Wrigley. Who would have ever seen that coming?
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com,
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In a pregame interview on Comcast, Ozzie Guillen said, “To tell you the truth, I think the City of Chicago should do something about this place,” talking about Wrigley Field. “I can picture a ballpark the fans will enjoy a little bit more. I think we are spoiled in Cellular Field. We have a great facility out there, and stuff. Coming here, it’s not one of my favorite places to come.”
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That won’t fire up fans at all.
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And this series is about the fans. I know I’ve mused before about what these “rivalry games” really mean to the players, noting that to them there is no added importance. Ryan Dempster confirmed that again for me during his pregame interview. He said, “I know it’s exciting for the fans and for the City of Chicago with both teams being in first place, but it’s just as important no matter who we are playing. A lot of people like to make a big deal about the series, but for us it’s just another game.
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Fans are certainly pumped over the Cubs-Sox series, and I think it only makes sense to blog this one as it goes. Stick with me throughout the game and drop me a few lines of hilarity.
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By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com,
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For the fleetest of moments, it appeared that the Cubs were going to come back to win for the 23rd time this season, which is amazing to think about since they’ve won 44 games this year. But one bad inning and one bad outing by Carlos Marmol did them in.
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Scott “Don’t Call Me Steve” Eyre giving up a grand slam didn’t help, but three of the runs were technically Marmol’s anyway. And to Eyre’s defense, I still have no idea how Carl Crawford managed put his pitch over the wall. It was in on his hands and he didn’t appear, from the replays I saw, to even get halfway extended.
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It didn’t matter anyway. Marmol’s poor outing was too much to overcome, and he’s earned the right to lose a game here or there without having to explain himself.
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So here were are; the glass-half-full in me says, “Hey, the Cubs were bound to get swept at least once. Afterall, they were the only team in baseball that had avoided losing more than two in a row until Friday’s 8-3 loss.” But my half-empty side says, “This don’t look good.” (My half-empty side has poor grammar. It also says things like “That ain’t cool” and “I think this milk is expired.”)
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