Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com

So, the Cubs have been hard to watch lately, and I hadn’t been doing much watching. Not always because I didn’t want to, but I certainly didn’t seek them out. Sometimes you just need a break.

But when it comes to the Cubs and White Sox, you have to watch. After the rainout, and another disappointing loss, Thursday’s 6-5 comeback brought me back.

My schizophrenic Cubs fan friend Jeff has been on a wild ride. He sent me texts of “They just suck” and “Big win!” in a matter of 18 hours.

So when Friday’s debacle began to develop, I was ready for another renouncement. Instead, eight runs over three innings brought me out of the gutter and into the Land of Hope once again, albeit at the expense of Mark DeRosa and Kerry Wood. Read the rest of this entry »

By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com

Oh, hey there. Yeah, it’s been a while (yada, yada, yada, let’s blog now…)

To put it lightly, I have really, really been uninterested in Cubs baseball for the last two weeks. With names like “Andres Blanco” and “Jason Waddell” — oh, and an eight-game losing streak that would make Chuck Norris cry (his tears cure cancer, I’ve heard) — I haven’t been able to muster the desire to watch.

So, when I got a text from a friend Monday night that said, “I hope you’re not watching the Cubs game,” I, of course, tuned in to watch the Cubs game, only to see Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregggggg (mainly the G-man) ruin my night.

It’s true, Kevin Gregg has blown only two saves, but his ceremonial-first-pitch delivery isn’t fooling anyone, and it didn’t fool Jeff Francoeur (that’s Fran-heart in French) with two outs in the ninth.

But, I gave them another chance on Tuesday, and while Ted Lilly got nicked for a game-tying run in the seventh, I was happy to see Micah Hoffpauir get the boys in blue the win, though I wish Lilly would get credit for it. (Angel Guzman pitched well, though, so I’m OK with it.) Read the rest of this entry »

By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com

The Cubs needed a guy that could kinda play third base and that kinda got that guy.

The Andy MacPhail pipeline remains open from Chicago to Baltimore as the Orioles send a guy who was carried off the field after getting hit in the head by a throw to the Cubs for a guy that can jump over parked cars, and can talk about that one time he, like, hit a home run.

Freel has some versatility. He plays more outfield than anything else, but can play second and third — again, a poor man’s Mark DeRosa. Very poor. Like, Enron poor, but nonetheless another backup possibility.

Here’s the book on Freel: .976 overall fielding percentage in 8 seasons — .940 fielding percentage at third base. He’s a .271 career hitter with high marks as follows: HRs (8 in 2006), RBIs (28 in 2004), OBP (.375 in 2004), intentional walks (1 in 2003).

He doesn’t strike out much, but he’s not in Chicago for his bat.

By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com

That just had to be said. First of all, I don’t get the train. Why a train? Really? And, B, there’s a hill and a flag pole IN PLAY in center field! And, 3, get out of here with your 315 down the left-field line. I’ve got guys in my sandlot baseball league that hit the ball farther.

The walls there just feel like they’re all around you. It’s like playing baseball in your living room, only you’re not using balled up tinfoil and one of those mini-wooden bats. (My brother threw one of those through the wall once while doing just that as a kid. Oops.)

OK, I’ll calm down now, ‘cus Alfonso Soriano does seem to like the juice box, even though he didn’t need any help from a short porch. He killed those pitches, and the Cubs wound up needing every single run since Chad Fox is so old. I’m not sure he’s got it in him. He is a good story (one that I typically like), but my job is to be observationally in the present, and he looked anything but a Major League pitcher Thursday night.

He struggled to throw strikes and resorted to simply chucking fastballs down the middle of the plate. I feel bad for him, because he has fought through injury to get back there, and he was pitching close to home, likely in front of family and friends, but you know Lou doesn’t give much slack to his relievers. Read the rest of this entry »

By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com

Rich Harden dug dirt out of his fingernails as he sat between Ryan Dempster and Carlos Zambrano.

“Hey, guys?” he said like a kid about to ask where babies come from. “What… what’s the eighth inning like?”

Dempster drew a long sigh, and smiled.

“It’s like being at the gate of heaven,” Dempster said. “A little further, and you’re there. But there’s always a chance Kevin Gregg is waiting to pull the trap door from under you.”

Zambrano simply rubbed his head and chewed his bubble gum.

Rich Harden, my friend. Welcome to the eighth inning. Read the rest of this entry »

By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com

In the off-season, he’s a substitute teacher. But when he’s not teaching, he’s playing for the Chicago Cubs. He’s Bobby Scales. And his name spelled backwards is Ybbob Selacs (bwuh, ha, ha! <- Harry).

I like a good story. Here’s a guy that has spent over 10 years in the Minor Leagues — you know — just waiting for that call. Then he gets his first career hit in his first career pro game. That came Tuesday against the Giants. He scored a run because of it. Atta-boy, guy I’ve only heard of.

By the way, they kept the ball for him, and when they were throwing it into the dugout, the toss sailed high, bounced off the dugout top, and into the stands. Thankfully, the fan gave it back. (One question, does that happen everywhere? Or, maybe the better question is, does that happen if it’s not Bobby Scales?) Read the rest of this entry »

By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com

I had to endure my buddy Jeff giving me the business on Sunday. He said, “There was this guy, who worked for the paper that used to write this VetoPower blog… blah, blah, blah” (I stopped listening).

Yes, he’s right. I’ve been as absent as a Mel Rojas save lately, and I apologize for that. I don’t get paid to do this. There. The secret’s out. I’m simply crazy enough about the Cubs to donate my time to this blog and allow the paper to host it and place my goofy face with each post. (That’s a perfect swing, though, by the way.)

Anyway, I don’t feel like I’ve missed much. Just some average (ugly at times) .500 baseball, but the time I’ve spent not writing a blog, I’ve been talking friends and fellow Cubs fans off the ledge, while soaking in the badgering of Cardinals fans. Read the rest of this entry »

By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com

We’ve had this conversation before, but it begs resurrecting. We’re all very angry the Cubs are not on T.V.

And they won’t be on T.V. again April 30. But the reasons for the absence of Cubbie blue will be different.

On April 30, WCIU will have the game. That’s a Chicago-only network that is guaranteed rights to a certain number of games each season. Wednesday night, though, caused a stir.

Comcast SportsNetPlus is an auxillary Comcast station that it typically uses when it’s overbooked. The Chicago Blackhawks scored an agreement to have all of its games on television this season. The Hawks played Calgary last night in the playoffs during the Cubs-Reds game. Read the rest of this entry »

By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com

First of all, I love walk offs. And I love to see the Cubs win a division game (and it doesn’t hurt that it’s against the Cardinals, right?)

“Amber” commented about this game in my previous post:

Great win today! Nice to see Kevin Gregg and the bullpen finally do well. Don’t know if you’ve read it before, but you should check out Reed Johnson’s blog, it’s pretty funny.

Yes, it was a great game, and, yes, Gregggg… (ah, what the heck, sprinkle a few more in there… gggggg) wasn’t bad. He does have some tail to that fastball, and when he hits his spots, he is OK. It’s just that so far he has missed his spots more than he’s hit them. But he got the Cubs through a jam in this game, which is nice to see.

As for Reed Johnson’s blog, I haven’t read that yet, and plan to. I knew he took over for Mark DeRosa, but sadly, I haven’t made my way over there yet. I will do so. Read the rest of this entry »

By Matt Veto, mveto@qconline.com

I was too busy watching a no-hitter unfold at Modern Woodmen Park during this disgusting game, so unfortunately, I missed Rich Harden throwing over 90 pitches in three innings of work.

WOW! That’s a lot of pitches. Feel free to mix in a groundball out.

Always fun to see one of your most talented starters give up a two-run single to a pitcher — not to mention a pitcher that used to wear Cubs pin stripes. Jason Marquis… I don’t think anyone should be surprised that he came back and got a win in his return outing against his former team. Read the rest of this entry »