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Bob Brenly sings in QC; A-Ram walks off (Cubs 7, Cardinals 5, 11 in.)

Posted 4/18/2009, 10:09PM, by Matt Veto

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.

As for external Cubs happenings… fans at Modern Woodmen Park Saturday night got a surprise when Bob Brenly was introduced as the “celebrity” seventh-inning stretch singer. (To illustrate the caliber of their “celebrities” so far, they have asked me to sing.) With Fox taking the Cubs-Cards Saturday, and ESPN broadcasting Sunday’s game, he slipped in town to watch his son Michael play for the Peoria Chiefs, so he really kind of fell in their lap.

I was able to talk to him before the game. We talked mainly about his son – just the process of becoming a fan and father instead of coach and mentor. He said “It’s his turn,” really kind of passing the torch and letting him run with it.

First impressions? He really seems as genuine in person as he comes across on television. I think he is a legitimately friendly guy. He’s not at all intimidating to the average fan as he was quick to chat with folks that recognized him. When Ryne Sandberg was here, I think fans were a bit more nervous, and he was a bit more standoffish.

What sealed it for me was his taking the time to sing “Take me out to the ballgame” while he is visiting mainly to watch his son. I think that speaks volumes.

He’ll be at the game Sunday, too.

Comments

I like Brenly, glad to hear you felt he is as down to earth as he seems to be on the broadcast.

We were at Saturday’s Cub-Cardinal game. Kind of fun when your team is the one coming from behind and winning in extras. The day was really nice. Probably in the 60’s at Wrigley and not much of a wind at all. One of the more pleasant April days I’ve spent there.

Bullpens? Wow. What is going on with Neal Cotts? Not sure I’d want to be him in his next conversation with Lou. Eight pitches, none all that close to the strike zone? Come on, this is the bigs. Do we need a lefty in the bullpen? I heard someone on the radio suggest that if you wouldn’t keep the guy if he was right handed, perhaps you shouldn’t keep him because he’s left handed.

Not sure the Cardinals are real happy with their bullpen either, so that was sort of a war of attrition.

Posted by DLReynolds on 4/21/2009, at 3:45 pm

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