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.
Len Kasper said he was “Shaking the rust off,” but he has thrown well in 11 games in Triple-A and the mound is the same distance there as it is in the Show. I hope he can rebound and shove this rant in my face.
So, they had to go to Kevin Gregg who managed to get the final two outs. My brother made me laugh Thursday when he said, “Kevin Gregg looks like he’s always throwing out a ceremonial first pitch.” That’s hilarious, because it’s true! He doesn’t bend at the waist. Just shot puts it.
Anyway, good win, rant aside. They needed it. Randy Wells gets his first start today.
How about the question of the day: What’s the most memorable autograph you’ve gotten? And I’m not necessarily looking for a big name, I’ll take a funny moment or circumstance.
I’ve never been a big autograph guy — in fact I haven’t asked for one since I started studying journalism — but when I was a kid I remember running across the street to the less-important Cubs players lot to get an autograph from Hector Villanueva through the window of his SUV, while Spanish music pumped loudly through his speakers.
