Back in First...To Stay

I really think this is the first day that the Cubs stay in first place, and they will stay there until late September (when the regular season ends). With Zambrano pitching with the precisely right amount of emotion, and his hitting, this team seems poised to go on another roll.

Of course, as Earl Weaver said, momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher.

Cubs Lose Game One, but it's a Best of Five Series

I hate the idea of facing Doug Davis down 1-0.

I would have more to say, but I was too focused on the “Cub fan” right behind home plate who spent the night talking on the phone, putting up signs, chatting up the blonde with his back to the game before bringing attention to himself on the ninth with the flashing light. The downside to HD, I suppose, is seeing that so clearly.

Tough call to take out Zambrano, but I was in support at the time. Leaves Z with a good feeling going into Sunday, and his arm should be fresh. Assuming we get there. Unfortunately, the Cubs were swinging hard and to pull against Webb, and the result was predictable. Piniella’s post-game comments were right on, and Z just as easily could have given up the bomb to Reynolds…

Listen, you guys, this is only the first game. There's a lot of baseball to be played in this series, OK? Let's not gloom-and-doom this thing."

Zambrano NOT to the Rescue

The Cubs followed up their thrilling victory Monday night with a game Tuesday night in a matchup between the Cubs arguably best pitcher against the Reds' best pitcher, Aaron Harang. They knew they still had a whisker-thin one game lead, and were tied in the loss column, so they had to get a win, especially with the Brewers facing a rookie starter.

As they say, Momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher.

Unfortunately, the Cubs were losing before they got a chance to bat. Zambrano, pitching for the first time at Wrigley since he bitched about Cubs fans who booed him, gave up a single to the first batter, hit the next, and eventually gave up two runs in the first inning.

The rest of the game was spent waiting to see if Zambrano would self-immolate and get booed, and it looked like the rest of the team was fighting to keep Zambrano in the game, or at least not be taken out mid-inning to boos, and thus keep the focus on the pennant race, and not one guy. They did not seem to be ready to come from behind again, whcih is why a good start by Zambrano was so critical.

Don't get me wrong, I love Zambrano (really), but you can now tell how he will do by the first inning, if not the first batter. He needs some focus, badly, and it seems he gets it when he's on the road.

Sure, you can say the Cubs lost to a good, if not great pithcer, and they can win the series by winning tonight behind Ted Lilly. They question is, if the Cubs do make the playoffs, should Big Z be your Game One starter?

Still, it's only one game, right? Let's see how he does Sunday against Pittsburgh...

Ugly Day at Wrigley. Real Ugly.

The wife and I went to the game yesterday, leaving the boy with a sitter and hoping to enjoy the first place Cubs and Carlos Zambrano pitching. Things did not go well on the field, and I told the wife as it was imploding that the fans would be booing Carlos and that it would be ugly.

Unfortunately, I was right. From The Tribune:

"I don't accept that the fans were booing at me," a seething Zambrano said afterward. "I can't understand that. You know, I thought these were the greatest fans in baseball. But they showed me today that they just care about them, and that's not fair, because when you're struggling, you want to feel the support of the fans."No, I don't accept it. I just pointed to my head, and I will remember that because I don't want any bad outings. I know the great moments of my career will come."

"[Fans] pay to see a good show," he said. "They pay to see a good pitcher. Right now, I'm not doing too well. I just call [out to] the fans, 'I want a little support.' That's all. When you're struggling, or you have a brother who's struggling, you show him love. You don't show him you want to kick him out. That's what I ask of the fans—a little support." And not only [for] me. I go out there and try to do my best, but not everybody is like Carlos Zambrano [and can] keep his head up and keep trying to do a good job. There are people on this team who are struggling and going down and down …"When you're booing somebody, you're booing the 25 men on this ballclub, and that's not fair. That happened before to some of my teammates, and that's not right. I think we go out there to give Cubs fans a good show and to go to the playoffs, and that's what I want. No one wants to do a bad job. … Every single player in that clubhouse wants to do a great job for the city, believe me."

I tend to agree with the sentiment about booing the home team, and I truly don't doubt his wanting to do well and working hard, but it was real dumb for Zambrano to express it in that situation. As it stands, he will likely have only one more start at Wrigley. Let's just hope that we make the payoffs, and we can make the day just a blip on the radar. Wishful thinking, huh?

Also, why does Joe West make himself part of every game he is in?

Before we sweep the Giants...

I am referring to Paul Sullivan's entry here.

More interesting Barrett stats:

Cubs with Barrett: 32-37 (.464). Cubs after Barrett: 32-24 (.571).
The Padres before Barrett: 41-28 (.594). The Padres with Barrett: 25-30 (.455).
The Padres with Barrett starting: 8-17 (.320). Padres all season with anyone else starting: 58-40 (.592).

Hopefully meaningless Koyie Hill stats:

From June 3-July 16, when the Cubs were 26-12 and the best team in baseball: With Hill catching 13-4, Barrett 5-5, Geovany Soto 2-0 and Rob Bowen 6-3.

Since Jason Kendall arrived: 4-3 with Hill, 12-14 with Kendall.

Going into the week, Kendall's catcher's ERA was near 5.00, while Hill's was 3.02, though Kendall's was a terrific 3.38 with Oakland this season.

Just one more: Carlos Zambrano's OPS against was .523 with Hill, .801 with Kendall and .965 with Barrett.

(from Rozner today)

Interesting Michael Barrett Stats

From today's Rozner column:

Carlos Zambrano in 2007 with Barrett catching him: 2-4, 7.52 ERA, 1.893 WHIP. With anyone else: 12-3, 1.97 ERA, 0.985 WHIP.

Jake Peavy in 2007 with Barrett catching him: 0-4, 4.88 ERA, 1.542 WHIP. With anyone else: 10-1, 1.89 ERA, 1.00 WHIP.

Cubs are 23-11 since they traded Barrett. The Padres are 15-19 since they got him.

This does not include his bitchfest which led to a one game suspension.

All I see are Barrett's Mistakes

Michael Barrett is not the only reason the Cubs lost, but he is part of the reason. He may be a fine offensive player, and may be working hard at his defense, but he is a terrible catcher. Terrible as a handler of pitchers, terrible at blocking pitches, and terrible at the the thinking part of the game.

He is like a reptile, never thinking, but only reacting. The Zambrano thing, the AJ thing, and his less remembered runins with Oswalt and Dave Roberts show that the pattern emerging is not about them, but about Barrett. This has been going on since 2005.

Agreed, you cannot trade Barrett without getting a decent catcher in return, but for this team to win, he must be replaced. Koyie Hill is a terrible hitter, but he has already shown he is more adept as a catcher than Barrett.

Unfortunately, Barrett seems to make his biggest mistakes when the game is most on the line. DH him next week in Texas and Comiskey, please.

Big Z is 11-3

He is surrounded by underacheivers, and he still plays his heart out. Every time out.

Yes, this team is going nowhere, a potential sweep of the Mets notwithstanding.

Big Z's next few projected starts:

July 30 vs. Saint Louis
August 4 vs. Pittsburgh
August 9 at Milwaukee
August 14 at Houston
August 19 vs. Saint Louis

You get the idea...these are the only Cub games worth attending...