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I changed my mind, I'm allowed to do that, right? Anyways, you've got me for two-three hours. I can't commit to the entire game, but I'll give you what I have. Here are the starting lineups:
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Ok, initial thoughts....If the Cubs can't beat this ragged Cardinals lineup....they aren't going to beat anyone. Then again, they just lost two of three to the Pirates.
So here is what happened last week. I was getting ready to go see The Lovely Dentist when the Cubs took the lead on Thursday. It looked like they were going to wrap it up in the 9th with Ryan Dempster, so I stuck around and wrote up a post. It had a beginning, middle and an end. It was pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. The Cubs were just about to take two of three and head to Pittsburgh...things were looking good. Then Dempster imploded and I deleted the whole thing, punched a hole in my wall and headed to see The Lovely Dentist....a few days later and I'm back.
The game is getting ready to start and the weather is...normal? Who cares. Cubs need to win and the Cards are sliding here at the end of their crazy schedule. First pitch is at 3:20 with Ted Lilly going at it against Joel Piniero.....We'll see how this goes
- Len and Bob just said the wind is blowing in so...'expect about ten homers today.' Some chick with a decent rack is singing the Anthem. It doesn't hurt my ears too much.
- As I said before the Cardinals are throwing out a pretty sparse lineup today as they have guys going down quicker than a Catholic Priest with the altar boys. Chris Duncan is out with a sports hernia, Yadi Molina is out, Rolen is out, Pujols is hurting.....and yet they are only three back. The umpires are talking and the Cubs are about to head out onto the field. Pretty decent crowd for a make-up game. I'm sure the Trib Company pulled in some nice coin for this game since people with the original tix had to buy new one's. Great business-ship. Fuck, I'm already making up words and the game hasn't even started.
- Bo Ryan has some circus/soccer socks on, has he worn these all season? Dude looks like a clown. In the Cubs lineup Cliff Floyd is hitting in the clean-up spot in between Lee and Ramirez. I'm sure the Cardinals are really sweating that. First pitch is a ball and I've decided to not give you pitch by pitch updates....Strike zone looks to be fairly liberal today as Lilly's slow curve was called for a strike down low. Ryan hits a can of corn to Soriano for the first out as Soriano does his hop. So Taguchi is up now. He's So.....Taguchi flies out on the first pitch to Soriano as Lilly is putting the 'wind blowing in' theory to a test. Bob says if the Cubs give Pujols anything to hit they need to have their heads examined and Lilly goes 0-2 on him quickly.....Of course after a ball and a foul...Pujols hits a taser to the RCF wall for a double. That's a lot of balls in the air already. The Outfielder for St. Louis has to play today since the Cardinals are down to like 18 players even though a lefty is on the mound. They are talking about his HGH usage right now, boring....Ankiel is 1-10 since the controversy started. Lilly is up 1-2, give him a fastball low and away to put him away Lilly.....he does just that and the ball goes right in between Kendall's legs. Pujols moves to third, 2-2 count. Ankiel is missing his spots a bit today. Getting the ball up in the zone....fastball up in the zone and that's a strikeout. 0-0 halfway through the first.
-Soriano hits the first pitch to Eckstein and he's out. Jacque Jones has 10 RBI's against the Cardinals in 10 games this season...nice stat WGN. Also, Yadi Molina is in the lineup. I had read he was having some concussion syndrome issues, but I guess not. Theriot strikes out on three pitches, this doesn't look good so far. Lee smokes a double down the right field line. It looked like 'the right fielder for St. Louis' might dive for him but he didn't and Lee stays at second with Clifford Floyd up to bat and two outs. They were just showing Sweet Lou's scruffiness factor and the dude needs to shave, badly. Actually, I hope he doesn't shave, let's bring out the hockey playoff beards. Floyd with a busted bat floater over Eckstein and the Cubs are up 1-0.....I'm going to go ahead and say Aramis goes yard here on a flat slider....no go as A-Ram flies out to right field to end the inning. Len and Bob make it a point to let us know that the people in the right field bleachers are really giving it to 'the right fielder for St. Louis'. That's great analysis. At the end of the first it's 1-0 Cubs.
- They just showed a commercial for the AARP and this reminds me that one of my 'friends' is pulling quite a prank on me. For the past four months or so I've been receiving AARP mail about five times a week here at home. Great prank but it's quite annoying. If any of you need a hearing aid let me know, I have coupon's.
- Molina leads it off for the Cardinals and pops out to Jones in short center. What the Hell is this 'Corner Gas' tv show that they keep showing commercials for on WGN? Is it a new show or something in syndication? Either way it looks pretty horrid. Edmonds is up now. I'm convinced he's gay as he hits a bomb to left for a homer to tie up the score.....Aaron Miles is now up and I remember when he was supposed to be the next big thing for the Rockies, that didn't really pan out. Jesus Christ. He pops out to Floyd who looked like he was running like a mummy. Floyd dived, the ball popped out of his glove, DeRosa ran out, picked it up and threw out Miles at second base. Floyd is slow...and old. Fuck that play was like in slow motion. Piniero is up now as LaRuss is hitting him 8th again and he K's on three pitches. 1-1 midway through 2.
-Another commercial for 'Corner Gas'. Someone help me out on this, please....LaRussa is a magician/wizard, do not second guess his lineup! Nice, a commercial for Becker. Who watches that show? 5 NIGHTS A WEEK!!
-DeRosa leads off for the Cubs and pops out to right....Jacque Jones and his 10 RBI's in 10 games against the Cardinals is up now as Len and Bob talk about travel schedules like they work for Orbitz or something. Jones K's on a nasty 'change' ....at least that's what Len said. Holy crap! They just showed an African American male at Wrigley Field, that should lead in the Chicago Tribune tomorrow. Kendall flies out to the track in center as Edmonds glides over there like a fairy to catch it. Three outs. 1-1 after 2.
- I bought a PUR Water Filter system thingy earlier today. It's not one of those things that goes on your kitchen faucet, instead it holds over a gallon of water in your fridge. Quite tasty stuff....if water had taste. You know what I mean. Cubs/Astros on WGN Wednesday Night...
-David Eckstein is up and he is tiny. Len talks about the dude playing catch with the screen behind home plate because none of his teammates will do it. Poor fella. Eckstein flies one down the LF line as Soriano nearly died running over the bullpen mound. Soriano runs like a gazelle. If a gazelle had three legs and was shot twice. Eckstein grounds out to A-Ram for the first out. Top of the order again and Bo Ryan. Ryan grounds out to Ramirez as he broke his bat. Eckstein broke his too. Len is giddy like a school girl. Taguchi lines out to Soriano to end the inning. 1-1, halfway through the third.
-Another AARP commercial showing some old dude hitting a lay-up. I'd totally swat that crap. Old school Soul Train is back on WGN on Saturday's..
-Lilly leads it off for the Cubs. Let's hope he doesn't have to bunt. If you thought Lilly trying to bunt was bad, you should have seen him trying to hit just now. He K's and Soriano is up. He just gets under it and flies out to the warning track in left. They just said Trachsel is going to pitch Thursday Night in Houston and Zambrano is going to be pushed back to start the series against the Cardinals on Thursday. Theriot looks lost up there, if they could give him a couple of days off I think they would. He pushes the count to 3-2 and flies out to center to end the inning. 1-1 after three innings.
- Pujols leads off for the Cardinals and is down 0-2...again. He did this in the first at-bat. Can't WGN hire me to do play-by -play. Lilly just k'd Pujols but the umpire failed to call it. 1-2 count. Pujols is just fouling off a bunch of pitches. I feel like an astronaut typing this up. Am I even allowed to go to the bathroom? Pujols flies out to Jones in right center, one down. I seriously believe I just heard an HGH chant. Lilly strikes out that dude looking, two down. I like Yadi Molina, I won't lie. Any catcher that can hold baserunners at bay are golden in my book. We had a couple of cameo's on the comment board from ATHooks from Cardinals Diaspora and MCBias, what's up jokers? Molina grounds out, still 1-1. I like the pace of which this game is being played.
-I can't make this stuff up. WGN just showed a commercial for 'Corner Gas' Bobbleheads. I shit you not. Also, Erin is starring on the comment board, that must be said, she's the best.
-D Lee goes yard to lead off the 4th, 2-1 Cubbies. Floyd pops out to Miles, one down. They just showed that Molina was very upset as soon as Lee hit that homer, obviously Piniero missed his spot badly. Outside of Sheffield and A-Ram, does anyone swing the bat harder in MLB? Speaking of, he goes yard, 3-1 Cubbies!! I kind of called that, except it was in his last at-bat....DeRosa smokes one into left for a single. I'm guessing that the Cards are going to have Mike Maroth up in the bullpen soon. The Cubs have as many homers in September already as they had in August. Nice stat. If I were a pitcher I'd throw Jacque Jones nothing put crummy curve balls, he is not good with those. He actually bangs one off the wall in center and DeRosa scores on the double, 4-1 Cubs. Yes, it was on a hanging off-speed pitch. They sent DeRosa home specifically because Eckstein received the relay. Nice job by third base coach Mike Quade...Some dude with a name like Cerveza gets up in the pen for the Cardinals as Kendall comes up to hit. I'd like a beer right now. Kendall smokes one down the left field line as Jones scores easily, 5-1 Cubbies....For those of you keeping score...Jacque Jones wears uniform #11 and now has 11 RBI's in 11 games against the Cardinals this season. Holy shit, Ted Lilly hits a double and now it's 6-1!!! I guess when it rains it pours....Piniero is done for the day as LaRussa does not look happy at all. Also, it looks like it might rain at Wrigley soon. WGN has a lot of second rate movies it will be showing this Fall. Great programming. They should just let me run the station. Can we start a petition for that please? Some dude named Andy Cavazos is pitching for the Cardinals against Soriano. The Cubs will bat around this inning. This Cervazos dude doesn't have much....which means he'll probably shut down the Cubs. Let's keep an eye on how tired Lilly is next inning after running the bases. Full count to Sori...Apparently Ted Lilly is out there jumping around at second base like he's going to steal third and it's bothering Cavazos...doesn't he realize he's the pitcher? This has been a long half inning. Soriano finally walks to bring up Theriot. Six hitters in a row have reached base for the Cubs. This guy is really struggling to throw strikes as they show the Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan in the dugout. A few years from now he's going to look like Yoda....This guy is like the human rain delay when he pitches. He must get daily tips from Steve Trachsel. I believe time actually started going backwards there for a moment. Theriot lines one to Pujols for an out and Lou Brock Ted Lilly gets doubled off second to end the inning. 6-1 Cubs after 4.
-Bruce, if you die in your dreams you do not die in real life. Promise. Yes, another AARP commercial...
- Edmonds grounds out on the first pitch to Lee as Edmonds didn't even run down to first. Great hustle, whore. Sounds like it's going to rain and if that happens I'll probably stop this as I have a softball game at some point tonight. Miles K's for the second out. The Beastie Boys are coming to Chicago on Sept. 27th.....nice....one thing about Len and Bob is that they know their music pretty well. Cavazos is out and there are going to be a lot of roster changes today it seems. Some dude named Barden lines out to Jones in center to end the Cards half of the 5th. 6-1 Cubs.
-The Cubs had five extra base hits last inning, that makes scoring easy....D-Lee leads off the fifth against some dude named Falkenborg. This is a tall dude...he's actually 6-6. Lee flies out as the Cubs put their bats away so they can get the game over with quickly. Floyd comes up and walks. Here comes A-Ram. He smokes on to center and Edmonds tries to glide after it and catch it over his shoulder.....he can't catch up and it's a double with Floyd moving to third with one out. The infield is in and DeRosa in his ribcage. He's pissed and he might be hurt. He's not even walking to first. He is absolutely pissed. This could make the game interesting because you know Lilly will be hitting someone on the Cardinals, which would make for a suspension probably. Fuck, let's just get out of this game guys. Jones is up with the bases loaded and one out....Jones just missed a 2-1 change-up....if he would have hit that one it would still be in the air. This is going to screw up all of their stats on Jones as he now has 12 RBI's in 11 games against the Cardinals. If the Cardinals lose this game they'll be 3 1/2 games behind the Brewers, that's dangerously close to being out of the race at this point. Kendall flies out to right and there is no way the Cubs are running on that guy, he has a cannon. Lilly is up with the bases loaded and two outs. Lilly K's as it's now 7-1 heading into the 6th inning.
-Welcome Klompus, I figured you were at the game. I don't know about Lilly for Cy Young...I guess he'll get some 10th or 11th place votes, maybe. Bob keeps saying he's been the most consistent pitcher for the Cubs. If he wins today he'll be 9-1 after Cubs losses this season.
-Eckstein leads off the 6th for the Cards and he ropes one down the right field line for a double as Floyd drops his walker and cane for a moment to chase a ball. The grounds crew is out and ready to put the tarp on the field. Bo Ryan is up with his crazy socks. Ryan flies out to Soriano. How does he do those hops when he catches those flyballs? Does anyone choke up on the bat more than So Taguchi? Lilly comes way up and in on Taguchi. I think that sends the right message. Then Taguchi hits a 2-run bomb....I guess he just sent his own message. 7-3 Cubs. Pujols flies out to Jones for the second out of the inning and it's raining. Lilly K's 'the right fielder for St. Louis' to end the inning...7-3 Cubs.
-Soriano leads off the 6th for the Cubs as Kelvin Jimenez comes in to pitch for the Cardinals. Soriano lines one to left for a single....Theriot just fouled one off of his ankle, that looked like it hurt quite a bit. I never did that when I played ball. That being said, I'll probably do it tonight at my softball game. Theriot grounds into a 4-6-3 double play and Lee is up again with two outs. Speaking of wearing sunglasses at night....First, Lee gets a single and he's now a triple away from the cycle. Back to the sunglasses...I watched, "The 'Burbs" with Tom Hanks and Corey Feldman in it over the weekend. I know it's Corey Hart that has the 'sunglasses at night' thing but I had to mention that. That's a great movie to watch if you are looking to waste an afternoon. Floyd grounds out and that's the end of the 6th inning, 7-3 Cubs.
-Molina flies out to Soriano to start the 7th....Hmmm...who will sing the 7th inning stretch??? Edmonds strikes out and goes to work on his blond hair tips. Miles is up as Bob starts running through all the 'Happy Birthday's". Lilly K's Miles looking as Ron Santo is singing for the stretch....He has two bionic legs to match his two bionic peckers...What? He swaps them out depending on what he has scheduled for that day. Oh yeah, Cubs are up 7-3.
-A-Ram hits a double to lead off the inning....let's not get anyone hurt guys. Bobby Howry is up in the pen for the Cubs and Anthony Reyes is up for the Cards. DeRosa grounds out to third for the first out. The Cards intentionally walk Jacque Jones...you know, because he has 12 RBI's in 11 games against the Cardinals this season. That brings up Jason Kendall with a man on 1st and 2nd and one out. The Cardinals have completely slowed this game down, it's horrendous. Jimenez hits Kendall (obviously not on purpose) and it loads the bases. Ted Lilly's day is done as Daryle Ward comes on to pitch-hit in the hopes of putting the game out of reach. They just said Ward had fluid from his stomach drained today because he's pregnant...Ok, I just made that up. He had fluid from his knee drained. Passed ball on Molina and A-Ram scores, 8-3 Cubs. Right through the wickets there. Men on 2nd and 3rd for the Cubs. Last time I was at a Cubs/Cards game, Ward hit a grand slam...no homer here as he walks to load the bases...again with Soriano up to hit. Soriano flies out to shallow left and the runners couldn't advance. I think the home plate ump may have had his arm/shoulder broken on that play. Soriano's bat broke and the barrel hit Ed Rapuano pretty hard, pretty quickly. That looked nasty. They should just show that replay at full speed, that was pretty bad. He's staying in the game though. Bases loaded, two outs and Theriot is up. Theriot grounds out and we are done with 7 innings, 8-3 Cubs. Bobby Howry is on to pitch.
-One pitch, one out as Miguel Cairo grounds out to Ryan Theriot. DeRosa came out of the game, he might be scraped up a bit. Eckstein flies out to right field as Jones has moved over there with Pie taking over center. Two outs....now we are moving along. Let's hope they keep this up. That Skip Schumacher dude pinch-hits and strikes out on three pitches. Let's get this game over with.
-Mike Maroth is in for the Cardinals. This guy is just the opposite of quality. D-Lee needs a triple here for the cycle. How about hit it and just keep running until they tag you out? Lee flies out to left and before I could write that, Felix Pie comes up and grounds out to second base. Two outs. A-Ram goes yard again, 9-3 Cubs. I called that one too, except it was earlier in the game. Mike Fontenot makes an appearance and hits a single up the middle. Still two outs. A-Ram absolutely blasted that. The wind is blowing in like 1400 mph...Jones slices a single into right and the Cubs now have 16 hits today. Kendall grounds to Eckstein but the little guy can't make a good throw to first and Kendall reaches on an error. Craig Monroe comes up to pinch hit so Marmol will pitch in the 9th. There is a wild pitch and it's now 10-3. Bob is saying this is the worst performance he's ever seen by Molina. They may want to take another look at that concussion stuff...Monroe hits a single and it's now 12-3. This is getting out of hand. If this were a boxing match the ref would have stopped it. A fly out to right ends the 8th, 12-3 Cubs...
-Pujols is up in the 9th for the Cards, what are the chances he gets plunked? Len and Bob have been talking about it for the past two innings. Unfortunately, it looks like Carlos Marmol is coming on to pitch the 9th and we don't want him to get suspended.
-Alright, I have to run...I'll wrap this up when I get back..
-Well, Michael Wuertz came on in the 9th to close out the game but he made it interesting by walking two hitters. He went on to strike out the side and give the Cubs the victory. This was an excellent victory for the Cubs and I'm hoping a confidence booster for them heading into the rest of the week.
There are times when one team has another teams number and it just seems that's the case with the Cubs and Cardinals this season. One way or another the Cubs are finding a way to beat them and it's fun to watch. With four games remaining against the Cardinals, let's hope the Cubs keep this up. It looks like Milwaukee is down by two in the sixth inning of their game, so the Cubs may be back in first by the time the night is over...
"Where's that been? That was a thing of beauty. We hit the ball for
power. We hit the ball in the gaps. We hit the ball with men in scoring
position," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "A game like this can really
get you going."
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42 Comments
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2008 Cubs Preview
wow, racks, priest pedophilia jokes and using the f word. All my favorites in three paragraphs.
hopefully that's just the beginning...
good stuff jack...Damn Jim Edmonds! Lynn and Bob seem to be on top of their game today...nice
and why can't they just bat the pitcher ninth?
I bet no one is playing a prank on you, Jack. AARP likes to start early. My girlfriend started getting stuff when she was about 32. Strange, but true.
Damn AARP....I do have to say I'm a bit intrigued.
Jack, here's what I found:
http://www.cornergas.com/
It appears to be Canadian (or at least set in Canada), so that tells me all I need to know about it.
Isn't Orbitz a gum? Got a dirty mouth, Clean it up with Orbitz
Those Canadians and their 'dark humor'....
Here's a tip: Click on the "about the TV show" link and then scroll down halfway to watch the clip.
Be prepared to bust a gut laughing.
no, no you can get travel arrangements through Orbitz right?
Orbitz is for travel. Orbit is the gum.
Oh, and strangely enough, Orbit is apparently from a gum manufacturer named Wrigley.
Erin you are like a living Jeopardy Machine.
I just know how to use "the Google". And I can type quickly.
I retract my compliment. Cheater.
THanks for clearing up the orbit vs. orbitz thing!
For the record, I knew the Orbit/Orbitz thing without looking it up. I just Googled it and happened to find the Wrigley connection. So, maybe I can get that compliment back.
Oh, yes, compliment returned...nice work
Looking at the MLB Gametracker at work, the picture of Ted Lilly they have makes me want to slap his face. That is all.
ATH
I just wanted to prove that I was here on this special day of Jack Cobra live-blogging. We all know how it's going to end already; with a Rick Ankiel circus catch to win the game, after which Rick will point to his biceps as if he's injecting something. :-p
maybe your AARP book has discount coupons for depends to wear while live blogging
don't let him fool you erin, he and I once had a "who can quote Red Dawn better" competition and it turned out he was using IMDB. BASTARD.
Baddaboom!!
I use imdb.com liberally. I don't deny that, it's a great site.
true true, you ready to play ball tonight?
If this game gets over in time for me to go.
if you die in your dreams are you supposed to die in real life?
You might not have to wait for it to be over. If your pitcher is hitting doubles, chances are pretty good you're going to win.
Of course, we never know what people are dreaming when they die in their sleep.
Hey Hey!!!
sorry im joining late, Jack.
great game so far (obviously) lets keep it up. Shouldnt Lilly be in contention for the Cy Young. he'll get a few votes, im not saying he should win it; but seriously he should get some votes.
This is random, but I forgot to mention it during the Cubs/Dodgers series. I was listening to one of the games on the radio, and there was a foul ball. Charlie Steiner noted that James Loney was going over near the dugout, and Loney caught the ball, taking it from "a fan in a pink hat." Must be the same one you guys have mentioned a few times.
I'm late getting here because I had to work. I know, I know, I'm whining.
Gianluca, TLR bats the pitcher 8th because.....well, I don't rightly know. I reckon he thinks it's cool to deviate from the accepted, revered, and time-honored norm.
Jack,
All day, the Brewers' flag in center field has been dropped straight down, apparently stuck on something. All the rest are blowing in the wind, but the Brewers' flag is stagnant. I think it's an omen.
Yep....the Brewers can't get it up. They have problems....
apparently it's also cool to wear shades at night and pass out in your idling SUV.
I wore shades at night once. . .when I had left my other glasses at home. Safer for me to drive with the shades. But I didn't pass out.
Cards announcers on FSN said they never saw anyone hit a foul ball off the back of their back leg. They also thought Lou should pull him and I agree.
four words that both scare and suprise: Ted Lilly staff ace
Ankiel's throw from the corner was unreal. It's like he's superhuman or on some kind of.....oh wait, nevermind.
I believe Ward's nickname in high school was amniocentisis
Ummm... am I late?
Damn. The empty beer cups tell me the game ended already.