Bleed Cubbie Blue

Hopefully

The Ricketts-era Cubs won’t fail as badly

Well, it's not the Ricketts Era yet...

Careful with those rational arguments - you'll spill my Kool-Aid.

LOL

But seriously, the Ricketts Era officially begins on Opening Day 2010.

Al Yellon - August 21, 2009 reply

Speaking of Miles

I haven’t seen any of the kids in the LLWS say he is their favorite player. Interesting.

but somehow, Jason Marquis has been mentioned a few times.

A few?

indeed.

Apparently he played in one of the Little Leagues, so most of the kids have been mentioning him as their favorite player.

Plus Marquis is an actually pretty good at baseball.

yeah, but to chosen by multiple Little Leaguers as their favorite player?

He is from their town and played in the same little league.

He even pitched in the llws for that league.

Yeah, I know.

It’s cool for Marquis, I’m sure.

For what?

A growth spurt?

The Cubs have faced only 26 lefthanded starters so far this year — that’s the fewest in either league (most: Rays and Royals, 45). They are 13-13 in those games

i guess the cubs need to get more right handed

Don't give them anymore ideas like that.

DudeVf11 - August 21, 2009 reply

Caption

Theriot: “Awe, not ANOTHER missed tag. SWL is gonna be killing me on BCB tonight”!

Kick some ass Wells!

And Miles? You can kiss my ass.

So is this going to be good preview or bad preview?

I just finished reading that 900+ comment behemoth summary. What started out as a good recap in the morning turned into a real recrap by this afternoon. Hopefully everyone got it out of their system…

Oh, and let the Randy Randy humor begin – after all, this is Bleed Cubbie Blue…

I couldn't even bring myself to venture in there

I think it was already at 500 comments when I logged on

chitownhawkeye - August 21, 2009 reply

Only an idiot criticizes Zambrano

He’s one of the few guys who actually acts like he gives a F++K as to what happens on the field.

GeoMak - August 21, 2009 reply

Yabbut...

…he brings a lot of the crap on himself.

cubswynn - August 21, 2009 reply

I agree he gives 100%

however, he can be a knucklehead from time to time – and deserves to be criticized for it.

I agree

he can be a knucklehead sometimes.

However, I’ll take that over (ahem) some guys who look like they’re sleepwalking (or on a siesta).

I’m 53. I was 13 years old during the summer of ’69.
My favorite player at that time was Ron Santo.

Old Ronnie used to get criticized too, for being too emotional (much like Zambrano).

Personally, I can live with those guys (even at their worst).

GeoMak - August 21, 2009 reply

I definitely want him on the team,

especially over some of those guys who are sleepwalking.

I just think he can grow up a tad bit. He’s been in for nine years now.

Cmon Dude

he’s done plenty to be criticized for. We don’t all drink at the trough of endless Zambrano love

Illicat - August 21, 2009 reply

These troughs?

I'd rather watch Zambrano go ballistic

than watch Soriano take about FIVE minutes to walk back to the dugout, after a horrible strikeout (a ball five feet outside) to lead off a (playoff?) game.

GeoMak - August 21, 2009 reply

If Slezak wants to see lazy, she should come out to Waveland & Kenmore during a game - I'll show her lazy.

Heck, I’ll even take my shirt off – she’ll be scarred for life! ;-)

Yeah, but can you give her two tickets

to the gun show?

sadly no - my days of "whatcha gonna do when these 24-inch pythons are wrapped around you" are over.

Evidently eating vitamins and saying prayers only last for so long…

LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN' BROTHER

I’ve been hangin and bangin all around LA, and all the Zambranomaniacs are asking me, “Zambrano! What do we do if there’s and earthquake and we fall into the ocean.” Well the Z’ster is gonna say his prayers, and take his vitamins, and he’s going to have all the 1000s of people in LA pile on, and then we’re gonna backstroke to safety brother. Then, the Z’ster is gonna part the ocean, straight to the ballpark, and we’re gonna step to the plate, and get our business done. So Wolf, WHATCHA GONNA DO, WHEN THE Z’STER, THE CUBS, LA, AND THE 24 INCH PYTHONS RUN WILD OVER YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU!

Wow - you weren't kidding. Z really does have 24 inch pythons...

Wow

I never realized how much Z looks like Batista. And, can you believe that guy there is in his 40s? Unreal.

I can't believe anyone's talking about "wrestling."

Well guess what

I am.

Right there with ya, brudda

Yeah I see that

chuckling***

CAN YOU SEE

THE POWAH

THE WARRIAH?!?

Ahem...of, not oh... :)

I used to watch wrestling, for sure.

Ultimate Warrior, Iron Sheik, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, George “the animal” Steele, etc.

Jake The Snake...

Brutus the Barber Beefcake, Million Dollar Man, Macho Man. Classic.

Randy Poffo!

My father-in-law played baseball with him back around their high school days

DO YOU SMELL

WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKING?

I'm a jet flyin'

Limousine riding, kiss stealing, wheeling dealing, SON OF A GUN!

IF YOU WANT TO BEAT THE MAN…

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

YOU GOTTA BEAT THE MAN!

It’s a bummer my wife is coming home tonight because now I really want to watch some wrestling DVDs.

♪♫ Shootin' at the walls of heartache, bang, bang, I am the warrior ♫♪

DX is coming back.

yeah, it cracked me up when Batista first came on the scene

I was like – Hey, that’s Zambrano out there! ;-)

Rec'd.

Just because I got nostalgic there for a moment.

The last wrestling I watched was when I went to the last Wrestlemania in Detroit

And oddly enough, the wrestling I remember the most, is the stuff I watched as a kid. Sometimes, I really want to do a podcast just to talk about the Cubs, quote movies, and quote old school wrestling promos. I don’t know how good that would be, but it would be fun.

santoswoodenlegs - August 21, 2009 reply

the only era of wrestling I can enjoy...

when Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik would come out and sing their national anthems...

…oh man, that was good stuff.

I crack up thinking about that

and Hulk Hogan

was the good guy…

Indeed.

Is that Hawk head-butting the Soviet flag? Nice.

Hogan

Sorry - I meant Hulk!

I’m watching the Sox game and Hawk’s voice burrowed its way into my brain…

now

Hulk Hogan wresting Hawk Harrelson. That I’d pay to see.

Mercy!

He gone - for good!

Hawk & Animal??

jthack - August 21, 2009 reply

"We dine on danger and snack on death!"

Quite possibly the best wrestling credo ever for arguably the best tag-team in wrestling history – the Road Warriors.

Oh, and they had the best entrance music of all time – “Iron Man”

How many games do the Cubs have left against the Cards? 3?

teacher tom - August 21, 2009 reply

Yes

So we just need to...

Get the lead down to 3 by then, and then we control our own destiny! : /

3 I think,,,,mid Sep..

cozmotaylor123 - August 21, 2009 reply

Good luck tonight Wells.

CTL showed Carlos being interviewed and asked about Carol’s statement. He didn’t seem all that upset more teasing I guess. He invited her to be there Tues. and the guys on the panel said she will be there. That should be interesting.

sue369 - August 21, 2009 reply

Any hope of Sori NOT playing tonight ?

I thought someone had the lineup posted in the Ricketts thread

If I remember right, its'

THeriot
Bradley
Lee
Aramis
Baker
SOriOhNo
Soto
Fuld
Wells

Well Fuld is nice

But Fuld and Fox or Dome and Fox without Soriano would be MUCH better. Seriously batters are being INTENTIONALLY walked
to get to him he swings at balls two feet outside of the plate with the bases loaded what does he have to do for Lou to bench for
at LEAST a game or two ?

Those swings at those pitch outs

was some of the worst baseball I’ve ever seen.

lol

pitchouts is about right.

They were too!

It was insane. On that first one, I thought, “well, OK, I probably wouldn’t have done that, but maybe he saw something I didn’t see.” And then he did it again!!! At that point, I kinda tuned out of the game and out of the discussion on here.

Well you can crap in one hand...

What's going on with that other hand?

it's reaching clear across the other side of the bathroom for the toilet paper...

…and missing.

That is not good

Not good at all…

Whiffing at a slider that lands in the LH's box.

Here's the lineup, per Twittermeyer

Lineup vs, LH Wolf: riot, milt, lee, rami, baker, sori, soto, fuld, wells.

Cue the Price is Right fail music

Can't we find a way to get Fox in the lineup everyday?!

cubswynn - August 21, 2009 reply

sure

but it would involve removing an ice-cold Soriano from the lineup.

Either there or RF.

Whatever it takes, let’s find out if this guy is for real or not.

cubswynn - August 21, 2009 reply

I'm all for it.

pulling Milton Bradley

out of this lineup is not a good idea.

No it isn't

But pulling your boy Soriano would be an excellent idea.

how about pulling my finger? ;-)

You're on fire tonight

hee

sue369 - August 21, 2009 reply

pay attention

I called for him to be benched yesterday and this morning.

Sorry glad you came over the dark side

I believe something is wrong with him, physical ,mental or a combination. This is NOT a slump or a natural decline because of age. While one might have foreseen SOME drop off he is too good an athlete for what is happening now. Whatever it is keeping in the lineup is not helping.

Or behind the plate

describing

Sori as ice cold is an insult to ice.

Slakkr - August 21, 2009 via mobile reply

dry ice?

timeforachange2009 - August 21, 2009 reply

Al.......

Slezak’s column was spot on.

It was not a cheap shop. BigZ, IMHO, is paid to win games. He can’t win games if he is not in the best physical condition. BigZ let his teammates and the fans down by failing to maintain proper conditioning. You can’t be the leader of the staff if you are injured.

♪♫ That's when I fell for... The Leader of the Pack... (vrooom vrooom) ♪♫

In defense of Z...

I have a bulging disc as well, and no amount of core/ab/low back work is going to stop it from flaring up from time to time. It’s the nature of the beast. He’s shown over the past 5 years that he can win games, and take the ball for over 200 innings and 30+ starts.

yeah but

i except my ace to win 30 games, era under 2.5 and never get hurt

expect except

meh

timeforachange2009 - August 21, 2009 reply

Ok.....

I’ll bite. I don’t expect to have my ace win 30 games and have an era under 2.5. I also know that injuries happen. IMHO, BigZ’s are preventable.

I like Z. I wish he would have as much passion towards working out as he does for the game. That is all I am trying to say……..

As for having a bulging disk, I do as well. I have also had two fractures at L5. I have found that the more work AB work, chiropractor visits and traction that I do improves my mobility and allows me to function. Bottom line is that if I do my exercises I feel fine. I was able to ride in a Humvee for 8+ hours a day in Fallujah without pain because of my treatment regime………

You're lucky...

Because the bulging disc was not preventable, and although the symptoms can be controlled to some extent in some with pre-hab/re-hab exercises, there are times they flare up regardless. His shoulder issue last season… was that preventable too?

You simply don’t have the success Zambrano’s had without working hard.

timeforachange2009 - August 21, 2009 reply

Really.........

there are plenty of players who have had success early but tailed off quickly because they would not keep up with their program.

IMHO, when you are young, some players are able to get by on their talent. As they get older and their bodies change, they need more. I happen to think this is happening to BigZ.

As for his shoulder, I do not know what caused it. Many times a shoulder injury is a result of another injury.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like BigZ. I want the best for him and the team. The latter will not occur without him on the field.

Odd as it may sound

It is overcast here in LA and there are scattered showers in the area. Don’t think the game will be rained out, but it is a change from the norm for this time of year.

GO CUBS!

JFCubFan - August 21, 2009 reply

That's VERY strange for southern California in mid-August.

Al Yellon - August 21, 2009 reply

good luck wells...i'll be watching

Sandburg23 - August 21, 2009 reply

nice ballhawk...

good call

Sandburg23 - August 21, 2009 reply

I'm just the warmup act - SWL does the main show...

SoriOhNo is .171 vs LHP with 2 HR and a .531 OPS this year.

Look, Lou.. you know what I want you to do? Sit him a lot for 2009. Teach him a new hitting approach in the off season – get some value out of him for the next five years. But stop trotting him out there this year, especially vs LHPs. Yes, there’s lots of difficult management decisions for you to make, but this ain’t one of them.

agreed...and let Von Joshua do his job

Sandburg23 - August 21, 2009 reply

Haven't heard much about Joshua since he came on. Is Lou meddling?

but he is a STAR, fans expect to see him

or so Lou said last year when the idea of just benching in the 9th for defensive reasons came up.

Z was getting torn apart on The Score...

Today by McNeil and that other d-bag. They called his comments directed at Slezak disgusting and inappropriate. If anyone heard Z’s interview, he was 100% kidding with the reporters and having fun with the situation.

see

this is your mistake, for listening to the Score. :D

It's mostly just for background noise at work...

But stuff like this catches my attention.

I saw Carlos interview

and it seemed he was more teasing/kidding than anything.

sue369 - August 21, 2009 reply

Favre's Night:

1 for 4 for four yards and a 39.6 passer rating.. No sacks, but a couple of emergency timeouts to change his depends after some hurries.

Is it on TV?

Not sure.. You can find it on the web if you know where to look..

I just checked the yahoo sports page for updated stats.

Here in Fargo it is

Dunno about y’all, tho

Thanks

We have Tennessee-Dallas here. Very incongruous game selection.

Didn't care anyway

Watched a couple of episodes of “Lock ’n Load with R. Lee Ermey”, tho. Fun stuff there.

Favre?

Favre who? Never heard of him… is he a rookie?

Yeah

The Falcons drafted him

As much crap as I'd like to shoot down to Bears and Packers fans

my Vikings are gonna suck this year.

Good news and bad news for the vikings tonight..

They sacked Cassel three times, but he still figured out their LB’s and secondary. 10-0 Chiefs with the starters in. KC 135 yds to MN 20.

Ouch

2-14, just because they play the Lions twice…

Really?

Some in the Chicago media would like to anoint them NFC North Champs already.

Man, I'd love to be wrong

but just look at last year’s Jets. Granted, those Jets didn’t have one Adrian Peterson, but still. Favre will be a detriment to the team.

BLou has already said they're going to mop up the North

So it’s true.

Mike Martin - August 21, 2009 reply

The Southern Miss kid?

Yeah

Only reason he’s playing in the first place is ’cuz his dad was the HS football coach. 10-1 says he ends up with a drinking problem.

San Diego Smooth Jazz Man - August 21, 2009 reply

Slight chance of rain tomorrow, too

This is the stuff that floats up from Mexico and usually is described as the “monsoonal rains” of AZ. PHX gets this stuff in the summertime a lot. Not SoCal. It will be gone by Sunday.

But I’m not pleased with a threat of rain when I’m driving 120 miles tomorrow!!!

Guess we should be glad

its only rain, he he.

eswan9 - August 21, 2009 reply

I'm not gonna be around tonight...

dinner with my family sounds better than what the Cubs might give me.

Later my peeps.

santoswoodenlegs - August 21, 2009 reply

Happy dining.. Hopefully we won't end up with too much indigestion on this end.

Hope you're not having what this peep had...

Peep mafia

eh?

chitownhawkeye - August 21, 2009 reply

Do you draw funny pictures for them...

On the dinner napkins?

And on that note, after quoting pro wrestlers

I’m outta here. Take care everybody! Be excellent to each other.

Later

If you're bored waiting for the game

AMC would like to remind you that there is no Dana, only Zuul

OK see ya later! I'll do your taxes!

And now from the other end of the spectrum...

…My Network (Ch. 50 in Chicago) would like to remind you that Friday Night Smackdown is on now. If you hurry, you can see a women’s tag-team match.

Are they as hot

As Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts?

two of them were much hotter.

the other two… well, i won’t say how they looked because I’m afraid they’ll find out about it and hunt me down and kick the crap out of me. And believe me, they could. Manny wishes he was using what those two use…

It’s predictably anticlimactic

I read Paul Sullivan's "suggestions" to Ricketts so you don't have to.

Basically, the best suggestion is cheaper ticket prices and cheaper beer. He suggests trading z, talking Lou into staying, and getting rid of Hendry and Kenney. A bunch of uninlligable prattle about team shrinks and Jumbotrons wraps up the latest attempt at journalism over at the Tribune.

What did you expect from a raging

Ron interviewing Piniella

Ronsi: Last night, you sucked. RISP with bases loaded
Loupi: Soriano and baker K’s – 6th inning we walk loony and give up a grand slam. They were both "right moves’. We’ve had a heck of a time. I have no explanations for why (we suck on offense). “Gosh, I thought (after SDO) we’d score some runs.. It’s hard to win when you score two runs”
R: 42 games left. You know Lou… can we win 2 or 3 games here?
L: We’ll play better at home, with the Nats and the Mets. I keep clinging to the Hope of a win streak and.. and.. and.. lots of the same gibberish.
R: Lineup?
L: "We need soriano to start hitting.. we’re going to have to give him a breather of sorts (!!!). if he doesn’t.

A bit of paraphrasing there.. I hope I got the gist across anyway..

QUote to note: “We need Soriano to start hitting (or) we’re going to have to giver him a breather of sorts.” Promise, Lou?

oh, you were paraphrasing

i thought that was word for word, you had it spot on

In case you were wondering

JUMP!