Walk Off Winner is Windy City Classic

Aramis Ramirez played hero as the Cubs returned home off the heels of their first three game losing streak of the year, belting a pair of home runs. The first in the bottom of the seventh tied the game at 3 and the second, a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth, sent the Wrigley faithful home happy.

The Cubs took the lead in the first inning when Derrek Lee followed a pair of singles by Kosuke Fukudome and Ryan Theroit with a double play ball driving home a run.  Jermaine Dye the White Sox right fielder tied the game in the second with a solo home run.  The White Sox then took the lead when Cub killer A.J. Pierzynski hit a two run homer making the score 3-1.  Pitching and defense were the story until the bottom of the seventh when Lee and Ramirez went back-to-back off of Octavio Dotel to tie the game.  Ramirez then came to the plate to lead off the ninth and sent a Scott Linebrink offering over the center field wall to end the game.

Kerry Wood pitched the ninth for the Cubs to get the win; and with his strike out of Pierzynski to end the inning moved into third place all-time for K’s in Cub history.  Wood moved passed Rick Reuchel’s 1367 strike outs, and now sits 64 K’s behind Charlie Root for second all time.  Fergie Jenkins is the Cubs’ all-time leader with 2038 or 670 ahead of Wood.

Wait and See

Starting August 1st, Major League Baseball will most likely begin using instant replay to review so called boundry calls.  The decision comes on the heals of several blown home run calls over the course of the still relatively young baseball season.  While at first glance the move appears to be a rare quick step in the right direction for baseball, I believe it is a big mistake. 

Don’t get me wrong I love the idea of replay in baseball.  The more often that the reight call is made the more fair and therefore better the game is.  What I do not like is the idea of changing the rules mid-season.  One year ago today the Cubs were 6.5 games out of first place in their division.  Using that as a guideline as of the start of play today 18 of the 30 MLB teams are still in contention.  With replay not entering until after two-thirds of the season has been played you are unfairly punishing teams who were unfortunate enough to have calls go against them early in the year as opposed to down the stretch.  A blown call against team X early in the year coupled with a corrected call in favor of the club that team X is chasing creates a two game swing.  Five teams finsihed within two games of their division leader last season (two of them did claim wild card births).  Six times since the 2000 season there has been at least one team that finished only one game behind their division’s leader.  Therefore changing the rules midseason and potentially changing the outcome of one game could have an impact on the playoffs; just ask last year’s Padres. 

The baseball season is a marathon, and you cannot change the rules mid-race.  If baseball does activate replay on August 1st, not only will the teams that benefit from it have had a fair advantage, but not every team will have played the same number of games.  The only fair way to instate instant replay is to wait for next season.

Cubs get bad break: Soriano out 6 weeks

Cubs left fielder and leadoff man Alfonso Soriano will miss at least six weeks after breaking a bone in his left hand during Wednesday night’s game against the Braves.

The injury occurred in the second inning of the Cubs’ 7-2 win at Wrigley Field when Soriano was hit in the hand by a pitch from Braves starter Jeff Bennett. After hitting his hand, the ball ricocheted up and struck Soriano in the face.

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, x-rays revealed that Soriano had a “minimally displaced fracture of the left fourth metacarpal, located just under the fourth finger on his left hand.”

The report also said that Soriano’s hand will be in a splint for three weeks.

After the game, the Cubs called up outfielder Micah Hoffpauir from Triple-A Iowa.

With Soriano unavailable, expect to see Hoffpauir, Reed Johnson, Jim Edmonds platoon in left and center fields, with Koskue Fukudome maintaining his post in right. To add more depth, the Cubs could use second baseman Mark DeRosa in left field occasionally. DeRosa played that position earlier this season when Soriano was on the disabled list due to a strained calf.

If the Cubs are looking to add even more depth, they could call up Matt Murton from Triple-A Iowa. In 2006, Murton played in 144 games for the Cubs, mostly in left field. The Cubs could also consider mixing up the entire outfield by shifting Fukudome to center, a position he played in Japan.

It’s unclear that the impact of Soriano’s injury will be. Soriano got off to a slow start, but was returning to his old self as of late. Going into Wednesday’s game, Soriano was hitting .283 with 15 HR, 40 RBI and a .332 on-base percentage.

When Soriano was on the 15-day disabled list earlier this season due to the calf injury, the Cubs were 9-5 and averaged more than seven runs per game in his absence.

Image credit: http://z.about.com/d/baseball/1/7/g/4/-/-/cubs5.jpg

Uber-dee-duper Wrigleyville Bar

Quick, name the first Wriglyville bar you think of.  Okay, now name another one.  If this were a game of Family Feud, you wouldn’t be surprised to see John Barleycorn, Cubby Bear, or Harry Carey’s at the top of the “survey says” list.  And those are some of the big names right around the field.  But a different style pub is starting to generate quite the buzz.  And no you wont catch the customers pounding Old Style or taking Fukudome Bombs.  But you can get quality brew at a decent price and get hammered with their new amenity, Shotskis.  I’m talking about the Stein, Uberstein Bar on Clark, just north of Newport and West of Sheffield.

It’s a German bar that offers a tap selection of strictly German beer.  The Hofbrau brand is their staple.  I recommend the original HB if your looking to get some work done, or the HB hefe-weizen if your mouth desires a little more zest.

Don’t leave without taking a Shotski with three of your buddies.  It’s really one of those things you need to see it to really understand.  It’s a rapid consumption tactic in the category of beer bong, shotgun, and keg stand, but delivers hard alcohol shooters in the most unique way.  Imagine a snowboard with four equidistant shotglass bolstered tightly to the surface.  You and three friends each claim one of the shots and hover over them while simultaneously balancing the board.  On three, you collaborate in flipping the board smoothly and rip the shot.  It’s not a bad deal either:  4 shots of Svedka Vodka for 10 bucks.

Uberstein gets pretty crowded after home games, but not to the capacity of counterparts Barleycorn and Cubbie Bear.  I had no problem getting a table, Shotski and stein last week after a Cub’s win. 

So, if you’re looking for an alternative to the standard Cubs bars, check this place out and make sure to yell “Prosit!” before you leave.  You’ll find out quickly it means business.

Where did they get these guys?

By: Chris Salzman, feature writer

What do Ian Kinsler, Nate McLouth, Carlos Quentin, Milton Bradley, and Ryan Ludwick have in common?  Wait who?  Oh those guys.  You know, the guys among the Yahoo roto top 15 fantasy hitters.  The guys contributing to the difference between a good fantasy team and a great fantasy team.  And the guys you may have never heard of prior to this season.

I will concede to the immediate argument that it could have been predicted that Kinsler would have this much fantasy impact.  When he first surfaced as a rookie in 2006, there was an instantaneous buzz amidst the fantasy round tables, and many foresaw Kinsler lusciously contributing to the second-base department.  Fine.  Kinsler was supposed to be good.  But this good?  Top-5 good?  17 pre-break swipes good?  I don’t think so.

And as for the other four underrated fantasy beasts?  You are a liar if you saw this coming.  Maybe some of you hardcore fantasy maniacs knew about these guys, maybe even a few of you drafted the likes of McLouth or Quentin and maybe took a gamble on Bradley.  But come on.  Could you really anticipate a Pittsburgh Pirate in 2008 other than possibly Jason Bay putting up a .300-plus average, 14 dongs and 45 RBI in 60 games? (Bay by the way is having himself quite the comeback year.  See my previous article).  Not a chance.  Look, I picked up McLouth before the start of the season because I needed stolen base help, and I knew he had won the job in center.  My intentions were to stash him on the bench, see what he’s got, and MAYBE snag a guy who could hover around .270 and MAYBE get me 30 bags for the year.  Now he’s a guy that forces me to bench Ryan Howard or Pat Burrell, because he is putting up better numbers than both.  And I have too many great OFs.

Okay I’m going to breakdown the profiles of all five of these surprising stars and find out exactly how this happened.  Try to find out exactly how and why Carlos Quentin is making Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko seem irrelevant.  And why Ryan Ludwick, in about 60 less plate appearances, has nearly identical numbers to Albert Pujols.  Seriously, where did these guys come from?

Ian Kinsler (Tex, 2B)  Yahoo Hitter Rank: 5

Currently with .307 8HR 36RBI, Kinsler is more than on pace to eclipse his last year’s .263 20 and 61.  But the most remarkable statistic that has really given his 2008 campaign a boost, is his perfect basepath record.  Kinsler is 17 for 17 in stolen bases, just 6 stolen bases shy of his 2007 mark.  This has been the difference between top-25 and top-5.  As I previously alluded to, the fantasy population probably anticipated an increase in Kinsler’s production.  This is his third full year in the bigs and he is part of a solid Texas lineup.  But no way we could have guessed an increase to this degree.  Along with Chase Utley, Dan Uggla, and Brandon Phillips, Ian Kinsler has created opportunity at the 2nd base, a position that has been fantasy-static the past several years.

Nate McLouth (Pit, Of)  Yahoo Hitter Rank: 6

Hey I know I’ve already spent a lot of time demonstrating my immense man-crush on this where the hell did they get this guy, should-be-an-allstar centerfielder, but a couple more words please.  I hope McLouth can sustain this.  I hope, not just for the sake of my own fantasy team, but for the welfare of baseball.  The MLB and especially Pittsburgh needs more Nate McLouth stories.  It is great to see a hardnosed, 25th round draft pick blindside the league and drop huge, unsuspecting numbers on the fantasy world.  Nate McLouth is the reason we fantasy fanatics play the game.  Yo, and this guy IS this good.  I’ve gotten to see him play a lot against the Cubs.  And he just doesn’t care.  He will step up to the dish, hit a game winning homer then go 3-4 the next day like nothing happened.  He is pure.  Let’s see if he can keep it going.

Carlos Quentin (OF, ChiSox)  Yahoo Hitter Rank: 10

I live in Chicago, so it’s hard not to know what’s going on the Southside.  But I’ll tell you, I missed this one.  I didn’t even know the Sox acquired this guy in the off-season, and I’m pretty sure they didn’t know what they acquired either.  Besides this past week when Joe Crede decided to absolutely destroy every pitch, the Sox pitching staff and Carlos Quentin are the reasons this team leads the AL central.  A 2003 first round draftee by the D-Backs, Quentin never got the chance to showcase his skill-set consistently in Arizona.  Now in Chicago, he is handling a full-time workload and not letting anyone down.  His team high 16 bombs (already more than his entire career) and 53 RBI has provided the Sox with the much needed consistency lacking from their big guns Jim Thome, Konerko, and Dye.  Quentin and his Jose Canseco replica batting stance is hitting for a relatively high average (.283) and has even stolen 4 bases, only adding to his case that he should represent the White Sox at the Mid-Summer Classic.  Quentin is another one of those stories that baseball desperately needs.

Milton Bradley (LAD, OF)  Yahoo Hitter Rank: 11

Instead of recklessly arguing calls with umpires and shamefully shedding his knee ligaments, Milton Bradley has taken a different approach in his professional career:  hit a lot of homers and drive in a lot of runs.  And he is doing it consistently.  Never really living up to the hype or to his 5.2 million-a-year contract, Bradley hasn’t even reached the 20 home run 70 RBI plateau once in his career.  So why is he still getting millions from pro ballclubs?  Here’s why:  Bradley has cracked 14 longballs and driven home 43 runs, while maintaining a .338 average.  And the hot-headed veteran should continue to produce while infused in a potent Texas line-up with crazy insane Josh Hamilton, already mentioned Kinsler, and experienced stick Michael Young.  When Hank Blalock gets off the DL, watch out for the Rangers.  But for some reason they are still a game under .500.  That’s because they have to pitch too.

Ryan Ludwick (StL, OF) Yahoo Hitter Rank: 13

Ludwick has had a tough, tough road to the show, and he has the scars to prove it.  ESPN the Mag reports that Ludwick was plagued with injuries throughout his minor league career, to the point where he was ready to call it quits.  His fiancee convinced him not to give up, and after extensive rehab and a decent showing for the Cards last season, Ludwick was awarded a starting gig in the St. Louis outfield.  The management has no regrets.  Ludwick has contributed 14 yardballs and 46 RBI in only 56 games while at the same time keeping a .310 average.  Not bad for a guy who makes just a little more than the league minimum.  And definitely not bad for the owners who picked him up.

You got to love seeing players come from out of nowhere and post all-star numbers, especially when many of the big names are struggling.  Owners who effectively monitored the waiver wire and scooped up one or two of these guys early on should be experiencing an unexpected lift toward the top of their division.

Cubs banking on Cashner

Andrew Cashner is a Cub again.

The Cubs selected the 6-foot-6-inch right-handed pitcher out of Texas Christian University with their first pick in yesterday’s First-Year Player Draft. The Cubs had drafted Casher in the 29th round of last year’s Draft, but the tall Texan opted to attend TCU. This year, the Cubs took Cashner with the 19th overall selection.

Pitching at TCU was probably a good move for Cashner. According to a report on the Cubs’ Web site, Cashner pitched in both relief and closer roles for the Horned Frogs, routinely hitting 96-98 mph on the radar gun.

After a stint as a general relief pitcher, Cashner was soon moved to the closer’s role at TCU where he posted a 9-4 record with nine saves in 30 relief appearances. During this time, he limited opponents to a meager .122 batting average while striking out 80 over 54.1 innings – a rate of over 13 strikeouts per nine innings.

According to the report, Cubs scouting director Tom Wilken said Casher could move into either a starter or closer role with the North Siders.

The 30-round Draft, held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL, will continue today. Check back for a full list of Cubs’ prospects.

Here’s a run-down of the Cubs’ first five selections:

Pick	POS	Name	School
19.	RHP	Andrew Cashner	Texas Christian U
41.	SS	Ryan Flaherty	Vanderbilt U
65.	RHP	Aaron Shafer	Wichita St U
97.	RHP	Christopher Carpenter	Kent St U
131.	SS	Matthew Cerda	Oceanside HS (Calif.)

Image and table credits:
Image: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/images/2008/06/05/T6d2D7Wr.jpg
Table: http://tinyurl.com/4baxjo