February 2006 Archives

The Cubs announced on Saturday that Ron Santo will lead the Wrigley Field crowd in singing the 7th Inning Stretch for 20 games this season. I thought when I read that, why can't he do that full time....I forgot about it and moved on. I was listening to Holden Kushner on XM Radio Sunday afternoon and he brought up this subject and said he felt the Cubs should have Santo sing the 7th Inning Stretch for all of the home games.

So I thought I would ask you guys what you thought....

The Cubs Faithful, an interesting term, a definitive group .... fans, brothers, aunts, fathers, cousins, and friends. Who? What? Where? When? Okay, so maybe not when, this is not the White Sox after all. All of these names, identities and questions go through my head when I attempt to define "The Cubs Faithful."

The Cubs Faithful come in all shapes and sizes. A 24 year old girl, an 8 year old boy, a 56 year old woman, ME, Neil, my friend Mike. This list goes on and on, but what makes someone a member of this group. After four years of having season tickets and one weekend at the Cubs Convention, I can tell you what defines a member of the Cubs Faithful, they love the Cubs, that's it.

Dusty Baker and Dan Roan on WGN, plus News from Monday in Mesa

Dusty Baker was on WGN News with Dan Roan on Sunday night from Scottsdale, Arizona. This was a live interview and Dusty was in street clothes and looked very relaxed. They briefly spoke about the latest news about Frank Thomas and the White Sox. They showed shots of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior throwing off the mound as well as other members of the 2006 Cubs. Like most interviews, the conversation quickly turned to the Cubs and the pitching staff....

You Know Better....

Aramis Ramirez knows better. The prevailing thoughts about the WBC have been that the American players aren't overly psyched up about this Olympic-type of event, but that the foreign-born players, such as the Dominicans, were taking it very seriously. However, when Aramis Ramirez woke up in the morning, in what I can only assume is a very large bed in a very large house, with several nice cars in the garage, I imagine he had about $10-12 million reasons to feel more loyal to the Cubs than to his home nation. So he did the only thing, the smart thing, and the wise thing, and decided to skip the WBC to focus on getting through Spring Training completely healthy so that he could have a monster year for our Cubbies.

Larry Rothschild on ESPN 1000, plus Bill Madlock on XM Radio and Photos from Sunday in Mesa and Carlos Zambrano to pitch in the Spring Opener and Opening Day

The Cubs made a lot of news throughout the weekend, so don't forget to check all of the reports here at the CCO.

Pitching, Pitching....Pitching. It seems like that is the only word we have heard this entire week. Pitching and defense wins championships so those two are usually front and center on the minds of most baseball fans....now with the Cubs Faithful that is an entirely different ballgame. For years now most of the news from the farm system has concerned the pitching prospects....not the position players. The Cubs have paid more attention to their pitching than anything else, which in turn has made many of us novice-pitching coaches. The biggest news from the weekend was Kerry Wood and Mark Prior both throwing off the mound and Wade Miller is progressing fine as well and could be on the mound soon.

February 26th - March 4th

Spring Training is in full swing and the first game is on Thursday....the Ides of March are upon us. The CCO will be in Mesa next weekend, so don't forget to check in throughout the weekend for updates and photos from Spring Training. This was a busy week in the life of Dave Kingman. Ryne Sandberg signed his huge contract in 1992 and Major League Baseball seemed to have picked this week in history to make rules changes. Will the Cubs write any history this week?

Now to the way back machine....

The Cubs signed right-handed pitcher Brian Boehringer Saturday to a Minor League contract. He last pitched in the Majors for the Pirates in 2004 going 1-1 with a 4.62 ERA in 21 games. Boehringer has also pitched for the Yankees, Padres and Giants. Here are Brian Boehringer's stats from the Baseball Cube.

Other news from Saturday in Mesa....

Aramis Ramirez has officially decided not to play in the World Baseball Classic

Aramis Ramirez has joined the long list of Major Leaguers deciding not to play for their country in the World Baseball Classic. A report from AP, found on FoxSports.com, is stating that Aramis Ramirez made the announcement official on Saturday that he will not play for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming WBC. Ramirez is stating his concerns over recovering from injury as the reason for not playing.

Derrek Lee, Michael Barrett, Henry Blanco and Carlos Zambrano are still scheduled to play in the upcoming tournament.

Wood and Prior Throw Off the Mound, Photo Day at Fitch Park and Opening Day Starter Announced

Did everyone get the games they wanted? How were the refreshments in the waiting room? While the Cubs Faithful was buying up tickets at the speed of light, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior threw off a mound for the first time this spring. According to a report from the AP and found on FoxSports.com, both threw off the mound on Friday. Prior threw around 20 pitches and Wood threw around 15.

Also the Cubs had picture day on Friday along with the Reds announcement of their possible Opening Day Starter. Now to the rest of Friday....

While you wait....remember Don't Panic!!

The virtual waiting room is ready for thousands upon thousands of the Cubs Faithful to take a number and wait....and that is what we will do is wait. The Cubs single game tickets go on sale at 10:00 am C.S.T. this morning. Some will come away happy, some will be disappointed, but one thing is for sure - the 'ticket brokers' will be very happy before the end of the day. So as we all wait, I have two words for you: 'Don't Panic'.

Now I am just not talking about today, I am referring to the entire 2006 season.