March 2007 Archives

Spring Training Game Thirty-Two - Cubs 1 Mariners 2
WP - Jeff Weaver (1-2) LP - Will Ohman (0-2)

The Cubs finished the exhibition season with a 17-13-2 record after losing to the Mariners on Saturday in Las Vegas. Jason Marquis pitched 4 strong innings and Derrek Lee drove in Alfonso Soriano in the 1st inning for the only Cubs run on the day. Marquis kept the ball down and recorded 8 ground outs to just 1 fly ball out....of the 55 pitches he threw 36 were for strikes.

Will Ohman gave up back-to-back doubles and threw a wild pitch that led to the Mariners winning run. Ryan Theriot gave the Faithful a little scare when his foul ball in the 1st hit Derrek Lee who was in the on deck circle....Ronny Cedeno had another fine day in the field. But for every positive play and at bat the Cubs had while they were in the desert will be for not if all is forgotten when the games start counting on Monday.

Spring Training Game Thirty-One - Cubs 8 Mariners 5
WP - Ted Lilly (2-1) LP - Miguel Batista (0-1) Save - Rocky Cherry (5)

The Cubs played their first and only night game of the spring on Friday. The Cubs led from the beginning of the game and plated runs in the first 5 innings. Derrek Lee hit his first triple and both Michael Barrett and Aramis Ramirez hit 2-run homers over the very tall left field wall.

Ted Lilly threw the ball very well despite allowing 3 runs on 5 hits in 4 innings of work. Lilly gave up his first home run of the spring to Jose Guillen in the 4th but he did not walk a batter and struck out 2. Ryan Dempster was very sharp and Neal Cotts pitched his way out of a jam in the 7th after walking the bases loaded. Rocky Cherry picked up his 5th save of the spring.

After months upon months of analyzing every free agent signing, every coaching hire and discussing every rumor known to man, all of the speculation can be put to rest starting on Monday. Baseball fever....catch it!!!

Lou Piniella's opening day roster is set and the lineup for the first game has been announced but with two games left in the exhibition season the only goal must be to leave Las Vegas healthy. So on the last Friday before the marathon begins....here are some final thoughts on spring training....ramblings style.

Spring Training Game Thirty - Cubs 7 Diamondbacks (ss) 4
WP - Hector Almonte (1-0) LP - D.J. Carrasco (1-1) Save - Rocky Cherry (4)

The Cubs faced a Diamondbacks split squad team that did not feature any of their regular players on get away day. The Diamondbacks play under the lights at Chase Field later on Thursday night with Randy Johnson expected to make the start....with that in mind the D'backs sent former Brewer Doug Davis to the hill against the Cubs. Davis pitched well early on but his inability to cover 1st base allowed the Cubs to battle back from an early deficit.

Wade Miller started for the Cubs and was not sharp in his final tune-up for the regular season. He fell behind early and often to most of the hitters he faced in his 3 innings of work. Miller had a 32-pitch 1st inning that included a walk to Rich Thompson to start the game. The game featured Ria Cortesio, the first female umpire to call a game in the Cactus League since 1989. The last game of the exhibition season in Mesa also set a new attendance record....12,917.

The Cubs play their last game in the desert today against the Arizona Diamondbacks....well a split squad of D'backs that is. When pitchers and catchers reported 6 weeks ago there were the usual expectations that surrounds every Cubs team at the beginning of spring training. But this year there was an entirely new feeling of optimism. Lou Piniella has made believers out of many of his critics but on Monday the real test begins, no more "this is just spring training", starting Monday they all count.

This spring has been filled with many familiar faces and storylines but for most part it has been a successful spring and the new faces along with a few emerging stars have made most of the headlines. Last season I had the opportunity to meet a very talented photographer by the name of Chris Proctor and this season from time to time the CCO will run a few of his photos. Chris was recently in Arizona, so with very little words....here are a few images from spring training....

Spring Training Game Twenty-Nine - Cubs 4 Rockies 4 - 10 innings

The second to last game at HoHoKam was once again a capacity crowd. This is just a guess but I do not think it had anything to do with the Cubs taking on the Colorado Rockies. Mark Prior was making his final Cactus League start of the year, and of course people came out to see him pitch. But the buzz in the crowd today was of boredom and the same old story....attitude. Spring Training is coming to a close and Kerry Wood will start the year on the DL and Mark Prior, well, he will be starting the season at Iowa. They may have the same story, but for one reason or another the Cubs Faithful have completely different attitudes towards each player. There is still a great deal of love for Kerry Wood, granted there is some frustration, but there is still love. As Prior took the mound today, I sat back and listened to the crowd, there is no love, just frustration with some disgust on the side. The gentleman next to me got out his camera and said, "I better get a picture of Prior quick, who knows how long he will be out there." He laughed the whole time he took the photo; you know one of those, "what happened to this kid" laughs. I am glad he got his picture, because Prior's outing did not last too long after all. On to the game....

Updated - 8:11pm C.T. with Injury Updates, the 2007 Roster, the Opening Day Lineup and Bobby Brownlie released....

The Cubs announced on Wednesday they optioned Mark Prior, Rocky Cherry and Angel Pagan to Triple-A Iowa and all but finalized the 25-man roster for Opening Day. With the latest round of cuts the Cubs spring roster stands at 28 but Kerry Wood, Juan Mateo and Buck Coats should start the year on the DL. Lou Piniella also announced his opening day lineup, according to a report on FoxSports.com.

After Piniella announced on Tuesday that Wade Miller would be the 5th starter for the Cubs when the season started the only questions left to be answered about Mark Prior were would he be sent down to the minors or put on the DL and left behind in Mesa for extended spring training. Rocky Cherry and Angel Pagan should figure into the Cubs plans for 2007. Cherry had a very good spring and Pagan gives Piniella and his staff a lot of options off the bench.

If you do a search for Felix Pie on the Internet you might see phrases such as "Cubs Top Prospect", "Five Tool Player", or "The Next Corey Patterson." Oh yeah, Corey Patterson. Because of Corey, many Cubs fans are leery of Felix Pie and the talent he has. Corey and Felix are clearly not related but they are both five-tool players so when you talk about Pie, another player often mentioned is Patterson. Is it fair to compare Pie to Patterson? Obviously the answer is no but we cannot help ourselves, we thought we were at the Promised Land once before with Corey Patterson.

Spring Training Game Twenty-Eight - Cubs 13 Royals 10 - 10 innings
WP - Federico Baez (1-0) LP - Thad Markray (0-1)

Spring training is a time to get the wrinkles ironed out, make sure all of the tweaks of winter are taken care of by the first of April. But the performances of Rich Hill and Michael Wuertz made me a little uneasy with the season beginning in six short days. Hill gave up 6 runs, 4 earned, on 8 hits, struck out 4 and only lasted 4 2/3 innings. I know that is pretty common but the last couple games our starters have been reaching 5 or 6 innings at the very least. The desert sun was beating down on us all day, and we were all hoping for a quick one today. Unfortunately that was not the case, the game was long and the pitching was less than spectacular. And Prior if you are reading this, I apologize for privately getting upset after you refused to autograph a kid's baseball today. I had no idea you would be starting the season in Iowa. Let me know if all the cool kids still sit in the back of the bus. On to the game....

Happy Birthday "Cubs"

On March 27, 1902, the Chicago Daily News used the name "Cubs" for the first time in print. The nickname was coined when Frank Selee (1902-1905) became the new manager of the Chicago National League Ball Club, Inc. The nickname "Cubs" was derived from the new manager rebuilding the team with young, unproven players to replace the veterans that had jumped leagues to play in the American League for higher pay.