Updated - 12/8/10 - 1:00am CT - The Cubs are close on a one-year, $10 million deal with Carlos Pena. Multiple reports early Wednesday morning indicated the Cubs had agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Carlos Pena. According to the Sun-Times, the deal is close but not done and could be made official after a Wednesday morning meeting with Scott Boras. Jim Hendry called Tuesday a "good day" and reiterated the Cubs are only three or four moves away from competing for a division title in 2011. … [Read more...]
End of Week Dis-N-Dat….Counting Down the Days
The long winter without baseball is nearing a conclusion. The trucks are making the long trek to Arizona. It is only seven short days until pitchers and catchers report to Fitch Park in Mesa. So while the players and coaches enjoy their last free weekend for at least eight months, here are a few updates from and other news and tidbits from the North Side.... … [Read more...]
A Look Back at 2008 – Central Champs
The Cubs took advantage of a favorable home schedule in August and paced the second place Brewers. The offense struggled in September before waking up and putting away the division against the Cardinals on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Wrigley. The Cubs designated Scott Eyre for assignment on August 5th and traded him to the Phillies two days later for minor league pitching prospect Brian Schlitter. From a memorable August to Hurricane Ike to Carlos Zambrano's No-Hitter against the Astros … [Read more...]
A Look Back at 2008 – Maintaining A Lead
Interleague play, a broken hand, DL trips for Carlos Zambrano and Reed Johnson, new arms added to the mix, a big turnaround against the Fish and a four-game sweep were just a few of the storylines and highlights for the Cubs in June and July. The solid start Lou Piniella preached about ended up being the difference as injuries and a difficult schedule caught up to the Cubs, and almost bumped them out of first place in the Central. The notion that divisions cannot be won in July was thrown out … [Read more...]
A Look Back at 2008 – Getting Off to a Strong Start
From Kosuke Fukudome's dramatic home run on Opening Day to Reed Johnson's catch to Jim Edmonds to sweeping the four game series against the Brewers at the end of July to Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter in Milwaukee against the Astros, it was truly a magical summer for Lou Piniella's crew. The Cubs posted 97 wins, the most for any Cubs team since 1945, won back-to-back division titles, featured eight all-stars, the NL Manager and Rookie of the Year and the most patient team at the plate that the … [Read more...]
Ward Latest to File
Daryle Ward became the latest Cub to file for free agency on Saturday afternoon after a disappointing second season with the Chicago Cubs. Ward struggled off the bench for Lou Piniella last year and will likely be replaced by Micah Hoffpauir next season. … [Read more...]
Maybe Someday….Just Not This Year – Cubs 1 Dodgers 3
Game Three of Five - Cubs 1 Dodgers 3 WP - Hiroki Kuroda (1-0) LP - Rich Harden (0-1) Save - Jonathan Broxton (1) Dodgers Win Series, 3-0 The magical season of 2008 turned into a nightmare as the Cubs were swept out of the playoffs for the second year in a row. Lou Piniella's crew was outplayed in every aspect of the game in the series against the Dodgers. After giving away the first two games, they were beaten on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium....and were not very competitive the entire … [Read more...]
Cool Hand Lilly – Cubs 7 Brewers 3
Game One Hundred Sixty - Cubs 7 Brewers 3 WP - Ted Lilly (17-9) LP - Ben Sheets (13-9) Save - None Lou Piniella's crew picked up their 97th win of the year behind a tremendous outing from Ted Lilly. After a horrible start to the season Lilly became the first Cub lefty to post 17 wins in a season since Ken Holtzman in 1970. Lilly followed up his 1-hit gem against the Astros at Miller Park, the last time he pitched in Milwaukee, by going into the 7th with a no-hitter against the Brewers on … [Read more...]
Talkin’ Cubs Live – Cubs vs. Mets – 09/25/08
Game One Hundred Fifty-Eight: Cubs (96-61) vs. Mets (87-71) Game Time - 6:10pm C.T. Coverage - TV: Comcast SportsNet - Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 174, 188 Location - Shea Stadium, New York Rich Harden (10-2, 2.03/1.06, 5-1, 1.66/1.06) vs. Pedro Martinez (5-6, 5.50/1.55) Updated - 4:48pm C.T. - It's Official... According to a report from the Sun-Times, Lou Piniella named Ryan Dempster the Cubs' Game One starter on Thursday afternoon. Weather permitting is the phrase that pays for the … [Read more...]
Z Rough Day – Cubs 6 Cardinals 12
Game One Hundred Fifty-Two - Cubs 6 Cardinals 12 WP - Adam Wainwright (10-3) LP - Carlos Zambrano (14-6) Save - None Carlos Zambrano followed up his no-hitter with one of the shortest outing of his career on Friday afternoon against the Cardinals. Big Z lasted only 1 2/3 innings and gave up 8 runs on 6 hits with 3 walks and a strikeout on 45 pitches. Zambrano struggled with his command and his emotions, as it was revealed after the game that Zambrano's grandmother passed away earlier in the … [Read more...]