Lucidia

Cubs send Lilly, Theriot to Dodgers | cubs.com: News.

but they get Blake DeWitt (no relation) . . .

Everyone knew that Lilly was likely to go, but how can they trade TheRiot?  We’ll miss him and the Fontenot/Theriot Louisiana connection. Yes, I know that Starlin Castro is the latest hot young infielder .  . . but the Theriot-DeWitt trade doesn’t seem to add much (except a great last name).  The two infielders have pretty similar stats . . . .We’ll see how it all works out.

The Cubbies definitely need pitching help, so getting two new arms in the pitching part of the trade might at least shake things up out there.

Gonna miss Howry too, though I know he’s been struggling lately.  He was a class act.  Really hurts to send him away in order to make room for Zambrano to come back . . . what a waste of space on the roster that one is . . .

Enough for now . . . there will likely be more to comment on by the end of the day.

Cubs working on deal with Toyota | cubs.com: News

The Cubs, looking for sponsorship opportunities, are working on an agreement with Toyota in which a giant logo for the Japanese carmaker would be erected behind the left-field bleachers at Wrigley Field.

Yes, you read that correctly.  And no, today is March 17, not April 1st.  I’m guessing nows a good time to try to make deals with Toyota ;-D

For me, this may be the last straw.  Now that I can only follow games on the radio, I’ll be catching very few Cubs games, but lots of Twins games.  Part of me will always be a Cubs fan, but it may be time for a few years off (like until Lou and Soriano are both gone).  I guess this means I’ll have to start working on a new set of header photos for this blog.  Not sure whether to do a “Logorama”-style version of Wrigley, or just defect to the Twins (though I’m sure there are plenty of Target bullseyes in the new stadium). (BTW, if you haven’t seen the Oscar-winning Logorama, do check it out.  You can see it here.  Not the best of the Animated Shorts (IMHO), but still worth seeing. )

Two wild games today.
The Cubs beat the Phillies 10-5, but they could have easily lost that game. At least twice the pitchers loaded the bases and narrowly escaped allowing several runs to score. But a win is a win, and a win against the Phillies is worth more than the multiple wins against the Nationals. So, good job Cubbies.
Quite the meltdown by the Twins, losing 1-16 in Oakland. I’m worried about Perkins, who hasn’t seemed to be himself since he suffered a high fever just before the White Sox series. I hope the medical team is checking to make sure he really is better and not suffering some long term problem from that fever. But Perkins was only in the game for one inning (plus 2 batters), so obviously the rest of the team needs to take some responsibility for the loss. I’m just thankful that by the time I checked in with the Twins game, the tragedy was almost over.

All of us can use the time off between now and Friday’s games . . . let’s hope that everyone brings their A-game on Friday.

Piniella banishes Bradley after tantrum | cubs.com: News.

I wish they would banish Bradley to the minors.  I wonder if they thought to put an option in the contract that releases the Cubs from any obligation to pay him if he doesn’t behave professionally (or even like a grown up

Unfortunately, Lou only banished him for the afternoon and will put him back in tomorrow . . . which doesn’t really send much of a message.

Much more to write about the games since my previous post . . . including a confession that I’m now more of a Twins fan than a Cubs fan . . . .  I won’t be changing my blog header anytime soon, but I’m so fed up with the Cubs that I can barely watch them anymore.  Derrek Lee is just about the only decent hard-working guy left on that team.

Too late to go into all that now . . . just wanted to rant some more about Bradley.

Tough day for Bradley, Cubs in loss to Twins | cubs.com: News.

This weekend my two favorite teams, the Chicago Cubs and the Minnesota Twins, play three games of interleague baseball. The first game went, deservedly, to the Twins, who played good, clean, fundamental baseball. Kevin Slowey was impressive on the mound for the Twins, with 10 strikeouts in six innings. Mauer and Kubel hit homers and the rest of the Twins played like the professionals they are.

Then there was Milton Bradley (currently hitting .224 , when he’s not on the DL . . . so much for the big bucks we spent on him). The article linked above says it all: “There are bloopers, and then there was Milton Bradley’s day. . . . Bradley hit a two-run double in the sixth, but also made a baserunning gaffe that inning, lost a ball in the sun in the seventh and was charged with an error in the eighth when he caught a ball for the second out and threw it to a fan in the bleachers. Someone got a souvenir, and the Minnesota Twins handed the Cubs a 7-4 Interleague loss.”

There are just no excuses for anyone making that much money to play the way he (and several other Cubs) have been playing. In one of the long games in Houston recently, Soriano seemed to just lose interest in the later innings. These guys make more in one day than I’ve ever made in an entire year. The least they can do is pay attention for the three hours (or even a bit more) that it takes to play a baseball game.

The Twins organization doesn’t put up with that kind of “lolly-gagging around” the infield and outfield and basepaths . . . and it shows. Though to be fair to my beloved Cubbies, it must be difficult to come to work everyday and have to face Lou, who doesn’t seem to spread much joy or inspiration in the dugout . . .

Two more day games in this series. (The way God meant for baseball to be played.)