The Curse of Wrigley Field

Well, the Cubs almost made it.  They won the first two games in their series with the White Sox but then Carlos Zambrano was shelled in his start yesterday as the Cubs failed to sweep.  That loss was the difference between hitting the .500 mark and not so now the Cubs have to get it done against the Padres in a west coast trip.

The good news is that, the Cubs have hung in the mix.  They’re tied with the Astros in the loss column and they sit just six games back of the Brewers.  One more good week and they could find themselves knocking on the door.

And speaking of Carlos Zambrano, this is a very cool look at his mechanics with video and pictures and everything.  The author speculates that Zambrano might be hiding an injury but the evidence isn’t conclusive.

And then here’s a cool column on first base prospect Micah Hoffpauir.  He had an awesome April but since then, he’s cooled down a bit but he’s still having a solid season at Triple A.  And also be sure to check out Cubs Minors for all of your Cubs minor league coverage.

When the Cubs won their last World Series, television didn’t exist so while other teams get World Series collections, the Cubs get a Great Games collection.  Not to diminish from this set though, I’m just still bitter the Cubs haven’t been able to get it done.

This is a great set though.  You get eight full games with some great individual performances.  I’m torn between the Rick Sutcliffe NLCS shutdown and the Kerry Wood 20 strikeout game.  Anyway, here’s what you get in this set that’s great for any Cubs fan:

1)  June 23, 1984 – Ryne Sandberg at his best.  The Hall of Fame second baseman had one of his best games ever with a five for six, two homer and seven RBI performance.
2)  The Rick Sutcliffe NLCS playoff win.  I remember this game as a teenager and I thought for sure the Cubs would be bringing home gold.  What a difference the following week would make.
3)  Auguest 1, 1987 – The Hawk, Andre Dawson, goes yard three times in the same game.

4)  Mark Grace carries the Cubs to a win in game two of the 1989 NLCS.  This time, it was the Giants who’d ultimately do them in.
5)  Nat 6, 1998 – Kerry Wood ties Roger Clemens record with 20 strikeouts in a season.  That overhand hook that Wood throws was nothing short of deadly and it’s a treat to watch since Wood doesn’t go to it anymore because it eventually cost him some time.
6)  September 13, 1998 – Sammy Sosa ties Roger Maris and pass him in the same game with homers 61 and 62.
7)  August 7, 2004 – Greg Maddux, back in a Cubs uniform, wins his 300th career win.
8)  June 1, 2005 – Derek Lee goes a perfect five for five with four RBIs.

Very cool stuff and a perfect gift for Cubs fans.

Hey, it’s been a while and while there’s not much to get caught up with on the current day Cubs, I know I’m behind on the 1907 diary.  Please bear with me because the network I write for had some system wide problems that basically prevented me from posting.  Things are fixed though, so I’m hoping to get caught up pretty quickly.

It seems like everytime the Cubs make a push at the .500 mark, they have a set back and fall back.  The latest is a series of one win, lose one after dropping three straight last week.  And with interleague play on the horizon, you never know whether, even with some wins, you can make up ground because you’re not playing someone in the division. The good news is though, the Brewers have cooled off so a few wins might mean a pickup in the standings.

Of course the Derek Lee injury is going to hurt.  He hadn’t found his homerun swing but you can’t scoff at a .390 batting average and a 1.016 OPS.  Aramis Ramirez has gotten it done and with Alfonso Soriano back to his old ways, the Cubs have the hitting in place.  The pitching has been there as well, but the pen hasn’t been all that great and it seems like the Cubs have just gotten unlucky.  They’ve underplayed their pythagorean win/loss by four wins and if you look at those standings, the Cubs would be just one game back of the Brewers.  The 6-12 record in games decided by less then two runs sticks out.

The Cubs have one more game against the Mets this afternoon and then it’s back to Wrigley Field for three games with the White Sox.  The Brewers have to contend with the Twins so that’s kind of a wash.  And hopefully the Astros cool down as well.  A guy can wish.