Series Preview: Padres v. Cubs, August 16 – 19, 2010
It’s series preview time again as the Chicago Cubs welcome the best team in the National League to Wrigley Field. So bring it on Braves… er… Dodgers … er Cardinals? Giants?
Wait. San Diego Padres? Um, what?
A refresher on the series preview here at Bleacher Nation:
The idea is to hook you up with the bare minimum of what you need to know about every series this year. That way you can look like a genius, hardcore fan in front of all your friends, with minimum effort. Oh, and there will be pictures of beautiful women, too. So there’s that.
Check out the Padres series preview, after the jump
Casey Coleman to the Rotation, Thomas Diamond to the Pen
After two poor starts (three, if you count his deceptively bad debut against the Brewers), Thomas Diamond has been bumped from the rotation in favor of (surprise) another rookie.
Casey Coleman will take Diamond’s spot in the rotation this week, according to ESPN Chicago. Although the youngster has an ERA over 8, he’s thrown consecutive, long scoreless appearances out of the pen. The Cubs’ system’s pitcher of the year last year, Coleman’s ceiling is as a back of the rotation innings eater, so he’ll get his shot to pull a Randy Wells.
In related news, Andrew Cashner has apparently made illicit love to a close family member of Lou Piniella’s.
Ryan Dempster Misses Ted Lilly
When the Chicago Cubs traded Ted Lilly to the Los Angeles Dodgers last week, Ryan Dempster became the unquestioned number one in the Chicago Cubs’ rotation. But despite that nominal accolade, Ryan Dempster wishes Lilly was still around. He misses the bulldog.
”With Teddy, I always appreciated him every day for what a teammate he was and what a competitor he was, probably more than anything,” Dempster (9-8) said after six muggy innings without allowing an earned run to beat the Milwaukee Brewers and end the Cubs’ seven-game losing streak.
”I always thought I was the most competitive person out there. I never thought I’d find anybody more competitive until I met him.”
Lilly, who won his debut Tuesday for the Los Angeles Dodgers, famously ran over St.Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina to score a key run in the Cubs’ stretch drive in 2008, stole a base sliding head-first in a minor-league rehab start early this season and once attacked a pit bull barehanded to rescue his wife’s dog.
”I know they got somebody pretty special over there, and hopefully someday down the road, I’ll have the chance to play with him again,” Dempster said, ”because you don’t find too many guys like that out there.” CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
Once attacked a pit bull barehanded? For a second I thought they were describing Chuck Norris or the Dos Equis guy. Or, I thought perhaps the guys who run the Ted Lilly Fan Club had taken root with the Sun Times.
Ted Lilly will indeed be missed, but hopes that he’ll return to the Cubs after this year should probably be tempered. Given his age, likely cost, and exclusive Dodger negotiating window, a return to the Cubs is probably not in the cards.
The Milwaukee Brewers Are Collectively a Douche
Not but three years ago, if you asked an average Chicago Cubs fan what teams he hated, you’d invariably hear “Cardinals” and “White Sox” uttered unnaturally through clenched teeth while rage welled up in the speaker’s eyes. Sure, you might hear a smattering of other teams – Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Astros, Reds, among others – but those were the two big baddies.
Recently, a third has entered the mix as a “hated” club, albeit one still less so than the Cardinals or White Sox. It’s official: f the Brewers.
The Brewers asked for a scoring change in the ninth inning of Monday night’s 18-1 win over the Cubs that would’ve given Milwaukee 27 hits instead of 26. One more hit would’ve set a new record for Cubs pitchers, who had last given up 26 hits in a game in 1957.
It happened with two outs in the ninth, when Casey McGehee hit a grounder up the middle that shortstop Starlin Castro fielded and made a wild flip to Blake DeWitt at second for at attempted forceout of Prince Fielder.
After watching the replay, official scorer Bob Rosenberg called it a fielders choice and an error for Castro. The Cubs p.r. staff had just announced that a Cubs’ franchise record for hits allowed in a game had been tied when Fielder knocked out the 26th hit.
Everyone in the press box knew history was hanging in the balance when Rosenberg made his call. The Brewers promptly called and asked Rosenberg to change it to a hit, requesting that he review the tape. As of Tuesday afternoon, no scoring change had been made. Chicago Breaking Sports.
Sure, it was probably only one staffer or two that asked for the scoring change. But if this doesn’t demonstrate the culture of the Brewers, I don’t know what does.
Series Preview: Brewers v. Cubs, August 2 – August 4, 2010
It’s Series Preview time again, as the Chicago Cubs welcome the Milwaukee Brewers to Wrigley Field – still the one team, outside of Arizona, against whom the Cubs have played well this year. The Brewers didn’t conduct a sell-off, so they’ll be at full-strength.
A refresher on the series preview here at Bleacher Nation:
The idea is to hook you up with the bare minimum of what you need to know about every series this year. That way you can look like a genius, hardcore fan in front of all your friends, with minimum effort. Oh, and there will be pictures of beautiful women, too.
Check out the Brewers series preview, after the jump
Aramis Ramirez’s Thumb is Still Bothering Him
Aramis Ramirez sat out yesterday’s series finale against the Rockies because his thumb – which kept him out for a significant stretch earlier this year, and crapped up his performance before that – was bothering him.
Ramirez, who missed 15 games in June because of the injury, said he should be back in the lineup on Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers. But interim manager Alan Trammell, filling in for Lou Piniella who is attending a funeral, wasn’t sure about that timetable.
“I’ve seen some wincing with some of his swings and misses,” Trammell said before the Cubs lost 8-7. “I guess we’ll have to tell him don’t swing and miss. Going back to when he first hurt the thumb, that seems to aggravate it more than anything else. I’m not going to guarantee he will play [Monday].” ESPN Chicago.
The Cubs aren’t likely to rush Ramirez at this point, so he’ll play again when he’s ready.
Laughing Because it isn’t the Cubs: The Brewers’ Feelings, and Butts are Hurt
Tee hee.
Milwaukee Brewers manager Ken Macha says he has complained to a baseball official about his batters being hit too often by pitches.
Macha says action needs to be taken to protect the Brewers, who have been hit by 47 pitches, the most in the majors.
Macha says he spoke with Bruce Froemming, a former umpire and current special assistant for Major League Baseball’s umpiring department.
Atlanta pitchers hit Prince Fielder in consecutive games on Friday and Saturday. On Fielder’s first at-bat after hitting a homer Saturday night, Atlanta’s Jonny Venters threw a pitch over Fielder’s head. Venters was ejected after he hit Fielder on the next pitch. ESPN.
If there’s anything that says throw at us less, it’s whining to MLB about being thrown at. Smooth.
That said, the Fielder thing was a bit ridiculous – the Braves threw at him, missed, and then threw at him again. If you throw at a guy and miss, that’s that.
Series Preview: Cubs v. White Sox, June 25 – June 27, 2010
The excitement of the BP Environmentally-Friendly Crosstown Cup is reaching a FEVER PITCH. Given this season’s performance of the two, er, one of the Chicago clubs, I’d say it’s a fitting that the rivalry is sponsored by a company associated, at present, with an oozing flow of oily sludge. Time for the Series Preview.
The idea is to hook you up with the bare minimum of what you need to know about every series this year. That way you can look like a genius, hardcore fan in front of all your friends, with minimum effort. Oh, and there will be pictures of hot chicks, too.
