Skip the first inning, Randy Wells

Can we just have a ā€œreverse relieverā€ in those games that Cubsā€™ starter Randy Wells pitches?  A pitcher to start the game and get through that first inning?  Seems that Wells is having trouble with that recently.  Today, he got rocked for five runs by the Chicago White Sox with two of them coming in the first frame. 

For the season, Wells has a 10.64 ERA in he first inning.  After the third inning, it dips below 4.50. 

Split G IP ERA
1st inning 12 11.0 10.64
Innings 1-3 12 32.0 5.34
Innings 4-6 10 28.1 4.45
Innings 7-9 6 6.1 4.26
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/11/2010.

Soriano did get his tenth homer of the year and his 300th of his career.  He passes Tim Salmon on the all-time list and joins Chuck Klein and teammate Derrek Lee (who hit his 300th on Wednesday) for #125 on the list. 

The Sox won 10-5.

Let’s just pack it up now, cuz it won’t get any better for the Cubs

The Cubs won today.  And you know winning the first game of spring training means everything in the world, right? 

But the Cubs did get the right hits from the right people.  Fuld, (homerun), newly acquired Marlon Byrd (2 for 2, homerun), Tyler Colvin (2 doubles, homerun), Derrek Lee (homerun, yawn), and Starlin Castro, who seems to be everyoneā€™s freakinā€™ darlinā€™, (triple). 

I kid, I love the guy.  Castro came in relief for Ryan Theriot and his triple seemed to say, ā€œFind a another position, Cajun dude!ā€  Which just might happen.  The baseball pundit hordes are calling for Theriot to move to second base and itā€™s probably on Cubs managementā€™s mind, too.

But first and foremost on Cubs manager Lou Piniellaā€™s mind, is how to spell Kosuke Fukudomeā€™s nickname.  From Cubs beat writer Carrie Muskat, Lou says itā€™s ā€œFukeā€.  I guess that ā€œeā€ keep us Cub fans morally clean.  Perhaps they should issue a press release. 

The press (mlb.com and the Cubs in particular) have been making a big deal about Alfonso Soriano and how gosh darn healthy he is. 

I donā€™t know about you but that kind of talk scares the beejeezus out of me.  One, you donā€™t talk about it unless there is something to be worry about and two, why are they tempting fate?  Almost like talking during a pitcherā€™s no-hitter.  ā€œWell, Ron, Sorianoā€™s gone through the season so far a not a hint of a hamstring pull.ā€  ā€œWeā€™ve been pretty lucky.  Heā€™s sure to go through the whole season without a visit to the DL.ā€ 

Then BAM!

Letā€™s just keep it quiet and count our blessings.  And win anotherā€¦ even if it is just spring training.

Cubs find Bucs very obliging

See?! See?!  What did I tell you?  The Pirates came to town and all is better now. The Cubs who seemed like they were repressed beyond belief, exploded all over the Pirates. 

The 17-2 win was full of highlights but Derrek Lee was the big story.  For the second time this season, he drove in seven runs.  This time he only needed two hits to do it, though. 

The Cubs made sure the game was never in doubt, scoring 14 in the first two innings.  The last time that happened was in 1906.  Hmm, 1906ā€¦ something happened in 1906.  Something good.  Canā€™t quite place my finger on it but when I think of it, youā€™ll be the first to know.

Tomorrow should be interesting with Tom Gorzelanny going against his former ā€˜mates for the first time.  He and Cubs will be taking on Zach Duke, perhaps a more formidable pitcher than Fridayā€™s starter Charlie Morton.

The question now is Did the Cubs shoot their proverbial wad today?  Iā€™ve seen it happen in the past.  Score in double digits in game one of a series then the bats go flat. 

But hey, these are Pirates, right? 

Go Cubs!

2008 Cubs Convention: Day 2

Today was the second day of the 2008 Cubs Convention. Brrr, it was below 0 degrees this morning as I walked to the Chicago Hilton for another day of fun. On my way out, I got a text message from my nephew, Joe who was going to meet me later.

I Scratched and Won

Friday night I was looking through all the swag and pamphlets I got on my first day and found my Scratch and Win card. The convention uses these for the high demand celebrities when it comes to autographs.

Well, I scratched my card and it said, “You are a winner!”

On the back it said to redeem it at the registration area and that’s the first thing I did Saturday morning. It turns out I won a Derrek Lee autograph and I was supposed to get in line for it at 2pm.

I wasn’t really collecting autographs this year so I sought out a dad and a kid and gave them the ticket. I told them the kid could have it as long as they didn’t sell it on Ebay. The dad emphatically said no, he wouldn’t.

And speaking of autographs:

Andy Pafko was signing autographs. I think Andy is the oldest former Cub to attend these conventions.

…and so was Jody Davis… always with a smile.

Two different players from different eras. Bill Madlock and Bob Feller.

Rich Hill signing a ball towards the end of the day.

Piniella gets thrown under the bus by an older lady

My first talk of the day was “Lou and his Crew”, essentially a Q&A with Piniella and his coaching staff.

The most humorous question was from a seemingly perturbed older lady who asked Piniella why he left his starting pitchers (she mentioned Marquis in particular) in when we were behind by 4 or 5 runs. She explained that sometimes it got her so mad she would throw things at her TV.

Piniella took it all in humor and invited her to sit next to him in the dugout so he could check with her in making decisions. The crowd responded with chants of Looouuu! Louuu!

A visit to the Tennessee Smokies booth

I stopped by the Tennessee Smokies booth and chatted with a nice woman with a terrific southern drawl. I rifled through the Smokies’ baseball card and found Chris Robinson. “Oh, he’s a great guy. He’s real nahce”, she said. I’m not surprised. Most players at or from Illinois have a good head on their shoulders.

I ended up buying the pack.

Storytelling with Cubs Legends

WGN’s “Storytelling with Cubs Legends” was my favorite of the day. With Ron Santo, Rick Sutcliffe, Lee Smith and Ernie Banks, it was fun to just listen their stories. As broadcasters, Santo and Sutcliffe were most talkative. That said, Lee Smith may have an intimidating facade while pitching but he’s quite funny behind the mike.

Looks like Sut is hamming it up for the camera.

Taking a break with the Cubscast guys

The hosts of the Cubscast podcast (well, two-thirds of them, Sneetch couldn’t make it to the Convention) had scheduled an informal get together at the hotel bar. I was due for a break by 3pm anyway so I stopped by. Sheps (right) shared photos of his recently passed kidney stone and Lou (left) and I talked a little shop.

Peoria Chiefs broadcaster Nathan Baliva stopped by the Cubscast table too. I had stopped by the Chiefs’ booth earlier in the day and got the above photo. Nathan was nice enough to do an interview on Baseball Zealot Radio last spring so it was good to see him again. It turns out he’s Sneetch’s brother, too Small world.

Cubs Pitching Clinic

The last event of Saturday was a pitching clinic put on for the kiddos. This was done with the help of Milt Pappas (left), Steve Trout (right) and Lester Strode. Fortunately, Bruce Froemming was not in attendance.

That’s all for now. Tomorrow is a light day at the convention but I do want to get some shopping done at the souvenir shops.

Many more photos at The Baseball Zealot Photo Gallery