Month: August 2008

Hoffpauir sends 4

Iowa Cub Micah Hoffpauir tied a modern PCL record by homering in his first four at-bats against the Round Rock Express.   He was the third PCL history to homer in four straight at-bats and the fifth to do so in one game. 

"I’ve been working on trying to stay short on my swing and not try to do too much, and the patience and practice paid off," Hoffpauir said. "I never hit more than two homers in a game and after the third one, the guys were starting to get on me a bit.

The last PCL player to hit four homers in a game was Las Vegas’ Eddie Williams in 1998. 

Zambrano’s homers

The Cubs lost today to the Cardinals 12-3.  Might as well have been 75-3. 

I like good hitting pitchers, I really do.  It makes me feel like they are full athletes playing 100% game (not like those wimpy AL pitchers).  I like knowing when a pitcher is coming up to bat, he isn’t an "automatic".

Having said that, let me roll this stat off you.  In the three games that Carlos Zambrano has hit home runs this season, the Cubs are 0-3. 

Coincidence?

Interestingly, all three losses have come against NL Central teams. 

Go Cubs!

Olympic Baseball starts Aug 13

I watched a bit of the Olympics today.  I admit I’m a fan when they come around.  Unfortunately, this will be the last time baseball and softball will be featured during the summer games.  I don’t agree with the decision especially since there are other "sports" that the Olympics are phasing in.  Whatever. 

That said, keep an eye out on August 13th when baseball tourney gets moving.  Four games will be played including the USA vs Korea. 

One other team that I’ll have my eye on will be Team Canada.  Why?  Because their catcher is none other than Chris Robinson.  Robbie is a former University of Illinois catcher who played before the Lars Davis era.  He is taking a hiatus from his stint in the Cubs farm organization.  When he left to help Team Canada, Tennessee Smokies in Double A ball.  Robinson is a good gap hitter and knows his way behind a plate so I hope once this is all over, he’ll come right back and get right back into the swing of things for the Cubs. 

If you’re interested, I interviewed Chris for Baseball Zealot Radio a year ago spring just before he reported to spring training. 

2008 Olympic Baseball Schedule

Peoria Chiefs No-hit by Burlington hurlers

Things haven’t been going so well for the Cubs’ single-A affiliate Peoria Chiefs.  First they receive national attention by getting involved in a nasty brawl with the Dayton Dragons which got 15 players ejected and multiple fines and suspensions handed down. 

Since then they have been 1-7 with their one win coming at the expense of South Bend August 2. 

To top it all off, last night they were no-hit by the Burlington Bees.  Starter Danny Duffy threw six no-hit innings for the win and reliever Juan Abreu finished the final three innings for the save. 

With the unfortunate loss, the Chiefs find themselves at .500 and in 6th place for the second half of the season. 

Edmonds belts two, Blanco puts the icing on the cake against Cards

A few friends from work went up to Chicago to catch the Cub-Cardinal game today.  Thanks to Rich, who is a gracious Cardinal fan by the way, who sent me some photos of the game.

Before the game, a member of the US Navy Seals Leap frog team parachuted into Wrigley Field:

navysealsatwrigley

I only listened to the game but from my vantage point, I don’t think they could have chosen a better game to see.  A pitcher’s duel with a tie game with both starters (Looper and Lilly) allowing two runs each after seven runs.  Rich had told me earlier that he was concerned about the Cardinals bullpen but all things considered they didn’t do ALL bad.  That is, till Franklin got to the 11th.

wrigleyvscards

The stories of the game from a Cub perspective?

Of course, the bases loaded walk-off single from unlikely suspect Henry Blanco.  To be fair, Blanco is hitting .300 in limited play. 

Jim Edmonds was 0-7 against his former team, the Cardinals.  He seemed to have made up for lost time today with two solo shots and was literally all the Cubs offense for the first 10 innings.  And he seemed to be having fun:

Edmonds appeared to enjoy his first homer Friday, pausing at the plate momentarily to watch it take off before rounding the bases.

Maybe more surprising, the Cubs handing the ball to Bob Howry with a tie ball game.  Bob Howry and his 5+ ERA.  But Howry got the job done, pitching a perfect 11th with 2 strikeouts to get the win. 

One down, two to go. 

Go Cubs!

Autism: Guillen opens his mouth for a good cause

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has given me a reason to like him,  He’s helping to unveil a new school for autistic kids in Chicago.  He is taking part in the opening of the new Easter Seals Therapeutic School and Center for Autism Research.  As the name suggests, the school will double as a research facility. 

tacaembroidedcap-thumb In the last two games against the Yanks, Guillen ditched his Sox cap for the post game interview and instead wore one with the "TACA" logo.  "TACA" stands for Talk About Curing Autism and is an organization that gives support to families affected by autism. 

Lest you think that autism is a rare condition that doesn’t affect you, please know that the latest figures suggest that one in 150 children born are on the autistic spectrum.  So you probably know a few kids who are on the spectrum.  I know I do. 

So thanks to Ozzie Guillen for bringing this issue to light. 

NYT: Ozzie Guillen and Autism

Chicago Trib:  White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen helps unveil new school for students with autism

Some photos on the Chicago Trib’s web site

Karstens takes perfect game into 8th against D’backs

Last week, we were asking, "Who is Jeff Karstens?"  Now, I guess a better question is, "Is Jeff Karstens for real?".

Pirates hurler Jeff Karstens took a perfect game into the eighth inning against Arizona today.  He finished the game with a two-hit shutout.  Oh, for good measure, he also hit two singles and scored a run. 

This was Karstens’ second start this year (and second overall in the NL, his past two years were spent with the Yankees).  His first start was against the Cubs when he pitched six scoreless innings.  Karstens got the win in that game though it didn’t prevent some people (most likely Cub fans) to express some sour grapes skepticism that he didn’t have great stuff due to lack of control. 

No one can argue that Karstens was on his game today.  In addition to the two hits, he only allowed one walk. 

Pirates blog Bucs Dugout has the run down on today’s game. 

How will Jason Bay fare in Boston?

In his article, Why Jason Bay makes the Red Sox a better team, Alex Eisenberg from Hardball Times makes the argument that Jason Bay will help the Red Sox in the long term. 

Given Bay’s age (29, compared to Manny’s 36), I’d have to agree. 

Bay had an off year last year for Pittsburgh (21 HR, .247) but seemed to get out of his funk this season.  For Pittsburgh this season, he hit .290 and already exceeded last year’s homerun total. 

He seems to like playing for Boston.  In 5 games, he’s 9 for 21 with 6 rbis and 8 runs.  Playing his familiar position of left field, Boston is batting him 6th in the lineup which suits him well. 

Elvis makes appearance at Wrigley during rain delay

During the 2 hour 45 minute rain delay (quite a bad storm from all reports), a man dressed as Elvis used the Wrigley Field tarp as his own personal "Slip and Slide". 

elvis

It WAS 70s night at Wrigley Monday so I guess it wasn’t too surprising to see the Elvis impersonator.  But I bet the security guards were a little surprised to see him come on field like that. 

You have to wonder once it was all over, did he think it was all worth it for his 15 minutes of fame?  Still, with the weather the way it was and the Cubs losing to the Astros 2-0, there wasn’t much else cheering about.

(h/t Deadspin)