My team, the Chicago White Sox are tied for last place in the AL Central Division (13 games out with the Kansas City Royals).
And... there's that "other" team... the Chicago Cubs are tied for first in the NL Central Division with the Milwaukee Brewers (6 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals).
I feel ill.
And, with the Cubs up for sale, I have to admit that there's a noble campaign going on: a group of Chicagoans working to facilitate a fan-owned buyout of the Chicago Cubs and restore the voice of the fans within baseball - 4FansSake.com
]]>To their fans: It's the Cubs. There's always next year.
Heh.
Heh heh heh.
Oops. Sorry.
]]>Now, everyone out there, leave poor Steve Bartman alone. He "did not even see Moises Alou".
]]>Welcome to 2003.
As I write this, The Cubs are in third, 1½ games behind division-leading St. Louis and Houston. However, they're at home with only a .500 record at home, and are in the middle of a 5-game series playing St. Louis, so there could be some movement this week. In contention? Possibly.
The White Sox, having the day off, are now in first by 2 games, ahead of both Minnesota & Kansas City. The Sox have 25 games in 27 days coming up, playing 7 against Kansas City and 7 against the Twins, not to mention 5 against the Red Sox and 3 against the Yankees. Hopefully their 43-23 home record will help. In contention? Possibly.
This is rare, folks. If neither team makes it into the post-season, fans will be pissed but they'll eventually chalk it up to the state of baseball in Chicago.
If one of the teams make it, there will be some very ungracious slamming of the other team, their management, and their fans.
If both teams make it, all hell will break loose in this city and God help us all.
I'm giddy....
]]>Oh. My. God.
Update: If you must, here's an MP3 for you. (1.71 Mb). You have to hear "Lets go out out to the ballgame" and you have to listen closely to hear the lyric: "I don't remember what I have to do..."
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Back at "The Joan"... no, I think I'm going to change it again... I went from TPFKAC™ to "The Joan" and now I have heard still another name that I may throw my support behind - "The Cell".
We're still recovering from our trip to Orlando, though I'm still happy to be at a ballgame. The park is full (this series is always a sellout). The Security Detail is much larger (more guest service reps and security personnel). The Sox fans are pumped with the possibility of a sweep of the "Chicago National League Ball Club". Unfortunately, there's not much to talk about as the Sox lose, but have won the season series against the Cubs and that all that really counts.
(Boxscore)
]]>OK, don't tell anyone, but I'd probably get in trouble by reproducing images of the telecast without express written permission of Major League Baseball, Chicago Cubs, and Fox Television...
Sammy immediately appealed the suspension, allowing him to play in what is being described as a "historical" series against the New York Yankees. Hmmmm... it's supposed to rain this afternoon...
Update: Yankees 5 Cubs 3. Sosa 1-for-4 2 strikeouts. (Boxscore)
Rule 6.06
A batter is out for illegal action when ...
(d) He uses or attempts to use a bat that, in the umpire's judgment, has been altered or tampered with in such a way to improve the distance factor or cause an unusual reaction on the baseball. This includes, bats that are filled, flat surfaced, nailed, hollowed, grooved or covered with a substance such as paraffin, wax, etc. No advancement on the bases will be allowed and any out or outs made during a play shall stand. In addition to being called out, the player shall be ejected from the game and may be subject to additional penalties as determined by his League President.
No matter what happens, the man is now tarnished. It doesn't matter if the bats that Major League Baseball security confiscated last night all turn up un-doctored. Because of this one incident, everything he has done and everything he will do will have a question around it. (Update: MLB tested 76 bats, all were "clean").
Here's the thing that just bothers the hell out of me.
He admits to using a corked bat. ("It's a mistake, and I take the blame for it.") That's the good thing - he actually owned-up to it. OK, fine.
But why the hell is he using a corked bat to begin with? He claims that he uses a corked bat "for exhibition and batting practice".
OK. Exhibition. Like, Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game? (And, you know, I was looking at that bat he used in Milwaukee at that event last year and it has this weird-ass knob on it - identical to the one tonight.) Yeah, that's fair. I mean, nothing is really on the line, but was everyone doing it? If not, it's not fair. It's not fair to the competition, it's not fair to the fans. Period.
Batting practice? "...To put on a show for the fans." What? Hey, shouldn't you be more concerned with how you're swinging, your timing? Concerned with placement and consistency? Wouldn't you want to use a heavier and not a lighter bat to warmup with than what you use during the game? BP is actually The Sammy Sosa Show???
So, he admits to owning and using corked bats. Are they marked? Wouldn't he know he was using an illegal bat? He doesn't make an effort to keep the illegal bats away from the ones that he can use? Or is this going to come down to blaming it on the bat boy?
What it now boils down to is this: can Major League Baseball believe him? Can the fans (other than the ones sipping the Cubs Kool-Aid) believe him? And if there's any doubt that he may, just may have used a corked bat in the past, then what about the valiudity of those home run races he was in for few seasons, or his career 505 home runs?
And what about punishment? - a suspension should be levied. It says so in the rules. He damn well better not get a pass on that. And I don't want to hear "After all he has done for Chicago baseball..." bull crap. Punish him. Period.
And here's the next big leap... if you have trouble believing that he never used a corked bat before, then you call into question his integrity about what he says about how he plays the game. And, if you have that doubt, can you still believe he is innocent of using steroids or other performance enhancing drugs?
See what I mean when I say that this one public incident has the potential to tarnish him?
So, punish him and move on. Oh, and knock him off his pedestal. He's a human for cripe sakes. A human that cheated - intentionally or unintentionally. And after his latest non-hitting streak, and the way the Cubs have played without him - I say they really don't need him.
(BTW, here's an odd coincidence: umpiring crew chief Tim McClelland who ejected Sosa also was the umpire who took away a home run from Kansas City's George Brett of the Royals at Yankee Stadium on July 24, 1983 because of excessive pine tar, and was on the umpire crew for the Albert Belle corked bat incident at Comiskey Park July 15, 1994!) (That one was the weird one - Umpires took the bat to their dressing room before Indians Pitcher Jason Grimsley crawled across the ceiling and switched Belle's confiscated bat with one belonging to teammate Paul Sorrento.)
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After the game, it's off to Barry & Buffy's to have a nice barbecue with Debbie. We leave the park, head east to Lake Shore Drive and head north. What a gorgeous day at the lake. People - believe me when I say this - driving north on Lake Shore Drive today reminds me of how beautiful this town is and why I live here. The new "bowl" is starting to take shape above the south rim of Soldier Field. Buckingham fountain looks great, Grant Park is full of people thanks to Taste of Chicago. Tons of people jogging on the bicycle path or riding their bikes... WAIT!!! HEY!!!... THAT WAS DICK BUTKUS THAT JUST DROVE BY ON HIS BICYCLE!!! OK, This is a great Chicago day! Had a nice dinner with B&B and Debbie - Barry grilled-up some pork chops on the grill. It was a very long day, but it felt like a good day.
On the way to pick-up my parents, I saw a huge fire over in Harwood Heights. I think I heard later on the radio that it was some kind of auto body place. It was kind of startling to see - being on the Kennedy expressway, you're sort of in a wide ditch - below ground level, so you don't see what's going on in the neighborhoods around you. Then, when I got off at Nagle, you could see the black smoke in the sky, not very far ahead. It must not have been burning very long.
Ah... baseball on the radio... Sox playing the Cubs... gotta love it... and the Sox won 20-6! And it was a split squad game for the Sox! Update: Of course, bragging too soon, the Sox split-squad lose against Arizona 16-5 tonight...
Hey, did you know that an ostrich's eye is heavier than it's brain? See, the daytime version of the Weakest Link is educational!
Got an invoice from the Chicago Wolves for Calder Cup playoff tickets. Like they're gonna win the cup this year... We reluctantly spend money that we don't have and send in our ticket request (including a 25% deposit for next season's tickets).
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