Today we are going to eschew what has become the “Original” format to talk about the three different types of major league baseball players, at least I believe, should be on every team:

The Super Star(Soriano, Zambrano)

The Fan Favorite(Ramirez, Theriot)

The Grinder(which is not my favorite term, but F*&k it, it serves my purpose here–Johnson, Fontenot)

The Super Star:

There can be some discrepancy as to whether or not these players always deserve the recognition they get–most have one or two great breakout seasons and then remain on the lips of every sportswriter throughout the tenure of their career–or– have the good fortune to play for either Boston or New York. Their playing time and ridiculous contracts are warranted by their production, but have a tendency to become a hindrance to the team as they age and their skills wane, often times becoming untradeable due to their bloated contracts(Sosa). But, during their hey day on your team they are an essential ingredient to have a winning ball club.

On the Cubs:

Carlos Zambrano — What needs to be said. To know Z is to love Z. His era has been creeping up and his strikeouts have been going down, but so has the games/tantrums ratio. Here’s to hoping  that he keeps his head on straight and that Bako has been working on his hay-maker.

Alfonso Soriano — The Cubs record contract left fielder with the smile that looks like he’s been brushing with bleach, Soriano has yet to play a full season for his oh-so generous team. He was intitially signed for his speed and power at the plate, but ,a string of leg injuries has kept his stolen base totals low and all the time off has kept his home run totals under the forty range. Has shown a bit of patience at the plate so far in spring(two walks in three official at bats) and has said his legs are finally starting to feel “healthy” again. He probably won’t fourty/fourty again, but thirty/any number above thirty is adequate for the guy who, when leading off, somehow coerces the team into an over .600 winning percentage.

The Fan Favorite:

This is the guy who’s jersey you bought and then spent the rest of the afternoon explaining who he is to non Cub fans. His skills, while sometimes on par with the super-star, are usually good enough to warrant an all-star game or two in his career and keep him a valuable asset on the field.

On the Cubs:

Aramiz Ramirez — Ramirez is not a super-star. Should he be? Probably, but maybe it’s his supposed lack of hustle, quiet off-field demeanor, or all the time spent busy fiddling with his cock–but he just hasn’t reached that status despite hitting over twenty-five home runs and driving in a hundred rbi’s in every season since he’s been with the Cubs. Ramirez is even more impressive when someone else is on base, with a .301/.390/.950(last is ops) line for his career. He is hitless so far this spring, but you know, it’s like, latin players just play better when it’s hot and shit. Right?

Ryan Theriot — if you’re a Cub fan then you know why and how Ryan got to be where he is today. He hit a shitload of singles. Critics say he isn’t a major league shortstop, he has no range, no arm, and is flat out slow-short- and white. Apparently Pinella see’s it differently.

The Grinder:

This guy just flat out plays, no matter when-where-or why. They also usually have a hole in their game as big as the one in Pie’s swing(ooooo…suck it B-more). Most often found in a platoon situation or as a defensive replacement or pinch runner to accentuate( some sexy talk about the Cubs) their particular skill set.

On the Cubs :

Reed Johnson — Nuff said. Seriously, the only thing I want to add about Reed is that I’m almost a hundred percent positive he is a product of super-scout Tim Wilkens. If this is what we have to look forward to then the Cubs are in it for a while folks.

Spring Training Unknowns –and now we have the link into the usual pre-game. See how I did that? These are the guys(Hoffpauir, Fuld, Rivas, Scales, Patton, Gathright) fighting it out for maybe one/two spots on the bench. Versatility is the name of the game here, and so far it looks like Micah’s bat and Patton’s arm are speaking pretty loudly.

Things to watch for:

Happy Birthday Hoff ! Hoffpauir turns twenty-nine today and is supposed to get the day off after seeing action in every game so far. Look for D-lee to get the start, or possibly Jake Fox trying to showcase his ability to play the field well enough to beat out the birthday boy as possible backup first/third basemen.

Jake Peavy –Who will not be a Cub this season, but will give Cub fans a chance to see what might have been .

Yea, everyone would have died. Is that what you want Jake? Is it?

Dempster — makes his first start of the spring in an effort to keep up the incredible work he did last season. Yukk Yukk–ya dork.

First pitch is at 2:05 pm in Peoria.

And for anyone in Chicago, Lucero comes to town May tenth at the Metro.

I was trying to post video directly to the page, thereby avoiding linking you to an outside source–BUT, as it turns out, I have no clue how to do that.

So here you go.

Onto Cub related news.

CUBS WIN!…SOME MORE…

The team rolled into spring training the way they rolled out of last season–winning( There was no October in 2008. Weird, I know.)

And the team that they beat?

Yep.

The Cubs beat the Dodgers by a score of 5-3 earlier today at Ho Ho Kam, with four of their five runs coming courtesy of a first baseman not named Lee. Lee was in the game alright( 0 for 1), but the teams took advantage of the spring training caveat allowing the use of a DH regardless of location or opponent. So it turns out Micah Hoffpauir(1-4 with a grand-slam) is an awesome DH.

Awesome–He’s on a national league roster.

But his performance could be indicative of his ability to stay in-game while not being on-field, which could in turn strengthen his case for being the backup lefty power off the bench. Plus, he cant catch shit.

Jeff Samardzija started the game for the Cubs and pitched two innings, retiring the side in the first before having a shakier second. He gave up a total of three hits, two runs, two walks and struck out one. Samardzija is one of the candidates for the fifth spot in the rotation, but until his secondary pitches develop he would probably be better off starting for AAA than being lit up by major league hitters. He might return to the bullpen, where he was excellent last year, but that could be more of a disservice to his future as a starter than an asset to what some say is an already deep pen.

Mitch Atkins, Cubs 2008 minor league pitcher of the year, followed Samardzija by pitching the third and fourth, giving up one run on three hits with a strikeout of his own. Atkins will most likely start for AAA or be returned to AA West Tenn, which is the more competitive, pitching-oriented league.

Also Pitched:

Ken Kadokura–one hit and one strikeout in 1.0 . Japanese league veteran with legit shot for the pen.

David Patton–two hits and a strikeout in 1.0 . Rule-Fiver from Cinci, could also be seen in the pen.

Esmailin Caridad–zero hits and zero Runs in 1.0 . Battling Samardzija for name least likely to be spelled by sounding it out phonetically.

Jason Waddell–o hits, a walk, two strikeouts and the distinction of me not having the first clue who he is. WHERE DID YOU COME FROM!? Jason Waddell.

Jeff Stevens– one hit, one walk, and one strikeout in one inning. He was also a piece of the Mark Derosa deal with Cleveland. I believe he was the torso.

At the Plate:

The Cubs managed to push across five runs on eight hits while leaving a Bakers dozen(18) runners on base. They also managed to walk four times– which is oddly enough also considered a Bakers dozen.

Micah Hoffpauir– one for four with four rbi’s and a homerun(Grand Slam). Likely to start on the bench as the Cubs backup first basemen/Corner outfielder.

Ryan Theriot– two for three with two singles. The Cubs incumbent shortstop. Whipping boy.

Alfonso Soriano –one for one with a walk and a run scored. Cubs starting left fielder/linguistic enigma(How can he not speak the language better? He’s been here for like eight F*&kin years.)

Geovanny Soto– one for two with a single. Cubs starting catcher. Speaks better English than Soriano.

Reed Johnson– one for two with a single. He’s REED JOHNSON. Nuff said.

Bobby Scales/Luis Rivas– One for two with a single. Two headed minor league third baseman monster.

So that’s a wrap on my first wrap(get it?) As the season progresses I am going to attempt to post links and online videos as well as create unique names for each of these sections, hopefully making the blog easier to navigate.

Cubs take on the Brewers tomorrow in Mesa at 3:05 pm central. Sean Marshall takes the mound in the first.

Oh yea. This is what the Dodgers did.

Ok, so this is what they really did.

Ryan Dempster took the loss for the Cubs as he was terrible on the mound in his 4 2/3 innings. Dempster was not his usual self as he walked seven batters including there in the fifth inning before he gave up a grand slam to James Loney. The Dodgers also hit solo home runs off of Jason Marquis and Sean Marshall in the game while tacking on another run off of Jeff Samardzija.

The Cubs had nine hits in the game, they just didn’t get the big hits that the Dodgers did. Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez only combined for two hits in the game. Mark DeRosa had both rbi’s for the Cubs when he hit a two-run home run in the second inning. The Cubs need more production and three or more hits in an inning to score some runs if they want to win game two.

Carlos Zambrano will take the mound on game two. Hopefully he comes out and gets ahead of hitters right away and the Cubs even up the series at one game each.

Cubs Baseball Blog

On Wednesday night, the game was all about Ted Lilly who tossed eight innings and only gave up one run. Lilly was awesome down in St. Louis and he improved his record to 14-9.

Kerry Wood had some trouble in the ninth inning as he gave up a two-run home run to Ryan Ludwick but then he retired the next batter to secure the save and the cubs victory. Wood needs to have some 1-2-3 innings out there to take off all this pressure!

At the plate for the cubs, Alfonso Soriano, Felix Pie, and Aramis Ramirez all had one rbi each. The other run for the Cubs came via a Felipe Lopez error in the second inning. The Cubs scored all four of their runs in the second inning and then held on for the victory.

The Cubs and Cardinals play one more game on Thursday night. Hopefully the Cubs can win again and win this series down in St. Louis.

Cubs Blogging

Ted Lilly didn’t have his best stuff as he was charged with four runs but it was good enough to get the win and improve to 12-6 on the year. Bob Howy had some trouble as he allowed a three run home run that got the Braves back within four runs. Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood then finished up the Braves in the final two innings.

Aramis Ramirez hit a three run home run to lead the Cubbies at the plate with three rbi. Alfonso Soriano added a two run shot of his own as well. Geovany Soto had another great game at the plate as he had three walks and two rbi. Mark DeRosa, Reed Johnson, Daryle Ward, and Ryan Theriot all had one rbi each as well.

The Cubbies will try to make it nine in a row on the road Friday night as they take on the Florida Marlins. Big Z will be taking the mound for the Cubs.

Cubs Baseball Blog

However any celebrating the Cubs wanted to do, they won’t be doing it tonight as Alfonso Soriano was hit on the left hand and actually broke a finger on his hand.  Soriano will miss atleast two weeks but expect it to be three or four weeks.  Micah Hoofpauir would be our guess to be called up to take Soriano’s spot on the roster.

Kosuke Fukudome had three rbi all on a three run home run in the first inning to lead the Cubs at the plate.  Ryan Theriot and Jim Edmonds both had two rbi each in the game as well for the Cubbies.

The Cubs will go for the three game sweep of the Braves on Thursday afternoon from Wrigley Field.

Cubs Blog

Alfonso Soriano had a three run shot in the eighth inning, Mark DeRosa hit a two run shot in the fifth inning, and earlier in the fifth inning Geovany Soto connected for his tenth home run as he went deep to center field.  Soto would have had another home run in the game as well in any other ball park but it was caughty right at the wall in deep center field.

Soriano led the Cubs with three rbi while DeRosa had two rbi.  Soto, Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez all had one rbi in the game.

On the mound it was Jason Marquis pitching five innings and picking up the win.  Marquis sure didn’t have his best stuff, and I think he was glad he was pitching in the big park as he got hit kind of hard.  Four hits and three runs were charged to Marquis as he improved his record to 3-3.

The Cubs used six relief pitchers for the final four innings of the game as Piniella is trying to not have each pitcher throw to many pitchers as they have been used a lot lately.  Kevin Hart who had just been called up threw the worst as he gave up two hits and three runs while walking two.  Hopefully it was just a case of nerves after being called back up to the big league team.

Michael Wuertz, Scott Eyre, Neal Cotts, Bob Howry, and Kerry Wood all seen action out of the bullpen.  Wood recorded his 16th save of the season in the game.  It would be great to see the Cubs starting throw a complete game or atleast seven or eight innings so the bullpen can get some rest…

As we mentioned Kevin Hart was called up and Micah Hoffpauir was sent down.  It was simply the case of the Cubs needing a fresh arm in the bullpen. Hoffpauir will more then likely be called up when the Cubs travel to Toronto.

Cubs Blog

Big Z – Carlos Zambrano did a little bit of everything against the Padres.  Zambrano went 3-3 at the plate including a triple and rbi.  On the mound, Zambrano only threw five innings but it was enough to get his eighth win of the season.

Everything was going good for Cubs pitchers until the ninth inning when Carlos Marmol gave up a three run home run to Adrian Gonzalez.  Marmol was then taken out of the game and Kerry Wood was brough in to record his 15th save of the season.

At the plate the Cubs were led by ex-Padre Jim Edmonds who had two doubles and two rbi.  Zambrano, Alfonso Soriano, Ryan Theriot, and Kosuke Fukudome all had one rbi in the game as well.

The Cubs will be going for their ninth straight win on Tuesday night when Jason Marquis takes the mound.

Cubs Blog

Geovany Soto had the winning hit for the Cubs in the seventh inning when he hit a sac fly to right field and Ryan Theriot scored.  From there on, it was all Cubs as the scored three more times in the eighth inning.  It was awesome to see Micah Hoffpauir get a rbi in the eighth inning as well.

Alfonso Soriano led the Cubs with two rbi while a slew of players had one rbi each.  Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Kosuke Fukudome, Soto, Reed Johnson, and Hoffpauir all had one rbi in the game.

Jason Marquis pitched pretty good until the but ran into a tough jam in the sixth inning.  Marquis got a no decision after throwing 5 1/3 innings and allowing seven hits and three runs.  Neal Cotts came in and two runs score that were charged to Marquis.  Michael Wuertz also gave up a run out of the bullpen before Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood finished off the Rockies in the eighth and ninth innings.

Cubs Blog

Geovany Soto hit a sacrafice fly to right field with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning to tie the game.  Mike Fontenot then hit a double in the tenth inning, and Alfonso Soriano signled to left field to score Fontentot for the winning run.  Now that was a great comeback for the Cubs as they swept the Dodgers in the three game series.

Starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano got a no decision on the game.  Zambrano was a little wild but did pitch eight innings.  He allowed six hits, one run, four walks, and struckout three batters.

Jose Ascanio pitched a scoreless ninth inning before Bob Howry ended up picking up the win as he pitched the tenth inning.  Howry is now 1-2 on the season.

The Cubs will now play the Colorado Rockies in a four game series starting on Thursday.

Cubs Blog