Sox/Cubs. Who you got?

[PeteFitz]

Weekend set at Wrigley rolling around. I'm giddy. That plus the Yanks makes my beloved must see Beisbol this week.

Both Teams could use the wins. Both teams look decent but have flaws, and are chasing division leaders that got off to a hot start.

Matchups break like this:

Friday: 120pm kickoff
Lilly v. Buehrle

Sabado: 300pm
Marquis v. Vazquez

Sunday: 120pm
Zambrano v. Danks


Personally I think all of the matchups are pretty interesting. No Garland. No Contreras. No Rich Hill. No um..ah..Cubs fifth starter.

Not seeing Rich Hill will be a plus for the lefty challenged Sox. Zambrano v. Danks could end up being a big one if Danks outpitches Zambo. It would be a rally cry from dickish Sox fans.

Only thing I thing I know for sure is that there will be an inordinate amount of policia in my neighborhood this weekend. Make sure you have a designated walker/fight queller in every group, people.

I like the Sox in game one. Cubs in Game two. And the more mature pitcher in game 3.

Fitz
Go Sox!

Who you got?

[macarthur31]

I think you're right about Game One. While the Sox are lefty-challenged, the Cubs are lefty-inept. Plus, it doesn't seem like the Cubs seem to put up runs behind Lilly, I don't know if it'll affect him this week, but over the course of a year that can put more pressure on a hurler to "be perfect." Finally, Freddy is as solid as they come -- he should win.

Saturday's "Rejuvenation" matchup: if the wind is blowing out, then Marquis loses. In his last few starts, he's been giving up more fly-ball outs, and I'm concerned that he's not making adjustments quick enough. I'll give the edge to the Sox.

Game 3 goes to Zambrano, as the warmer weather and summer hark the return of happy, goofy Carlos. He's due for one of those overpowering starts, and I think he'll find his focus for this big matchup to avoid the sweep.

Of course, I could be wrong. I haven't watched that many Sox games, but I've watched plenty of Cubs games on MLB Extra Innings. While the Cubs have been better defensively, and their starting pitching has been great (So far, Lilly, Hill and Marquis have fulfilled Hendry's wettest of dreams) -- Their offense has been dubious (they had 4 consecutive singles yesterday, but didn't score a run in that sequence; they continue that pesky habit of leaving runners at 3rd base with 1 out), and their bullpen stalwarts Eyre and Howry have just been miserable this year. So, they're leaning on Wuertz, Cherry, and Cotts, and those guys were gravy guys not pillars of your pen.


I think this could be a big series if it turns out to be a sweep for either side. Both teams need some kind of jump start as both are underperforming right now.

[Admin]

The Cubs will sweep the series. Fans will be amazed when the hot hitting Derek Lee removes his mask to reveal that he's been Neifi Perez all along.

[Juan]

Why must we fight? Anyways White Sox all the way.

[PeteFitz]

True dat Steevo. I forgot about the ghost of Neifi. He's like the uncurse.

[Digger]

Welcome back Derek Lee. Grand. Fucking. Slam.

Cubs are up 2-0 in the series.

I fucking love it.

Go Cubs!

[Hendo]

Okay, I'll be honest... looking at the starting lineups before this series, I picked the Cubs to win two of three. BUT... I picked the Sox to win Game 1. I thought Buehrle would win his 100th game at Wrigley.

I thought the rookie with his first start wouldn't go three innings today.

BOY was I wrong.

Other thoughts... of COURSE it was AJ that jacked the Grand Slam to make the difference in the game today. Of. Course.

It was a great weekend for both clubs... the Cubs get Lee back, and he comes back looking great. Thome rejoins the Sox. Didja notice how both teams started hitting better with these gentlemen in their lineup? These guys make a difference. Maybe they won't be up to speed for a while, but when they're in the lineup, pitchers approach both teams differently. The Fox crew mentioned how many more walks the Sox pick up when Thome's in the lineup. Something like twice as many more walks per game. And give it up for Lee... first game back, jacks that Grand Slam? I had to pick a friend up from the airport yesterday, and we got out of my car at my parking lot on Broadway and Waveland JUST as Lee hit that Grand Slam, and the roar was so loud my friend was freaked out. I said, "That's a Home Run roar. Some Cub just put one out of the park." Then the roar was so sustained, I said, "That must have been an extra-bagger." Then it kept going, and my friend said, "Fuck that, it was a Grand Slam." Then we heard the roar die down a bit, and then it picked up again, and we turned to each other and said, "Curtain Call."

Then we went inside and watched the replay.

I saw a lot of good things from both clubs this weekend. I like this series because I think it lights a fire in both clubhouses that they normally don't feel until much later in the season. This, in my opinion, is the genius of interleague play.

[Admin]

The Cubs will sweep the series. Fans will be amazed when the hot hitting Derek Lee removes his mask to reveal that he's been Neifi Perez all along.

I was close!

[PeteFitz]

Pretty good series for both clubs.

Sox bats seemed to have come alive.

Cubs got some much needed wins.

DLee is the best player in Chicago.

Both bullpens sucked wang at times.

The Aardsma/Cotts trade seems pretty fair. Both guys apparently are employed by their former clubs.

Weird. The Cubs won the series (and deservedly so), but I am kinda happy to see the Sox bats get going plus the beloved weren't swept.

Thumbs up: DLee, JD, two telecasts (watching one and DVRing the other), Cubs free agents, Pagan, Gooch, AJ being a prick in the Cubs side, good weather games, grand slam homeruns and breakfasts.

Thumbs down: Pink baseball hats/jerseys (i got it. your a girl), Konk's batting avg., Ozuna in the field, Cotts, Aardsma, Cubs taking Dempster out of the closer role, drunk pedestrians (that aren't me), bad weather games.

Let's hope this is a launching pad for both squads, so when they tip off at U.S. Comiskullar, the games mean a shit-ton.

Fitz

[Hendo]

So there's a lot of talk online today about three subjects:

-Who's a bigger player for their team, Lee or Thome? (I vote Lee)

-Should Zambrano be put up for trade at the July deadline, seeing as he's 4-4 in his first 10 starts, and has a 5.61 ERA? (Yes, trade him; put Dempster in the closing role)

-Was the deal to bring Soriano to the Cubs a HUGE waste of money? He's on track for a pitiful 35 RBIs, and he flat-out quit running Sunday when he could have caught that Mack pooch for the third out. Instead, Mack singles and two runs score that inning. (I'm still on the fence about this one; however, Soriano has GOT to start hitting better, because his play in the field really kind of stinks)

-has Guillen lost control of his clubhouse after AJ's whining to North on Friday, followed by Ozzie's tirade? (I vote no; this is typical AJ/Ozzie type action)

[BlackDog]

Fitz,
two more thumbs down:

That scrub for a back up catcher, Toby Hall.

Mike North. He ramped up his own volume during that phone call just for the sake of sensationalism. Yeah, Ozzie was a knob for calling in and a bigger knob for all the swearing on the radio but if you listen closely to the replays of the audio (near constant, they are), its all North yelling and making some weird unwarranted demand for power.

Lame.

In the end, the Cubs deserved to win this series. They came in with a bigger appetite.

[PeteFitz]

Responses

Blackdog:


I dunno.

I know his D absolutely bit, but Toby Hall did have more hits in three ab's then our flying molina did the WHOLE SEASON.

I give him a thumbs down on his D.

I give him a thumbs up though as far as an upgrade. Our Molina was the bad one. Go figure. There's a hundred of them and we get the guy who cut catcher class to smoke doobies.

Mike North sucks when he takes things seriously. When he goes high horse and/or politicky he bites. Every once in a while when he's riffing as joe everybody, I find him to be pretty entertaining.

They both were wrong on Friday. Ozzie doesn't need to get all schilling on us and start calling up radio shows when hes got a beef. He's got a diarrhea of the mouth problem to begin with. North thinks he is much more important then, well, everyone, which is just about as annoying a trait as humanly possible. It was in full form on Friday.


Hendo:

Lee. Hands down. See last year. Thome is nice, but he doesn't play the field, let alone a gold glover that touches the ball on nearly 1/3 of all outs.

Zambrano. If the Cubs are in it, keep him. If not, trade him. He seems to like Chicago. Maybe he'll come back. If your four man rotation in the playoffs is Lilly, Hill, Marquis and Dempster, you're in trouble. Zambrano will pitch better then this. He'll never be a truly consistent pitcher, but he's got game.

If they move Dempster to a starter I don't get it. He had one bad game. Look at his numbers. He's the only consistent guy in the back of that pen.

Soriano got thrown out at home in a game against the Phillies where he looked like he was dogging it. I think he must still be nursing that injury a little bit. I don't think he's dogging it. Lou wouldn't have it. He's overpriced, but so is Big Ben for the Bulls. They both make their teams better, and fuck it, I'm not paying it. So he's worth it. Until WGN becomes a pay channel, I'm cool with salaries being whatever. The Cubs can afford it.


Ozzie needs to nip this calling into radio stations thing in the bud. Temporary insanity.


Fitz