Snobs vs. Slobs

Following up on last week’s debacle, Buzz Bissinger spoke to the Sporting News and had this to say: (more…)

There’s nothing like blogging about baseball to help put off a movie script I don’t want to write. So let’s take a look at one of the best Aprils in Cubs history.

Record: 17-10 (t-1st, NL Central)
Runs Scored: 171
Runs Against: 120
Expected Record: 18-9
Overall: A

Lead by the league’s best offense, the Cubs had their best April ever, winning a franchise record 17 games. (more…)

—-

Mike Schur has already touched on this, as has Will Leitch, the folks at Kissing Suzy Kolber and A.J. Daleurio. Both were subjects of an episode of Bob Costas’ HBO show Tuesday evening as Buzz Bissinger basically set himself on fire getting angry at Leitch about sports bloggers.

The Cubs.com beat writer, Carrie Muskat, periodically answers email questions from people in a mailbag column. These questions are almost always idiotic, because (a) it’s straight Cubs propaganda nonsense, and (b) the people who are asking these questions clearly have never heard of sites like Baseball Prospectus or probably even ESPN.com, so they’re looking to Carrie Muskat, beat writer of Cubs.com, to answer their burning baseball questions. (more…)

As I was watching the Cubs blow out the Pirates today and listening to Len Kasper crow about the Cubs drawing ten walks in the game, it got me thinking: Have the Cubs finally turned the corner on walks?

If they have, it seems to be Lou Piniella’s doing. (more…)

Nick Swisher is never going to make any Handsome Man Teams. He is an extremely unattractive man who makes some terrible facial hair choices: (more…)

Following up on yesterday’s piece...

Last year’s disaster was largely set at the feet of the bullpen. Sox reliever piled up a 5.47 ERA, good for 12th (of 14 teams) in the American League. Despite having several guys who can dial it in the mid-90s, the Sox were dead last in bullpen strikeouts (318 in 424.2 IP). In a stadium that favors home run hitters, striking out hitters is important. (more…)

• Ernie’s statue looks pretty good on my non-HDTV.

• I want Kosuke Fukudome’s name in Japanese characters tattooed on my ass. Okay, not really, but he had an excellent first game.

• My boy Carlos pitched really well today, but will remain “winless” on opening day. Baseball morons everywhere will panic. I always cringe when I see him have these cramping issues, because they’re, you know, frequent. I believe he’s secretly hiding some massive torn labrum and he’s pitching through it by sheer grit and will. His arm could fall off and he’d pick up a ball with his left hand and start throwing.

• I hope Lou Piniellia realizes before not too long that Ryan Theriot is never going to be any better than he was last year (his age 27 season, which wasn’t very good), and that giving him more plate appearances than anyone else on the team is a bad idea. I think the Cubs should be starting Ronny Cedeno, because he’s 25 and has shown he can hit in triple A. Like Soto and Pie (both of whom I like, and am thrilled the Cubs are actually giving a chance to two homegrown players), it’s do-or-die time for Cedeno. He’s hit for far more power in the minors (.395 slg) than Theriot (.337), so at least there’s the possibility of the occasional home run. Theriot is, and always has been, all singles ‘n’ walks, and not enough of those to make him of any real value.

• “Fu-ku-do-me” sounds pretty good ringing off the walls of Wrigley.

• I can’t believe people (sounded like half the crowd) were booing after Wood gave up 3 in the top of the ninth. This guy has been with the Cubs since he was drafted, re-signed with them for less money this offseason. He wants to be in Chicago, in spite of the fact that this organization probably destroyed his career as a starting pitcher. I will not boo Kerry Wood, unless he punches a baby. Bush league, Cubs fans that booed.

The marathon begins again…

If you listened to the Sun-Times and Tribune for the past few months, you’d likely hear that the Sox’ offseason was a total disaster. The bad? Ken Williams signed Scott Linebrink for a ton of money and that was an incredibly stupid move. Octavio Dotel was signed for two years and a fair amount of money. That wasn’t bright either. (more…)

So this was in ESPN’s Rumor Central, right before the Cubs acquired Reed Johnson:

Two baseball men who spoke with Stark on Monday described Johnson as “the perfect fit” for the Cubs, who have looked diligently for a right-handed bat off the bench who can play center field.

If the Cubs do reel in Johnson, it could free them to trade Matt Murton in the next few days. Stark also reports that the Mets, who have scouted Johnson extensively, are not interested.

Free them? (more…)