Let’s start this with a little disclaimer where I tell you that the Cubs are not a very good team and would probably have lost anyway. It should also be noted that umpire fails can often affect both teams in such a way that it all equalizes in the end. So when I saw this play I was a bit shocked that the umpires called it the way they did. Now as a Cubs fan I may be a bit biased for our guys, but I just had to look at the replay a few extra times just to make sure I didn’t miss something.
Kerry Wood Expected to Retire
News broke Friday morning that long time player for the Chicago Cubs, and fan favorite, Kerry Wood would be announcing his retirement from baseball. Every sporting news outlet has spread the word of his retirement, though Wood himself has yet to confirm the report. If the news is true, and I do not have any reason to doubt that he will retire, the exact time the announcement will be made is unknown. The word going around is that Wood wishes to have one final pitching appearance in front of the fans who love with, and for whom the feeling is mutual. That final appearance will likely come today, with the announcement coming at some point after the game ends.
Managerial Shenanigans
Before Dale Sveum was hired as Cubs manager, I wrote a piece about what managers should be expected to do. Basically you just want a guy to manage egos and not screw up too often. Of course, the bulk of the team’s wins is going to be determined by the composition of players on the team and their talent level; the manager probably only swings one or two wins a year and that’s probably being generous.
Sveum has been an interesting manager with his employment of shifts, his bunt fest and other random decisions that either worked or didn’t work, but that’s true of most managers (well, not so much the bunt fest). Managers are going to end up doing stupid crap here and there. Let’s analyze a couple of scenarios from this past Cardinals series…
Minor League Report: May 7-13, 2012
19-year old Shortstop Gioskar Amaya made the jump all the way from Rookie League last year and Extended Spring Training to AAA Iowa on Sunday. In a corresponding move, Casey Coleman was recalled to Chicago on Saturday, so it is probable that it was a move made simply to occupy a roster spot.
Iowa Cubs – Before going 0 for 3 on Sunday with 3 strikeouts and a walk, Brett Jackson had been benched for at least the two previous games, likely due to his contact issues that are more evident than ever in 2012. Meanwhile, Anthony Rizzo has reached the double digit plateau in home runs and Josh Vitters is really beginning to heat up. Chris Rusin has been dominant on the mound, going 8 shutout innings allowing just 5 hits and 2 walks before the bullpen nearly blew Iowa’s 4-0 lead in their 4-3 win over the Sacramento River Cats on Sunday.
Tennessee Smokies – The Smokies had a dreadful week collectively, going 2-4 before Sunday’s game was cancelled due to weather. Tennessee’s normally-dominant pitching staff had a decent week, allowing twenty-four runs, or four per game, but nine of those came in Saturday’s 9-2 loss to the Jackson Generals. The pitching staff averaged three runs per game in the other five games.
Daytona Cubs – Matthew Szczur has finally turned it on, bringing up his batting average to a modest .250. Sean Marshall trade-piece Ronald Torreyes has yet to do so, batting just .184. From the mound, Eric Jokisch and Austin Kirk have been dominant starters, with a 2.90 and a 1.83 ERA respectively. 2010 first-round draft pick Hayden Simpson has had a dismal season, going 1-3 with a 6.41 ERA. Cashner-Rizzo trade-piece Zach Cates is 0-5 with a 10.55 ERA. Former Cub Brian Schlitter has a 1.80 ERA, and Derrek Lee trade-piece Ty’relle Harris has a 2.70 ERA through 12 relief outings.
Peoria Chiefs – The Chiefs went 4-3 this week and a new pitching star may be blooming in Central Illinois, as Patrick “PJ” Francescon is 4-1 with a 2.09 ERA in 8 games. Francescon has an impressive stat line with 39 strikeouts as opposed to just 12 walks; however, he has also hit 6 batters. Most impressive is Francescon’s 0.80 WHIP, and of all standard stats (besides those involving runs), WHIP has correlated best to runs since 2002 at the MLB level, which is a great sign.
Stop! Just Stop!
Being a fan of the Chicago Cubs, I understand the frustrations the fans feel when certain players like Chris Volstad or Carlos Marmol blow up and ruin any chance for a win. I do, I understand that fans want nothing more than to see the team they love win as many games as they can, even in a year when there was never much expectation for a winning season to be had. But the problem is, no matter how many times you try to tell fans something they should know, some of them simply do not listen to reality checks when we try to give them.
Cubs Round-Up 5/04-5/09
LaHair SMASH
So, how about those Cubs? Like Anno pointed out, The Cubs won these last two series against two of the best teams in the National League. I have really enjoyed watching this team play, especially lately. It’s amazing how the team you love will change your day around just by winning. Not sure if you guys are the same way, but a lot of times my mood depends on whether the Cubs win or lose, I know it’s probably not very mature, but what the heck. Any who, let’s get into the game recaps.
You can win this really cool hat
Contests, contests, contests! It’s like we just keep giving away free crap!
Of course, that means some of you actually have to put in a bit of work and do something for us in order to get this free crap 
As you know, we’ve already done a couple of fun contests and had our winners announced. More recently, Anno is giving away a free ticket to a Cubs game in the bleachers if you can be creative enough and help us make a new motivational poster.
As luck would have it, Rush from ChiCitySports.com likes us so much that not only did he allow us to use their Cubs forums and moderate them, he also wants to give away an awesome New Era Cubs cap through our blog. So we’re going to reciprocate by helping strengthen our partnership and try to funnel more of you not only to our blog, but to the messageboards as well. Read on…
Who Wants to Go to a Cubs Game?
I do not know how many of you follow our facebook page, but lately not all of our updates have been posting on everyone’s news feed. Some people see them some of the time, but other people do not ever see our updates on their news feeds. In an attempt to keep people well informed, we have been trying to direct people to the official World Series Dreaming Twitter account. If you follow the twitter account, you will receive every update we post on the FaceBook page due to how we have the setting set up. The twitter account is also synced to this very blog page. Every single tweet we send out can be seen in our twitter time line on the right side of the home page. While we would love to have each and every one of you become a fan of our facebook page, as well as a follower of ours on twitter, the bigger and more important goal is to have all of you become not only a fan of this page, but an active contributor here as well. Now, there is only one way a start up blog page can do that.
Goodbye, Maurice Sendak
There was sad news this morning as we learned that the beloved author of “Where the Wild Things Are,” Maurice Sendak, had died at the age of 83. This really doesn’t have a lot to do with the Cubs, but it is still important because many of us were once children (at least I hope so anyway) and either read this book ourselves or had it read to us by parents and other family. Most of us turned around and passed it along to our own offspring so that they could enjoy it too. This book is in the regular bedtime story rotation for my son. I had thought about trying to put a Cubs twist on the story, but then I realized that the story was perfect that way it was. It was somewhat eerie yet fitting that I read this very book to my son last night before bed. I think I will read it again.
Rest in peace, Maurice Sendak.
Minor League Report: April 30-May 6, 2012
Iowa Cubs - After a terrible 1 for 5 game with 4 strikeouts, Brett Jackson rebounded Sunday with a solid 2 for performance with a home run and a walk in Iowa’s 12-4 loss to New Orleans. Anthony Rizzo went 0 for 2 with 2 walks in the game and Josh Vitters went 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter. Jackson is batting .259, Rizzo .364, and Vitters .241. Potential call-up Adrian Cardenas, claimed off waivers from Oakland in the off-season is batting .319. Luis Valbuena, who was claimed from Cleveland and who lasted on the MLB roster for just one day, is batting .313.
Tennessee Smokies - Trey McNutt is by far the most highly touted prospect in Tenessee, and at first glance, his numbers don’t disappoint as he has posted a 1.56 ERA. However, he hasn’t lasted long in his five starts. With five starts, McNutt has pitched just 17.1 innings, meaning that he has average just 3.42 innings per start.
Daytona Cubs - Winning today’s game 5-4, Daytona won their previous game 11-1. Matt Szczur is batting just .239, but a third of his hits have been for extra bases. Fellow outfielders Rubi Silva, John Andreoli, and Nelson Perez are hitting well, with batting averages of .320, .315, and .307 respectively.
Peoria Chiefs - More surprising than any Peoria player’s individual performance (besides perhaps Gerardo Concepcion‘s poor start), the Chiefs have played absolutely terrible as of late. Dropping 2 of 3 to the Kane County Cougars to begin the month, the Chiefs played even worse against the Quad Cities River Bandits. The Chiefs lost 20-5 on Saturday and not much better on Sunday, losing 9-2.
