Chicago Cubs Still Going Strong

The Chicago Cubs are still doing great.  This far into the season, they are only extending their lead in their division.  The second-place Milwaukee Brewers are now six games behind the guys in the Chicago jerseys and long-time rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, are in third, 8.5 games behind.

At .616, the Cubs are tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for best record in baseball.

The team as a whole is performing both in pitching and in batting.  The team is fourth in baseball in ERA with 3.74.  In first place, oddly, are the Toronto Blue Jays with a team ERA of 3.61.  The Los Angeles Dodgers come in at 3.67 and the Tampa Bay Rays are at 3.68.

The first-place showing in team ERA doesn’t help the Blue Jays in other respects, though.  They are in fourth place in the AL East, 12 games behind the Rays.

The guys in the Chicago jerseys are batting .281.  That places them in first place in baseball for that stat, tied with the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins.   They are ninth in baseball in home runs at 142.

Chicago is still holding its breath.  The guys in the Chicago jerseys are holding up.  Is this the year?  Stay tuned.

Guys in Chicago Jerseys Win on Doubles

The guys in the Chicago jerseys hit a total of six doubles, tying a season high, as they beat the Florida Marlins 9-2 on Sunday.

The four most significant doubles came in the eight-run seventh inning.  With the Marlins leading 2-0, Mike Fontenot led off with a two-bagger.  He and Reed Johnson scored on Alfonso Soriano’s double.  Aramis Ramirez drove in two runs with a double.  Reed Johnson, at the plate for the second time in the inning, hit a double that drove in three.

Sunday’s game marks the thirty-sixth time this season that the Cubs have come from behind to win.  They headed home with a 5-1 road trip under their belts.  During the first half of the season, the Cubs had a hard time winning on the road.

Ryan Dempster got the win in Sunday’s game.  Now 14-5 with a 2.92 ERA, Dempster struck out 10 of the 25 batters he faced, allowing both of Florida’s runs on five hits.

The Cubs are off today, then will be playing their next six games at home against two last-place teams.  They face the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Cincinnati is playing .440 and is in last place in the National League Central, 21.5 games behind the first-place Cubs.

Then the Cubs play the Washington Nationals on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  At .352, the Nationals have the worst record in baseball and are in last place in the National League East, 24.5 games behind the New York Mets.

The Chicago Cubs remain in first place in the National League Central, a position that they first took sometime in May and have kept very consistently since then.  The City of Chicago has been holding its collective breath during that whole time.  The Cubs have been laboring under a World Series championship drought for a century.  But all things must pass.

Rays Dodging Fays, Planning Series Against Angels

The AL East Division leading Tampa Bay Rays will be meeting the AL West Division leading Los Angeles Angels. Provided, that is, that the series doesn’t get hurricaned-out.

Tropical Storm Fay is expected first to gather hurricane force and then to make landfall in Florida on Tuesday.

The Rays are scheduled for home games against the Angels on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday’s game shouldn’t be affected, but Tuesday and Wednesday would be in jeopardy.

It should be a great series if they can play it. Tampa Bay has won four of their six games with the Angels this season. They are 45-17 for the season at home and have won seven of their last 10 games.

The Angels, unlike some MLB teams this year, are winning on the road. Their season record is 39-23 for road games. They have won six of their last 10.

Of course, far more important than the results of any baseball game is the safety of Floridians in the path of the hurricane. Hurricane season has been scarier than usual since Katrina. I say that even though I live in Chicago, far out of the way of the hurricane belt. And as interested as I would be in following the Angels-Rays series, my most important thoughts are with the people who may be at risk by Fay or other tropical storms this year.

Chicago and LA Both Have Division-Leading Teams

Chicago and Los Angeles both have two home-town division leaders.

The Chicago Cubs are in first place in the National League Central Division. They have a .613 record. The Milwaukee Brewers are in second place, 5.5 games behind the Cubs.

At the same time, on the South Side, the Chicago White Sox are tied with the Minnesota Twins for first place in the American League Central. The Sox have a .569 record. Detroit is in second place, 10.5 games behind the first place teams.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the Los Angeles Angels have the best record in baseball at .623, thirty games over .500. (The Cubs are second.) They are 15.5 games ahead of the second-place Texas Rangers in the American League West.

And the other LA team, the Dodgers, are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the National League West. At .516, the first place teams are 8 games ahead of the second-place Colorado Rockies.

The New York Mets are in first place in the National League East, but their AL counterparts aren’t keeping up. The Mets have a .548 record, two games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies. They New York Yankees, though, are in third place, 9.5 games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, with a .532 record.

And, finally, both of the Bay Area teams are low in the standings and seemingly out of contention. The San Francisco Giants are 11.5 games behind the Dodgers and Diamondbacks with a .423 record. And the Oakland Athletics are 20.5 games behind the Angels, playing .455 for the season.

Cubs Sweep Braves on the Road

The Chicago Cubs have swept a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves, and done it on the road.  The Cubs, who are 45-17 at home but only 29-30 away, have had problems winning on the road.  But they did it against the Braves, outscoring Atlanta 29-9.

In fact, the men in Chicago jerseys have won their last eight road games. The Sun-Times’ Gordon Wittenmyer points out that this is the best winning streak on the road since the Cubs won 12 in a row on the road in 1945.  And we all know what happened in 1945, don’t we?  That’s right — the Curse of the Billy Goat.

The series was dotted by pitchers hitting batters.  In Wednesday’s game, Alfonso Soriano had been hit in the head.  Then, though he denies any retaliation, Ted Lilly hit Yunel Escobar in the elbow on Thursday.  The benches cleared but no fist-fights broke out.

The Cubs have won all six of their games against the disappointing Braves this season.  They remain in first place in the National League Central Division.  The Cubs last went to the World Series in 1945, when William Sianis invoked the Curse of the Billy Goat, after their 12-game winning streak on the road.  They last won a World Series in 1908.  That makes exactly 100 years, but who’s counting?

White Sox Go for Four-Peat

The Chicago White Sox hit four consecutive home runs in the sixth inning of Thursdays game in the process of beating the Kansas City Royals 9-2.  They tie the record with five other teams who have also gotten four consecutive homers.

Jim Thome started the adventure with a three-run homer that was his 25th of the season.  He was followed by Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Juan Uribe.  Next up was Toby Hall, who broke the string of homers but had his own contribution.  This is the second time that he has played in a game in which his team hit four straight home runs.  The first time was when he played with the Dodgers in 2006.

According to the AP, the last time it happened was April 22, 2007, when the Boston Red Sox hit four in a row against the New York Yankees.

Jim Thome now has 532 career home runs and is sixteenth on the home run list.  Active players in front of him are his new teammate, Ken Griffey, Jr., who is sixth with 608 home runs, and Alex Rodriguez, who is thirteenth with 545.

Carlos Quentin also achieved a milestone, if you can call it that.  He has been hit by a pitch in his last six games.  That makes 20 times this season.  The same AP story quotes Manager Ozzie Guillen as attributing it to Quentin’s batting stance.  “He stands over the plate.”

Lance Broadway got the win, and was promptly demoted to the AAA team to make room for a reliever.

The White Sox have a tradition of shooting off fireworks after each home run hit by the home team.  So there were four sets of fireworks within a matter of minutes.  I happened to be at the game with my kids.  Val thought the fireworks were cool and wanted them after every at-bat for the rest of the game.  My little bubke didn’t like them much, though.

The White Sox, who have been in and out of first place since the All-Star Game, are back in first place now, one game ahead of the Minnesota Twins.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the Red Line, the Cubs are in first place in their own division.  So Chicago has two teams and they are both in first place.  Still.  Even this late in the season.

The Sox, of course, were the 2005 World Series Champions.  The Cubs, of course, were the 1908 World Series Champs.

Kevin Youkilis Boston’s Best Batter

Kevin Youkilis is leading the Boston Red Sox in batting average (.315), home runs (20) and RBI’s (76). Youkilis missed Sunday’s game against the Chicago White Sox because of a sore shoulder caused by a weight-lifting session, but is expected to play in Monday’s game.

Dempster Wins Cubs Game; Edmonds Wins Cubs Fans

Remember when Jim Edmonds was an All-Star for the St. Louis Cardinals? Chicago Cubs fans loved to hate the star player for their arch-rivals. Then, after Edmonds was traded to the San Diego Padres and released by that team, the Cubs signed him right away. The reception that Cubs fans gave to Edmonds was, shall we say, cool.

Then Sunday, during the Cubs’ 6-2 win over the Cubs’ arch-rival and Edmonds’ former team, Chicago fans gave Edmonds three standing ovations.

It’s not that the plays he made in Sunday’s game were earth-shattering. The first was a deep fly that advanced a player. The second was a diving catch of a line drive that ended the fourth inning and prevented the tying run from scoring. The third occurred when Edmonds went to the plate to bat in the bottom of that inning.

Why the change of heart? Because he’s ours now. His season batting average of .241 is a little deceptive. He was .178 with the Padres after having a slow recovery from an injury. He has batted .273 since coming to the Cubs. He’s also got 15 home runs and 44 RBI’s. And he can still rob an opposing batter of a multi-base hit.

But he’s not doing it for the Cards any more. He does it for the Cubs now. In general, Cubs fans, having been won over, are warm to him. But, in particular, in front of the Cardinals, and in front of the Cards fans, at a Cubs-Cards game, Chicago gets real touchy-feelly and pours out the love. Just to show them. He’s ours now.

Ryan Dempster got the win, bringing his record to 13-5. He pitched 6.5 innings Sunday, allowing two runs on six hits. He has won 11 of his last 13 decisions at Wrigley.

The Cubs won two of the three games they played against St. Louis and opened up their lead in the National League Central Division to seven games over the third-place Cards. The Milwaukee Brewers are in second place, four games behind the Cubs.

It has been an even 100 years since the Cubs last won a World Series. When Cubs fans aren’t busy clapping for Jim Edmonds, they are sitting with their fingers crossed, hoping that the century anniversary will bring a change in luck for the team.

Chicago’s other team, the White Sox, are also in first place in the American League Central.

Read more about the Cubs-Cards rivalry and vote on your favorite team.

Red Sox and Cardinals Descend on Chicago

This will be a great week-end for baseball in Chicago.

The Chicago White Sox will be hosting the Boston Red Sox for a four-game series and the Chicago Cubs will be hosting the St. Louis Cardinals for a three-game series. Both series start tonight.

These are going to be some great games. The Cubs and the Cardinals have a long-running rivalry and their games always have a special spark, kind of like a play-off game. A lot of fans travel to the rival city to support their team. So we can expect a lot of Cardinals fans, from downstate Illinois, the St. Louis area, and elsewhere, at Wrigley Field this week-end.

And Chicago now has a beloved former Cardinals All-Star.  Jim Edmonds signed with the Cubs earlier this season after the San Diego Padres released him.  Although he was only hitting .178 with the Padres, he has batted .279 with the Cubs, bringing his season BA to .243.  Now the fans are faced with a dilemma.  Do they love him or hate him?  And the answer is . . . yes.

You can read more about the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry, and vote for your favorite team, here.

And these teams are the World Series champs since 2004. The Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and 2007. The White Sox in 2005. And the Cards in 2006. When, you may ask, have the Cubs last won a World Series game? That would be a little longer ago. That would be . . . let’s see now . . . oh, 1908 or so. So it has been a round 100 years since the last time the Cubs were World Series champs.

And this year? The Cubs and the White Sox are still both in first place in their divisions. The Red Sox are in second place in the AL East, 2.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays. The Cards are in third place in the NL Central, 6 games behind the Cubs and a game behind the second-place Milwaukee Brewers.

And the curse-breaking karma may rub off on the Cubs. The Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 for the first time in 86 years. The White Sox won the World Series in 2005 for the first time in 88 years. Having all those Sox with all that finally-done-it good vibe in town may help the Cubs to finally do it themselves.

You can read more about the Curse of the Billy Goat, and vote on whether you believe in it, here.

Well, there’s a lot of baseball to be played between now and the World Series. It’s probably best not to get too far ahead of us just yet. But I can foresee, without any controversy, that this is going to be a happening baseball week-end here in the Windy City.

The Last Beat the First As Dellucci Hits His 100th

The last place (AL Central) Cleveland Indians beat the first place (AL East) Tampa Bay Rays when David Dellucci his hit 100th career home run in the fifth inning. The score was tied 2-2 as Dellucci hit his 2-run blast. Asdrubal Cabrera also homered. The Indians added a safety run in the eighth and won the game 5-2.