Chicago Cubs Watch — May 15, 2008

The Chicago Cubs remain in first place in the National League Central Division after Wednesday night’s 8-5 win over the San Diego Padres.  The Cubs, 24-16, are one game ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals.  The Padres are in last place in the National League West Division, 10.5 games behind the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks.  The Padres, 15-26, have the worst record in baseball.

This week’s buzz among the Cubs is the imminent arrival of Jim Edmonds.  The veteran outfielder, a former St. Louis Cardinals star, was signed by the Cubs less than a week after being released by the Padres.  He is expected to take the field for the Cubs for Thursday’s game, the fourth and last in a series against the team that let him go.  He and the rest of the Cubs will be facing former Chicago pitching ace Greg Maddux in that game.  The Big Leagues are a small world.

The Cubs have optioned Felix Pie to Triple-A Iowa to make room for Edmonds.

During spring training, Edmonds injured his right calf and he started the season on the disabled list.  Since coming back to active status, his batting average has been a life-time low .178, with one home run and six RBI’s.  This year’s stats are well below his total career numbers of a .286 batting average with 363 home runs and 1,127 RBI’s.  Edmonds, who is not expected to play every day, brings a left-handed bat to a largely right-handed Cubs line-up.

When he was a star for the Cardinals, Cubs fans and some players developed some animosity towards him.  The Chicago Tribune reports a ChicagoSports.com survey that found 13.9% of respondents were against signing Edmonds precisely because he used to play for the Cards.  And there was the 2004 game in which tempers flared between Edmonds and his new teammate, pitcher Carlos Zambrano.  In that game, Edmonds hit a home run off the Big Z and, instead of hustling around the bases, stood at home plate to watch the ball sail over the fence.  An irate Zambrano heckled him as he finally ran the bases.  Later in the game, Zambrano hit Edmonds with a pitch and was ejected from the game.

But if Edmonds generated animosity from Cubs players and fans, it was because he was good.  The four-time All-Star has 32 career home runs against the Cubs, 17 of them at Wrigley.  He has won the Gold Glove eight times.  He is 68th on the list of top home run hitters and has hit 30 or more home runs in five seasons.  And he assisted the Cards in their 2006 Word Series championship.

At 37, his best playing years are probably behind him.  But he probably still has some contributions to make.  We’ll see how it goes with the Cubs.

Tags: Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Jim Edmonds