"Sweet Lou" Loses Game 1 For Chicago Cubs, in Playoffs

The "Billy Goat Curse," a sense of tension caused by a 100 year drought, or just a regular "on any given day, any team can beat another" may be the reason the Cubs lost to the Dodgers (in game one) in the playoffs tonight. The Chicago Cubs came out to play, in game one of the playoffs, and looked like a team facing extinction. In a five game series, there is countless strategies involved, and Lou Pinella can take full responsibility for the loss in game one. It wasn't a curse, no billy goats, history was not against the "loveable losers," instead it was Pinella playing for game two, rather than playing for a lead in the playoffs and for game one.

Ryan Dempster is a fine pitcher, but he is not a Carlos Zambrano. Carlos Zambrano is the ace of the staff, the "C.C. Sabathia" of the Cubs, and he is clutch, a man/player who feeds off of emotion, and a great hitter (one of the best, as a pitcher) to boot. Yet, "Sweet Lou" started Ryan Dempster, in game one. Some may ask themselves why, or maybe they are not giving it a second thought, but there is only one reason. Lou Pinella thought, if the Cubs lose game one, then he will be able to bring "Big Z/Baby Bull" out for game two, and there is a lock. Pinella played for the split, at home, in front of a sell out Wrigley Field crowd, with the best National League team (possibly the best overall Cubs team, since 1984), and there is nobody to blame, but Lou Pinella. In a short series, teams have to play for the day, using momentum, and every single advantage at their disposal. Pinella did not utilize his most prize possession, in game one, momentum and his ace.

The whole Cubs team looked tight, not confident and timid, and they lacked a leader on the field, to pull them out of this funk (from beginning to end). If Carlos Zambrano was on the "bump" for game one, the Cubs would have had a completely different feeling, going on the field. Zambrano is a fiery, no frills, flame thrower, who also has three other dominate pitches. Maybe, three, or even two years ago, Zambrano (like other fiery pitchers before them) would have been "to excited/fired up," but not this "Z". He has been able to harness his most beneficial asset, his fire, drive, and love for the game, to make him a constant top five Cy Young pitcher year in, year out. Starting Zambrano, who had more than enough rest (6 days), who had a 14-6 record, 3.81 era, 130 K's and a 1.21 WHIP, all with a month out in the middle of the season (also bringing a .337 avg., 14 rbi's and 4 home runs). The Cubs are the only team that did not start their ace (with the exception of the Brewers, who had to pitch C.C. Sabathia, three times on three days rest, to get to the playoffs). A team's ace is not always the player with all the best stats, either.

The bottom line, with Zambrano sitting game one, he is not going to have the option of pitching two times, if the series goes to five games (which it now may). 24 of the last 28 teams to have won game one, of a five game playoff series, have gone on to win the series. When the time comes to "play to stay," a team's manager must put their most dominate, player with the most situational prowess, and mostly the pitcher who makes the whole team better (both in the field, at the plate, but most importantly to the team's psyche). Lou Pinella did not only let the Chicago area down, the Cub fans around the world down, his team down, but he also let Carlos Zambrano down. The energy he would have channeled thru a 2-0 lead (after the 2 run homer from Mark DeRosa) would have gone a long way with "Z" and the team. Instead, the constant back and forth panning of the camera, to Zambrano, showed him stewing and flipping a ball in the air, but now his energy in game two will be set to a "can't lose effort," rather than giving him the ball in game one, for a possible win and game five appearance. The Dodgers now have the momentum, but more importantly (Lou Pinella) has given the Cubs a huge desperation feeling of, "Oh no, not 101 years, without a World Series win." Nice going "Sweet Lou," nothing like playing behind the eight ball, but the Cubs would have it no other way.

Hopefully, I am wrong, and they come back and sweep, the next three.

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IS 100 YEARS ENOUGH, FOR THE CUBS?

Novelties, like the car, phones, indoor plumbing, radios and the home run were first coming to the people, one hundred years ago. World War I had not begun, the last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, in 1908. Defying imagination, the Chicago Cubs have been the "darling losers," in all of sports, for one hundred years. Some blame a goat ("The Curse of the Billy Goat"), others blame fate, and still others feel every year, "this is the year, we are going all the way."

Coming into June, this year, the Cubs have the best record in all of baseball. The last time they had the best record, in the big leagues (coming into June), was in 1908. Mordecai Brown was the staff ace (29-9, 1.47 ERA, 27 Complete Games, 9 Shutouts, 312.1 Innings Pitched, & 5 Saves) and Joe Tinker (SS) was the "offensive standout" (157 games, .266 avg., 146 hits, 6 home runs, 67 RBI's, and 30 stolen bases). Pitching was the 1908 Cubbies strong suit, but "team attitude and team gel" was what won them a World Series.

In 2008, the Chicago Cubs have many high profile players and some all-stars. Carlos Zambrano is a dominate force on the hill, barring a huge set back/injury, he has a legitimate shot at being a hall of fame pitcher. Ted Lilly, Dempster, and Kerry Wood (who is turning out to be a savior and a solid closer) in the pen, make up a very good rotation, for playoff contention. Offensively is where the Cubs will excel and separate themselves, from most teams. Alfonso Soriano, Derek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez anchoring the lineup, things are very bright offensively. Throwing in the position and role players, of Soto (C), Fukudome (Of), DeRosa and Theriot, they have versatility.

World War I, World War II, The Korean War, Vietnam, Civil Rights, Woodstock, and countless other things over one hundred years, but the Cubs have not won the big prize, a World Series Ring. It almost defies comprehension, when looking at dynasties and common place winners: the New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Celtics, Lakers, Dodgers, Yankees, Tigers, Edmonton Oilers, Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels (NCAA basketball), the Cubs could not win, even one, World Series. Even, the Red Sox broke out of their own "jinx." Fluke teams, like the Royals (1985), Cardinals (1983), and the other "one season wonders" have managed to put it together, to win their respective titles.

In an age of sports, where teams can buy a title (Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers, Patriots), the Cubs still fail. However, the Cubs do have several things on their side this year. They have offense, defense, young and veteran talent, a rotation that is more than solid (plus, in a five and seven game series, would dominate), a bullpen that is second to none, and lastly they are playing and have a lightness about them. In the hundred years of failure, they have experienced (on the South side) "The Black Sox Scandal," the "Steve Bartman" incident (in the playoffs), and possibly a "billy goat jinx." Yet, in 2008, maybe one hundred years, a great baseball team and coaching staff, and a little bit of luck will make this year "the year," for the Cubs first World Series Ring. The "lovable losers" will become, the lovable winners, of the North side of Chicago?

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STOLEN BASES FOR K's & BASEBALL'S LINES BLURRED

Major League Baseball has undergone a huge change in just ten to fifteen years. There is the obvious reasons, that have kept everyone's ears ringing for about five years now: steroids, HGH (human growth hormone), and other things like "beaning up," "greenies," or "speed" (a legal form of speed, in pill form). Obviously, these drugs and the performance enhancing aspect of them, are a huge boon to Bud Selig and the game, itself. However, when the average and some of the above average people following the game, saw the signs, really they did not know what they were actually seeing, or did not care to look.

Before the 1992 season, there was a form of baseball, called "station to station" and manufacturing runs. The majority of teams had a guy, or a group of guys, who were fast and had knowledge of the base paths. They were stealing machines. From the beginning of the game, itself, there was not a lot of people who actually hit a lot of home runs, but there were always players who had speed and stole a lot of bases. The usually were shortstops, second basemen, and centerfielders, but even a catcher could run (John Wathan, Ivan Rodriguez, Yogi Berra even stole a couple of bags), at times. However, from 1980 to around the 1986, there were a lot of players who prided themselves on the stolen base, so much so, the standard for a season was around one hundred stolen bases. Players like Willie Wilson (Royals), Ron LeFlore (Expos, Tigers), Vince Coleman (Cardinals, Mets), and Ricky Henderson (A's, Yankees, many others) were all hundred base stealers, or close to it. Plus, players like Ozzie Smith, Harold Reynolds, Omar Mereno, Tim "Rock" Raines, and even as late at 1992 Kenny Lofton stole over seventy bags. Although, there are still players like Carl Crawford, Jose Reyes, Rollins, and Chone Figgins, who may still steal one hundred (it isn't like a hallowed number, like hitting in fifty-six straight games, like DiMaggio), the art is basically gone and teams do not "draft on speed," or at least stolen base speed. The term "five tool player" (hitting for avg. hitting for power, fielding, throwing arm, and speed) still exists, but the speed part of the equation is more toward the fielding part of the game, not necessarily stolen base speed. Although, players like Crawford, Figgins, and Reyes are great stolen base guys. The consideration for "a threat to steal," is taken up by men like Julio Lugo (Boston Red Sox), who had around thirty thefts last year, far from the seventy to one hundred of years past.

Symmetrically, over the past fifteen years (roughly), the same is the going rate for strike out ratio, for hitting. Striking out over one hundred fifty times, in a season, was once a dubious and shameful feature. It possibly earned a player, a demotion to the minors. Very few good players and only the most "all or none" players, like Rob Deer (Brewers), Sam Horn (Red Sox), Ron Kittle (White Sox), and older players Bobby Bonds (multiple teams) would fan this many times in a season. With the exception of Mike Schmidt and Reggie Jackson, both Hall of Famers, there are no players who struck out more than 140 times in a season, without a very short career (until the change, around 1997, when Sammy Sosa struck out 174 times). The change over, to excepting a huge amount of strikeouts, like the limited stolen bases, happened around the same time. However, stolen bases are a positive stat, but the statistics of K's, are the most hurtful thing to a team. They brutalize the line up, are a "negative stat," in the sense, there is no positive outcome (other than a possible passed ball, letting an advance of a runner). Striking out one hundred and fifty times, to close to two hundred, in a season is not part of most great players careers and most past great teams. They did not want players who could whiff, in that amount. The change in the last ten years, has afforded players like Jose Hernandez, Mike Cameron, Jim Thome, and Ryan Howard (who is now on the cover of the newest baseball PSP/Playstation 2 & 3 game), the option to make a career hitting .250, with 30 home runs, but striking out one hundred and fifty to two hundred times, in a season.

Baseball is the only game, where you can fail 70% of the time, and still be a Hall of Fame player and/or a star. It is also a game, where speed is a lethal weapon, most say "there is no substitute for speed." However, there is a rise in strikeouts and a deep fall in steals, over the same period of time. General managers and owners have given way, in drafting and training their players, for hitting for power and being fast in the field, rather than stolen bases and fundamental hitting (putting the ball in play). After the 1994 strike shortened season, where there was no World Series, and all of America was fed up with both the players and the owners. It was the lowest baseball had been, since the "Black Sox Scandal" of 1919 (where the Chicago White Sox teamed up with the mob, to throw the World Series, getting "Shoeless Joe Jackson" banned from the game, for life, along with seven other players). Whether it was the owners showing a blind eye, or the players taking advantage of a blossoming situation, in stepped steroids, HGH, and "little green pills." The game was transformed from being a paria (after the 1994 strike), to a game filled with huge and larger than life players, crushing monumental, moon shots, out of every park, but Yellowstone.

Couple "the juice" and a huge crop of big time talent "up the middle" (at shortstop, second base, catcher and centerfield), with players like AROD, Jeter, Garciapara, Omar Vizquel, Andrew Jones, Ivan "pudge" Rodriguez and a young crop of five tool players, and there was a change in the game forever. The "new crop" was fast enough to speed to thirty, maybe forty steals, but their power numbers and solid speed in the field (plus glove work), transformed the game. Then, came the home run race of 1998, between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire (two obvious 'roid guys), and that was the beginning of the end, of the American past time, or the way it was played. It was not just at the major league level, either. The players in college, at the same time period, during the college world series (in Omaha), were also not "typical baseball players" anymore. Players like JD Drew (Arizona State), Lance Berkman hitting 40 Hr's (Rice), Pat Burell leading the nation in hitting as a freshman (Miami), and even pitchers, like Braden Looper (Clemson) and Kris Benson (Clemson), all looked like they were cavemen. As a test, feel free to check out Todd Walker's (LSU) home run, to win the CWS, to Stanford star Carlos Quentin. After games, they came out of "Rosenblatt Stadium" with power mandibles and Major League Baseball bodies, in college. Therefore, when the players came out of college, they were major league ready. When they came out of high school and the Dominican Republic, they needed some extra "seasoning." For whatever the formula, they "Pro Ready" before the usual stint, in the minor leagues.

The Bottom Line: I am a true blue, 100%, unwavering baseball player and a life long fan. I am not looking to put another black eye on the sport, blaming steroids, or looking to pin anything else on the players. The only thing I blame, the sport I love so much for, is for players choices to due the drugs. Changing it before I could have shown my kids the way the game used to be played, to bring them up with an equal shot (by playing true to their performance and talents), and most of all, to allow them to blossom without worrying about the "business of baseball," rather than the game of baseball. I still love the game, all it's pure form and impurities, and all it has to offer. However, I do hope and pray the game gets cleaned up, because without it going back to it's roots, MLB will never surpass the other professional sports (the NFL & NBA, maybe in time MLS), and become "America's Past Time," once again.

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