The obvious reason for why this game went to crap had to do with Carlos Marmol walking two Marlin batters in the bottom of the 8th inning. If he gets outs, maybe we go a little longer, maybe the Cubs score later on, and so on and so forth.

But really, the offense wasn't exactly killing the ball tonight either. I don't know how many additional outs the Cubs would have needed to give the hitters enough time to take the lead. The Cubs were 1-for-12 at the top of the line-up, with Derrek Lee collecting the only hit among the first three Cub hitters.

Volstad was good. All we could muster off of him was a bloop and a blast, and that happened relatively late in the game.

For the Cubs, Harden was decent; 11 Ks is awesome, but five innings is not. Harden also gave up an RBI double to the opposing pitcher.

On a positive note, John Grabow's debut went well. He did walk a batter, but retired the next three Marlins hitters he faced.

In the end, I'm chalking this one up as an off night for the offense. Let's put some more pressure on the starting pitcher in tomorrow's game.

Go Cubs.

^{Rich Harden (7-6, 4.55 ERA) vs. Chris Volstad (8-9, 4.44 ERA)}

Story Lines

The Cubs are once again in first place thanks to a comeback victory by the Dodgers last night in St. Louis. After St. Louis struck for Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa and Julio Lugo, the Cubs went out yesterday and dealt for John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny.

The move has been discussed at length, but it probably helped the team. For one, it does give the Cubs another arm in the bullpen to go along with Sean Marshall, even if he gets out right handers better than lefties. The Cubs should get better on their own over the next few weeks with Ted Lilly, Geovany Soto and Reed Johnson coming back.

Tonight's game starts a long road trip for the Cubs. They make trips to the Marlins, Reds and Rockies, and this is a very important time for the Cubs to continue to play well.

Rich Harden heads to the bump tonight, and it will be interesting to see  how he pitches at night after all the fuss the last few weeks. Harden's been great since the All-Star brek. In three starts, he's 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA with 21 strikeouts and two walks. Harden's lack of walks have been the key for him, but that's true of any pitcher.

Who's Hot

Aramis Ramirez - The "Real" Aramis Ramirez is back, and maybe stronger than ever. Ramirez has crushed the ball of late with a .520 average with four HR's and 10 RBI. That translates to a 1.746 OPS during the streak.

Kosuke Fukudome - It is no shock to see the Cubs turn things around when Fukudome and Alfonso Soriano starting to hit. In his last 7 games, Fukudome is hitting .409 with a 1.109 OPS.

Milton Bradley - He's still hitting a lot of singles, but he does have two home runs in the last week. His line in the last week of .333/.483/.619 is showing real signs of improvement. Overall, his OPS is up to .776. Still not great, but getting better.

Who's Not

Mike Fontenot - I really thought the Cubs would make a deal for a 2B, but it does not look like it is going to happen. Even with his two hits yesterday, Fontenot's still just 3-for-17 in his last six games.

Conclusions

The Cubs have traditionally struggled with the Marlins, but they did take 3 of 4 back in April during a homestand. Hopefully, the Cubs can find a way to take 2 of 3 this weekend.

Overview
What a difference a week makes, eh? Last Friday the Cubs were 1.5 games out of first place with the Astros and Brewers not far behind. Now the Cubs are in first after going 6-1 at home and the NL Central race seems less like a swingers orgy and more like a monogamous relationship.

The Cubs are 11-3 since the All-Star Break and are playing like the team everyone was having wet dreams about during the winter. They hit road next and will not be returning to Wrigley until August 11. First stop: South Beach.

Although the Marlins have won seven of their last eight games, they are currently 6 games behind the Phillies. Let’s not be fooled though my friends, the Marlins certainly have something to play for.

In their only meeting of the season, the Cubs took three of four games from the Fish in Chicago.

Needless to say, that means practically nothing now because this Cubs team is different than anything we’ve seen so far this season. Say what you will about the difficulty of their opponents during this hot streak, but the Cubs offense is straight ballin’ homie. I guess that makes this preview particularly hard write because the Cubs are actually…like…good on a consistent basis.

Alas, I will push on. To the matchups!

The Matchups
Friday, July 31st – Rich Harden vs. Chris Volstad
Baseball Reference has Volstad listed at 6’7’’…wait for it…and 190 lbs. Holy crap. Someone get this guy a cheeseburger before the wind picks up. While Big V can bring the heat with his fastball, the guy has suffered some control issues in his last two starts. He’s allowed 4 walks in both contests (giving up 1 earned run and 4 earned runs respectively). Expect the Cubs to be patient and test Volstad’s control.

After Rich Harden’s last start, at least we know that he is NOT a vampire. However if he is actually a vampire, then we are all screwed because they can walk among us during the day. Seriously though, Count Harden threw six innings giving up just 1 run while striking out 8 Reds during a DAY game at HOME. Since the ASB, Rich is 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA. He vants to strike you out.

Saturday, August 1st – Carlos Zambrano vs. Burke Badenhop?
We may not know what carcass the Marlins are going to roll out on the field for the Cubs to feast on, but all accounts seem to point to Burke Badenhop. This guy has been used mostly as a reliever all season, so it’s safe to say he won’t last more than 5 innings at best. Like Russ Ortiz, Badenhop (a righty) is stronger against left-handed hitters. I’m not sure if you saw what the Cubs did to Ortiz yesterday, but he was waived after the game by the Astros. Just saying.

Zambrano finally pitched like an ace in his last start but he still didn’t get the win. Such is life. The Marlins don’t take many walks (10th in the NL) and are notorious hackers. This should please Big Z as he seems to work better against teams with little patience. I predict many strikeouts. And the people rejoiced.

Sunday, August 2nd – Ryan Dempster vs. Rickie Nolasco
Nolasco, the “ace” of the Marlins’ staff, has not had an outstanding season so far. With a 7-7 record and a 5.24 ERA, I see no reason to fear him. One could argue that Nolasco is getting better as evident by the 2 earned runs he has given up in his last two starts. But one could also argue that my master’s degree will get me a job sometime soon. In both cases, you’d be wrong.

Dempster got shelled in his last start. To be honest, the guy should have probably pitched a minor league assignment before coming back to the big squad. Besides his walks, what worries me most about Dempster is the number of homers he has given up. In 2008, Demp gave up 14 dingers all season. Guess how many he has given up this year. That’s right, 14. This could be a high scoring affair.

Conclusion
I really like all the matchups this weekend for the Cubs. It’s not out of the realm of possibility to think they could pull off the sweep. However I’m predicting they’ll lose at least one game (most likely Dempster’s start).

Like I said above, it’s hard to tell what to expect from the Cubs now. They could just be teasing us and we’ll have Cubbie Blue Balls at the end of this road trip. Or perhaps they will kick ass across America and come back to Wrigley in first with a nice lead.

I now want to use this space to welcome the newest members of the Cubs to our team: John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny. Although I’m not thrilled about moving Marshall out of the bullpen, this was a decent trade by Hendry. So welcome to the team guys. We’ll love you until you screw up. No pressure.

Go Cubs.

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There's a knock on Lou Piniella's door.

HART - Hey Skip, d'ya have a min?

LOU - aaaah, sure kid, come on in...

HART - Thanks, Skip.  I was thinking, y'know, I know that Ted's coming back soon and that me an' Wellsy are both rookies filling in the rotation, and everyone's talking about him being a Rookie of the Year, and he's good and all, but I've won three starts in a row, too...

LOU - aaaah, yep, yep, you have.

HART - ...and I'm thinkin' that I've earned a spot in the rotation, too.

LOU - aaahhh, yep, yep, sure, yer right.  Aahh, I agree with you one hunner percent...

HART - (brightening) REAL-ly?  Hey, great, thanks!

LOU - yep, aaaahh, sure, you've earned it, especially since you got a 1-and-oh record with 4 strikeouts in your home park...

HART - (confused, wondering to himself if some of the other guys were right, that the old man really is getting senile) Skip, you know, I've won the last two starts on this homestand...

LOU - I know, son.  I meant PNC Park.  Aaahh...yer a Pirate now.

HART - WHAT?!?  Yer kiddin', right?  A PIRATE?

LOU - Aaaah, nope, Jim traded you just a minute ago.

HART - A PIRATE?  They SUCK!!  Traded?  Who for?

LOU - aaaaah, um, the Grabow kid for one...

HART - As WHAT?  Your LOOGY?  Lefties have a higher batting average against (.275 to .235) than righties!  Who else?

LOU - and, aaah, the Gorzellany kid.

HART - JEEEZ!  He's from Evergreen Park - he's a GAT-DAM Sox fan!!

LOU - Nah, aaah, he's the happiest human being in the world right now...

HART - well HELL yes he is, he's getting out of Pissburgh...

LOU - aaaah, well, it's more like Indianapolis for him.  And he's going to Iowa.

HART - Sounds like an lateral for him.  You can't get a decent pizza in either place.

LOU - ummm, well, aaah, I wouldn't know.  I generally eat at Harry Caray's, and when I'm back home, ummm, in Tampa, generally we eat fish.

HART - yeah, well?  I sincerely hope I make you guys HURT for this!

LOU - aaah, umm, well, son, this ain't "Little Big League".  And I'm not your biggest fan,  Uuuh, you're not going to get me to slump over in my chair in despair.  It's nothin' personal, son.  It's business.

GRABOW - (rushes into office) Hey, Skip?  Hope I'm not too late gettin' here.

LOU - ummm, aaah, hello, son.  We, umm, just traded for you like, aaah, seven minutes ago? 

GRABOW - No prob, Skip.  Pirates were off today.  Me and Gorz were, um, just in town for some wings at Yak-Zies.  He had to stop in the head first.

HART - I can't believe anyone here thinks this is a good thing for me, when Grabow gets here seven minutes after the trade was made.  How bad could it be...?

GORZELLANY - Howdy, Skip!  (Holds out hand to shake)

LOU - aaah, well hello, son.  I, uhhh, hope you washed first?  Since Moises Alou passed through here, we always, aah, ask.

HART - Well I, uh, gotta go, I guess.  Sorry to bother you, Skip.

LOU - aaahh, umm, well, no bother at all, Hill.  Good luck in Pittsburgh!  (smiles) Hey, say hi to Jack Wilson for me?

GRABOW - he's in Seattle now, Skip.

LOU - well, aaahh, then Dirty Sanchez?

GORZELLANY - Frisco.

LOU - aaah, jeez, well...

BLANCO - (peeks head in crowded manager's office) Ay, Skip, Dempster y Harden se tira de los demás camisas sobre sus cabezas de nuevo!

Now that is the Cubs offense we've been waiting for! There were 35 runs scored over 4 games, including contributions from players who have been less-than-reliable this season.

Offensively, the big turning point probably came in the 2nd, when, with bases loaded, the unreliable Kosuke Fukudome hit a 2 RBI single that busted open the gates for an offensive onslaught. Then in the 3rd, Milton Bradley hit a solo shot, followed by an RBI scoring triple by Mike Fontenot, followed by a Three Finger sac fly, followed by a single from Kevin Hart the pitcher, who was driven home by another Fukudome hit - this one a double. (Kosuke would finish the day a homerun shy of the cycle, incidentally.  Much as the Desipio crowd issues an "FYC" every time Soriano does something spectacular, perhaps Fooky warrants an FYR?  Just thinking out loud.)

Hey, since I wanted the guy here in the first place, if Fooky wants to stick it in my face, he is cordially invited to do so.  I don't want to die correct - I want to die a Winner.  Gooo, Fuk U!!  "FYR", indeed!
 
Seriously. These are the Cubs we have been waiting for. I just hope they manage to stick around for a while. 

Jim Hendry is trying his best to make that happen -- not that his best counts for a whole lot -- as he sent today's game winner, reliever Jose Ascanio, and a minor leaguer to Pittsburgh for lefty reliever John Grabow and lefty starter Tom Gorzelanny.  Typical Hendry -- the Cubs have a need (lefty reliever) so he grabs not one, not two, but three candidates for the job. 

Gorzelanny looks like he will be slotted into the rotation until Ted Lilly gets back.  On the surface this looks somewhat apalling, but he's 4-3 with a 2.48 ERA in Triple A this year, so hey, maybe he'll surprise us.  Or, perhaps he will be used as a tool to acquire a new second baseman.  Curiously enough, the Tribune seemed to indicate that they aren't even putting Gorzelanny on the ML roster...I'm sure they just meant to say that he is starting in Iowa, as part of the 40 man.  If they in fact haven't put him on the 40-man, then expect another trade, a "prospects-for-left handed RF" deal...

Regardless, the Cubs took 3 of 4 from Houston, they are now percentage points in first place, (St. Louis plays the Dodgers later tonight), and they are "on track" to have a big August and September.  But up next are the Florida Marlins, who have lately been partying in Miami. 

Current Record: 54-46
Position in the NL Central: 1st place, .002 percentage points ahead of St. Louis
Magic Number: 61 (thanks to cubsmagicnumber.com)
Best Possible Record: 116-46
Worst Possible Record: 54-108
Record needed to win 90: 46-26
On Pace For: 87-77

Story-lines
In one corner we have the Astros, the hottest team in the NL Central this month, battling to stay above .500.  In the other corner we have the Cubs, the sleeping giant of the Central, who are -- we hope -- on a meteoric rise to the top of the division and then to playoff glory.  And if anybody thinks it'll be that easy, then maybe the Cubs aren't the only ones who've been sleeping through this season.

Don't get me wrong.  It's been great to finally experience a month of good baseball.  It's been fantastic to finally see the Cubs alone in first place above even the pesky Cardinals and their dastardly attempts to acquire good players to compete.  It'll surprise few of us if the Cubs get back there again soon.  Hell, maybe they'll even stay there for a while -- like, the rest of the season -- but underperforming teams don't just suddenly wake up, shove away the clouds of mediocrity, and rain fire on their opponents.  There are bound to be roadbumps.  There are sure to be more tough losses, and agonizing injuries, and instances of total, unending doubt.

But, c'mon.  Aside from the Fontenot-Baker Connection, these guys are actually pretty good. 

Today's Good Guy is Kevin Hart, who I'd feel a lot better about if only he hasn't walked something like twice as many guys as he's struck out.  Maybe it's a Maddux thing -- early in his career, the greatest pitcher of our era was afraid to throw inside with a full count -- and Hart is just skittish about his stuff, or maybe he's just wild.  But the sooner he gets it under control -- pun intended -- the better the Cubs will be, especially since they are going to miss Lilly for the better part of a month and Hart's the go-to replacement guy.

Who's Hot
Pretty much the entire Cubs offense - Hey, so far they've scored 28 runs this series.  Isn't that a little more like it?  The only guy to go hitless yesterday was Kosuke Fukudome, who is unfortunately going to be called upon to face lefties a lot more often now that Reed Johnson (affectionately known as Vag Face to the HJE crowd) has broken his foot. 

(Seriously, what is it with Cub injuries this year?  It really does appear to be like 2004 all over again, we should write a comparisson article about it sometime.  Hey Goat Riders, any volunteers?)

Then again, Fukudome, probably should be able to hit lefties, he is getting paid a lot of money for it.  But just to be on the safe side, maybe Jim Hendry should add "right-handed backup center fielder" to his non-existent Trade Deadline Needs list.

Who's Not
Aaron Heilman - I tend not to put pitchers on this list, mostly because I'm lazy.  But Heilman is definitely in the Cub fan doghouse right now, at least with me.  I'm still wondering what he would've been like as a starter - he sure did look good this Spring - but as a reliever, he's a turd to be used only in blow-outs.

Conclusions
Despite the questionable nature of Hart's ability to pitch in the big leagues, I still like the team's chances today.  The Cubs appear to be a team on the rise.  Then again, before this series so did the Astros, and they won't drop out of competition if they lose today.

But as we've pointed out a few times on this site, the Cubs upcoming schedule isn't easy.  A win today, while not falling in the must category, would be advantageous. 

With just over 24 hours remaining, the 2009 Cubs remain trade free even as potential playoff opponents have gotten faster and stronger. Even worse, we have heard nothing about even the potential for a move. In the wake of the Cubs sale/bankrupcy chaos, Jim Hendry's hands appear remain tied and the Cubs look intent on trying to win the playoffs with the offensive juggernaut that is the Fontenot/Baker platoon.

Yesterday, the Astros busted out 11 runs against Chicago, thanks mostly to a tired, incompetent Cubs bullpen.  Today, the Cubs returned the favor with an explosion of 12 runs scored.  If the laws of "don't score too many one day or you won't have any tomorrow" hold true, then hopefully the two teams have evened things out and tomorrow will be a fair contest. 

Wait, the Cubs also held the Astros to 0 runs?  Huh.  Never mind.

Today's offensive heroes were everybody in the Cubs lineup -- except Fukudome, who was called in to replace an injured Reed Johnson -- with particular nods to Aramis Ramirez (solo homerun in the 3rd*) and Alfonso Soriano (3-run-jack in the 2nd).  Even Three Finger Hill, whose offensive numbers are mocked by most pitchers in the league, managed 2 hits and an RBI, raising his average to .143 on the season.  Woof.

(*It would have gone farther into the bleachers if only he wasn't nursing that dastardly shoulder injury)

The bloodshed was all made possible in part because the Astros left Mike Hampton in to face the Cubs for 4 innings, despite his surrendering of 7 runs through 2, with a special nod to Randy Wells.  In his second career start against Houston, he went 8 innings -- a career high -- allowing 6 hits, 2 walks, only 1 strikeout, and 0 runs.  His ERA is now back down to 2.84, he's now 7-4 on the season, and I would again like to reiterate my support for his journey toward Rookie of the Year status.

In moderately unrelated news, SBoxer Ice asks how options work.  I'll present two answers -- my understanding of it without researching the rule, and then the actual rule itself.  We'll call it the How Well Does Kurt Know the Rules Challenge. 

Options work like this -- every player in the minor league system who gets added to the 40 man roster has something like four options.  No matter how often said player is called up or sent down to Triple A, it only counts as 1 option for the year.  Once said player has run out of options, he must remain with the big league team, pass through waivers, or be released.

According to Baseball America:

When a player is added to a 40-man roster for the first time, the major
league team is permitted three optional assignments of his contract, or
three "option years." This gives them the option to assign that player
to the minor leagues without requiring him to clear waivers. For each
season thereafter in which the player is assigned to a minor league
team, one option is used up.

When a player is out of options, he can still be assigned to the minor leagues, but first he must clear waivers.

A player can receive a fourth option if he has less than five seasons
of pro experience. Draftees who immediately sign a major league
contract will qualify unless they reach the majors quickly and stick
there. Otherwise, they'll have their three options exhausted after
their first three years in pro ball. A season is defined as any year in
which the player spends 90 days on the active list. Short-season and
Rookie leagues don't last 90 calendar days, so a player assigned to
those leagues for an entire year won't accrue a season of pro
experience. Also if a player has a long-term injury, he usually won't
be credited for a season that year. (The exception is if he goes on the
disabled list after spending 60 days on an active list, in which case
the DL time counts as service time.)

So, my understanding of options was slightly simpler than the actual rule, but I had the gist of it.  Samardzija's option for 2009 has already been used, as he has already been promoted from -- and demoted to -- Iowa.

The Cubs play for the series win tomorrow. 

Mike Hampton (6-7, 4.74 ERA) Randy Wells (6-4, 3.10 ERA)
Story-lines
After the brutal beating the Cubs received last night, I'm sure there are plenty of fans out there wondering if the recent 5-game winning streak was only a mirage. (Rob: Nah, it was just a bad Dempster night) Perhaps the Cubs aren't very good, as we thought previously?  Maybe they can't stay competitive with the Cardinals, who appear hellbent on winning the division? 

Meanwhile, hot on their heels are the Astros -- the team they're trying to beat this weekend.  Houston has probably surprised nobody more than themselves with their continued competitiveness -- they're only 2.5 games out. 

Pitching for them today is Can't-Believe-He's-Still-Active Mike Hampton, who'll take on rookie mehsation Randy Wells -- who's only a "meh"sation because of how quietly he's achieved his success.  I'll tell you this -- if Wells continues to win his games an indeed ends the season with an ERA in the low 3's, then he will deserve strong Rookie of the Year consideration.  But I'm pretty sure that he's not even on anybody's radar for that just yet.  But go ahead and take a gander at the NL -- this league is not exactly sick with competition this season, at least not among the rookies.  Wells may just have a shot.

Who's hot
Aramis Ramirez - 15 for 44 since the break, batting .341 with 4 homers and 11 RBI.  I swear to gawd, Cub fans are such dopes sometimes.  Of course his immediate return from the DL looked ugly -- a player can't miss months of a season and then reappear as hot as he was when he left.  And his recent outburst of offensive hotness doesn't mean he won't slump again sometime either ... but Ramirez is playing as if he's not down a gear, to the shock of doomcriers everywhere.

Derrek Lee - Ramirez isn't alone.  D.Lee is 15 for 42 since the break, batting .357 with 3 homers and 7 RBI.  Remember, folks, Lee was supposed to be washed up this season.  He was, at the age of 33, over the hill.  His 27 double plays last year was proof that he was somehow losing his ability, despite his otherwise good offensive numbers.  So far in 2009 Lee has hit into 23 fewer double plays than he did last season, while already matching '08's total output for homeruns.  Good thing the Cubs didn't give him up for Hoffpauir.

Alfonso Soriano - The Fonz is 17 for his last 44, making him a .386 hitter with 4 homers and 12 RBI during that timeframe.  Not bad for another guy who is supposedly washed-up.  While the Fonz is bound to finish the year with numbers below his career averages, he has dispelled concerns that he can't get hot and, best yet, he's one good month away from pushing the ugly first half of the '09 campaign out of our memories.

Kosuke Fukudome - Fooky is 15 for his last 38, a .395 AVG.  Rob is right in that Kosuke is not the player we were all hoping for, but he remains a defensive marvel in the outfield and he actually appears to be a competent leadoff hitter.  Not to mention -- for what it's worth -- the fact that across the board he's performing better in 2009.  His AVG is presently 12 points higher, his OBP is 20 points higher, his OPS is 80 points higher, he's already hit more triples, he's 4 doubles shy of last year's total, and he's within 3 homeruns from matching his rookie output.  So what, he's not Ichiro or even Matsui, he's still a helluvalot better than Corey Patterson was.

Who's not
Ryan Theriot - Before his recent 0 for 9 spell, his numbers weren't so bad.  He'd hit safely in 8 straight games, and in 16 of his last 17.  Still, he's mostly been collecting singles, having only hit 1 double and 1 triple since the NL was crushed at the All Star Break.  Theriot is 12 for 49, batting .245, and needing a big day sometime soon.

Three Finger Hill - Rob, you miss Geo Soto yet?  (YES!!)  Hill is batting 7 for his last 42 (.167).  Maybe Lou should entertain letting Fox catch a few more games, as Three Finger is just a little too Bakoesque for my tastes.  (Hill wishes he could hit like Bako)

Mike Fontenot - Let's just bury the Fontenot-as-starter experiment once and for all.  Fontenot is batting 7 for his last 33, a .212 clip.  At this point, I'm not only hoping that Jim Hendry is, in his possible death rattle, shaking off one last magical trade for a new and improved second baseman -- preferrably, a trade that includes Fontenot himself, as I'm tired of his lack of production. (Dirty Sanchez, anyone?)

Conclusions
The Cubs should enjoy feasting off Mke Hampton while Randy Wells needs to strongly consider walking Carlos Lee intentionally and often.  I may have sung Randy's praises earlier in this article, but the truth is that he's been an average starter at-best this month, posting a 4.06 ERA despite his 4-1 record. 

Regardless, the last time Randy faced Houston he threw 6 scoreless innings en route to the second of those seven consecutive winless starts.  So far this year he's beaten the second time out both teams that he's faced twice, the Braves and Reds.  Here's rooting for three.

So...I went to Wrigley last night, fully expecting to come back here this morning and provide a service to the vast universe of you not fortunate enough to live within two hours' drive of the park, but the pitching last night was poor (hopefully this doesn't become a trend) and I can't really point to one particular instance where the game was lost.  Maybe the play in the 5th where Dempster must have lost track of the number of outs.  First and third, and on a comebacker to him, he immediately turned and threw down to 2nd to try to start a DP.  If there was ONE out, sure.  But there were no outs, and the runner on third was already halfway home.  Ryan could have simply held his right arm out, holding the ball, and froze the runner.  Anyway, he blew the throw to 2nd, everyone was safe, the AssTrolls scored two runs when they probably shouldn't have scored any, and it was simply that kind of night.

But what really grinds my gears today is the aftermath from Monday's LaTroy Hawkins ejection.  Lady and gentlemen, we have learned something new today.  There are different levels of crazy, insulting, and stupid in the big league game, and we have been introduced to the next level.

It is one thing to argue balls and strikes.  It is a second thing to do what Big Z did that night when he made a show of "throwing the ump out" and chucking the ball into the outfield.  It is a third thing to do what Milton Bradley did earlier this year, claiming the umps are out to get him.

But Hawkins went on record after the game Monday and said that the home plate ump had "already decided who was going to win" that night.  Then, when asked again about it yesterday, he did not back off his statement. 

I guess questioning an ump's integrity in general is bad, and questioning the ump's integrity on a personal level is worse.  But the worst of all is accusing an ump of fixing the outcome of the game.  I guess I don't remember anyone else ever making that claim before, and it appears that Hawkins has crossed a sort of uncrossable line.  There exists a line, that every ballplayer knows about, a place where you are NOT supposed to go, and LaTroy WENT there.  Whatever small shred of competitive dignity he still possessed has now been pissed away like so much cheap beer into a Wrigley Field trough.

My problem with all of this?  I guarantee you that Mr. Hawkins has not gotten MORE crazy in the past five years.  Whatever percentage of crazy he is, he was when he was with us.  And Dusty Baker thought it would be a good idea to have him close games for us!!  And not just in one year - the Dustbag persisted throughout most of 2004 and 2005, until such time that Jim Hendry had enough of his guff and sent him packing.  Since then, the million dollar arm attached to the two cent brain has bounced around the league, burning bridges, wearing out welcomes, and losing games all over the place.

We actually won one more game in 2004 (89) than we did in the division winning year of 2003.  Unfortunately, we needed to win about four or five more.  Which we would have done, easily, if ANYONE else in the entire world was made the closer.  The man came out on day one of his Cub career, the day he was signed, and said he was NOT a closer, that he had NO desire to be the closer, and if you then make him close, and he blows game after game in the most bizarre way imaginable, and you still PERSIST on sending him out there in the ninth?  And we end up losing a division over it?

And when people (like me) come out when it happened and speak out against it, and others (you know who you are) grab your handfuls of stat sheets and drone on about how the man has the best arm and the lowest career ERA+ and blah blah blah...and then, a few years later, and it becomes clear, crystal clear, CRIMINALLY clear how much of a wack job this guy is and was? 

The moral of this story?  It ain't all about who has the fastest fastball, or who has the best OPS over the past 47 months.  Baseball, now more than ever, is played by human beings, some of whom have faults and incapacities and psychological quirks that preclude them from meshing well within a "team concept" game.   Essentially, one misused man blew a playoff berth for us five years ago, and today, our insistence on sticking with a second level psychopath in right field, our settling for two career backups to platoon at second base, all of which is coupled with the festering black hole we have behind the plate...and you're left with a cruddy lineup who, yes, scored six runs last night, but against the dregs of the Houston bullpen should have put up double digits, at least.

Just because you made a mistake by signing Bradley doesn't mean you should keep running him out there.  Just because Koyie Hill and Mike Fontenot and Jeff Baker SAY they want to play doesn't mean you let them.  Several of you tried to make the case that the Fontenot/Baker platoon is as productive as everyone else's Real Second Basemen.  Um...the last 28 days?  3 HR, 9 RBI, 25 Ks, .252/.284/.425?  An OPS+ of 88?  This is not what I would call outstanding production, or even marginally acceptable.  I'm glad they "want to", but that just ain't enough.

I understand Lou Piniella doesn't have a choice.  Just don't always assume your Manager and General Manager always knows more about guys than you do.  Sometimes, more often than not, YOU, the fan, can smell a bum long before your club's management does.  Todd Hundley, anyone?