Anyone remember "Yo! MTV Raps"? It was always a little confusing to me, it was years before I was able to understand that the Dr. Dre on the show was not the same Dr. Dre from NWA, the one who boosted the careers of Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Eminem, et. al. Fab Five Freddy was of course a rap pioneer, and Ed Lover was as I recall hilarious on a consistent basis. And every time someone talks about Jon Lieber, I cannot get past the fact that "Lieber" is "lover" in German, and that Jon Lieber may just be the Ed Lover of Amana, Iowa.

He was also one of my faves during his first go-around with us, not just because it was the first fleecing of the Pirates (Lieber for OHHHHNOOOOO!!! Brant Brown). And not because he won 20 games in 2001, that was just a matter of time, it seemed. And not because he wasn't like, 6'5" and 180, and used to fight Hendry for the last Krispy Kreme on the clubhouse spread.

He is a perfect pitcher for the Cubs. Keeps the ball down, keeps pitch counts down, eats innings, saves bullpens, and was healthy. Until, of course, he wasn't. I'm not sure to this day why he could not have been asked to stay another year to mend. I mean, he was hurt in 2002, and spent quality time with Dr. Andrews. There was no way a reasonable person would expect any contribution out of him the next year, and one would have thought that, in 2003, you might want to hold onto a man who, um, won 20 games for you as recently as, say, 2001?

Oh yeah, I forgot. The Dustbag was running the show. How is that going to work out, BTW? Takes a lot for me to feel SORRY for Reds fans. I feel sorry for Reds fans. Damn, that sucks.

One knock on our heroes Z and Lilly is that they tend to run up pitch counts, which is not a problem for Mr. Lieber. I did not actually see the Kid 20 K game, but I did see Lieber's 1-hitter in 2001, where he managed to get it done in 1:48 with just 78 tosses, 56 for strikes. THAT is how you do it in Wrigley, Mister Man.

He knows how to pitch in our park, and he still seems to know how to do it, as evidenced last year by his season-high game score performance on June 9th. Of course, it WAS the Royals, and he DID manage to tear a foot tendon soon after that. I figure, he put down the Krispy Kremes and munched a little Humble Pie last fall, while recuperating from THAT bad boy.

He is making a nice buck this year, so it wasn't like the Cubs are running a 'flyer' by bringing him in. They expect him to pitch, and he shall. He has vowed to do what it takes for the team, which is a nice thing to say. The pissiness of the Marquis de Suck, however, is making the decision to admit Jon Lover into the rotation an easy one. He can be our Sunday Special, a fifth starter who might hold it together for double digit wins while hopefully avoiding double digit losses. He has not been consistent since 2004, and while his return has all the flavor and aroma of every other Cub 20 game winner we have ever brought back for a final cup of coffee (Jenkins, Holtzman, Reuschel, Maddux), I am estatic to see him every fifth day than the Marquis de Suck, even though the numbers would end up similar. I won't have as many urges to throw things while watching.