Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena got the memo that the pressure is off, so they went about their business of hitting meaningless homeruns. But Alfonso Soriano couldn’t be bothered to even do that. He settled for a measly triple and then laid down in the middle of the game. Way to earn your money, pal. I shouldn’t be too rough …
Texas A&M ———> SEC?
AggieYell (Rivals) is reporting that Texas A&M has accepted an offer from the SEC. If true, what next?
OV Pic of the Day: Remembering #10
The Cubs won. Reed Johnson had a pretty good day. Starlin Castro did not. But the highlight of the day was the unveiling of the statue of Ron Santo on the corner of Addison and Sheffield. (Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune / August 10, 2011) It isn’t Cooperstown, but you look pretty good there, Big Boy.
33rd Spot Start Game Thread
Rodrigo Lopez is the starting pitcher tonight and it is the 33rd game started by one of the following pitchers: Doug Davis (9), Casey Coleman (9), Rodrigo Lopez (8), James Russell (5) and Ramon Ortiz (2). It’s the 117th game of the season. 28.2% of all Cubs games have been started by one of those pitchers above who have combined …
OV Pic of the Day: Wind Blowing Out, Cubs Just Blowing
Everybody expected some high scores in the game tonight as the wind was blowing out. Final score: Washington 3, Cubs 1. Shut us right up. (Chris Sweda/ Tribune / August 9, 2011) In fairness to all the pre-game predictors, all of the runs were scored on home runs and Michael Morse’s still hasn’t landed yet. So there’s that.
Club option on Aramis Ramirez ***UPDATED***
Since Aramis Ramirez has started hitting again and hitting it quite well, it seems more likely than not that the Cubs will keep him around next season. However, I don’t think we can be certain the Cubs will just exercise the option and move on to other business. The Cubs are currently at about $100 million in payroll, which includes …
Series Preview: Washington Nationals (55-59) at The Untouchables (49-66)
Now that the winning streak is over, time to get started on a new losing streak. Not only did the Cubs gain no meaningful ground on the Brewers, who were also playing quite well in that stretch, but the Cubs are still 6 games back of the Pirates despite their losing ten games in a row. This should be familiar …
OV Pic of the Day: Byrd =/= Wyrd
It looked for a short time like the Cubs might have somehow pulled their 8th straight win out of their ass, but then they finally remembered they were the Cubs. Among many plays that the Cubs probably wish they could have back, was the slip and fall of Marlon Byrd that turned a fairly routine out into a double for …
Starlin Castro Year 1 and Year 2
All numbers updated through games ending on August 6th. Starlin Castro has nearly had as many plate appearances this season as he did last so it seems a good time to compare the two seasons. In 2010 Castro made his big league debut in early May and went on to hit .300/.347/.408. His wOBA was .325 and his wRC+ was …