Here we are, in a Cubs baseball season that was deposited into the septic tank of history approximately 150 days ago. If you can name the Cubs current starting rotation, well, that’s just sad. Get a life. The Cubs underperformed major-league caliber baseball again today, but let’s forget about that and find something else to think about. We could celebrate the 172nd birthday of Thomas Nast by smashing piñatas in the form of GOP elephants and Democratic Donkeys (because Santa Claus and Uncle Sam should never be piñatas). We could muster as much excitement as possible over Saturday night’s Toledo-Western Michigan game. We could lament the loss of the NHL preseason. Or, we could reflect on how, only 9 years and 2 days ago, the Cubs had one of their best days in history.
On the morning of Sept 27, 2003, the Cubs were half a game in front of Houston for the NL Central lead, with 3 games left to play. They had to play a double header against Pittsburgh because the previous night’s game was rained out. Mark Prior started game 1 and would eventually go 6.2 innings, striking out 10, on his way to win #18 and a lifetime of arm trouble. He only threw 133 pitches that day which was OK, because he only threw 131 in his previous outing, so he was rested. Kyle Farnsworth and one of my all-time favorite Cubs, Joe Borowski, closed out the game. The score was 4-2. Josh Fogg took the loss. The offensive star was Situational Hitting, in a cameo appearance in Cubs history, as the Cubs scored 2 runs on sac flies and one on a bases-loaded ground out to short. The other run came on a Damien Miller home run, his last as a Cub. As the game was winding down, Houston lost to Milwaukee, setting up game 2 as the clincher.
It was a damn-good Pittsburgh team though (after all, they won 75 games in 2003), so a double-header sweep was unlikely. I have a distinct memory of the feeling of dread that the Cubs would be unable to sweep. Odds and Cubbishness argued for a split.
Game 2 featured the Bearded Wonder against Ryan Vogelsong, in the 7th start of his career. Turned out to be one of his shortest too–he lasted only 1.1 innings and gave up 6 runs. All the Cubs had to do was hold on and they’d clinch the division championship. Sosa hit his 40th HR and Moises Alou hit his 22nd. No one shook Alou’s hand after his jack though. Matt Clement cruised, giving up no runs, 5 hits, and 1 BB through 7 before a run-scoring triple and a passed ball. The Cubs won 7-2. Despite the offensive explosion, no Cub batter had more than one hit or run-scored, and Mark GrudF7 had the most RBI for the game; two. I guess Situational Hitting stuck around for a nightcap. Even Koyie Hill, I mean Paul Bako, had an RBI and run scored on 1 for 3 hitting.
Riding the momentum of their division-clinching double header, the Cubs lost the next day but beat Atlanta in 5 games in the Division Series. I’m not really sure what happened after that.
Comments
Let me think. Wood, Volstad, Berken, Rusin, Bailey? Not sure about first names, though.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
I’m pretty sure Bailey is a Red. Brooks Raley was shut down.
I have no life.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I didn’t even know the cubs had a set rotation.
mb21Quote Reply
@ mb21:
I don’t think it’s set so much as they have no other choice.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Sadly for me, the only things I remember about 2003 are Patterson’s hot start, Prior collision with Giles and the playoffs.
The finest moments for me in Cubs history are A Ram’s walk off against White Sox in 07, Fukudome’s debut, Soto’s walk off against Brewers in 08, Zambrano’s no hitter and the 4 game sweep against the Breweres to basically clinch in 08.
I really miss 2008
MuckerQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
Heh. That no-hitter must have been fresh on my mind when I wrote that. 4/5 ain’t bad, though.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Germano! That’s the other one.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat wrote:
If 5/5 is bad then 4/5 ain’t bad.
mb21Quote Reply
You know your rotation is in trouble when Samardzija is your de facto no. 1, and then even he gets shut down.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
We’re trying to lose games here.
Still three up on Colorado for the #2 pick and holding the tiebreaker 😉
Rice CubeQuote Reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v2xnl6LwJE
Mind —> blown
Rice CubeQuote Reply
WaLi wrote:
Awesome.
joshQuote Reply
I’ve said this here before but I think my favorite moment of that season is when the Cubs took 4 of 5 from St. Louis at Wrigley in early September (I think).
It should of been 5 of 5 if not for a bad call on a would be run scoring double by Alou. That for me was the moment when the Cubs finally became the real deal.
Mobile RodrigoQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
From the comments:
(Although it really should be “gravity,” not “thermodynamics,” but then the reference would be less obvious.)
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
2003 also featured two of the best Cubs trades in history, IMO. Eric Karros and Mark GrudF7 from the Dodgers for Todd Hundley. ARam and Loften from the Pirates for Nobody, Hype, and Jose Hernandez. These aren’t quite as good as Bowa and Sandberg for Ivan deJesus, but they were excellent moves from the Cubs POV.
SVBQuote Reply
By the way, this post was motivated by the comment a few days ago: There is nothing to write about this team. Springsteen started humming in my head, Glory Days. There is always history!
SVBQuote Reply
Ryan Braun —> still good at baseball after flushing his body of steroids
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/29/ryan-braun-makes-history-by-joining-4030-club/
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Mobile Rodrigo wrote:
Wasn’t that the play where Alfonseca came out of the bullpen bitching about the call and bumped an umpire?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Suburban kid wrote:
/Santo’d
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ mb21:
Be sure to catch my blog: bagofshitcubsrotation.tumblr.com
/spamming an even more discredited blog
akabariQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid
Yes it was. That was fantastic.
Mobile RodrigoQuote Reply
Face ———–> saved
now for the jet lag (dying laughing)
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Where in Japan are you?
akabariQuote Reply
@ akabari:
Just got back from Kyoto
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
DON’T SIGN ANY PROTOCOLS!
USA’d
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
Don’t tell me what to do
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ akabari:
I saw that this morning and it is still open to remind me. I’m glad someone set that up. (dying laughing)
mb21Quote Reply
SVB wrote:
If someone started a history of the Cubs blog and discussed only the good moments, I’m confident a blog about the shitbag rotation the Cubs have would have more content. (dying laughing)
mb21Quote Reply
@ Berselius:
Just in time to miss Typhoon Jelawat.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
I love Japanese food, but the first thing I did when I got home was make a huge stack of pancakes (dying laughing)
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
I am the harbinger. At least the natural disasters happened after I went somewhere, instead of before this time (dying laughing)
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Fucking UCF lost to Mizzou. We had more total yards, TOP, and every other saber metric stat that said we should win. By they had a punt return for a td. And now I will have to hear about it from my Mizzou friends. Fuckers.
WaLiQuote Reply
Best reasoning from a Sox fan I have seen about their seeming disinterest in a Sox team that is a game out of first. It was a comment on one of my friends’ Facebook posts wondering how the attendance is so low on a perfect Saturday with Chris Sale on the mound:
Aisle424Quote Reply
Berselius wrote:
mb21Quote Reply
WaLi wrote:
I’m surprised a university has that name.
mb21Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
Interesting. One thing I thought of was with Cubs attendance also down, tourists can more easily get a seat at Wrigley and would presumably much prefer going to a Cubs game. I do wonder what that impact is. If the Cubs were good and sold out, would attendance there be higher or would it be the same? Not that I think it would be double what it is, but it’s had to have some noticeable impact.
mb21Quote Reply
I’m still laughing that WaLi’s employer blocks dmick89.com, but not this site. What could be the reasoning for that?
mb21Quote Reply
@ mb21:
You’re even more discredited than the site?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Finally got around to watching Moneyball. My main takeaway is that it doesn’t matter how you get on base (a walk is as good as a hit) or whether you’re old and slow and can’t play defense. (Wait, why is Jeremy Giambi being traded to improve the defense? Does that mean the scouts had a point?)
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
It actually wasn’t a bad movie, but it was hard for me to get too engaged because I kept wanting to punch the protagonist in the face.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I guess they have a sixth sense about these things.
Speaking of which, I don’t think the White Sox are winning today.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Roy Halladay ERA ——> 4.50
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
4.56 now.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Ryan Howard done for the year, finishes with -1.0 fWAR. So far the contract extension is not looking so hot.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
He broke again?!
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
He dropped a lead pipe on his toe in the on-deck circle. Seriously.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/29/ryan-howard-to-miss-rest-of-season-with-broken-toe/
(dying laughing) @ dropped lead pipe on foot
It’s sad but funny.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
Seeing him helped off the field with the Cardinals celebrating last year is one of the saddest things I ever saw.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Heh, I just noticed that the article on HardballTalk also said, “Seriously.”
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Since I’m older than dirt, I remember that as soon as Reinsdorf bought the Sox, he alienated a lot of the casual Sox fanbase as well as the relatively common (at that time) dual-interest Cubs and Sox fan. His first move was to move the Sox telecasts to pay TV where you had to buy some set-top box and pay a fee to watch the games. Then he got in a feud in Harry Caray which resulted in Harry going to the Cubs. And some other stuff I can’t remember. (dying laughing)
He also had a main business partner who was kinda the front man / spokesman for the team and who was a big-time asshole. Not sure whatever happened to that guy.
cwolfQuote Reply
Here’s a shocker: the Cubs are behind in the first inning.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I think it would be nice if (assuming they lose today) they were to win the next 4 in a row to finish with fewer than 100 losses.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
That might not happen.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Cubs suck? Joke’s on the Diamondbacks come the next draft, though.
joshQuote Reply
mb21 wrote:
FWIW, I only drank there (dying laughing)
BerseliusQuote Reply
Fantasy ends for me tomorrow but for some reason we can still make transactions, even though it’s a non-keeper league. So I dropped Mike Leake for Adam Greenberg.
SVBQuote Reply
The Pirates may still be able to finish at .500 after all.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Great day by Aramis, who’s having perhaps his best year. Still, he’s no Valbuena.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
5 rWAR this year. That’s pretty good.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I love it when Gordo tries to get digital-age edgy with his 1940s breathless sportswriting style.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
Numbers gatherer.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I’m glad to see you had a good time in “Japan,” B.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
WTF actually made the final copy? Are there no standards there anymore? Will they be printing this next: Bobby Valentine said, “These F****’ veterans on the Red Sox are a f*****’ bunch of sh**.”
Or maybe we’ll get the unedited transcript of Elia’s homage to Cubs fans.
SVBQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I like how Super St. Louis fan has big ole Guido rings on both hands.
joshQuote Reply
Maybe those are supposed to be WS rings?
joshQuote Reply
@ mb21:
I think work blocks it because I doesn’t have a category per the software. For instance this sites category is probably “blog” and cubs.com is probably “sports”. Josh’s website is blocked too because it doesn’t have an assigned category.
WaLiQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
I assume your work place has these categories.
mb21Quote Reply
This is the most amazing catch I’ve ever seen:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25192351&topic_id=&c_id=mlb&tcid=vpp_copy_25192351&v=3
joshQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
I don’t even know how to do that. I should just assign it a category like “NEWS” No one blocks that, right?
First I’d have to figure out how one even does that. I know nothing about SEO.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
Yeah I have no idea how it works either.
WaLiQuote Reply
@ SVB:
It made the online edition. It might have even been an online only “blog”. I don’t read dead trees anymore.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ josh:
Sadly he couldn’t afford all 11.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
josh wrote:
I don’t think there’s a way. At least not that I’m aware of. Surely I’ve had heard about this if it was something I could do. It has to be his work firewall.
mb21Quote Reply
@ mb21:
Maybe it has something to do with submitting your sitemap to Google?
That’s a thing, right? Whenever I see SEO type stuff, they’re always talking about sitemaps.
joshQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
Seems to be gone now. Wonder if it netted Gordo a letter in his file.
SVBQuote Reply
@ mb21:
Is WaLi a fed?
SVBQuote Reply
@ SVB:
Nah it’s in this hidden nook/cranny:
http://blogs.suntimes.com/cubs/2012/09/chicago_cubs_take_on_mile-high_look_on.html
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Jerry Green would like you whippersnappers to take your fancy WAR and get off his lawn: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120929/OPINION03/209290399/
Aisle424Quote Reply
josh wrote:
Regardless, Josh, it’s great to see how much progress you have made on your site.
http://tinyurl.com/8ddhbkj
Suburban kidQuote Reply
RBI is a naturally forming stat found in sedimentary deposits pre-dating the existence of man.
MishQuote Reply
@ Mish:
So you’re saying it’s a fossil?
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Mish:
I’m thinking it was created on day 5 along with the birds and sea creatures.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
So it’s only 10,000 years old. That might not qualify as a fossil. (dying laughing)
SVBQuote Reply
@ SVB:
All fossils were created by the Great Flood. Same with all those geographical features like mountains and canyons.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Aisle424 wrote:
Why bother searching? The answer to this question cannot possibly be found.
Oh wait: https://www.google.com/search?q=what+does+wins+above+replacement+mean&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
mb21Quote Reply
(dying laughing) @ Justin Germano
Mobile RodrigoQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
Vin Scully was created by a flood?
SVBQuote Reply
@ SVB:
If you are familiar with how human reproduction works, this is not a completely inaccurate statement…
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Mobile Rodrigo:
(dying laughing)
GWQuote Reply
The players really like Sveumy:
http://muskat.mlblogs.com/2012/09/30/930-garza-says-thanks-to-sveum/
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
This attitude isn’t surprising. WAR tries to take into account the total player, but writers only care about offense. That’s why the player with the best offense tends to win the Gold Glove. In most people’s minds, good offensive player = good player. End of story.
joshQuote Reply
Cubs are losing after the first inning again.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
That play was amusing.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
That’s going to hurt their playoff chances. I really thought they had a chance, but it looks like they’re choking it away late in the season once again.
mb21Quote Reply
Good baserunning.
mb21Quote Reply
That was a weird TOOTBLAN.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
new shit: http://obstructedview.net/news-and-rumors/the-worst-cubs-of-2012.html
mb21Quote Reply