by Dr. Douchebag on February 28, 2010
The 2010 Baseball Season Preview magazines are starting to appear on magazine racks across the country. Why plop down $10 when your own Dr. Douchebag serves up his take on the 2010 Cubs. Originally written right after the last out of the 2009 season with a recently added postscript.
The final-game loss ended the Cubs’ disappointing and miserable season in fitting fashion, and now it’s time to start pointing fingers, assigning gold stars for effort and performance, and also to look ahead to the offseason that will prepare the almighty Cub for the glorious assault on the trophy with all the flags on it in 2010. “Wait ’til next year, miserable Cub fans! Wait ’til next year!”
First of all, as agonizing and disappointing as the season’s been, the surprising thing is that this season wasn’t actually as bad as it seems. Yes, the Cub sucked for long periods, and failed to run away with the division in the way everybody predicted, but even so, they won more games than they lost, and the pitching staff was great.
The pitching staff was great. Ted Lilly, the only Cub all-star, and the only Cub who deserved to be an all-star, was dependable all season. Randy Wells was a great surprise for everyone, and it will be exciting to see him take the mound again next year. His rookie season not only saw him tied (with Lilly) for the most wins by a Cub pitcher, it also saw him go through just about every single thing a pitcher can go through, and emerge to strike out ten batters in his final start of the season. He pitched like a Cy Young winner in his first few starts, and got absolutely nothing in run support. He got hammered a few times, and always shook it off to throw well in his next start. He seems like the real deal. Okay, Zambrano was even more of a nutcase than usual and Harden was Harden, but Dempster was solid without being spectacular, and the bullpen was solid, despite the flakiness of Kevin Gregg, the early struggles of Marmol (who, as closer saved 11 of 11 chances) and the presence of Aaron Heilman. Gorzelanny and Grabow were good acquisitions. Both this season, and looking forward to 2010, the Cub looks more or less in place pitching-wise, given a few adjustments here and there. More ->
by MiserableCubsFan on July 18, 2009
If only MLB would take pity on the plight of all miserable Cubs fans and allow our beloved team to play the Nationals for the remainder of this season's schedule. The Nationals took pity on Alfonso Soriano and served up a fastball (when was the last time a pitcher was dumb enough to throw him anything that was straight, hard, and over the plate?!?!) that Fonzie cranked over the right field wall for his first homer in a month and half. Zambrano throws over 40 pitches in the first inning of his Friday outing and still manages to win the game AND drive in two runs. Fielding errors, baserunning mistakes, leaving men on base in scoring position -- it's a dream team for Milton Bradley!
by MiserableCubsFan on July 12, 2009
Add left fielder to the positions that Sean Marshall has played. In an unusually crafty move, Piniella removed Soriano from left (always a great idea) to put Marshall (who had just pitched to a batter) so that he could pitch to the next left-handed hitter. Although it didn't work out quite as planned as LaRussa countered by subbing a righty for the lefty who was supposed to bat. Anyway, it was fun and cool and then Reed Johnson made an awesome catch to make everyone forget about the whole thing. Too bad the Cubs lost, but Wells pitched another good game other than (of course) allowing two home runs to Ryan Ludwick.
Later on SportsCenter in the Sunday Conversation, Lou Piniella still maintains that he is surprised by the intensity of Cubs fans and the "inquisitive-ness" of the Cubs media. "If you win 3 out 4, you're going to the World Series, if you lose 3 out of 4, you're in last place." Yeah, yeah, we know ... But Lou has to know that all Cubs fans are behind him -- especially when he calls Bradley a piece of **** to his face.
by Dr. Douchebag on July 12, 2009
I know I should be writing about Big Z getting his first Win in over a month and his 3rd home run of the season, however, I couldn't help notice the drive and talent of Albert Pujols. King Albert almost turned a routine infield out into a double as Theriot muffed the catch with Baker bailing him out. Albert was running HARD the entire time! Do you think Alfonso Soriano was paying ANY attention to how a true super star carries himself on the field? I figure I can praise Albert because he also let a grounder roll through the wickets Buckner style to give the Cubs two easy runs that solidified the win. Thanks big guy!
by MiserableCubsFan on July 12, 2009
Although Carlos Marmol almost blew it for him, Ted Lilly shined as the Cubs cruised for 8 innings over the Cards. In a freaky ninth inning that should have ended on a spectacular double-play by Theriot to Baker to Hoffpauir (a play where both Piniella and LaRussa where arguing with different umpires!), it took Kevin Gregg two pitches to end what should have been a relatively easy victory for the Cubs. Why the extra drama Marmol?!?!
by Dr. Douchebag on July 11, 2009
We can dream can't we? It's come to the point where I would trade Alfonso Soriano, Milton Bradley, and Aaron Heilman for a player to be named later. It's clear the Cubs (surprisingly) have some talent in the farm system and are ready for a shot at the big leagues. I know that Lou is waiting for Soriano to break out of his slump (as Lou says, "he's broken out of slumps .. uh ... in the past and performed .. uh .. great."), but this slump seems different as NL pitchers have finally figured out that Alfonso can only hit the fast ball for power AND watching him "play" left field induces serious nausea in this miserable Cubs fan.
Milton Bradley is done for '09. If you have to "retool" your swing in July, then I think some time in the minor leagues would be a huge plus for all associated with Mr. Bradley.
Aaron Heilman is done for good. I watched him get unmercifully shelled as the Mets tanked last year and this season's supposed New & Improved attitude and stuff is still the same. Heilman, it's time to break out the emory boards and the vaseline because your stuff is brutal.
by Dr. Douchebag on July 10, 2009
by MiserableCubsFan on July 3, 2009
So many times this year the Cubs have faced a starting pitcher who was struggling only to swing early in the count and make easy outs. Well, last night that changed! Derrek Lee continues his dominance in June and the Fuld & Fox show continue to dazzle. Could Fuld & Fox be this year's Theriot & Fontenot dynamic duo? Let's hope Lou has the balls to keep them both constantly in the lineup.
I watched the MLB Network broadcast just to see what/if they had any enhancements for their broadcast. Sadly, I was greeted by former Douchebag of the Week Matt Vasgersian who made the Milton Bradley'ish mistakes of bringing the first inning to a close after only two outs and calling a strike out on Hardy with only two strikes. Dan Plesac could not stop talking about all-things-Cubs as if he was trying to unload all that he's learned from working at Comcast SportsNet the last few years. I did miss Len (wonder if he mentioned DeRosa) & Bob and am really looking forward to today's game.
