Posts tagged ‘Jacque Jones’

Towards the end of last season I took a lot of crap for mentioning (yes, probably too often) how Jacque Jones’ performance in the 2nd half essentially put the Cubs into the playoffs. I think I’ve had enough time to recover from the constant berating from my fellow co-hosts, because there’s nothing I’d like to be talking about more a month and a half from now than Jim Edmonds as he carries this team into the postseason. It could happen.

Similar to Jacque’s situation last season, Edmonds has pretty much forced Piniella’s hand and will be in the lineup against almost every right-handed pitcher down the stretch. He has provided a combination of power and patience that Felix Pie still needs to learn to dream about, let alone put into practice. So by all means, it seems like Jim Edmonds is going to have every opportunity to continue his pace this month and into September. 50 RBIs for the Cubs by the end of the season? It could happen.

If it was bizarre to think about Jim Edmonds helping the Cubs and homering against the St. Louis Cardinals today, just think what it would be to see him taking a curtain call at Wrigley when the ivy is brown. It could happen, and when it does, I’ll be doing the happy fingers cheer.

We’ve frequently been hearing from Cubscast listeners on the subject of our minimum-salaried slugger:

Earlier this summer,I was thinking to myself what Jim Edmonds would have to do for me to stop disliking him. He did that the other day when he hit two home runs including the grand slam. i now can admit that I like Edmonds. — Abe in DC

Fontenot’s hit 2 more home runs and his SLG is up 50 points since my last email. I’m telling you, He’s a mini Edmonds. — Jonathan in AZ

I didn’t like the move at all when it happened. Not because he was a Cardinal, or because I had any thoughts of conspiracy, but because he’s a day older than God’s parents and his BA was worse than most pitchers. I like the fact that he’s fighting for a respectable BA, he seems to be working his tail off to improve, and he’s been clutch of late, but I’m not going to be sold until he does it for an extended period, much longer than a week. If he’s even .275+ by late August, I’ll be satisfied. — Justin in Indiana

I love it when we get e-mails. Not because everyone agrees with our opinions (they assuredly do not), but because every Cubs fan has his or her own theories on players and predictions and superstitions. Justin’s email was sent to us at the beginning on June, and he made the point before the excerpted paragraph that we had been too quick to go from skepticism on the Edmonds signing to “unconditional love.” And fair enough. I’m just glad that it looks like Justin is going to be satisfied by late August. It could happen.

As you hopefully know by now, the Cubs have signed Japanese slugger Kosuke Fukudome, “Big” Jim Henry’s first off season prize, and the lefty outfield bat he was reportedly jonesing for. I use the term “jonesing” not just because I’m a fan of 1960’s slang, but also because ‘round Cubscast parts, you can’t mention Fukudome without departed ex-Cub lefty outfielder Jacque Jones’ name coming up in conversation. The primary offender is, of course, Lou, Cubscast president and all around Jacque Jones fan, two things that, even independently of one another, perhaps only one man in the world can claim to be.

I’m not saying Jones doesn’t have his fans… Wait, actually that’s exactly what I’m saying. Let me try again. I’m not saying everyone hates Jacque Jones, but at times it certainly felt that way, didn’t it? And as someone not as smitten with Mr. Jones as el presidente Lou, I’m not ashamed to admit that at times I wanted to see Jones go, another move that “Big” Jim Hendry made possible this off season. But (and here is the point that I’d like to make today) did you ever notice how most Cub fans didn’t like or think much of Jones from the start? In stark contrast to today’s excitement over a guy most of us have never even seen swing a bat on television, the Jacque Jones signing was met with at best ambivalence and at worst flat out anger, and I think that skewed our impressions of Jones throughout his time on the Windy City.

Moving back to the present, the Cubs have just signed a Japanese baseball star who was the 2006 Central League MVP, batting .351 with 31 dingers and 104 RBIs. His ’07 season was cut short by season ending elbow surgery, which of course makes him a natural fit for the Cubs. The Dome, as I will call him in public (in private it’s hard to call him anything sans expletive) has a career OBP just under .400. He may not hit as many HRs as we’d like (then again, who on the Cubs has recently?) but he should be a pretty solid addition to the team and the key building block “Big” Jim Hendry needed to make his off season a success.

How will The Dome’s Japanese numbers translate in his first MLB season? I have no idea. But for arguments sake, let’s say he puts up a .285 avg. with 27 HRs and 81 driven in. Would you be happy with that? Well that’s what Jones put up in his first season with the Cubs. Whether those numbers are worth what Fukudome will be paid (and granted, I failed to mention Jones’s ’06 OBP of .334, which I think The Dome will best) I can guarantee that Cub fans, myself included, will greet Fukudome with cheers throughout the ’08 season, the likes of which J.J. never received. And even if he’s a flop and the cheers do turn to boos, at least it’ll be harder to tell. Are fans cursing the Japanese lefty, or simply calling out his name?

All kidding aside, good luck Mr. Fukudome (or is it Mr. Kosuke?) and welcome to the Cubs! I for one love you already. As for Mr. Jones, best of luck in D town…I know one podcasting president who will be cheering you for sure.