Blog Archives

Just a few minutes ago the Trib reported that Alfonso Soriano is leaving his leadoff spot in the Cubs lineup for tonight’s game vs. the Cardinals. I guess that’s news around the Cubs water cooler — what with Hendry and Piniella fielding constant questions on the matter from fans ever since Alfonso became a Cub. It’s not crazy, though.

What’s weirder and even more worthy of discussion in my opinion is the Cubs manager’s apparent scrapping of his right-left stacked batting order that we heard about all offseason. This after all was the given reason that Mark DeRosa is wearing an Indians jersey, why Ronny Cedeno was shipped off, and why two well-paid switch hitters were acquired to replace them (Miles and Bradley). The Cubs used the same explanation to recently reveal the answers to mysteries including the disappearance of John Gotti and the location of the Holy Grail. The missing DVD, not the actual thing. But anyway, back to crazy…

1 Theriot
2 Fukudome
3 Soriano
4 Aram
5 D-Lee

Seems a little jaded, right? Like the kind of thing the team would do after losing 5 in a row instead of 2 tough ones vs. the Reds. Or the kind of thing to throw at certain Sunday Night Baseball commentators just for fun. Hmm. Soriano, Aram and D-Lee are all streaky hitters, so this is a boom or bust move by Piniella without a doubt. Those losses against Cueto and Harang must have been a big wakeup call to Lou Piniella…they sure were for me.

Sheps and I weren’t aware of tonight’s lineup when we recorded today’s episode (download - mp3), but we discussed at length some of the recent moves by Sweet Lou.

Can’t wait to discuss this one on Monday. Hopefully this’ll wake up the bats. Go Cubs!

UPDATE: Congrats to this week’s winner, Jeremy N., with a winning caption of Ryan preps his Johnson before the game. Stay tuned for another caption contest coming up in early May.

As announced in today’s episode (download - mp3), the Cubscast Photo Caption Contest is back! To submit an entry, simply click on the photo below and enter your caption as a comment. Everyone is welcome to participate (even if you’ve had a grand slam brought back by ReJo). First prize this week is a Cubscast Prize Pack which includes a Cubs-related book. Official Photo Caption Contest Rules.

Contest ended on Sunday April 19th at 8 p.m. CT..

Thanks to everyone that participated!

We can’t wait for 6 PM tonight as Big Z will be taking the mound for his 5th consecutive Opening Day start, this time vs. Roy Oswalt and the ‘Stros. Carlos looked great throughout spring training, so I’m excited to see him carry it over to this new season. If he gets through 5 innings, I won’t be throwing the blue road alternate jersey beer cozy I received as a Christmas gift across the room. But we’ll see.

It took an all-nighter last night to get everything in order, but today we announced our long-awaited technological innovation on episode #499. Is it what you expected? It’s the brand new 140 Characters from Home Plate feature on our site (link at the top right of every page). We envision this as something awesome that fans can use to get and provide real-time feedback while watching the game. Since it uses Twitter, it’s easy for fans at the game, fans watching the game on TV, and fans listening at work to use. I like the way that Sheps described it in today’s episode; it’s similar to a “game thread,” but easier to use and more interactive. Big thanks to longtime listener neverbesocial for helping to plant this idea in my head awhile back.

To start interacting, just add the phrase #cubs to any Twitter message (”tweet”) and it’ll show up on the 140 Characters from Home Plate page.

Create a twitter account and try it out before or during tonight’s game!

Show schedule-wise, there will be a new episode of Cubscast on Tuesday morning that breaks down the Opener, so stay tuned for that. It will be our 500th episode and we’ll have a special guest along with the second part (download part I - mp3) of an interview we recently recorded with Len Kasper, the Cubs Play-By-Play Broadcaster. Len was extremely generous to come on the show right before the start of the season, and he had a lot of insightful and funny things to say, so check those out.

Lastly, thanks to Brad Spirrison for the nice mention of the new Twitter feature and Len Kasper interview in today’s Sun-Times.

Have a happy and safe Opening Day, and Go Cubs!

Sheps and I are happy to announce today that one of the special guests for our 500th episode will be Len Kasper, the excellent Cubs play-by-play broadcaster. We thought for roughly 5 seconds about who we’d most like to interview for this landmark episode and Len was the first person that both Sheps and I thought of.

We interviewed Len in the aftermath of the 2006 Cubs season, and it is one of my favorite episodes we’ve ever done. If there’s anything we’ve discovered from recording 497 episodes of Cubscast, it’s that there are few things more fun than discussing the highs and lows of the Cubs with people that care about the team. Both Len and his broadcast partner Bob Brenly have a genuine love for baseball and the Cubs, and it shows in the quality of their coverage each and every day.

So anyway, we’ve been compiling some questions for Len but we need your help! Please e-mail your questions to hosts@cubscast.com or add a comment to this post. The last time we interviewed Len he made it clear that no topic was off-limits, so if there’s something you’ve been eager to ask this is a great opportunity.

Our 500th episode will be available for download on Opening Day, April 6th! Tune in and tell your friends as we’ll also be previewing the upcoming season with a certain former co-host, as well as announcing a “technological breakthrough” that tech savvy Cubs fans are going to love.

As mentioned in today’s episode (mp3), we recently received an e-mail from a listener that likes a music clip we often use of a song called “Waiting For a Miracle.” The song is performed by Mark Erelli and was written by Bruce Cockburn.

An excerpt:

You stand up proud
You pretend you’re strong
In the hope that you can be
Like the ones who’ve cried
Like the ones who’ve died
Trying to set the angel in us free
And they’re waiting for a
And they’re waiting for a
And they’re waiting for a miracle…

So how come the future takes such a long, long time
When you’re waiting for a..
When you’re waiting for a..
When you’re waiting for a miracle

We get an e-mail or two every week asking about this song…something about it seems to connect in a big way with Cubs fans. We’re glad to offer our listeners a link to download the full song. Enjoy!

Download Full Song - MP3

I can’t believe I’m writing this because a month or two ago I felt the opposite, but I’m hoping that Lou Piniella names Kevin Gregg to the closer role and keeps Carlos Marmol as the set-up man.

And it’s not just because Kevin Gregg’s spring has been so strong, it’s really not as Lou Piniella might say. Gregg has pitched 8.1 spring innings, given up just 4 hits, struck out 10 and he has not allowed a single run. But Carlos Marmol’s stats, while not as stellar as Gregg’s, have been fine— 7 innings, only two earned, 9 Ks— and it seems like he gets into games a touch earlier than Gregg, which might suggest he’s facing a bit better hitters.

It’s also not because Marmol blew the save and lost that infamous game to the Netherlands for the D.R. in the World baseball Classic, though obviously that isn’t a feather in Marmol’s blue cap.

No, I think Gregg should start the season closing because I’m not sure Marmol really, truly, awesomely wants the job right now, at least not to the degree Gregg does, and I think that gives Gregg the slight edge. Compare these two quotes:

Gregg: “I want it, I want to close. I have no qualms about saying that. I’m comfortable there. I’m comfortable with what I’ve done the last couple years, especially now that I know my knee’s healthy.”

Marmol: “I think someday I’ll close. Maybe this year.”

I’m sure this isn’t the only thing Carlos has had to say on the subject of closing, but this line from right before his departure to the WBC has stuck with me this spring.

Am I crazy? Feel free to let me know…

In our episodes this offseason, I’ve made no small secret of the fact that I think Micah Hoffpauir should get more playing time for the Cubs. I don’t know what else he has to prove. The guy has a major league swing, patience, and a Randall Simon-ton of power. Everyone in the front office and dugout sees that, but at best it sounds like in 2009 he’ll be Lou Piniella’s first option off the bench and will get a start at 1B about once a month. Placed in a similar role in 2007 and 2008, Daryl Ward only got about 100 at bats each of those seasons. It’s not enough.

With Corey Koskie’s comeback attempt over, the Cubs should invest time in a backup third baseman that can mash and is right under their collective nose, and that is Hoffpauir. The outfield is full; between 5 talented guys (Bradley, Soriano, Fukudome, Johnson, and Gathright) I don’t see a big need for Micah out there. Also, I have a particular problem taking playing time away from Reed Johnson, who can flat out play the game. Joey Gathright also looks darn good so far down in Spring Training, stealing 3 bases in a game and fielding well.

As I can imagine Bob Brenly saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

So all that being said, why not spend the final days of Spring showing Hoffpauir the ropes of third base? He’d make an excellent backup to both Lee and Ramirez, one of whom will probably miss a few weeks during the season with a minor strain or injury. Though I don’t want to see Micah start the season in Iowa, I could live with it if he needed to get some more reps at a new position before being expected to go 6-4-3 on a daily basis. Nobody was better at turning the double play than Alan Trammell, and the Cubs are lucky to have his expertise from both playing and managing.

It’s almost impossible to complete a discussion about Micah Hoffpauir without having to bring up the aforementioned Derrek Lee, so what ensues is obligatory. Lee isn’t the same player he was in 2005, but he’s still an awesome first baseman and a great hitter. Anybody that hits 40 doubles and drives in close to 100 runs shouldn’t have to listen to anyone offer to replace him with a guy that tore it up in the minors. That is, unless he plays 1B for the Pirates in July. Derrek Lee doesn’t and won’t, and if you think Hoffpauir should play every day at first for the major league Cubs you lost me.

However, if you can get Micah Hoffpauir 250+ at-bats without giving him a position, you may have found me.