Exile in goatville
Steven Chaitman gets rowdy in the bleachers at the Friendly Confines
State of the Union - Address, 1060 W. Addison
By Mike Maguire | Feb 08, 6:11 AM
The success of the Bears this season has been a thing of beauty in Chicago on many levels. I love the history of Chicago football, have lived and died on every snap for many years and am more eager for the playoffs than a grown man should be. However, the surprise division winning season of the Bears has also been a blessing in disguise for another reason altogether. The distraction of the Bears success has been a God send for Chicagoans who are sick and tired of hearing about the World Champion Chicago White Sox.
The unthinkable nightmare came to life for Cubs fans last season, the Sox won before we did and it hurts. Having spent my entire life in the Chicago area, I feel like I grew up in an inner city arms race; a Cubs-Sox cold war. The objective of this war was clear -- win one before the other guys. To a man, the enemy always seemed grizzly and battle hardened, and always had strong forces marching to the south. They were a worthy foe in the race to extinguish futility; they hadn't won the world series since Prohibition either.
While each side of the city amassed weapons, flexed their muscles and engaged in angry rhetoric in this cold war, no one came anywhere near to dropping the big one -- until 2005. Now, the landscape of Chicago baseball has been changed and changed forever. No longer are both north and south perennial losers, and my south side brethren have taken pleasure in reminding me of that fact as often as they can. The battle over which Chicago franchise sucks more has been determined, and the topic shouldn't be touched upon again until the world hears the phrase -- 'And now, here are your World Champion Chicago Cubs.' (which may be followed by any of these phrases -- 1) hell has frozen over 2) the end is near, or 3) duck and cover)
So, we in Cubs nation can no longer engage in fueling the fire of the 'my dad can beat up your dad' charm of the Cubs/Sox rivalry. We Cubs fans have certainly have taken our lumps over the years (and dished out a few blows of our own) but now we have no stones left to throw. All that is left for the Cubs and their loyal nation of fans to do is to go out and win a World Championship of their own, and as we all know, Championship rings don't come easily in Chicago.
While Cubs fans are once again in the process of waiting ‘til next year, Jim Hendry and company have been busy this off-season trying to fill some of the holes from last year's ball club. Center fielder/leadoff man Juan Pierre is the centerpiece of the Cubs' off-season moves. Hendry acquired the services of the speedy 28-year old for the next 3 years. Pierre is a scrappy ball player; he is a hustler and he is just the type of guy that Dusty needs to jump start the Cubs offense. The Cubs had trouble scoring runs in 2005 (10th in the NL), and with the types of seasons that Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez had in 2005, it is almost a crime that we didn't score more runs. Once again, no one ever seemed to be on base and the Cubs were the Pope of the solo home run -- you know, the type of offense that you need to have in order to not win for a century. The addition of Juan Pierre (.276-57 steals-96 runs scored last year) is a legitimate step in correcting that issue. The last time the Cubs made a post season run (2003), Kenny Lofton played a huge role from the leadoff spot, and the team will expect similar results with Pierre in charge of getting things started in ‘06.
Also joining the fight for the 2006 campaign is right fielder Jacque Jones, formerly of the Twins. The Cubs saved a couple of dollars on signing Jones over re-signing Jeromy Burnitz. Jones is similar to Burnitz in respect to power numbers, but he should hit for a higher average than Burnitz' .258 from a year ago, and he also brings a bit more speed to the table. Along with the return of utility man Jerry Hairston, veterans John Mabry and Marquis Grissom have also been invited to spring training in hopes that they will be able to provide strength and experience on the Cubs bench.
The Cubs bullpen was like the cement boots on the wise guy that was the 2005 season. The pen had a 4.24 team era, good for 10th in the league, and more importantly, the staff just couldn't seem to keep a lead when we had one. When you think of the struggles of Mike Remlinger, Roberto Novoa, Scott Williamson and Cliff Bartosh (amongst others), it's a wonder that the Cubs decided to move LaTroy Hawkins at all! Obviously something had to be done to upgrade the bullpen.
So, the Cubs took some of the money they saved and went out and got proven setup men Scott Eyre and Bobby Howry. Eyre comes from San Francisco, where he has posted a 3.63 era since 2002. Howry, a former south-sider, has had decent success everywhere he has gone and also has experience as a closer. Howry went 7-4 with a 2.47 era in 79 games last year. Also expected to be seen sitting on the bricks in the bullpen of the Friendly Confines are the able Will Ohman and Michael Wuertz. Scott Williamson, Roberto Novoa, Rich Hill and John Koronka will also be competing for innings on the mound as well.
Along with these new guys and Ryan Dempster in the closers role, the cubs should have a better bullpen in 2006, and really, how could they be any worse? Dempster was the glaring bright spot in the Cubs pen last year; he excelled in his first stint as the Cubs closer and is eager for a full season in the role.
With the bullpen settling into form, let's turn to the rotation. Once believed to be an invincible, limitless strength of the franchise, the Cubs starters come into the 2006 season as somewhat of a question mark (who needs Matt Clement anyway?). A few years ago, the Cubs signed Greg Maddux to be their #5 starter, and now, outside of workhorse Carlos Zambrano, Maddux may be the most dependable pitcher in the starting rotation. Both Zambrano and Maddux threw over 200 innings last year (Maddux-225.0 – Zambrano-223.1), and there is no reason they should not repeat those performances in the upcoming season. Mark Prior is reportedly healthy and ready to go, and still has the potential to be the type of player that people will remember for a long time. Crafty left hander Glendon Rusch and young righty Jerome Williams will round out the starting five in the early going, as Kerry Wood continues to rehab from his shoulder issue that is expected to keep him inactive for opening day.
The Cubbies have made some good moves, and have brought some key pieces back into the fold. From top to bottom, the Cubs projected opening day line up figures to look a little something like this -- for now!
CF – Juan Pierre (career .355 OBA) 2B – Todd Walker (career .290 hitter) 1B – Derrek Lee (won first batting title in '05) 3B – Aramis Ramirez (has hit .300 with 30+ HRs in both full seasons with Cubs) RF – Jacque Jones (22 HRs last year – career .279 hitter) LF – Matt Murton (hit .321 last year – spent off season in Arizona Fall League) C – Michael Barrett (coming off best season as a pro - .287 avg., 16 HRs) SS – Ronny Cedeno (hit .355 in Venezuelan winter league-hit .300 last year)
SP#1- Carlos Zambrano SP#2- Mark Prior SP#3- Greg Maddux SP#4- Glendon Rusch SP#5- Jerome Williams
CP – Ryan Dempster
On paper, the Cubs have a line up that can compete for the NL Central, and word around the campfire is that Jim Hendry may not yet be finished with his wheelings and dealings. The Cubs have the trio of Mabry, Hairston and Grissom to pick up the slack if Matt Murton struggles in his sophomore season, and teams have won with short stops that give you less offensive production than Ronny Cedeno. Todd Walker and Michael Barrett are more than adequate in the roles they are expected to play, and D-Lee and A-Ram are game changing talents.
A big key for the Cubs will be getting Kerry Wood back 100% healthy and pitching effectively. A return to form from Kerry Wood and Mark Prior is a must for the Cubs to contend in '06. It is just about put up or shut up time for both of Chicago's talented young guns.
Some Familiar Faces Gone from the Cubs this year -- The Corey Patterson experiment is officially over. Patterson, who never fully realized his potential in Chicago and hit just .215 last year, was dealt to Baltimore for a couple of prospects and a bag of corn nuts. Nomar is headed out west to play for the Dodgers, and Jeromy Burnitz appears to be headed to Pittsburgh. Mike Remlinger (4.91 era in '05) is also done giving up long balls for the Cubbies.
As far as the deals that almost were -- The Cubs put a serious bid in for the services of Atlanta short stop Rafael Furcal, but ended up finding a better leadoff man in Pierre. I also don't believe that mortgaging the future and getting rid of Prior or Zambrano for Miguel Tejada would've been a good idea. There was also talk of a Ramirez for Tejada deal, and this would be an even bigger mistake. Trading one proven solid commodity for another is like trading four quarters for a dollar bill (especially with similar power hitting infielders like Ramirez and Tejada). The Cubs have done a good job in addressing their team needs, and have not gone overboard dipping into the cookie jar of future talent to do so. The Cubs have done well this off-season and seem to be headed in the right direction once again; and who knows what tricks Mr. Hendry has left up his sleeve. The Cubs reportedly have an interest in Texas' Alfonso Soriano, a slugging second basemen with good speed.
In closing this state of the Cubbies address, I would like to offer a bit of optimism to my fellow Cubs fans -- I believe firmly believe that unthinkable events happen in threes; the Red Sox won in 2004, the White Sox in 2005 -- so why can't 2006 be the 'next year' that the Chicago Cubs have been waiting for? The Cubs have made the moves over the off season and still have a quality young pitching core that rivals any in the league (when healthy). The Cubs have as good a shot as anyone to contend to for the NL Central crown, and beyond that, it's anyone's ballgame. The Chicago baseball cold war is over and it's time for the Cubbies to drop a big one of their own. Every time the calendar flips a nation of Cubs fans across the world starts saying that 'this is the year' and one of these days -- we're going to be right.
The unthinkable nightmare came to life for Cubs fans last season, the Sox won before we did and it hurts. Having spent my entire life in the Chicago area, I feel like I grew up in an inner city arms race; a Cubs-Sox cold war. The objective of this war was clear -- win one before the other guys. To a man, the enemy always seemed grizzly and battle hardened, and always had strong forces marching to the south. They were a worthy foe in the race to extinguish futility; they hadn't won the world series since Prohibition either.
While each side of the city amassed weapons, flexed their muscles and engaged in angry rhetoric in this cold war, no one came anywhere near to dropping the big one -- until 2005. Now, the landscape of Chicago baseball has been changed and changed forever. No longer are both north and south perennial losers, and my south side brethren have taken pleasure in reminding me of that fact as often as they can. The battle over which Chicago franchise sucks more has been determined, and the topic shouldn't be touched upon again until the world hears the phrase -- 'And now, here are your World Champion Chicago Cubs.' (which may be followed by any of these phrases -- 1) hell has frozen over 2) the end is near, or 3) duck and cover)
So, we in Cubs nation can no longer engage in fueling the fire of the 'my dad can beat up your dad' charm of the Cubs/Sox rivalry. We Cubs fans have certainly have taken our lumps over the years (and dished out a few blows of our own) but now we have no stones left to throw. All that is left for the Cubs and their loyal nation of fans to do is to go out and win a World Championship of their own, and as we all know, Championship rings don't come easily in Chicago.
While Cubs fans are once again in the process of waiting ‘til next year, Jim Hendry and company have been busy this off-season trying to fill some of the holes from last year's ball club. Center fielder/leadoff man Juan Pierre is the centerpiece of the Cubs' off-season moves. Hendry acquired the services of the speedy 28-year old for the next 3 years. Pierre is a scrappy ball player; he is a hustler and he is just the type of guy that Dusty needs to jump start the Cubs offense. The Cubs had trouble scoring runs in 2005 (10th in the NL), and with the types of seasons that Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez had in 2005, it is almost a crime that we didn't score more runs. Once again, no one ever seemed to be on base and the Cubs were the Pope of the solo home run -- you know, the type of offense that you need to have in order to not win for a century. The addition of Juan Pierre (.276-57 steals-96 runs scored last year) is a legitimate step in correcting that issue. The last time the Cubs made a post season run (2003), Kenny Lofton played a huge role from the leadoff spot, and the team will expect similar results with Pierre in charge of getting things started in ‘06.
Also joining the fight for the 2006 campaign is right fielder Jacque Jones, formerly of the Twins. The Cubs saved a couple of dollars on signing Jones over re-signing Jeromy Burnitz. Jones is similar to Burnitz in respect to power numbers, but he should hit for a higher average than Burnitz' .258 from a year ago, and he also brings a bit more speed to the table. Along with the return of utility man Jerry Hairston, veterans John Mabry and Marquis Grissom have also been invited to spring training in hopes that they will be able to provide strength and experience on the Cubs bench.
The Cubs bullpen was like the cement boots on the wise guy that was the 2005 season. The pen had a 4.24 team era, good for 10th in the league, and more importantly, the staff just couldn't seem to keep a lead when we had one. When you think of the struggles of Mike Remlinger, Roberto Novoa, Scott Williamson and Cliff Bartosh (amongst others), it's a wonder that the Cubs decided to move LaTroy Hawkins at all! Obviously something had to be done to upgrade the bullpen.
So, the Cubs took some of the money they saved and went out and got proven setup men Scott Eyre and Bobby Howry. Eyre comes from San Francisco, where he has posted a 3.63 era since 2002. Howry, a former south-sider, has had decent success everywhere he has gone and also has experience as a closer. Howry went 7-4 with a 2.47 era in 79 games last year. Also expected to be seen sitting on the bricks in the bullpen of the Friendly Confines are the able Will Ohman and Michael Wuertz. Scott Williamson, Roberto Novoa, Rich Hill and John Koronka will also be competing for innings on the mound as well.
Along with these new guys and Ryan Dempster in the closers role, the cubs should have a better bullpen in 2006, and really, how could they be any worse? Dempster was the glaring bright spot in the Cubs pen last year; he excelled in his first stint as the Cubs closer and is eager for a full season in the role.
With the bullpen settling into form, let's turn to the rotation. Once believed to be an invincible, limitless strength of the franchise, the Cubs starters come into the 2006 season as somewhat of a question mark (who needs Matt Clement anyway?). A few years ago, the Cubs signed Greg Maddux to be their #5 starter, and now, outside of workhorse Carlos Zambrano, Maddux may be the most dependable pitcher in the starting rotation. Both Zambrano and Maddux threw over 200 innings last year (Maddux-225.0 – Zambrano-223.1), and there is no reason they should not repeat those performances in the upcoming season. Mark Prior is reportedly healthy and ready to go, and still has the potential to be the type of player that people will remember for a long time. Crafty left hander Glendon Rusch and young righty Jerome Williams will round out the starting five in the early going, as Kerry Wood continues to rehab from his shoulder issue that is expected to keep him inactive for opening day.
The Cubbies have made some good moves, and have brought some key pieces back into the fold. From top to bottom, the Cubs projected opening day line up figures to look a little something like this -- for now!
CF – Juan Pierre (career .355 OBA) 2B – Todd Walker (career .290 hitter) 1B – Derrek Lee (won first batting title in '05) 3B – Aramis Ramirez (has hit .300 with 30+ HRs in both full seasons with Cubs) RF – Jacque Jones (22 HRs last year – career .279 hitter) LF – Matt Murton (hit .321 last year – spent off season in Arizona Fall League) C – Michael Barrett (coming off best season as a pro - .287 avg., 16 HRs) SS – Ronny Cedeno (hit .355 in Venezuelan winter league-hit .300 last year)
SP#1- Carlos Zambrano SP#2- Mark Prior SP#3- Greg Maddux SP#4- Glendon Rusch SP#5- Jerome Williams
CP – Ryan Dempster
On paper, the Cubs have a line up that can compete for the NL Central, and word around the campfire is that Jim Hendry may not yet be finished with his wheelings and dealings. The Cubs have the trio of Mabry, Hairston and Grissom to pick up the slack if Matt Murton struggles in his sophomore season, and teams have won with short stops that give you less offensive production than Ronny Cedeno. Todd Walker and Michael Barrett are more than adequate in the roles they are expected to play, and D-Lee and A-Ram are game changing talents.
A big key for the Cubs will be getting Kerry Wood back 100% healthy and pitching effectively. A return to form from Kerry Wood and Mark Prior is a must for the Cubs to contend in '06. It is just about put up or shut up time for both of Chicago's talented young guns.
Some Familiar Faces Gone from the Cubs this year -- The Corey Patterson experiment is officially over. Patterson, who never fully realized his potential in Chicago and hit just .215 last year, was dealt to Baltimore for a couple of prospects and a bag of corn nuts. Nomar is headed out west to play for the Dodgers, and Jeromy Burnitz appears to be headed to Pittsburgh. Mike Remlinger (4.91 era in '05) is also done giving up long balls for the Cubbies.
As far as the deals that almost were -- The Cubs put a serious bid in for the services of Atlanta short stop Rafael Furcal, but ended up finding a better leadoff man in Pierre. I also don't believe that mortgaging the future and getting rid of Prior or Zambrano for Miguel Tejada would've been a good idea. There was also talk of a Ramirez for Tejada deal, and this would be an even bigger mistake. Trading one proven solid commodity for another is like trading four quarters for a dollar bill (especially with similar power hitting infielders like Ramirez and Tejada). The Cubs have done a good job in addressing their team needs, and have not gone overboard dipping into the cookie jar of future talent to do so. The Cubs have done well this off-season and seem to be headed in the right direction once again; and who knows what tricks Mr. Hendry has left up his sleeve. The Cubs reportedly have an interest in Texas' Alfonso Soriano, a slugging second basemen with good speed.
In closing this state of the Cubbies address, I would like to offer a bit of optimism to my fellow Cubs fans -- I believe firmly believe that unthinkable events happen in threes; the Red Sox won in 2004, the White Sox in 2005 -- so why can't 2006 be the 'next year' that the Chicago Cubs have been waiting for? The Cubs have made the moves over the off season and still have a quality young pitching core that rivals any in the league (when healthy). The Cubs have as good a shot as anyone to contend to for the NL Central crown, and beyond that, it's anyone's ballgame. The Chicago baseball cold war is over and it's time for the Cubbies to drop a big one of their own. Every time the calendar flips a nation of Cubs fans across the world starts saying that 'this is the year' and one of these days -- we're going to be right.
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