Len & Bob's baseball blog

NEXT YEAR IS HERE! GO CUBS GO!

The 1.5 game has me feeling a little better about the Cubs playoff chances than I did a week ago. But what is really worrying me now is the apparent cold streak being experienced by Ryan Dempster. He's sort of flown under the radar the last several weeks because he's been so lights-out. But since that loss in Houston, he's been making me nervous. I hope he gets the mojo back real soon. I'd like to see a couple of positive outings from him this weekend in St. L so he can get back on track.

Still not comfortable......it would be nice to get a good early game lead....and then keep it---living outside Chicago ---if WGN isnt playing the game i have to suffer through online or bottom of the screen ticker watching---last night the ninth inning was brutal to watch a ticker--up 2-1 then all of a sudden 5-1 then...5-2 then 5-3...ouch--all while watching the Yankees make a hige comeback on the Red Sox--while thinking ---oh no we are going to squander this lead.....aaaaahhh....and oh no the Brewers are coming back too......whew we made it and the Brewers didnt----by the way--why do they keep pitching to Goliath Fielder anyway...do they think he is going to stop smashing the cover off the ball? 15 more painful games to go---please make the magic number go away!!

I can already see the many, many comments that are going to be put on this blog that Dempster needs to be "dumpstered" because of his recent struggles.

But I agree with Jason, in that Ryan's just going through a cold streak. Every player has bad spots throughout the season (yes, even Marmol). But it's a heck of a bad time to be going cold.

That being said, I think we need to stick with Dempster, who has been our pretty efficient and certainly experienced closer all year. I love Carlos Marmol, he's a beast, and our closer of the future, but the future is next year, not now.

Let's sweep the doubleheader today and not look back the rest of the year. GO CUBS!!!

GO CUBS GO!! THIS IS OUR YEAR!!
LETS GO ALL THE WAY!!!!

Tears come to my eyes as I let my mind wander to the prize at the end of this long road, Len. As a lifelong Cubs fan (and I'm a g'ma now...well, a young one ;) lol) I can honestly say this just feels so right this year. I'm careful to keep my feet on the ground ... just in case, BUT I can almost feel the victory at the start of every game now. I believe in this team, and in Lou.

I am just so excited for each and every one of our guys on the team, for Lou, for the Cubs Family.

Go Cubs!!
WE LOVE YA!!

I think the cubs can hang on beacuse they can belive on themselves as a team beacuse sweet lou can get happy or greedy at times so long way to go yet but they can win this divsion as a team!!
go cubs!!!

I have a few things:
First a nickname for the Theriot Fontenot dp combo - the Tiger Cubs
Second is there a spot to get the Go Cubs Go themesong
Third Im a southern Illinois Cub fan - we have a lot of fun here with the Red Blue rivalry - there would have been major ribbing if the ninth had turned out wrong last night - I think there is a book in the Cubs/Cards over time

Oh my goodness. We live in a small town just south of Rockford, and when I picked up the mail this morning at the post office, the talk inside was ALL Cubs. Mostly the pros and cons of Dempster, God bless him. He makes me SO nervous!! Go Cubs!!

Dempster is not a Closer! I thought Lou figured this out earlier this year. Two homers in the ninth. Even the games he saves, he gives up homers. I've been saying this for two years now. Did you look at Lou's face last night. C'mon, I know hes a nice guy, even funny.

Len and Bob:

Please explain how Lou can justify the lineup for this afternoon's game when the Cubs are fighting to win the division. If the give away any games it could cost them the chance to be in the playoffs, since they would not make it as the wild card. How can you at this stage of the season while in a penant race leave Aramis and Floyd out of the lineup?

Wayne

I always have a lot of hope for the Cubs every year. This year is a little different. I know we are in a good position to take the NL Central but there needs to be some sort of explosion from the team for me to have the utmost confidence going into the playoffs. This season has shown a team that can overcome a lot but during those challenging times (Soriano injury, Zambrano vs. Barrett), the team has shown some inconsistencies. If the team shows some dominance over their opponents during the last two weeks of the season, I will feel much more confident and hopefully we can get that World Series Trophy back in Chicago!

As the Cubs have been playing decent ball the past few days, I don't think I will be excited until the last week of games because this is a very inconsistent team this year. They could go on another hot streak, they could play .500 ball, or they could stink it up. It seems as though the NL Central has been very volatile this season and I would expect that trend to continue until the home stretch. If the cubs can win 8 or 9 games they should be in the playoffs, 10 wins gets them in for sure. Let the countdown begin.

As an Tulsa Oklahoma Diehard Cub Fan I am holding my breath daily. The images of goats and other bad things keep appearing. I know that this year the Cubs have the talent, everyone just has to do their part and the W's will continue. GO CUBS!!!! As Harry loved to say CUBS WIN CUBS WIN

Len and Bob,

You say Soriano shouldn't have been charged an error for losing a ball in the sun. What if the runner scores? The pitcher shouldn't be penalized for the earned run.
Just a thought.

The weird thing is, this ball club has all the makings of an unbelievable team.....all the pieces to the puzzle...it just feels like they're putting the wrong pieces in the wrong places. I thought Lou was crazy for giving these guys days off, because down the stretch you would think you just want to stick with a lineup and run with it. But look at what Cliff is doing....unreal. Dump...er, I mean Dempster needs to go back to setup. Some of these pressure packed situations aren't for him. Woody looks unbelievable, but they're still treating him like a faberge egg out there. Anyway, this is a great feeling for any Cub fan...let's keep it going!! Hey Chicago whaddaya say???

Here's our best bet for clinching the NL Central - trade Demster to the Brewers.

For ANYTHING... for notbhing... just GIVE him to them.

He can then blow saves and give up homers for them...!

Two game lead heading into the night cap tonight! LETS GO CUBS!!!

OH YEAH FONZIE!!!! This was a HUGE WIN for us, taking game one means ALL THE PRESSURE is on the CARDS and the CREW OF BREW tonight. Plus.. we rested RAMIREZ, KENDALL and FLOYD, and SAVED our pen in the event MARSHALL doesn't go long. We can STEP ON THE THROATS of those REDBIRDS tonight!!!! And a 3 game lead in THIS division is like 10 in any other!!! GO CUBS GO!!!!

Singing Go Cubs Go after every win is great! Can you share more of Steve Goodman's life, and love for the Cubs? A dying Cubs fan's last request is a classic! Go Cubs

len, the games are exciting
without any chit-chat. Give
us a break, please. The games tied, it's three and two with the bases loaded and your quoting some unrelated nonesense.

Tonight's Bonehead Play(er) of the night is fairly easy for a change. The clear winner is Jason Kendall who couldn't throw out a runner stealing if his career depended on it.

His throw into CF would've been laughable if I werent a Cubs fan; and his wayward lob to first on a strike-out ignited the Cards rally that cost us the game. The idea that they're starting this clown over Soto is pathetic. And we actually traded for this guy? Oh please!!!

Honorable Mention goes to 3B coach Mike Quade, who sent The Riot home to score on a short single to LF from Marshall when there was only 1 out and my hero, Sorry-Clowno, coming up. The Laughable Left-fielder then homered, instead of his usual habit of striking out with runners on base. C'mon, Mike wake up!

C'mon guys, we're in a pennant race. Please pay attention, hustle and make no more stupid mistakes, huh? Its only a few more weeks that you have stay awake. What d'ya say...let's go Cubs!!!

Sincerely,

Paul from Reality

Now would be the time for this team to stand up and pound it's chest.The HR power seems to have surfaced and the pitching has become more consistant, (aka Big Z)The end is near,and I've seen this movie before.I hope it has a different ending.

The second game of the double header was broadcast on a local station out of St. Louis on my tv. At one point of the game the cardinals longtime radio broadcaster Mike Shannon was in the booth talking to the regular tv guys, and Brendan Ryan walked, the pitch then got away from Kendall and Ryan rounded first in case there was a possibility he could take second. They then commented on his hustle. Later in the game they cut to a shot of Soriano in left and he looked as if he was at the park waiting for his kids to get done playing so he could go do anything else. They the spent roughly five minutes laughing about it. But, the interesting thing was after watching this "overpaid,lazy" player loaf through the inning. Every one of them said they would love to have them on their team. I cannot judge intent just by watching someone, but I still will take Soriano and Ramirez loafing over just about anyone else no matter how hard they play or what they get paid! And it sounds like Mike Shannon, who has probably seen more baseball than most of us, would also. So, please remember that they may not run out every ground ball,(by the way, why a person would want an all-star caliber third baseman with a history of leg injuries to sprint every gorund ball out when there's probably a 99% chance he'll get thrown out is beyond me) we still are better off with them than almost anyone else!

We need more offense, 6 runs in two games isn't going to cut it. Dempster is our new Lee Smith, he's either lights out or gets knocked out. I like our chances though.

i was so upset sat nite having to listen to the announcers on that st louis station, they did not pay attention to the game, i agree with dan from ky - thank goodness it is on wgn today(sunday) and i can enjoy the game - you dont know how hard it is to listen to the games when it is other than len and bob. anyway hope they do well today - i still miss michale barrett, he can throw betten than kendall.

Not just our hitters, but I've noticed it more the last couple of days with the Cubs: A home run is a sight to behold, especially if you're the one who hit it, but that is why we have video. Hit the ball and run for your life! Don't stand there a few ticks to admire it or see if you have to waste your energy to run on a fowl. Hit the ball and RUN! You can catch the video later or on the Jumbotron...Otherwise, I get the sense the players are trying hard, and want to make it past September. Not much breathing room, but there is some!

There was much very impressive pitching of late, which is crucial late in the year. More focus at the plate is needed with men on base, and dumb mistakes should be avoided, Kendall.
Overall, I have nothing to vent. I am in tune with what's been going on, and am satisfied that things are as they should be in a cosmic sense.

BREWERS won the last 10 out of 15 games.They are not going away and it looks like we played 2 more games then they did and that's not good for the CUBS
but I believe in the PIN.
GO PIN GO,
GO PIN GO,HEY CHICAGO WHAT DO YA SAY,
THE PIN IS GONNA WIN TODAY!

We are now on the "Cubbie Roll", this is it, the time has come, The bats are waking up, Home Runs, this team is starting to hit like we knew they could. We are winning games, they have the Cubbie Swagger that Sweet Lou was talking about in Spring Training. I am a Die Hard Cubs fan, and yes this is the year, and I am proudly flying the "W" flag above my house after each win. Go Cubs from Las Vegas.

Len ,

Who is the pink hat guy that is sitting behind home plate EVERY night? He was there EVERY game last homestand and again last night. He is an older gentleman and wears a green shirt and a pink hat every day.

I thought there was a lottery drawing to purchase those seats and a limit on how many you could purchase. (8 total..I believe) The seat beside him is empty. I can't believe he could purchase the same EXACT seat through the lottery system.

Something fishy going on here.

Who's dad or grandpa is he?