Is the Hot Stove League heating up a little early this year?
At O’Hare, Fukudome’s plane is boarding:
Kosuke Fukudome’s downfall has led to booing at Wrigley Field, and now he’s getting no respect.
Passengers at O’Hare Airport were surprised to hear his name being paged over the public address system in Terminal B on Friday morning.
But it turned out that it was all a joke.
“Paging Kosuke Fukudome, paging Kosuke Fukudome … Please report to the Cincinnati Reds. You have been traded for a player to be named later.”
Some of the passengers waiting for flights laughed, while others cringed.
Either way, it looks like Chicago’s love affair with the Japanese star is officially over.
I don’t care where you’re from, that’s funny.
(Special thanks to my old friend Lindsay in Milwaukee for snapping a picture of the scoreboard)
Cubs baseball is all about streaks… very long streaks… and not many of them are good. Prior to last night the Cubs hadn’t had a no-hitter since the Nixon administration. Just to give you an idea of how long ago it really was, John McCain was not only still a POW the last time the Cubs had a no-hitter in 1972, but he was actually half the age he is now. Carlos Zambrano’s gem against the Astros last night took care of that streak, but even he pointed out that they are still looking to end the BIG streak this year.
The Cubs seem to always save their best pitching performances for the Houston Astros. Ten years ago Kerry Wood had his 20 strikeout game against our NL Central brethren, and now Zambrano has a no-hitter against them.
I for one almost missed the festivities… as usual I was headed to bed given my early morning, and only at the last second did I decided to leave the computer on, so I did hear the last couple of innings. I may have been one tired producer during the show this morning, but I think it was worth it.
Now Ted Lilly will try to be the first pitcher to follow up one no-hitter with one of his own.
I know he’s not the least bit worried about carrying the state of Illinois, still this was not a very smart thing to say:
We all knew Barack Obama is a White Sox fan, but the presumed Democratic presidential nominee took it a bit further in an interview with ESPN.
Obama joked about the stereotype of Cubs fans, who probably are tired of being described as partying people-watchers instead of serious baseball fans.
“You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there,” Obama said, according to transcripts released by ESPN. “People aren’t watching the game. It’s not serious. White Sox, that’s baseball.”
Senator Obama, my grandparents passed away many years ago, which in Chicago means they are still voting… and they were bigger Cubs fans than I am.
Twenty years ago… 8/8/88… was the first night game at Wrigley Field. It actually wasn’t the first official night game, because it was rained out, proving of course that God didn’t want night games at Wrigley Field.
Interesting side note, the Conrad Clan was actually at the game on 8/7/88 and somewhere we have a picture of my brother and I at Wrigley with the still unused lights in the background.
For those who may have thought that it was a travesty that Wrigley added lights, Cubs.com has a great timeline of the effort to get lights added to the ballpark. I had always thought that the Wrigley family wanted to add them in the winter of 1941, but canceled the plans when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entered WWII. It turns out that they were trying all along between then and when they sold the team.
Blister sends Wood to Disabled List:
Kerry Wood was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday with his blister problem, but the Cubs have backdated it the allowable 10 days to make him eligible again on Tuesday in Milwaukee.
“He is making progress and he’s getting better,’ general manager Jim Hendry said. “But I think with this time off, he’s going to need a little work, whether it’s a couple of (bullpen sessions) or a ‘pen and a (simulated) game, we’ll see how it goes. But I think it would probably not be in the best interest of anyone if we got him ready say by Saturday or Sunday and throw him right out there in a game with this long of time off.”
The good news is that it should be a very short stay and he should be back for the series against the Brewers… the bad news is that he’ll be back for the series agaisnt the Brewers and they have are one of the few teams that have lit him up this year.
Well not my family, but the Cubs family. Very sad news out of Iowa…
Cubs singing contest winner loses battle with cancer
GUTTENBERG - Dustin Eglseder, the first Chicago Cubs fan to sing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” at Wrigley Field during the seventh-inning stretch, died in his Guttenberg home Wednesday after a long battle with bone cancer. He was 23.
Eglseder, a former high school third baseman, underwent surgery May 31, 2007, to have a bone removed from his right arm after being diagnosed with bone cancer in the spring of 2007.
He lost his pitching arm, but the voice he had nurtured in high school chorus and chamber choir made him a star when he was chosen by fans from among thousands of entrants to sing the song last Sept. 21.
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