Welcome to the 2011 season
Well folks, the Cubs blog is back. I apologize for the absence of posts last season. I was so busy with getting married and finishing up my senior year of college that I didn't really have time to follow the games in-depth as has been my habit. However, I am hoping to get back into the loop this season and will make an effort to keep up with this blog again.
Starting off, my impressions of the team so far. It has a very different look from last season. Lou Piniella, "sweet Lou", has retired as manager after three-and-a-half successful seasons. Mike Quade is the new manager. Mixed feelings about this. Mike Quade certainly deserves the spot after filling in so successfully the latter half of last season, and also at sundry other times when needed. But I had been hoping Ryne Sandburg would get the position, and so had a lot of other fans. Sandburg has left the Cubs organization... probably for this reason. It does seem a little insulting to keep him at the minor league levels, and have him manage the Iowa Cubs, and do so well, and be so tied to the Cubs organization, only to disappoint him in this way. But, that is how things stand.
Another big change is the Cubs have lost their gold-glove first baseman Derrek Lee; he was traded to the Atlanta Braves last season. As you may guess, I am very disappointed with this decision-- as I have been by many of Jim Hendry's decisions in the last two or three years. There are a lot of reasons. He had been my favorite Cubs player for a number of reasons. He was a steady, dependable player who could generally give a low .300 or high .200 batting average every season. He worked through his slumps with poise and they usually didn't last long. His defense at first base was incredible. Balls that would have gotten by most other first basemen never got by him. And he was a team leader, both by precept and example. He was the one who would step in when there was friction between players. He was the one whom the other players looked up to. He had an even temper, he was always kind and courteous. Now that he's gone I feel like the Cubs don't have the same team structure as before, because of D. Lee's quiet leadership.
So various players are being tried out at first base with marginal success. Alfonso Soriano still patrols left field.... of course.... and will do so for the next few years, due to the no-trade clause in his contract. I am pretty happy with the pitching, and I am also very happy that Ryan Dempster has been chosen as the opening day starter over Carlos Zambrano. I felt he should have been chosen last year, but Piniella went with Zambrano, even though his numbers weren't as good as Dempster's the season before and it was really Dempster who held the pitching staff together while Zambrano worked on controlling his temper. Dempster is currently the ace of this pitching staff, and I feel he deserves the opening day start. So good for him!
And of course, one of the biggest changes for me, is that the Cubs beloved radio announcer, Ron Santo, died. He was seventy, and his death was rather sudden. I felt this loss keenly. I have listened to him on the radio with his partner Pat Hues the past few years and loved it. Pat Hues is good at giving the play-by-play details, but Santo was just a good, loyal Cubs fan like myself. He would get so excited when the Cubs would win, so frustrated when they made mistakes. It was so good to hear him. He will be deeply missed.
And so there are many changes heading into this season, some perhaps good, some I think not so good. There are several rookies who made promising starts last season-- Starlin Casrto, Tyler Colvin, and Darwin Barney among them-- and the absence of Lee gives them more of a chance to show what they can do. It will be interesting to see them make more starts and really develop their skills at the major league level this season.
However the Cubs have made 14 errors so far in 4 games, and yesterday's starting pitcher, Carlos Silva, and Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez had a little skirmish in the dugout after a miserable first inning in which Silva gave up two homers and Ramirez made an error--one of three committed in the inning. Ramirez has never been involved in a skirmish before in my recollection, he is another very even-keeled guy, so this surprised me very much and doesn't give me a good feeling for the future. I think Ramirez is not happy about some of the changes... probably chief among them being the absence of D. Lee at first base. He and Ramirez seemed very comfortable with each other and made a really good corner platoon. Ramirez himself is a great first baseman and we're lucky to have him.
Today there was a team-meeting before the game this afternoon, perhaps that'll help iron out some issues. Fourteen errors is just not acceptable. But it is only day 5 of spring training and this "new" team is still getting used to each other. So I am not without hope that come opening day in April, things will be looking much better. I don't think this is a playoff team... but we should win some games, have some fun, learn some things, and hopefully do better next year. We'll see.
And after all, I might be surprised. That is one thing I've learned about the Cubs... no matter if you think you have them figured out, they are always surprising you.
Keep a good thought... and go Cubs!
Starting off, my impressions of the team so far. It has a very different look from last season. Lou Piniella, "sweet Lou", has retired as manager after three-and-a-half successful seasons. Mike Quade is the new manager. Mixed feelings about this. Mike Quade certainly deserves the spot after filling in so successfully the latter half of last season, and also at sundry other times when needed. But I had been hoping Ryne Sandburg would get the position, and so had a lot of other fans. Sandburg has left the Cubs organization... probably for this reason. It does seem a little insulting to keep him at the minor league levels, and have him manage the Iowa Cubs, and do so well, and be so tied to the Cubs organization, only to disappoint him in this way. But, that is how things stand.
Another big change is the Cubs have lost their gold-glove first baseman Derrek Lee; he was traded to the Atlanta Braves last season. As you may guess, I am very disappointed with this decision-- as I have been by many of Jim Hendry's decisions in the last two or three years. There are a lot of reasons. He had been my favorite Cubs player for a number of reasons. He was a steady, dependable player who could generally give a low .300 or high .200 batting average every season. He worked through his slumps with poise and they usually didn't last long. His defense at first base was incredible. Balls that would have gotten by most other first basemen never got by him. And he was a team leader, both by precept and example. He was the one who would step in when there was friction between players. He was the one whom the other players looked up to. He had an even temper, he was always kind and courteous. Now that he's gone I feel like the Cubs don't have the same team structure as before, because of D. Lee's quiet leadership.
So various players are being tried out at first base with marginal success. Alfonso Soriano still patrols left field.... of course.... and will do so for the next few years, due to the no-trade clause in his contract. I am pretty happy with the pitching, and I am also very happy that Ryan Dempster has been chosen as the opening day starter over Carlos Zambrano. I felt he should have been chosen last year, but Piniella went with Zambrano, even though his numbers weren't as good as Dempster's the season before and it was really Dempster who held the pitching staff together while Zambrano worked on controlling his temper. Dempster is currently the ace of this pitching staff, and I feel he deserves the opening day start. So good for him!
And of course, one of the biggest changes for me, is that the Cubs beloved radio announcer, Ron Santo, died. He was seventy, and his death was rather sudden. I felt this loss keenly. I have listened to him on the radio with his partner Pat Hues the past few years and loved it. Pat Hues is good at giving the play-by-play details, but Santo was just a good, loyal Cubs fan like myself. He would get so excited when the Cubs would win, so frustrated when they made mistakes. It was so good to hear him. He will be deeply missed.
And so there are many changes heading into this season, some perhaps good, some I think not so good. There are several rookies who made promising starts last season-- Starlin Casrto, Tyler Colvin, and Darwin Barney among them-- and the absence of Lee gives them more of a chance to show what they can do. It will be interesting to see them make more starts and really develop their skills at the major league level this season.
However the Cubs have made 14 errors so far in 4 games, and yesterday's starting pitcher, Carlos Silva, and Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez had a little skirmish in the dugout after a miserable first inning in which Silva gave up two homers and Ramirez made an error--one of three committed in the inning. Ramirez has never been involved in a skirmish before in my recollection, he is another very even-keeled guy, so this surprised me very much and doesn't give me a good feeling for the future. I think Ramirez is not happy about some of the changes... probably chief among them being the absence of D. Lee at first base. He and Ramirez seemed very comfortable with each other and made a really good corner platoon. Ramirez himself is a great first baseman and we're lucky to have him.
Today there was a team-meeting before the game this afternoon, perhaps that'll help iron out some issues. Fourteen errors is just not acceptable. But it is only day 5 of spring training and this "new" team is still getting used to each other. So I am not without hope that come opening day in April, things will be looking much better. I don't think this is a playoff team... but we should win some games, have some fun, learn some things, and hopefully do better next year. We'll see.
And after all, I might be surprised. That is one thing I've learned about the Cubs... no matter if you think you have them figured out, they are always surprising you.
Keep a good thought... and go Cubs!