From here on in, the life of Chad Ocho Cinco is in full effect:

The Cincinnati Bengals announced Thursday that they have begun "the process of listing the former Chad Johnson as Chad Ocho Cinco for all club business, per the legal change of his surname effected in Florida.

 

I don't know about you guys, but this is beyond awesome. I wonder if he knows that Ocho Cinco isn't the proper way of saying Eighty-five in Spanish? Hopefully no one tells him that.

LONG LIVE CHAD JO...OCHO CINCO!!!

 

Shamelessly taken from Knox News:

"I'm feeling pretty good," Guzman, who had Tommy John (ligament replacement) surgery 11 months ago. "I was trying to get all my pitches together. I thought I had pretty good stuff keeping the ball down and throwing strikes."

Guzman was clocked at 95 mph(!!!!) and his first 13 pitches were fastballs.

...Guzman has done everything he can physically to be part of the Cubs' plans this season, not next.

"I worked really, really hard during the offseason," he said. "I think it is paying off. I came back and I feel way stronger than I used to be."

I'm not sure how likely it is that Guzman will make it Chicago, but I'm really gunning for him. I don't know the exact specifics, but Howry plainly needs to be let go as this point of the season. Having Guzman for the 7th, Marmol for the 8th, and Wood closing the game gets me excited in ways I wish my girlfriend knew how.

From the hot papers:

 John Gambadoro of Arizona radio station KTAR 620 reports that the Diamondbacks have acquired outfielder Adam Dunn for three prospects, including Dallas Buck.

I don't really care much about Dunn-- considering he's a horrid outfielder and is 2nd in strikeouts behind Howard-- but this move is pretty interesting for the Diamondbacks. It should definitely give them a boost in offensive production. And Dallas Buck seems to be a decent righty: 23 year-old with a 0.00 ERA in 5 IP in A+ ball.

EDIT: It's not confirmed yet, so this is still all speculation(Notice the ? in the title)

EDIT mania: ESPN confirmed it. Well hot damn. Goodbye, question mark.

EDIT bonanza: Dunn is 1st in HR and 5th in strikeouts. And has a measley .233 BA. Jeeze louize, I've never heard of a player having such a low batting average as Dunn's but yet has the most HR in a league before.

 

Taken from one of my favorite Cub-centric baseball sites, The Cub Reporter:

Starting for the AZL Cubs versus he AZL Angels at Fitch Park Field #3 this morning, Rich Hill worked five shutout innings (68 pitches, 47 strikes, 8/0 GO/FO), allowing three hits (all three singles) and a walk, with five strikeouts. He really had his roundhouse curve and efficient two-seamer working today, as he went to a three ball count on only two of the 17 Angels hitters he faced.

Coupled with his previous outing last Sunday when he worked four innings of one hit ball with six K, Hill has now gone 9 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB and 11 K over his last two outings since modifying his delivery under the auspices of Cubs Minor League Pitching Coordinator Mark Riggins and AZL Cubs Pitching Coach Rick Tronerud.      

Emphasis mine.

I know that it's not likely that Hill will make the post-season roster( God-willing, if the Cubs DO make the playoffs), and granted, it's in Arizona where he's pitching against 18 to 20 year-olds, but I am definitely looking more closely at Hill's progression from here on in. When I think about the variable performances from both Marquis and Lilly-- both being really hot and sometimes really cold -- the option of Hill being back in Chicago might not be the worst of ideas.

First heard it over ESPNEWS, but found an article about it as well:

Mindy’s affair with Roger Clemens allegedly began when she was only 15-years-old and he was pitching for the Red Sox at 28. Clemens was married and had two children at the time. Clemens acknowledges the relationship, but, through his lawyer, denies it was ever of a sexual nature.

It bugs me that Clemens is now having rumors that he was with a minor, but doesn't bug me that much that he was having an affair. Honestly, how many other MLB players are cheating on their wives? I don't know, obviously, but I'm guessing it's not that small of a number. What concerns me the most, however, is that he goes through his lawyer to deny messing around with a 15 year old. Wouldn't you flat out deny that by yourself? Someone want to offer some insight on that?

Another OT: does anyone else have a little difficulty quoting when you're trying to FanPost? Man that's annoying.

 

 

From this article:

''I was open to anything,'' said Santana, whose trade to the Mets in a 4-for-1 deal in February boosted them past the Cubs as the popular favorite to win the NL pennant. ''My mind-set was if they're going to trade me, that they trade me to a team willing to do whatever it takes to win it all. It looks like they're trying to win here (in Chicago). That's what I was looking for.''

Now excuse me while I go give Jim Hendry a swift kick to the throat.

Really though, even if it is upsetting to hear this now, it still probably wouldn't have happened. I don't think the Cubs have that much of quality minor leaguers to trade for Santana (which is what the Mets did); regardless, it would have been pretty cool to see him donning the blue pinstripes.

Which leads me to another question: should the Cubs get another starting pitcher? There have been rumblings about the Rays and the Cubs talking about Murton for a potential trade, in which I say: "Awesome." Lets say that they would potentially trade for Kazmir, what would be needed to get someone like him? Murton, Marshall with a sprinkle of Patterson? I'd do that. But then again, I have no idea how highly the Rays value Kazmir(which I'm guessing is a good amount).

 

... Santana, really? (sigh)

Well, this was unfortunately my last day seeing the Cubs cross into the District of Columbia, after a much-entertaining 4-game series, as they came to play the Nationals. Just a little disclaimer, so hopefully none of the other faithful posters take it as an insult: I like to joke. It's baseball! Have fun with it. Here were some quick thoughts about the series finale:

Daryle Ward can eat me in one bite. And Dmitri Young would just need to inhale me, with no proper swallowing or gulps. I'm really not kidding.

Honestly though, he had some laser shots that went deep, and obviously had some crucial hits. I'm warming up to him, honestly, as much as I am with DeRosa(and I thought those two signings were horrible in the offseason. I'm a little dense). It was a little funny to see Fontenot scoop up a ground ball, and wait a half-second for Ward to wobble onto first.

Koyie Hill seems to know how to calm his pitchers down. Who knows what he said to Marshall when he was in a couple jams, but it seemed to have worked for the most part.

Cesar Izturis started today, which seemed to have been the theme today for Piniella's scheme to get all the LH batters to start. I'm not sure he made much of an impact, though. He didn't have any good defensive stops to my recollection, nor did he do that well at the plate(went 0-4, and the total pitch count for each was 6,3,2, and 4). But I'm also not so sure whether or not Theriot would have been all that better. I do know, however, that I'm glad that Piniella seems to be trying to catch the other pitchers off-guard by switching it up a bit, with the plentiful left-handed batters today.

Ramirez seemed to be inside Jason Bergmann's head all day today, especially in the fourth. Correct me if I'm wrong(for those who were there also), but I remember Ramirez consistently fouling off pitches from Bergmann, and without a blink's notice, was already into his batting stance, staring down Bergmann from the plate. Schneider tried to talk him down by going to the pitchers' mound... didn't seem to work.

Cliff Floyd honestly seems to be a sucker for drama. He dived for a ball today and missed it, and got up pretty slowly. Dude, if you're hurt, get up and walk it off. If it hurts to get up, then just stay down. Do you really need to wince in pain for the oohs and aahs of the crowd, and then look seemingly alright for the rest of the game? Come on, Cornelius.

What I didn't really like about Piniella's starting lineup today, however, was Jacque Jones playing in CF, and not Pie. He doesn't have the better arm, he isn't as fast as him, so why not place Pie in the starting lineup? He can't be that much worse on offense than Jones. Anyone understand this move?

Marmol was throwing heat right when he got on the mound. I look up, and see his total pitch count is 9 strikes, and 1 ball total. I say to the others "Man, who needs another pitcher when we have Marmol lighting it up like this." Then he fills up the bases. My bad.

The seats started to get empty by the end of the 8th. It was me, 3 other Cubs fans, and a Nats fan/college roomate, Alex, who were together. Once they start leaving, a firefighter bell starts ringing in the ballpark. I give off a little chuckle, and Alex says, with a sigh: "I guess they really think there's a fire in the park." HIYO!

Go Cubs, and from here on in(especially the series they start Friday) Go Nationals!!

Well, to make this short and quick without any background info, I'm in D.C. for the summer and got the lucky chance to see the Cubs play at RFK. Couple notes that I thought were worth mentioning:

RFK stadium is horrendous. Honestly, it's like a hole with walls. I have no idea how a baseball team can actually play there.

There were more Cubs fans than Nats fans, which I thought was surprising. I know in San Diego, where I lived for ~11 years, had a plethora of Northsiders. But damn, there were alot today, especially when Nats fans started to leave in the dozens after the seventh inning and most Cubs stayed glued to their seats.

Ted Lilly was great tonight. He got in a little bit of trouble in the 1st(5th and 6th), with Bowen having to come and talk to him on the mound, but for the most part he was great. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come!

Mark DeRosa is a beast. I have to agree with Al that he's becoming a great asset to the Cubs, and also had a very slick play at 2nd.

Mike Fontenot didn't start, which blackened my heart. Can anyone add some insight to this?

Billy Petrick was equally amazing. He was topping off at 94 MPH from RFKs' measure, and he was throwing some nasty stuff. Hopefully he keeps this up.

The Metro station were giving Cubs chants like no other. Oh, how nice it is to see Nationals fans be so mad and quiet at the same time.

I started chanting "Cubs win! Cubs win!" after the 5-4-3 to end the game. A Nats fan then muttered

"When was the last time the Cubs won the WS,"

to which I replied

"Oh, when was the last time the Nationals won the World Series, buddy?"

--silence, blank stare--

"Exactly."

Point.Set.Match.

Onward to tomorrow!

I don't post here as often as my daily visits to this site(mostly in part of the NBA playoffs looming ahead, with the Bulls rocking house), but I can't help but notice the comments in the Game Threads for this 2007 season of baseball. And how ridiculous some of those comments has been.

I'm not one to put harsh criticism on the value of some comments, while looking at mine in retrospect, but there comes a point where constructive criticism to our beloved Cubs is one thing, and plain out saying phrases like "THIS TEAM IS HORRIBLE, 2006 ALL OVER AGAIN WHY AM I HERE CUBS SUCK!!1!" is another. And it seems to happen more and more from being 10 games into this season.

So, if I may offer my two cents, here goes: calm down. It's 10 games, stuff happens. Jones is gonna be craptastic from time to time, and Howry is gonna suck also. People start off slow(Soriano), but then again, they might reverse their patterns and start off hot(Ramirez). And hey, I'm pretty sure everyone likes to hear what could be done to make it better, or what happened that issued the L. But saying that they're worthless, sucky, crappy, and all the other vulgar words of the English language makes us Cubs fans look like freakin' idiots. Something I know we're not.

But that's only how I've been feeling. Maybe it's only been me, and I should go back into my semi-lurkingness of this site. Maybe I'm still mad that Briggs is still acting like a retard. I dunno.

All in all, it doesn't matter where the Cubs are in April, but where the Cubs are in September.

but most importantly..

LETS GO CUBS!

well, I for one didn't see this whopper of a headline coming to us anytime soon:

The Chicago Bears team? The coaches, players, city and fans? Yeah, I could stay there forever. I love it. But the Chicago Bears organization? I don't want to be there anymore. I won't play for them and I'll do everything in my power to keep from playing there.
here's the link

obviously, this isn't good. briggs is asking for the biggest contract that any weak-side lb has ever received, and now after we franchised him, he suddenly wants it to be rescinded or traded.

This sucks.