Well, isn't this strange? It's early September and the Cubs and the White Sox will be playing each other today at Wrigley Field. Unfortunately, its not because the World Series had to be played early this year; the Cubs and White Sox had a rain-out the day this game was originally supposed to be played.
We've got Ryan Dempster for the Cubs facing off against Carlos Torres for the Sox. Let the game begin!
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Of course, I will be watching this game on the Cubs' feed, because Hawk Harrelson makes my ears bleed. It's unfortunate too, because he partners with Steve Stone, who has a great baseball mind and was a long time Cubs announcer, but unfortunately got fired because he was a bit to critical of Dusty Baker and Moises Alou. (Like he was the only one...).
1:22PM: Scott Podsednik hits a double into the ivy in right-center field. The outfield ivy has to be one of the greatest home field advantages in sports. When else do you see a ball disappear in the field of play?
1:24 Podsednik got caught in a pickle and tagged out, then Gordon Beckham got tagged out in a pickle, on the same play! Double pickle!
Should he stay or should he go? If he goes there will be trouble, and if he stays it might be double.
1:30: After Kosuke Fukudome grounds out to the shortstop, Ryan Theriot violates Rule 1A of bunting: he flies out to the pitcher. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 Chicago Cubs!
1:37: Can you imagine having tickets to this game in the middle of June? At the time, both teams were in first or second place in their divisions, and then the game gets rained out and rescheduled for early September. Now? The Cubs are 10.5 games out of first and the Sox are 7 games behind the Tigers. You probably are about as excited to go to this game as you would be getting a speeding ticket.
1:39: Chris Getz advances to second on a bad pick-off throw by Dempster, and then scores on an Alexei Ramirez single. 1-0 Sox.
1:45: As much guff as Milton Bradley has received this year for his offensive production, he still has a .395 OBP (on-base percentage), which is really quite good. It will be interesting to see if Bradley stays or goes next year.
1:57: The Cubs announcers let us know that when catcher Koyie Hill starts the game, the Cubs are 13 games over .500. Doesn't really say a lot about last year's Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto, does it?
2:09: Rounding in to the home stretch of the first hour of today's game, "uneventful" would be the word to best describe today's game. Never a good sign when the ball getting lost in the ivy on the first pitch is the game's highlight.
2:17: I love reverse jinxes... Aramis got hit in the arm with a Torres fastball. As an aside, I love baseball fights (who doesn't?) It's just a spectacle to see 50 guys sprinting towards each other, then hold each other back as two guys get maybe two swings in. Best baseball fight, off the top of my head: Ryan v. Ventura or the Yanks-Sawx brawl from a few years ago. I'd link to them, but I think the MLB took everything bad off of YouTube.
2:19: With runners on first and third, Alfonso Soriano continues his trek to become Baseball's Worst Contract with a strikeout. Still 1-0 Sox.
2:25: Reason #38,261 why I love interleague play: American League pitchers hitting. Torres strikes out while missing 3 consecutive attempts at a bunt.
Carlos Torres either looked like Walter Johnson on the mound or made the Cubs look like the Nationals. Your call.
2:34: So, in the interest of fairness (ok, maybe this has been a boring game and I need something to write about), I've switched to the White Sox feed. The plus side: I don't even have to write anything original, I can just type out what Hawk Harrellson says and that will be (unintentionally) funny enough. The downside: it's tough to type with my ears bleeding all over the place.
2:41: Dempster enacts revenge on Chris Getz by plunking him. Usually it is my understanding that if your best player (A. Ramirez) gets hit, then you hit one of the other team's best players. You know, like Konerko, Quentin, etc. I'm not sure if Getz quite makes that cut. Whatever, I'll take it. Anything that gets us closer to a baseball fight.
2:54: We're into the bottom of the 7th and we're just a shade above an hour and a half? This game is flying. I guess that's what happens when there are virtually no walks, hits, or errors for the last 5 innings.
2:59: With a runner on second and no outs, Soriano continues his journey to Baseball's Worst Contract with another strikeout. I think we should just start giving him the nickname "Lob" (Left-on-base).
3:00: Jeff Baker singles to right to advance Jake Fox (the runner on second), but Dewayne Wise guns out Fox at home to prevent him from scoring. 1-0 Sox, still.
3:07: Fly ball out to left field and Soriano falls down and goes boom. Error charged to Soriano, 2-0 Sox. I'm usually overly patient with players and I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. Soriano, though....yeesh. He is going to be a lead candidate for a lot of those 'Least Valuable Player' lists this season. Another single to left field makes it 3-0 Sox.
3:17: Angel Guman hits 101mph on the radar gun! The last Cub I can remember hitting that was Kyle Farnsworth. Let's all hope Guzman ends up in a better situation than Farsny.
3:28: Cubs go down 1-2-3 in the eighth. They have less offensive firepower than Switzerland! Hiyo!
3:40: The White Sox score another run as Jake Fox gets confused on a bunt whether to throw a runner out at home or get the guy out a first. To his defense, Baker didn't cover first either. Everyone is safe, and I'm debating whether or not I could make the Cubs major league squad next year as an infielder.
3:42: WGN just showed the 300th preview for the Vampire Diaries show on the CW. At what point do the CW executives get together and say "We have to get in the vampire business! We need a piece of that pie!"?
3:48: The Cubs head in to the bottom of the 9th down 5-0 after a couple of infield snafus. I'd have to believe that a lot of the Cubs players just want this year to get over with. Too bad there are still 30 games left.
3:53: Bottom of the 9th, 2 out, man on. Who comes up to bat? The LOB. The result? Strikeout, his third on the afternoon with men on base. Sox win 5-0!