Less than 50 games after a season in which the Chicago Cubs were top 5 in the Majors in Batting Average, On Base Percentage, Hits and Walks it was deemed necessary to fire hitting coach Gerald Perry. Seems like an unlikely scapegoat for a line-up which contains the names Miles, Fontenot and Blanco, not to mention a lead-off hitter carrying a .222 average and even more miserable .291 OBP. Only Jimmy Rollins entered today's games with a lower OBP in the lead-off spot, but at least he steals bases and doesn't consistently swing at the first pitch and balls out of the zone. Oh yeah, and Rollins comes at a price of 60 cents on the dollar compared to Soriano.
Just one day after the firing of Perry, the Chicago Cubs took ZERO walks and made the opposing White Sox throw only 122 pitches to seal a victory on the North Side. The Chicago White Sox are not supposed to know how to win without their DH, but were able to beat the Cubs at their own style of game by much more than the 4-1 score would suggest.
Seven White Sox took walks, and although only 2 ended up crossing the plate, the Sox patience put pressure on Ryan Dempster and the Cubs defense all day long. Three of these walks came with no outs in the 7th or 8th inning either leading off the inning or advancing a runner to scoring position, both allowing the White Sox to get runners in scoring position with nobody out and, unlike the Cubs, execute. A well placed suicide squeeze may have taken the last of the life out of the Cubs as the lead-off walk crossed the plate with no one on the field prepared for it.
This certainly makes one wonder, why not? Especially after the White Sox manager, who made a living scoring on the suicide squeeze, stated to the press he needed to play small ball to win. And even more especially with Scott Podsednik at the plate? And even more especially, coming just one play after a botched wheel play on an infield grounder to Angel Guzman who opted to throw to second base rather than force the lead runner at third.
So before the next pitch, why was Geovany Soto not infront of the plate before his infielders of a possible trick play? Why wasn't he at the mound calming his pitcher and telling him they may try a squeeze? And why when his player did not realize the situation was Lou Piniella not calling for a pitch out, or at least setting his defense with the corners in? It just signifies the whole mentality of the Chicago Cubs right now. Not knowing their steroids from their reefers...
The White Sox came into this game more prepared and with a greater desire to win, and it showed on every play. They ran the bases well and played great defense, with Brian Anderson making two catches that saved potential runs. One was a Derek Lee bloop with no outs and runners on the corners. If the ball drops, a run scores and there is first and second with no outs. If Anderson slides to make the catch, he still makes the out, but a run scores. Anderson kept his feet keeping Theriot harmlessly at third as Soto failed to even make contact with a runner at third and less than 2 outs. Anderson also made a stellar leaping catch underneath the basket on a nearly missed home run by Jake Fox.
The Fox flyout hopefully shows the Cubs coaching staff he deserves more at bats coming off a low and away pitch off the very end of the bat which flew 399 feet against the wind. Now that is power. Fox, though in limited plate appearances, is also the only Cub with an OBP over .400. Fox did make a 9th inning appearance in Left Field and recorded 2 outs, 1 on a difficult running grab. With the Cubs needing offense, why not replace the bat of Aaron Miles with Jake Fox? And no, Jake Fox doesn't need to play 2nd base because the Cubs have a second basemen on their roster with 150+ career home runs at the position.
Perhaps the move back to the infield could help save the legs of Soriano as he went to the disabled list for the first time as a pro last year with a leg injury and has been battling knee problems most of this season. Soriano's stolen base numbers have also all but disappeared since he moved to the outfield. Moving him away from an inplay bullpen mound and a brick wall 81 games a year probably wouldn't hurt the longevity of a man who is signed until the age of 39 at superstar pay levels.
The only bright spot for the Cubs today was Ryan Dempster who had far from his best stuff today but still gave his team a quality start and a chance to win the ball game. Dempster, who threw more balls than strikes really only had one mistake, a first inning home run to Alexei Ramirez. Even the Getz triple was on poor contact and even a broken bat. Twice Dempster got in trouble and wiggle his way out with double play balls, and ended another jam with a strike-him-out-throw-him-out.
Hopefully Big Z can shut the door on the Southsiders tomorrow after his scheduled start yesterday was rained out. No make-up date has been announced, but here is one true Chicago sportsfan's idea. Find a day when the Cubs and Sox both have home day games. After the day game, the White Sox board the front car of a red line train, with their fans in every car behind them and ride on up to Wrigley Field with the Cubs and their fans already in places. Could baseball get any more exciting than that? How bout if it was a World Series game? This Cub fan can only hope, as he has done for 25 years, but maybe its just easier to wait til next year.
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