From the book True Believers by Joe Queenan.

A friend tells a story about taking his ten-year-old son to a Jets game. The game was being played during a driving rain on a freezing cold day, and the Jets lost by twenty points to a team they were supposed to beat. As they headed toward the exits, the boy looked up, with tears in his eyes, and asked, "Dad, why are we Jets fans?"

Tags: baseball, cubs, depression

The good news is, both skippers are terrible rappers. I'm still trying to puzzle out a few of the lines (from both of them).

And with that, I'm off to the Friendly Confines to go watch the last game of the first round of Crosstown Classic.

Tags: cubs

And that's how we do it on the North Side!

(This year, at least...)

Tags: baseball, cubs

W7
.632
Best record in baseball.

Went to today's game with my father-in-law. It was VERY cold (our seats are in the shade) and there were two REALLY annoying women sitting next to him that chattered about who-knows-what throughout the entire game. But other than that, it was a good time. Not the most technical of games to witness, and not the most exciting, but there were moments to wake you up. No idea why Fukodome is suddenly impatient and hacking away like his name is Soriano, but let's hope it is a passing thing.

The month of June will be telling. I'm not talking about silly things like the "June Swoon", but rather: if the Cubs can pull it together through June, that should silence the naysayers. Most of June is on the road for them, and it's almost all interleague play. The wags on the ESPN message boards all seem to think that the only reason the Cubs are doing as well as they have been is that they are playing "too many games at home" and "against teams like the Pirates". And that "any team in the AL could beat the Cubs".

We'll see where we stand one month from now.

Tags: cubs

Yesterday was a good day.

I got up early to help Carrie get stuff ready for her cousin's baby shower. Also, I figured since I was up, I would log onto Cubs.com and sit in the "virtual waiting room" to try to score playoff tickets.

I was unsuccessful, but I didn't anticipate success anyway. There were only something like 15,000 tickets on sale for BOTH games combined. They sold out in about 30 minutes. Frankly, I was surprised it took that long.

Sunday afternoon, I left the house (as I was banished due to the shower), and I went to church. Well, to MY church - the Friendly Confines. I rode my bike down to Wrigley, checked it with the free bike valet, and ascended the ramp to my perch in 525. Pretty darn good seats - of course, there was a pole, but it didn't block anything much for me. My friend Doug was meeting me at the seats, and I got there about 20 minutes before game time. Doug was a few minutes late, which normally wouldn't be a big deal, but Zambrano racked up 3 strikes so quickly it meant he missed the entire top of the 1st.

It was a great game.

Beautiful weather (72 and sunny).
Some great hitting by the Cubs.
Pirates shut-out.
Almost got a foul ball (it landed on the walkway about 8 feet behind me...where I'd just been walking. If I'd taken five seconds longer in the bathroom, I'd have it)

And possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life...the entire park started doing the "Tomahawk Chop" when the scoreboard posted that the Braves had pulled ahead of Milwaukee:

Tags: baseball, cubs

I know that some of you aren't the biggest Piniella fans in the world, but still, this song is somewhat clever (not as good as the "Hey Deliliah" spoof though).

Under Sweet Lou Piniella

Tags: baseball, cubs

Perhaps I should stop going to Cubs games this year.

Their record is .200 when I am in attendance.

Tags: baseball, cubs

Stop sucking, pls!

kthx.

Tags: baseball, cubs

Dear Ronnie Cedeno,

In the future, when there are men on second and third, two outs, and Soriano is on deck, please do not swing at crappy 2-0 pitches.

Thank you,
Matt


Dear Ryan Theriot,

When there are two outs, and you are on second base with no other runners, if the ball is hit on the ground right to the third basemen, please do not run in his direction.

Thank you,
Matt


Dear Lou Pinella,

I'm sorry.

Matt

Tags: baseball, cubs

First of all, Cubs tickets go on sale in a little less than two hours. I'm trying to get some tickets for the Friday of the bachelor party, and for opening day. Here's hoping that I don't get jacked by the "virtual waiting room"!

Also, on the train this morning I started reading Innocent When You Dream - The Tom Waits Reader. So far I am LOVING it. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the Waits, especially dixiebelle.

Update - I was able to get four tickets for the April 20 game against St. Louis, which is for the bachelor party. Awesome. Here's where our seats are:


Update #2 - I was able to get in again and bought four seats for Memorial Day for Carrie's dad and his friends from out of town. I tried for the home opener, but they didn't have two tickets together available. Sad.

Update #3 - I got one more pair of tickets for a night game in June vs. the Rockies (for Carrie and myself). Here's where the seats are (row 11):


Update the Final - My boss was never able to get into the system, but I was able to get in and bought some tickets for him. I also got in again and got four bleacher tickets to a Thursday afternoon game in July vs. the Giants.

Tags: books, cubs, tom waits

First of all, those of you who care, Cubs tickets will go on sale Feb 23.

But here's the coolest thing, which I just read on Chicagoist:

Well, today the Sun-Times reports that Sting (read: THE MOTHERFUCKING POLICE) are in talks with the folks at Wrigley Field for a two-night stand there this summer. We just mussed our pants writing that last sentence.

Awesome.

Tags: baseball, cubs

Photo reveals double curse in '86

That's right: What Hintz spotted -- and what Uni Watch and countless other researchers had missed over the years -- was that Bill Buckner was wearing a Chicago Cubs batting glove under his first baseman's mitt. (And no, that's not a Photoshop job -- it's the real deal.)

The poor Red Sox. It's bad enough they were saddled with one curse; they didn't know they were actually fighting two of them. No wonder Buckner missed that ball. He never had a chance.

I'll be honest. I'm not that kind of Cubs fan who believes in curses, or at least, believes in blaming shoddy team performance on curses. But this makes me shake my head a little.

Tags: baseball, cubs, curse

...that I have NO friends on my IM list who are Cubs fans?

This is a HUGE night of Cubs baseball, and there's NOBODY on IM to talk to.

I hate all of my friends.

Tags: baseball, cubs, friends, instant messenger

Carrie is no longer allowed to go to Cubs games with me.

Today was our third game together. The Cubs got shelled.

Our second game together was an embarassing outing vs. the Astros in 2004 featuring Corey "I Got Drunk Last Night So I Can't Make Plays" Patterson.

And our first game together (actually, our first date) was Game 7 of the NLCS 2003. And we all know how that ended.

She's banned from Wrigley from now on.

The rest of the pictures from today can be seen here.

Tags: baseball, carrie, cubs

Man, last night was a good game. Our seats weren't the greatest (last row of the Terrace Reserved, so the upper deck blocks a LOT of fly balls and the whole scoreboard), but it was well worth it. Nail-biter of a game, and while the Cubs did win it on a long ball (a REALLY long ball...grand slam out onto Waveland), it was nice to see the Redbirds sent home with their tailfeathers between their legs.

Upcoming games for Mugsy:

Thursday, April 13, vs. Cincinatti


Saturday, April 29th, vs. Milwaukee