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Rizzo strikes out looking with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 4th. Vitters popped out to end the inning.

Iowa up 2-0 after 1, thanks to a Rizzo 2-run double down the LF line. Vitters with a somewhat deep FB to RF moved Rizzo to 3rd, Jackson grounded out to 1B.

I love that look with Jeffery on the outside and Marshall in the slot next to him. That can be a deadly alignment for the Bears. I think Marshall can get so much attention from the LBs, safeties, and CB over him that he can free up Jeffery on the outside, or if they are in 3-wide, a WR on the opposite side of the field is going to have man coverage, with very little safety help if the Bears are facing a single high. That's the type of coverage Hester can actually exploit.

2nd time in 10 days they've done that.

Uh oh, HR and triple from Brett Jackson. HR to dead CF over the 400ft mark. Triple to left center. I noticed he's also been pulling every ball he has managed to put in play recently also.

Rodrigo Lopez got hurt during warmups. Jay Jackson had to take over.

But did Favre? Favre was a redneck who had never seen media in his life. Wasn't as highly drafted as Cutler, was traded from Atlanta when nobody really knew who he was. I guess I don't see what Cutler has ever done to not be media friendly. He answers questions when asked, maybe not the way people want him to. He isn't downright rude to the media. He doesn't come off as cocky when he speaks.

F that. It's still funny. Middle school kids are A-holes and most deserve to be choked.

Nobody DID like Cutler. But I've heard a lot of the talking heads taking heed that the Bears were legitimate contenders when Cutler got hurt. They had just beaten Philly who was hot. They destroyed the Lions who were media darlings at that point. They beat the Chargers. Dilfer has come out this year (after being very negative last year) saying Cutler can take this team to a Superbowl this year. When Cutler singlehandedly kept the Bears in the MNF game in Detroit with no OL and WRs dropping passes, people started to take heed. As bad as the Bears went downhill last year after he got hurt, while still maintaining a decent enough running game with Barber and Bell, people started to realize how really good Cutler was. Some have a begrudging respect for his ability, but they all hate him, and the next bad game he has they will pounce. They will all rank him below all other similar QBs. Ok, I can agree with that. It's really odd that Cutler is hated as much as he is. He's probably a douchebag, but no more so than Favre, Marino, and plenty of other great players. You'd think that he'd be a media favorite. He's a good looking dude with a golden arm. Engaged to a hot reality star. Has a decent enough background (Santa Claus, IN). He was easily the best arm in Denver since Elway, who was/is adored there. Even his perceived whining about McDaniels has been turned in his favor as McDaniels has proven to be a complete clown and a joke of a coach. I don't think Jay would be completely UNwilling to do a reality show with his soon-to-be wife and kid. But I don't see any interest because he isn't well liked.

Nobody DID like Cutler. But I've heard a lot of the talking heads taking heed that the Bears were legitimate contenders when Cutler got hurt. They had just beaten Philly who was hot. They destroyed the Lions who were media darlings at that point. They beat the Chargers. Dilfer has come out this year (after being very negative last year) saying Cutler can take this team to a Superbowl this year. When Cutler singlehandedly kept the Bears in the MNF game in Detroit with no OL and WRs dropping passes, people started to take heed. As bad as the Bears went downhill last year after he got hurt, while still maintaining a decent enough running game with Barber and Bell, people started to realize how really good Cutler was.

No, I think C is the easiest to replace. That's not to say that's it's easy to get an elite player at that position, but it is easiest to get a serviceable player. Seriously, all they do is snap the ball and double-team block most of the time. They don't have to make line calls, though most do.

Like I said before, this team's age is severely overrated. And this statement is completely untrue: The only starters over 30 are Peppers, Urlacher, Briggs, Tillman, Idonije and Garza. 6 out of 22 isn't that bad. I wouldn't say the starting QB, WRs, TE, 3/5 of the projected starting OL (4/6 if you throw in the loser of Williams/Webb at LT), DTs, SLB, or S are closer to the end of their careers than the beginning. And I didn't even throw in 26 year old Forte because RBs have a short shelf life, but clearly an argument can be made that he should be included. Idonije has pretty much already been replaced for the future (McClellin). Garza plays the easiest position to replace on a starting NFL roster. Sure the Big 4 stars on D will be tough to replace. But the Ravens are in the same boat and I bet the same thing isn't said about them. Lewis and Reed are both closer to retirement than the 4 Bears stars. Suggs will be 30 by the time he sees a football field again. Their LT is old, best WR over 30.

He also didn't swing and miss at a single pitch.

Can you buy those practice jerseys? I don't know why, but I dig them.

Torreyes' numbers are insane. For a dude that hasn't hit all season, he's gotten even worse with a 2 for 49 month of May. That's good for a whopping .135 OPS. But he has only struck out 1 time this entire month after 7 Ks in April where he hit .230.

Rebel Ridling seems to have remembered that he's a giant human being and hit his 4th HR since Sunday. Junior Lake scored ahead of the 2-run shot after hitting a hard single to the opposite field.

Can't wait for both.

The Castro/Cano comp isn't bad. Early part of Cano's career was pretty similar to Castro's currently. Cano had considerably more power, but Castro more speed. I would say Castro's prime would be about Cano's 2007 season (which is almost identical to how Cano has started this season). .305-.320 avg/.350-.365 OBP/.470-.485 SLG. low-mid 800s OPS.

IMO this is a poor argument as well. They're not working with a community board or any kind of consensus...They picked from their board, and neither Drabek or Jeffress has really done anything worth talking about either. Both had character issues coming out, and both have had character problems in the big leagues. And that's why when there is anything close to a consensus (experts/scouts overall rankings) and someone deviates from that "consensus" drastically, it is considered a reach. Sure every team has their personal preferences and reasons for picking who they pick, but when the majority says one thing and you go against that, there will be backlash. That's how it works. Hate to make another football comparison but Seattle drafted Bruce Irvin way earlier than many experts thought he would/should go. If he turns out to be a bust, people are going to say, "they shouldn't have reached for him". That's regardless of if every other DE drafted in the 1st round is a bust or not. It's better to be wrong with a bunch of people than it is to go out on a limb by yourself and be wrong. Colvin was a limb.

I guess my point is that Wilken missed on Colvin just like a lot of baseball decision makers miss in the draft. People want to define it as a miss on a reach, but to me people only call it a reach based on where a handful of media members that specialize in the MLB draft projected him to go, which I personally think is silly. If people generally thought Colvin should have been drafted at around 20 instead of around 30, I don't think we'd be hearing much about it. There really isn't that much of a difference between a player picked at 20 and 30 in most drafts in terms of success. How else are we supposed to judge it? And he was not ranked 20, he was ranked 30 and picked 13th. And yes it may have been the case that if the Cubs drafted Drabek or Jeffress they also would have amounted to as much as Colvin. But at least they weren't reaches. And the Cubs had a much better track record of developing pitching back then.

Jackson put the ball in play again, grounding out to 2B. Hopefully something is clicking. He missed the first 4 pitches he swung at today (not including missing on a bunt attempt), but now has made contact with the last 2 he has swung at. Hey, I'm grasping at this point!

There's a whole bunch of ridiculousness here. First off, who cares if Colvin may have been gone 30 picks later, that is not reason to justify a reach of a pick like that. He had no business being picked by the Cubs where he was picked. It's not justy hindsight that views Wilken's horrible track record, it was at the moment "my god what are the Cubs doing" opinions by many. He didn't get the job done. There's no reason to make a bunch of excuses, he had a long time to do and didn't do nearly enough, much like his boss. The thing is... what player that was drafted in the first round after Colvin would you have rather Wilken drafted? Drabek looks like he may have things figured out and Kennedy had a good year last year but is off to a rough start this year. There is absolutely no success outside of those two. There were a whole lot of misses in the first round of the '06 draft. There often is, but the '06 draft was especially dreadful. Also, after last year's draft, it sounds like Wilken and RIcketts were insinuating that there were major financial restrictions put on the draft pre-Ricketts ownership. It's a shame that over slots won't be a major component in drafting going forward, because it seems like Wilken is quite productive with some money to spend. That's not really a good argument either. The fact that Wilken wasn't the only guy that missed in that draft isn't a good argument? Everyone wants to complain that he reached for Colvin, but the guys that he should have picked like Travis Snider, Matt Antonelli, and Hank Conger were also misses too. Everybody makes a big deal about where draft gurus say a certain player should go and take it as gospel. The fact is, this isn't the NFL draft where the talking heads are able to at least see hours of game footage on these players to make their judgements. Making a big deal about who is and isn't a reach just seems like you're placing a whole lot of faith in guys that, don't have a whole heck of a lot to go on despite the fact that they may know more than you and me. No, it's not a good argument. The Raiders missed on Jamarcus Russell, but several other teams had bad 1st round picks that year too. But clearly the Raiders' failure is more monumental than other teams that didn't pick a failed QB #1 overall. Granted, the NFL and MLB are 2 completely different animals. But my point is that all failures aren't created equally. If you reach for a player and he fails, it's a lot worse than getting what most consider to be the best player available and having him fail. That's why nobody is reaming the Cubs for Mark Prior being out of the majors the last few years. If your argument is Colvin wasn't a reach, well that's a different story that most do not agree with.

Feel bad for Knox. Doesn't play in his contract year. Nobody is going to give him much of a shot next year to be anything more than a 5th or 6th WR. And with the nature of his injury, I don't know that his kick return ability even matters enough to boost his value anymore.

Sappelt with a nice current little 6-game stretch. 7-23, with a couple doubles and walks. .304/.360/.391. He continues to put the ball in play pretty well, now needs some luck and to get that little power stroke he showed early in the year back.

BRETT PUT THE BALL IN PLAY!!! Singled in the 6th. That was 2 batters after a RIZZO BOMB!