karenmac

it's about time! Atkins deserved to be up before Samarjida anyway. Big congrats to Mitch...now I've got to try and scheme about ways to get over to Des Moines sometime soon...

I would bet that they've put some seats aside, but would suggest calling the Chiefs at 680-4000 to double check. The last I had heard (Thursday, I think?!?), our lead sales guy, Joe, sent an email for season ticket holders on how to pick up tickets, and he said that 25,000 tickets have been sold so far. Glad to see it - we're looking forward to coming up to the city for a couple of days. Oh, and incidentally, for those that may be going to the game, Cubs Care is doing Wrigley tours at 3 different times that day. We're looking forward to the behind the scenes look :)

Done... although the first move is a curious one. Thanks Southpaw...since it was getting near the ASB, and I had a transaction to burn, and knew Fonzie wouldn't be his old self for a while...and Wright was hot-ish...3 HRs in the last couple of weeks.

I'm a Sprite Zero, followed by Diet Dr Pepper and Diet Coke. Don't usually keep Diet Coke in the house, though, as Mr Mac is a Diet Pepsi man.

brinoch and JimSorgi are awfully close too, but here's what The Logan vs karenmac looks like: The Logan: Howard, Pujols, Braun, Swisher / Uggla, ARam, DLee, Utley, Cust, Pence, Markakis, Bay, Hamilton karenmac: Howard, Soriano (dropped today for Wright), Braun, Swisher (dropped today for Uggla), ARam, AGonzalez, Zimmerman, Utley, Bay, Willingham, Jacobs, Ankiel According to my calcs, The Logan is at 191 and I'm at 185, so was able to gain a bit this week. As always, Southpaw's tally will be the correct one :)

OK, time to get serious. Drop Soriano Add David Wright Drop Swisher Add Uggla

glad to see Welli get the opportunity at the Futures game. I know that when he was in Peoria last year, the entire cub organization was super high on his potential, and they have definitely moved him accordingly. If all the other minor league teams are anything like Peoria last night (think I counted 9 radar guns at one point), the scouts are out in droves, so would guess that most of our prospects are getting lots of attention.

Jake arrived in Peoria late yesterday...he pitched a great couple of innings in extras for the Chiefs. We're glad to have him back - and it's great to see his stuff looking so good too!

I'm also looking forward to the Olympics. I grew up around the pool as a kid, so still really enjoy watching amazing swimmers. I'm kind of bummed to think about the fact that this is the last scheduled year for baseball in the summer games, though. To that point, however, I'm also wondering whom from our minor league system we might lose to go compete in Beijing. Maestri? Chen? Rhee? Not even sure which countries have qualified to field a team. I'm still a bigger fan of the summer games, but we're hoping to get to Vancouver in 2010 to see the winter games. My husband is a *huge* curling fan, so we'll be going for the hockey and the curling, mostly. Oh, and the people watching. Now we just have to figure out the "paying for it" part.

So, I can now confirm that the Cubs did, in fact, stay at the Westin Harbour Castle. Last Sunday night, it was pouring around dinner time, so we decided to just grab some food at the bar. In doing so, had a chance to see Pat Hughes, Scott Eyre, Reed Johnson, Matt Sinatro and Kosuke Fukudome. There were a few loud and obnoxious Cub fans hanging out with Eyre and it was funny because Kosuke saw that scene and ran for the elevators. Also saw Len and Ivan DeJesus in the elevators. We didn't bother the guys but it was certainly a great series to catch (and Toronto is fabulous). Still need to get my pics developed, but will post those in the Toronto thread that got posted elsewhere.

Looks like Jovan Rosa got a couple of hits for the West in the MWL All-Star game tonight. Not sure if Blake Parker is available or not as it doesn't look like he's gotten in yet. Here's the link to the box

thanks O_O. It figures - supposed to be sunny all day here for the first time in several days and they're predicting rain for tomorrow.

I'm excited about the thought of getting to see Sean pitch in Toronto. On the other hand, having to see Marquis, less so. We'll see.

would guess that Peoria's playing 2 at the Quad Cities today due to the non-existent drainage system up there - the half ends on Sunday, so it's either the double-header or a lost game.

Raisin, definitely not the best day for your boy. The balks seemed a little crazy and his control was really all over the place. Hopefully he's just getting his rhythm back. Just to give everyone an idea on his velocity - in the 3rd, I saw a fastball at 90, and a good breaking ball at 72. In the 5th, he was more in the range of 87-89 and still had the breaking stuff at 71-72. Great to see the Chiefs get a win despite the mediocre outing...Jonathan Wyatt came out of the gate in Peoria smoking hot, so hopefully he saved a few for future games too =P~

It's too soon to tell. This is Guyer's first month in pro ball, after being injured for quite a while. So it's not clear that his 65 AB sample is very representative. In his brief 65 AB, he's got 3 HR's and 8 XBH, with an IsoP well over .200. Small sample fluke, maybe, but if he could power like that while hitting .280 instead of .245, you could have a good guy. With only 11K/65 AB, that's pretty good in the early going. His BABIP is only around .250. If his other numbers sustain but his BABIP is around .300 or better (most decent minor-league hitters BABIP well over .300), then you'd be looking at a .280+ hitter with power, and we might like it. We'll have to wait and see. As a 5th round draftee with injury issues, the odds that he's going to be an exciting prospect aren't very high. But if he hits, and with some power, who knows? As someone who only mildly understands some of the minutae of the game, I will say that Brandon Guyer has been a great influence on the Chiefs pulling themselves out of the doldrums. It was about the time that Luis Bautista and Guyer arrived that they seemed to start improving. Guyer's been very patient at the plate, and plays good defensive outfield.

We've seen Beaven start versus the Chiefs twice so far, and both times, I thought he looked quite mortal. Not as surprising now, but the first time was back in early May, when the Chiefs still couldn't hit themselves out of a paper bag. Am glad to see Billy promoted...it was well deserved. On the other hand, he was really interesting to watch pitch, so will be sorry to miss future starts. Oh, and craig, never had a chance to observe the gun regarding where Billy's stuff was...guess you'll have to email Derek Ingram down in Daytona to get the scoop :)

Yes, that's his primary defensive problem. AZ Phil hypothesized that he was ok unless he had time and thought about the throw. If that's all it is, it's not a big deal imo. I would call this Dylan Johnston syndrome...he had the *exact* same problem at SS...the powers that be tried to fix it for 2 years, then gave up an moved him to the outfield.

Totally agree with Nate. Think that Donaldson's issue last night was the inconsistency of the umping. The called strike against him in the 4th was, as Mr Mac said, "ankle high" Tough call to be sure. Then, think that the pitch that our guy threw was much better and got called a ball. It's really tough to preach plate discipline when your guys get called out for sticking with the program. Also, not sure if this was the same crew that we've had problems with earlier this year, but yikes, that was bad. The fact that the ump had to have been about 5'5" to Sandberg's 6'2" was the best part. Sandberg was just towering over the guy like, "you little pipsqueak..." You would think that the umps would have a little more respect & professionalism than to use foul language though...Sandberg was *very* cool and collected and only went off after something the ump said.

thought Muldowney looked really good after a slow start in the 1st. He settled in and pitched his last 4 innings lights-out. It was a good thing to see the Chiefs come back and bat around in the bottom of the 1st to get back into it. No Hernandez sightings yet...with the off-day tomorrow perhaps he'll be in town for the series that starts on Wednesday.

if I remember right, VS has games 1-2, then NBC will have 3-4. Not sure how 5-7 will happen. My pick was Wings in 6...the hubby said Pens in 6 I'm feeling pretty good about now.

Will keep my eyes open for Hernandez at the park over the next couple of days. Didn't see him last night, but there was actually a crowd, so that doesn't mean anything. Also thought I'd mention, for those of you within driving distance of Peoria, that the Cub organist Gary Pressey will be at the game today. He was at a game last year too, and is AMAZING (and I'm not one who says that about organ music, OK?!?) Seriously, I'm going to buy the CD this year.

I know it's only been 2 games since they've been back in town, but the Chiefs really seem to look like an entirely different club than what we saw in Clinton a couple of weekends ago and the last homestand. Not sure what got said in all those back-and-forth trips to Quad Cities, but whatever it is worked. Not sure if it was just the roster changes or what, but the Chiefs have been a fun team to watch the last couple of nights. Yipee!

NC, we definitely need to meet up as you deserve a $9 beer for whipping my team in fantasy football this past season. My husband will be along, so if you've got your family, would love to get together. El Ridda - I'm an old woman (35) so what may be my cup of tea may not be yours. Here's a good article I found, though, and much of what they're suggesting I can confirm as good spots from the days when I went out. :wink: There is plenty to do - that website also lists bars out by neighborhood - here's a map of neighborhoods that will help...in general, those closest to Rogers Centre are the Entertainment District, the Financial District, and Harbourfront.

we'll be headed up - looking forward to it very much. I bought our tickets so long ago, I don't even remember exactly where we're sitting - I think 3rd baseline somewhere?!? Think I'll skip the Brass Rail though. The area around Rogers Centre is quite touristy, with CN Tower and Union Station and the like. Wayne Gretzky's restaurant is just a couple of blocks as well (food's only OK, but the hockey stuff is pretty cool). We're actually staying at the Westin on the lake (Harbourcastle)...but that may be a little more than you'd want to spend. It's a quick train over to Union Station then just a bit of a walk. The Westin is actually closer to Air Canada Centre and the Hockey Hall of Fame. For places to stay nearby, there is a Renaissance actually *attached* to Rogers Centre, but when the team is in town, those rooms can get pretty pricey. There's an InterContinental (part of the Holiday Inn chain) that's west of Union Station and right across the street from the CBC..quite close to Rogers as well. The big convention centre is right in that neck of the woods too. Again, haven't checked prices there either...but don't expect the prices to be much different than the Chicago loop over the summer. Here's a good google map of the hotels and proximity to Rogers Centre. We're flying in and taking a shuttle downtown, so don't expect to need a car, except for an evening where we're running out to Hamilton to visit my sister-in-law. Hope that helps - last time we were in Toronto was the (very inexpensive) summer of SARS, so will be interesting to see the city packed with tourists! Other questions about the city, let me know and I'll do my best to give my take!