UMFan83

Nothing to worry about guys. I expected the Cubs to lose this game and win the next 3 and so far my prediction is correct. Keep the faith, their lineup is garbage so as long as we can score runs we will win.

Are you kidding? Webb was on last night. We played right into his game plan. Other then his bouts of wildness, he got ahead of hitters with a sinker that looks hittable. He got ahead of hitters 0-1 and 0-2 so many times, and when you are in that position you are pretty much done for with Webb.

Off to Wrigleyville. Go Cubs! Remember, this is what we shed all those tears for in 2004, 2005 and 2006...to get BACK to the playoffs with a chance to make up for the demons of 2003. Remember all the crap we had to go through between 2003 and 2007. We had to live through the Dusty Baker era, the Neifi Perez era, the Cardinals championship, the White Sox championship. We went through a bunch of crap, and now its time to make up for it. ITS OUR TIME! (says Mark_R)

Or when we are losing 11-0 in the 3rd game after losing the first 2. Imagine how well Bartman would be received in Wrigley.

Oh lord, could you imagine Soto in CF with his speed? I'm pretty sure Floyd would do better. :lol: What are you talking about? Geovany has the speed of a cheetah and is as graceful as a deer. If he played it the OF, the Cubs could have two more infielders, as Soriano and Floyd would just be redundant out there.

I agree. I wonder if he still listens to the Cubs? I hope so. Didn't ESPN do a thing on him a few years ago where one of their reporters was able to talk to him after following him around for a couple of weeks? If I recall coreectly he talked about them beating the Red Sox 2 of 3 in 04 with them. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=bartman

IBL

Exactly

Actually, yes. I was part of ESPN's "Five Reasons You Can't Blame Bartman" special. I hated to see this kid get tarred and feathered. Alex Gonzalez ought to send Bartman Christmas cards every year. The thing I hate about the networks is their fascination with Bartman and the goat. Yep, I guarantee you that the goat and Bartman will be mentioned within the first 2 minutes of the pregame. And every 2 minutes after that. I wouldn't be surprised if TBS had a 2 minute ticker at the bottom of their screen so that when it got to 0 they would be obligated to mention Bartman and the Goat.

Looks like the Rockies are still hot.

It's not worth taking and buying at home, but its worth picking up for El rides as reading material because its free.

Instead of actually working, I decided to spend my day sitting in my cube and thinking nonstop about this game today. One thought kept creeping into my mind. How far have we come from 2006? I am not talking about ONLY in terms of wins and losses, but in overall feeling for the team. For me, the Cubs have had many down seasons in my lifetime, but 2006 was by far the rock bottom point. I was delusional at the time. My mind was programmed to think only about losing and failure. I literally thought that this team was 3-4 years away from even contending for a playoff spot. I was convinced that the Tribune company truly built each years' team to generate a lot of fan excitement but not to win. I assumed that Dusty Baker would re-signed (until September when it was clear it wouldn't happen), I was sure that Lou was another Dusty Baker. I thought that it didn't matter how many Soriano's we signed, we would fail to be an adequate offense. I imagined every Cubs pitcher we signed would go down with an injury. I was in a very pessimistic spiral. And then 2007 happened. I am probably known as extreme example. But I am sure all of you were pretty down in dumps about the state of our franchise. It's not like we blew the world away in 2007 with our 85 wins, but to me the thought of us in the playoffs in 2007 was inconceivable a year ago today. So before we begin our 2007 playoff run, lets appreciate how we got here and how things turned around in just one amazing year. Some 'memories' to ponder from 2006: -Ball bouncing off Ramirez's head for the goahead run -Neifi in general -Neifi bunting with 2 outs in the 9th, down by 2 with a runner on base -Two runs managing to score on one sacrifice fly (Fly ball to right field that Neifi screwed up on the relay) -Two runs managing to score on one wild pitch (thrown by Mark Prior) -All of Dempsters blown saves -AJ Eyechart's 3 run homer to beat the Cubs -The Cardinals winning the World Series -Eckstein winning the WS MVP

Bruce, what do you predict the final score to be with Webb on the mound?

Didn't Z almost throw a no-no in Arizona a few years ago? I seem to remember that. Anyone have his career stats there? I have nothing to back this up other than my sincerest hope, but I think he'll do fine tonight. But we will need 3-4 runs to get it done. Wasn't that in 2003? i know he almost threw a no hitter against colorado in 2004. It was this game...Against Schilling http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ARI/ARI200308220.shtml That was the game that the only hit he gave up in 8.2 innings was really an out, he possibly could have had the no-no he deserved if that call was made. I was at that game. Shea Hillenbrand should have been out and been the last out of the 8th inning. Z then got the last 3 batters out, preserving what should have been a no hitter.

Interesting, they are planning on having the Cubs win at the DBacks game by winning their 3 games by 1 run each and having the DBacks score more runs overall in the series with a blowout in game 2.

I posted this in the game thread I had a dream last night about watching the game. It was 2-1 Cubs in the 6th when, for some reason, I decided to start watching Forest Gump on USA Network. So I am watching for awhile when I realize that I forgot about the Cubs game! So I flip back over, and to my shock it is 33-27 Diamondbacks in the 8th, but the Cubs had the bases loaded and 0 outs. Gosh I hope my dream doesn't come true.

Honestly, this matchup scares me. Something tells me Z's like will be like 7IP 3 H 2 ER 8K 4 BB and Webb's line will be like 7 IP 2 H 0 ER 9 K 1 BB. But don't fret if we lose game 1 to a staff ace guys. There are multiple examples of teams getting shut down by a team's ace and then coming back to win the next 3 games. 2 games I can think of are Johan Santana dominating the Yankees in Game 1 (in New York no less) and the Yankees winning the next 3 (I think in 2003) and Jason Schmidt dominating the Marlins in 2003 and the Marlins coming back to win the next 3. So be worried, but don't freak out if the Cubs drop this one.

You should have looked closer. You actually had switched over to the Bears/Packers game, LOL. Umm, you really think the Bears offense can score 27? :shock: Agree with others, Theriot should be nowhere near the 2-spot. He just seems like someone Webb can dominate. A hitter that likes to hit ball high in the zone...ugh

What happened to Z's sinker that he used in 2003 and 2004? Was it even a sinker or just his normal split-finger? Did he drop it in order to become an all around better pitcher or to become more of a power pitcher? Zambrano in 2003: GB/FB ratio - 2.28 HR allowed - 9 IP - 214.0 Zambrano in 2007: GB/FB ratio - 1.37 HR allowed - 23 IP - 216.1

Anyone know of any drink specials in Wrigleyville tonight? The only one I've heard about is Redmonds is doing $10 buckets and $0.50 wings. I don't want to go to Redmonds. It is a Vikings/Badgers bar.

To think that yesterday, I left a bunch of work for today thinking 'the game is at 9pm, I'll be able to keep my mind off of it all day'

I had a dream last night about watching the game. It was 2-1 Cubs in the 6th when, for some reason, I decided to start watching Forest Gump on USA Network. So I am watching for awhile when I realize that I forgot about the Cubs game! So I flip back over, and to my shock it is 33-27 Diamondbacks in the 8th, but the Cubs had the bases loaded and 0 outs. Gosh I hope my dream doesn't come true.

So looks like Lee Ramirez Soriano Soto Theriot Jones Floyd DeRosa Ward Cedeno Fontenot Kendall Murton Pie Zambrano Lilly Hill Marquis Dempster Marmol Howry Wood Eyre Wuertz Hart? The last pitcher spot is the only one I'm unsure of, unless I am missing someone

Edit: If you want to keep this in the press conference thread, then move it there I guess Monroe, Blanco, Marshall, Ohman, Trachsel out Fontenot, Cedeno, Pie, Murton, Ward in Soto to catch game 1. Live on Comcast

Great, bulletin board material already