vance_the_cubs_fan

Bruce, You're enjoying this aren't you?

I voted yes.

Low 90s FB, good curve, change and he has a slider though I believe Sean has scrapped that for now. The curve was good in the start I saw him, but he struggled with his control with it. I don't recall seeing a slider. His fastball worked in the 91-93 range, touching 94 a couple of times. If he's coming out of the pen, he might be able to dial it up a tick or two.

Woah Eyre DFA Nope Howry traded?

Howry involved in a trade maybe? Guzman traded to the Braves for Salty?

According to Inside the Ivy, Samardzija is being moved to the bullpen. Link.

Moving Dopirak off of the 40-man seems the logical move to get him on the 40-man. Trying to figure out who he's replacing on the major league roster is the biggest hurdle.

I'm curious to know where to go if you don't mind sharing Not at all. It's on the side of the stadium across the street from the bullpen restaurant. It's one entrance to the south of the employee entrance. They'll be a small barricade there. If it's a 7:00 PM game, the players will start arriving in cabs around 2. Some, though not many, will exit that same spot after the game.

It would be fairly easy to remove Dopirak from the 40-man. I really doubt anyone would claim him and it wouldn't be much of a loss if someone did. Congrats to Sean! This is awesome!

Congrats! Tell Sean we all wish him the very, very best!

Nothing really to do around the park, but it's a fairly nice place to watch a game. If you're into getting autographs, I can tell you where to go. If not, don't worry about it.

I'm going to set the Tivo for this.

Why am I worried that we'll pick up Finley....

One final installment from the game notes...

And even more from the game notes...

More from the game notes.... This one stands out!

Game Notes

Ever wanna go motorboating in a juicy pair of [expletive]?

way to do your homework, Cubs :roll: “It was honestly the darkest point in my life,” Clanton says, his voice filled with emotion, cracking in spots. “Jim Hendry once quoted to me, ‘This [organization] is not a democracy. It is a dictatorship. You shut the f--k up.’ Not only is this f*cked up, but could anyone else picture Hendry spitting food out of his mouth while he says this? I'm not sure that one can so easily trust Clanton's version of events.

Thanks. Ron, are you planning on coming down for the game?

They sponsor my softball team. I am currently in a Izturis-like hitting streak. Great food. I guess I should've ordered some food. I did order plenty to drink! :)

Vance, what hotel did you stay at? I lived on Clark, just south of Belmont, in a dumpy apt for a year, and my roommates and I easily witnessed a couple of tranny brawls when walking home from the wrigleyville bars. I'm assuming you stayed somewhere near there. Always an adventure. And now for the obligatory ... "not that there's anything wrong with that." but ... yeah. too close for viewing. I was at the City Suites on the 900 block of Belmont. Nice hotel, but the freaks come out a night. Yeah, that's a situation where if you look puzzled or taken aback by some of the 'evening regulars' over there and they ask you if the scene is 'too real' for you, you simply nod and say yes, then move on. It wasn't too bad. I did enjoy being that close to all the bars. It's just when I came back to the hotel each night, I felt someone should cue "Dude Looks Like a Lady." Definitely some good bars near there and towards Wrigley. Can't forget to mention El Jardin on Clark, the place with the margaritas that will nail you to the floor. I very stupidly had 5 for Cinco de Mayo a couple years ago. Things were yelled out my window, and a cowbell was played to no end. I've been told it was entertaining. There's actually a great bar down Clark a bit called Duke of Perth with fantastic fish n chips specials and some great scottish brews. Highly recommend it for your next trip to Wrigley if you wind up anywhere near there. I enjoyed Redmonds on Sheffield.

Speaking of the Mets, if the Cubs were to trade Zambrano to the Mets by the trading deadline, what would be considered a fair deal? Milledge, Pelfrey and Heilman. The Mets could have had Zito for Milledge last year, and didn't do it. I doubt they'd do that deal for Z, especially with him struggling this much. Z's price is dropping with each terrible outing, and with each episode where he acts like a 2 year old. True, but there's going to be a dearth of starting pitchers available at the deadline which could inflate the price someone is willing to pay.

Vance, what hotel did you stay at? I lived on Clark, just south of Belmont, in a dumpy apt for a year, and my roommates and I easily witnessed a couple of tranny brawls when walking home from the wrigleyville bars. I'm assuming you stayed somewhere near there. Always an adventure. And now for the obligatory ... "not that there's anything wrong with that." but ... yeah. too close for viewing. I was at the City Suites on the 900 block of Belmont. Nice hotel, but the freaks come out a night. Yeah, that's a situation where if you look puzzled or taken aback by some of the 'evening regulars' over there and they ask you if the scene is 'too real' for you, you simply nod and say yes, then move on. It wasn't too bad. I did enjoy being that close to all the bars. It's just when I came back to the hotel each night, I felt someone should cue "Dude Looks Like a Lady."

Once again, a trade of Jones would open a spot for Cedeno to return. Trading Jones would solve a lot of issues.