According to a report in today's San Diego Union-Tribune,  Gary Hughes (asst. to Jim Hendry was at Petco Park last night -- witnessing Greg Maddux's strong performance. (Still, it was  loss -- Maddux's 11 th  straight start without a victory since he won on May 10th.) Maddux went 6, giving up 4 hits, 2 earned runs, walking 1 and striking out 3 in the Punchless Padres 3-1 loss to the Marlins.

Maddux is now 3-7, with an ERA of 3.90 in 112 innings. 56 K's,  22 walks.

The Padres beat writer speculates that either Maddux or Randy Wolf, who will pitch tonight are both being considered as being involved in trade deals with the Cubs.

Wolf is 5-8, with an ERA of 4.59. He's lost 4 in a row, with an 8+ ERA in those starts -- however, in two of those games, he allowed only 2 earned runs. The Pads were outscored 26-6 in those four losses. (Wolf is 3-12 lifetime against the Marlins.)

 

The last discussion moved away so quickly, I didn't get a chance to add this to the mix. I stated Tribco Media is now being run by Randy Michaels,  and that his ideas/vision are all over the new Superstation logo/imagery.

I'm surprised that so many of you have turned thumbs down on the new look -- but here are some of the reason why  it's being put in place and  a glimpse of the person behind it. Love or hate this guy -- and he draws strong opinions from both sides of the coin -- here's a look at Randy Michaels, from....Crain's Chicago Business:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?articleId=29913&seenIt=1

For those of you IN Chicago, Superstation WGN....is no more.

The rebranding of Tribco's 'underutilized'  asset (by their own words) began today,  Memorial Day. as "WGN AMERICA -- TV YOU CAN'T IGNORE.

 http://www.wgnamerica.com/

The new logo features the eyes of a woman. (Lake Elisnore Storm of the California League: Take note)

Randy Michaels, now the head of Tribco Broadcasting is a guy who really can upset the apple cart -- a former shock jock, he ran Clear Channel Communications for years until he was forced out. It is about time that the rather tired 'superstation' be put to pasture, as 25 years ago -- it meant something. Now -- so what?  (And when you run "Corner Gas" there's nothing "Super" about your programming.)

Ah, the days of running "The Last Farewell" by Roger Whittaker over a WGN station ID, are indeed -- long gone.....

 

Here's the mighty AP, and the marvelous Rick Gano with the game wrap-up:

"The start of the Cubs 100th season since winning a World SerIes ended like so many other seasons at Wrigley Field -- with a loss."

He ends with: (after referring to the Fukedome HR)

 

"but it wasn't enough for the Cubs who haven't even reached the World Series since 1945."

Couldn't you say this about every game played this season that the team loses? What terrible, uncreative, hack writing......just awful.

 

.

Our old buddy, Glendon Rusch, that is. More on him in a moment..

During this short visit to the Valley, i decided to roll on over to Maryville to see the Padres and the Brewers. After all, that's a great place to go if you are in the witness protection program.  Attendence is usually slim (but not the Brewers fans, if you catch my drift)   you can stretch out,  you can park anywhere...

Well, not today. Due to the holiday weekend, a promotion,  very few day games with available tickets in the Valley -- it was a sell-out crowd, the Brewers first of the spring -- 10, 551 -- and the throng saw a pretty good game. The Padres fielded a "B" squad, essentially -- Bears fan and Padres 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff, along with John Bard, behind the plate -- were the Pads only front liners in the startting lineup, which featured a start by Jake Peavy. He was opposed by Dave Bush of the Crew. I took my seat -- in the front row, by the Pads on-deck circle, and I thought I'd see a pitchers' duel. (A lucky break, that ticket -- an extra seat just floating around...)

Well -- not quite right away. Both pitchers had rocky first innings. After striking the Padres lead-off and second hole hiitters,  Paul McAnulty, who is battling to make the San Diego roster, tripled  in Kouzmanoff and Tony Clark who previously singled, and walked, respectively. (Let's hope Bush has the same 2-out problems later on...)

Staked to that 2-0 lead, Jake Peavy was wild -- his curve wasn't effective, as Craig Council and Prince Fielder walked. With one out Ryan Braun hit a monster HR -- 3-2 Brewers, in what turned out to be a long first inning.

However, both pitchers settled down -- and the game moved along quickly to the 5th -- Peavy struggled again,  as Fielder doubled in Craig Council, who earlier reached base via a double. Exit  Peavy -- enter Glendon Rusch.

Or, to be more precise -- the slimmed down Glendon Rusch.  (He must be 20 pounds lighter) With his off speed stuff working VERY well, he ended the threat -- and then pitched a scoreless 6th.

Rusch was then taken out for a pinchhitter. That, was a great outing -- and I think we can agree it's a great day if he makes it back to the show. I'm pulling for him. That's one of the Ex-Cubs pitchers the Padres have loaded up on that I hope can stick -- and I'll bet today's performance was a big help.

After all, Shawn Estes has been terrible, and the former Employee is still saying, "...I feel great......." Rusch almost died in the Cubs clubhouse, but there he is -- on the mound, looking great. I think we know who has REAL heart & soul in this trio, don't we? (And I'm glad it's in good shape!)

And, as an aside -- Mr Cubs Fan -- I hope you made it back to Chicago.....all that snow......ick!

 

 

 

 

Are the Cubs...dogging it a bit this March? Apparently, bench coach Alan Trammel thinks they might be not giving it a full effort right now.

Wednesday, Trammel told Double-X Sports Radio in San Diego when discussing the Cubs 5-10 Cactus League record:

"....Lou would like to have everybody bustin' it everyday....but sometimes, that's not the case....it's the middle of Spring Training, and it can get like that sometimes."

(My opinion here -- but Tram sounded a bit exasperated, and possibly a bit perplexed by the effort he was seeing on the field.)

He went on to tell the hosts that he thinks that Felix Pie will be the everyday CF -- and he intimated that he was a bit surprised that Sam Fuld "hasn't stepped up" in competition for the position...saying "after all, he had a great Fall League, and in that league, you are playing against great talent."

Trammel believed that Kerry Wood was ready to go, with a fastball popping at 97-98 mph....and a good slider...but that he was a one-inning pitcher. He didn't speculate on who the ultimate closer would be, but he thought the combo of Wood/Marmol would be good, with Bobby Howry as the set up man.

He was very impressed with Ryan Dempster -- and he is of the opinion that Dempster will win the 5th starter's job -- stating that Dempster is 'in great shape' and is ready for the task.

Tram said that Dempster (and other Cubs) have lost a lot of weight -- "...these guys keep bringing in all this special food to the clubhouse.." (NutriSystem?)

But, pennants are not won in March. Spring Training records don't count.

Apparently, Joe Girardi thinks otherwise, but that's another story...

See you in Mesa one week from today...

I haven't had much of a chance to stop by here lately. So, I hope this hasn't been covered already. I don't see any current diaries/posts on this topic. This action, if approved might hasten the sale of the Cubs. These issues are keeping Zell from moving forth:

From Inside Radio, 11-16:

In a face-to-face meeting this week, Zell asked FCC chair Kevin Martin to grant temporary waivers and approve his $8.2 billion buyout of Tribune. Those waivers would only be in effect until the FCC approves new cross-ownership rules, but would allow Zell to close the deal by the end of the year and avoid financial penalties that he argues could jeopardize the deal. Those temporary waivers would allow Tribune to hold onto WGN radio and TV, as well as the Chicago Tribune.

And, to leap further, this would also apply to Tribco's cross-ownership of papers & TV in LA and NYC. (I assume?)

Since the fans of the Cincinnati Reds were so accomodating to Cubs fans during the last weekend of the season, I thought they should, at the very least -- know what's ahead with their new manager.

Canary In The Coal Mine

It's the least I could do, after all.

And, remember one-line diaries are prohibited. I doubt if this is a one-line diary, but that's what the software is telling me. I'm giving it more thought.....there! That'e enough thought.

I'd suggest you get your #88 Patrick Kane jersey soon. The Blackhawks' 19-year-old #1 draft pick, a 62-goal scorer last year in junior hockey capped a stirring comeback, as the Hawks beat Detroit 4-3 in an overtime shootout Saturday night at the UC.

Kane was responsible for the only goal in the shoot-out -- making veteran goalie Dominick Hasek  appear to be the rookie! Kane, with 2 quick dekes, had the puck behind Hasek before he knew what hit him.

Kane may be the fastest skater and the most natural talent in Blackhawks red since both Denny Savard and Chris Chelios skated at the old barn, across the street.

Even the FSN Detroit broadcast team was started at the acceleration Kane displayed:
"...my goodness, look at that kid skate!" Were the surprised words from the Red Wings color man.

I have no idea if the Blackhawks are going to make the playoffs. Losing Martin Havlat in the first game was bad news. That's a lot of offense out (again) for an undisclosed time.

But -- Patrick Kane may be worth the price of admission of a Blackhawks game. He's enough to get excited about Chicago NHL hockey for the first time in 10 years.

I wasn't home to see this game until the final 3 innings. I do have tape (I'm still analog) of the game -- but from what I saw -- TBS' coverage was abysmal. This is what MLB paid for?

Think about this -- that play at the plate was one of the most important ones of this season, on a 'national' telecast. Yet, we saw 2 -- only 2 replays. Just two angles. One, was the 'cover' shot of the main action, and the other --  a shot looking down the 3B line toward HP, from what -- I assume was an outfield camera. As much as we (myself included) have bashed Fox -- wouldn't we have seen multiple camera angles on a Fox telecast, including a shot from a HP camera? (If one was used in this final sequence, I don't remember, and my tape clicked off about 10 mins before the game ended) And, Fox uses 'super slo-mo' as a part of its' coverage. That might have helped us tell if Holliday's hand actually touched HP. (I doubt if it did, from the OF camera's view)

Combined with barely adequate pbp, (I'm sorry, I've forgotten the guy's name, but his work was not memorable) and what appeared to be Joe Simpson sleepwalking through his role as (un)color (ful) analyst -- This might have been the worst national telecast I've ever seen in years.
I can only assume this was done on the cheap. Was TBS looking ahead to the Divisional Games? Were corners cut on this game? Seems like it.

We've busted Fox's chops for the constant sound effects, "talking baseballs," a barrage of promos during game action -- but you know what? I'm sure that network would have had a more definitive camera shot as that game came to its' conclusion.

And -- In studio, in the aftermath,  Ernie Johnson and Cal Ripkin glossed over the controversy -- a play which is sure to be discussed over, and over and over, on other outlets and in the papers. Was TBS protecting the umpires? Was TBS not wanting to offend MLB in their very first national telecast? Whatever the reason -- this was very uncompelling television, and the non-discussion, obviously -- gives us the answer, if we read between the lines.

This mess is from the same company which is not afraid to let Charles Barkley say whatever the hell he wants on TNT/NBA coverage? But here, on MLB coverage...meekly tip-toes away from what looks to be a wrong call? What a pitiful mess.

An "F" to TBS and their first national game.

(Braves baseball doesn't count, since there was still a home bias to those telecasts, as would be found on a Cubs/Sox telecast on WGN)

TBS better improve -- in a hurry.