Cubs Sweep Sox
The Cubs brought out the brooms this weekend on the North Side, pretty much destroying the White Sox. If you're a Cubs fan, there was a lot to like about this series. To note:
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Back-to-back jacks in the 7th on Friday by Aramis and Lee, followed by Aramis' game winner in the bottom of the ninth off Linebrink brought down the house at my local (shitty) watering hole downtown. After watching the Cubs batter Linebrink last year, I thought the White Sox were crazy to give him such a huge contract. I still think they're crazy, but thus far nobody's giving Kenny any grief for the move on the South Side. Too bad (for the Sox) that the National League ballpark awoke his inner stinky. Same goes for Dotel, for that matter. Oh, and thanks, Ozzie, for getting Denks out of there. Smooth.
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Speaking of Aramis, I wonder if Phil Rogers wants to change his pick for "best Chicago third baseman" after this weekend? Crede's pretty solid, but picking him over Aramis was RIDICULOUS. Most of these position-by-position breakdowns are pure column fodder in order to get a rise out of the readers, but going with Crede was just stupid. Crede plays better D (though not that much better these days - note Crede's league-leading 14 errors), but Aramis just blows him away with the bat. His last five years dwarf Crede's. It's not even close. The only thing Crede's really got on Aramis is the postseason heroics, and a dozen games does not a career make, no matter how great they were. Otherwise Scott Brosius would be going to the Hall of Fame.
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I can't look at Eric Patterson without thinking of the royal-suckitude of his older brother, Corey. Pretty great series for Patterson the Younger, though. Here's a perfect example on why the Cubs won't miss Soriano that much over the next four weeks. Sure, Soriano would most definitely outperform Patterson/Murton/Hoffpauir by quite a bit over the course of a season. But how many big hits or days will they miss over a short term? And how conceivable is it for the Cubs to have someone in the lineup that has a reasonable chance of having a big day himself? It's not like nobody's going to be playing Left Field. Somebody will play, and that somebody will get gets. Minus Soriano, you're just missing a few hits here, a few homers there. Maybe 2 or 3 games in the standings, at the absolute most. It's not like every Soriano homer was a game winner (though his 8 GW-RBI this year would attest).
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Second hottest hitter on the team after the scorching Aramis? D-Lee. I knew that slump wouldn't last long. Coldest hitter? Soto. His last four weeks are not pretty. Hopefully he'll start heating up again now that his finger is healing.
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Now I gotta say something bad about Mark DeRosa. Every time I criticize him, he goes on a tear and hits a ton. Everytime I sing his praises, he goes cold. Because of that, I can now state with absolute certainty that I control the universe -- though there's quite a bit of bizarro going on with Mark. Message to Mark: you're mediocre at best. (There. That ought to do it.)
The Orioles are in town next and the Cubs are due for a letdown. Those two facts are mutually exclusive, though, so I'm expecting the good times to last all week. Hopefully they're still rolling when the hit the Cell next weekend. Till next time...