12-6
12-6 really has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? No matter how you represent it the Cubs are off to a good start, and I don’t think anybody would have been too despondent had they lost today. As bad as Pittsburgh is, it’s always hard to beat any team six times in thirteen days. Taking five out of 6 from the Pirates and sitting at 11-7 would have been acceptable, considering that some–okay, “some” might be a rather charitable choice of words, considering the past twenty-five years, so let’s say “quite an assload of”–seasons had seen the Cubs hitting the end of the month of April with fewer than eleven stinking’ wins Wait–why have I wasted so much time on so much mind-numbingly bad baseball again?
Anyway, aside from being one game better than 11-7, there’s a feeling of symbolic dominance in a 12-6 record. The Cubs have won twice as many as they have lost. The ole’ .667 clip. It’s quality, dammit. Pardon the expression, but 12-6 is a quality start.
Loyal Son of Jim Essian and Desipiot, RV (He’s got dual citizenship), pointed out that, as of Sunday morning, the Cubs were second, third, and first in Runs scored, OBP, and pitches-seen-per-plate appearance, respectively. As RV mentions, sure they’ve been facin’ a bunch of tomato cans for a while now, but that’s also sort of the point. Cubs teams, almost historically, have seemed to lack appreciation for the value of patiently waiting out a mediocre pitcher until he gives you a ball that you can rocket-launch 870 feet. Too often in the past, it seemed, Cub hitters would often throw a rope to a struggling pitcher by anxiously lunging at some meatball that happened to be a foot off of the outside corner and popping it out.
Sure, when the Cubs are facing Brandon Webb, Johan and the rest of the NL aces, they may not be able to afford to be so patient. Those are the games they’ll typically rely on fewer instances to produce runs, and thus the odds of winning decrease. But so long as they don’t let any Todd Ritchies of the world put ‘em in a funk very often, then good times should await us.
Of course this is just a hot team right now. Few people really expect expect the Cubs to win 108 games, which is what their current pace would lead to, but so long as they keep throttling the teams that aren’t supposed to give them any stress, they should hit strides not seen since 1984, when they won a division going away.
New York should be a fun 2-gamer.
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Comments
RV Quiet about that dual status. My sources tell me that Peter King now has the power to revoke citizenship as well as human-being licenses.
Bad Kermit This team is leaps and bounds better than the 2007 version, and they’re a hell of a lot more fun to watch. Was it my imagination, or did Aramis raise his batting average about 60 points yesterday?
al I’m hoping when Soriano comes back he’ll be batting down in the lineup where he belongs. Johnson has been hitting lights out leading off. I also agree that people can’t expect the Cubs to walk all over teams like they did the Pirates. If they do something like this against Arizona or slap around Johan then we can expect a really really exciting year. I agree BK this team is fun to watch
George Yeah 12-6 is pretty nice. Right in the meaty part of the curve. Not showing off, not falling behind.
JackB I’m incredibly happy with how this team has performed thus far. I love that we swept the Pirates twice. Historically, the Cubs always seemed to bring their A game against top tier teams, only to be humiliated by bottom dwelling teams, the Pirates chief among them. I like that so far, the Cubs seem to be bringing an equal amount of intensity to each game regardless of the opponent. It’s a nice change of pace from previous years.
Reuschel's Jowls I’m hesitant to get too excited over anything that happens in April, but I will say that taking care of business against the ass-end of the division is a trait that every good team has. Hopefully, that continues.
I’ll pretty much take the wins whenever they occur…
Bad Kermit Especially since they were complete crap in April last year. I remember thinking, “Here we go again,” at the end of that month. It’s nice that Lou doesn’t need to throw a temper tantrum to get them playing well. Or maybe he threw one in the clubhouse before Opening Day. They’re certainly off to a great start.
Iguck! Very nice to see this team stepping on the neck of bad teams instead of what they used to do–bend over.
Reuschel's Jowls Why thank you, thankyouverymuch. *Taking bow*.
It’s an homage to one of my first Cubs baseball cards as a kid… the Rick Reuschel number that used to come in Twinkies boxes circa 1979. It was a straight-ahead pose of Rick at his most plump, with the quadruple-chin and a gigantic plug of tobacco in his cheek for good measure. I remember asking my mom what was wrong with his neck and face. She told me “he was just chewing a lot of gum.”
that said, I’ve made sure to log extra running miles on the lakefront path the last few weeks to make sure I don’t resemble my handle.
Rod Beck's Bolero 12-6, I’ll take it. Derrek Lee is seeing the ball like it’s the size of Marty Brennaman’s forehead. I agree on Johnson, too he’s been really productive in his starts and right now, it makes more sense to have him playing regularly as opposed to Pie.
Chuck They are not leaps and bounds better than last year. They are leaps, bounds, parsecs, alternate universes better than they were last April when this team was littered with schmucks like Michael Barrett, Ceasar Isturis, and Jacque Jones.
They are certainly better now than they were last September, at least on offense. But the leaps and bounds appearence now is because you are comparing it to one year ago, before the pre-Lou Piniella enema he gave the team’s roster last June.
StPatrick Not getting too excited is the correct approach. Tougher competition and the ole regression to the mean probably drop that win percentage a bit, but it’s still 12 wins in the bag with plenty of April left. They all count the same, unless you’re A-Rod. Then they only count in October (says the press).
Mike D. before the pre-Lou Piniella enema he gave the team’s roster last June.
Chuck, the correct word is “De-Dustyfication”
De-Dustyfication.
[...] again?!?!It’s amazing what can happen in a year. And it’s all due to Lou Piniella. Earlier today, Bad Kermit over at Hire Jim Essian noted that, “This team is leaps and bounds better than the 2007 version.”Not really. They are not leaps [...]
Jarritos Haha… Dusty’s band of unfocused malcontents… de-dustyfication is not an easy job… and might I add… 13 and 6!!!!!
CactusMcHarris Mike D,
Then, by your logic, what the Reds are undergoing is a ReDustyfication, correct? But then, he’d have had to mismanage them a first time for that to be true….I hope you can answer this, because it’s causing me tremendous pains not knowing the correct term.
[...] open, so here’s a cheap “stream of consciousness, Shoutbox-style, picking up where yesterday’s comments left off” lazy ass entry for Tuesday. Discuss. before the pre-Lou Piniella enema he gave the [...]
Jim Edmonds' Bunghole With all the success the Cubs are having, I fear no one will be interested on me. I need.
CT
bocaj
BigFlax
StPatrick
TDubbs
Reed Johnson has been a pleasant surprise.