Cub Players Get Together, Decide to Lose 9-0 to Marlins
CHICAGO–The Chicago Cubs gathered prior to Wednesday’s game against the Florida Marlins for a “players-only” meeting. In a surprising decision, the players unanimously agreed to get shutout by the Marlins 9-0 on a day that the wind was howling out of Wrigley Field.
“The Marlins have a lot of young players who could use a boost of confidence,” Cub first baseman Derrek Lee, a former Marlin who called the meeting, said. “A sweep on the road of one of the oldest ballclubs in baseball is just what those guys need to get their season on the right track.”
The plan was to allow former Cub Sergio Mitre, who the Cubs sent to the Marlins before the 2006 season for center fielder Juan Pierre, to throw a three-hit shutout on 74 pitches. The plan was scrapped when Cub pitcher Ted Lilly accidentally hit Mitre with an errant throw on a fielded bunt attempt in the fifth inning. Mitre was removed from the game and did not qualify for the win.
“That was my fault,” Lilly said. “I didn’t execute that throw well. I was hoping to have the ball sail over Derrek Lee’s head so that [Aaron] Boone could come around to score and Mitre would end up on third. I felt terrible when I hit the kid, so I sent him a box of cigars after the game. That kid is something special.”
The Cubs also wanted to give a confidence boost to Dan Uggla, who they allowed to hit two home runs to give him 11 on the season, one more than Marlins slugger Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera also homered in the 9-0 romp. “You have to figure that with a name like ‘Uggla’ the guy got teased a lot as a kid,” Cubs slugger Aramis Ramirez said. “Now he can say, ‘Who is uggla now?’”
This weekend, the Cubs plan to help the Atlanta Braves “catch those pesky Mets.”
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bocaj
StPatrick
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BigFlax
Uggla is good though