Friday, March 23, 2007 |
The Bad News About Good News In Spring Training: Cubs 6, Giants 2
Sadly, much as I may like Cesar Izturis for what he did with the Dodgers (mostly with the glove), the fact is that he's been just another weak-hitting shortstop for the Cubs, who seem to be accumulating them like lint. That they got him and his increasingly injured body and these days, less-than-reliable glove in exchange for certain Hall of Famer Greg Maddux is just more galling to Cubs fans. But, it appears that Izturis has a lock on the starting job, and while nothing short of an injury was likely to keep him out of that, the Cubs' weak up-the-middle infield is likely to grate for months.
The alternative to Cedeno is Ryan Theriot, whose minor league numbers feature excellent OBPs at every level, including a .412 OBP with the Cubs in 159 plate appearances in 2006. However, The Riot at second wasn't in today's game, and so the news that Cedeno blasted a three-run shot, which proved the eventual game-winner, was greeted with less-than-total enthusiasm among the Cub fans to which I was attached for the game.
We sat with Al Yellon and his friends, most of whom we have met at one time or another: Jessica, the transplanted Chicagoan whose recent project, Reel Baseball, a set of DVDs of silent films of early 20th century baseball, was favorably reviewed by the New Yorker; her friend John, who lives in the Phoenix area; and several others whose names I shamefully did not record (but see the update below).
The game passed, therefore, amiably, though the results weren't so pleasant if you were a San Francisco partisan. Noah Lowry's start continued a pattern of spring disasters for him, as his ERA is now up to 6.87. Lowry's walked eight in his last two starts, hardly a positive sign; you expect crazy numbers in spring, but this one was a little uncomfortable, especially giving up longballs to the likes of Cedeno.
Update: BCB reader San Diego Smooth Jazz Man, whom we met for the first time, made a comment that Al expanded upon in his game recap. This will be of considerable interest to anyone going to Sunday's Angels/Cubs game at Hohokam:
Several of the above-mentioned BCB'ers arrived quite late, all muttering about having to park somewhere near the Superstition Mountains; I couldn't believe it when I left the park and saw cars parked diagonally up and down both sides of Center Street outside the park; this is something I had never seen the Mesa police (who apparently shrugged at Rob and Helen when they parked there in a no-parking zone) allow before. They'd better prepare to do this again on Sunday, when perhaps the largest crowd of the year arrives to see the Cubs take on the Angels.Recap/Box
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