Kates and I took her parents (who had never been to Wrigley and hinted the last couple years they wanted us to take them …) to the Cubs-Braves game today …
Great fun as usual. We barely caught the 8:47 train and made the usual stops at Davis Street and Howard on our way to catching the Red Line the rest the way to Addison. … and then joined the biggest, best summer block party in the country… the peanut vendors, the ticket hawkers, the T-shirt and memorabilia sellers all surrounding the park. The bars overflowing on the sidewalks. No matter how many times I go, I love every bit of it and it never gets old …
We made the cheap, but worthy stop at the Clark Street McDonald’s for lunch and then stepped inside the gates. A 12:20 start today …
Although it was more than a little frustrating on the way in having to sift through a group of picketers, protesting the jobs Dusty Baker and Andy MacPhail are doing. One sign called him Andy Mc-Fail … good lord people, have some sense!! The Cubs woes this year are HARDLY Baker’s or MacPhail’s faults … They started the season with Wood and Prior already on the DL, so they’ve been forced to go with an -- not counting Maddux and Zambrano -- inexperienced and inconsistent starting rotation. I think, or I hope, we all can agree Glendon Rusch is no savior … And talk about offense -- the first half of the season was blown to pieces when Derrek Lee went down, and no one else in the lineup has played to their standards…
On paper, the Cubs have a competitive, division-contending team, but they’re not getting it done on the field. Andy MacPhail’s acquisitions and Dusty’s managing have very little to do with it, and if the Cubs decide not to renew Dusty’s contract at the end of this season, I think it would be a huge mistake …
But --for now -- Andy says Dusty’s job is safe …
So the game …
The Cubs lost 2-1.
The bottom line was the offense failed again. Juan Pierre led off the game with an infield single and scored on a fielder’s choice by Todd Walker.
And that’s all the Cubbies would get …
While the Braves scored two in the second, the Cubs had base runners in all innings but the third, and those runners got into scoring position in all but the sixth inning when Walker was eliminated on Michael Barrett;s double-play ground out.
Ay-yay-yay.
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