When Will The Cub Stop Kicking Us In The Nuts?!
Written by Godfrey Logan, Monday April 27 2009 playerpres.com
The Chicago Cubs, favorites to win the National League Central Division for the third straight year are in 4th place with the Cardinals with a roster full of no names and a hall of fame manager are leading the division and looking like it's theirs to lose.
I ripped the Cubs for signing Milton Bradley. He currently has one hit this season and has spent more games on the bench than on the field and is already creating waves by announcing who he will and will not speak to when it comes to the media. Not to mention saying he played last year basically when he felt like it. I thought the guy should only come off the bench anyways considering how little time he's spent on the field in recent years. I have always had great respect for Jim Hendry for being the type of General Manager to take the big risks. Go after the top names in baseball. He makes the trade to get Aramis Ramirez and Derrick Lee. Signed Mark Derosa coming off of a career year with the Rangers after being a bench player for most of his career at that point. I believe he has a great eye for talent but he makes some choices that make me scratch my head. I ripped Jim Hendry for trading Mark Derosa who if the Indians remain on the losing path they're on Derosa might be on another team by the trade deadline. The Cubs are short of a clutch hitter which Derosa has been since he'd been in Chicago. Derrick Lee's numbers are down and I personally am hoping he gets traded. If he does we're basically waving the white flag because I don't know who is out there that could replace not only his bat but his gold glove defense. Much had been made of the Cubs not having a player on the DL to start the season in 20 plus years. Since then several players have been taken out of the lineup with nagging injuries including our reigning National League Rookie Of The Year, catcher Giovanni Soto with a hand injury. But he's also out of shape from playing in the WBC. The Cubs have a short bench that leaves them in a tight position if a starter was to go down. Regardless of the state of our bench with Derosa still a Cub it wouldn't matter. We'd be getting great production and wouldn't be in 4th place right now. I know it's not good to dwell on the past, losing 6 straight post season games but what matters is what you do to pick yourself up. Some are saying that the Padres will eventually fall off and Jake Peavy will become available again. My question is who do we have to go after him? Had we gotten Peavy this season I would have no doubt we'd have the pitching staff to take us all the way. The Cubs have a great staff now but there is also a history of not producing for them no matter how well they pitch. I am looking at this season with a glass half full attitude because I believe that they can and will win the division but not as they are configured right now. I believe this team when healthy can go deep into the post season like the 2006 Cardinals did based on their veteran leadership. But this leadership might be on the DL by the time the season ends if Jim Hendry has done nothing to shore up the bench. He's been running around like a chicken with his head cut off worrying about the bull pen and who should be closer. I think the pen will be fine in the end and continue to be one of our strong points. It's the health of the guys who play the field for nine innings every game that is my concern.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Chicago Rules The Weekend (Why They Play The Games) Playerpress.com
Written by Godfrey Logan, Monday April 20 2009
The White Sox get some payback against Rays in Florida, the Cubs take two of three from Cardinals in shortened series versus their rivals. Bulls and Blackhawks are undefeated in first round playoff games. What a time to be a Chicago sports fan.
I been called a Chicago hater. Even a hater of my favortie baseball team the Chicago Cubs. I call it "callin it as I see it." I have been lucky enough to see my favorite teams at their best and at their worst. Why should I not want them to stay at the top and why should I not criticize when the people in management do things that I feel are not in the best interest of building and maintaining winning franchises? This was a weekend not to find fault but to enjoy the success of my home teams. The White Sox looked like they should have looked last season when I predicted a Cubs Sox World Series with Carlos Quentin leading the way and the league already with seven homeruns. The Cubs and Cardinals lived up to the hype as the best rivalry in baseball. And as it should be made even more important and heated with both teams in contention. The Cardinals came into Chicago looking like world beaters already with the most wins in arguably the toughest division in baseball. All three games came down to late game heroics nothing decided until the last at bats.
The Bulls and Blackhawks are undefeated in first round games. Derrick Rose adding to his legacy as the messiah of the Chicago Bulls scoring 36 points against the Celtics and doing something not even Jordan could do, win a playoff game against the Boston Celtics. With or without Garnett the Celtics are still a very dangerous team. While no on in Chicago is saying the Bulls will win it all but they do believe that with Derric Rose we can go pretty far.
And while I'm not the biggest hockey fan who cannot be happy to have their hometown team win something. The 'Hawks came out sluggish in game two against the Calgary Flames perhaps not knowing what to do for an encore after winning the first game twelve seconds into overtime. But they were able to hold onto home ice advantage with those two victories. Here's to hoping they win this series and play better as the playoffs go along. Instead of finding fault or where these teams have holes that will cause them to sink like a rock. I am enjoying being in the best sports town in America for the time being.
Written by Godfrey Logan, Monday April 20 2009
The White Sox get some payback against Rays in Florida, the Cubs take two of three from Cardinals in shortened series versus their rivals. Bulls and Blackhawks are undefeated in first round playoff games. What a time to be a Chicago sports fan.
I been called a Chicago hater. Even a hater of my favortie baseball team the Chicago Cubs. I call it "callin it as I see it." I have been lucky enough to see my favorite teams at their best and at their worst. Why should I not want them to stay at the top and why should I not criticize when the people in management do things that I feel are not in the best interest of building and maintaining winning franchises? This was a weekend not to find fault but to enjoy the success of my home teams. The White Sox looked like they should have looked last season when I predicted a Cubs Sox World Series with Carlos Quentin leading the way and the league already with seven homeruns. The Cubs and Cardinals lived up to the hype as the best rivalry in baseball. And as it should be made even more important and heated with both teams in contention. The Cardinals came into Chicago looking like world beaters already with the most wins in arguably the toughest division in baseball. All three games came down to late game heroics nothing decided until the last at bats.
The Bulls and Blackhawks are undefeated in first round games. Derrick Rose adding to his legacy as the messiah of the Chicago Bulls scoring 36 points against the Celtics and doing something not even Jordan could do, win a playoff game against the Boston Celtics. With or without Garnett the Celtics are still a very dangerous team. While no on in Chicago is saying the Bulls will win it all but they do believe that with Derric Rose we can go pretty far.
And while I'm not the biggest hockey fan who cannot be happy to have their hometown team win something. The 'Hawks came out sluggish in game two against the Calgary Flames perhaps not knowing what to do for an encore after winning the first game twelve seconds into overtime. But they were able to hold onto home ice advantage with those two victories. Here's to hoping they win this series and play better as the playoffs go along. Instead of finding fault or where these teams have holes that will cause them to sink like a rock. I am enjoying being in the best sports town in America for the time being.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Milton Bradley The New Kerry Wood
Written by Godfrey Logan, Monday April 13 2009 playerpress.com
We've seen this in Chicago before, a guy with plenty of talent but if he trips over his own feet he needs to be taken out of the game.
In the meantime Mark Derosa whom the Cubs traded to Cleveland for pitching prospects hit two homeruns for the Indians yesterday. Milton Bradley has just one hit for the Cubs this season with plenty of walks. That reminds me of the year I played Pony League baseball where I had similar numbers. Bradley had to be taken out of the game yesterday for straining his groin running the bases. While it can be said that Bradleys injury is at least a baseball injury compared to Kerry Wood who once hurt himself fallingout of a hot tub. But we at least got to see the full talent of a Kerry Wood. We have yet to see what Bradley can do. It is my prediction that he will soon have conflict with the fans who have seen this before. While the man who the Cubs traded to make room and money for Bradley will likely have another great year and at the end of the season fans will be begging to trade Bradley to get Derosa back.
Written by Godfrey Logan, Monday April 13 2009 playerpress.com
We've seen this in Chicago before, a guy with plenty of talent but if he trips over his own feet he needs to be taken out of the game.
In the meantime Mark Derosa whom the Cubs traded to Cleveland for pitching prospects hit two homeruns for the Indians yesterday. Milton Bradley has just one hit for the Cubs this season with plenty of walks. That reminds me of the year I played Pony League baseball where I had similar numbers. Bradley had to be taken out of the game yesterday for straining his groin running the bases. While it can be said that Bradleys injury is at least a baseball injury compared to Kerry Wood who once hurt himself fallingout of a hot tub. But we at least got to see the full talent of a Kerry Wood. We have yet to see what Bradley can do. It is my prediction that he will soon have conflict with the fans who have seen this before. While the man who the Cubs traded to make room and money for Bradley will likely have another great year and at the end of the season fans will be begging to trade Bradley to get Derosa back.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Bears Won't Get Chance To Screw Up Draft
Written by Godfrey Logan, Friday April 03 2009 playerpress.com
On the day of the draft I will turn 33 years old. already balding the last thing Iwanted to do that day was pull out what was left of my hair.
I'm glad the Bears got Cutler though the Bears had chances to draft a quarterback before this trade. There was talk the Bears would have drafted a wide receiver at number 18 but with the picks the Bears have made in recent years I was terrified who they would have drafted considering the last picks they made at the wide receiver position have not even seen the field. I'm glad this trade happened though I believed it was a long shot because it has taken the responsibility out of GM Jerry Angelo's hands. Not to say that Kyle Orton wasn't a serviceable quarterback but his numbers had fallen off in the second half of the season which is what prompted Angelo to comment on it at the state of the team address leaving many fans to believe that the team was going to draft a quarterback. Theproblem with that choice is that we would have had to wait for such a player to develop and fans in Chicago who have been pining for a franchise quarterback since Sid Luckman. The only problems left now is figuring out who Cutler is going to be throwing to since our receivers right now are very much still wet behind the ears and hopefully changing the defensive scheme. It is obvious to the fans that that scheme isn't working and yet they keep on using it.
Written by Godfrey Logan, Friday April 03 2009 playerpress.com
On the day of the draft I will turn 33 years old. already balding the last thing Iwanted to do that day was pull out what was left of my hair.
I'm glad the Bears got Cutler though the Bears had chances to draft a quarterback before this trade. There was talk the Bears would have drafted a wide receiver at number 18 but with the picks the Bears have made in recent years I was terrified who they would have drafted considering the last picks they made at the wide receiver position have not even seen the field. I'm glad this trade happened though I believed it was a long shot because it has taken the responsibility out of GM Jerry Angelo's hands. Not to say that Kyle Orton wasn't a serviceable quarterback but his numbers had fallen off in the second half of the season which is what prompted Angelo to comment on it at the state of the team address leaving many fans to believe that the team was going to draft a quarterback. Theproblem with that choice is that we would have had to wait for such a player to develop and fans in Chicago who have been pining for a franchise quarterback since Sid Luckman. The only problems left now is figuring out who Cutler is going to be throwing to since our receivers right now are very much still wet behind the ears and hopefully changing the defensive scheme. It is obvious to the fans that that scheme isn't working and yet they keep on using it.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
US Team With No International Experience Loses Again In WBC
Written by Godfrey Logan, Tuesday March 24 2009 playerpress.com
The US team for the second time fails to win or reach finals in World Baseball Classic because most guys on US roster have never played international competition.
It's been said for years that the the world is catching up to the US in international competition. USA Baseball is the only American sport that competes against other countries that does not use its professional athletes. Which is why with all of the power the Americans have on their roster thay cannot win in a sport they are credited with having started. Unless they change this policy they will continue to lose. Granted they got further this time than they did in 2006. Not to mention the fact that MLB has longer seasons than the leagues in other countries. It is not to say that the players from other countries are better than American MLB players it is hard to see former CY Young winner Jake Peavy and All Star pitcher Roy Oswalt get rocked. It can be said that there are a number of things that work agains the US. First there is the fact as I have mentioned they play longer seasons. Perhaps they should shorten the season. Also there is the fact that while the WBC is going on MLB players are going through spring training and it's possible that the players on the US team are treating this as a warm up to the season rather than a serious competition. They are more concerned with staying healthy and going back to their teams healthy. There is the fact that just before the WBC the seasons in Latin America is just ending and they had just finished playing the Caribbean World Series a tournament much like the format of the WBC. Those players are in great shape and ready for the tournament. In my opinion this is the true world series. And for a country that calls their champioship series the world series they cannot compete. As much as fans here love their baseball, it is king in other countries like Asia and Cuba which has ruled international competition for years. In a tournament where MLB players fill much of the rosters on these teams it doesn't help that these guys are going to play for their home countries leaving a roster with no international experience and no idea what they're getting into. US baseball should learn from the US basketball team and send their best. I mean they are only representing their country. What could be more important than that?
Written by Godfrey Logan, Tuesday March 24 2009 playerpress.com
The US team for the second time fails to win or reach finals in World Baseball Classic because most guys on US roster have never played international competition.
It's been said for years that the the world is catching up to the US in international competition. USA Baseball is the only American sport that competes against other countries that does not use its professional athletes. Which is why with all of the power the Americans have on their roster thay cannot win in a sport they are credited with having started. Unless they change this policy they will continue to lose. Granted they got further this time than they did in 2006. Not to mention the fact that MLB has longer seasons than the leagues in other countries. It is not to say that the players from other countries are better than American MLB players it is hard to see former CY Young winner Jake Peavy and All Star pitcher Roy Oswalt get rocked. It can be said that there are a number of things that work agains the US. First there is the fact as I have mentioned they play longer seasons. Perhaps they should shorten the season. Also there is the fact that while the WBC is going on MLB players are going through spring training and it's possible that the players on the US team are treating this as a warm up to the season rather than a serious competition. They are more concerned with staying healthy and going back to their teams healthy. There is the fact that just before the WBC the seasons in Latin America is just ending and they had just finished playing the Caribbean World Series a tournament much like the format of the WBC. Those players are in great shape and ready for the tournament. In my opinion this is the true world series. And for a country that calls their champioship series the world series they cannot compete. As much as fans here love their baseball, it is king in other countries like Asia and Cuba which has ruled international competition for years. In a tournament where MLB players fill much of the rosters on these teams it doesn't help that these guys are going to play for their home countries leaving a roster with no international experience and no idea what they're getting into. US baseball should learn from the US basketball team and send their best. I mean they are only representing their country. What could be more important than that?
Friday, February 20, 2009
Baseball Should Take A Lesson From Barkley
Written by Godfrey Logan, Friday February 20 2009
How come Bud Selig hasn't apologized for his part in the steroid era? I would say he created it himself and while I'm sure he didn't distribute the steroids himself I'm sure he made it possible for players to get their hands on it. As day by day A-rods lies change he should have take a page out of Charles Barkleys book and say It's no ones fault but his own and let's move on.
I still love baseball but this is the first time in my life where I am not excited to start a season. I’m sure I’ll get over it. I’d bet none of the players on the Cubs have cheated other than cheating the fans who got their hopes up that they couldn't blow another playoff series. I think this is worse than Pete Rose because he at least bet on his team after he stopped playing and was managing. What bothers me most is it’s during our lifetimes. What I liked about the previous days of baseball was that it was not during my lifetime. And before the new millennium it was enjoyable. Not so much of the sniping there is now a days between fans. It was just fun to go to a ball game and enjoy the experience. Now a days you hear so much about players off the field lives that I don’t need to know about. Now this whole steroids thing in an era when ballparks are far more hitter friendly and records were cherished and I believed that it would take a truly special human being to break these records like the homerun record which I thought would forever stand and the consecutive game hitting streak. In the past it was never about the homeruns it was about getting on base and moving the runner over. Now it’s about individual stats. Seeing guys who were already stars do things to themselves to get and edge when they were already stars. Barry Bonds, Mark Mcguire come to mind. Two guys who didn’t need an edge at all. I don’t believe it is possible to erase or expunge records because no matter what you’re on you still have to have enough eye coordination to hit the ball. But what made the records so hallowed is the eras these players played in. Bigger ball parks, shorter seasons civil unrest and wars. These players don’t have to deal with any of that crap. People say the steroid era saved baseball because of McGuire and Sosa’s homerun race. I would have kept watching baseball and I’m sure people would have come back after the strike which caused attendance to go down. I’m sure if people knew this is what it would take to bring fans back they would have stayed away in droves. Now who can we trust? Bud Selig should be prosecuted along with Bonds and Clemens and forever banned from baseball for being a schmuck!
Written by Godfrey Logan, Friday February 20 2009
How come Bud Selig hasn't apologized for his part in the steroid era? I would say he created it himself and while I'm sure he didn't distribute the steroids himself I'm sure he made it possible for players to get their hands on it. As day by day A-rods lies change he should have take a page out of Charles Barkleys book and say It's no ones fault but his own and let's move on.
I still love baseball but this is the first time in my life where I am not excited to start a season. I’m sure I’ll get over it. I’d bet none of the players on the Cubs have cheated other than cheating the fans who got their hopes up that they couldn't blow another playoff series. I think this is worse than Pete Rose because he at least bet on his team after he stopped playing and was managing. What bothers me most is it’s during our lifetimes. What I liked about the previous days of baseball was that it was not during my lifetime. And before the new millennium it was enjoyable. Not so much of the sniping there is now a days between fans. It was just fun to go to a ball game and enjoy the experience. Now a days you hear so much about players off the field lives that I don’t need to know about. Now this whole steroids thing in an era when ballparks are far more hitter friendly and records were cherished and I believed that it would take a truly special human being to break these records like the homerun record which I thought would forever stand and the consecutive game hitting streak. In the past it was never about the homeruns it was about getting on base and moving the runner over. Now it’s about individual stats. Seeing guys who were already stars do things to themselves to get and edge when they were already stars. Barry Bonds, Mark Mcguire come to mind. Two guys who didn’t need an edge at all. I don’t believe it is possible to erase or expunge records because no matter what you’re on you still have to have enough eye coordination to hit the ball. But what made the records so hallowed is the eras these players played in. Bigger ball parks, shorter seasons civil unrest and wars. These players don’t have to deal with any of that crap. People say the steroid era saved baseball because of McGuire and Sosa’s homerun race. I would have kept watching baseball and I’m sure people would have come back after the strike which caused attendance to go down. I’m sure if people knew this is what it would take to bring fans back they would have stayed away in droves. Now who can we trust? Bud Selig should be prosecuted along with Bonds and Clemens and forever banned from baseball for being a schmuck!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Leave A-Rod Alone But Baseball Will Never Be The Same
Written by Godfrey Logan, Monday February 09 2009
It's very sad that A-Rod took steroids but test was anonymous.
A friend once told me a few years ago that she wouldn't be surprised if any baseball player had taken steroids. I thought she was irrational because there are certainly players who don't need to use steroids. Like Ryan Howard or Prince Fielder. Those are just massive human beings. There was nothing more they could do to hit homeruns as there some of their moonshots that still have not landed. Alex Rodriguez may not be a massive man but he is arguably one of the more talented men in sports and in my mind the last person I figured would be linked to performance enhancing substances. While I now sadly agree with my friend that I cannot be surprised if anyones name is linked to steroids I do believe that we should not jump on the A-Rod is a cheater bandwagon. It is reprehensible that anyone regardless of your status in beaseball, whether you're in the minors, an upcoming superstar or riding the bench on a major league team it is never good to be a cheater. In this era of hitter friendly ball parks it is unfathomable to me that anyone needs to cheat. What's worse is the era of steroids will now overshadow the era when black players were not allowed to play in the major leagues. But in Alex Rodriguez's defense this was an anonymous test where one lab had the names of the players and one lab had the samples. No one was to ever know which name went with which tests. This was supposed to be a survey to see if mandatory testing will kick in and sadly more than 5 precent of the players in 2003 tested positive. And allegedly Gene Orza was tipping off players as to when tests were coming. It is just sad to hear this news but the test was anonymous and players went into it thinking nothing would come of it especially discipline since there was no discipline at the time of the test. Someone is going to get sued over this and rightfully so. This won't be the end of it and hopefully there won't be anymore ridiculous hearings in congress over this. Although Alex Rodriguez's name will be tainted in a very difficult year for him already with his divorce and being linked to Madonna. Not to mention going on televsion in an interview with Katie Couric and denying ever using steroids. Though he has not been in anyway linked to steroids since, to me no one is above it and it will make watching baseball in the future much more difficult.
Written by Godfrey Logan, Monday February 09 2009
It's very sad that A-Rod took steroids but test was anonymous.
A friend once told me a few years ago that she wouldn't be surprised if any baseball player had taken steroids. I thought she was irrational because there are certainly players who don't need to use steroids. Like Ryan Howard or Prince Fielder. Those are just massive human beings. There was nothing more they could do to hit homeruns as there some of their moonshots that still have not landed. Alex Rodriguez may not be a massive man but he is arguably one of the more talented men in sports and in my mind the last person I figured would be linked to performance enhancing substances. While I now sadly agree with my friend that I cannot be surprised if anyones name is linked to steroids I do believe that we should not jump on the A-Rod is a cheater bandwagon. It is reprehensible that anyone regardless of your status in beaseball, whether you're in the minors, an upcoming superstar or riding the bench on a major league team it is never good to be a cheater. In this era of hitter friendly ball parks it is unfathomable to me that anyone needs to cheat. What's worse is the era of steroids will now overshadow the era when black players were not allowed to play in the major leagues. But in Alex Rodriguez's defense this was an anonymous test where one lab had the names of the players and one lab had the samples. No one was to ever know which name went with which tests. This was supposed to be a survey to see if mandatory testing will kick in and sadly more than 5 precent of the players in 2003 tested positive. And allegedly Gene Orza was tipping off players as to when tests were coming. It is just sad to hear this news but the test was anonymous and players went into it thinking nothing would come of it especially discipline since there was no discipline at the time of the test. Someone is going to get sued over this and rightfully so. This won't be the end of it and hopefully there won't be anymore ridiculous hearings in congress over this. Although Alex Rodriguez's name will be tainted in a very difficult year for him already with his divorce and being linked to Madonna. Not to mention going on televsion in an interview with Katie Couric and denying ever using steroids. Though he has not been in anyway linked to steroids since, to me no one is above it and it will make watching baseball in the future much more difficult.
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