2008 Chicago Cubs Season

[nightotter]

Well, we don't have a sticky for this kind of thread yet, so I thought I'd start a temp one.

Tough game today. Needless to say I am thrilled at Fukudome's performance. Bullpen killed us. Drink more water Z.

[Jojo1691]

Good game, Z man needs to drink water. Fukudome looked great, hopefully Marmol is the new CL by the end of the month.

[rockin500]

the good: fukodome, Big Z
the bad: Felix Pie, Kerry Wood, Bob Howry
the ugly: THE BATHROOM LINES! holy hell was that bad. especially around the rain delay. the ushers dropped the ball by not preventing access to the exit door. made movement impossible in the bathroom.

[nathanKent]

Wood had a bad inning after a mostly good spring training. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly players get thrown under the bus for having one bad game early on.


Having said that, he's on my fantasy team, so if he has a bad week I'll be saying the same. I have Marmol on the bench.

[rockin500]

Wood had a bad inning after a mostly good spring training. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly players get thrown under the bus for having one bad game early on.


Having said that, he's on my fantasy team, so if he has a bad week I'll be saying the same. I have Marmol on the bench.

not giving up on him at all, i just didnt agree with it from the beginning. i was like why are they bringing in wood? bring in howry. its a tie game, i go with howry.

that said, howry didnt exactly pitch well either...

[wrigleybum]

Wood had a bad inning after a mostly good spring training. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly players get thrown under the bus for having one bad game early on.


Having said that, he's on my fantasy team, so if he has a bad week I'll be saying the same. I have Marmol on the bench.

Kerry Wood is on my fantasy team also, as is Eric Gagne. Let's just say it wasn't a great start to the season.

Wood's big mistake was plunking the guy. He made a so-so pitch on Braun, he jammed him at least, but it went for a single. That stuff happens. The problem is he lost his cool and served up a gopher ball. but he'll bounce back.

And don't get on Pie yet, the last thing this guy needs is a lack of confidence. Sure he stuck out twice against Sheets, but no one else on our team was hitting against him.

[RBi]

Posted on 'da Hub this afternoon:

Good afternoon all,

My name is Mattie T, a devoted Cub fan & sports writer for BMSRadio.com. All season long i’ll be providing game recaps for the Cubs which i hope you will enjoy! Now, let’s talk about the season opener…

March 31st, 2008 was destined to be a great day in the City of Chicago. Not only was Ernie Banks’ honorary statue about to be unveiled for the first time on Clark & Addison, but the Cubs were about to start a new season at the friendly confines & show off their prized off-season acquisition, rookie rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome from Japan.

Both starting aces did not disappoint today as the Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano & Milwaukee’s Ben Sheets were engaged in a fantastic pitching duel for over 6 innings.

Both teams definitely had their chances to take an early lead in this game. Milwaukee had Tony Gwynn Jr. at 3rd base with 2 outs in the top of the 1st inning, but Ryan Braun fouled out to Geovany Soto to end the Brewers’ scoring threat.

The Cubs had a scoring chance in the bottom of the 2nd inning with runners at the corners (Fukudome at 3rd & Soto at 1st) & 2 outs, but Felix Pie struck out swinging to end Chicago’s scoring threat.

Neither team would again provide a scoring threat until the top of the 7th inning, when Bill Hall doubled to left field off Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano was then able to successfully pick off Hall at 2nd base, but had to leave the game with cramps in his right forearm. Carlos is listed as day-to-day & it is unsure whether he’ll be able to make his next start, which (barring any rainouts) will be Sunday against Houston should the Cubs stick with their current 5 man rotation.

The Cubs had another scoring chance in the bottom of the 7th inning after a Kosuke Fukudome single & Mark DeRosa getting nailed by Brewers reliever Solomon Torres. Fukudome then made a rookie baserunning mistake by appearing to steal 3rd, but then hestitating which allowed Jason Kendall to tag out Fukudome between 2nd & 3rd base. Mark DeRosa alertly advanced 90 feet into scoring position while Fukudome got tagged out, which set up another RBI opportunity for Felix Pie.

Pie was unable to deliver again, as he grounded out to second to end the scoring threat.

The game would remain tied until the 9th inning, when Kerry Wood displayed a lot of wildness in his first appearance as the Cubs’ new closer.

Wood started out by nailing Rickie Weeks with a pitch, which led to a sacrifice bunt by Tony Gwynn Jr which moved Weeks up to scoring position at 2nd base with only 1 out.

Ryan Braun then delivered with an RBI single to score Weeks & put Milwaukee up 1-0.

After Wood struck out Bill Hall, Corey Hart provided some insurance with a 2-run double which put Milwaukee up 3-0.

Eric Gagne also displayed a lot of wildness in his first apperance as Milwaukee’s new closer. Gagne gave up a leadoff single to Derrek Lee before walking Aramis Ramirez, which set up Kosuke Fukudome as the game-tying run.

Fukudome did not disappoint, as he belted a dramatic game-tying 3 run homer to right center & delivered a curtain call to the 41,089 screaming fans at Wrigley Field. After that big hit, it was only fitting that the Cubs go on to win their home opener, right?

Well, not quite.

Bob Howry entered the game to start off the top of the 10th inning & immediately gave Milwaukee new life when he allowed a double to pinch-hitter Craig Counsell.

Howry then plunked Rickie Weeks with a pitch, which put runners on 1st & 2nd with nobody out. Jason Kendall then laid down a sacrifice bunt which advanced Counsell to 3rd base with 1 out.

Tony Gwynn delivered the game-winning run, a sacrifice fly to deep center which scored Counsell & gave Milwaukee a 4-3 lead.

The Cubs were retired in order in the bottom of the 10th inning to close the book on a game that lasted a shade under 3 hours & included 2 rain delays that totaled 89 minutes.

Kosuke Fukudome had a sensational debut for the Cubs, as Fukudome went 3-3 with a walk & had everyone buzzing with his clutch game-tying 3-run homer in the 9th that was put to waste.

The top of the Cubs’ order struggled today, as Ryan Theriot & Alfonso Soriano combined to bat 0-10 with 4 strikeouts.

Eric Gagne is the winning pitcher despite a blown save & allowing Fukudome’s game-tying 3-run homer.

Bob Howry is the losing pitcher after giving up the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning. The back end of the bullpen today was very shaky, which the Cubs really need improvement on if they plan to repeat as NL Central champs.

The North Siders will enjoy an off day tomorrow & will get back to work on Wednesday at 1:20pm in Game 2 of this season-opening 3-game series. The Cubs will send southpaw Ted Lilly to the mound (who pitched VERY well last season after a Cub loss..let’s hope that trend continues in ‘08) against Milwaukee righthander Jeff Suppan.

Signing off for now,

Mattie T

Special Correspondent for Cubshub.com

[nathanKent]

I assume everyone else here agrees with me that having our worst hitter bat leadoff is not the smartest possible solution.

[rockin500]

I assume everyone else here agrees with me that having our worst hitter bat leadoff is not the smartest possible solution.

you'd assume correctly.

it was nice to see Soto get a couple of hits. Pie didnt look good for most of the game, but he just missed on that pitch late in the game. I thought it was going to be gone at first, but ahhhh well.

[nathanKent]

you'd assume correctly.

it was nice to see Soto get a couple of hits. Pie didnt look good for most of the game, but he just missed on that pitch late in the game. I thought it was going to be gone at first, but ahhhh well.

I really hope we hold on to Murton for a month or so and give serious consideration to moving Fukudome to CF. Fukudome was a big question mark for me and to an extent still is, but his plate discipline is amazing. Somebody have him give lessons to DeRosa.

[RBi]

I assume everyone else here agrees with me that having our worst hitter bat leadoff is not the smartest possible solution.

batters 1 through 4 went 1 for 18 today. I think it is a bit too early to judge how the team is going to do. Sheets was ON today.

you'd assume correctly.

it was nice to see Soto get a couple of hits.

Not sure what game you were watching? Wait, he got 2 walks, did you mean 2 walks?

I really hope we hold on to Murton for a month or so and give serious consideration to moving Fukudome to CF. Fukudome was a big question mark for me and to an extent still is, but his plate discipline is amazing. Somebody have him give lessons to DeRosa.

That's not fair either. How about have him give lessons to players that are making more or as much money as he is first. Soriano, Lee and Aramis were combined 1 for 13...

[rockin500]

Not sure what game you were watching? Wait, he got 2 walks, did you mean 2 walks?

yep. got distracted when posting.

[nathanKent]

That's not fair either. How about have him give lessons to players that are making more or as much money as he is first. Soriano, Lee and Aramis were combined 1 for 13...

I'm still peeved about DeRosa's bases loaded AB in the postseason.

[JeepingBaseball]

How many different way are they going to pronounce and even closed caption Fukudome's name?

I must admit, reading the captioning was rather hysterical every time they mentioned Fukudome

[nathanKent]

How many different way are they going to pronounce and even closed caption Fukudome's name?

I must admit, reading the captioning was rather hysterical every time they mentioned Fukudome

Live closed captioning is a thing of beauty.