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• Wrigley Rooftop Directory
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What grand slam?Saturday, July 3, 2004 With the White Sox visiting Wrigley Friday, Carlos Zambrano pitched well, going 6.1 innings before leaving with a muscle cramp in his forearm. He gave up two unearned runs in the first inning when he walked the leadoff batter and Derrek Lee made an error on Juan Uribe's sacrifice bunt. After striking out two, he walked Paul Konerko. With the bases loaded, Ross Gload hit what was initially ruled a Grand Slam, but then the umpires correctly declared the ball a foul. Gload then hit a two RBI double, before Zambrano got out of the jam. Despite a rocky start, Zambrano and the Cubs bullpen (Beltran & Hawkins today) shut down the Sox the rest of the way. The Cubs offense scored 6 runs by chipping away at the White Sox pitchers, with the final score 6-2. With a 9-3 record and a 2.41 ERA, Zambrano should be a lock to make the All-Star squad, which will be announced Sunday. Sosa is also expected to be elected, and Aramis Ramirez (.326 AVG, .374 OBP, .550 SLG, 15 HR, 56 RBI, and 60 R) deserves the nod as a backup third baseman to Scott Rolen. If all three make the All-Star team, it will be the first time the Cubs have had 3 all-stars since 1995 when Mark Grace, Sammy Sosa, and Randy Myers all made the team. Other Cubs who may receive some consideration will include: Derrek Lee, Moises Alou, Michael Barrett, Matt Clement, and LaTroy Hawkins.
My guess however is that none of these 5 "possibles" will make the team. Lee plays first, which has a plethora of players performing very well. Lee is 6th in Avg among NL first basemen, 11th in OBP, 10th in SLG and HR, and not in the top 5 in any other important categories, except he is first in SB. Additionally the names above him include Albert Pujols, Mike Piazza, Jim Thome, Todd Helton, Sean Casey, and Jeff Bagwell. ESPN has had a few pieces saying that 1st on the NL squad will be the best position represented. Moises Alou probably would have made the team at the end of May, with Sosa on the DL for sneezing, and Alou red-hot. However, Moises jumped on the grenade for the rest of the team and took the full helping of June Swoon for himself, sparing the rest of the team. "Moisture" Alou batted .192 with a .263 OBP and .375 SLG in June. Despite the lowered averages however, Alou's home run, runs, and RBI production didn't tail off too badly. Alou hit 7 HR in April, 6 in May, and 5 in June. Anyhow, with a weak finish in June, Alou won't make the team, because the Cubs won't get two marginal All-Star picks in the same outfield. (Sorry Sammy, but a month on the DL makes you a marginal All-Star pick.) Barrett is the most likely darkhorse candidate to be named the Cubs fourth All-Star. He is tied for second among NL catchers with 9 home runs, and his averages are all in the top ten. However, with Piazza (another strong NL firstbasemen) probably getting the starting job from the fans, Barrett would be competing with the Braves' Johnny Estrada, Jason Kendall, Paul Lo Duca, and Mike Lieberthal. If I were managing the All-Star game, I would rank the NL catchers: Estrada, Kendall, Lo Duca, Barrett, Pierzynski, and Lieberthal. Thus, Barrett would be the fourth or fifth catcher on an All-Star team with Piazza... not impossible, but not real likely. Matt Clement has the 7th best ERA among NL starting pitchers, but has been hurt by poor run support. With a 7-6 record, Jack McKeon will probably ignore his 5th place ranking in strikeouts, and the fact that he is only one of six (full-time, non-injured) NL starters with more than 1K/inning. Even if Clement is picked, he probably won't play in the game, unless it goes to extras. So lets all hope that Clement gets a three day weekend to go play with his son, and get some R&R, (and maybe sign a new contract with the Cubs...) Finally, despite impressive numbers, Hawkins won't get the nod because he has only had the closing job for one month, and because he probably doesn't deserve it. The Cubs won the rubber game of their Ugly, Ugly, Ugly series against Houston. The final score was 5-4, and the game ended in dramatic fashion with Sammy Sosa's 10th inning walk-off home run that landed out on Waveland Avenue. Mark Prior pitched his best outing yet, allowing 3 earned runs in 7.1 innings. However, 2 of those runs scored when Kent Mercker allowed a three run shot to Carlos Beltran during the 8th inning which tied the score at 4 per team. Beltran's home run was his second of the day, and fourth of the series. I think he likes Wrigley Field! :^)  If the Cubs had not played so poorly, I would have blamed Wednesday's loss on third base umpire Dana DeMuth. Tuesday, DeMuth was behind the plate and had an erratic strike zone (to be kind). Today, DeMuth was officiating at third and blew a huge call at third. Then, rather than accepting the fact that he was wrong, he ejected Sarge Matthews about two or three pitches later. The blown call cost the Cubs at least one, but probably two runs, and seemed to change the momentum in the Cubs 3-2 loss to the Astros. Matt Clement struggled with his control, walking 5 in 4.1 innings. He left in a jam, after pitching 104 pitches. However, Clement showed his pitching ability by only allowing a single run despite his struggles. That run was scored on a Craig Biggio lead-off home run in the first inning. In the top of the eighth inning, Corey Patterson threw out Morgan Ensberg at the plate to end the Astros half of the inning. After getting run over by Ensberg, Michael Barrett was the first batter in the Cubs half of the eighth and hit a home run to tie the game at two apiece. However, with two out in the ninth, LaTroy Hawkins surrendered a home run to Carlos Beltran, and the Cubs lost the game. Again, the defense was rather poor throughout the whole game. Posted by Byron at July 3, 2004 4:27 AM
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