Day: June 1, 2006

Game 52: Reds 3 – Cubs 2

box Reds bounch back to 29-24 Cubs drop to 20-32, but at least they won a series! POTG: SP Z! (6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K, QS, one post game press conference with people desperate to find players turning on Dusty made too much of, I think) Runner up: RF Jacque … Continue reading “Game 52: Reds 3 – Cubs 2”

box
Reds bounch back to 29-24
Cubs drop to 20-32, but at least they won a series!

POTG: SP Z! (6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K, QS, one post game press conference with people desperate to find players turning on Dusty made too much of, I think)

Runner up: RF Jacque Jones (HR, 2 RBI), CF Juan Pierre (2H)

They really ought not to get killed by Eric Milton like that. The wind was blowing in, and that’s what Milton needs, but…0 walks taken, 4 given out. Walker, Murton, Jones, and Cedeno didn’t leave a single base runner on, but that’s because they didn’t have much to work with directly in front of them. Pierre actually got hits, but was too spaced out from the other ones who did. RAM’s gotta start batting 6th again till he starts hitting. He’s just a dead out in the middle of innings, and it’s June – you can’t expect him just to flip it on at any moment.

Day off or not, the Cubs bullpen really could use a complete game, and they’ve got no one the staff who can do it right now.

If the Cubs win 2 of 3 from here on it, that’ll get them 87 wins and they’ll be in the hunt at the end. I’d be thrilled with that.

I like the Nevin/Hairston trade, probably more than you do, because I haven’t seem anyone enthused about it at all and I’m a little tiny bit enthused. The team needs more power (especially when the Barrett suspension finally is set), the bench needs a decent right hand bat, and this is a little more right handed power in exchange for a player who probably would’ve been released by the All-Star break. Nevin’s not blocking anyone (or they would’ve called them up already), and if he’s able to play right field at all, he’s the platoon partner Jacque needs (though the HRs have been nice.) If he’s not hitting by the time everyone gets back, they can let him go and move on.

And if he does, and he gets picked up elsewhere, that’ll be confusing on every second Friday. He’s now being paid by the Padres, the Rangers and the Cubs for one season of baseball.

It IS funny that the type of guy we traded for Hairston (past his prime power hitter) is basically the same guy we’re getting for him, with a lot less cash and a lot less drama.

I think, after the Womack signing and this trade, our optimum 25 man roster changes to…

CA Michael Barrett	CA Henry Blanco
1B Derek Lee		1B John Mabry
2B Todd Walker		UT Tony Womack
SS Ronny Cedeno		UT Neifi Perez
3B Aramis Ramirez	PH Phil Nevin
LF Matt Murton		OF Angel Guzman (or Bynum)
CF Juan Pierre
RF Jacque Jones

SP Z!			RP Kerry Wood
SP Greg Maddux		RP Scott Eyre
SP Mark Prior		RP Bob Howry
SP Sean Marshall	RP Scott Williamson
SP Wade Miller		RP Will Ohman
CL Ryan Dempster

Or something like that. The odd man out* would seem to be Glendon Rusch. Even if you’ve got a slightly different lineup, I think you’ve gotta believe tomorrow

Day 4: 06/01

A: Taguchi b Fuego (Fuego’s basically eliminated by that loss, but that was to be expected. Stuart says he’s made a good impression, and that had to be his true goal for this tournament. Taguchi needs to beat 2 of Liger, Samurai, Jado and Minoru to get to 8 – not impossible, but tough.) A: … Continue reading “Day 4: 06/01”

A: Taguchi b Fuego (Fuego’s basically eliminated by that loss, but that was to be expected. Stuart says he’s made a good impression, and that had to be his true goal for this tournament. Taguchi needs to beat 2 of Liger, Samurai, Jado and Minoru to get to 8 – not impossible, but tough.)
A: Minoru b Sangre (if he’s all right, this should be the start of a Minoru run; he should beat Jado and is a favorite over Taguchi, and that’d give him 6 points going into his final match with Samurai. Sangre’s gotta beat Samurai or Liger in the next two to have an above expectations tournament)
B: BT4 b Goto (now that Tiger’s won the first two – as he should’ve – he’s got the spotlight match versus TM4. This isn’t just important in their feud, but critical in BT4’s tournament: should he lose, he’ll have to grab 4 points Gedo, Kanemoto and Inoue; Goto’s first three matches have been/will be against the top 3 in the block, and his results show it.)
B: Kanemoto b GENTARO (GENTARO lasted longer than you might think; has a few days to think about it; Kanemoto can’t afford a slip against Goto.)

updated chart

Next matches are 06/02
A: Jado vs Fuego (this is not unpossible for Fuego, but he should be dancing in the streets if he wins)
A: Liger vs Taguchi (how far can Taguchi take him?)
B: Koji vs Goto (Koji squash)
B: TM4 vs BT4 (turning point for Block B)

I think I’ve got a pretty good feel for Block A. It seems like it’ll come down to 2 of Liger, Minoru, and Samurai, with the 06/16 Liger/Samurai match determining it. Block B is more of a mystery, because there’s at least 4 people who are in shape to move.

If Tiger Mask wins, he’s pretty much clinched his spot – he’s got very winnable matches with Goto and GENTARO, and should be able to beat one of Koji/Inoue to get to 10 – and that’d leave one spot for three people. The scheduling and what wasn’t able to happen last year make same think we’re building to Inoue over BT4 on the 06/16 for the second spot, but I don’t know enough to discount Kanemoto from sneaking thru.

And all off this is out the window should BT4 win. We’ll at least have a much clear picture when that one’s thru.