Well it has certainly become difficult to find the motivation to write posts commenting on the cubs, as the current road trip has been an absolute disaster.  So instead of getting into the Cubs offense, and how depressing it is, I will instead report on my journeys…

I must say that I left San Diego in a much better mood than the Cubs.  What a great place to visit.  The ballpark is absolutely fantastic:   A great layout, good seats everywhere in the park,  $5 admission, just to get in the park, and it’s located just off the water.  In addition, the neighborhood around the ballpark is full of great nightlife and shopping that rivals anywhere I’ve been.  A+ San Diego…oh, and of course there is the zoo. 

So now it’s off to San Francisco with Barry Bonds pursuing the Babe.  Barry is a cheater and a pariah of the media, but what big star in the past 20 years has really done anything for major league baseball’s image?  There are a few, to be sure, but the biggest names have drifted into obscurity.  Can anyone tell me where the heck Sosa is right now? 

Of course I would love to be there to see Bond’s make history, but at the same time, I don’t want to see it happen against the Cubs.  If it happens after the Cubs wake up their bats, maybe I can handle it.  And what if 714 landed in my lap?  Would I throw it back?  Probably not, but it’s tempting.

Wow that was frustrating to watch last night.  10 hits, and the only run we got was a complete gift.  After the game I heard cubs fans complaining about this or that, most notably Jacque Jones getting doubled off second, but picking on one person or singling out one play is really a waste of time.  The bottom line is we have a bunch of guys that get on base and no one who wants to drive them in.  Our offense is obviously struggling due to the drop off at 1st between Lee and Walker, at least in the power and defensive department, but even more significant may be the drop off at second between Walker and Neifi.  Sure Perez did a great job stepping in last year when Nomar went down, but you can’t expect that this year…so far he has been atrocious.  I guess we just have to keep counting down the days until D Lee returns…

On a brighter note, the number of Cubs fans at the game last night was outstanding and being at the bar Sliders before the game made it feel almost like Cubby Bear Southwest…not quite, but close.

Finally, the "Look what I found" portion of the post:  It was good to see Miller, Pagan (not pictured) and Woody in the dugout.  Not quite back yet, but when they get there, it will hopefully help…especially Pagan, who I thought looked really promising before he went down…

Oh, and one more thing:  Pierre usually hits the ball twice as far…

As I write this, the Cubs are in the middle of the 4th straight day of terrible offense.  .500 on a homestand against mediocre teams?  Unacceptable.  There is plenty of room for improvement on the road however, as the Cubs head west and I begin my tour.  Tomorrow they will be playing across the street from my office, and with any luck, I will be there early to see some BP.  The Cubs got lucky in that they will not be facing the two best Diamondback pitchers (Vargas and Webb), which hopefully means they’ll be able to score some runs.  Here are a few things to look for:

The Stadium – The facilities are great, with a retractable roof and a pool in the outfield, it should be a fun place to watch a game, but attendance is TERRIBLE, and the fans aren’t nearly as fun as at Wrigley, but where are they?  Part of the problem has to do with the fact that there isn’t much to do around the stadium.  The other part may have to do with the fact that the Diamondbacks wear purple.  The stadium is large, with deep power allys, so don’t except to see a lot of homeruns.  Do expect to see at least 30% of the fans there wearing Cubs shirts.  It is incredible how many people down here are Midwest transplants.

AZ’s Offense – The diamondbacks don’t have a lot of speed on the base paths and their power is average, at best, through the middle of the lineup.  They do hit for average though, and as a result most of their wins come through putting together big innings.  I know Dusty has said it before, and it is cliche, but if you can avoid the big inning against the Diamondbacks, you will almost always win the game.

AZ’s Defense/Bullpen – Defensively, the Diamondbacks are very sound and will be entering play with the highest fielding percentage in the NL.  Their bullpen however, is not as impressive.  They have a very good, but not unhittable closer in Valverde and an otherwise mediocre bullpen, which, I kid you not, included Terry Mulholland until a few weeks ago.  I’m not sure what happened, but perhaps he started collecting social security and decided to hang up the towel. 

Starting Pitching – On Wednesday the Cubs will see Miguel Batista who was lit up in his last outing against the Giants.  He has been inconsistent and hopefully he will be the perfect medicine for the ailing Cubs offense.  With Maddux on the hill, this **** well better be a W.  Thursday’s pitching matchup should be more interesting however with curveballer Rich Hill making his 2006 debut against former Cub, Juan Cruz.  As you may recall, Cruz was a bit inconsistent with the Cubs, but had pretty good stuff including a nasty slider.  From what I recall though, when he got beat up, he got beat up bad.  Let’s hope that happens again. 

Quarky Thing to Look For – The number of left handed Diamondback hitters with wideopen stances.  I bet you can’t find another team in baseball with more.

I will be reporting back after each game, so try to stay awake Cubs fans.  I know the 8:40 start is going to be rough…

G