Game 10---Padres 4 Cubs 3

Product---Jumbo hot dogs
Temperature---48 degrees, cloudy

Of all the players on the Cubs these days, the one I trusted more then all the others was Ryan Dempster. Yes, he’s Canadian, and he only plays baseball because he feels he’s not ready yet to make a career out of his stand-up comedy. But he was still our most constant pitcher and on track to have the best season of any relief pitcher in Cub history. Well what he did today lost my truest of him, and by the way Ryan, it wasn’t funny. His season stats before today: 17 innings pitched, nine hits allowed, three earned runs, five walks, 15 K’s, seven saves and no blown chances. Now his line reads: 18 innings, 12 hits allowed, six earned runs, five walks, 16 K’s, seven saves and one blown.
I’m not saying he lost my faith in him because he blew a save, because there’s no closer in baseball that won’t blow a game or two throughout the entire season. But of all the games to lose, why today? We needed this. When a team has lost 12 of 14 games in May, any winnable game must be finished. So what does Ryan do when he comes in the ninth with a 3-1 lead? Single, single, home run. Oh sure, he follows that up with three strait outs. Thanks a lot buddy. Maddux pitched great, we actually scored multiple runs, and even mother nature smiled on us by not providing Wrigley with a second consecutive day of rain. And it was all lost. It gonna be another long year on the North Side.

Observations:
Before the game, I checked weather.com to see what it was going to be like at the park today. They reported 47 degrees and a 70% chance of precipitation. Fortunately they were wrong, and no water fell from the sky today…All young pitchers should be forced to sit down and study today’s tape of Greg Maddux. For all those guys who say strikeouts are everything, please pay attention. Maddux got through the first two innings on a combined 16 pitches, and that includes a double by Mike Cameron in the first. Plus he stole a base before the pitcher even threw to home…Business was better today, but still not great. I did three and a half loads of jumbos, which gives me $70 in commission. Tips were average as well, as that accounted for an extra $61.75…I saw Bears punter Brad Maynard in the stands, but he didn’t buy a dog from me…Kerry Wood is supposed to come back on Wednesday night. It will be nice to see him make a couple of starts before he gets injured again…I think the Padres challenge the Seattle Seahawks and Charlotte Bobcats for the ugliest uniforms in professional sports…The Cubs won the first three games I vended. (The sweep of St. Louis) Since then they are winless (0-7). Last year they were 24-20 when I was in the house, so I guess my good luck has run out…Happy mothers day!