Game 8---Pirates 8 Cubs 0

Product---Jumbo Hot Dogs
Temperature---81 degrees, sunny
(Sorry I forgot to post yesterday. I got home from the game, had dinner, went to class, then watched the Bulls game and never got around to writing. It won’t happen again, I promise.)

Remember a week or so ago when I claimed that there were three keys to the Cubs being successful? (See April 24 post). Lets see how the boys in blue have been doing in following my recommendations.

1--- Juan Pierre and Aramis Ramirez have to get it going.
In the last ten games, Pierre is hitting 9 for 38 (.236) with eight runs scored and two stolen bases. Ramirez is doing even worse, with an average of .214, two homers and five R’sBI. The Cubs record in those games: 5-5. While that record isn’t so bad compared to those statistics, it shows that the Cubs, with a little bit more help from these two former All-Stars, are not as far out of first as it would appear. I expect Pierre to step it up soon, and lets hope Aramis can do the same.

2--- Somebody has to emerge as a number two starter.
23-year-old lefty Sean Marshall is 2-0 (The Cubs are 5-0 in games he starts), with a 3.45 ERA, 20 strikeouts and only eight walks. Still, he is only a rookie. And the fact that he is the third most experienced pitcher in our rotation scares me. The Cubs called up Rich Hill, who I think will be good, but he’s a rookie as well. Carlos Zambrano has been horrible in 2006, and as the perceived ace of this staff, he’s got to pick it up. The fifth spot in the rotation, weather it’s Glendon Rusch, Jerome Williams or Ángel Guzmán, has been a disaster. I guess we have to assume that Greg Maddux will keep pitching at his Cy Young level, hope that Marshall keeps it up, wait until Big Z starts to pitch well and pray that Kerry Wood and Mark Prior come back soon.

3---Win at least 75% of the home games in the next two months.
I realized after I wrote this, that even with a healthy DLee, winning three of every four home games would be extremely difficult. Still, this is what I wrote, so I have to stick to it. On the last home stand, the Cubs went 4-4, which would be OK if we were facing the Cardinals, Astros and Braves, but not good when we face the Marlins, Brewers and Pirates. Now the North Siders are taking a West Coast trip to Arizona, San Diego and San Francisco, and when they return back to Wrigley, the Padres and Washington Nationals will be opposing them. All of these games are winnable, but if I were a Giants fan and I saw the Cubs on the schedule, I’d call that a winnable game as well. Pitching will be the key to these series’.

Observations:
Yesterday was by far the nicest game, weather wise, of the season so far. The sun wasn’t too hot, the shade not too cold, so everybody was comfortable…Once again, a slow right field commissary limited my sales. I could have done four full loads, but when I went in after my third, the com told me they only had half-loads. So I did three and a half, which equals $70 in commission. Add in $64.25 in tips, and it was an average day at the old ballpark…I understand that the Cubs are trying to make a connection to other Chicago athletics institutions, but does DePaul women’s basketball coach Doug Bruno really count as a big enough celebrity to throw out the first pitch and sing the stretch?...Here’s one for the, ‘Kids, don’t try this at home’ category: Putting ketchup packets on metal container that has a flame underneath for a couple of hours will lead to the packet exploding and making your entire hot dog container smell like warm tomato soup…I still haven’t seen Ronnie ‘Woo Woo’ Wickers this years. Two theories: One, the Cubs and their fans realized that this man is the most annoying human being in the world, and the Cubs have a better chance of winning with him not in the park. Two: He’s dead and nobody has noticed.