| I love the Cubs. Originally, I was going to write this article before they were eliminated from the playoffs, but it doesn't matter. I still love them just as much. The whole team worked together to put together the best season that I can remember. I think that if you asked most Chicagoans what they thought the Cubs would do at the begining of the season, they would have looked at you and said, "They're gonna suck." But they would have been wrong. They came out and showed teams they were going to be in it, and each player contributed in one way or another. The Cubs have the best starters in all of baseball. Wood, Prior, and Zambrano were unbelievable during the regular season. When Clement was on, he was unhittable. Estes came in and pitched a key game for us against the Reds late in the season that we had to win. The bullpen is the only place that could us a little work. Remlinger and Farnsy are golden. As for the rest, they all did their part during the regular season to help us a long, evfen though they may have faltered in the playoffs. Then there's Joe Borowski. This guy went from pitching in the Mexican leagues to take the roll of our closer, and dominated. When you heard names like Gange or Smoltz, during the season, you should have heard the name Borowski right along with them. Picking up Damien Miller and Paul Bako was huge. In my opinion it was the best move of the off season. The catching position was so weak last season. Todd Hundley was the biggest waste of money ever, but no one could have guessed that he was going to suck that bad. Girardi wasn't bad behind the plate, but where's the offense? I know what your saying, Miller and Bako didn't hit that well either. The difference was that you knew they could hit, even if they only hit a little over .200. Plus they can throw people out. Just ask Juan Pierre. At first base there is a little dilemma. You only need two of them. Who do you let go? I think you almost have to keep Simon. He can hit, he can field, and he's in his prime. Choi or Karros? I'd hate to see either of them go. They each have their pros and cons. Hee Sop played well until he bumped his head, but how will he do in his sophmore season. With Karros you know that you're getting a decent fielder and a strong hitter, but he's not getting any younger. EIther way they're all good options, and they'll play hard for us. I don't need to talk about middle infield, because they're awesome. No pair in baseball can turn two better than Grudzy and Gonzo. Their defense is amazing. Gonzo needs to chillax at the plate and keep his shoulders closed. He did that in the playoffs and hit really well. Grudzy hit over .300 in the regular season, so that's all I need to say about him. Aramus Ramierez is the kind of 3rd baseman that would make Ron Santo shed a tear. He came over and was a little shakey defensively, but he worked out the kinks. I'm not saying he's there, but he's still young. His bat was a great addition to the line up. He's going to be a great one. |
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| Danimal's Top Ten Things of whenever I feel like it. |
| Danimal's Bottom Ten Things of whenever I feel like it. |
| 1) Stupid Water bill 2) 9am class 3) The city of St. Louis 4) Losing my cell phone 5) Full Screen Movies 6) Chinesse Checkers 7) No more Rob 8) Stinky fools 9) The whole concept of currency 10) Not knowing Kung Fu |
| "Things of the Week" was last updated on 1/14/04 |
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| Danimal's Stuff "This site is finally cool" |
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| Updated 6/1/03 |
| Updated 5/30/03 |
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| The Totally Random Rant This week's subject: Why I love the Cubs |
| 1) The Mars Volta "De-loused in the Comatorium 2) NOFX "War on Errorism" 3) Outkast "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" 4) Minus the Bear "Highly Refined Pirates" 5) Radiohead "OK Computer" 6) Blow "The Movie Soundtrack" 7) at.the.drive.in. "Relationship of Command" 8) CCR (Anything) 9) Tom Petty (Anything) 10) Radio Head "Hail to the Thief" |
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| Top Ten Bands I'm Listening to... |
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| I don't have a whole lot to say about our outfield. Alou is a passionate player; the kind who has competition in their blood. He's good all the way around. I personally like Sammy Sosa. I know that some people don't think he's that great, but look at the statsMultiple consecutive seasons with 40+ hr, 100+ RBI's and an avg. that's been around .300 every year. He's not the best clutch hitter, but he gets the job done, and I wouldn't want anyone else in right field. There's another problem with center field. What do you do with Lofton. I think we all know that Lofton made the difference for this team. I hope we can keep him around as a bench player. I think that Cory Patterson is definitely the future for the Cubs. I would also like to thank Martinez, Cruz, Goodwin, Glanville, Ojeda, Womack, Wellmeyer, and anyone else I may have forgotten. Sorry. The most important person in all of this though is Dusty Baker. In Dusty we Trusty. That's all I have to say. |