So news has finally came out that former Chicago Cub player Sammy Sosa tested positive for performance enhancing drugs back in 2003. Sosa’s name was one of 104 that were on the list back in 03 that Major League Baseball was aware of. The 2003 test was the first such test conducted by Major League Baseball. Under guidelines agreed upon with the players union, the test results were to remain anonymous but would lead to testing with penalties the next year if more than 5 percent of the results were positive.
This really comes as no surprise to most people that paid attention to Sosa when he was with the Cubs. Going from 36 home runs in 1996 to hitting 66 bombs in 1998, you knew something was up. You could tell how big Sammy was getting. It wasn’t just his upper or lower body, it was his entire body!
Sammy was a fan favorite in Chicago and is still looked up on by a lot of fans in his home country of the Dominican Republic. Alfonso Soriano said that Sosa is still and will always be a hero to the kids in the Dominican. Nothing will change that.
No way Sosa gets in the Hall of Fame after this report in my opinion. Sure it’s just a report and until Major League Baseball releases the entire list of 104 we will never know if it is 100% true, but most people figure it is true and I just don’t see him going in to the HOF.
What are your thoughts on the report?
Well I’m back from Denver finally and it doesn’t look like I missed much as the Cubs lost the three game series to the Minnesota Twins. Bone headed mental mistakes and a terrible offense did the Cubs in and ultimately the team ended up firing hitting coach Gerald Perry Sunday’s game. Something had to happen and it’s not like management would just release a player and eat the contract, instead it was a coach that got canned.
I thought Perry did an alright job with the team. The 08 team was great at the plate but this year they just haven’t got hot and stayed hot for a 10 game stretch. There is no question in mind that Perry will be on another major league roster next year. I hope him the best in the future.
To replace Perry, Von Joshua was called up from Triple A Iowa to take over at hitting coach. Joshua, a former big league outfielder who was in his fourth year as the Triple-A Iowa hitting coach, will be in uniform Tuesday for the opener of the Cubs’ Interleague series against the White Sox.
So let’s see if the players will react to Joshua and start hitting the ball better. Hopefully Milton Bradley and Alfonso Soriano can start to make better contact and drive the ball like they should be doing. Who knows though the way things have been going as of late. We will see come Tuesday night when the crosstown White Sox come to Wrigley Field.
- Cliff
For the second straight game, the Cubs we beaten by the Astros by the score of 2-1. And for the second straight game, it was Astos player Geoff Blum knocking in the winning run late in the game. On Thursday afternoon, Blum knocked a Jose Ascanio pitch down the first base line to knock in Lance Berkman for the winning run in the 13th inning. Just another one of those games where the offense did not sure up.
Once again, just like on Wednesday, the Cubs only run in the game came from a solo home run. It was Derrek Lee going deep in the ninth inning to tie the game up but it wouldn’t matter in the end. The players had plenty of chances to knock in runs but they could just not come up with the big hit to score a run or two. This offense could really use Aramis Ramirez in the lineup.
Ryan Dempster allowed just one run over his seven innings. Besides a rbi sac fly off the bat of Carlos Lee in the first inning, Dempster was great on the mound. It’s too bad he had to settle for a no decision because the offense is sticking it up. Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg both threw two innings without allowing a run. With you get a starting performance and four shutout innings from you bullpen late in the game, you need to win the game no matter what.
The Cubs couldn’t take advantage of a Brewers loss and will not move up in the standings. They will fly back to Chicago where they will have a weekend series with the Minnesota Twins. I will be out of town the next three days so won’t be able to blog or watch much of the games. I will be in attendance at the Rockies vs Mariners game tomorrow night however so atleast I will be watching some baseball. Hopefully the Cubs can win the series against the Twins while I’m away!
- Cliff
The Cubs were looking to win their third straight game and things looked good with Carlos Zambrano on the mound for them. However, the offense never showed up and the Astros would end up scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to win by the score of 2-1. This loss completely goes on the offense who played like crap.
The one run that the Cubs did manage to get came off the bat of Geovany Soto who hit a solo home run to left field off of Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez. It was Soto’s second home run in four games so hopefully he is seeing the ball better and will heat up and get out of his slump at the plate.
The terrible side of the offense once again was Milton Bradley. Bradley has been stinking it up and is 1 for 9 in the series so far. On Wednesday night, he left runners on base everytime he came to the plate. It’s time for Milton to start hitting and earning his pay check. If not, Bradley is going to be a big time free agent bust.
Ok, enough with the negative talk as it was actually a game the Cubs should have won. The starting pitching continues to be awesome. This time it was “El Toro” Carlos Zambrano who got the start and allowed just one run in eight innings. The one blunder in the game for Big Z was in the seventh inning when the Astros scored their first run on a fielders choice. Zambrano’s pitch count was at 104 when Lou decided to pull him from the game and bring in Angel Guzman to pitch the ninth inning. In the post game interview, Zambrano was asked if he could have went back out there for the ninth inning and he replied:
“If I go another inning and I give up two runs, it’s Lou’s fault and ‘Why did Lou let him go in the ninth?’” Zambrano said. “It was good — 104 pitches, eight innings, let the bullpen do their job. I did my job. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
As you know, Guzman would end up giving up the winning run in the ninth inning when the bases were loaded and Geoff Blum hit a single to center field to score Miguel Tejada. Tough inning for Guzman who left some pitches up over the plate that the Astros took advantage of.
The rubber game of the series will be played Thursday afternoon and the Cubs will send Ryan Dempster to the mound. I like the teams chances of winning and taking two out of three against the Astros in their place. What do you think?
- Cliff
