Random Musings

Well it's the beginning of the season and the team that has been picked by a majority of sports analysts to win the world series is sitting in last place, while the Detroit Tigers, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and the Cincinnati Reds are in first place in their respective divisions! Maybe blowing up that ball wasn't such a great idea after all - it seems to have had a cascade effect and its realigned everyone's mojo so that we're now living in a bizzaro world.

Concerning the bartman debacle - apparently the bartman seat was empty for the home opener, although it appears that a certain mystique is developing around it - with some people allegedly making a "pilgrimage" to it. I think if anyone looks closely enough you might just barely be able to see the vague outline of a laughing billy goat in the grains of the seat - either that or an Achilles heel. Lester Van Zandt left us this pearl of wisdom after the Cubs loss in their home opener:

''They should have blown the seat up with the ball,"

Brilliant - Maybe they should have blown up Bartman himself with the ball and the seat - you ever think of that Lester?

On another note - the Cubs offense is just pathetic - same old stuff as the 2003 Cubs so far, which is frustrating to say the least. I can also say that I am now officially peeved about the Juan Cruz/Andy Pratt trade! I don't care how underachieving Cruz was - Pratt is worse than Alfonseca. At least Alfonseca could (occasionally) find the plate. I am hoping Hendry does the right thing and gives Pratt a ticket to Iowa soon. And does anyone else find it interesting that everyone was saying how the Mark Prior absence wasn't that significant because the Cubs had an easy opening schedule against sub standard teams (Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Mets, Colorado, San Diego)? Well, in case any body forgot, these are still major league ball clubs, and there's a reason they still play the games instead of just chalking up the win for the better team on paper.

And on Prior - I am also now officially worried. Call me chicken little if you will, but something is rotten in denmark, and I have a suspicion something is being withheld from us. I'll admit right now that I'm a pessimist, but I usually believe that where's there's smoke - there probably is fire - especially when the smoke is coming from a reputable news outlet. Let me offer a dire prediction that I hope will not come true - Mark Prior will not pitch in a single game this year. Add the word "Achilles" to the growing Cub curses vocabulary.

I wish I could say I'm confident about Clement on Wednesday, but he has just been pitiful so far. I know he's inconsistent, so maybe he'll kick in for this win and give us a pick up so we can get back to .500. As it stands now there's only two Cubs pitchers that inspire any sort of confidence - Woody and Zambrano. And with our anemic offense, even these guys aren't shoe-ins for a win.

Thank goodness its a long season!