More Reasons to Root against That Assembly of Thugs & Convicts…

There's quite a bit of diversity of opinion among the commentators at this blog. On the one hand, Bill is cheering for the Sox, while I am actively praying they choke and tank away the series.

One of the reasons I despise the White Sox is because of their fan base.

Crass, minimally literate, and thuggish barely begins to describe the typical White Sox fan (yes I know I’m over-generalizing, but you go to the Cell with your family and after you’ve filled out the assault report with the Chicago PD, then come back and quibble with me).

In fact, these observations are such an established fact that I think it would be near impossible to argue reasonably against them. The poster child of White Sox nation is William Ligue Jr.



And it's not just the fans - the players themselves lack class. Commenting afterward on the infamous assault on Tom Gamboa by Ligue, one White Sox player offered these compassionate words:

One Chicago player, who asked to remain nameless (off the record...Frank Thomas) was quoted as saying, "What the [deleted expletive] do I care about some Royals coach? He probably deserved it. Tom Gamboa's never done nothing for Frank Thomas." Luckily, several Kansas City players cared enough to rush to Gamboa's aid, before security and police officials could take the trash out.

And don't even get me started on Mark Buehrle and his ridiculous whining about everything from the "lighting system" at Ameriquest Field to Greg Maddux allegedly throwing balls with illegal stuff on them.

Need more evidence?

John Williams was interviewing a man identified as "the president of the White Sox fan club" just after they had clinched the AL Pennant last Monday night on WGN radio and although Williams was asking this guy how it felt to finally reach the World Series and questions related to the Sox - the only responses this guy could manage were things like: "Cubs Suck!" and so on and so forth.

The entire interview (which was ostensibly about the Sox), he had nothing to say about his own team - his only concern was to reveal his utter contempt for the Cubs.

In any event, here’s even more evidence which speaks to the character of the louts who comprise the fan base for the MLB team on the South Side of Chicago (The Astros are only beginning to learn what Cubs fans have known for a long, long time):

Biggio's wife slapped at White Sox's ballpark
Guillen issues apology to Astro, condemns fan
By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle


Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen issued a public apology on behalf of his organization to Astros second baseman Craig Biggio, whose wife was slapped by a fan in the stands at U.S. Cellular Field.

"I feel like it's our fault, and I talked to (Biggio) about it, and he knows we're sorry," Guillen said. "He knows it was something we couldn't control. It wasn't like a fight. (The fan) hit the lady and left."

The incident occurred on Sunday night during Game 2 of the 101st World Series at Chicago's ballpark, where several members of the Astros' traveling party were harassed.

"He slapped her and ran," Biggio said of the fan who struck his wife, Patty. "She ran after him. My brother-in-law ended up putting him against the wall. That's pretty sorry."

Asked if Patty had been hurt, Biggio said his New Jersey-raised wife held her own.

"You don't slap a New Jersey girl and get away with it," he said. "That happens sometimes. It's terrible. It's over."

Added Guillen: "I wish she would have grabbed something and broken his head. If that happened to my family, it would have been a big problem. ... People should just go to the game and not bother people next to you, or you're not a White Sox fan or a baseball fan. Just enjoy the game. Drink if you want to drink; just respect the people next to you."

No criminal complaint was made against the fan, according to Chicago police.

Chicago defended

Biggio, manager Phil Garner, general manager Tim Purpura, catcher Brad Ausmus and several of the Astros were adamant that a few cowardly acts weren't indicative of the White Sox or Chicago fan base.

"The word was that the guy had been gouging her a little bit, pulling her hair and just doing some stupid things, things that are just not necessary," Garner said. "Have your fun. This (World Series) is a great thing for them and a great thing for us. Cheer and be as loud as you want to be and whatever else, but don't do that.

"I can't imagine Patty Biggio ever saying anything that would incite anything, either. I just can't imagine that. Even if she had, there's no excuse."

Despite the incident, Garner said he heard the Astros' traveling party had mostly positive experiences with the fans.

Nonetheless, Guillen did not hide his disgust at the treatment Patty Biggio received.

"On behalf of the White Sox organization, I just don't think we could control that," Guillen said. "But I think the family is a big part of my life. I think especially the kids. And when that happened in the ballpark, you feel you need to be supportive.

"When you're a man and you hit a lady, no matter whose wife it is or whose sister it is, you respect them. But it's something that's tough to control. It happened so quick."

More harassment

Although Patty Biggio was the only Astros wife who was slapped Sunday, she wasn't the only member of the traveling party who was harassed. Ausmus said his wife, Liz, endured some vulgar taunts and a few vulgar hand gestures throughout the night.

"Some of the treatment that the Astros families received at U.S. Cellular Field was a huge black eye for the city of Chicago," Ausmus said. "Now, I understand that's not indicative of all the people in the Chicago area, because I have friends and relatives there.

"I know the people of Chicago are overwhelmingly good people. But if I was from Chicago, I'd be embarrassed by the way the Astros' families were treated by the White Sox fans. My wife didn't get hit or anything, but people flipped her off and were screaming at her."

The attendance at U.S. Cellular Field was announced as 41,432 for Game 2, and the crowd was obviously overwhelmingly in support of the White Sox. With that in mind, Ausmus said there was little the Astros' family members could do in response. "You don't want to get caught in a situation where you're inflaming the masses," Ausmus said. "So I think as an Astros fan at a visiting park, you pretty much have to swallow it."

'Bring him to me'

Maybe so, but Guillen insinuated that he would have definitely defended anybody in the Astros' traveling party.

"I know the security in Chicago is doing a great job," Guillen said. "And when something happens so quick, you can't blame anybody. And the guy that did it, he should be brought to Biggio, and he's the one that can hopefully get him back.

"I told the police, 'Don't put him in jail. Bring him to me in the dugout.' But hopefully, that won't happen again."

Shortstop Adam Everett heard a little bit about the incident, but he knew more than enough to form his opinion.

"That's real weak," he said. "That's bad. I don't care where you're at, to hit a woman is not good.”

I will say this – one possible benefit of the White Sox winning the World Series: if they win there’s a better than average chance that they’ll burn down the South Side of Chicago.

At the least then it would remove what has thus far been a major black eye for the entire city.

The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend

I see a lot in the press about how Cubs fans must be going crazy that the White Sox are in the World Series and having great success so far. Apparently it is also a good thing that the Cardinals were eliminated, otherwise we would have all hung ourselves by our jock straps before we would have allowed ourselves to be subjected to a White Sox-Cardinals World Series.

I take a different view on this. While I would certainly prefer to see my Cubbies in the World Series, I can't think of a better alternative than having the White Sox there. You see, my enemy is the ownership of the Chicago National League Ball Club, Inc. Presumably the White Sox are also an enemy of the Cubs, which makes them my friend.

The way I see it, Tribune Company, Inc is going to continue to put mediocre crap on the field until something happens that shakes their perfect little world. The world where beer in the sunshine and a mediocre team is all that is required to fill the stands every day. If the SOX can do anything to embarrass these people in to getting serious about fielding a winner I am all for it. I don't know how many Northsiders would be tempted to turn their allegiances southward, but I pray for as many as possible. Not because I hate the Cubs, but because I love the Cubs and want to see a winner on the north side before I die. And I don't want this for myself, I'm sure that most Cubs fans out there in blog land are wondering, "will it happen before I die?".

My father was an usher at Woodruff field in Peoria as a young man, and watched Phil Cavaretta mature in the Three-I league before going on to be a star with the Cubs. He wanted to see those guys he watched growing up win a World Series. Never did. Dad passed away in 1996 without every having seen it.

My father-in-law was born in 1913. Having grown up in the farm country south of Chicago he became a Cubs fan at an early age. Like many many others, he moved to Peoria to work for Caterpillar just before WWII. Somehow or other though he got tangled up with a girl from Peoria who was a Cardinals fan. Despite that Cub-Cardinal marriage, it endured for forty-six years, with a lot of jibing about the Cardinals' success, and only death separated them. Dad went to his grave last year without having seen his beloved Cubs even get to a World Series for 60 seasons, much less win one.

The suffering has to end. So I say anything that will embarrass Cubs ownership into action is fine by me.

GO SOX!!!

Bold Men & Rash Vows…



For students of the Old Testament, you will remember the story of Jephthah and his rash vow to sacrifice whatever (or whomever) first came out of his door upon his return home after his battle with the Ammonites (cf. Judges 11:29-40). As it turned out, the first person to greet him upon his return was his only child – his daughter.

Now while there may, in fact, be a number of lessons that one may derive from this narrative – certainly the most transparent lesson is the principle of the foolishness of hasty and brash vows.

Which brings me to the point of this post…

Back on Saturday, June 4th of this year, Red States Randy (our resident Cardinals fan at this blog of the truly cursed) made the following comments, prediction, and yes…vow:

As I said earlier Lee is doing awesome, if not for him this race in the NL Central would be over already but I still take Albert any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. Albert simply is the best player in the game bar none. Lee is off to a great start, no question, but let's see what the stats look like in August and September and after the season. In fact it won't surprise me one bit if Albert doesn't out do Lee in all 3 triple crown stats before the seasons end. In fact I'll guarantee it. In fact if Lee beats Pujols in AVG., HR, or RBI the next time I am home in P-town I will wear a Cubs hat to church to be laughed at by my friend and fellow poster Chris. And if Derek Lee wins the triple crown this season, well I will throw in 2 tickets for all 3 of my fellow posters on this blog to any Cubs game they want to go to. Mark it down today June 4th, you heard me say it. [emphasis added]

And there you have it.

Red States Randy confidently predicted that Albert Pujols would finish ahead of Lee in every single one of the triple crown stats - he even guaranteed it. In fact, he was so confident of this, he vowed that if Lee even won one of the categories, he would wear a Cubs hat to church and graciously give me the opportunity to laugh at him while he was wearing it.

Now, unfortunately, Derrek Lee let Bill, Camden, and I down by not actually winning the triple crown (deadbeat!) as it would have entailed 2 tickets for each of us to the game of our choice (and I think I would have picked tickets to the eventual(?) game when the Cubs finally make it to the World Series - Randy is a pretty resourceful chap and I would have liked to have given him the opportunity to put that resourcefulness to good use).

Be that as it may, there is still satisfaction to be had with regard to the final respective positions of Messrs. Pujols and Lee in the triple crown.

Here are the final triple crown stats for Fat Albert and Derrek Lee:

Lee (.335 Avg [1st]; 46 HR [2nd]; 107 RBI [17th])
Pujols (.330 Avg [2nd]; 41 HR [3rd]; 117 RBI [2nd])

So not only did Lee beat Pujols in one of the triple crown categories, but in two of the three (and if he had even the semblance of a team around him he would have finished higher in RBI’s as well).

So there you have it. Randy, my friend, that sound of the bells you now hear - they are tolling for you.

I have the perfect Cubs hat for you to wear. It is a bright blue and white adjustable hat and it has a large and gaudy “C” on the side with a bear cub marching through it and onward to glorious…

Well, marching through it and onward to somewhere.




For the rest of you, I will take a picture of this momentous event with my digital camera and then post it for everyone else to see and enjoy.

And Randy: thank-you, for giving me something baseball related to truly enjoy now that the Cubs season is (mercifully) over.

Linguistic Profile

Well there's not much to talk about from the Cubs perspective (and God forbid we even discuss the possible White Sox/Cardinals world series).

So I happened upon this linguistic profile, which interested me since I speak in public on a regular basis. Here are my results, how would "ya'all" do?

:-)

Your Linguistic Profile:

80% General American English

10% Dixie

5% Midwestern

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Yankee

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Vindication from Last Year's Predictions...

I was perusing some of our archives to determine how accurately our forecasts for this year turned out, and I came across our Roundtable questions here, and here.

With the Cubs finishing fourth in the division, my extreme pre-season skepticism about this team has been fully vindicated. Here are a few of the prescient opinions offered before a pitch was ever thrown this season:

On January 30th, I made the following comments with regard to assigning a grade to the off-season moves made by the Cubs:

1) What grade would you assign to the Off-season moves of the three teams most people project to contend in the NL Central this year (Cubs, Cards, Astros) and why?

CHRIS:

CUBS: (C-) I have to agree with Graham from A Cub Fan Rants, and so I assign the Cubs a grade of C-. Signing Nomar was key of course and should be regarded as an obvious upgrade from the unrighteous Gonzalez/Martinez/Ordonez/Macias platoon that Dusty had going last year. Having Walker for the full year should be an improvement as well at 2nd. However, lest we forget, this is a team that finished third in the central last year and the blame for this cannot be squarely laid on the injury bug’s shoulders. Offensive production was the absolute number one problem of this team (exhibit A: Matt Clement’s 3.68 ERA coupled with his 9-13 record; Exhibit B: a frustrating propensity to lose games where the opponent scored more than 4 runs as pointed out so well by Steve Stone; Exhibit C: a dismal record in 1-run games). As most of you know who actually watched or listened to the games last season, it seemed as if we were often hopelessly lost in a dry and desolate desert looking desperately for some oasis of relief in the form of some walks, hits, and advanced runners – phenomena that were sadly absent for much of the season. So while the addition of Nomar for the entire season (assuming he stays healthy) is an obvious plus, the loss of the team’s leading RBI, run, and HR leader has yet to be adequately filled. This was a team that needed to be looking to upgrade offensively as the number #1 off season priority – and not only have they not upgraded, they may even have slightly regressed in this category. Added to all of this is the fact that the team’s second greatest weakness (i.e., a questionable bullpen) has not been addressed either. With no clear closer or consistently capable middle or late relievers, no offensive upgrades, and the loss of the #1 RBI, run, and HR producer - this is a team that looks like a slightly worse version of last year’s squad! Unless Hendry goes out and does what he is supposed to do (i.e., upgrade offensively by going after Magg$) this team gets a C- for a lackluster off-season. HOWEVER – I wrote all of this before the Sosa trade – and if the Cubs don’t spin off these prospects they acquired for Sosa (and they’ll probably have to include some others) for a big bat like Aubrey Huff - or unless they sign Magglio – they get an F! If they actually do the unthinkable and pick up Jeromy Burnitz they get an F-! I am disgusted with this trade as it now stands - and they better have something else in the works or this offseason will have gone from being merely sub-standard to an absolute disaster!

From that same post:

4) Who will be the closer for 2005?

CHRIS: Predicting Baker’s moves is as much of a science as reading tea leaves. I’d like to see what Dempster has or anyone other than Hawkins actually. Hawkins is an excellent set-up man (he’s probably the best pitcher in the bullpen), but when you stick him in the closers role you not only lose a top tier set-up man, but you get a moderately bad closer to boot – no thank you. Let’s see what Dempster can do, or try Leicester for heavens sake. If Borowski got back on the juice (this is a suspicion of mine) and can get his fastball to crack 90 MPH again - stick him back in there – otherwise I don’t want him anywhere near the mound in tight games. Heck, Id even be willing to give the Farns a shot during Spring Training and if he excels (which would absolutely shock me) - give him the job. However, my pessimism concerning Baker leads me to suspect that Hawkins will fill the role once again and, therefore, not only will we not have a closer, but we will struggle in middle and late relief as well.

And then finally, these comments from February 7th, which turned out to be spot-on:

And in case you missed it - Bill has a very insightful comparison to what has happened to the Cubs from 2003-2005 and what happened to them in 1969-1971. You should definitely check it out.

I think his analysis is spot-on and it portends ominously for this current Cubs lineup. As it currently stands - I believe that this team will finish third in the division (and that's assuming no injuries).

Now, perhaps that dire prediction places me in Al Yellon's "screamer" category - which is fine, I suppose. If the alternative is coming across as a paid shill for the Tribune, then I'll take the "screamer" label any day.

If you want to live in fantasy land, there are blogs that will cater to your desire for delusions.

If you want reality - you know where to come.

Tracy out as Dodgers Manager...

Jim Tracy and the Los Angeles Dodgers parted ways today, which is especially interesting in light of the rumors earlier this year that Dusty Baker was interested in the L.A. job.

I would love to see Baker go.

Worst Possible Scenario...

Well the Cubs season ended as one might expect - with a loss and with the Cubs once again proving themselves to be an utterly impotent team unable to make any impact with regard to the post-season.

As the post-season unfolds Cubs fans are faced with the unhappy prospect that the wretched White Sox could end up facing the Cardinals in the World Series - and I cannot imagine a scenario that would be worse from a Cubs fan perspective.

Our season is done, and so the only thing any of us have to hope for now is the White Sox and Cardinals to share in our misery. I'm pulling for the Braves in the National League and the Angels in the AL.

What about the Cubs prospects for next year? They have major problems - they need another quality starter (Greg Maddux is now nothing better than a serviceable #5 starter), they need a right and center fielder, and the bullpen needs middle and late relief help.

Apart from that - everything is peachy. If this team doesn't make significant moves in the off-season - they will fight for 3rd place again while they watch the pitching window for this current staff close for good.

Remember - this page predicted that there was major cause for alarm with regard to this team as it was constructed before the season ever began.

Next year promises to be even more uncertain unless Hendry makes significant moves (like the Mets did last year - a team that was, unlike the Cubs, in the midst of the playoff hunt until very late in the year).