Thoughts on the Chicago Cubs and other topics in baseball. E-mail Tom at: tomsmithcubs@ hotmail.com

 
THURSDAY'S GAME AT HOUSTON: Steve Smyth tried nibbling the plate in the first inning and when that did not work tried the middle of the plate and got hammered lasting only 1/3 of an inning while giving up six earned runs. The offense was missing just as it was on Wednesday night. Fred McGriff was the lone bright spot with a solo home run.

FLASH TO HOUSTON: Before the game the Cubs sent Tom "Flash" Gordon to the Houston Astros for minor leaguer Russ Rohlicek. The Cubs will also get two more minor leaguers if the season is not ended by a strike. This is a trade that has nothing but upside for the Cubs. Gordon is a free agent at the end of the year and we get a young pitcher who is considered a prospect.

CUP OF JOE: It does not look like Joe Carter will be heading back to Toronto after getting let go by the Cubs. In other words, Joe Carter's broadcasting days appear to be over. So that means Joe Carter only has the rest of this season to misconfuse baseball fans with his English, geography, and lack of baseball knowledge. Unfortunately we are the ones who will have to listen to him.
posted by Thomas at 7:11 AM

 
TUESDAY'S GAME AT HOUSTON: The Cubs and Astros played a wild, crazy game in Houston on Tuesday night with the Cubs winning 14-12. Todd Hundley, yes really, Todd Hundley had a very good game at the plate. The Cubs had a 13-7 lead but tried to blow the lead but did not. In the end when you see a score that read Chicago 14, Houston 12 it sounds like a Bears-Texans game not a Cubs-Astros game but on second thought a 14-12 game would be a little high for the Bears and Texans whereas a 14-12 game at Enron/Astros/Minute Maid Park is not that far fetched.

MEL ROJAS AWARD: The Mel Rojas Award for worst performance by a Cubs relief pitcher in Tuesday night's game to Kyle Farnsworth. Farnsworth pitched 1 1/3 innings, gave up 4 earned runs, and 4 hits including a home run.
posted by Thomas at 5:04 PM

 
BACK TO THE STONE AGE: The Chicago Cubs have announced that Steve Stone will return to the Cubs broadcast booth in 2003. Stone will work all WGN, WCIU, and Fox Sports Net Chicago games. This is about the only good news for Cubs fans this season. Not only do we get rid of Joe Carter and Dave Otto but we get Steve Stone back! Yahoo!!!!! Some bad news though, Chip stays.
posted by Thomas at 4:58 PM

 
SUNDAY'S GAME VS. ARIZONA: Matt Clement struggled a little bit in the first inning walking two and hitting a batter to load the bases which was reminiscent of earlier in his career with San Diego and Florida. Alex Gonzalez then booted what should have been an inning ending double play ball allowing a run to score. Clement settled down and pitched well through the fifth inning. The Cubs got a bad break in the sixth when Sammy Sosa and Mark Bellhorn collided on a pop fly that wound up being an inside the park home run. The Cubs tied it up in the eighth as Bill Mueller scored on Fred McGriff's sacrifice fly. Then in the bottom of the ninth Alex Gonzalez singled, stole second, and scored on Joe Girardi's base hit to give the Cubs a 3-2 win.
posted by Thomas at 4:46 PM