No Place like First Place

Cubs Shortstop Ryan Theriot talks about the Cubs recent surge into first place.

Aramis Ramirez has retuned, and Milton Bradley has finally begun to hit the ball better. Alfonso Soriano has made the adjustment from leadoff man to Sixth man in the order, and the Cubs pitchers haven't missed a beat despite the fact that a moderate injury bug has forced Lou Piniella to make changes to his rotation.

The Cubs begin a four game series against The Astros tonight which will tell us a lot about the Cubs, who are finally starting to play good baseball.

Baseball Tonight Previews Sunday Night Baseball

Baseball Tonight previews Sunday night's Cardinals vs. Cubs matchup.

MLB Preview: Postseason

Which Team will win the 2008 World Series?

These are my picks for the 2008 MLB Season.
THIS SEASON
DIVISON WINNERS
NL EAST: NEW YORK METS
NL WEST: SAN DIEGO PADRES
NL CENTRAL: CHICAGO CUBS
AL EAST: BOSTON RED SOX
AL WEST: LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM
AL CENTRAL: DETROIT TIGERS
AL WILDCARD: NEW YORK YANKEES
NL WILDCARD: COLORADO ROCKIES

NL DIVISION SERIES
CHICAGO CUBS OVER SAN DIEGO PADRES
NEW YORK METS OVER COLORADO ROCKIES

AL DIVISION SERIES
DETROIT TIGERS OVER NEW YORK YANKEES
BOSTON RED SOX OVER LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM

NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
CHICAGO CUBS OVER NEW YORK METS

AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
DETROIT TIGERS OVER BOSTON RED SOX

2008 WORLD SERIES
CHICAGO CUBS OVER DETROIT TIGERS

MLB AWARDS
AL CY YOUNG: JOSH BECKETT
NL CY YOUNG: JOHAN SANTANA
NL MVP: CARLOS BELTRAN
AL MVP: MIGUEL CABRERA
NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: KOSUKE FUKUDOME
AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: CLAY BUCHOLZ
NL GOLD GLOVE: JOSE REYES
NL GOLD GLOVE: GREG MADDUX
NL GOLD GLOVE: ARAMIS RAMIREZ
AL GOLD GLOVE: DEREK JETER
AL GOLD GLOVE: CURTIS GRANDERSON
AL GOLD GLOVE: TORII HUNTER
AL ROLAIDS RELIEF MAN: JOHNATHAN PAPELBON
NL ROLAIDS RELIEF MAN: CARLOS MARMOL
AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: JIM LEYLAND
NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: LOU PINIELLA

MLB Preview: NL Central

The Cubs hope that Kosuke Fukudome lives up to his Japanese Billing.

The National League Central was up in the air for almost the whole season. The Cubs ended up winning the division, but did squat in the playoffs, getting swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS. The Cubs will have a tough road if they want to repeat. The Race for the NL Central will be even tougher for the Cubs than Last Season. They start the season and end the season against Milwaukee. That final weekend of the regular season may be when we find out who will win the NL Central.

CHICAGO CUBS
The Cubs went on a $300 Million Shopping Spree in 2007 to improve what was the worst team in Major League Baseball Last Season. The team signed Alfonso Soriano to the richest contract in Cubs history, and he produced by hitting 33 homeruns, without hitting a single homerun in April. Expect Soriano to not get the "Big Contract Jitters" he may have had his first month.

Lou Piniella got to know his players in 2007, and once he knew what he had, he made changes. Out was Catcher Michael Barrett and Shortstop Caesar Izturis. In was Geovanny Soto and Ryan Theriot. The Cubs turned it on that final month, before becoming Ice Cold in the playoffs.

Expect Lou Piniella to figure out this team again. Ryan Dempster is competing with Jon Lieber (the Last Cubs Pitcher to win 20 games, Sean Marshall (Rumored to be heading to Baltimore, those rumors were later false) and Jason Marquis (The tale of Two Jasons. Good First Half. Bad Second Half.) If Marquis doesn't win the final rotation spot, he will get his wish to go elsewhere.

There is another battle for Ryan Dempster's old Job as Closer. Competing for the closers job is Bob Howry (he was the closer when Ryan Dempster was injured last season), Kerry Wood (He Struck out 20 Batters on April 12, 1998, holding the Astros to one hit) and Carlos Marmol (the best pure stuff in baseball, a Shut down reliever).

There is another battle for Center Field as Felix Pie is competing with Sam Fuld for that job. Cubs Hitting Coach Gerald Perry has spent time with Pie to try and make sure he isn't "Corey Patterson Version 2.0."

Alfonso Soriano is comfortable in Left Field and the Center Field Battle will work itself out, but out in Right Field is the Japanese Outfielder Kosuke Fukudome. Fukudome is a blend of the two most famous Japanese Outfielders, Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui. How will adjust to the Bleacher Bums out in Right Field mangling his last name for drunken humor effect? He will just ignore it.

Fukudome will get an instant chance to make an impact this season, as he will bat third in the lineup, moving Derrek Lee to the cleanup spot and Aramis Ramirez in the five spot.

Starting Wise, Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly and Rich Hill are set at 1,2, and 3. The Final Two Spots will be won in the spring. Zambrano can be on his A-Game, but when he isn't you know from the get-go. Expect him to work on being more consistent this season.

Ted Lilly won 15 games for the Cubs in 2008, losing only eight. Lilly has great stuff. He has a nice Slider and an even better breaking ball.

Rich Hill is a solid number three. If he learns to mix more pitches in with his curveball, Watch out.

Who will win the final two spots? How will Felix Pie and Kosuke Fukudome do in the outfield? Will the new closer be able to keep the lead? Can Carlos Zambrano learn how to control his emotions on the mound? If so, expect these Cubs to do something not done since 1908, return to the postseason for two straight seasons.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS
The Milwaukee Brewers had a 8.5 Game lead by midseason before they let Chicago come roaring back to win the National Leagie Central. Prince Fielder joined Alex Rodriguez as the only players to hit 50+ homeruns in 2007. I don't think he'll hit as many homeruns, but he will still be a major force at the plate. Ryan Braun was a Callup in May and the "Hebrew Hammer" Hammered 34 homeruns in 2007, winning the National League Rookie Of the Year Award. Ryan Braun manned Third Base in 2007 before all of a sudden being switched to play Left Field. Bill Hall will play Third Base this season. Mike Cameron takes over in Center Field, but will serve a 25 game suspensions for Performance Enhnacing Drugs.

Ben Sheets was 12-5 in 2007 with a 3.82 ERA. If he didn't go down with an injury late in the season, Milwaukee may have won the NL Central and made their first Playoff Appearance since 1982, when they were in the American League.

Jeff Suppan proved his wasn't worth his big time contract, as he was 12-12 with a 4.62 ERA.

The Biggest loss to the Brewers Staff will be the loss of Francisco Cordero. Cordero went to division rival Cincinnatti.

Milwaukee and Chicago will battle for the NL Central Crown.

ST LOUIS CARDINALS
The Cardinals had much of the 2007 season without their workhorses of Mark Mulder and Chris Carpenter, and this will be the same for the early part of the 2007 season.

Albert Pujols hit 32 homeruns in 2007. Expect him to hit more homeruns this season.

The Cardinals traded a Third Baseman for a Third Baseman, as Troy Glaus was traded to the Cardinals for Scott Rolen. La Russa and Rolen were never BFF in St Louis, so Rolen is on the way out. Rolen gets to reunite with David Eckstein North Of The Border.

The Cardinals released another Third Baseman, as Scott Spiezio was released after recieving a warrant for his arrest. Hopefully he gets to work his life out.

Caesar Isturis will replace David Eckstein at Shortstop.

Colby Rasmus is aiming to replace Jim Edmonds in Center Field, and will get every opprutunity to win the job in camp.

St. Louis won't compete for the central this season, but there's hope for the future with this bunch.

CINCINNATTI REDS
The Reds in 2008 have new management, as Dusty Baker is out of the "Baseball Tonight" Studios and managing again. Reds fans are hoping he doesen't ruin young prosepect Homer Bailey, as many Cubs fans have blamed him for ruining the promising careers of both Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.

This may be the final season for both Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr with the Reds.

We may finally get to see how good Joey Votto and Jay Bruce are.

Dusty Baker mismanagement has cost The Giants and Cubs a chance at a World Series. Expect the same from Cincinnatti, if they are ever able to compete in the Central.

HOUSTON ASTROS
The Houston Astros don't have Craig Biggio, the longtime face of their franchise anymore. The Astros signed Kazuo Matsui away from Colorado to take over second base.

The Astros traded away Brad Lidge to the Philladelphia, and the Phillies were daft enough to trade away Michael Bourn to get him.

The Astros also acquired Miguel Tejada, but he may face the same punishment as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens for using performance enhancing deuga and then lying about it.

Pitching wise, This team will be looking to fill the rotation as Jason Jennings and Matt Albers are no longer with the team.

Watch out for Hunter Pence this season. He was lucky enough to be learning from Craig Biggio and he may be in the outfield this season.

Houston won't win the division this season, but Cecil Cooper has the tools to build a winning Astros team in the future.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES
The Pirates team of the future is built around Jason Bay and Zach Duke. Ronny Paulino will get better behind the plate, and Xavier Nady will continue to play well in right field.

John Russell will find out the best thing about the Pirates is the ballpark they play in.

That concludes this year's MLB Team Previews. In the final MLB Preview, we will do our best to determine who the Paper World Series Champions of 2008 will be. Will Detroit live up to their high expectations? Who will be Their League's MVP? Find out all this and more in the next MLB Preview.

Cubs Postseason Hopes Rest Tonight on Rich Hill

Rich Hill pitches for the Cubs tonight as they try to stay alive in the National League Divisional Series.


The Red Sox 6-3 win over the Angels came off Manny Ramirez's walk-off homer in the ninth inning. That gave Boston a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five playoff round, joining Cleveland, Arizona and Colorado, which also won the first two games of their respective series.

But there is hope for this year's teams down 0-2. One of those teams did rally in 1995 to win its series, and that was the Mariners. After losing the first two games in New York, the scene shifted to the Emerald City for games 3-4-5 (back then, that was the format instead of the 2-2-1 schedule now used).

The Mariners won Game 3, 9-4, then stunned the Yanks with a five-run eighth to win Game 4, 11-8. Game 5 turned out to be a thriller, as the Yanks scored once in the top of the 11th to take a 5-4 lead, only to see the Mariners rally for two in the bottom of the inning to advance to the American League Championship Series.


That fact hasn't escaped Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who has espoused a "one game at a time" mentality dating back to the epic 2004 ALCS, when the Red Sox took it one game at a time to rally from a 3-0 deficit to take four straight from the Yankees.


He knows how to do it, and so does Cubs manager Lou Piniella, who finds his team in a 0-2 deficit against Arizona. Piniella was manager of that Seattle team which climbed out of that hole in 1995.

Rich Hill goes for The Cubs tonight as they try to stay alive. Lou Pinella has been in this 0-2 hole before- as the manager of the Mariners in 1995. Seattle won three in a row to advance to the American League Cahmpionship Series. Could he do it again for the Cubs here in 2007?

Watch The Cubbies attempt to come back tonight on TBS. Rich Hill is on the mound for the Cubs, and Livan Hernandez is on the mound for the Diamondbacks.

MLB Postseason taking unexpected Twists and Turns

Kenny Lofton had four RBI's in the Indians victory over the Yankees.

Through the first two games of the NLDS and the opening games of the ALDS, there have been some suprises. Arizona and their youngsters are one game away from going to the National League Championship Series, as they have tamed the Cubs offense to a dull roar through the first two games. Colorado Rockies as well are one game away from eliminating their opponent, the Philladelphia Phillies. Ryan Howard's homerun wasn't enough to overcome Kaz Matsui's Grand Slam in Game Two, as Colorado beat Philly by the score of 10 to 5.

Here's my analysis of the respective series.
NLDS: Cubs vs. Diamondbacks
Wow. How about the Arizona Diamondbacks. It seems like The "Fountain Of Youth" has been found. It's is Arizona, buried underneath Chase Field. The Diamondbacks players are young, most are only about 25 years old, and they are one game away from eliminating the $300 Million ballclub that has suffered for 99 (and possibly coming up on 100) years without a World Series Ring. The only good thing for the Cubs is that their next two games are at home. The Wrigley Crowd will be rocking, trying to modivate the Cubbies to fight to win three in a row to advance to the National League Championship Series. Rich Hill gets the ball for the Cubs in the all important game three, and he will be opposed by the former Montreal Expo Livan Hernandez. I hope the Cubs fight to pull even and win this thing, but I don't think it's going to happen.

NLDS: Rockies vs Phillies
The "Fountain of Youth" has also been found in Rocky Mountain High Coors Field in Denver Colorado. Rockies Superphenom Troy Tulowitski has been on a tear offensively and defensicely. Tulowitski and Todd Helton are the two reasons the Phillies are dead in this series. It would be good October baseball for them to come back, but I don't see that happening.

ALDS: Red Sox vs. Angels
Vlad Guererro has been hurt, and the Angels production has hurt without him. The loss of gary Matthews Jr. was the big reasdon why this team was doomed coming into this series. Daisuke Mastuzaka will make his postseason debut for the Red Sox in Game Three, where the Red Sox can sweep the Angels and move on to the American League Championship Series.

ALDS: Yankees at Indians
Derek Jeter went 0-4 in the Yankees loss to the Indians, but of course, the talk will be how Alex Rodriguez went hitless in what may be his final season with The New York Yankees. Chien Mien Wang did not have his good stuff in that game. I lost count how many homeruns were hit in that game. Cleveland Sports Fans will make a huge deal about LeBron James wearing a Yankee cap in Cleveland, but Red Sox Natrion has that same thing to be said to Tom Brady, a self-professed Yankee fan.

October Baseball is in full swing and you can catch all of it on TBS.

Divisional Series Action On TBS

TBS Baseball.

There is a lot of great baseball on TBS today. Check out this Dane Cook TBS Preview. Click on the video to have it begin.


For those of you who missed the one game playoff game between the San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies, here is all the good parts from this long, exciting game. The video itself is about 10 minutes. Click on the video to have it begin.


Enjoy Phiilies at Rockies, Yankees at Indians, and Cubs at Diamondbacks on TBS tonight.

Trachsel Earns First Cub Win since '99, Cubs Get The Long Ball Working In Win Over Houston

The Chicago Cubs used a simple formula to regain the NL Central lead Thursday night. If only they can follow it in St. Louis this weekend.

Steve Trachsel earned his first win with the Cubs in eight years and Chicago hit four home runs in a 6-2 victory over the Houston Astros.
Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, Daryle Ward and Cliff Floyd all homered for Chicago, which moved a half-game ahead of idle Milwaukee in the division race. The Cubs open a four-game series at third-place St. Louis on Friday night.

Trachsel (1-2) gave up two solo homers and seven hits in five innings for his first win since the Cubs acquired him from Baltimore on Aug. 31.

The 36-year-old right-hander pitched for the Cubs from 1993-99, and his last win with them came on Oct. 3, 1999. The 2,906-day gap between victories is the third-longest in team history.

Trachsel was pitching on three days' rest, and Cubs manager Lou Piniella got exactly what he needed from him. Scott Eyre, Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol then combined for four scoreless innings of one-hit ball.

Carlos Lee and Mark Loretta homered for the Astros, who have dropped 10 of 15 games since Cecil Cooper replaced Phil Garner as manager on Aug. 27. Woody Williams (8-15) gave up four homers for the first time this season and lost his fourth straight start.

The Cubs staked Trachsel to a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

Soriano hit Williams' second pitch off the brick facade in left field, his 40th career leadoff homer. Soriano has eight leadoff home runs this season, tying the Cubs record set by Rick Monday in 1976.

Mike Fontenot followed with a single and Floyd walked before Ramirez hit a three-run shot to left. Ramirez has 23 home runs this season and five this month.

Chicago's defense helped Trachsel avoid early trouble.

Luke Scott tripled with one out in the Astros' second, his second triple of the series. Loretta walked before Eric Munson grounded into a double play. The Astros also put two on with one out in the third inning, but Chicago escaped with another double play.

Trachsel's confidence grew with every pitch.

Trachsel made his only costly mistakes in the fourth inning. Lee led off with his 28th homer and first since Sept. 1. With two outs, Loretta homered just inside the foul pole in left.

Williams retired 11 consecutive batters after the shaky start. Ward ended the streak with a two-out, solo homer in the fifth that stretched Chicago's lead to 5-2.

Eyre relieved Trachsel in the sixth and the Cubs ended another inning with a double play. Eyre has a 1.02 ERA since the All-Star break.

Floyd led off the seventh with a homer into the upper deck in right field. The only other time the Cubs hit four homers in a game this season was June 8 in a 9-1 win over Atlanta.

Last week, Piniella told Floyd the Cubs were going to need his bat down the stretch.

The Cubs improved to 5-18-2 in series when they lose the first game. ... Soriano has three leadoff homers in September. He's the only major league player to hit at least eight leadoff homers in four seasons. ... Ward replaced 1B Derrek Lee in the starting lineup. Lee was a late scratch because of a sore right knee.

Cubs Win! Cubs are a half-game in First Place! The Cubs have a Big Series coming up this weekend against their hated rival, the St. Louis Cardinals. Carlos Zambrano is pitching for the Cubs, while Adam Wainwright is pitching for the Cardinals, who are now eliminated from postseason play.

Cubs Win!

Check out the video to see the unbelievable ending to the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs game yesterday.

Here's the game from WGN TV. Len Kasper & Bob Brenly on the call.


Check out the radio call of the bottom of the ninth on WGN Radio. Pat Hughes & Ron Santo in the Booth.



The Cubs game back after trailing 5-0.

The Cubs defeat the division leading Brewers 6-5, and are back at .500 with the victory. The Cubs have won seven games in a row.

The Cubs play the brewers again on Saturday and Sunday.

Cubs Win!