Cubs weekend. Ugh. Tickets dirt cheap here, I guess, compared to Wrigley, so a lot of Cub fans (thousands, no kidding) get these weekend travel deals to fly here and get 3 games in. They are, um, louder, ahem, than any other fans who come to the Box and well, let’s just say that the beer vendors roll out the welcome mat and they sure look REAL unhappy come Monday night…..
And lousy as our boys been playin, I’m SURE they happy to get off the road and come home to, dare I say, the friendly confines… hahhahhahhahhah.
Anyway, tonight it’s Roger vs The Professor, Greg Maddux – Two of the best RHP of all time – Power vs Craft. Ahhhhhhhh. Pitchers’ duels – I love em. As long as we win em…..
Of course you know Roger has been Mr. Hard Luck this year – the team has given him exactly ONE run of support over 28 innings and he now has 23 consecutive scoreless innings.
last year vs Chicago: 2 – 2 in 5 GS with 2 HR, 10 BB, 27 K in 32.1 IP with a 3.90 ERA and a .256 BAA
And we get to see The Professor again – absolutely amazing pitcher – drafted in 1984 in the second round by the Cubs out of high school – I’m sure you know the Rest Of The Story – 17 years of 15+ wins/year, the 4 Cy Youngs, the Ring with Atlanta’s only WS team – all those years with the first Big Three – Glavine, Smoltz and Maddux. Second on the top 10 list of lowest BB/ 9 IP right behind Robin Roberts (according to Lee Sinins , among the lowest ERA as compared to league average. The guy who looks like he throwing BP but you can’t hit it anyway, the guy who IN A HITTER’S ERA for 2 years in a row had an ERA under 2, the guy who at the end of his career at age 39 still pretty darn good, even though he went back to the Cursed Cubs…
Career: 305 – 175 with 35 shutouts and 105 CG in 4205.1 IP – 273 HR, 874 BB, 2929 K, with a 2.96 ERA, (141 ERA+), 1.13 WHIP and a .245 BAA.
Postseason: not quite up to the regular season – in 29 GS and 2 in relief, 11-14 in 190 IP with a 3.22 ERA
except against Houston, of course, going 1-1 with 1 ND in 22 IP with a 2.05 ERA
This year, in 4 GS, he’s 0-1 with 4 HR, 4 BB and 13 K in 24 IP throws ave of 83 pitches/game, has a 1.13 WHIP and a 4.50 ERA.
vs Houston – regular season: 24 – 9 with 10 CG and 2 SO in 307 IP with 17 HR, 69 BB, 176 K for a WHIP of 1.11, ERA of 2.52 and a .240 BAA.
at the Box: note the difference – 3-1 in 4 GS with 2 HR, 2 BB and 20 K in 25.2 IP with a 4.56 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and .308 BAA.
I don’t know if any ML team has ever been shut out 3 games in a row. At least since they raised the mound. But we’d better start hitting, like NOW.
Tags: Cubs, Houston Astros, MLB
Well, it’s always disheartening to lose, but this wasn’t so bad. We finally scored a run, we only lost because of a couple of bloopers that fell in, and I thought we had some good ABs late, even though they didn’t get us any runs.
And, nice throw by Willy T. to keep Springer’s ERA from rising, and Bags at least put a nice swing on one ball tonight.