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Analysis, News & Rumors
Archives
June 2005 Headlines
Lee Now Leading in Voting - 6/30/05 10:05pm
Cubs should all wear 'Believe' Bracelets - 6/28/05 7:55pm
Lee Closing In - 6/28/05 7:22pm
Knopper's Korner - What a Weekend! - 6/26/05 7:40pm
Training Staff Honest? - 6/25/05 8:57am
Lee Needs Your Help - 6/21/05 8:25pm
Trade Rumors and Possibilities - 6/21/05 7:46pm
Prior and Wood Back Soon - 6/20/05 9:09pm
Knopper's Korner - Ex Cub Tells It Like It Is - 6/17/05 1:19am
Trade Patterson - 6/17/05 1:07am
Sweep the Champs? - 6/12/05 10:00am
Time for a Big Series - 6/9/05 8:43pm
Getting Healthy - 6/7/05 8:52pm
Knopper's Korner - All Star Voting - 6/5/05 10:41pm
Derrek Lee Surging - 6/2/05 10:15pm
6/30/05 10:05pm - Lee Now Leading in Voting
Preliminary reports indicate that Derrek Lee is now leading Albert Pujols in the voting for
the NL starting first baseman.
Early in the voting, Pujols was leading by over 300,000 votes. Early this week, Lee came within
50,000 votes. As of 2:30 pm today, Lee was leading by over 49,000 votes.
Either way, it looks like both Lee and Pujols will be starting. Pujols will probably be the
DH since the All-Star game will be held at an American League stadium.
- Bryan | Return
6/28/05 7:55pm - Cubs should all wear 'Believe' Bracelets
Did you happen to notice who is wearing the blue 'Believe' bracelet? Its only the hottest hitter in a
Cubs uniform and in Major League Baseball, Derrek Lee.
Some of the Cubs hitters have started to try many of the same things that Lee is doing this year. Because
he isn't really able to pinpoint what he is doing different this year, other hitters should take note at the
little things. ITS THE BRACELET!
While most players may look at this as goofy, Lee proudly wears the bracelet not only showing support for
his team, but showing his fans that he 'Believes'! At that same time, he is fighting for the triple
crown title and even flirting with .400.
When told he was helping sales with the bracelet, he laughed and was happy it was going to charity.
Maybe some of the Cubs should consider spending the $2 for a bracelet. On the other hand, they
probably feel that wearing the Cubs bracelet is like seeing a Cubs player wearing a Cubs t-shirt or hat
after a game.
- Bryan | Return
6/28/05 7:22pm - Lee Closing In
Derrek Lee still needs your help! Its come down to the last votes this week as fans attempt to vote Derrek Lee into the
starting first base position for the National League.
After results were compiled on Tuesday, Lee now trails Albert Pujols by only 59,912 votes.
Remember, you vote up to 25 times online! Be sure to visit Cubs.com and vote for Lee now! Voting ends June 30th at
11:59pm. The teams will be announced Sunday, July 3rd at 7pm on ESPN.
- Jim | Return
6/26/05 7:40pm - Knopper's Korner - What a Weekend!
CUBS WIN..........CUBS WIN..........CUBS WIN!
I Can't beat fun at the old ballpark! Especially when the Cubs take 2 of 3 from that southside team.
Prior looked great in his comeback. The offense came through, (Maybe Cory has finally realized what he is supposed to do in the batter's box.) What more can we ask for?
One scary time came on the double play in game three Sunday. D.Lee was on first and Bernitz hit a hard ground
ball to second who threw it to short. The shortstop then threw the ball to first just as Lee started his
slide and the ball sailed between his head and right arm. Whew! That's all we would have needed.
Maybe... Just maybe.. This will be the start of something good right before the All-Star break and then
for the remainder of the season. Lets kick the Brewers you know what.
We still have a good chance for the Wild Card. HANG IN THERE CUBBIE FANS!
Knopper's Korner is provided to CubbiesBaseball.com by both Senior and Junior Knopper, who are die hard Cubs fans.
- Knopper's Korner | Return
6/25/05 8:57am - Training Staff Honest?
After Prior's successful simulated game on Tuesday, it looks like he will skip a minor league rehab assignment and be ready to pitch on Sunday. How could this even be possible with a fractured elbow?
Prior will have been on the DL for roughly 4 weeks before making his scheduled start on Sunday. It is hard to believe what the the Cubs training staff says when you hear and see something like this. Its likely that Prior's injury was more like a deep bruise than a fracture.
Could the over estimates be a result of the training staff blunders of 2004? This also makes fans question what was really the problem with Kerry Wood. There has never really been a good diagnosis of what landed him on the DL. If you ask most fans, they wouldn't have expected him to be on the DL this long. Most anticipated that Wood would return before Prior. Now it seems this is the other way around.
This brings us to the next question. When will Garciaparra be back? Will it be much earlier than anticipated or will he miss the rest of the season? There hasn't been much talk about Nomar for several weeks. At this point, you just can't trust the Cubs staff when it comes to injuries.
- Jim | Return
6/21/05 8:25pm - Lee Needs Your Help
Are Cubs fans going to stand by and watch Albert Pujols win the voting race for starting 1st baseman for the
National League?
Though Lee is closing in on Pujols, but he still trails by 165,413 votes. Lee, currently batting .391 with
20 homers and 60 RBI's is ahead of Pujols' .336 average. Pujols has 18 homers and 58 RBI's. During the early
rounds of voting, Pujols was ahead of Lee by over 300,000 votes.
Cubs fans need to show their support for Lee! Get out to cubs.com and vote for Derrek Lee. You can
vote up to 25 times.
- Bryan | Return
6/21/05 7:46pm - Trade Rumors and Possibilities
Its no secret that the Cubs are probably going to make some trades before the trade deadline. With big names like Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton coming in 2003 and Nomar Garciaparra joining the Cubs in 2004, the Cubs are again in a position where they could benefit from a trade boost. Looking at Jim Hendry's track record, expect something to happen within the next few weeks.
Most rumors are around the Cubs outfield. While Jeromy Burnitz has been a great replacement for Sammy Sosa, the Cubs may be looking to upgrade left field and center field.
Ranking Corey Patterson against the other center fielders in the NL, he near the bottom of the list with his On Base Percentage. Though Patterson has great potential, he has yet to prove he can live up to that potential. His trade value is probably the highest among the players that the Cubs would be willing to trade. The Cubs may also be willing to move Todd Hollandsworth back to a reserve if they can make a trade. Hollandsworth excelled as a pinch hitter last year and filled in well everywhere he was needed.
As the trade deadline approaches, many names have been named in possible trades. Of the possible available players, names like Aubrey Huff, Preston Wilson, Mike Cameron, Austin Kearns, and even Moises Alou have been named.
Aubrey Huff - Ranking some of the possible available players, Aubrey Huff would be the best option. He has
the ability to fill multiple spots in the field, as well as having a career OBP of .345.
He has batted .311 and .297 in the past two years, hitting over 100 RBI's in each of those years. This year he is hitting .255 with 35 RBI's. In his 6 year career, he has yet to strike out more than 80 times in a season.
Preston Wilson - Wilson would also be a great option for the Cubs. He has a career On Base Percentage of .333 (better than Patterson's career OBP of .301). He has speed, and the ability to drive in runs with power. He has already had 2 years with over 120 RBI's. His defense could be an upgrade, but he also suffers from the strikeout bug, much like Patterson does.
Mike Cameron - Cameron is batting .320 this year, but his career stats show that he is also a strikeout candidate.
Austin Kearns - In early 2003, Kearns was a Cub killer. He has potential, but his potential
looks equal to Corey Patterson's. He has shown signs of brilliance, but the Reds have recently moved him down to the minors because of his strikeouts and poor performance. His value is definitely not as high as Patterson's.
Moises Alou - Alou is unlikely to come back to the Cubs eventhough he was well liked by fans and players alike. If possible, he would only come back to the Cubs for a year, which is probably not what Alou is looking for. Saying that, there has been an increased amount of talk about Alou coming back to the Cubs. Steve Stone, on a local radio station in Chicago, said that the Cubs do have an interest in a trade for Alou.
With all the names mentioned above, one thing remains the same. The Cubs need a leadoff hitter and none of these players are leadoff hitters. Could the Cubs trade Patterson now for someone like Huff and Wilson and then wait until next year to get a good leadoff hitter like Johnny Damon?
- Bryan | Return
6/20/05 9:09pm - Prior and Wood Back Soon
The Cubs got some good news today after learning that Mark Prior is ahead of schedule. He could skip a minor
league rehab assignment and join the team as early as next week.
On Friday, Prior threw about 60 pitches in a simulated session. Tuesday, Prior will do the same at Miller
Park. If he looks good, he will skip his minor league assignment and could pitch as early as this coming
Sunday. Kerry Wood is also expected to return soon. On Sunday in his rehab assignment, he struck out 6
over 4 innings, while giving up 2 runs.
The good news about both pitchers should help give the Cubs a needed boost, especially
after they were swept by the Yankees last weekend.
By inserting Prior and Wood back into the rotation, the Cubs have some decisions to make. After the way
Mitre has performed since being called up, do not expect him to be sent back to the minors. Instead, don't be
surprised if the Cubs send Joe Borowski back to Iowa or they could even release him. Mitre would end up in
the bullpen.
This is a huge boost for the starting rotation as well as a good shake-up for the struggling bullpen. Hopefully,
the offense will start to be a little more consistent as some of the Cubs' stars come off the disabled list.
- Bryan | Return
6/17/05 1:19am - Knopper's Korner - Ex Cub Tells It Like It Is
A few words not about a Cub but about an ex Cub, Dontrelle Willis.
I've seen Dontrelle interviewed several times since he was traded to the Marlins in 2002. He seems like a very intelligent, articulate and likable person as well as a very good player. An article by Paul Sullivan in the Thursday Tribune confirms this.
Obviously he has turned into one of the best pitcher's in the Majors, record 35-19, first one this year to win 11 games.
But he holds no hard feelings toward the Cubs or Jim Hendry, who arranged the deal. Dontrelle says he probably would have made the trade himself. No one, including him, knew how he was going to improve as fast as he has and if I didn't know, how was Hendry supposed to know.
He has nothing but praise concerning the Cub organization. He says the team teaches guys how to play the game the right way. Not only pitching, but fielding and batting.
It's just too bad a scout or someone with the Cubs did not see the potential with Willis and kept him. Does anyone remember who we got from the Marlins? Alfonseca and Clement.
But I guess that's baseball!
Knopper's Korner is provided to CubbiesBaseball.com by both Senior and Junior Knopper, who are die hard Cubs fans.
- Knopper's Korner | Return
6/17/05 1:07am - Trade Patterson
The Cubs' bats have been pretty loud lately, but one bat continues to be fairly quiet. Still thought to have great talent, Corey Patterson has yet to prove that he can be consistent at the plate. 8th in the majors with 58 strikeouts, Patterson has become the center of the boo birds at Wrigley Field.
Though Patterson seems to be a streak hitter, can the Cubs stop him from swinging at balls out of the strike zone? The Cubs had hoped he would become their leadoff man of the future, but so far that has yet to pan out.
Patterson is a powerful hitter, who already has 10 homers this year, but of the problem is that he only has 21 RBI's this year. He has proven that he has a problem driving in base runners. Whether it is because
he is swinging for the fence or because he swings at pitches out of the strike zone, Corey has been unable to drive in the runs.
The next question is "who could the Cubs get"? If the Cubs wait until after the season, they would have a good chance at getting
Johnny Damon from Boston, as he becomes a free agent. More than likely, if a trade goes down this year, expect a center fielder
from a mediocre team to join the Cubs. They have been waiting too long for Patterson to blossom. Jim Hendry has to see that the hour glass
is running out of sand for Patterson.
- Bryan | Return
6/12/05 10:00am - Sweep the Champs?
It is a different scene this weekend at Wrigley. The Boston Red Sox fans are filling the stadium to
show full support of the defending champs. It is one of the strangest scenes that you may see if you
happen to have tickets.
For the first time in a long time, another team actually has a pretty large following of fans at Wrigley
Field. Unfortunately for them, the Cubs have been playing great baseball lately, taking the first
two games from Boston.
After a 20 hit Friday, the Cubs followed that by overcoming a early 4 run deficit to beat the Red Sox,
7-6 on Saturday. They will attempt to sweep the Sox this afternoon.
Though Zambrano left yesterday's game after an ugly slide into second base, the x-rays were negative and
he isn't expected to miss a start. This great news comes after hearing that Kerry Wood is almost ready
to return.
Fans who are interested in collecting commerative hats and t-shirts to celebrate the reunion of the
Red Sox and Cubs should visit Wrigley Field today to see the great merchandise.
The Cubs are now 5.5 games away from the Cards and playing great ball considering the obstacles
they had to overcome. They are 15-5 in the last 20 games. Next weekend, the Cubs visit New York,
to take on the Yankees. Imagine if they can sweep the Red Sox and then take the series from the Yankees!
- Bryan | Return
6/9/05 8:43pm - Time for a Big Series
Its time for a big series from the Cubs. What better than to take on the defending World Series champions?
The Cubs have a great opportunity to build some confidence by taking on the defending champions this weekend.
Could it be coincidence that they are playing each other this year, the first time since the 1918 World Series?
Could it be coincidence that both teams were considered to have curses against them? Well, the Red Sox
finally ended their curse last year. Its time for the Cubs to do the same.
Though the Cubs lost their last series against the Blue Jays, they have won 10 out of their last 13 games and
have slowly started to prove that they can contend without some of their big guns. This with the help of Derrek
Lee's phenomenal first half of the season. Aramis Ramirez is also starting to heat up and Neifi Perez is playing
at an All-Star level. Michael Barrett is also helping out as he silently raising his average near .300.
Taking 2 out of 3 or even sweeping the Red Sox could give the Cubs all the confidence they need to play
until they get Wood, Prior, and Garciaparra back. If any series defines the Cubs' season this year, its
this weekend against the Red Sox.
- Bryan | Return
6/7/05 8:52pm - Getting Healthy
The Cubs have been playing great lately, but you have to wonder what things would have been like if we had Wood, Prior, and Garciaparra all year. Though not much is being said about it, we could have all three of them back earlier than you think.
Kerry Wood has thrown a couple of good bullpen sessions without any problems. It sounds like he will be throwing a simulated game if all goes well with his next bullpen session. If that goes well, expect Wood to join Triple-A Iowa for a couple of rehab starts. He could be back in as early as 2 weeks.
The swelling in Mark Prior's elbow has gone down, which is great news. The other great news is that he started playing catch already this week. Both Prior and the Cubs think that he could return around the middle of July. This is great news, as this injury was almost career threatening.
Nomar is the Wild Card in this mix. He joined the Cubs during the West Coast trip, and sounded eager to return. He has started lifting weights and hitting off a tee, but has yet to begin running. Though the Cubs were hoping he could come back as early as the All-Star break, it sounds like if the Cubs are still contending for a playoff spot, Garciaparra could return towards the end of the season.
Some may say that this was the demise of the 2005 season, but since the Cubs have won 9 out of their last 11 games,
it shows that other players are stepping up at the right time. If they can keep it up, when the team gets their
stars back, they could be knocking on the door of the St. Louis Cardinals.
- Bryan | Return
6/5/05 10:41pm - Knopper's Korner - All Star Voting
What's up Cub fans? D.Lee has only half the votes that Pujols has for the All-Star game.
There is no comparison to the stats between D.Lee and, what's his name?
Don't you remember, the Cards are our enemy? Lets get on the stick, or the internet. Go to Cubs.com and vote. Every person can vote 25 times, (that's even better odds then running for office in Chicago!) Only we can change the way the voting is going.
Don't let the Card fans make us look like dummies!
DERREK LEE SHOULD BE STARTING AT FIRST BASE, PERIOD!
Knopper's Korner is provided to CubbiesBaseball.com by both Senior and Junior Knopper, who are die hard Cubs fans.
- Knopper's Korner | Return
6/2/05 10:15pm - Derrek Lee Surging
If Derrek Lee is amazing you this year, imagine what he may do if he heats up in June like he has in the past. After you think about that, imagine where the Cubs would be without him.
Currently, Lee is leading the Majors with a .380 batting average and there are no signs of him slowing down. Wednesday, he finished the game going 5 for 5 with a homer.
``I've played with a lot of great players. This is the best streak I've ever seen,'' Cubs catcher Michael Barrett said.
In the past, Lee had been known to be cold during April and May, but heat up in June. He has a career batting average of .312 in June. During the past two seasons, he has hit ..253 in April and .256 in May. Considering he hit .419 in April and .313 in May, the Cubs are hoping his hitting surge continues.
Amazingly enough, Lee is well behind the leading All Star candidate at first base, Albert Pujols. Lee has 268,189 votes and Pujols has 570,004 votes. It is interesting to view the current status of the All-Star voting. Nomar is leading the NL short stops, although he only played in 14 games. Barry Bonds is also on the list of outfielders with over 138,000 votes. No matter what you think about All-Star voting, expect Lee to be representing the National League and the Cubs at the 2005 All-Star game.
- Bryan | Return
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