The place? In front of your tv. With your computer.
The call-in number for questions/comments? 347-884-8570 .
The event? Adam, Tim and Julie do their best to make you laugh during the first hour of the Cubs game. It will either be really, really funny, or something we will never speak of again.
But before we get to the FIRST TELEVISED GAME OF THE SEASON, we have to get to the headlines.
Did you miss the game yesterday? Oh right, we all did. Good thing the AP is here to tell us all about it:
Marlon Byrd homered in his Cubs debut, 1 of 5 home runs in a 16-hit attack that helped open the exhibition season with a 9-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
"Marlon's a professional," manager Lou Piniella said. "He's a hard worker. He's got a good way about him. The players like him."
Signing Byrd to play center field also let Kosuke Fukudome return to right. That's where moody Milton Bradley played last season as part of an experiment gone bad.
The absence of Bradley has made camp more mellow - as have downsized expectations after last season's disappointing second-place finish.
"Not much going on, and that's the way we like it," said Derrek Lee, whose first-inning homer got the offense going. "Everyone's pretty healthy. It has been quiet. It's nice. Just going about our business."
The beneficiary of the businesslike hitting approach was Randy Wells, who didn't allow the ball out of the infield in 2 perfect innings.
One week from today, we will be getting ready to watch Cubs baseball.
No, I'm completely serious.
Speaking of being serious, opposing hitters better get that way, because resident badass Ted Lilly is back in camp. Awwwww yeah!
MESA, Ariz. - After yet another setback in what has been a rough offseason, Ted Lilly goes into the final year of his contract not knowing exactly when he'll be ready to pitch for the Cubs.
Already recovering from shoulder surgery and a knee injury, Lilly missed most of this week with a 103-degree fever and flulike symptoms.
"I haven't been on my feet much at all in the last five days," the left-hander said Friday, when he returned to camp and did some light throwing. "I was in bed for 18 hours a day."
Manager Lou Piniella and GM Jim Hendry had been saying Lilly would miss the season's first few weeks. Lilly had hoped to prove them wrong, insisting he could be ready by opening day, but he now realizes that's unlikely.
"I'm just going to get back as soon as I can. I don't know what that day is going to be," he said. "I don't want to start the season on the disabled list. I don't feel good about that. I don't like being on that list."
With the news coming this week that he has as much of a chance at the starting rotation as Carlos Silva and Jeff Spellcheck, LOHO wants to know: If you were Sean Marshall, how many people would have killed by now?
Need a guy to go from the starting rotation to the bullpen? Sean Marshall's your man.
Need a spot start, sometimes on a moment's notice? Invoke the Marshall plan.
The 27-year-old lefty has done it all, most of it pretty well, since coming to the big leagues in 2006. He's done it without complaint, too, including a couple of stints in the minor leagues.
While it's good to be the good soldier, playing that part can get a guy passed over for more plum jobs. But it all seems OK with Marshall.
"It's a good thing," he said Thursday. "I've really worked to do different roles in the last couple of years to help the team win some games. I'm happy to do that. I've dealt with some adversity, going to the bullpen for long relief, short relief, occasional starts, and I think it's been good for me."
Am I the only one who's waiting for Marshall to accidentally electocute himself while imitating Spellcheck in a unmitigated rage? Yes?
