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| Goodbye, Lou. Thanks for leading the Cubs to three winning seasons and one worth leaving early. |
Lou Piniella is about to manage his last game with the Cubs and probably his last ever. He'll retire with more than 1,800 wins and more than 100 more wins over .500 as a manager. More importantly than where he'll spend the rest of this season, he will be near his mother for the rest of his life. If you have ever been there for someone in their final moments, whether it's for mere seconds or over the course of many long years, it is simultaneously painful and rewarding. (When anyone says that about being a Cubs fan, I hope they're kidding. There is no comparison. Watching losing baseball is a mild annoyance. Losing someone you love redefines you.)
In baseball terms, Lou has been a great manager for the Cubs and the Rays and the Mariners and the Reds and the Yankees. But honestly, I don't really know what that entails. It is strictly impossible to quantify what anyone else would have done with the teams Lou had. The people who didn't manage his teams have nothing but what if's and would have's. Lou did it. No one can measure what someone else would have done in his place, but what you can measure is that for 3,548 games, an owner of a Major League Baseball team entrusted Lou to do the job.
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Champaign, Ill.-ESPN announced on Wednesday its 2011 Super Tuesday Presented by KFC lineup of doubleheaders featuring the Big Ten and SEC. The Fighting Illini have been chosen for three of the eight Tuesday night broadcasts this season. Illinois makes its first appearance on Jan. 18, hosting Michigan State at 6 pm. The Illini also are featured in a pair of road contests, at Ohio State on Feb. 22 at 6 pm and at Purdue on March 1 at 6 pm.
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Today on B-Squared, we discussed the Cubs 2nd series win in a month against the Cardinals, and whether we can take the small victories to heart or whether we should be upset at yesterday's 9th inning. We also talked about how the Cubs should go about managing their payroll in the next couple years, and how they could add veteran talent to a roster that will be shedding payroll faster than you think. We were also pleased to have Andy Masur, from the Padres Radio Network, join us to talk about the upcoming Cubs and Padres series.
The Cubs came into St. Louis limping so badly they seemed in need of a Hoverround just to make it to the on-deck circle. They leave proud owners of a two-game winning streak, and they're only 17 games out of first place. Suck on that, naysayers. Of course, the bullpen had to make things interesting on Sunday.
No doubt Piniella made a few mental notes about this one. He did not use hard-throwing reliever Andrew Cashner all series. He opted for Marcos Mateo to finish the eighth, and the rookie got two quick outs.
Read more: Cubs Monday Headlines: Beating the Cards Makes It All Worthwhile
In the weeks leading up to the start of the 2010 season when the Illini play in St. Louis against the Missouri Tigers, I will be heading up to Camp Rantoul several times to look at the current Illini squad and offer my take on what I see unfolding. Here is the first such installment after taking in workouts earlier this week. What follows is the offensive preview for the upcoming season:
The offense that Illinois trots out on the field on September 4th at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis will look vastly different than squads of the past. Gone is Juice Williams, and for a lot of Illini faithful, the consensus is good riddance. Enter Nathan Scheelhaase, a redshirt freshman from Kansas City, Missouri who is much smaller than the aforementioned Williams, but apparently more mobile in the pocket. Experience will be an issue with Scheelhaase, as he is one of three quarterbacks on the roster that has never thrown a collegiate pass. Backing him up are true freshmen Chandler Whitmer and Miles Osei, the latter of which seems likely to redshirt this season. Don't be surprised to see Eddie McGee take some snaps as well, as he worked out under center a little last week.
The Cubs have lost more one-run decisions than anyone else in the majors. I guess that means they're almost really good.
The Cubs are 13-28 (.317) in games decided by one run. They've come dangerously close to not losing 28 times.
Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. If baseball were horseshoes, the Cubs would be the champions. If baseball were hand grenades, everyone would be dead.
The Cubs are 3-9 (.250) against the Pirates. The Pirates are 39-74 (.345). So, if you're following, the Cubs against the Pirates < the Cubs in 1-run games < the Pirates in general.
Against teams not named the Cubs, the Pirates are 30-71 (.297). That's almost as bad as the Cubs are against the Pirates, but not quite.
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