Sunday, July 31

Diamondbacks @ Cubs, 2.20pm ET

DIAMONDBACKS
-----
C. Counsell, 2b .265
C. Tracy, rf .296
L. Gonzalez, lf .281
T. Clark, 1b .328
T. Glaus, 3b .255
S. Green, cf .289
R. Clayton, ss .267
C. Snyder, c .216
B. Webb, p .056

CUBS
-----
J. Hairston Jr, cf .264
T. Walker, 2b .291
D. Lee, 1b .359
J. Burnitz, rf .275
A. Ramirez, 3b .311
J. Gerut, lf .083
N. Perez, ss .266
M. Barrett, c .275
G. Maddux, p .222


ARI: RHP Brandon Webb • 8-8, 4.11 ERA in 2005 • 1-0, 3.38 ERA vs. CHC in 2005
CHC: RHP Greg Maddux • 8-7, 4.41 ERA in 2005 • 0-1, 9.00 ERA vs. ARI in 2005



maddux smile
Baby Ruth! Baby Ruth!



Maddux died like Houdini this afternoon, failing to escape the 5th Inning paper bag, and so condemned the Cubs to their 3rd defeat of the Diamondbacks series.

Arizona catcher Snyder hit a pair of HRs, Luis Gonzalez imitated Snyder with 2 of his own, and Tony "I used to be well-known" Clark slammed another one as the Cubs fell 13-6.

On the brighter side, 6 Cubs got an RBI, and Woo Woo got that 7th inning box of Cracker Jack that he always wanted.



Enough of this tomfoolery.



The Cubs traded for OF Matt Lawton from the Pirates, tossing Jody Gerut to the Steel City in return. This, in my opinion, is an excellent trade. Batting .280-ish for the season, his OBP is .380-esque, and he can *gasp* LEAD-OFF and PLAY ALL OUTFIELD POSITIONS! (We hope.)

Essentially shipping Jason Dubois for Matt Lawton, we've managed to significantly upgrade our starting lineup with the final everyday-player piece of the puzzle. Our bench will be stronger with the return of Hollandsworth/Hairston Jr./Murton to it more permanently, and with the Friday return of Nomar, RP Scott Williamson AND Kerry Wood, we'll be in like some kind of Flynn.


Possible Starting Lineup and Batting Order
-----
CF Lawton
2B Hot-Rodd Todd Walker
SS Nomahh
1B MVLee
RF Burnitz
3B A-Ram Ramirez
C Barrett
LF Murton/Hollandsworth
P Pitchy McPitcherson

That, my friends, would be superb. It keeps a sense of stability to the order, and our bench and pitching looks infinitely better (although far from ideal, but we can persevere):

IF Macias
IF Neifi!
IF/OF Hairston Jr.
C Hank White
OF Murton/Hollandsworth

SP El Torro
SP King Rib
SP Prior
SP Maddux
SP Prince of the Hill

RP K-Wood
RP Williamson
RP Remlin-go home
RP Oh Man
RP Mitray
RP Bum Rusch
RP Novoahh
CP Dumpster


There'll be more on this when I'm more coherent and less full of the Harpoon sacrament.

In short:
1. We lost badly.
2. We stole Lawton from the Steel City Swashbucklers
3. Nomah, K-Wood and Williamson will return on Friday-ish for the Mets series.

4 Comments:

At 2:14 AM, Blogger Hyposquasher said...

way to steal my batting order, sort of.

i think rammy ramirez should bat behind lee. we have had more success with that all year long, despite the lefty-righty-lefty-righty theory. then burnitz after him.


more on my thoughts about the lawton trade to come later... stay tuned!

 
At 7:30 AM, Blogger Jim Hendry said...

I look forward to it.


Also, coming soon: a look at the Cubs immense squadron of minor-league prospects. Now 100% Corey Patterson free!

 
At 7:31 AM, Blogger Tommy said...

Why does Pittsburgh keep taking Hendry's calls? First A-Ram now Lawton. Fool me once shame on you....

 
At 8:00 AM, Blogger Jim Hendry said...

They're almost like the Expos from the late 90s. Those Montreal Marauders would build up some of the game's greatest names and then eject them forcibly from the premises in exchange for a bag of magic beans and a stadium full of empty dreams.

I cannot believe that we've managed to get 2 excellent players from the same team in exchange for so little. That being said, we're not always on the receiving end of such bounties, as we've given Jon Garland and Dontrelle Willis away in the last 5 years...

Either way, it's fun to watch a GM try and make those "bad" moves in the hopes that one day the crap they receive becomes the next All-Star. Maybe then his mother will stop taunting him from the Motel on the top of the hill.

 

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