Seperating head from soul: The Greg leaves Chicago

August 1st, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

It’s easy to find a proper excuse for why the Cubs had to trade Greg Maddux. He’s not great anymore, and his $9 million deal is a bit too much to stomach on even the healthiest of payroll appetites.

The reality is, though, that the Cubs had to trade anyone. Jim Hendry had to do something. His name hasn’t risen above culpability for this season’s malaise quite far enough; this team, while thoughtfully constructed, just isn’t built the way it had to be to insure success. Where’s the relief pitching? Where are the extra starters? Where are the non-Cedeno, non-Murton prospects to fill holes inevitably created when the injury duo (Prior, Wood) go down again? This team had no backup plan, no insurance policy, and Hendry had to trade Maddux today, lest he look unconcerned.

All that’s well and good, but the problem is: I really, really like Greg Maddux. He’s still functionally good (his WHIP was 1.28 as of the trade; not fantastic, but not horrid), and owns - dare I say the naughty word - intangibles. (Gasp!) He brings a bit of experience and leadership to a clubhouse that hasn’t been stable the entire year.

But that’s not the only reason I like him. Maddux was the Cub gone Brave success story. He left the tortured franchise early in his career to go off and do miraculous things. And then he came back, full of the promise of redemption, ready to bolster a dynamic, fireballing rotation with a little veteran moxy.

It didn’t happen. That’s obvious. It’s also obvious that this is probably an OK trade for the Cubs, that Maddux wasn’t doing much good in Chicago for much longer. It doesn’t help, of course, that acquiring Cesar Izturis is about as exciting as acquiring a Cesar Izturis Donruss rookie edition. Not a whole lot of value here.

So the emotional attachment is still there. And for all of the rigors of intelligent observation, the glaring thought that Mad Dog could have ended his career in Wrigley, spilling from the dugout onto the field after a routine World Series-ending ground ball, is a sharp pang. Like seeing Michael vulnerable to mortality, it doesn’t at all feel acceptable.

Trading deadline “extremely close” to being a huge disappointment

July 31st, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

So, it has come and gone. And save for Bobby Abreu moving his service to the Yankees, no big moves to report. (Small chance something could be reported after the 4 pm EST deadline.)

Seems like every year, we are tantalized by big names moving to contenders, only to be let down. The hype is there. The results aren’t.

Oh well.

And on a personal note, I’m glad Alfonso Soriano is not a member of the White Stockings. Didn’t make much sense. Sure, he’s good. But we don’t need another power bat and mediocre outfielding skills.

But really, they’ll be fine. Right? I hope. Oh no, I can feel the weight of the Twins, Tigers and Yankees falling down upon me.

Someone help!

(PostmanE just informs me that Greg Maddux has been traded to the Dodgers for Cesar Izturis. Sad day for Cubbie fans, indeed.)

Ron Santo and his buffalo wang walking stick

May 25th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

While searching for a video of Greg Maddux taking a bat to a water cooler last night during the Cubs’ loss to the Florida Marlins, (they got swept by the fighin’ fish last night, by the way) I stumbled across this video which sets some interesting Ron Santo commentary to what I’m pretty sure is MVP Baseball (not sure on what year.)

Santo talks about his new walking stick for awhile and near the end blurts out ‘It’s really a productive organ of a buffalo and he is really hung well.’

We’re thinking that maybe this comment isn’t real time and is spliced and edited by the magic of technology. (Although, we’re not entirely putting this kind of a statement past Santo.)

But, either way, it’s kinda like that South Park episode where Matt and Trey splice in audio from previous shows for Chef; it’s pretty hilarious. (Oh, and we’re pretty sure Santo meant to say ‘reproductive’ not ‘productive.’)

I couldn’t find anything on the internet about Santo making this statement, so if anyone knows anything, let us know.

Take a looksy.