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I am going to write a new article about the Cubs every month of the 2005 Cubs season. Here is issue #1. 2005 Season |
Injuries
It is like deja-vu. This year is eerily similar to last year when Wood, Prior, and Borowski went down. This just sucks. I almost think that the Cubs should just give up on these guys. How many more years can we deal with one injury after another. I trust Jim Hendry but Wood still has never won more than 14 games in a year and even though he and perfect-mechanics Prior pitched a ton of innings in 2003, they must have worn themselves out because they have not pitched many innings since.
Offense
Nomar is tearing it up this Spring. It is so huge that we resigned him. I think he is going to have a huge year. That guy can hit. I was a little nervous about the rest of our offense considering we lost Sammy and Moises but as I see more and more of this team I think we are going to be OK. I think there a chance that Dubois might be solid and I think Burnitz might be able to put up 30 jacks and 90 RBIs. I think we will get similar production that we got last year from the corners with Lee and Aramis. So all in all I think we should be fine.
Bullpen
This is not looking so good. With Borowski now hurt it looks like Latroy
is our closer again - something he has never succeeded in doing in his
career. We'll see what happens. I like the young guys in the pen and if
they make the team, I hope Dusty gives them a shot. Wellemeyer, Wuertz,
and Lecaster all looked decent at times last year and they are not young
anymore. I think we should just throw them out there and give them a chance.
The issue that we have had for the past few years was lefty relief. We
can't throw Remlinger out there every day. Will Ohman, Stephen Randolph,
and Rusch (if he is not in rotation) are all options but I really don't
think they are very solid.
Steroids
Steroids have taken up most the the headlines this offseason with the
Canseco book and the House of Representatives hearings. I have one question.
When are we going to find the results of the testing they supposedly did
earlier this Spring Training. My understanding is that they don't have
the plan in place as for punishments and stuff. But they did this testing.
I think the best thing they could do is let the results slip to to the
media. When fans find out that their favorite player tested positive -
I think that would be punishment enough.
Cubs Popularity
As the years go on I wonder if the Cubs' popularity will ween and it has
done just the opposite. It keeps growing. Cubs have set both Spring Training
and regular season ticket sales records last year and they are going to
pass them again this year. It is unbelievable. I think a good test of
a team's popularity is their road attendance. The Cubs are slightly behind
the yankees for road attendance percentage. Throw in the fact that a ton
of Cubs games are broadcast on WGN for people all over the country to
see - the Cubs are loved across the nation and with the expansion of Wrigley
to start at the end of the season - looks like they are going to jam more
and more people into the Friendly Confines.
2005 Season
I made the prediction that the Cubs will win 89 games. I made this
prediction before they announced Wood, Prior, and Borowski being hurt.
But I am going to keep my prediction. I mean the Cubs did win 89 games
last year with the same pitchers injured that we are dealing with this
year. And I don't think that the Cards or Astros have done much to get
better this year. It should be a good year. I don't think any NL Central
team is going to run away with it like the Cards did last year but time
will tell. You can see the rest of my predictions here.