Cactus Chronicles 3-7-08

The Cactus Chronicles will be a daily feature at Foul Balls from now until Opening Day 2008.

Rangers 6 White Sox 1

The Good

Ummm.....uhhhhh......well......not much. Bobby Jenks didn't give up a hit in an inning of work but he did walk two. Mike MacDougal managed to have a perfect inning, which is quite the rarity, and other than that not much went well for the Sox.

Brian Anderson threw a runner out at the plate, which kept the Sox from losing by more.

The Bad

Where to start? The Sox brought their big guns to the park on Thursday, using a starting lineup that will closely resemble the one we see on opening day. Nick Swisher, Orlando Cabrera, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye, Joe Crede, and Juan Uribe all played, and went a combined 1-for-20.

Though the Sox only finished with three hits total, so it's not like anybody else did anything either.

Charlie Haeger gave up three runs in three innings, but he wasn't expecting to start, and was a replacement for Gavin Floyd who sat out with the flu. Boone Logan gave up another home run as well.

The Random

It doesn't appear that either Joe Crede or Josh Fields want the 3rd base job this season. So far this spring the two have combined to hit .154 (4-for-26)






Athletics 2 Cubs 1

The Good

Maybe Jason Marquis won't have to worry about being traded anymore, after working three strong shutout innings on Thursday. Hell, every Cubs pitcher performed well except for Jose Ceda who allowed both Oakland runs.

Kerry Wood, Bob Howry, Shingo Takatsu (Shingo!), Juan Mateo, and Jose Ascanio all combined for 4.2 innings of shutout relief.

On offense, not much went well for the Cubs, though Geovany Soto went 2-for-2 to raise his spring average to .500.

The Bad

The Cubs were only able to manage the one run and five hits against the A's.

The Random

Alex Cintron got another hit, and his performance this spring may make the Cubs more comfortable about using Ronny Cedeno in any trades they might want to make before the season starts. Say like one for Brian Roberts.

Cactus Chronicles 3-6-08

The Cactus Chronicles will be a daily feature at Foul Balls from now until Opening Day 2008.

White Sox 5 Rockies 2

The Good

There was a lot to be happy with as the White Sox won for the second day in a row. The Sox had only managed three home runs in their first eight games of the spring, but they had two on Wednesday. One off the bat of Jermaine Dye, who went 2-for-2 on the afternoon, and another one by Brian Anderson.

Speaking of Anderson, the problem with Brian has never been his defense, and he showed off his arm in the 2nd inning when he threw out a Rockie trying to stretch a single into a double from deep left field.

Danny Richar also went 2-3 to bump his average up to .400 this spring, but he didn't gain much ground on Alexei Ramirez who continues to hit the hell out of the ball, going 2-for-4 on Wednesday.

On the mound, Mark Buehrle pitched 4 innings and allowed only one hit. Mark is yet to allow a run this spring. Ehren Wasserman worked a perfect 7th inning as he continues to battle for the 7th spot in the Sox bullpen.

The Bad

The Sox may have had a power surge on Wednesday, but Nick Swisher, Jim Thome, A.J. Pierzynski, and Josh Fields all combined to go 0-for-12 against the Rockies.

Also, Octavio Dotel finally showed he's mortal, allowing a run and two hits in the 5th inning.

The Random

The starting outfield isn't getting any clearer as Carlos Quentin continues to come back slowly from shoulder problems, and Jerry Owens continues to experience pain in his upper leg/groin area. All of which could be fantastic news for Brian Anderson if he keeps hitting.



Diamondbacks 5 Cubs 4

The Good

Carlos Zambrano seems to be in mid-season form, as he pitched three scoreless innings, allowing only one hit. Oh, and he was one of three Cubs to homer on the day. Micah Hoffpauir and Luis Figueroa had the other two.

Felix Pie had a nice diving catch in the 2nd inning, and then doubled the runner off at second base.

The Bad

The Cubs pitching staff only gave up 4 hits on the day, but they walked 6 batters, with Rich Hill allowing three free passes on his own.

Some guys named Campusano and Lahey allowed 4 runs in the 8th inning, but fortunately, they never had a shot at making the team anyway.

The Random

Mayor Daley on relaxing Wrigley Field's landmark status: "I'm not going to be the mayor saying, 'OK, we're going to relax on the historic aspect of Wrigley Field. Mayor Daley says it'll be torn down.' That'll be a great headline for the Sun-Times. I'm not going to do that. You're not going to get that from me. . . . I'm a White Sox fan. I'm not going to say, 'We're going to change Wrigley Field.' That would be the end of me," Daley said.

Cactus Chronicles 3-5-08

The Cactus Chronicles will be a daily feature at Foul Balls from now until Opening Day 2008.

White Sox 7 Angels 6

The Good

The White Sox offense continued to produce this spring with 13 hits and 7 runs scored. Paul Konerko went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, and is now hitting .714 (10-for-14) on the spring. Nick Swisher also had two doubles and three RBI, including the game winning two-run double in the 9th inning.

The Bad

Jose Contreras didn't look as good in his second start of the spring, allowing two runs in three innings of work. Though the good news is he didn't walk anybody. Lance Broadway didn't help his case much either, allowing two runs in two innings.

On the offensive side of the ball, Juan Uribe got the start at second base, and went 0-3.

The Random

Javier Vazquez flew home to Puerto Rico to be there for the birth of his daughter, and won't be back for a few days.


Brewers 10 Cubs 6

The Good

Kosuke Fukudome really seemed to enjoy being switched to the second spot in the Cubs lineup, busting out of his early spring slump by going 3-for-3 with a home run and 2 RBI. Ryan Dempster overcame a 1st inning run and allowed only two hits in his three innings.

Kerry Wood pitched a perfect 6th inning. Oh, and perhaps the best news of all, Felix Pie recovered from his twisted nut to go 1-for-3.

The Bad

Sean Gallagher continues to not do himself any favors (though I guess if struggling keeps him out of Baltimore he's doing himself a favor), allowing three runs on two homers in only two innings of work. It also doesn't appear that Jose Ascanio is recovered from that ass-kicking at Circle K, because he gave up four runs in the 10th inning.

The Random

The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority is preparing to make an offer for Wrigley Field in the next few days.

Cactus Chronicles 3-4-08

The Cactus Chronicles will be a daily feature at Foul Balls from now until Opening Day 2008.

Royals 7 White Sox 6

The White Sox blew a 6-5 lead in the 9th inning as they lost their third game in a row and are now 3-4 this spring.

The Good

John Danks pitched a lot better in his second start of the spring, going three innings and allowing only two hits and a an unearned run, while not walking anybody. Alexei Ramirez continued to impress at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a bases loaded triple in the 5th inning. Jermaine Dye, Josh Fields, and Brad Eldred drove in the other three Sox runs.

The Bad

Same old story, the bullpen lost this game for the White Sox. Bobby Jenks gave up two runs in the 4th inning, Mike MacDougal gave up 2 more in the 5th, and Boone Logan was responsible for Kansas City's 9th inning runs. Apparently his beard is powerless against the might of the Royals.

The Random

The White Sox had scouts watching Noah Lowry pitch for the Giants on Monday, as he's one of the players they were looking in a possible deal for Joe Crede. Something tells me they're not as interested in Lowry after seeing him walk seven betters in less than two innings of work. Oh, and those seven walks don't include the two wild pitches in the 1st inning, and the pick-off attempt he threw into the seats during the 2nd inning.

Position Battles

Alexei Ramirez played shortstop on Monday, but he's going to start seeing a lot more time at second base in the near future. If he's able to adjust to the position change, I'll be willing to bet the second base job is his to lose. Ozzie can't stop saying good things about him.

Ehren Wasserman was the only White Sox reliever not responsible for one of Kansas City's runs, which will help him try to earn a spot in the bullpen.



Cubs 6 Mariners 5

The Cubs barely escaped blowing a 6-2 lead in the 9th inning, and ended a three-game losing streak to get their second win of the spring.

The Good

K-Fuk struggled at the plate again on Monday, going 0-for-2, but he made a couple very nice plays on defense. Kosuke made a running catch on the warning track in the 2nd inning, and nearly doubled off Seattle's Brad Wilkerson at first base in the process. Then in the third inning, he fired a bullet to third base to hold the runner at second on a fly ball.

Ronny Cedeno had three hits, which can only be good for the Cubs, as it may help them land Brian Roberts. My favorite Cubs player ever, but only for what he did in college, Jeff Samardzija, pitched two hitless innings and picked up the win in the process.

The Bad

Jon Lieber made his first start of the spring, and he gave up two runs in two innings thanks to three hits. Sean Gallagher didn't step up either in the battle for a spot in the rotation, because even though he didn't give up a hit in his two innings of work, he did walk three batters.

Bobby Howry didn't do much for his case as closer either, as he allowed three runs and five hits in a 36-pitch 9th inning.

The Random

In case you didn't know, the Cubs are quite popular in the city of Chicago. They're so popular, in fact, that their televised game against the Angels on Sunday was the most watched program in Chicago at the time.

The 2.0 rating from 2-4:30PM on Comcast Sports Net was a record for a spring training game, and came despite the fact that college basketball, the NBA, and NASCAR were all on at the same time in Chicago. Not to mention crappy reality shows that are strangely addicting.

Position Battles

I already mentioned Lieber and Gallagher's struggles as they fight for a spot in the rotation, which could help keep Jason Marquis in town. Maybe that had something to do with Lou apologizing to Jason after responding to Marquis' comments to "start me or trade me" by saying "let him go."

Cactus Chronicles

The Cactus Chronicles will be a daily feature at Foul Balls from now until Opening Day 2008.

White Sox 12 Rockies 3

The Sox actually started their schedule on Wednesday, but I didn't get the idea to do this until Thursday night, so, oh well. Anyway, the Sox snapped an 11-game spring losing streak to the defending NL champion Rockies on Thursday afternoon. The Sox offense exploded for 12 runs, 7 of which came with two outs, and 18 hits to get their first win of the spring.

The Good

There was a lot to be happy about in this game. Jose Contreras pitched three innings, allowed only one hit, no runs, and zero walks. On offense, the star of the day was Cuban import Alexei Ramirez. Ramirez went 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs, and an RBI. Nick Swisher also had 2 RBI's and went 1-for 3 with a walk.

The Bad

Scott Linebrink sure didn't look like he's worth $4 million this season, allowing three hits in his one inning, though he did only give up one run.

The Random

Jerry Owens' groin is much better, and he should be ready to play tomorrow. His reward? Brandon Webb.

Position Battles

Alexei Ramirez is easily out front in the competition for second base right now. Even before his excellent performance on Thursday, Ozzie has been talking about him all spring, gushing how he plays defense so effortlessly and how Ramirez just seems to be exactly the type of player he loves. Meanwhile Danny Richar missed the first six days of camp thanks to visa problems, so he's already behind, and the team is still trying to trade Juan Uribe.

In left field, Brian Anderson had a good day, going 2-for-5 with 2RBI. Still, he's got a deep hole to dig himself out of with Ozzie, and one good day won't do it.






Cubs 12 Giants 6

The Cubs had their spring opener on Thursday and, much like the Sox, they had a rather easy time of it. Ryan Theriot singled and scored in the first three innings, and Mike Fontenot added a three-run homer to go with Felix Pie's solo shot as the Cubs offense had little trouble with Giants pitching. Ryan Dempster pitched well, save for a solo home run off Randy Winn's bat.

The Good

Felix Pie didn't just homer but also hit a double and walked to finish 2-for-2 with 3 runs scored. Derrek Lee had only one at bat, but he made it count with a 2-run single.

The Bad

If Jose Ceda or Esmailin Caridad want to even dream of making the team, they'll have to do better than they did yesterday. Both youngsters allowed 2 runs in only .2 innings of work. Alex Cintron went 0-for-3 and left 7 men on base.

The Random

Kosuke Fukudome's first taste of Major League baseball was getting drilled in the right arm on the first pitch he ever saw. "I couldn't get out of the way," Fukudome said through interpreter Ryuji Araki. "If that's the way it goes, that's the way it goes." Fukudome would walk in his second at bat, and drive in a run with a single in the third.

Position Battles

Sean Gallagher is in the running for a spot in the rotation, and he threw 2 innings and allowed a run on two hits and a walk.

Alex Cintron is getting a chance thanks to Mark DeRosa's funky ticker, and he didn't take advantage of it with his performance. Fontenot made a case though with his pinch-hit homer.