A Not So Perfect 10

The Cubs and Brewers battled it out for 10 innings, finishing with 10 runs apiece in front of another packed house (12,782) at Hohokam. The Cubs finished with a spring home attendance mark of 181,280, the best in the Major Leagues and third highest figure at Hohokam. Today’s final AZ Cactus League contest for the Cubs left them with a 14-14-2 spring training record. Two more games in Las Vegas this weekend against the Mariners will close out the Cubs’ spring season.

As for today’s game, it was a wild, homerun-filled affair. As I mentioned this morning, we were to see several minor league pitchers, which we did- including Cory Bailey, the Cubs starter today, who was shelled by most of the Brewers expected regular season lineup for 6 runs in the 2nd inning. Other Cubs pitchers who saw action today, and maybe you’ll see some of them down the road apiece, were Matt Avery, Rocky Roquet, Ed Campusano, and Tim Lahey. The one guy who should have an impact this year that pitched today was Sean Marshall, and he didn’t look sharp- 1 run allowed on a hit along with 3 bases on balls (1 intentional)in 2 innings pitched.

The Cubs scored 10 runs with a big game from Micah Hoffpauir, who played RF and 1B. He crushed 2 homeruns but couldn’t get it done in the 10th with bases loaded. Also joining the HR derby, were Ronny Cedeno and Alfonso Soriano (2for2, 3RBI). Henry Blanco went 2 for 3, with a couple doubles. Mark DeRosa was 2 for 3, including a triple in the 4th. However, DeRosa was thrown out at home – he tagged up on a sac fly, then didn’t slide into home plate, if he had, he would have easily scored the run. When I introduced DeRo in his next at bat I could here some boos and comments about him not sliding from the fans below me.

Ronny Cedeno made a nice diving grab on a Mike Cameron liner in the 1st. Felix Pie continued his outstanding defense, with a sweet running catch falling to the ground in short right center, after calling off the other outfielders. Cubs new acquisition Reed Johnson was wearing jersey #9 today, instead of 13.

While the Cubs have left for Las Vegas, there is another game at Hohokam tomorrow night, the Fergie and Friends celebrity Allstar game. Where you can see many of the Cubs stars of year’s past, including Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, and Fergie, as well as other former Cubs like Randy Hundley, Jody Davis, Bob Dernier, Keith Moreland, and Lee Smith. Also on hand tomorrow night will be non-Cubs stars like Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers, Juan Marichal, Meadowlark Lemon and many other former MLB greats. It should be a fun night at Hohokam to raise money for charity. Tickets are only $10, there’s lots of fun stuff going on beforehand – card and memorabilia show, and a Cindy Standage concert.