Cubs Rally, Sox Run Out of Arms

Listen to Cubs Fan Fest interviews with Dusty and Jim Hendry
Listen to Cubs Fan Fest interviews with the players

Guess today’s Cubs and White Sox 4 – 4 tie will have to suffice until the windy city rivalry hooks up for real on May 19^th. Unfortunately, the White Sox ran out of pitchers to go beyond 9 (that’s what they told me), so many in today’s record breaking crowd of 12,894 at HoHoKam let their voices be heard in protest when I announced the game would finish in a tie. Having to kiss your sister after the Cubs staged a nice 2-run rally in the 9^th to tie it up was very anticlimactic. There was as much energy in the ballpark during the Cubs late inning comeback, as I’ve witnessed in quite a while.

Cubs notable performances: Greg Maddux went 6 innings, and gave up 3 runs off of 9 hits, including a Jim Thome homerun. (Thome looks like a great pickup for the Sox, and showed it today going 4 for 5 including 2 long homeruns) Reliever Bob Howry gave up one run (the other Thome homerun), and struck out 2 in his one inning. Scott Eyre and David Aardsma both pitched scoreless innings. Derrek Lee was back from his family situation, but went 0 for 3 at the plate. Neifi Perez had a big day at the plate, going 3 for 4, with a homerun and 2 RBI’s. Henry Blanco had a couple hits. Angel Pagan really has shined this spring. He pinch hit in the 9^th inning, and used his speed to stretch a single into a double, igniting the Cubs late rally. Aramis Ramirez then knocked him in, with a double.

Sarge Matthews delivered the starting lineups to the umpires today. One encouraging sign is the Cubs solid defense this spring, having gone the last 9 games without an error; they have the fewest errors in all of the majors this spring. Cubs starting pitchers have allowed 3 or fewer runs in 8 of their last 9 starts.

Sorry for not blogging yesterday, as I went out to dinner after the game with Myrtle Giblin-Skaff. (Vince Lloyd’s wife) She’s a real Cubs and baseball fan, and just loves to be out at the ballpark. She joins the voice of many folks who believe Vince belongs in the broadcaster’s wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Hopefully, the “Voice of Summer” DVD will remind the voters what a remarkable broadcaster Vince was.

It’s hard to believe there’s only one more game left at HoHoKam this spring – Thursday’s matchup against the Diamondbacks. After Thursday’s game I will be following the team to Las Vegas for the final spring exhibitions, to be your eyes and ears in Sin City.

Future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux vs World Champs