Good-bye Sin City, let the Games Begin!

View my Cubs photos from the morning of the White Sox game

Just got back from Las Vegas, sorry for not blogging since Thursday but my laptop went belly up in Sin City. I won’t delve into how the Cubs games in Vegas played out as most of you probably saw them telecast on WGN, so I’ll do a little spring training housecleaning and then re-cap the Cubs spring season.

Our last game of the spring season at Hohokam on Thursday drew 12,879 fans, the final spring home attendance figure was 154,978 for 14 games, 39,015 below last years record setting mark. It’s believed the WBC tourney, fewer games, and a rain-out all played a part in the decline.

As most of you know the Cubs picked up Freddie Bynum from the A’s, sending John Koronka to the Texas Rangers in a 3 way deal. Bynum gives the Cubs more speed and versatility as he has played both middle infield spots and all 3 outfield positions. The Cubs have more speed as a team than they have had in quite some time.

I will post some pictures from Las Vegas later today and also my break down of the team along with my take on each player from the last month and a half. The end of spring training is always bittersweet for me as I lose my day to day contact with the Cubs but it’s exciting to start the regular season and each year’s new quest for the World Series. It’s hard for me to believe that 2006 was my 23rd spring with the Cubs. Our intern (Kyle) from Scottsdale Community College who helped out in the PA booth this season informed me that it was 2 years before he was born when I started the Cubs gig. Man that makes me feel old; I think I’ll start telling people that in my first spring training with the Cubs (1984) I was only 8 years old.

Nobody came up with the correct answers in the Vince Lloyd “Voice of Summer” quiz by the April 1^st deadline, apparently even with the clues it was to difficult. So here are the answers:

Billy Williams – “He came from a small town in Alabama and almost quit baseball…”

Lou Boudreau – “They ought to take Sutcliffe out of there right now.”

GM John Holland – “I’ve got to take the budget down to Wrigley…and I might get canned.”

Wilt Chamberlain – “He’s still the greatest physical specimen I ever saw.”

Jack Brickhouse – “If I’m going to do a lead-off man, it might as well be the President…”

Ron Santo – “He never had any speed, couldn’t run a lick.”

Lou Boudreau – “We would talk baseball until 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning on the road.”

Fergie Jenkins – “He was one pitcher who hated to be taken out of the game.”

Harry Caray – “He couldn’t stand Milo Hamilton, and Milo didn’t like him.”

Adolfo Phillips – “…had his ass in the dugout half the time at the plate.”

Lou Boudreau – “He had as good a baseball mind as I have ever encountered.”

Those are the people Vince talks about in the trailer on the CUBSDVD page. We will have another contest to give away the Ron Santo autographed ticket soon so check back.

More later