As has been covered ad nauseum, the Cubs fell colossally short of expectations in 2009's first half. Since the All-Star break, the Cubs have won four straight games and begun to resemble last year's bunch in several ways. The biggest sign of positivity was Alfonso Soriano hitting home runs in consecutive games, but there was more. Mike Fontenot looked like the '08 version instead of the slapper we've seen for the past six weeks. Aramis Ramirez hit his first home run since returning from a season-altering shoulder injury. Kevin Gregg continued to outperform Kerry Wood -- whom he replaced as closer. Rich Harden looked unhittable.
Of course, we have to throw a gigantic asterisk next to the above paragraph. The Cubs were playing the Washington Nationals -- a team on pace to go 46-116.
Coming off the heels of a season where he won the National League Rookie of the Year, it's pretty safe to say 2009 hasn't been even remotely what Geovany Soto imagined it would be. The Chicago Cubs catcher is hitting just .230 with eight home runs and 27 RBI (compared to .285-23-86 last season) and his slugging percentage is down over 100 points. In addition to that, he's also been publicly outed for testing positive for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic and battled a shoulder injury.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the milestones keep coming for Albert Pujols. He went into the record book in grand fashion Friday night, belting his 31st home run of the season. The drive was his fourth grand slam of the season and 10th of his career, both Cardinals' franchise records. The latter mark nudges him past Stan Musial on the club list.
"He broke Stan Musial's career record?" manager Tony La Russa asked. "I'll go bow to his feet here in a second. That's a serious point to make."
Pujols is on pace to finish 2009 with 61 home runs. And just in case that's not enough for you, it came in the eighth inning with the Cardinals down 3-0 to the Reds. St. Louis went on to beat Cincinnati 7-4.
Through the first 36 games of the season, it's been quite the bumpy ride for the Cubs. They've gone through as much adversity as they faced during the entire 97-win campaign that was the 2008 regular season. There have been myriad injuries, a suspension, many players suffering through extended slumps, excessive booing by the fans, bullpen meltdowns, and a much, much tougher division.
And yet, Lou Piniella's troops are 21-15. You know what their record was after 36 games in 2008? An identical 21-15.
Cubs catcher Geovany Soto had to leave the Cubs' game on Tuesday evening in the fifth inning after making a throw to second base. After the throw Soto felt some pain in his right shoulder and since he felt like it would be detrimental to the team to stay in, he told Lou Piniella he needed to come out.
As it turns out, Soto's shoulder could be more damaging to the team than he even realized at the time. Soto is scheduled to undergo some tests on his aching right shoulder on Thursday afternoon in Chicago, and depending on what the doctors find, a trip to the disabled list may be in order.
FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Chicago Cubs.
A magical regular season that yielded the most victories for the Cubs franchise since 1935 sent them to the postseason for the fourth time in a 11-season span. Unfortunately, 2008 ended the same way 1998, 2003 and 2007 did -- in disappointment. The Cubs head into 2009 hoping to wipe the slate clean and get over any fake curses they are allegedly saddled with.
It's been a pretty remarkable season for the Chicago Cubs, as they currently own the best record in baseball and are a serious threat to end one hundred years of futility and win the World Series this October. Still, even with all the things the Cubs are doing in 2008, none of it matches what Koyie Hill has done.
The Cubs called Hill up to the club yesterday as part of the September call ups, but the fact that Hill is still even playing baseball is a miracle. After all, not many people return to the game after cutting off three fingers and a thumb in a table saw accident.
It happened last October 16th when Koyie was making a window frame for his house. His table saw got stuck in the wood, and before Koyie knew what hit him, he was missing the thumb, pinky, ring, and middle finger from his right hand. He was then rushed to an emergency room where a hand specialist sewed the fingers back on, but was told by doctors he'd never play baseball again.
Lou Piniella is a lot of fun. Sometimes I don't think he can even remotely think about the words that come out of his mouth before he says them. Today, in the Chicago Sun-Times, he's asked about his catchers. He gives this response:
Holy cow. Barrett punched their ace in the face and was so irritable that he was traded for Bowen, who was so terrible that he was traded for Kendall, who's caught in a whole three games for the Cubs (and gone 0-for-8). Of course, all of this juggling of starting catchers has been necessary because the backups are Hill (OPS is under .600), Blanco (under .500 before his injury), and Soto (who they've only trusted enough to start in two games this year).
Nice. That's definitely the first word that comes to mind when I think of how the Cubs' catchers have performed this year.
On Deck is The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups Cleveland Indians (37-24) vs. Seattle Mariners (33-26)-7:05PM Est.
We already know how Ichiro feels about it, but the Mariners have to fly into Cleveland today for a one-game series with the Indians. It's a result of an entire series being cancelled in April due to baseball's most dangerous foe, snow. While most people know how good the Indians are this season, the Mariners are flying under the radar. At their current pace they would finish the season with a 91-71 record. If the Angels fall back down to Earth a bit, they could make a serious run at the division, and the wild card.
Chicago Cubs (27-34) vs. Houston Astros (26-36)-8:05PM Est.
History will be made at Wrigley Field tonight. For the first time ever, a baseball team will be playing on one side of Chicago a day after playing on the other side of the city. That's what the Houston Astros are about to do when they take on the Cubs tonight. Remember this day, for I'm sure you will be telling your children this story someday. Carlos Zambrano will be starting for the Cubs, and even though he and Michael Barrett shared a good cry, Koyie Hill will be getting the start behind the plate anyway. Maybe Lou just doesn't want to bring any tissues to the mound with him.
Philadelphia Phillies (32-31) vs. Chicago White Sox (27-32)-ESPN 7:05PM Est.
A whole lot of reunions in this game. It's Jim Thome's first game against his old team since they traded him to Chicago. It's the same story for the guy Thome was traded for in Aaron Rowand, and for Freddy Garcia who was traded to Philly in the offseason. That's really the only thing interesting about this game, but it's on ESPN and there's nothing else on tonight, so why not? Maybe Aaron Rowand will be traded to the Sox in the 5th inning.
On Deck is The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups Chicago Cubs (22-30) vs. Atlanta Braves (31-23)-1:05PM Est.
Cubs fans should be happy that Michael Barrett and Carlos Zambrano fought each other yesterday, at least the Cubs are showing some life out there. Neither will be playing today, but I wouldn't rule out another fight. Word is that back when they were in Iowa together, Koyie Hill ate one of Rich Hill's sandwiches even though the brown bag it was in clearly said Rich Hill. Nobody, and I mean nobody, eats one of Rich Hill's sandwiches and lives to tell about it. Ding. Ding.
Cleveland Indians (34-19) vs. Detroit Tigers (30-24)-7:05PM Est.
Can the Tigers do anything to stop the Indians? Last night they went into the final frame with an 11-7 lead, and then Todd Jones decided to give up five runs to the Indians, and the Tigers lost 12-11. It's the second straight blown save for Jones, and the fifth straight win for the Tribe over Detroit. It's as if Flip Saunders has started managing the Tigers while Jim Leyland tries to find himself. Cliff Lee looks to keep the Indians undefeated against the Tigers tonight against Chad Durbin. Oakland Athletics (26-27) vs. Minnesota Twins (28-25)-9:05PM Est.
The Twins are on their longest win streak of the season, as they've won five in a row and eight of their last nine. Today they'll look to extend their streak against Joe Blanton, whom they've touched up pretty well in his career. Blanton's 2-2 with a 5.92 ERA against Minnesota in his career, but had a 10.23 ERA against them last season. On the flip side, Carlos Silva is 2-1 with a 3.25 ERA against the Athletics in six career starts. Photo Credit: Getty Images
As has been covered ad nauseum, the Cubs fell colossally short of expectations in 2009's first half. Since the All-Star break, the Cubs have won four straight games and begun to resemble last year's bunch in several ways. The biggest sign of positivity was Alfonso Soriano hitting home runs in consecutive games, but there was more. Mike Fontenot looked like the '08 version instead of the slapper we've seen for the past six weeks. Aramis Ramirez hit his first home run since returning from a season-altering shoulder injury. Kevin Gregg continued to outperform Kerry Wood -- whom he replaced as closer. Rich Harden looked unhittable. 
Coming off the heels of a season where he won the National League Rookie of the Year, it's pretty safe to say 2009 hasn't been even remotely what 
Starting Five
Cubs catcher 
It's been a pretty remarkable season for the Chicago Cubs, as they currently own the best record in baseball and are a serious threat to end one hundred years of futility and win the World Series this October. Still, even with all the things the Cubs are doing in 2008, none of it matches what 
