Sunday's Fish Fry

Cubs 14 Marlins 3

There was a wonderful fish fry at 1060 West Addison in Chicago today. The extra activities included a jersey retirement, a home run display and a look into the future.

Sandberg's jersey retirement was very tasteful and showed Sandberg the same respect he showed the game. Sandberg had plenty of his teammates with him, including throwing out the first pitch to Andre Dawson. I found it very interesting that the Cubs were the last team to have numbers on their jerseys and now #23 will never be worn again. Sandberg was in the booth for the big 8 run 7th inning and it was great to here him talk in length about his playing time, the respect he has for his teammates and his repect for the game. His comments were extremely interesting about today's players..Sandberg spoke the truth and will make a VERY GOOD MANAGER someday.

Anytime I get to see Josh Beckett lose a ball game is a VERY good day. He pitched very well, but Zambrano just out pitched him. Beckett got down early thanks to DLee.

Derrek Lee is warming up again. He hit 2 more home runs today, with one going out to rightfield. It would be great to see him get hot again and win the Triple Crown. He has been a very bright spot on an otherwise dim year.

Speaking of brightspots. Here are 2 more:

1) Zambrano came through again. 3 runs on 6 hits through 8 innings. He pitched great. The only thing I did not like about Big Z's outing today was the fact Dusty allowed him to pitch in the 8th. The Cubs were up at that point 12-3 and Zambrano had nothing else to prove. Get the starters out and save their arms. Zambrano ended up throwing 108 pitches. Be careful, he is a big part of the future.

2) Ronny Cedeno...wow is this kid going to be a good one. Not only did he go 2 for 4 today, he scored a run and had 2 RBI's. And had an unbelievable at bat against Beckett in the 6th, fought off pitch after pitch and finally got a hit that drove in a big run. Cedeno showed maturity at the plate that most of the veterans have not shown this year. He also played a solid shortstop...get on the Cedeno bandwagon this year, before everyone else does.

Between Derrek Lee, Carlos Zambrano and Ronny Cedeno's play in today's game makes tomorrow look a lot better.

Also, Scott McClain made his Chicago Cubs debut today in the 9th and recorded 3 put outs. Welcome to the Show!!

Monday - The Los Angeles Dodgers

Jerome Williams(4-6/4.74) vs. D.J. Houlton(4-7/4.86)

The Cubs can sweep this series and could really use 3 wins before going on a 10 game road trip. The Dodgers are not playing well and are having a soap opera of their own. Apparently Milton Bradley, a very talented player, has accused Jeff Kent of not being able to get along with his 'black teammates'. Kent has always had trouble being a good teammate and this just adds to his reputation. The Cubs need to take advantage of this and beat the Dodgers. Williams had his best outing as a Cub his last time out and needs to build on his last start. Get on these guys early, Gagne is out and their bullpen is horrible.

Just win again...wouldn't it be nice?