97

THE MAGIC HAS BEEN SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY

Cubs take one at the Cell, but have shown that bottom is being hit. I thought the drama of indefinite suspensions ended when Milton Bradley left to Seattle. Nope. I've been wrong.

I'm not sure where this season is going, but the new owners are going to wake up soon. They are sitting with the hand they were dealt and will likely be preparing for their next hand. I see Fukudome leaving shortly for what? no clue. Zambrano is likely a gonner but to where? I hope he takes some time and then reconciles. As I see it today, he's not trade-able. But I thought that with MB and he was traded.

Time to clean house. Let's start working on the team of tomorrow.

104

Offense Comes Out to Play in Cubs Win over A's!

Even though this is an inter-league game, a win is a win, and the Cubs looked great in this win. Ryan Dempster looked good as he pitched into the seventh inning, with 5 consecutive scoreless innings. But, the big moments from this game came from Alfonso Soriano. Yes, that Soriano. The same player that we have all called out for being payed way too much for producing so little on the field gave all Cubs fans a great game (and win) tonight. Not only did he have two RBI's tonight, but Soriano put down a great sacrifice bunt and almost beat out the throw to first. Soriano was hustling, yes hustling, down the line. Go Cubs!!! Now let's beat the Oakland A's tomorrow.

107

Cubs Win With Outstanding Pitching

For the record, the inter-league games are not our favorite games here at Cubs Magic Number, but the great pitching performance by Ted Lilly is one reason why the crosstown rivalry will never die. Lilly's near no-hitter could not have come at a better time for the southpaw, especially since he has been on the losing end of his last games (to be fair, most of those games were lost by the poor offensive production). Once again, the offense for the Cubs has decided to take a break, and therefore the pitchers are being asked to steer the team in the winning direction. Now, I know it is the year of the pitcher, but come on Cubs... we, the fans need to see some effort put forth for hitting and scoring.

115

Veteran Hitter's Bring The Win!!

Veteran hitters started showing some signs of life tonight in the Cubs 8-5 win over Houston. Marlon Byrd and Derrek Lee broke their slumps with some hits, and Aramis Ramirez looked like the Aramis Ramirez of the past with his power, including the home run off of Roy Oswalt in the second inning. One of the bright spots so far in the year has been the young guns for the Cubs, and tonight Tyler Colvin kept that shining moment going with his home run. Hey hey, look at Colvin's batting average standing strong at .300.

Go Cubs and Hawks!!

117

Cubs continue to have trouble with Pittsburgh which they need to turn around starting today. They're 6 games out, in 3rd place and it's officially June. You can't argue that it's still early in the season.

Ramirez is still doing terrible. Theriot, Lee & Byrd are all fighting slumps (you could argue Lee's been a slump all season) and our starting pitching suddenly looks quite vulnerable.

Well, at least the Blackhawks are up 2-0 over the Flyers and are 2 wins away from their first championship since 1961 when the NHL season was done by mid-April.

Go Hawks and Cubs!!