This week marks the first time ever that a team has both delivered the Bitch-Slap-of-the-Week while also receiving the humiliating honor. That team would be Prince’s squad, the Brew Crew.Just days after delivering a record-setting stomping to the Pittsburgh Pirates outscoring them 36-1 over a 3-game sweep, these same Brewers were blown out by the Chicago Cubs 25-4 who brought their brooms from the Windy City for their 3- game sweep and this week’s Bitch-Slap.

Brew Crew hurler Dave Bush came into the final game of the series with a 2.41 ERA in three starts. After his disaster that looked more like batting practice during Sunday’s 12-2 loss, he left the bump with a 4.84 ERA.

His stats, 3 1/3 innings, 10 hits, 9 runs, and 4 homers; let’s toss in a couple of extra backhanded Bitch-Slaps for this performance. Teeing off on Bush for round-trippers were Kosuke Fukudome, Tyler Colvin, Geovany Soto and Derrek Lee. Lee’s blast made it 9-0 and mercifully ended the day for Bush.

Funny how a MLB team can ride out of Pittsburgh on a high horse with a head of steam then totally implode a few days later on their home field, Miller Park.

“This is embarrassing in a way,” Brewer Jim Edmonds said. “We’re just not playing well.”

Ah, yeah . . . you got your asses kicked!

We hate to jump on the dogpile, Brewers, but after that tee-ball performance, you gotta get our Bitch-Slap-of-the-Week.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

Say what you want about the Chicago Cubs and the moves Manager Lou Piniella made before this weekend’s sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee, but look at the results.

The Cubs went into Milwaukee and beat the Brewers 8-1 Friday night, 5-1 Saturday and finished the series off with a 12-2 win on Sunday with Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly and Randy Wells each picking up a win.

In the series, Lilly made his season debut with the Cubs in front of a raucous crowd of 43,410. While at times in the beginning he looked a bit wild, he pitched well. His first pitch was clocked at 76 mph. In all, Lilly threw 78 pitches over six shut-out innings before being pulled for Carlos Zambrano who made his first relief appearance for the Cubs.

Z was greeted by a standing ovation at Miller Park and after taking the mound, he only needed two pitches to get out of the inning. Later, Zambrano, known to be one of MLB’s best hitting pitchers, came to bat with the bases loaded, and hit a sacrifice fly to score another run. Later, Sean Marshall and Carlos Marmol closed out the game.

If that wasn’t enough, the Cubs continued their assault on the Brewers today. While most Cubs fans were enjoying the home runs by Tyler Colvin, Kosuke Fukudome, Geovany Soto and Derrek Lee, another little scenario was playing out that happens quite rarely in baseball.

Both Colvin and Fukudome were one triple away from hitting for the cycle. Neither one completed the cycle, but it seemed Colvin was close when he hit a liner to Prince Fielder in the 8th that would have gone to the corner for a possible triple had Fielder not made a nice leap for the ball.

This comes on the heels of another curious cycle that didn’t happen for two players in last night’s Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins game when a player from each time made a bid to hit for the cycle. Both Joe Mauer of the Twins and David DeJesus of the Royals were one home run away from accomplishing the feat. The game went to 12 innings with the Twins finally beating the Royals 9-7.

The last time there were two cycles hit in one day was on September 1, 2008, by Stephen Drew, with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Adrian Beltre, while he was with the Seattle Mariners.

Just days ago, the Brew Crew demolished the Pittsburgh Pirates in record-setting fashion, outscoring them 36-1 in a 3-game series. The Cubs repaid the favor for the Pirates by doing near the same to the Brewers, outscoring them 25-4 on their home turf in this series.

Re-printed with permission of the author.

In addition to writing her Chicago Cubs column for Examiner.com, Miriam Romain has been published in several Cubs annuals by Maple Street Press and is a contributor to SportsClimax.com . She is also writing a book with the working title “Summers at Wrigley with my Dad.”

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™ 

CHICAGO – Phones may be ringing across Chicago after the Chicago Cubs Opening Day 16-5 loss in Atlanta yesterday. “The Cubs are horrible.” “Zambrano is awful.” “We were robbed by that call — we need replay.”Well, two out of three of those comments might be correct and some may say all three are correct.

The Cubs scored three runs on a Marlon Byrd home run in the top of the first, but Zambrano was not on his game. The Cubs No.1 starter gave up six runs in the bottom of the first, three on a three-run home run by rookie Jason Heyward in his first at bat.

In all, Zambrano was rocked for a total of eight runs before being yanked in the second inning. It was the earliest exit for Zambrano in his career. While his pitching was far from perfect, there were a couple of times when defense was lacking as well.

Z didn’t handle the pressure of an Opening Day start on the road and has toned down his fiery temper, at least in front of the cameras. Regardless, the fans cannot point the finger only at Z. The Cubs as a team totally fell apart in the 6th inning after a blown call by umpire Marvin Hudson on a Byrd fly to center was called out.

Replays showed the call by Hudson incorrect, supplying more ammo for those who are calling for instant replays to have a greater role in Major League Baseball.

“Replays support the #cubs in bad call in 6th on what should’ve been a hit for Marlon Byrd. Ramirez was doubled off,” Tweeted Cubs MLB beat writer Carrie Muskat.

“Absolute BS. Yet another reason replay MUST be adopted. #Cubs got screwed,” Tweeted Bleedcubbieblue.

Even Lou Piniella wasn’t on his game today. He did come out to challenge that call in the sixth, as he should have, but the fiery Lou that Cubs fans expected never materialized — even after the umpires had a meeting and refused to overturn the original call.

If this is a glimpse of things to come for the season, it will be a long season. The Cubs need to get over this game and Lou needs to show he’s really in it. If the skipper of the team loses his fire, it may trickle down the ranks and this season will be another very long one for Cubs fans.

Re-printed with permission of the author.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

If you build it, they will come. And yesterday they came – all 13,391 fans, setting a new Cactus League record. And those fans saw the Cubs lose to the Dodgers 7-3. It’s not surprising that this game was so popular, the Cubs and Dodgers have the most draw in the Cactus League, with Cubs fans following their team to the different Arizona venues.

But the biggest losers of the day were not the Cubs; the biggest losers were the fans who could not get out of the parking lot after the game at Camelback Ranch.

What makes this so disturbing is that fans can get in and out of every other stadium in the Phoenix area with minimal problems. This is year two for Camelback Ranch – which is shared by the Dodgers and White Sox.

You’d think that after the horror stories of last year, the powers that be would have figured out a better way to route traffic out of the stadium than what is currently in place. Not so. If you park in the lot, and if you park in handicap parking (or ADA, as they call it there), forget about getting out – that is if you get there early and you’re lucky enough to get one of the few coveted handicap spots.

Some will say that Camelback Ranch was put up quickly and the infrastructure isn’t quite ready to handle it. Not true. If the person, or people, designing the place had done their homework, getting in and out of the parking lot could have been made a lot easier. The Cubs need to take a good, long look at Camelback Ranch, see all of its flaws and learn from them.

Trying to get out of the parking lot probably made Cubs fans, who were in the majority at the end of the game as Dodgers fans started leaving in droves around the seventh inning, forget that former Cub favorite Reed Johnson hit a three run home run for the Dodgers, or even that the Cubs lost.

In addition to writing her Chicago Cubs column for Examiner.com, Miriam Romain has been published in several Cubs annuals by Maple Street Press and is a contributor to SportsClimax.com . She is currently covering the Cubs in Arizona during Spring Training 2010 while she takes a break from writing her book with the working title “Summers at Wrigley with my Dad.”

Some dreams do come to fruition. When asked when was the first time you said to yourself, “I want to own the Cubs?” Tom Ricketts, chairman and new owner of the Chicago Cubs, reminisced about that moment that came in 1990.

“Last fall I was going through some papers on my desk and I found my business school application. It was an essay written in 1990, and one of the questions they asked was to tell what your dream job would be. I wrote “I’d like to own the Chicago Cubs, or a baseball team,” says Ricketts. At the time, he was living with his older brother, Pete above the Sports Corner bar at the corner of Sheffield and Addison. “It has been a dream for a long time.”

While Ricketts did not grow up in Chicago, he became a fan by watching the Cubs on WGN, and he has lived in Chicago long enough to call it home, even attending the University of Chicago. Ricketts was involved in Fantasy Baseball for a while and read everything Bill James wrote.

“Obviously living right up here and going to so many games how can you not [fall in love with the Cubs]? I love business, I love baseball. Being able to do both at once is terrific. And then to combine it with the family, it’s [great],” he states.

Ricketts makes it very clear that the money to buy the Cubs came about because of his father’s success with Ameritrade. When he realized that Tribune was going to have to sell the Cubs, Ricketts went to his family, talked to them about owning the team, they agreed and they threw their hat into the ring.

Since introducing the family, which included his brothers Pete and Todd and sister Laura, at a press conference at the end of October, Ricketts has had somewhat of a crash course on who and what the Cubs are. He knew from a fan’s point of view (a fan who really did meet his wife in the bleachers), but not from the business side.

He and Crane Kenney, president of the Cubs, have made trips to see all Cubs operations, including a couple of trips to the Dominican Republic. Unlike many owners who want to have a hand in everything, Ricketts is watching and learning and letting the people hired to do their jobs do them and be held accountable for their actions.

The family is putting money into the team at all levels, and Ricketts is firm in pointing out that all revenue generated from the team will go back into the team to help continue improving not only talent, but fan game day experiences. Some of those changes will be evident on Opening Day.

In addition to writing her Chicago Cubs column for Examiner.com, Miriam Romain has been published in several Cubs annuals by Maple Street Press and is a contributor to SportsClimax.com . Romain is currently covering the Cubs and MLB from Arizona during Spring Training.

Copyright © 2010 – Sports Climax™

CHICAGO – If you haven’t been able to follow this morning’s Tweets from Mesa Mayor Scott Smith or the group CubsWinInAZ, you’ve missed out on being part of the hearing where HB 2736 was presented to the House Commerce Committee. Despite some negativity, the bill was passed by the committee 6-2.

Among the Tweets Smith shared with followers was, “Interesting how some people don’t let facts get in the way of a good argument.” And, “Interesting how everybody wants the Cubs to stay (and love their fans and their money), but nobody wants to pay. Shocking! Simply shocking!”

But there is also news that the Goldwater Institute could bring a lawsuit charging violation of a state prohibition against government gifts to private entities.

Under the new bill, the Cubs would buy the land for the new ballpark, turn it over to the City of Mesa for development but would get, among other things, naming rights and the right to book extra events at the stadium.

The Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks have openly voiced opposition to the bill that would raise ticket prices by a dollar throughout the Cactus League, and raise rental car prices. In this morning’s meeting, however, according to a Tweet by CubsWinInAZ, Representative Rich Crandall put the Diamondbacks in their place, stating that moving their stadium to an Indian Reservation hurts Maricopa County taxpayers because there is no revenue for the community.

Goldwater Institute attorney Clint Bolick called the plan one-sided in favor of the Cubs, which it is. The City of Mesa is trying to keep the Cubs in Mesa. Bolick and Smith have agreed to sit down and discuss this situation soon.

The Goldwater Institute is an independent government watchdog group.

In the midst of this vote and controversy, pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training today.

In addition to writing her Chicago Cubs column for Examiner.com, Miriam Romain has been published in several Cubs annuals by Maple Street Press and is a contributor to SportsClimax.com . She is also writing a book with the working title “Summers at Wrigley with my Dad.”

More Cubs Here:
Buzz Surrounds Dawson Going to HOF as an Expo

CHICAGO – Last week, Andre Dawson found out, as the rest of us did, that he will not be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer wearing a Cubs cap – he will be enshrined as an Expo.

Dawson was disappointed and expressed his feelings during an interview on ESPN 1000 in Chicago, saying he expected the HOF to confer with him more before making a decision.

Dawson spent the first 10 years of his career as a Montreal Expo; however, he wanted his Hall of Fame plaque to show him in a Cubs cap because Chicago, where he played for six years, is where he says he was catapulted into Hall of Fame status. It was during that time, in 1987, that he won the MVP award, on a last place team.

During the interview on the “Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000, Dawson, who described the decision as “gut wrenching,” said he tried to explain his preference to Hall of Fame representatives and thought his word would carry more weight than it did.

Cubs fans have been Facebooking and Tweeting their opinions since the news. Sue Land, who caught the signed cap thrown by Dawson at the Cubs Convention, posted that she was peeved, and that the Expos aren’t even a team anymore, to which a friend of hers responded that all Cubs fans should wear Expos caps to the induction ceremony – if they can find one.

Another fan posted she was disappointed in the cap selection, but glad Dawson was going to the Hall. Yet another fan Tweeted, “Andre Dawson going to the HOF as an Expo…my world has been crushed.”

But sentiments on the Andre Dawson Fan Page on Facebook were mixed, most fans just happy the Hawk was going to the Hall.

The Hall of Fame is about preserving the history of baseball, and the fact that the Montreal Expos no longer exist may have been one of the deciding factors. He will join Gary Carter, the only other Expo inducted into the Hall of Fame to date, this summer.

Mark Loiacano summed things up when he said, “The HoF is about preserving baseball’s legacy. Gary Carter is the only Expo in there, though it is a shame to not have Dawson in as a Cub… We all know where Andre’s heart is at. That is what matters most!”

In addition to writing her Chicago Cubs column for Examiner.com, Miriam Romain has been published in several Cubs annuals by Maple Street Press and is a contributor to SportsClimax.com . She is also writing a book with the working title “Summers at Wrigley with my Dad.”

The Windy City was already looking ahead at potential dates to schedule a victory parade in case this would be the year for the Chicago Cubs.

With a National League best, 97-64 record, the Cubbies were in position to rescue Steve Bartman’s reputation by bringing a World Series title back to Chicago . . .but Joe Torre and the L.A. Dodgers had a different idea.

Their plan included embarrassing and bitch-slapping the listless Cubs, sending them packing after a dominating three-game sweep. The series was never a contest with the Dodgers outscoring the lethargic Cubs 20-6.

The only “curse” this organization has, is not knowing how to show up for the playoffs, and until they do, they will continue to add to their 100 year streak without the victory parade.

The Cubs are 0-9 in their last nine playoff games and have not had a post-season victory since 2003, but Bartman, who may be hiding in a remote cave in Afghanistan with Bin Laden, certainly cannot be blamed for this one.

This was more than a standard spank, this was a classic bitch-slap.

Expectations were sky high and the team decided not to show up for the entire series and were dominated. Cubbies, you are the runaway winner of the Sports Climax Bitch-Slap-of-the-Week.

Copyright ©2008 Sports Climax

The Houston Astros were forced to travel to Milwaukee to play a “home” series against the Chicago Cubs after Hurricane Ike slammed the Texas coast and damaged their stadium. In Milwaukee, they ran into another force named Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly.

Zambrano (14-5) was on the mound for the first time since September 2 and hurled a no-hitter against the jet-lagged Astros while striking out 10 and walking only one in a 5-0 victory on Sunday.

Zambrano, one of the best hitting pitchers in MLB who is batting .354 with 9 extra-base hits and 14 RBI, outhit the entire Astros line-up after going 1 for 3 and crossing the plate once in that game.

Things didn’t get much better for the Astros on Monday when they ran into a similar scenario with Cubs left-hander Ted Lilly on the bump. Lilly (15-9) mowed through the hapless Astros line-up taking a no-hit bid into the 7th inning. Fifteen innings into the series and the Astros had been held hitless. Lilly gave up a hit to the lead-off hitter in the 7th and was later pulled but not before racking up 9K’s and walking only one in the 6-1 win.

Overall the Astros were 1 for 48 for a .020 batting average and .062 OBP against the duo from the Windy City. The Astros hitters looked horribly out of synch both days and Lilly and Zambrano took advantage of it.

Zambrano’s no-hitter was the first by a Cub since 1972.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax