By Jim Coffman

One thing is certain as we bid adieu to the latest interleague interlude, one that was lopsided just about everywhere but here (the American League was much the superior combatant for the fourth year in a row): Neither the Cubs nor the White Sox will run away and hide with their divisions in the next month or two. We haven’t seen much of it in Chicago, but in other places teams have been known to build decent leads early on, maintain them and then stretch them out as July turns into August. That won’t happen around here because . . .
Despite departing the weekend with a three-game lead (in the loss column) over the Cardinals, the Cubs’ schedule is just starting to toughen up (after an early season stretch that featured a disproportionate number of home games). The forecast is not great for re-starting any long win streaks any time soon. And while the Cardinals haven’t been setting the world on fire of late (5-5 in their last 10), they also have officially avoided a June swoon. And here come the Brewers (seven games over .500 heading into this week).

Beachwood Baseball: The White Sox Report The Cub Factor

Still, Zambrano is due back this week, Soriano isn’t far behind and everything still feels reasonably solid. I hated to see Carlos Marmol take the loss on Saturday (that was the game to win wasn’t it? You just knew Mark Buehrle would put it all together on Sunday). But Marmol threw strikes. And so did Sean Marshall on Sunday.
The White Sox have a different problem, namely that they had a highly successful week and the Twinkies not only don’t go anywhere, they make up a little ground. At some point Minnesota’s ridiculous run will end (Sunday’s win over the Brewers was their 11th in their last 12 games); in fact, it should at least slow way down this week. That’s when Minnesota, which went 14-4 in interleague play this summer, goes back to playing real competition from the American League.

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Posted on June 30, 2008

By Marty Gangler

The Cubs were not only swept by the White Sox over the weekend, they lost their fourth straight for the first time this season and they’ve lost eight of 12. Feeling sentimental for happier days, we here at The Cub Factor got to thinking about how the Cubs are kind of like the cast of Happy Days.
*
Cub: Jim Edmonds
HD character: Ralph Malph
Why: No one really likes him, but it turns out he’s still got it.
*
Cub: Derrek Lee
HD character: The Fonz
Why: He’s certainly the coolest Cub, but also because what he does with the glove to save errant throws from Aramis Ramirez is as magical and reality-defying as Fonzie banging on a jukebox to select a song.
*
Cub: Alfonso Soriano
HD character: Joanie
Why: His nickname may be Fonzie, but if there were a jukebox in the clubhouse Soriano would lose it in the sun. No, Alfonso is more like the little sister who looks up to older brother Derrek Lee but in the end is still just Erin Moran.

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Posted on June 30, 2008

A Beachwood Preview

Participating this go-around: Cub Factor correspondent Marty Gangler, White Sox Report correspondent Ricky O’Donnell, and Twins fan Steve Rhodes.
1. What are the chances of a White Sox sweep?
GANGLER: Like I said last week, there is a 3 percent chance of anything happening.
O’DONNELL: Well, either it’s going to happen or it’s not going to happen so . . . 50/50. Duh.
RHODES: The same chance Mayor Daley changes his mind about the Children’s Museum.
2. What are the chances of a Cubs sweep?
GANGLER: See No. 1.
O’DONNELL: See No. 1.
RHODES: See No. 1.
3. Who will Ozzie offend next?
GANGLER: You know how the Sox have that take your dog to the ballpark day? I think Ozzie is going to somehow offend the dogs.
O’DONNELL: All of rap nation.
RHODES: Himself. And then he’ll refuse to apologize.

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Posted on June 27, 2008

By Andrew Kingsford

The first semi-final of the Euro 2008 tournament, pitting Germany against Turkey, had all the earmarks of cracker of a game. Shame ESPN dropped the ball (I know it is soccer!), because I would of loved to have seen it. The game was overshadowed by the technical difficulties that plagued ESPN’s telecast. Bad thunderstorms were to blame apparently, but when you have exclusive rights to one of the biggest professional sporting events in the world the handling by ESPN was, well, amateurish.

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Posted on June 26, 2008

By Rick Kaempfer and Tom Latourette

Now with new video! Scroll down . . .
We give so much, give our time and our money
We buy garages from Danley and just for you
We drink Old Style and we pay you $6.50
Though just between you and me that’s not good brew

We Can’t Wait 100 Years

And the price tag, to get hit with some concrete
That will crumble in our seat is $52
They say we’re angry, but how angry can we be
When the Cubs security’s like 92
And we can’t wait 100 years
But we can’t wait even one year more
It’s been a whole damn century
It’s time to even up the score

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Posted on June 24, 2008

By Jim Coffman

I took in Sunday’s Cubs-Sox contest from my customary seat (for about 15 games a year) in upper deck reserved. And this is what I saw:
* Other than a special character in a Cubs Suck t-shirt parading down the aisle with his middle finger raised high in the eighth inning (somebody should’ve hit him with a broom), the Cubs fans versus White Sox fans thing was more muted than it had been in previous years in my section of the stands. A couple not-very-competitive games were certainly a factor and perhaps a few fewer Cubs fans were willing to sell their seats this time around.
* Ryan Dempster is Rawhide. He just keeps rollin’, rollin’, rollin’. And the Cubs thrived over the weekend despite the fact their dynamic duo of set-up men, Carlos Marmol and Bobby Howry, have been a little choppy of late. Marmol in particular was so very much due for a couple shaky outings. And now he’s had them (against the Sox and the Rays last week). So he can go right on back to dominant any time now.

Beachwood Baseball: The White Sox Report The Cub Factor

* When Eric Patterson hits a home run, it might just be your year. Then again, Patterson really looks like he can hit (he’s kept his average over .320 at AAA for the past two seasons). Not that his development is surprising in the least. The Cubs continue to pad their lead over the world in second-basemen developed, traded for and signed as free agents over the past few years. Patterson, who has been playing left field but has by far the most experience at the 4-spot, joins Alfonso Soriano, Mark DeRosa, Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot (you probably have to think of Ronnie Cedeno as primarily a shortstop) as second-sackers excelling all over the field for this year’s Cubs.

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Posted on June 23, 2008

By Ricky O’Donnell

So before things got underway on Friday, I asked a bunch of my friends to write why they hated the Cubs, and I posted it on my site. As one would expect from a bunch of college kids, each response was more immature than the last. But all of them made one thing clear: even though these were only three games in the middle of June, this weekend mattered to Sox fans. I’m sure Cubs fans felt the same way.
That’s why writing this column now is pretty hard. The Sox just got pounded into the dirt. What else is there to really say? It doesn’t mean the season is over, or that the Sox still can’t win the division and make the playoffs. Really, nothing was decided but a few barroom arguments. Still, those games felt like something more, and the Sox blew it. I really thought a decisive six-game series win over the Cubbies could have propelled the Sox to big things this year. Now all they can hope for is to tie up the season series at home, something that is clearly easier said than done.

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Posted on June 23, 2008

By Marty Gangler

Every season there are a few milestones that help us figure out what kind of team fans have are dealing with. A lot of people would say that this weekend was a watershed moment – that we learned something about this Cub team as they swept the White Sox this weekend. Here is a list of of what I learned the last few days:
1. Two-month old babies are still not at the “Hey, listen to me!” stage.
2. You need to make sure the gas is turned on or else the burners on your new grill won’t light.
3. The grass looks better when cut on a lower setting.
4. I need a new job because well, I don’t like the one I have so much.
5. Diet and exercise sound like an easy concept but it’s a pain to pull off over the long haul.
Wait, you mean I was supposed to learn something about the Cubs this week? Well, I didn’t. I knew that they were dynamite at home and a bit rocky on the road. And well, that hasn’t changed. Getting beat by the Rays was a bigger deal than sweeping the White Sox in reality’s book. The White Sox are a decent team, but the Rays are one of this season’s elite teams. So there you go.

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Posted on June 23, 2008

By Tom Latourette

The Sox wear Black ‘n White,
The Cubbies wear Blue
They have Fookodome,
Ozzie says Fookoyou
Black ‘n white, Cubby Blue, Fookodome, Fookoyou
Let’s call the Crosstown off!

Let’s Call The Crosstown Off

In 2005 the champagne tasted great
The Cubs ain’t won nothing since 1908
Champions, World Series, Losers, curse theories
Let’s call the Crosstown off!

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Posted on June 20, 2008

A Beachwood Preview

Our correspondents answer the key questions. Participating: Ricky O’Donnell, of The White Sox Report; Marty Gangler, of The Cub Factor; Rick Kaempfer, The Cubs Answer Man; Eric Emery, of The Blue & Orange Kool-Aid Report; and Steve Rhodes, who was at this game. Let’s take a look.
1. Predict the outcome.
O’DONNELL: Well, I have to say the Sox are going to take two of three right? Let’s go with that.
GANGLER: Cubs win two of three and almost sweep. I would predict that against anyone coming in right now. They are hot as hell at home.
KAEMPFER: Cubs win two out of three at Wrigley, Sox win two out of three at the Cell. God will not make a choice here. He’s proven it time and time again. The two teams are exactly tied.
EMERY: In 1988, the Crosstown Classic was an exhibition game. Therefore, I predict the Cubs will win one and Mike Ditka will win two, at a combined score of 242 to -5.
RHODES: More Sox fans than Cubs fans will end up in jail.

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Posted on June 18, 2008