By Marty Gangler

The Cubs could of really stuck a huger fork into the Redbirds this weekend with a sweep but it didn’t happen. Even so, the feathered foul from St Louis has been dipped in egg batter, rolled in a flour seasoning mixture and is about to be thrown into the fryer. But looking at this team, you have to wonder how they’ve stuck around for so long. Most commentators give credit to the supposed genius of Tony LaRussa and his pitching coach/designated driver Dave Duncan. But are these two guys really that good? We here at The Cub Factor don’t think so and have a few theories as to why the Cardinals are better than they should be.
* Tony LaRussa went down to the Crossroads.
* LaRussa and Duncan are managing on HGH.
* A series of specially placed mirrors shrouded in smoke.
* Old-time hockey.
* Pitchers going through Tommy John surgery are actually given Tommy John’s arms.

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Posted on August 11, 2008

By Ricky O’Donnell

Sure, Ken Griffey Jr. has his flaws. If you read White Sox blogs this week, that is abundantly clear. He’s a borderline terrible defensive player – particularly in center field where he has started twice in his three game White Sox career – and isn’t nearly the five-tool player he once was. Things happened. Griffey got hurt, he got old, and it’s the reason the Sox were able to acquire him without giving up anything of value.
Don’t be mistaken, though: Griff can still rake at the plate. The 103 OPS+ he posted in Cincinnati is well above average, even if he’s staring at the lowest slugging percentage of his career since his rookie season in 1989. Griffey’s plate patience will be valuable wherever he is on Ozzie’s scorecard, and he’s on pace to smack nearly 30 homers. That makes him a useful bat in any lineup.

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Posted on August 5, 2008

By Jim Coffman

Let’s obliterate, once and for all, the myth that the Cubs are at a competitive disadvantage because they play more home games during the day than the competition.
This was one of Dusty’s favorite excuses and it might have had some validity way back in 1969 when all the home games were under the sun and bad ol’ Leo Durocher refused to give his regulars a day off every once in a while during the dog days. Sure enough that squad collapsed so badly in late August after building a nine-game, NL-East lead midway through the month that the Mets were comfortably in front by the time the last few weeks of the season dawned with the promise of cooler autumn afternoons.

Beachwood Baseball: The Cub Factor The White Sox Report will appear on Tuesday this week.

Now that the Cubs play plenty of home games at night, there is no question start times have nothing to do with how they play. It is the visiting team that comes in with a disadvantage when it comes time to play Friday and Saturday games under the sun (and it says here that could have been the case in 1969 as well if other factors hadn’t worked against the home team).
The excuse was aired again after Friday’s game with the Pirates in tandem with the news that the Cubs will soon ask the City of Chicago for the right to schedule even more games at night. The Cubs had played the previous day and then laid an egg against the Pirates Friday (a 3-0 loss) and so it must have been the darn daytime start that did it. The problem was, the Cubs’ previous game was in Milwaukee. They had a much easier trip into Chicago for the game than did the Pirates and they had a much better chance to get maximum rest.

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Posted on August 4, 2008

Marty Gangler was on assignment in Wisconsin this weekend, leaving this week’s report to his staff.
While the Cubs actually lost a game to the Pirates at home, perhaps experiencing a Miller Park hangover from all the partying they did in what cheeseheads are calling the Milwaukee Massacre, there now seems to be very few ways the Cubs could actually lose the division, much less fail to make the playoffs.
We’ve come up with those ways.
* Sam Zell decides the team can do more with less and reduces the 25-man major league roster to 15.
* In one final bid for immortality, Jim Hendry re-acquires Nomar Garciappara and LaTroy Hawkins.
* Lou Piniella starts pinch-hitting himself every time he runs out of players late in the game.
* Bench coach Alan Trammel is added to the second basemen rotation.

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Posted on August 4, 2008