By Marty Gangler
While Mount Lou’s first explosion of the season got everyone’s attention, he also muttered something under his breath far more telling. We could swear we heard something about Lou confessing that he was “deceived” by some players in spring training.
He didn’t name names, but we will.
* Alfonso Soriano. Lou was deceived into thnking Soriano could bat leadoff, play centerfield, and avoid getting picked off more than once per game.
* Carlos Zambrano. Lou was deceived into thinking Zambrano had grown beyond the emotional range of a teenager.
* Michael Barrett. Lou was deceived into thinking Barrett knew how to play catcher.
* Aramis Ramirez. Lou was deceived into thinking Ramirez could hustle without getting hurt.
<strong* al=”” gore.<=”” strong=””> Lou was deceived into thinking there wouldn’t be a snow-out in April.
* Jim Hendry. Lou was deceived into thinking Hendry knew how to put together a team.
* The Bench. Lou was deceived into thinking he had one.
Lou is also already grousing about the weather. How long until he starts blaming Cubs losses on day games?
The Cubs, Lou says, aren’t built to win games below 40 degrees. That’s okay – they won’t be playing in October anyway.
Week in Review
After a week in which they went 1-4, the Cubs are 4-7 overall and stuck in last place, 2 1/2 games behind the Reds. This team simply isn’t built to finish higher than fourth.
Week in Preview
The Cubs finish their lousy homestand with two games against the Padres, who curiously won’t be troubled by the weather. Jason Marquis goes to the hill in the series opener. Then it’s off to Atlanta to get spanked by the Braves for two games before the big weekend series at Wrigley against the Cardinals. Saturday’s game will be broadcast on Fox
Second Basemen Report: Mark DeRosa started three games this week at second but has a tight back. Ronnie Cedeno started two games at second, while Ryan Theriot played third for the ailing Aramis Ramirez. That means that at one point, with Soriano in center, the Cubs had three second basemen on the field at one time. And there’s still room for more.
In former Cub second basemen news, Mark Grudzielanek is hitting .231 with no homers and 7 RBI for the Royals. He is missed.
Sweet and Sour Lou: 53% sweet, 47% sour. Down 10 percent on the sweet scale. Why? You saw the game. Stop asking stupid questions.
Mount Lou: With his first eruption out of the way, the Lava Lamp has been reset for 40 innings – early in the first Cardinals game.
Beachwood Sabermetrics: Through a deep statistical analysis, we have have determined that the Cubs are not likely to win when temperatures fall below 40 degrees. Nor above 40.
Over/Under: Player-only meetings this week: .5</strong*>
Posted on April 15, 2007