Cubwatch :: Miller Right …

I managed to catch my first glimpse of the Cubs Sunday, tuning into MLB.com to watch their Spring Training match-up with the San Fran Giants at Scotsdale.

Gotta say I was impressed, at least with the pitching and defence. I thought Wade Miller pitched a terrific game as he hunts that fifth place spot on the rotation. Miller went 5 shutout, walk-free innings and even threw-in a textbook 1-3-6 double play to earn a key out in that 5th inning.

I was concerned earlier in the day to read what looked like a spat betweenLou Pinella and pitcher, Kery Wood. Seemingly Wood felt he was readier than Pinella did and there’ll only be one winner in that row.

But I guess it’s a good sign that Wood feels strong enough to pitch and is chomping at the bit to do so … equally he has to accept that the Cubs want not just to get him healthy but to keep him that way.

Hopefully he come’s through his next Spring outing injury free and ready to jet out to Cincinatti for Opening Day …

Technorati tags: MLB, Cubs, Chicago, Chicago Cubs

By any other name …

Pete Rose (65) is the archetypal all-American hero. He hustled his way through a Hall-of-Fame calibre career with the Cincinnati Reds and absolutely deserves without any shadow of a doubt to be in that hallowed Hall.

Did he screw up royally with his gambling indiscretions? You bet.

But his biggest mistake was in not having an effective public relations agency handle the aftermath of that affair.

Repeated denials and grudging revelations drip-fed to an increasingly disaffected public over a decade and more have only served to prolong the agony and antagonise the very people whose support Pete needs.

It’s almost a textbook case in how not to handle a scandal.

If he comes out all those years ago contrite maybe tearful and certainly expounding his weakness – illness -as the the habitual affliction it is. If he does the rehab and is open about the fight to beat the gambling addiction … I think America embraces him as the Prodigal Son he is.

Now?

Well I ask you these questions:

With no evidence of game fixing who did he hurt?

Since when did bad PR become a reason to keep a great player out of the HOF? And did anyone tell T.O. That yet?

Cubwatch … the beginning

I’ve said before in this Blog that I’m a huge Redsox fan and I’m really looking forward to the 2007 Season.

That Sox pitching rotation looks mouth-wateringly good; all it needs is a Closer & some backup for catcher Jason Varitek.

But keen as I am to see the Sox I’m also adopting an official second team — The Cubs!

Cub nation is dosing in on a Century of World Championship deficient major league baseball – that can’t be right, it just ain’t fair.

So time to do some serious browsing & research those 2007 Cubbies. Also need to track down an streaming Chicago station for my trusty Roku Soundbridge as an alternative to WSCR).

I already hear one guy guarantees a World Series win this time out.

But the early news from Spring Training in Tuscon, Arizona is a familiar tale of woe for Wood and Prior that bodes ill for the pennant seeking Cubs’ ambitions.

Watch this space for regular Cubwatch features