I'm sure you've heard by now and it really isn't a big shock that Lou Piniella has decided to hang it up at the end of this season.  No matter how crappy this team finishes out the season I think as Cub fans we all owe Lou a big thanks for his work over the past 4 seasons.  After all this is the manager that:

• Took the Cubs to back to back postseasons since 1908.
• Had three consecutive winning seasons with the Cubs.  The most since Leo Durocher back in the late-60s/early-70s.
• Won 97 games in 2008, the most since Charlie Grimm won 98 managing the 1945 Cubs.

So best wishes to you Lou.  It's too bad your last season here has turned into a turd sandwich.

Now let the rampant new manager speculation begin!  Right now I'm placing 3-2 odds on Sandberg.  That however is not an endorsement for Ryno as manager.

Also Marlon Byrd is awesome.

That is all.

This past Saturday, the two interns from Thunder Matt's Saloon, Ginger Russ (along with his girlfriend) and Adam Blank, met in sunny LA to catch a Cubs game at Dodger Stadium. It would be the only game that the Cubs would win of the series, one which would see Lou's first ejection of the year, a SOTO! home run and another off the bat of a hopefully "back" Ramirez. This is Ginger's recount of the game and pre-festivities¹. As the post is rather long, it has been broken into two posts and also into parts for easier reading. Enjoy!

Part I: The Meeting, Hot Dogs and BAG

Adam picked me and the gf at the hotel in Old Pasadena exactly at 9:30am as planned. One thing I give Adam, he is punctual. Adam warned us that he hasn't driven on the highway in over a year, which given the crazy driving in LA, I must admit I was pretty worried about since having never met Adam. He told us he had to make a quick stop on the way to get my Pink's hot dog². We drove for what seemed like an hour, through back roads and blowing through stop signs until he stopped in this alley, where a guy came out and handed Adam an envelope. Nothing was mentioned about the envelope and we never saw that envelope for the rest of the day.


He then drove us to Pink's Hot Dogs, which is on my food bucket list. It wasn't busy and I ordered a hot dog with chili and mustard and onions, just like I've seen on tv. Also an Orange Crush. Amazingly, we saw Brian Austin Green getting some hot dogs too. We inquired about his new wife, and he said she was doing good but had recently had a fallout with some asshole director. He left and Adam and my gf being vegetarians sat and watched me eat my dog. It was quite good, a B+. The hot dog had the perfect snap and the chili was tasty without being too spicy. We snapped some pictures and left.

Part II: Kung-Fu Tranny's

Then Adam drove us around for a while, waiting for the vegetarian place near his house to open up so he and the gf could get some food. He took us to Koreatown and to see some houses where the rich people live. All the while Adam had TSOL blasting at full volume on his stereo, which the speakers were blown out on so it was just a bunch of loud fuzz. At one point we were stopped at a stop light and Adam yelled, "Chinese Firedrill!" He jumped out of the car and ran around it and got back in and drove away just as the light turned green.


On the way we drove by a house deemed, the "House of Davids". Mind you, this house is in a really upscale neighborhood. To Adam's great enjoyment (seriously, I think he came in his pants), the owner was having a yard sale so we stopped and browsed. It was all a bunch of tranny clothes and the people shopping were bums, little mexican women and of course, trannys. I told Adam and the gf to go wait in the car and for Adam to "keep it running". I grabbed a bunch of dresses that seemed like they were my gf's size and took off. I got about half way out of the yard before some chick (or possibly dude) tried to tackle me. I used my kung-fu training to trip her/him and jumped in the car as Adam peeled away with the chick (or dude) tossing her 14 inch stilettos at Adam's car.

Part III: Fried Plantains, Nipple Contest and Puking

We made it to the vegetarian restaurant near Adam's house where Adam ordered a vegetarian burrito, my gf ordered a jackfruit "pulled pork" sandwich and I ordered some plate that included homemade tortilla chips, pico, guacamole, rice and beans and fried plantains. I must admit the fake sandwich tasted very close to a real version and would probably fool the amateur eater (aka Daft Funk). I had never had fried plantains before and didn't like them, as expected.


While eating, a couple came in with their little kid who proceeded to yell at the top of his lungs for the entire rest of the meal. This would be a fortuitous event, as it would precursor every meal my gf and I would have for the rest of the trip. Apparently parents in CA have some sort of censor that makes them not hear their kids screaming in public places. The meal was fairly uneventful compared to the beginning of the meeting, although we did try to replicate the original Thunder Fist by comparing nipple sizes, which my gf found very unnerving, particularly because our female waitress joined in the competition. Adam won, but the hippie waitress by far had the hairiest nipples. We left the restaurant, unsure what to do next, so I suggested we go to a bar to pre-drink. Adam suggested a bar that Daft Funk once recommended so we started towards that.


Where Adam lives, it is very hilly, like San Francisco. One of the hills was especially large and Adam told us to buckle up. He sped up the hill, gas peddle floored and at the very top we "jumped" about 10 feet in what was a scene exactly like out of "the Blues Brothers". I must admit it was very cool. Unfortunately my stomach full of Mexican delicacies did not think so. I proceeded to throw up in Adam's car, which in turn made my gf throw up at the site of me throwing up. Luckily, Adam's car is littered with ripped out pages of porn mags (mostly weird fetish shit) so the clean up was easy.

Part IV: The Liquor Store

So after cleaning up the puke from Adam's car, we decided we had wasted too much time to go to the bar and instead figured we would just go to Adam's liquor store and I could buy some beer and we would tailgate, as I hear you can do at Dodger Stadium. On the way, Adam pointed out the spot where he found a dead homeless person and the makeshift memorial he had constructed out of empty Taaka vodka bottles. We entered the liquor store and were browsing. They didn't have much of a selection so I decided on a tall boy can of Budweiser. I assumed this is what Goreo would have chosen, so I thought it was a good choice. The little asian woman at the counter didn't speak english very well so I had no idea what the price was. I kept asking and asking and finally gave up and gave her a $20 bill.


Just at that moment, a little black midget that looked like Gary Coleman walked in. Immediately Adam yelled out, "YOU FUCKING N***ER, I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!" and ran at the little guy, knocking over a stand of chile-lime cheetos and peanut butter cups that were on sale for 40% off. He tackled the guy and started tickling him. My gf and I were very confused as Adam and the guy got up and started talking, I guess they were buddies or something³. Unfortunately, the asian attendant didn't know what was going and pulled out a shotgun and started screaming in Mandarin at them. My gf and I slowly slid out the door (without my change mind you) as the midget started screaming back at the woman. We waited outside for about five minutes and Adam walked out. We asked what happened and he shrugged, mumbling something about how he wouldn't be able to buy his vodka from that shop for a couple weeks. We got in his car and proceeded to the stadium.


Tune in tomorrow...or whenever I write the conclusion.

¹Some events may be exaggerated for entertainment purposes.

²I was on a mission to eat a Pink's hot dog. Watching mostly the Food Network and other cooking shows, I have seen many stories on the famed dog, which I was bound to taste in person.

³Adam would like to clarify that the man's name is Marcel and technically he is a dwarf.

Congratulations to Aramis Ramirez who managed to bring his batting average back up above .200 for the first time since April 9.

Also congratulations to Ted Lilly for continuing to kill his trade value.  I'm really looking forward to the two A-ball pitchers we'll get from the Mets for him that will never see the light of day in the majors.

I still hate this team.

Marlon Byrd and his glorious guns are going to Anaheim for the All-Star Game. Along with the emergence of Tyler Colvin, the reemergence of Carlos Silva, and the Marshall/Marmol tandem at the back end of the bullpen, Byrd has been one of the few bright spots on this pathetic excuse for a team. Marlon is batting .304 this season with 9 homeruns and 36 RBIs. Along with Miguel Cabrera and Jayson Werth, he leads the Majors in doubles with 26. His leadership has stabilized the outfield defense and he himself has been better than advertised in center. He's quickly become a fan favorite and a clubhouse presence. And he manages to do all that without being a colossal pain in the ass. Plus he's just fucking cool.

The Cubs manage to avoid suffering the ignominy of their single All-Star being a relief pitcher, long the hallmark of bottom-feeding teams. While Carloses Marmol and Silva might also have deserved consideration, it's nice that Byrd's stellar season hasn't gone unnoticed.

This is Byrd's first All-Star selection and it's well earned. Keep up the great work, Marlon. You're one of the few players I hope the Cubs keep around after this exercise in torture ends October 3rd.

I can't decide if I hate this team more than the 2006 Cubs.  It's all a moot point really  If I have to draw comparisons to 2006 then chances are the 2010 Cubs are pretty high on my list of most reviled seasons.

We have yet too reach the All-Star break and I already have grown tired of this bullshit squad.  It certainly has made my desire to blog about the Cubs completely deteriorate.  So much so that I'm taking a hiatus from writing about them.  I may pop on with something here or there this season but until something takes a gigantic turn for the better I'll remain a ghost on EOC.  I also will be spending time on a new blogging venture I plan to launch next month.  One that is not tied to this miserable franchise, so I'm looking forward to once again blog about something that I actually enjoy.  Such a novel concept.

So this isn't good bye necessarily, just a note that I'll be on vacation somewhere else so I may not be around here much for the remainder of the summer.  I'll be back eventually, and maybe when I do return the Cubs will be minus a few people, notably everyone in management and a good handful of aging veterans.  I really don't care if the large majority of these guys stick around.  Here's the team I want in 2011:

Marlon Byrd, Tyler Colvin, Geovany Soto, Starlin Castro, Andrew Cashner, Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol.

The rest can go join Jeff Samardzija in Wolter's Firebarn.

Hoo boy. Just when I think the Cubs can't possibly get any worse, they find a way. Friday, El Toro Loco finally crossed the line between Manny Ramirez Loopiness and full Milton Bradley Craztytown. Zambrano gave up four runs in the first inning and then stormed into the dugout practically foaming at the mouth, apparently angry that DLee and Aramis didn't dive for the two groundball liners the Sox smacked. Zambrano managed to anger Derrek Lee, who could be seen to shout back "That's bullshit!" at Carlos as Piniella, Trammel, and Rothschild moved between the two. Piniella sent Zambrano home and later on he was suspended indefinitely. If and when he returns, Zambrano will return to the bullpen.

I've been a Carlos Zambrano fan for the last eight years. In the past, I've defended his emotional outbursts and chalked it up to his passion for the game. I can't defend this one. It kills me to say this, but it's time the Cubs parted ways with El Toro Loco. It's become clear that he's not going to mature the way that we all had hoped. It's a goddamn shame because Zambrano has the stuff to be an ace pitcher, but he can't get beyond his petulant childishness to put it all together. While most of the blame must reside with Zambrano himself, the Cubs bear some of the brunt of responsibility. Up until now, they've done little to correct Z's aberrant behavior beyond spouting vacant platitudes. This is partly their mess and now they have to clean it up.

This is pretty much it for me with this team this year. I've fucking had it. I'm not giving up being a Cub fan and I'm not going to pick another team or anything like that. It's too late for that. The Cubs are like heroin. I don't like being a junkie, but I am and I'm too lazy to quit. But I can back off the doses and that's what I'm going to do. I've already been missing more games this year and I see that trend continuing. This team has fallen apart and it's just too damn depressing to watch, so fuck it.