The Giants

Actually, the most interesting observation to be made about the last two nights' games is in comparing the Giants to the Cubs. If you look seriously at the Giants lineup, you have to scratch your head about how they can be a game or two out of first in their division and leading the Wild Card race in the NL.

Seriously, their infield has a SS on his last legs and a fat 3B who can hit but is having a sub-par season. They have Freddy Sanchez at 2B and he is a good hitter who is also having an off year and is an indifferent infielder. Aubrey Huff in RF is having a really good year, but Pat Burrell in LF, though he has helped them as a late season addition is hardly the stuff of legend. Their CF, Andres Torres is a Cub reject who wasn't even given a chance to hit in spring training, but who is having a breakout year. Their 1B, at least when Huff doesn't play there, Ishikawa, has 3 HRs and bats eighth in their lineup. Buster Posey, their catcher, is the only legitimate star, and he is a rookie.

I know they have great pitching, but they must be doing other things right like catching the ball and doing the so-called little things and they must be managed intelligently to be where they are today.

In a way this is a lesson for the Cubs. Remedy some chronic problems and you probably do not have to go out on a limb financially to succeed. The key is to recognize that these things actually matter and that the real challenge is to build a team based around your actual demonstrable strengths, which in the Cubs case is their starting pitching. The Cubs pitching is very good. It needs to become dominant, like the Giants and Yankees, I suppose, but this is not so daunting a task as may be supposed.

The last two games were fairly predicable given the strengths of the two teams. The Cubs lineup, especially against left-handers is designed more or less not to score runs and on Monday night they struggled and lost in extra innings. On Tuesday, they played a more balanced lineup and they caught Lincecum on an off-night. I really don't know what they have against the idea of platooning Soriano and Fukudome. Anyway, Fukudome had a really good night, as did Castro and Colvin except in the field.

As it played, the Cubs were able to overcome numerous miscues to hold on for an 8-6 win. I'm beginning to think Colvin's future is in LF or 1B. He made a really horrible play in CF after a long run on Posey's "double" which should have been an error.

Just as an aside, the more the Cubs protest they have not quit, the more it looks like they have, with a couple of exceptions, done just that. But then what do you expect of a team whose manager announces in mid-season that he is resigning at the end of the year and proceeds to go on not one but two extended bereavement leaves. Derrick Lee, not to be outdone, after refusing a perfectly reasonable trade, hops on a bus for Sacramento on a bereavement leave of his own. Now I have nothing against people tending to family issues, etc., but you have to ask yourself if this had happened in the middle of a pennant race, would the same thing have happened, and if it did, what does that tell you about this organization and its commitment to quality?

I read somewhere where lots of guys want to be Cubs. Think about it. Sure there is a lot of pressure, but then nobody expects to win, so it is really pressure you put on yourself. Otherwise, no expectations, you bat wherever you like in the lineup and otherwise you pout about it, lots of day games so you can hit the bars almost every night, big money, come and go as you please, you don't have to pay attention to anything while you are on the field if you hit at least one HR every week or so, no practice either. Must be nice.