Bricks & Ivy

Matt Murton (And Other Thoughts From Opening Day)

I think it is fair to say that he just punched his one-way ticket to Cooperstown yesterday, isn't it?

It was another great Opening Day for the Cubbies. 16 runs, including but one home run (guess who hit that one?). While the outcome was almost completely identical from last year's opener, there was certainly a different feel to this club. It is called speed.

On the flipside, Zambrano just did not look good. He threw virtually no breaking stuff, and was hit hard--he's lucky he only gave up as many as he did. Coupled with his shaky outing in the World Baseball Classic, I'm nervous.

Some other thoughts:

--D-Lee looks like he is still in his zone. The way he apparently sees pitches leads me to believe that last year was not a fluke, and he officially made The Leap.
--Pitchers are scared of Aramis Ramirez. Very scared.
--Angel Pagan almost caught Juan Pierre on the base path. Seriously, I don't even know how to react to players in Cubs uniforms--you know--running quickly around the bases.
--Todd Walker is our second baseman. Period.
--Seriously, Dusty: I know it was a rout, and I know you want to play as many guys as possible, but did you REALLY have to put Dempster in the game?
--My boss casually mentioned while George W. Bush was getting ready to throw out the first pitch that if he was still using "booger candy," he wouldn't need the natural high of waging wars. It actually sounded like it made perfect sense.
--Despite being heckled and served by Cardinals fans, Barrett's is, and will always be, our Opening Day meeting spot.

Tomorrow: bring on Glendo, who is inexplicitly our #2 starter. That said, bring on the runs. And the Cubs scoring 0-1 runs following the outburst from yesterday.

posted by GA Hill @ 12:45 AM