With the recent mid-series trade of Mike Fontenot, the Cubs have officially parted ways with the "cajun connection" or the "andouille double play" if you will. No longer will Cub fans see a pair of diminutive, cajun, former LSU teammates collecting ground-balls like they once collected beads from flashers at the mardi gras parade. No longer will Jeff Baker have to walk by their lockers and tell them, "will you guys please turn down the CCR? It's making me swing at the worst pitch of the at-bat every time and effectively have a .284 OBP." Even though the two of them were enduring passable at best seasons, it still tastes bitter to see them pack their Zatarains Dirty Rice Mix and head to relative contenders.
In wishing good riddance to Theriot and Fontenot, like in any mediocre relationship, we must try to remember the good things. Like when they both found themselves on the big club in 2008 and visiting announcers wrongly pronounced their french-creole surnames like they were some Yankee tourist in a Paris hostile. And, in 2008 when both middle infielders had arguably their best seasons. After being called up from Iowa, Fontenot played in 119 games and hit .305 with 9 homers. This was the year when Cub fans would get excited when Fontenot strolled to the plate with his 44 inch bat. But, once he became the permanent replacement for the winsome and wooing Mark DeRosa, he could never settle in--both in the batters box, and in the dusty area he used to play on the right side of the Wrigley infield. Theriot on the other hand, had always been relatively consistent at 2nd and at short for the Cubs, as well as at the plate in any part of the order. In fact, he had a .384 OBP in 2008 and was an NL All-Star. In those times, those dainty "you can't quiet the riot" T-shirts were worn more prevalently worn around Wrigley field than those makeshift Hawaiian style baseball club shirts you always unfortunately seem to find in a trip to a game (don't tell me you haven't seen one of these). Still, with the Cubs trying to lower their cap like all non-contenders have to, they traded these former fixes in the Cub infield and have decided to go younger.
In what Cub management plans as the middle-infield renaissance, they have cast rookie Starlin Castro as the permanent fixture at shortstop, and recent trade acquisition Blake DeWitt as the new two bagger. Although I admit I wasn't a big advocate of the trade, I do like the youth up the middle for the Cubs. With DeWitt turning 25 at the end of the month and Castro barely being old enough to peel the wrappers of his Cuban cigars (he's 20), the Cubs prospectively could have these two players rolling twin killings into the prime of Miley Cyrus' acting career (2018-2022??). So, as much as looking towards the future is essential in the lifeblood of a Cubs fan, the future looks to not need a transfusion for at least a few years, or at least until Castro stops ordering chicken fingers on team charters.
As for pick of the day, a jovial Pulse Man came back from the Cell with a Sox win and division tie, along with a 9-9 record in his inaugural Pick of the Year season. In baseball, the Pulse likes Randy Wolf and the Brew Crew to cover the 1.5 run spread against the D-Backs at (+135). Also, to keep things fresh, he has chosen 3 guys that he likes the odds with in the PGA Tour Championship at Whistling Straits. As an avid golfer himself, I'm sure that he has watched enough golf with a family-size bag of Lays Barbecue chips on his lap to make an educated guess. With that being said, his chosen golfers are listed below.
Pick(s) of the Day(s): Diamondbacks@Brewers- BREWERS -1.5 (+135)
PGA Championship: Hunter Mahan, Ryo Ishikawa, Tiger Woods (go ahead, bet against him)
Record:(9-9-0)
No comments:
Post a Comment