Inaugural Thoughts

Hello,  and welcome to the inaugural post of the blog.  This is something I've been thinking about doing for awhile now, and with the banner night enjoyed by my Chicago teams yesterday, I figured what better time than the present?  To kick things off, here's a rundown of the current states of the all the teams that matter.

Cubbies

A fairly disappointing first month of the season received quite a jolt last night when the most-hyped prospect down on the farm made his MLB debut, making history along the way.  Starlin Castro (whose nickname I nominate to be "The Dictator) made the jump all the way from AA ball, skipping Iowa along the way, and did some work last night.  All he did was go 2-5 with 6 RBI, while hitting a 3-run homer going oppo in his first-ever at-bat in the second, then clearing the bags with bases-loaded triple in the fifth.  The 6 runs batted in in a debut game are a new major league, eclipsing the previous record of 5 that was held by several players.  Certainly an auspicious start to what is hopefully a long career on the North Side.  

As for the rest of the team, it's been pretty streaky.  The starting pitching has been solid, giving the team quality starts much more often than not.  Dempster has been closer to the 2008 version than last year, which this team really needs.  Lilly's just rounding back into form, and it'd be great if he could be in the 13-16 win range again.  Randy Wells, a huge surprise last year, has been good but not great, co-leading the team with three wins, but also getting absolutely shelled in Pittsburgh the other night.  The other starter with three wins, Carlos Silva, has been, for me, the biggest surprise of the year.  I was expecting next to nothing out of this guy, but he's been very dependable so far.  He's probably not gonna keep his ERA under 3.00 the whole year, but if he can basically give us what Marquis gave us in 07-08, that trade for Milton Bradley will be an early contender for steal of the decade (speaking of our old pal headache Milton, how do you think the Mariners are feeling about that deal now? Yikes). 

As for the offense, it's been feast or famine.  Everybody's starting to round into shape, save for the two big guns, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez.  Soriano, Fukudome, and Soto have all rebounded from poor 2009 seasons to really produce in the first month-plus, and Marlon Byrd has possibly been the team MVP so far, hitting consistently for high average and power.  As bad as the Bradley signing was last year, that's how good this one is.  The bullpen is still a work in progress; there's a lot of young arms, and aside from Carlos Marmol, there's been a lot of inconsistency.  As for the much-ballyhooed move of Big Z from the rotation to the bullpen, I think it's an inspired stop-gap move; Zambrano wasn't getting the job done in the rotation, and until they figure out a better solution for the eight via a trade or signing or whatever, it makes sense to bridge the gap with a guy who can be dominating in short bursts.  

As bad as they've played at times, they have the pieces to contend, assuming health isn't a problem and certain key players perform to their career standards.  Perhaps the arrival of this Castro kid will be the spark the team needs...guess we'll find out soon enough.  Oh, and he's younger than me by five months...I'm not sure how I feel about that.  Let's just right the ship offensively, keep up the solid pitching, and see where we are in a month or so, 'cause the Cardinals and that Pujols guy aren't going anywhere.

Da Bears 

 This is a team headed for a crossroads season.  Lovie and Jerry were retained after last year's highly disappointing 7-9 finish, albeit with the stark promise that they'd be let go if the team doesn't make the playoffs in the upcoming season.  Obviously with that in mind, they made quite a splash in free agency, reeling in Julius Peppers and Chester Taylor.  But in my mind, the biggest offseason addition, with the most riding on him, was Mike Martz.  He's been tasked with fixing the offense which was so inconsistent last year under Ron Turner, and also to make sure Jay Cutler reaches the Pro Bowl caliber level of play that he's displayed in the past.  To put it simply, he cannot have 26 interceptions next year, or there are gonna be a lot of changes up at Halas Hall.  In many ways, the fate of this team and direction they'll be heading in for the forseeable future depends entirely on Mr. Cutler.  The recently-released schedule for 2010 sees the Bears matched up with the AFC East, no easy task seeing as Miami's no slouch, the Jets have vastly improved, and the Patriots are the Patriots. More on them as Bourbonnais and the preseason rolls around and we get closer to opening day on September 12th.  

Bulls

Fresh off two consecutive playoff appearances, the Bulls fired the beleaguered Vinny Del Negro earlier this week, bringing weeks and months of speculation to fruition.  While he may not have been the most tactically brilliant head coach, he did get his players to play hard, and they did make the playoffs both years he was at the helm and pushed the Celtics to the limit last year in the greatest NBA playoff series I've ever seen.  For that, I thank him - but he was clearly not the answer long-term.  This offseason is possibly the most important in the franchise's history - not only do they need to find a coach to take this team to the next level, the organization has been positioning themselves to be able to sign one or possibly two of the premium free agents this summer.  I have to believe we're one of the best landing spots, due to the great young core of Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, along with Taj Gibson, who was a great find in last year's draft.  Much more on the situation at the Berto Center as the coaching search and free agency commence.

White Sox

Nothing to see here, move along.

Blackhawks

Finally, the team that has all of Chicago rallying behind it - the men of the indian head and the four feathers.  Much was expected of them this year after last spring's deep playoff run, and they have not disappointed thus far.  They gutted out a first-round series win over a gritty Nashville team, and found themselves in a rematch with their newly-minted bitter rivals, the Vancouver Canucks.  

What a series this has been so far.  I expected a highly physical series, and that's began to manifest itself in the past two games or so.  The 'Nucks stole game one from us at the UC, but we've rebounded more than nicely to take the next three.  In doing so, we've completely knocked them off their game, especially the stars - the Sedin sisters, and Sideshow Bob Luongo.  Whereas the Canucks have resorted to playing dirty after the whistle, the Hawks have kept their cool, taken the myriad power plays offered to them, and made Vancouver pay.  Considering their penalty kill is only at 64.6%, that's been fairly easy.  Dustin Byfuglien, for all the crap we give him during the regular season, shows up to play against Vancouver in the playoffs.  He followed up the best game of his life in Game 3, wherein he picked up a hattrick, with a phenomenal physical effort in last night's contest.  He drew at least 3 penalties, and also screened Bob on Toews' first goal.  As much as some deride him, he's played his role, and he's played it well.  Niemi has been solid throughout, spectacular when we've needed him to be, and is just plain getting the job done.  As long as he's making the saves he's supposed to make, I feel real good about the goaltending situation.

But the best player on the Hawks thus far in the playoffs has been Captain Serious, Jonathan Toews.  He leads the playoffs in points with 18, and along with his performance as the best forward in the Olympics, has cemented himself as one of the top two-way players in the NHL.  He was in a zone last night, scoring three times and helping on two others.  This is what leaders are supposed to do come playoff time - be your best players.  Whether it's him, Kane & Hossa tying and winning Game 4 vs. Nashville (which may end up being the most important game of these playoffs if the next few weeks go the way we want them to), Keith, etc etc, most Blackhawks have stepped up when their number's been called.  This team was indoctrinated in playoff hockey last year by their tough series against Vancouver and then their loss to Detroit, and they've taken those lessons to heart.  There's no reason why they can't win the Cup this year - it's all in their hands.  They have all the talent in the world, and if they play like they have in games 2, 3, and 4, they'll have a great shot.  I'm looking forward to hearing Chelsea Dagger played a whole heck of a lot more - here's hoping.  

You've got your boot on their throat, boys, let's finish it off at the Madhouse this Sunday.  

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So there you have it - the inaugural post.  Obviously, the Hawks are the talk of the town right now, but all the other franchises have pieces in place that could conceivably lead to great things down the road.  For all fans of the teams in this great city, there's plenty of reason to believe that greatness is just around the corner.  Until we meet again...