The Story of Our Christmas Card

I emailed David Kaplan at WGN and told him we wanted our Zambrano to meet Carlos. I asked him to forward the email to someone at the Cubs. I eventually got an email from an intern who said we could do it on a day he wasn’t pitching. I gave her a list of dates we had tickets, and they eventually (I did have to follow up a few times) got back to me with a good date (coincidentally, my birthday). If you remember the stories about the baby being named Wrigley Fields, you will remember that the Cubs knew of babies being named for Ryne Sandberg and Carlos Zambrano. This trip is the reason the Cubs knew of a baby Zambrano.

We had to be there at about 430p, and met at the gate near the Cubs’ dugout, where we were eventually placed in the Cubs’ dugout. It was wild to be that close to the team as they took batting practice, and seeing Lou Piniella kibitz with media types. We said hello to Len Kasper.

A couple minutes later, Carlos jogged in from shagging balls in the outfield and was approached by another Cubs’ employee, who looked like he explained the situation to Carlos for the first time. Carlos looked a bit surprised to say the least, and walked up to say hello. He could not have been friendlier, and was more than willing to cooperate with our photo requests. A bit of a bummer was the fact that Zammy got some shots earlier in the day so he was not his normal smiley self. Carlos had no problem holding Zammy and tried to get him to smile. Very cute.

All in all, everything exceeded our expectations.

Wait Until Next Year

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.

-A. Bartlett Giamatti, Former Commissioner of Baseball

Zammy is Convinced the Cubs Will Come Back Against Arizona

Big Z and Cubs to the Playoffs

There was, I guess, no coincidence in the fact that Greg's crankiness of last week ended just as the Cubs clinched their playoff spot. They play the hated Diamondbacks in the first round, with games at Wrigley Saturday, and (if necessary) Sunday. Of course, if they lose, it will be a long period of crankiness.

The locker room interview with Big Z had him saying all the right things in a calm matter (while being doused by Cubs coach Ivan DeJesus), but once he was thanked for the interview, he turned and continued dancing.

Prit-ty Sweet

But There is No Such Place as "Wrigley Fields"

So, as you probably heard the story, some couple with the last name of Fields named their son Wrigley. OK, but, there is only one Wrigley Field, so it really doesn't make sense, does it?

The last part of the widely circulating story is interesting for us:

Cubs spokeswoman Katelyn Thrall said the name may be a first. The team has no record of other children named Wrigley, although there have been some children named Zambrano and Ryne after Cubs star Carlos Zambrano and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg.

Ugly Day at Beautiful Wrigley Field

Tania and I went to the game yesterday, leaving Zammy with Milena and hoping to enjoy the first place Cubs and Carlos Zambrano pitching. Things did not go well on the field, and I told the wife as it was imploding that the fans would be booing Carlos and that it would be ugly.

Unfortunately, I was right. From The Tribune:

"I don't accept that the fans were booing at me," a seething Zambrano said afterward. "I can't understand that. You know, I thought these were the greatest fans in baseball. But they showed me today that they just care about them, and that's not fair, because when you're struggling, you want to feel the support of the fans."No, I don't accept it. I just pointed to my head, and I will remember that because I don't want any bad outings. I know the great moments of my career will come."

"[Fans] pay to see a good show," he said. "They pay to see a good pitcher. Right now, I'm not doing too well. I just call [out to] the fans, 'I want a little support.' that's all. When you're struggling, or you have a brother who's struggling, you show him love. You don't show him you want to kick him out. That's what I ask of the fans—a little support." And not only [for] me. I go out there and try to do my best, but not everybody is like Carlos Zambrano [and can] keep his head up and keep trying to do a good job. There are people on this team who are struggling and going down and down …

"When you're booing somebody, you're booing the 25 men on this ballclub, and that's not fair. That happened before to some of my teammates, and that's not right. I think we go out there to give Cubs fans a good show and to go to the playoffs, and that's what I want. No one wants to do a bad job. … Every single player in that clubhouse wants to do a great job for the city, believe me."

I tend to agree with the sentiment about booing the home team, and I truly don't doubt his wanting to do well and working hard, but it was real dumb for Zambrano to express it in that situation. As it stands, he will likely have only one more start at Wrigley. Let's just hope that we make the payoffs, and we can make the day just a blip on the radar. Wishful thinking, huh?

(I will try to post some new pics of Zammy soon.)

Big Z to say in town at least until Zammy is potty trained.

The Cubs will announce a 5 year extension (with an option for the sixth year) for Carlos Zambrano this morning. It will have a full no trade clause.

Hopefully, he will take that security and throw a shutout against the hated Cardinals on Sunday.

Greg's Birthday

We got to the ballpark very early this day... (the flags would change later)

Zammy got some shots earlier in the day, so his tank was low...
And perhaps he knew the game would go so long that he would not be able to make it to the ninth...

...when the Cubs won in dramatic fashion, and went into FIRST PLACE!

Big Z makes Little Z proud

Big Z pitched very well, and hit very well, too, hitting a home run, in a 2-1 victory. Even though he was pretty bad early in the season, making Zammy and his folks nervous, he is now only one behind the National League lead in victories. Plus, he showed some of his trademark fire.

He next pitches Saturday.

Z and his Dad solo at the ballpark

Zammy wanted to see what this whole Cubs-Cardinal rivalry was all about, and since it was such a nice day, Zammy and his dad decided to let Mom get some rest, get her nails done, and just generally recharge her batteries. It was so sunny that Zammy didn't see much of the game from under that big white hat of his, though he sure heard the beer vendors.

Zammy's First Game

"Buy me some peanuts, and form-u-la..."

I made it through the whole game, and the Cubs won!

Greg and Tania in Anaheim

It was very hot, but there was a good Mexican joint near the ballpark, so we could have margaritas!
Wearing our Matt Clement "pussy-chins" at the Sunday 15 inning Cub victory.

Sleezefest 2003

Sleezefest, or BurkeFest, as he would like it to be called, was held on a balmy Saturday night in Milly-wau-kay.

Fun was had by all, as the Cubs, behind Mark Prior, who raised his record to 15-5, beat the Brewers 8-4.