In the first inning, the White Sox were able to put four runs on the board, mostly thanks to Carlos Quentin’s three run homer that brought in Alex Rios and Paul Konerko.

Zambrano was noticably livid heading into the dugout, the episode ending in being taken into the clubhouse by Lou Piniella and Alan Trammel and being taken out of the game.

ESPN is now reporting that Zambrano has been suspended, but they don’t have information on how many games the suspension is.

The altercation overshadowed another outstanding performance by Jake Peavy on the White Sox, who went seven scoreless innings, bringing his consecutive scoreless inning total up to 21.

As for the Cubs, the bullpen did a great job of stopping the bleeding, only allowing two runs throughout the next eight innings. Tom Gorzelanny was fantastic allowing just one run over the next three and a third innings.

The Cubs bats were silenced as they only had six baserunners throughout the game. Meanwhile, the White Sox were able to score six runs on seven hits and two walks.

The White Sox now lead the crosstown rivalry 3-1 on the season, and the Cubs are going to have to win these next two games to pull off another tie on the season.

It is going to be tough, however, as the White Sox have won 10 strait games since losing the series finale to the Cubs in their last meeting, going 14-1 over the last 15.

Meanwhile, the Cubs are nine games below .500 and are 2-4 over their last six.

I’m Joe W.

Hayden went 13-1 in 15 starts for the South Arkansas Muleriders during his junior season. He also had a 1.81 ERA and struck out 131 batters compared to just 35 walks in 99 and a third innings.

Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken compared Simpson to major league stars Tim Lincecum and Roy Oswalt, which is big praise for D-ll pitcher.

“I feel Hayden is potentially a major league starter,” Wilken said. “He has four above-average to plus-pitches. He’s a very athletic pitcher, and he has a good feel for pitching. We had really good reports and very good coverage on Simpson.”

Despite the high praise given to him from within the Cubs organization, however, he hasn’t been recognized by those around the league as a talent worthy of being taken this high.

As you can see from the picture above, they had to make a name plate for him on the spot, and on MLB.com didn’t have a draft report when he was drafted.

Simpson was also ranked 191st by Baseball America, but so was Tyler Colvin in 2006 when he was ranked near the tail end of Baseball America’s Top 200, Colvin is now producing in the majors for the Cubs.

Another Cub who was taken higher than expected was Andrew Cashner in 2008. Cashner is now three appearances into his major league career and has yet to allow a run.

Simpson is a pitcher with a fastball in the mid-90’s, a solid curveball and slider, and circle-change that a very good speed differential from his fastball.

It has also been reported that a team with a pick soon after the Cubs was taking a serious look at Simpson for their first round pick, so Wilken may not have been the only one who felt he was worth a first round selection.

I’m Joe W.

I am also thinking about starting up a YouTube channel which will consist of me making a few videos a week about sports in a vlog format. I will be following a similar format to Ray William Johnson, only instead of talking about YouTube videos and making jokes, I will be talking about sports and making bad jokes.

As for my thoughts on the first few days of Cubbie baseball, we need a bullpen, badly. Really badly. Really really badly.

I have some stuff tomorrow but hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday I will have something substantial up for you.

I’m Joe W.

It’s a world where, if you screw up, the world is just against you. It’s not your fault. Why should you take the blame when people are trying to hold you down?

This is the world that former-Cub Milton Bradley lives in, and he has been showing it to the world the past week, with an interview with ESPN’s Colleen Dominguez.

Let’s take a look at this interview comment by comment from Milton Bradley.

Quote- “Well I mean, unless you go out there and you’re Superman. You know, you’re Andre Dawson, you’re Ernie Banks, you’re Hall of Fame. You know know, then, it’s going to be tough.

“It got to the point where I didn’t even have to open up the letter to know what it was. I could see it from the envelope.”

Analysis- Yes, Milton. The major reason is race, and look at these other two examples of disappointing Chicago Cubs players as proof.

What he’s really disappointed about is that Cubs fans didn’t give his magic a chance as a way to embrace him despite his struggles on the field.

I mean, being able to read mail without opening it, that’s magic on Chris Angel’s level. In fact, when he threw that ball up in the stands despite there only being two outs, he was actually performing a magic trick, we just didn’t let him finish.

Quote- “I’ve never got hate mail. I got it in LA (Los Angeles), I got it in Oakland and I got it in Chicago. And never anywhere else.”

Analysis- Exactly, it’s not like those three stints made up half of your career. And it’s also not like you just contradicted yourself completely in about 15 seconds.

Quote- “You really think that something’s going to take place. I’ve had bottles thrown at me, um, you really think it’s going to be something worse. You’re kind of on the field, you know, not feeling comfortable”

Analysis- I now exactly how you feel, and when you keep saying “you know,” it really hits home, you know.

And I’m really curious on what that “something worse” that Milton says he fears of. Is it just upping what get’s thrown at him, or is he saying it is on the line of assassination?

Because if it’s just a different ballpark snack, who cares, if it’s an assassination attempt, why would he even take the field, you know.

I commend Milton for his bravery, it takes great heart to show up everyday despite having people trying to kill him at every game, just waiting for the right moment.

Quote- “I was pretty much a prisoner in my own home. You know, I pretty much stayed home, ordered in every day, never went anywhere.

“Saying how terrible we were and we didn’t deserve anything and we should go back to the ghetto where we came from and that kind of stuff.”

Analysis- Again, risking threat of death to show his friend a good time, Bradley’s bravery is commendable.

As for hearing that one person saying that Bradley and Soriano should just go back to the ghetto because they weren’t worth anything, all of Chicago is now lumped into this one fan.

Sorry Chicago, but because of him, you are all racist people who hate black people (although Soriano is Dominican).

Quote- “I fear more for the people around me, I don’t worry about myself too much. I’m going to be alright.”

Analysis- Give this man a statue, vote him into office, he deserves to be honored every way possible.

Quote- “I worried about my family, I worried about my kids. The worst part that was the last straw was when I found out that my kid had been called derogatory name at school, you know.

“Three-year-olds shouldn’t be called names, that comes strait from the home. And when we had a meeting with the school and we met with the parents, you know, the parents totally denied it. But, you know, that comes from the home.”

Analysis- I know exactly what you mean. These parents are just trying to deny that their kid did any wrong-doing, and people like that are the lowest scum of society.

Also, that kid must also hate Milton Bradley, because that’s the only way that it should be involved in an interview about sports, you know, because this interview is sports related.

Quote- “In that first at bat, bases loaded, big situation you know. Adam Wainright on the mound for the Cardinals, throws me, you know, a good curveball down and in, a ball. But I get rung up on it and react. I react, you know, never curse, never call the umpire his name, but I get ejected.”

Analysis- First off, the umpire was already decidedly racist because he called that close pitch a ball instead of a strike. If you weren’t swayed by the bad call, the fact that he threw you out of the game after you yelled in his face proves it.

Quote- “I have a painting, I have it in my house. It’s of a guy in the 60’s holding a sign that says ‘I am a man.’ It’s important to me because when you get into this game, you start playing, you know, people give you a check, and they think, you know, you’re a slave.

“They tell you what to do. Move, jump, stuff like that, and to a certain extent they can, but I’m a man first and you’ll respect me just like you’d respect anyone else.”

Analysis- AMEN. First off, that painting sounds just powerful. Secondly, you are a man Milton Bradley, and I’m behind you 100%.

They can’t make you their slave just because they pay you $7,000,000 to hit .257 and 12 home runs. Those guys like Lou Piniella are taking you for granted, if only you could show those guys and go make $7.50 an hour bagging groceries.

Those guys have it made.

Quote- “I take it all in stride (Piniella calling him a ‘Piece of sh*t’). You know, the next day he called me into his office and wanted to apologize.

“You know I don’t have time to hold grudges against people. You know, I’ve got enough stuff I got to deal with.”

Analysis- You are completely correct Milton. Even though that sh*thead Piniella did that to you, why hold a grudge. Just wait a couple months and talk about how Lou was wrong on ESPN.

If any of you couldn’t understand, I was being completely sarcastic. I think Milton was being a complete idiot throughout all of his time with the Cubs, and he has done so throughout his time in the majors.

Good luck Seattle Mariners, you are going to need it.

I’m Joe W.

The goal will be to give a lot of preview articles now, and once the season gets into full swing, give you guys an article a day.

Why am I being so nice?

Because you the reader deserve it.

It will take me a bit to get back into the swing of things, so postings for now will be somewhat sparce, but once I get going, we will be posting quality Cubs content (hopefully) daily. After all, shouldn’t I live up to the name, The DAILY Cub.

The Cubs are now 1-0 in Spring Training (although that matters just about as much as what I ate for dinner) so hopefully we will get things back in a positive direction this season.

For now, I’m Joe W.

Lou’s need for speed aside, it is true that the Cubs are a slow, plodding bunch. They rank last in the NL in stolen bases. And while the stolen base has not been as popular since ‘roided up players starting popping muscles out of their shirt sleeves, it seems to be on a bit of a comeback.

Meanwhile, rumor has it that the Cubs will try to “steal” Chone Figgins if he enters the free agent market.

Figgins certainly has speed. But he has barely been an effective base stealer this season. The primary value of the stolen base lies in the success rate; stealing at less than a 75 percent success rate is detrimental to an offense. This year, Figgins has stolen 39 bases and has been caught 16 times, for a 70 percent success rate.

So, while his speed may help him get infield hits, and score more runs, his basestealing would seem to hurt the team more than help.

In addition to speed, I’m sure that Lou also believes he needs a true lead-off hitter. Figgins’ near .400 OBP would seem to fit that bill quite nicely.

Now, it seems to this scribe that the Cubs have other problems besides lack of speed—an inability to hit with runners in scoring position; a low OBP and shaky defense, among other criteria has accounted for much of the team’s lack of success this year.

Luckily, though the reasoning may be faulty, Lou’s desire for his team to get faster still could result in offensive improvement if the right player is acquired.

Figgins could be one of those “right” players.

One problem is, of course, that there will be many suitors for his services, including the team on the other side of town. White Sox GM Kenny Williams is said to have wanted Figgins for a long time.

Of course, you certainly can’t discount the probability of the Angels wanting to bring him back.

Buster Olney thinks Chone Figgins will end up in left field with the Yankees.

What about his age? He turns 32 in January, so the obvious question is, how long will that speed Lou talks about hold up?

Enter Dan Szymborski, whose ZIPS system is one of the most highly regarded player projection tools in the sabermetric community. The BaseballThinkFactory had this quote from Mr. Szymborski regarding Figgins:

“In Figgins’ case, he has a broad range of skills,” Szymborski said. “Those types of players tend to age well.”

Barring injury, Szymborski doesn’t believe that Figgins will face a steep decline anytime soon.

“When you’re talking about a guy who’s already 31 and is still a speed player, you’re not going to see a sudden decline,” Szymborski said. “There’s no real danger he’s going to become Sean Casey on the bases in the next few years.”

-Bob Warja

And it’s even less likely for the Cubs, of course. The division is out of reach and the wild card requires climbing over too many teams. Plus, the Cubs aren’t playing like they want it anyway.

So the White Sox supposedly send a memo to the other clubs that Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome and Scott Linebrink are available.

And why not? It makes good business and baseball sense to try and build for next season with prospects you can obtain. I mean, if you’re going to lose with or without these players, why hold onto them?

Meanwhile, the Cubs can’t work out a trade for the horrible Aaron Heilman or Rich Harden, who isn’t likely to return anyway. And the reason? Not that the offers weren’t good enough. No. According to Hendry, it’s because the Cubs still have a chance.

Delusional man say what?

Look, it’s over, Jim. Face the music; you’ll notice it’s a dirge that’s playing.

Rich Harden is simply too fragile, and the Cubs are too strapped for cash for them to match any three-year offer that some team is likely to wave under the nose of the impending free agent following the season.

Anyway, even if they wanted to re-sign Harden, they could still do it if they traded him. So why in the world wouldn’t you get something for him?

Now, the Sox may not end up moving any of their players prior to tonight’s deadline for adding players to the playoff roster. But at least they’re trying. It shows they are being realistic. The Cubs? Knee deep in denial.

I’m not condoning a white flag deal here; no, both teams (and especially the Cubs) are too far out of the race to hang onto players they are going lose or not want after the season.

But that’s one of the many differences between the Cubs and Sox. The Sox have a plan while the Cubs seem to fly by the seat of their pants.

It pains me to write this, but I seem to recall one of the local teams winning a World Series a few years back.

That’s another difference, come to think of it.

-Bob Warja

However, I will be going through my first full week of school before I start posting regularly again. I am very sorry but I need to make sure that I do everything I can to get the most out of my college experience.

I would like to say that the slow down will stop soon and there will be plenty of Cubs updates coming your way soon, but the truth is that I don’t know when I will be able to get back to my usual amount of posts.

The reason, Wednesday is my move-in day for college, and I have been very busy seeing people for possibly the last time and getting all of my stuff ready to move.

It may take a few days to get used to living at Illinois State University, where I will be living for the next four years, but once I get acclimated to the area and get my schedule down, I will be able to get right back to posting.

Luckily for all of you, this will likely mean an increase in quality work from me, as I will be studying journalism at ISU. So be ready for a short hiatus, followed by a return to your Cubs coverage.

-Joe Willett

But don’t fret, Cubs fans. We don’t really need a whole lot of help. In fact, our most pressing needs are to get healthy and to continue to get improved play from the big guns.

While Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley start to heat up (Soriano much more than Bradley), the Cubs also look to the return of catcher Geo Soto in the near future.

Meanwhile, the pitching adds one and subtracts one. Ryan Dempster returned to the active roster on Tuesday, but lone All-Star Ted Lilly is on the disabled list battling shoulder and knee issues.

But that doesn’t mean the Cubs are looking to add a starter. They don’t have the budget in the first place, and their farm system is barren.

Look, the reason the Cards are so active is because they need to be. The Brewers are trying to recapture the magic of last year, when the arrival of CC Sabathia led them to the playoffs.

Yet after trading young players last year, it is doubtful that they will be players for the bigger names such as Roy Halladay or Jarrod Washburn. But I do expect them to obtain a fourth or fifth starter by the deadline.

Speaking of Halladay, if he lands any place (and don’t be surprised if he stays put), it won’t be in the NL Central.

The Cards had been rumored to have had interest in the Toronto ace, but after trading Brett Wallace to obtain Matt Holliday, their only hope of acquiring “Doc” would be to include Colby Rasmus in a package, and that isn’t going to happen.

The Cardinals have landed Mark DeRosa, Julio Lugo, and Matt Holliday in recent deals and they may not be done.

But unlike last year, when the Cubs answered the Brewers’ acquisition of Sabathia by getting Rich Harden, don’t expect them to try and match any deals.

For one thing, Cubs pitching has been mostly stellar. Even the relief corps, much maligned earlier in the season, has pitched well.

For another, unless Jim Hendry can move salary, he likely can’t afford to take on a big contract. Especially now that the rumored Tigers interest in Milton Bradley turned out to be much ado about nothing.

As for the teams on the fringe of contending in the Central, the Reds are trying to move some salary, while the Astros aren’t prepared to spend.

According to The Daily Herald’s Bruce Miles, a left-handed reliever appears to top the Cubs’ priority list. Two names to keep an eye on are Washington’s Joe Beimel and Pittsburgh’s John Grabow.

But even if they stand pat, the Cubs should have enough to win this division, in my opinion.

What happens after that is a completely different matter, come to think of it.

-Bob Warja