OW!

Baseball (Real)

The Cubs have had an uncanny amount of injuries. Todd Walker had a sprained MCL. Garciaparra tore (as in off the bone tore) his groin muscle running to first base. Kerry Wood has had arm problems that keep the team doctors baffled. And to cap it all off, Mark Prior had a ball ricochet off his elbow resulting in a fracture. Even with all these injuries the Cubs are above .500. The Cardinals have run away with the division, but the wild card is still in reach. So perhaps when a few guys come back healthy and a trade or two is made the Cubs may make it to the playoffs yet. If they do, there is one reason why: the MVP playing of Derek Lee. It won’t happen but he has a shot at winning the Triple Crown. He is either leading or a close second in the required categories of RBI, HR, and AVG. Carl Yastrzemski was the last player to achieve the Triple Crown for the BoSox in 1967. The problem is that with all of today’s specialty roles in baseball the Triple Crown isn’t likely. But we can dream can’t we?

Baseball (Make Believe)

To confirm my belief that I am the curse my fantasy team is going through the same struggles as the Cubs. I have six players on the DL. Six! Three of the injured are Hampton, Hudson, and Wood my top three pitchers. It’s gotten so bad that the day one of my pitchers came off the DL he pitched a few innings and then went back on the DL. At the beginning of the season I wrote “Things I need to happen for this year to be successful are Dubois to prove to Dusty he deserves to play fulltime, Wood stays healthy, Berkman comes back lighting it up, and Hampton pitches like the second half rather than the first half of last season.” Yeah. None of that happened. Morris though has worked out pretty well and I love the Father Murphy look. Of course this means he’ll be on the DL next week. I’m currently in fifth place and the injuries seem to have cemented me there. It’s sad when seeing your team in fourth place excites you.

Baseball (Real and Make Believe)

I have no idea if this is cool or a sign of things to come. Right now I’m leaning towards cool. Wait...no...yes. Thanks to Carp for this one.