I'm Feeling Much Better Now

I've had a couple of days of sitting in a corner in a fetal position while repeating, "Whatever doesn't kill us, makes us stronger...", and I'm feeling a bit better after my last rant. A sweep-saving victory over the Brewers also helped lessen the vitriol that coursed through my body all weekend long.

Over the weekend, I learned a few things about myself:

1. In my heart, I prefer Micah Hoffpauir over Derrek Lee. I don't dislike Lee. I don't want to get on the hate train that wants him banished from the team. He is a veteran with a lot of talent that can and should be very helpful to this team this year, even if he never gets back to 2005 form. However, my need for the farm system to yield position players that can hit something besides scrappy singles with occasional gap power overwhelms my need for Derrek to be cemented into the lineup at first base.


2. I still believe in Geovany Soto. This may be irrationality on my part again, but I don't have a feeling of dread when he walks to the plate. I should. The man is batting .169. He has as many homeruns as I do. His OPS (.492) is not only worse than Aaron Miles' (.540), it is worse than Rich Harden's (.558). Nevertheless, I still think that Soto will come around and want him at the plate with runners on base. For the time being, it leaves me utterly disappointed three or four times per game, but again, I am inexplicably optimistic that he will start hitting again. I just hope it is sometime soon.


3. While I feel bad for Chad Fox, there was no way he should have been on the roster to begin with, so my feelings, though admittedly cold and unfeeling, are that I'm glad his elbow blew out now instead of after ten, fifteen, or twenty crappy outings. Because, let's face it, this is a guy who makes Rich Harden look durable and he was never a great pitcher to begin with. He has a career WHIP of 1.45 which actually makes his 3.79 career ERA fairly impressive given the number of baserunners he was allowing on a regular basis. I don't know whether Jose Ascanio will be any good or not, but he has the potential to be good, and even if he isn't, the potential is there for him to get better over time. Chad Fox, was never going to be good this year or ever. I do, however, wish him well with however he chooses to go forward with whatever is left of his career.


4. I don't understand fans booing players. Granted, booing a player is better than assaulting them with deadly weapons as we all have been tempted to do with Neal Cotts, but I just don't understand the purpose. Maybe if we were more consistent in our booing patterns so that the players got a clear message about our displeasure through the use of booing, I could get behind it, but the consistency isn't there. Geovany Soto gets a pass on the booing despite aspiring to reach the Mendoza Line so far this year. Alfonso Soriano, who has a longer history of all-star level performance, and who has hit some HUGE homeruns this year, will get booed mercilessly for misplaying a ball in the field when we KNOW he is a lousy fielder. What do we expect? Yet, Soto underperforms horribly and gets hardly any booing, and Soriano meets expectations in the field and exceeds them at the plate, and we can't jump on him fast enough. I don't understand it at all.


5. The Blackhawks winning on Saturday was huge in lifting my spirits. I'm glad the Cubs have the day off so I can fully concentrate on the Hawks' attempt to advance to the Western Conference Finals tonight. Go Hawks!