Billy Petrick has to be a bit demoralized right now. A day after throwing two shutout innings to hold the five-run leading Milwaukee Brewers at bay, and thus playing a big role in the Cubs' exciting comeback win, the Cubs sent Petrick to Iowa in favor of a reliever with a 6.75 ERA at Iowa, Rocky Cherry. No reported explanation from the team yet, but it is likely this has to do with the Cubs' continued inability to get anything of value for Jacque Jones in a trade and get back up to twelve relievers. Petrick having thrown two innings yesterday, and the bullpen having thrown six overall, the Cubs likely felt they needed another fresh reliever.

The Bulls took Joakim Noah as the 9th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. I've got to find a way to give him a haircut.

After seeing the various videos of the rain / flooding at Wrigley and in Chicago in general before the game, one really has to feel sorry for the Cubs fan with tickets to the game who didn't attend the game because they were absolutely certain that no way was the game going to be played that day. Although the game was played, I hope the Cubs will make some sort of arrangement for those who didn't use their tickets for this game.

Photo

(From the Chicago Tribune photo gallery for that game )

Ryan Dempster, who was initially supposed to be ready yesterday, and then today, was feeling his strained left oblique even when jogging, was placed on the 15-day disabled list today. To take his spot, the Cubs purchased the contract of their 2002 3rd round draft pick, Billy Petrick, 23, from double-A Tennessee. To make room for Petrick on the 40-man roster, the Cubs placed Wade Miller on the 60-day disabled list.

We've all noticed messages from the Wrigley Hi Tops shown during many home game telecasts.

One thing I didn't know was that Hi Tops is scheduled to become a Harry Caray's restaurant.

I ran across it when checking for special events at another Harry Caray's restaurant.

Harry Caray's To Replace Hi-Tops Near Wrigley
Owners Hope To Open New Outpost Of Harry Caray's Next Year
http://cbs2chicago.com/business/local_story_095140301.html

http://www.hi-topswrigleyville.com

http://www.harrycarays.com

Cubs fans wishlist

Cubs fans TV listings

Mike Fontenot entered tonight's game hitting a nice .345 in 62 plate appearances. A 5-for-5 performance later, and he was up to .397. Fontenot's five hit game was the second of the year for the Cubs. He joins Alfonso Soriano, who performed the feat earlier this month on June 4. The last time the Cubs had two players get five hits in a game during the same season was 2004, when Derrek Lee (twice) and Corey Patterson did it. (Data courtesy Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index.)

The Cubs are still at eleven pitchers. Lou Piniella said before tonight's game they will be back up to twelve for tomorrow night's game, reports MLB.com. Piniella also said that Felix Pie and his 648 OPS are here to stay. Jacque Jones is still on the roster, but he is not playing. Whoever wants him can have him tomorrow, it appears.

As most of you know, Rod Beck passed away at the age of 38 today. He left behind many good baseball memories. His 51 save, 144 ERA+ performance in the fun 1998 season stands out, of course. Though his 1999 season was a disappointment, Beck made a memorable comeback attempt in 2003 following Tommy John surgery the year before. He pitched lights out at Iowa for two months. Last year, I called Jim Hendry's failure to find a bullpen spot for Beck that season one of his worst moves as a GM. Beck ultimately caught on with the Padres and pitched very well.

Other Rod Beck coverage:
Rod Beck and His Trailer (5/16/2003)
"Looking at the Iowa pitching stats, Rod Beck appears to have been the best option if the Cubs wanted an extra reliever . . ." (5/11/2003)
"Adding further intrigue to the bullpen story, Rod Beck’s line at Iowa looks mighty impressive . . ." (5/5/2003)

The Cubs want to get back up to twelve pitchers when they resume National League play on Monday, so some position player needs to go. Just a few weeks ago, Mike Fontenot would have been an obvious demotion, but he has played well enough to stick for now. The Chicago Sun-Times' Gordon Wittenmyer reports that there are actually some teams interested in acquiring Jacque Jones (64 OPS+). "According to baseball sources, the San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers and even the White Sox have shown recent interest in Jones." The question then, I suppose, is how much of Jones' remaining salary the Cubs are willing to pay and whether they will receive anything other than a single-A player in return. Jones is making $4M this year, is due $1.3M in January 2008 as part of his signing bonus, and will make an additional $5M in 2008. If Jim Hendry were to get another team to take Jones' 2008 salary, it would be almost as impressive as getting the Tigers to pay Neifi Perez's salary this season. The other option would be to get someone to take Cesar Izturis's (59 OPS+) $5.5M contract for next season.

Mark Holliman, the Cubs' 2005 3rd round draft pick, threw a 7-inning no-hitter for double-A Tennessee last night, in the Smokies' 3-0 victory over Huntsville. Holliman had not won a game in more than a month, reports the Knoxville News Sentinel. Holliman also hit a two-run homer in the game.

Holliman, 23, now has a 2.49 ERA, which leads the Southern League, in 86.2 innings this season, with a 2.0 K/BB ratio. He has allowed just 3 home runs. In his first professional season last year, Holliman had a 4.38 ERA in 144 innings for high-A Daytona.

The Cubs are, likely temporarily, going to go with 11 pitchers, as they demoted Sean Gallagher to Iowa after today's 6-5 loss to the Texas Rangers. Aramis Ramirez will come off the disabled list tomorrow. Gallagher allowed 6 runs in his 5.2 innings, over 3 relief appearances. Why was he called up again, and taken out of his rotation spot in double-A? What Brian C calls the "Random Transaction Generator," perhaps?

Now that the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan is blogging at ChicagoSports.com's new Hardball blog (his first post, by the way, is a good one), will he be more respectful of bloggers?

The Chicago Cubs have traded Michael Barrett to the San Diego Padres, reports ESPN.com. The Cubs get back catcher Rob Bowen, a minor league pitcher (unknown at this time), and cash considerations. There must have been more to Barrett's personality conflicts than Cubs' players were letting on, for the Cubs do not have another catcher who can hit for much. Barrett was in last night's lineup, hitting 5th, going 2-for-5, in the Cubs' 5-4 win over the Rangers.

Bowen, 26, has been the Padres' backup catcher the past two seasons, and is actually having a good year at the plate this season, hitting .268/.371/.439 in 98 plate appearances.

UPDATE (10:45am): FOXSports.com's Ken Ronsenthal reports that instead of a minor league pitcher, the Cubs have acquired minor league outfielder Kyler Burke. (Hat tip: Another Cubs Blog.)

UPDATE (1:05pm): Jim Hendry, unsurprisingly, says the trade was about defense, not personality conflicts: "We just felt like we were trying to shore up the position in a little different fashion, a little bit more defensively." Also, Greg Maddux gave the Padres an endorsement of Barrett.

The suspensions for Saturday's fight are in. Derrek Lee and Chris Young received five games each; Cubs' hitting coach Gerald Perry received three.

"The Orioles have agreed in principle with former Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins executive Andy MacPhail to be the club's next chief operating officer, a baseball official confirmed today," reports the Baltimore Sun. The position appears to be similar to the president's position MacPhail held with the Cubs for twelve years. MacPhail was not able to build a consistent winner on the north side of Chicago. Now, it appears, he will have the opportunity in Baltimore. The Orioles are working on their tenth straight sub-.500 season. Joe Girardi could be the new Orioles' manager. Camden Chat has more.