35 rows up in the lower box at AT&T Park, for one night, I became a Giants fan, high-fiving everyone around me.

Perhaps more later . . .

I have been enjoying a great audio book on the life of Roberto Clemente, when I heard the name of one of his teammates mentioned - a player from Puerto Rico by the name of Jose Pagan. My guess is this is Angel Pagan's father (or uncle, maybe)? Can anyone confirm? Is there a way to send an e-mail to Angel?

Thanks.

Jake Fox (0-for-1) has "won" the battle with Scott Moore (0-for-5) to remain following Derrek Lee's return from his suspension. The Cubs have recalled Ronny Cedeno, who has been killing the ball at Iowa since his demotion, while demoting Moore.

This photo is from a bar near Wrigley, but I can't for the life of me figure out who this person is. I am pretty sure this was taken in Spring Training judging by the background - my guess is somewhere around 1994 (because of the piping on the pants). Does anyone know who this is?

bad photo quality

Daryle Ward ended up on the 15-day disabled list with his torn calf muscle. Scott Moore replaced him on the big league roster and will start at first base today. Moore has hit .266/.373/.517 for Iowa this year. He has six home runs in his last six games. Moore and Jake Fox are now, apparently, in what amounts to a half-week battle to stay on the roster once Derrek Lee returns from his suspension.

Despite reports of Wade Miller's demise, he is still bouncing around on a new rehab assignment. He has just been transferred to Iowa.

The Cubs activated Ryan Dempster from the disabled list today, allowing Bob Howry to return to a setup role. Along with Carlos Marmol, the Cubs now have two solid setup men, though Lou Piniella loses some freedom. Sean Gallagher was optioned back to Iowa.

"The Chicago Cubs dealt Cesar Izturis to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday" along with cash for a player to be named later reports MLB.com. They also called up Jake Fox from AA Tennessee.

Izturis had lost his starting shortstop job to Ryan Theriot, as he has only started two games in July. He hit .246/.298/.304 for the Cubs this year in 207 plate appearances, after coming over from the Dodgers last year in the Greg Maddux trade. I noted then that "Izturis is a younger Neifi Perez." In 2006, he hit .233/.282/.260 for the Cubs in 79 plate appearances. Despite a defensive reputation, having won a Gold Glove in 2004, Baseball Prospectus rates him as just 2 runs above average at shortstop during his career.

Here's what the Chicago Tribune's Mike Downey had to say when the Cubs traded Maddux for Izturis last year:

I've been hearing about the Kerry Wood’s Strike Zone bowling event and that the entire Cubs team was going to attend. Money raised will benefit Project 3000.

I was wondering how they'll keep crowds down with the entire Cubs team there.

Ahhh, the prices are a bit higher than I expected. :)

Check this page for price list. :)

http://kerrywoodstrikezone.com/sponsor.html

http://kerrywoodstrikezone.com/

I hope they have a full house!

Diana

Now presenting -- A tribute video of Rob Bowen, highlighting his time with the Chicago Cubs:

So much for the Geovany Soto experiment, as Kendall will become the everyday catcher, with Koyie Hill likely having the inside track to remain the backup. With Billy Petrick back, giving the Cubs 12 pitchers again, one of Hill or Soto is going back to Iowa.

Kendall is hitting .226/.261/.281 for the A's this year, "good" for an adjusted OPS+ of 46. In 2006, he had an 89 OPS+ and in 2005 he had a 77 OPS+.

Apparently, somene in the Cubs' organization has a long memory, recalling that Kendall has hit .302/.392/.425 in his career against the Cubs, mostly from his time with the Pirates from 1996-2004.

Baseball Crank gives us his very interesting list of "Baseball's Most Impressive Records."

OK, here's the plan: get rid of the catcher who can hit and then hand the catching duties over to three Steve Lake's. You never know, it might work.

Gone is Felix Pie, who was here to stay until he wasn't, and whose treatment eerily resembles that of Corey Patterson's. Here is Geovany Soto, the third catcher.

Of course, maybe it's too harsh to label Soto "no-hit." He has, after all, put up a half season of .341/.412/.584 for triple-A Iowa. Then again, his previous career high OPS in the minors was 756, for double-A West Tenn in 2004.

He had a rough season debut today, going 0-for-5 in the Cubs' 6-0 shellacking of the Houston Astros. With the way Koyie Hill and Rob Bowen have hit, he's likely to get more chances. Especially since he did do something well: handled three pitchers to a combined shutout.

With the news that Mark Cuban filed an application to examine the finances of the Chicago Cubs -- a preliminary step to submitting a bid for the team -- it is worth revisiting Dallas native Brian C's list of pros and cons of a Cuban ownership reign. Pro #1: "There's no question that winning is extremely important to him." In February of this year, Radar Magazine reported that Cuban would offer $625M for the team. Cuban denied the story.