Hey everyone: I used to run Old Style Cubs, and after a bit of a break I've started a new baseball blog called My Favorite Player at http://www.myfavoriteplayer.net. During the preseason I'm picking my favorite player from each team, and the Cubs are up first. Here's the post in it's entirety: if you like it, check out the rest of the site. Thanks!

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How do you pick a favorite player on your favorite team?

There's a few things I've learned in my first three weeks in Wisconsin:

1. Full-time jobs aren't so bad. I was a bit concerned how well this waking up early every day thing would go, but it's been surprisingly easy so far. I've never had a real full-time job before this (and no, I don't know how that happened), so I'm glad its working out.
2. Not having regular Internet access sucks. A lot.
3. Corollary to #2: did you guys know Matt Lawton's a Cub?
4. As far as the Cubs go, moving to Madison was a bad idea. The day I moved was the first of eight consecutive losses and for a brief moment, I considered returning to Chicago to see if it would make a difference.
   

Part of me wants to spend today celebrating last night's victory, but there are a few reasons not to do just that:

On May 27th my attitude toward the Cubs' hopes for the playoffs were markedly different than they are now. A line drive had just ricocheted off of Mark Prior's arm with such force that Aramis Ramirez caught it without moving more than few steps from third, and the Franchise writhed in pain just in front of the mound.

The subsequent days revealed that the injury wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, and the following weeks showed that inexplicably, it wasn't that bad at all. Prior had no timetable for return until he started playing catch, which turned into simulated games that had more favorable results than anyone would have guessed. The line drive that stopped the collective heart of Cub Nation was vanishing from memory and on June 26th, Prior made his return to the majors.

Baseball will baffle me until the day I die, and maybe a little longer afterwards. What's been making me pull my hair lately? Well, since you asked...

Yesterday I wrote that I wouldn't be all that surprised if the Cubs managed a win, given their streak heading into last night's game. Turns out I was more than a bit surprised when they won 9-5. Surprised that:

Head over to Old Style Cubs to read my interview with play-by-play Cub announcer Len Kasper (parts one and two).

When it comes to the NL Central, there's one big bully and five trembling snot-nosed kids. There's not much you can do when the bully is around, but as soon as he goes elsewhere, the snot-nosed kids will battle for superiority among themselves, trying to make themselves feel better about their complete lack of power.

Since the Cardinals aren't around, the Cubs have taken to beating up on the rest of the division lately.

It took 126 pitches, but Mark Prior went the distance and the Cubs avoided the sweep at home against the White Sox. Obviously 1 out of 3 is never something you shoot for, but considering that the Sox have the best record in baseball hoping for more than that might be unrealistic.

I'm glad the Cubs won, especially because they missed out on an easy run in the 1st inning. Instead, Juan Uribe saved a run with his acting. Let's break down the play:

Derrek Lee is currently redefining the term "Most Valuable Player." He hits tie-breaking and game-winning home runs, gobbles grounders, and makes every other infielder, especially Aramis Ramirez, twice as good with his reaching and scooping abilities. He's leading the NL in home runs and the majors in slugging (.730 after 37 games!). He is the reason the Cubs have been able to withstand the plague of injuries as well as they have so far.

He's also the reason the Cubs won last night, driving in all 4 runs for the Cubs and hitting a single, double, 2 home runs (one to take the lead in the 9th), and an RBI sac fly.

It seems like everyone is talking about the Cubs this Monday, but that's not necessarily a good thing.

Has anyone else been salivating over the announcement of a Baseball World Cup in 2006? Well, I haven't either (I've kept the drool in check), but I'm still pretty excited. It's all explained in the link above, but I've condensed the basic format for you:

Before yesterday, I had never kept score for a baseball game. Since my interest in baseball really took off when I had access to a high-speed internet connection at my fingertips, why would I have? Instead of paying careful attention to a game for 3 hours, I could point, click, and repeat as necessary to get the play-by-play for any game I wanted.

Yet, I felt a little guilty not having scored a game at least once before. So, with the help of ESPN's stat pack, I printed out a scorecard and sat myself down in front of the TV for Game 2 of the Mets series at home.

Everyone, I'm really sorry. Last Tuesday I wrote the following in an attempt to make myself feel better about the then-paltry 2-game losing streak:

"Unlike the Cubs, the Brewers have managed winning streaks of 3 and 4 games this season, not just back to back wins. Unlike the Brewers, the Cubs have managed not to lose 7 in a row (burned!)"

That's the last time I mention an opposing team's losing streak, that's for sure.