Not over(time) yet

Is it too late to change the rules and make it best of 13? I can't get enough. The Bulls-Celtics series has lasted longer than the Joey spinoff and has had more drama than an ad for TNT. Believe it or not, this series has now had more overtime sessions than that Syracuse-UConn marathon in the Big East tournament.

When the Bulls went up 91-81 with nine minutes left, I said to Trevor Sierra, "Looks like we get a Game 7." Boston then immediately launched into an 18-0 run to go up 99-91, and I texted Khair Sadrud-Din to lament that the Bulls had blown it. 3:44 and three overtimes later, Derrick Rose did indeed force a Game 7 with an amazing block on Rajon Rondo.

Ray Allen dropped 51 points, including nine threes, which ties the NBA playoff record (Allen took one more three--18--than the Bulls as a team); John Salmons became the third Bull to put the team on his shoulders and carry them to victory in this series (along with Rose and Gordon); Rose had 28, 8 and 7; "Big Baby" Davis couldn't be stopped; Joakim Noah was charged up all night and had a huge steal-and-dunk over Paul Pierce in triple OT ... the list goes on and on.

And just to add a little more spice to the Game 7 stew, Kirk Hinrich got a little testy (isn't that Ben Gordon's job? bah-dum-pssh) when Rondo chucked him into the scorer's table, and the refs had to prevent a fight. A veteran team trying to claw their way into Round Two as they defend their title vs. a young bunch of start-ups trying to prove something to themselves and the world--Saturday should be an awful lot of fun, and someone is finally going to get the last laugh.

On a side note, do NBA players go through some sort of swear word training before they're allowed to enter the league? I don't mean training to be respectful, I mean training to use swear words as often and effectively as possible. It seems like every time there's a closeup of a player, they're either celebrating a made basket with "F--- yeah!" or "That's right, motherf---er!"; lamenting a ref's call with "F---!" or "No f---ing way!"; or on the sideline screaming "Let's f---ing go!" NBA games really should be rated TV14 with that little "L" under it for "language." We're used to hearing that MLB needs to "clean up the game" with reference to steroids, but the NBA needs to clean up their game with regard to all that foul language. It's really f---ing inappropriate.

Cubs notes
-Cubs pitchers lead the league in walks allowed. You can't win consistently when you give up that many free bases.

-What is wrong with Lou Piniella? Thursday's loss is on him, if you ask me. Because he:

1) brought in Marmol in the 8th instead of Heilman. Marmol walked the world Wednesday, and might still be getting over his injury. Heilman's been our best reliever all year, but remained in the 'pen until the 10th. Granted, he imploded, but that could be because he threw about 10,000 pitches in the bullpen before coming into the game.

2) pinch-hit Zambrano in the 8th instead of Hoffpauir or Reed Johnson. Um, Lou, we do have bench players. Feel free to use them. But worse:

3) Zambrano ran for himself in a 2-2 game, even though we have Joey Gathright on the bench. The Cubs stole three bases Wednesday, and Gathright could have come in and tried to take second with Soriano batting.

4) pinch-hit Reed Johnson for Mike Fontenot in the 9th, meaning Koyie Hill had to play 3rd base in the 10th, a position he hasn't played in years.

Then on Friday, Piniella pinch-hit Zambrano AGAIN. Does Big Z have some dirt on Big Lou?

-I pointed out recently (though not in this blog--you'll have to trust me) that Ryan Theriot's been swinging with a bit of an uppercut. That's not at all his game. He hits grounders through the hole and line drives, but not fly balls. I was listening to Friday's game and when Theriot lifted a fly ball with the bases loaded, I immediately assumed it would be an inning-ending flyout. But somehow Theriot managed to put enough oomph into it that he got the Cubs on board with this grand slam trend sweeping baseball this year. Just like we all figured: if you need a grand slam, just call on Ryan Theriot.

-Cotts had a good inning! Cotts had a good inning! I mean, he walked the leadoff man on four pitches, but he didn't give up any runs!

Phat Albert

Earlier, I implied that Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter had pitched so well it was almost Christlike. But I forgot that the Cardinals already have a savior on their roster--Albert Freakin' Pujols.

On Saturday, the Cardinals' miracle worker launched a grand slam and a 3-run homer against the Astros, giving him three home runs and a league-leading nine RBI in the season's first six games. As with Jesus, you absolutely cannot stop this man (yes, Jesus was killed, but he came back, didn't he?). If you took his worst season statistics across his career, they would look like this: .314 avg., 32 HR, 103 RBI, .394 OBP. He is the only player in baseball history to start his career with eight consecutive seasons with a .300+ batting average, 30+ HRs, and 100+ RBIs. Pujols may turn out to be the greatest steal in draft history--he was the 402nd overall pick in 1999.

My boss Tony Bankston boldly predicted before the season began that Pujols would bat .400 this year--he's off to a very early .429 start. While he may not become the first player since Ted Williams in 1941 to accomplish that feat, it's a pretty safe bet that Pujols will have another monster season. I'm obviously not rooting for Pujols, but I have to admit that his hitting ability is nothing short of holy.

Cubs notes

• What a great win for the Cubs! That's Soriano's second clutch home run of the season. Props to my friends Brandon James and Tony Fuggiti--they made the trek up to Miller Park and were repaid with the opportunity to taunt Brewers fans in the wake of a Cubs victory.
  

• Five games into the season, the Cubs have hit at least one home run in every game.

• Koyie Hill should never be asked to bunt again.

• Ryan Theriot was leading the league in batting average (.600) going into Saturday's game.

• Neal Cotts's last two games: 2 appearances, 0 IP, one hit batsman, one walk.
  

• How about Soriano hitting a game-winning moonshot on a breaking ball? Sweet.

• I have no idea how Marmol struck out both Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder to put away the game. He was completely limited to his slider, which he was generally hanging in the middle of the plate. Braun still couldn't catch up to it, and Fielder watched one go right past him to end it. I'll take it, but Marmol will need to start throwing his fastball for strikes at some point.
  

"Zero" watch
-The Indians are 0-5. Cliff Lee is now 0-2. But hey--he lowered his ERA to 9.90!
-The Nationals are 0-5, though they have at least been within two runs each of the last two games. So ... that's something.
-With the Marlins' loss to the Mets, there are no longer any undefeated teams.

Can't win 'em all

The Cubs guaranteed they will not go 162-0 Tuesday with a 3-2 extra-inning loss to the Astros. Derrek Lee made me happy by driving a ball to right center (something he was loathe to do last year) to drive in a run, and Soriano first-degree murdered a pitch from LaTroy Hawkins to tie it up in the eighth. But other than that, the Cubs just never got much going against Wandy Rodriguez and five relievers, as they tallied just six hits total.

Hopefully the Cubs can show a little more juice at Minute Maid tonight against Brian Moehler, the beginning of the very average part of Houston's rotation. Moehler was 1-2 with a 3.68 ERA against the Cubs last year. Ted Lilly will get his first start for the Cubs--he owned the Astros in 2008, going 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA.

It was nice to see Theriot batting second against the lefty Rodriguez (and he went 2-3 with a run scored), and also nice to see Reed Johnson get a start (1-3 with a walk). Ryan Dempster looked pretty strong, giving up two runs over six innings, and Neal Cotts got tagged with the loss though he didn't pitch that poorly.

Soto left the game with shoulder soreness, and will be out tonight but hopefully back Friday. Koyie Hill did throw out Kaz Matsui trying to steal in Tuesday's game.

Notes

• Koyie Hill, Aaron Miles and Reed Johnson all played at some point last night, meaning the only players on the 25-man roster yet to see action are relievers David Patton and Luis Vizcaino.
  
• Milton Bradley is still trying to find that first hit--he's 0-7 with a walk.
• Angel Guzman pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts.
• Alfonso Soriano hit home runs in back-to-back games for the first time since last Aug. 5-6, also against Houston at Minute Maid Park.

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Spring training position battles

Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez got into the swing of things today with their first spring homers, and the Cubs won 6-4 behind three perfect innings from Sean Marshall as well as scoreless appearances from Neal Cotts, Luis Vizcaino and Kevin Gregg.

There isn't a whole lot of news out of Mesa this year, partly because the Cubs roster is so set. You can pretty much bet your house on the following players breaking camp:

C: Soto

IF: Lee, Miles, Fontenot, Theriot, Ramirez

OF: Soriano, Johnson, Fukudome, Bradley

SP: Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Harden

RP: Marshall (could start), Vizcaino, Gregg, Marmol, Heilman, Gaudin

That's 20 players, which means there are five spots up for grabs, and some of these are pretty darn set, but not set enough to fulfill the above criteria of being worthy of "betting your house." Apartment, maybe, but not house. Not in this economy.

Anyways, this situation is not exactly a recipe for spring training excitement, especially when you factor in that the Cubs are playing 750 spring training games this year. But here are the decisions Lou will have to make this spring:

• 5th starter: Marshall vs. Samardzija vs. Heilman (side note: since Lou Piniella has to make this decision, could we call it a "manager a trois"?), with Samardzija a slight question mark to make the team, as it's possible the Cubs would prefer him in AAA preparing to fill in as a starter if needed, as opposed to coming out of the 'pen with the big club.
• Reserve 1st baseman: Hoffpauir vs. Jake Fox, with Hoffpauir having a significant edge because he's a lefty and hit .342 in the majors last year.
• Lefty reliever: Cotts vs. Mike Stanton, with Cotts having a huge leg up due to Stanton being 112 years old (actually 41) and not having pitched since '07, when he had a 5.93 ERA, and he has a 9.00 ERA thus far in spring. Translation: Mike Stanton is old and bad.
  
• Reserve outfielder: Joey Gathright vs. Sam Fuld/So Taguchi, with Gathright having the edge. If MLB ever allows cars to be used on the field, Gathright will definitely be on the team: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cySfw8f0beg
• Starting centerfielder: For now, the plan is to platoon Fukudome and Johnson, but perhaps Lou will use spring training to help determine who should start the majority of games. That being said, their performance during the regular season will likely mean more than spring, especially with Kosuke playing in the WBC this month.
• Starting second baseman: Miles vs. Fontenot. When Piniella mentioned the lineup he's currently got in mind, he put Miles in the two hole. I would have thought Fontenot would start after his .305/.395 campaign last year. Lou has said he hopes to get both of them a bunch of at-bats during the season, but perhaps spring will vault one above the other before Opening Day arrives.
• Reliever if Samardzija goes to AAA: Angel Guzman vs. Kevin Hart. Guzman pitched in six games last year (5.59 ERA), and has been a hot prospect for a while but has dealt with injuries. Hart appeared in 21 games last year (6.51 ERA).
• Reserve catcher: Paul Bako (remember him?) vs. Koyie Hill. I don't even want to talk about this one. These guys both suck. Hill is 29 and has a .190 career average. Paul Bako is thirty-freakin'-six and weighs in at .231. Both have thrown out under 30% of base runners in their careers. What happened to Henry Blanco? Crap, I got carried away with anger and just talked about Bako and Hill for like seven sentences. If Soto gets injured for an extended period of time this year, are we allowed to just use the backstop as a catcher and skip that position in the batting order? If someone knows the rule on this, please let me know.

There's a good chance we'll see Bako behind the plate, Hoffpauir off the bench, Mike Stanton's arm fall off in the next three weeks (so Cotts in the bullpen), and Joey Gathright patrolling the outfield. That leaves us with the 5th starter battle and the relief spot associated with it. Piniella has said Marshall gets the first crack at starting, and if that's how it shakes out, my guess is the Cubs decide to have Samardzija throwing flames out of the 'pen (2.28 ERA last year), which shores up every spot on the 25-man roster.

These certainly aren't guarantees, but either way, there isn't a whole lot of drama in camp this year unless a trade is made, someone gets injured, or Milton Bradley punches Lou Piniella in the trachea at some point. Lack of drama is not a bad thing; the Cubs have a lot of talent and a lot of veteran players, and there just aren't that many decisions to be made.

I'll be watching the 5th starter competition (previous blog post here), Miles and Fontenot, and Hoffpauir/Fox. I will be trying my darndest to completely ignore Paul "I really wasn't all that good the first time I was on the Cubs" Bako and Koyie "I batted above .250 one time, but that's because I only had three at-bats" Hill.

It's great not to have 10 roster spots to fill and huge questions to deal with during spring training. Sit back and enjoy it!

UPDATE: Piniella said Tuesday that Fukudome will start against right-handers. I can't say I feel strongly about this one way or the other. Fukudome looked like a great slap-hitter and on-base guy in the first couple months of the season, and then completely fell off the table. With a whole year in the states under his belt and a year of major league experience behind him, he almost can't be worse in 2009. At the same time, Johnson was extremely productive in his role last season, so I don't want to see him get limited at-bats this year. Like I said above, I still think their performances during the regular season will dictate their playing time.