We were amused when Jeff Samardzija said the following about Milton Bradley during the offseason:

"When you're on each others' side and everyone is on the same page, it means a lot," Samardzija said. "It makes going out and playing the game a whole lot easier."

Which, of course, leads to the question: Now that Bradley is gone, why does baseball seem so hard for Samardzija this year? Who isn't on his side?

After all, what else could explain Samardzija's performance this year? An 18.90 ERA and 3.30 WHIP in four appearances would seem to suggest that baseball isn't "easy."

And it seems a whole lot harder than last year, when he had a (relatively) sterling 7.53 ERA and 1.76 WHIP.

Paul Sullivan has done it again.

Two months after calling Milton Bradley an "idiot" in his Twitter feed - a clear violation of any standard of journalistic objectivity - he has now reTweeted the following:

RT @OneyRoberto: Run the bases Soriano that's why people hate ur punk ass

In short, he strongly appears to be sharing his belief that Alfonso Soriano has a "punk ass" - another clear violation of any standard of journalistic objectivity.

After the Bradley incident, we asked the Tribune's sports editor if such Tweets and public pronouncements are kosher. He responded that Bradley is demonstrably an idiot, but declined to answer the question and strongly suggested I may be an idiot as wellt.

Fair enough.

So we instead seek answers in the Trib's social media policy. Except we can't find it online. So we'll move on to the New York Times' social media policy, which is instructive on this issue.

(click "read more" for full article)

Paul Sullivan on Ted Lilly:

Ted Lilly gets thrown out trying to steal second in rehab start in Peoria. Gotta love Theodore.

Paul Sullivan on Carlos Zambrano:

Carlos Zambrano spends so much time working on his hitting that some wonder if it has had a negative effect on his pitching.

By "some" he means "Paul Sullivan."

Ted Lilly. Gamer. Carlos Zambrano. Not a gamer.

Got it?

Good news from Peoria:

NEW YORK — Ted Lilly allowed one run over seven innings in his rehab start for Class A Peoria on Monday and appears ready to return to the Cubs' rotation.

Lilly struck out nine and walked one in his 88-pitch outing, allowing three hits while notching the win. He even attempted a stolen base, though he was thrown out at second on a close play.

The bad news? Even with a starter (Carlos Silva or Tom Gorzelanny) bumped to the bullpen, the relief corps still stinks:

Starters have a 2.20 ERA over the last five games, though the Cubs have lost four of them. … The Cubs' bullpen had a 5.59 ERA on Monday, fourth worst among NL teams.

I'm guessing Paul Sullivan wasn't saying that the Cubs bullpen's ERA was 5.59 on Monday - but that it was 5.59 as of Monday.

Either way, that's not very good.

The Cubs bulllpen is just a mess. How messy?

In the Cubs' first 12 games, starting pitchers are 4-2 with a 4.00 earned-run average. Relief pitchers are 1-5 with four blown saves and a 5.75 ERA.

Piniella started the season with lefty John Grabow and righty Esmailin Caridad as his eighth-inning setup men. They are a combined 0-3, Caridad is on the disabled list and on Sunday Grabow never warmed up until the 10th inning.

Sunday, Marshall warmed up to pitch the eighth but Piniella went to Marmol for a four-out save. Marmol allowed an inherited baserunner to score in the eighth and gave up a run in the ninth to tie the game 2-2, blowing his first save.

The starters' record and ERA includes Carlos Zambrano's (boo!) game one 54.00 ERA and loss.

Hurry back, Ted Lilly. Though I'm not sure it will be enough.

In June 2003, I attended Sammy Sosa's first road game (at Camden Yards in Baltimore) after the corked bat incident.

Early in the game, while the Cubs were in the field, a fan hopped out of the stands, ran into fair territory no more than 20 yards from Sosa, and got down on his knees - as fans whooped and hollered.

The man pulled off his shirt to reveal he had something taped to his torso. It took a while, but we eventually figured out it was cork. Clever. But quite troubling.

Even more troubling was the fact that security did nothing for what felt like an eternity. Sosa stood there staring at the guy who remained on his knees as he held his hands in the air in front of 32,000 people. And stood there. And stood there. And stood there.

It took so long for security to act that I turned to Dusty and said, "It would seem they may want to go get that guy." And we waited. And waited. And waited until they finally dragged him off without further incident. Luckily.

(click "read more" for full article)

Let's play compare and contrast.

First, a (blurry) glimpse at the crowd (behind Livan) at Nationals Park in the first inning today (via nationals.com):

Next, a picture of the crowd in St. Louis in the 19th inning today (via Matt Leach of mlb.com):

(click "read more" for full article)

A search for TOOTBLAN on Twitter yields impressive results.

Backstory on TOOTBLANs here.

In discussing the plight of Alfonso Soriano and the reaction from Cubs fans, Kosuke Fukudome shared this tidbit:

Asked if he has experienced any of the boos and catcalls from fans since joining the Cubs in 2008, Fukudome replied: "Yes, I have had many words that I have been called and (that) I have heard in the outfield. I just try to ignore as much as I can. I can't take it every single time. I just try to focus on what I do."

Fukudome to be called a liar by Bleed Cubbie Blue and others in 3, 2, 1 ...

(click "read more" for full article)

The boiling cauldron of suck that is the Cubs bullpen cost the team another game yesterday. So what does the lead beat reporter for the biggest newspaper covering the team focus on in his main game story?

The craziness of Carlos Zambrano:

Carlos Zambrano's "99.9 percent" guarantee he would control his emotions this year fell by the wayside in the second inning of Thursday's 8-6 loss to Milwaukee.

Fortunately for Zambrano, it was not a money-back guarantee.

(click "read more" for full article)