Today, Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in Luckiest Man: Cubs vs. Brewers Preview, Saturday 7/4, 12:05 CT) Saturday, Major League Baseball will commemorate the 70th anniversary of Gehrig's famous retirement speech, which he gave on July 4, 1939. Across the nation, in the middle of the seventh inning, the home teams will read the humble words of a dying man in an effort to raise awareness about t...

This Week, Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in Sam Fuld Leads Cubs To 4-1 Win Over Pirates (With Help From Randy Wells)) All told, the Cubs put up five extra-base hits including a triple from Geovany Soto, only the third of his major league career. It was suggested in one of the comment threads not long ago that Soriano's travails the last two months might be because he is trying too hard to carry the team in Aram...

And Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in Cubs Fail Offensively, Defensively And Managerially In 3-0 Shutout By Pirates) Freddy Sanchez scores from second on a dropped third strike. This play, and Ted Lilly's expression, epitomize the month of June for the Cubs.

Tomorrow is July 1 and I'm sure the Cubs are happier to see the calendar change than at almost any time in recent team history.

And Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in The Pirates Are Dealing, Why Can't The Cubs? Cubs vs. Pirates Preview, Tuesday 6/30, 6:05 CT) Ted Lilly has not faced the Pirates this year. Last year he was 2-0 with two no-decisions and an alarmingly high 5.09 ERA. Adam LaRoche is 5-for-12 (.417) with three doubles and a HR vs. Ted. Brandon Moss is 3-for-3 with a HR. The rest of the Pirates, he handles pretty well.

And Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in Cubs Find Favorite Punching Bag Ready And Waiting, Beat Pirates 3-1) Thanks to the wacky schedules that we are now forced to become used to in major league baseball, the Cubs, who had played the Pirates 12 times by this calendar date in 2008, had faced them for only one series so far this year before Monday night -- winning two of three at Wrigley Field in late Ma...

And Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in Remember The NL Central? Cubs vs. Pirates Preview, Monday 6/29, 6:05 CT) Interleague play is now over, except for the tentatively-but-not-officially-rescheduled-for-September-3 Cubs/White Sox game from the May 16 rainout. The Cubs are 6-8 in interleague this year, pending that game. Once again, the AL dominated interleague play. Only five NL teams finis...

Last Week, Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in Lyon, Tigers Beat Fox, Cubs: Oh, My! Cubs Get Swept Out Of Detroit 6-5) In addition to that, the Cubs still have 19 games remaining against the two teams now ahead of them, and 23 left against the three clubs (the Pirates, Diamondbacks and Nationals) currently in last place in their divisions. Start it this weekend against the White Sox. This season is not over. K...

And Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in Hurry Back, Aramis: Cubs' Offense Again Impotent In 5-3 Loss To Tigers) The Cubs lost to the Tigers 5-3 last night, and once again had an inning -- this time the sixth -- when they loaded the bases with nobody out. When you do that, you absolutely have to make it into some sort of crooked-number inning. The score was only 2-1 Tigers at the time, and the Cubs, even with t...

And Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in Cubs Lose Battle Of Two-Run Homers; Tigers Win In Walkoff 5-4) Kevin Gregg allowed only three home runs all last year. One of them was memorable to Cubs fans -- a three-run, pinch-hit blast by Daryle Ward on August 15, 2008 in Miami that gave the Cubs a 6-5 win over the Marlins. At the time Gregg hadn't allowed a HR since May.

2 Weeks Ago, Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in Return Of The Prodigals: Cubs vs. Indians Preview, Friday 6/19, 1:20 CT) Now, about acquiring players to help the Cubs' floundering offense, Gordon Wittenmyer says Jim Hendry's still working his cellphone on high speed:

Either way, general manager Jim Hendry is working the prospective trade markets as hard as he does every year and is said to be itching to pu...

Last Month, Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in How To Break An Eight-Game Losing Streak: Cubs vs. Pirates, Tuesday 5/26, 7:05 CT) The 2006 Cardinals had two eight-game losing streaks and another of seven -- and that last streak came late in September and they almost blew a seven-game lead with 12 to play -- but they squeaked into the postseason and went 11-5 when it counted and won it all.

And Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in A Memorial Day To Remember: Cubs vs. Pirates, Monday 5/25, 7:05 CT) Ryan Dempster threw one of the best games of his 2008 season on April 8 in Pittsburgh, allowing only one hit over seven innings. Thanks to the bullpen (sound familiar?) the Cubs needed 15 innings to win that game. Dempster handles most of the Pirates pretty well; of their current roster only N...

And Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue says (in The Astros Are The New Pirates: Cubs vs. Astros, Friday 5/15, 1:20 CT) So, you might be asking, why are the Astros "the new Pirates"? Last year, the Cubs played Pittsburgh 12 times by early June. By the end of this series, presuming all three are played, eight of the Cubs' first 37 games will have been against Houston, and there is another three-game series betw...

2 Months Ago, Charlie from Bucs Dugout says (in Cardinals 5, Pirates 2: Sunday Lineup = No Offense) Ross Ohlendorf pitched well against the Cardinals until the fifth inning on Thursday.

The loss was the Pirates fifth in a row, and ninth in their last ten games. If the Astros beat the Cubs tonight, the Bucs will share last place with them.

And Charlie from Bucs Dugout says (in Brewers 8, Pirates 5: Why Throwing 131 Pitches is a Bad Idea) Freddy Sanchez appeared to hurt his throwing shoulder during a play at second in the top of the first, but he stayed in the game and came to bat in the bottom of the inning off Jeff Suppan. After that, the Pirates didn't do much against Suppan, despite Suppan not really being good anymore or thr...

And Charlie from Bucs Dugout says (in Brewers 7, Pirates 4: Bucs Drop 17th Consecutive Game Against Milwaukee) Well, no. Paul Maholm looked great the entire evening, locating his pitches well, throwing nifty breaking balls and racking up strikeouts and ground balls. He left the game with one out and a man on in the eighth. Flood Gates Yates shockingly faced a batter without allowing a walk. But then J...

And Charlie from Bucs Dugout says (in Reds 5, Pirates 0: Third Shutout in Four Games) After delivering eight runs yesterday, the Pirates' offense vanished today, absent not only when Johnny Cueto was pretty filthy in the early innings, but also when he wore down as the game went on. The Bucs managed just four singles and one walk, and Cueto racked up nine strikeouts.

And Charlie from Bucs Dugout says (in Brewers 6, Pirates 5: Somehow, the Pirates Only Lost by One) So this looked like a close game, but the only Pirates who really played particularly well were Jason Jaramillo and Eric Hinske (who each went 1-for-3 with a double and 2 RBIs), as well as Brian Bixler, who had two hits and scored a run in the fourth thanks to some gutsy, intelligent bas...

And Charlie from Bucs Dugout says (in Brewers 10, Pirates 5: Tempers Flare, Bullpen Implodes) Andy LaRoche catches a popup in Monday's game in Milwaukee while Brian Bixler backs him up.

The Pirates got a bunch of offense in this game--more, perhaps, than their five-run total makes it look. Nyjer Morgan, Freddy Sanchez and Adam LaRoche picked up two hits apiece, and Andy LaRoche had a...

And Charlie from Bucs Dugout says (in Pirates 8, Padres 3: Adam LaRoche Powers Pirates) In a theme that's appeared throughout this young season, Ohlendorf produced a quality start despite only having two strikeouts in this afternoon. Entering today's game, the Bucs had just 88 strikeouts, last in the majors, to go with 62 walks. Despite this, they led the majors in ERA by a fai...

And Charlie from Bucs Dugout says (in Pirates 7, Marlins 4: Bucs Sweep Baseball's Hottest Team) The Pirates have a travel day tomorrow, then head to San Diego to face another hot team. Of course, the fact that San Diego and Florida have been among the better-performing teams so far mostly just proves that it's early. The Marlins simply aren't very good. The middle infield is great, Camer...

And Charlie from Bucs Dugout says (in Pirates 3, Marlins 2: Bucs' Pitching Does It Again) about : Pittsburgh Pirates' Freddy Sanchez, right, is greeted at home by teammate Nate McLouth (13) after hitting a solo home run off Florida Marlins pitcher Anibal Sanchez in the third inning during a baseball game in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

4 Months Ago, Charlie from Bucs Dugout says (in Pirates Stocking Up On Corner Players) lt;p>Earlier today <span style="font-weight: bold;">Vlad&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.bucsdugout.com/2009/2/17/761833/pirates-sign-broadway-to-mhttp://www.bucsdugout.com/2009/2/17/761833/pirates-sign-broadway-to-m">notice...

5 Months Ago, Charlie from Bucs Dugout says (in Schadenfreude Time: The Astros!) Pirates fans certainly have it bad now, but I'm not sure the situation in Houston is much better overall. Astros GM Ed Wade:

As bad as the Pirates will apparently be in 2009, they have a shot at catching the Astros if anything goes wrong for them. If I were an Astros fan, I'd be terrified about th...