Quick Hits with Spring Training Underway

A few news and notes from Cubs camp!

• The Cubs do not plan to make any roster cuts until March 16.
• The first full squad workout for minor leaugers will be March 10 and their first spring games will be March 19.
• Quade does not plan to hit his pitcher any spot other than ninth.
• Angel Guzman tossed 30 pitches in a side session on Sunday.
• The 13th annual toast to Harry Caray will take place tomorrow at 5:55 with a special tribute to Ron Santo. Coverage will be on ESPN 1000 for 3-6.
• Tyler Colvin is expected to play first base on either Thursday or Friday.
• Former Cub Bob Howry has retired after 13 seasons in the bigs.
• Bruce Miles wrote about Baseball Prospectus yesterday.
• The Cubs have dropped the first two Cactus League games. They play the Giants tomorrow on MLB.com.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted!

Cub Roundup Befored Heading over to HoHoKam

Tomorrow the Chicago Cubs will head over to HoHoKam Park, where they will have a regular practice. Then, Spring Training games get underway on Thursday, when the Cubs take on the A's at 2:05 CT.

Cubs Poll
Thanks to everyone who voted on our last Cubs poll here on Everything Cubs Blog. Here are the results:

Who will become the Cubs' 5th starter?
1. Jeff Samardzija: 46%
2. Tom Gorzelanny: 40%
3. Marshall/Silva: 6% each

Now we have a new poll up on the right sidebar of the blog mainpage!
Who should be the Cubs starting second baseman?
A) Jeff Baker
B) Mike Fontenot

Please vote! Also, feel free to comment on any posts with your thoughts (it's quick and easy!) or email me at cubsblogmailbag@aol.com.

Cactus League Pitching Rotation
Thursday- Randy Wells; then Sean Marshall, Mike Parisi, J.R. Mathes, and Esmalin Caridad.
Friday- Carlos Zambrano
Saturday- Carlos Silva (VS White Sox on WGN)
Sunday (ss)- Tom Gorzelanny, Jeff Samardzija
Monday- Ryan Dempster

Each starter is expected to go two innings.

Thursday's Lineup
Today Lou announced the starting lineup for Thursday's game against Oakland. This very well could be the same lineup we see on Opening Day with Soriano taking Colvin's place.
1. Theriot- SS
2. Kosuke- RF
3. Lee- 1B
4. Ramirez- 3B
5. Byrd- RF
6. Colvin- LF
7. Fontenot- 2B
8. Soto- C

Starlin Castro is expected to get into the game in the 4th or 5th inning as a replacement for Theriot.

Boycott
Four clubs- the Dodgers, White Sox, Reds, and Angels, boycotted the Cactus League breakfast, which is supposed to be a friendly event to kick off the new baseball season. The reason these four clubs did not show is because they are upset about the proposed "Cubs tax" that would charge fans of all teams in order to keep the Cubs in Arizona. The South Siders in particular have been very vocal about their dislike for this idea.

Injury Updates
Ted Lilly has been back on the field working out and stretching. He's been dealing with a shoulder injury, a knee problem, and a high fever. Geovany Soto missed Monday's practice because he was sick with the flu. Jeff Gray is expected to throw off the mound tomorrow. He has not pitched yet this spring because of a groin injury. Angel Guzman tossed about 60 pitches from 45 feet on Monday, but is not expected to throw off of flat ground until next week.

Practice Updates
Thomas Diamond has pitched well in batting practice so far, but he let one pitch slip away and nailed Alfonso Soriano on Monday. Sori was OK and joked about the HBP. Arizona Phil of The Cubs Reporter tells us that John Grabow was hit hard in yesterday's practice. Phil also observes that Kosuke, Soriano, and Soto have all hit well in BP. Ryne Sandberg and Alan Trammel worked with Starlin Castro at Fitch Park and both were impressed. Tim Sheridan has been posting some great photos over on his blog. The is a lot of young talent in camp that will get playing time in Cactus League games.

Toast to Harry
The 12th annual world wide toast to Harry Caray took place yesterday, which would have been the Caray's 96th birthday. At 7:40, Cubs fans in Harry Caray's Restaurants all over the world toasted to Caray. The newest part of the restaurant family, Harry Caray's Tavern, opened yesterday. The Tavern is in Navy Pier, where the toast was held. Special guests included Dutchie Caray, Ernie Banks, Richard Dent, Bobby Hull, Len Kasper, Bill Kurtis, Harold Ramis, and Otis Wilson. We miss you Harry, and may you help make this be the year!

Other Notes

• The Cubs "We Believe" DVD that was filmed during the 2008 season will finally go on sale on April 13.
• The Cubs and the Northwestern Wildcats are working out a plan to have a college football game at Wrigley Field.
• Soriano's only wish: Good healthy.
• Ryan Dempster is hoping to see Chad Tracy make the team.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted.

Cubs 2008 Naughty and Nice List

Well, tomorrow's Christmas Eve and it's time to put together our 2008 Cubs Naugty and Nice lists. Here's what I got:

Nice:
Ryan Dempster- for leading the team in wins
Jim Hendry- for adding Reed Johnson, Jim Edmounds and Rich Harden
Sweet Lou- for winning manager of the year
Geo- for winning Rookie of the Year and for having a great year
Mark DeRosa- for having the only Cubs playoff HR and for dealing with the trade rumors for 2 year in a row
Mike Fontenot- for being the most underrated guy on the Cubs.
Carlos Zambrano- for tossing a no-no
Jeff Samarjiza- for having a great first few months in the Bigs
Pat Hughes- for being such a great play-by-play man
All the Cubs fans who are still loyal despite the lack of winning
Henry Blanco- for accepting his role even thought he got little playing time
Sam Fuld- for signing lots of autographs in Spring Training
Jason Marquis- for no good reason
Ted Lilly- for being the best 4th starter in the game of baseball
Carlos Marmol- for being a great set up man
Adam Dunn- for wanting to be a Cub

Naughty:
Jim Hendry- for letting Kerry Wood go
Derrek Lee- for grounding into so many double plays
Alfonso Soriano- for choking in October
Aramis Ramirez- for choking in October
Matt Sinatro- for getting lost when he drove to Cincinnati with Lou
Kosuke- for falling apart after the first 2 months of the year.
Joey Gathright- for jumping of cars
Felix Pie- for never proving himself
MLB Veterans Committee- for leaving Ronny out, again
-The Cubs fans that say they won't follow the team as closely any more because of the sweep to end the season.
Rich Hill- for have a "lost" season
Ronny Cedeno- for taking up Matt Murton's spot on the 2008 Cubs roster
Micah Hoffpauir- for waiting his turn
Bob Brenly- for not getting that managers job
Raul Ibanez- for signing with the Phills
Dave Otto- for being boring when ever he fills in for Ron Santo
MLB Network- for stealing Dan Plesac and his train
TBS- for giving the Cubs bad luck in the playoffs

Well what do you think? Leave a comment!

Trivia Answer: Reed Johnson did gymnastics as a child.

The Next 2 Days Comcast Sports Net will be reliving the Cubs and White Sox 2008 seasons. Here's the schedule:
Christmas Eve:
7:00 PM CT- CSN Rewind: 2008 Chicago White Sox
Christmas Day-
10:00 AM- Repeat CSN Rewind: 2008 Chicago White Sox
Noon- Sox Classic; Cle @ CWS Sept. 28, 2008
2:30 PM- Cubs Classic; Mil @ Cubs Sept. 18, 2008
7:00 PM- CSN Rewind; 2008 Chicago Cubs

Check out the holiday episode of Cubscast from yesterday.

And listen to "Harry Caray" visiting with Steve Cochran of WGN Radio on Christmas Eve 2004.

Well, I'm going to take a break the next few days to enjoy Christmas. I'll be back with an update on the Cubs on Friday.
Everyone, have a very Merry Christmas.
☺ Brandon