Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. The Cubs played perhaps their best game of the season on Saturday, but it still wasn’t good enough to prevent another late-inning fold to the Sox. They have hit rock bottom so many times now, the Cubs are seriously considering changing their name to the Rockies. Couldn’t hurt.
3 UP
UP
A.J. Pierzynski: Wasn’t it Nostradamus who predicted the Antagonist who gets punched in the face at The Cell in May will step up in July and hit the go-ahead, two-out, ninth-inning home run to beat the Little Bears at the Unfriendly Confines? This is a script so corny, so unbelievable and so Cublike that not even Disney would touch it.
UP
Paul Konerko: Sitting on the bench despite a .462 lifetime average against starter Greg Maddux, Konerko steps up in the seventh and hits a home run off reliever Scott Eyre to tie the game 5-5. For his next trick, Konerko plans to scale the center-field scoreboard and personally run the “L” flag up the flagpole at the end of Sunday’s game.
UP
Ken Williams: His team has a 152-90 record over the last two seasons, the best winning percentage in baseball. Wasn’t this the same guy Sox fans wanted to run out of town when almost the entire pitching staff went on the disabled list in 2001? Must be a doppelganger.
3 DOWN
DOWN
Ryan Dempster: With his second meltdown in five days and fifth blown save since May 1, Dempster is starting to receive the LaTroy Hawkins treatment at Wrigley Field. With Dusty Baker’s job on the line, how much longer can he stick with the struggling Dempster as his closer?
DOWN
Jim Hendry: His three-year, $15.5 million deal for Dempster looks like another questionable move, much like the two-year deals for Neifi Perez and Glendon Rusch. Hendry soon may believe he has no choice but to fire Baker, though his personnel decisions are haunting the club.
DOWN
Cubs fans: The crowd embarrassed itself when it littered the outfield with trash after Pierzynski’s home run, making Chicago look like Philly Light. Booing the team is OK, but that type of behavior isn’t even appropriate for a frat house.
