Dodgers Have the Cubs Right Where They Want Them

If you ask me, the Los Angeles Dodgers have the Chicago Cubs right where they want them.

In Wrigley Field, with Derek Lowe pitching and the wind undoubtedly blowing in.

Make no mistake about it, the pressure is on the Cubs today and in the rest of the short series against the Dodgers that's ready to start.

The Cubs swept the Dodgers in a three-game series at Wrigley Field during the regular season, and they won five of the seven games from Los Angeles altogether during the summer.

But Lowe, whose record is only 14-11, has been on a sizzling streak.

If he beats Ryan Dempster of the Cubs today, I'm afraid the Dodgers are going to upset the Cubs, then go on to win the entire best-of-five series.

The Dodgers are a better team than when the Cubs saw them the last time. They have goofball outfielder Manny Ramirez -- a guy who makes me sick -- they have Indianola's own Casey Blake playing third base and they have some outstanding pitching.

The Cubs have their own unpredictable airhead, Carlos Zambrano, ready to pitch tomorrow. He can be very good [remember his late-season no-hitter against Houston at Milwaukee's Miller Park?] or he can be very bad.

The Cubs can't depend on him, and that's a bad thing in the playoffs.

Frankly, I'm tired of his emotional peaks and valleys. When the Cubs need some steadiness, not a guy who is either punching a teammate [I think Michael Barrett's jaw still hurts] or a Gatorade cooler.

If the Cubs get some hits and some runs, and if Dempster wins today [14 of his 17 victories have been at Wrigley], then the Cubs have a good chance of advancing to the next round.

If they hit like like they did in the 2007 playoffs against Arizona [which meant they didn't hit at all] and if they lose today, then with the goofy Zambrano pitching tomorrow, it figures to be an early winter for the Cubs.

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Lou Piniella is now signed to continue managing the Cubs through 2010.

Just a signed piece of paper, my friends.

Piniella is basically a tired, grandfatherly-looking guy. He's in his mid-60s, and he's aging quickly. If he wins a World Series for the Cubs, he'll retire -- whether he's signed through 2010 or not.

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Sign of the times in these circulation freefall/penny-pinching times in the newspaper business:

The Des Moines Register had no one in Chicago yesterday for some of the most-meaningful baseball in history.

In the old days, the paper would've had a sportswriter or a columnist [or both] in Chicago to cover the White Sox in their 1-0 victory over Minnesota in the American League regular-season playoff game last night, and for advance stories on the two Cubs and Dodgers games at Wrigley Field today and tomorrow.

The caskets Bill Bryson and Sec Taylor are in are no doubt still shaking.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today covered the Sox victory and Mike Dodd of USA Today covered the advance on the Cubs and Dodgers for the Register.

The Register stayed home.

One more thing. I think it's silly for the Register to use USA Today stories because so many people buy [at 75 cents a pop] or read USA Today every morning.

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The sportswriters'/copy editors'/columnists' lunch is still a few hours away.

I'll find out what those guys think of all this then.

I'm predicting it won't be pretty. Still-warm crab rangoons will likely be hitting the wall of the restaurant in record numbers.

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Somebody should put owner Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders to sleep already.

Or at least on a bus to Venezuela.

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There were a couple of embarrassingly-bad stories in the Register's sports section this morning.

I'll try to pretend like they weren't there. Maybe they'll go away.

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This is one of my favorite times of the year -- and not just because the Cubs are still playing baseball.

I can still buy fresh tomatoes -- which means grown in Iowa gardens -- at the corner stands around town and at Hy-Vee. At least I think the tomatoes I've been paying $2.48 a pound for at Hy-Vee are from a real garden and not a hothouse.

Whatever, the sliced tomatoes taste very good on my Wholesome Harvest 9-Grain & Seed toast, with sliced and melted pepperjack cheese on the top.

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By the way, even if the Cubs lose today and/or the entire series with the Dodgers, don't look for me to throw any tomatoes at them. Not at $2.48 a pound!

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In answer to a question a number of people -- Lyle Matthews included -- have asked me: The house pictured at the top of this page is not mine.

It's in the neighborhood, though. It's a couple of blocks away.

I didn't take the picture because of the house. I took it because of the beautiful tree in front of the house.

I've had bad luck with trees over the years, so that's why I had to take a picture of somebody else's tree in this early part of autumn, 2008.

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You didn't catch me writing one word about how it's been 100 years since the Cubs last won a World Series.

It's an overdone story, and everyone knows it. You won't see it here.

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I couldn't resist using Norman Rockwell's characterization of the Cubs one more time in a column. The man was a genius, but you already knew that.