I didn't watch all of the Cubs' horrible three-game series at Detroit this week, but what I did see was gruesome enough.
The Tigers won all of the games, finishing with a 6-5 victory today in a matinee game that saw the Cubs blow a 3-0 lead.
The only thing good about the afternoon was that the Cardinals and Brewers also lost. The Cardinals are in first place and the Brewers are second, one game out.
The Cubs are 3 1/2 out, even though they're now one game under .500.
This is just what Bud Selig, baseball's sorry excuse for a commissioner, wants -- parity all over the place.
The Cubs aren't good at anything, but they're still within a series sweep of being close to first place.
And they still don't have Aramis Ramirez yet.
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It's a good thing -- I guess -- that baseball requires each team to get at least one player in the All-Star game. The Cubs don't deserve to have any players in the game, but I guess pitcher Ted Lilly [today's loser] will get picked.
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American League teams Detroit and Minnesota would like to play the Cubs and other teams from the National League Central all the time.
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It turns out the question people were asking about Cubs catcher Geovany Soto -- "what was he smoking" -- needed to be asked. Reports today showed that Soto [pictured at the right] tested positive for marijuana when he played for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. The guy hit 23 home runs and drove in 86 runs last season while earning National League rookie of year honors, but he's hitting a lame .227 this season. I'd say more testing is necessary.
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From George Wine: "Thought you would want to know that our old friend Jim Mott [pictured at the left] died a couple of days ago and services are Friday in Madison, Wis. He had been ailing with Parkinson's for several years." Mott, 79, was a longtime sports information director at Wisconsin.
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I told Wine that I hoped Wisconsin's decision to quit publishing media guides didn't hasten Mott's death. George's response: "Speaking of not printing media guides, [the College Sports Information Directors Association] has stopped printing its monthly digest, instead putting it online. That's saving money so they could go out and hire a fulltime executive director for $150,000 per year. You may remember him -- John Huminek, who was Michigan's SID for a short time."
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"Nice story, Ron. Enjoy your summer and stay in touch. My best to Paul Morrison."
Cheers,
Kari Ortegel Moers
[RON MALY'S COMMENT: Kari is one of Bob Ortegel's four daughters, and her e-mails to me provided the basics for my recent column on the family of the former Drake basketball coach].
