Well yesterday's game was a disappointment. Ol' Chaz struggled out there, going only 5 innings, giving up 5 runs on 6 hits and 5 walks, including two moon shot home runs from Adam Dunn.Thunder Matt accounted for the Cubs only run, which softens the blow of his 3 strikeouts a bit. Hopefully he'll look better at the plate tomorrow. Murton has hit pretty well against Cincy in the past and I'm getting anxious to throw another plaque up in the Trophy Room.
Speaking of Thunder Matt, it was revealed on Sunday, that he may be used at catcher if Lou finds himself in a real pinch this week. Hank White may miss a game to testify at the trial of his agent, which would mean Murton could be Barrett's backup while he's gone. The best part was Lou's comment on the matter.
"The only guy who's ever caught is Murton," said Piniella. "Hopefully, we won't have to use that adorable redhead at catcher."Interesting choice of words there Lou.
Some Basketball News
What? Who cares about the Gators? I want to talk about the Hawkeyes. It appears that Todd Lickliter will be the new head coach at Iowa. Lickliter just won National Coach of the Year, after taking the Butler Bulldogs to the Sweet 16 and finishing with a 29-7 record. I'm not overly familiar with Lickliter. According to a drunk hobo, he was 131-61 in 6 seasons at Butler and took them to the Sweet 16 both seasons they made the tourney. He also had two NIT appearances as well. Before becoming head coach, he served as an assistant at Butler under Thad Matta, who is currently the head coach at Ohio State.
This looks like a great hire to me, although after what Steve Alford has done (or failed to do) with this program, they could've hired a broccoli fart in a jar as head coach and I'd probably been happy. Welcome to Iowa Todd, and best wishes.
One Last Thing
A week or so ago, I received an email from the folks over at Rumors and Rants. They had invited several sports bloggers to submit to them their favorite ballplayer of all-time and why? The result is this excellent compilation from a wide variety of great sports blog out there. I chose to give a tip of the cap to Mark Grace, but some paid their respects to lesser known guys like Kevin Romine and "possibly retarded" Rube Waddell. If you love baseball, it's a pretty entertaining read.
