Still not Bullish

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The Bald Truth

No KG? Maybe the Bulls do have a chance. 

Especially if the Somali pirates take Paul Pierce and Ray Allen hostage.

The Balder Truth

No John Madden? Boom! We're saved.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

Well ... I sat, I wrote, I was conquered.

All I can say after covering Thursday's Cubs-Cards clash at Wrigley - my first game for the AP in more than 11 years - is I have a lot of improving to do if I want to be taken seriously.

Kind of like the Cubs, you know?

Bulls get what they deserve: date with Celtics

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The Bald Truth

Because I have so many better things to do than watch Bulls games on television - spend time with my family, send e-mails to friends, clip my toenails, pretty much anything qualifies - I only watched snippets of the Bulls' ridiculous and costly Wednesday night loss to the Raptors.

And in practically every snippet I watched, the Raptors were scoring on dunks and layups and wide-open 15-footers. 

The Bulls' loss (to a team that has been out of the playoff picture since November), combined with the 76ers' victory over a Cavs club that was resting everybody (including LeBron), means the Bulls will have to face Boston instead of Orlando in the first round of the playoffs.

Not that the Bulls were going to beat the Magic - I mean, if Patrick O'Bryant had his way with them, how badly would Dwight Howard have folded, spindled and mutilated them? - but they have no chance against the defending champion Celtics.

Yeah, but what if Kevin Garnett can't play or is limited in what he can do? Hello! Was KG on the court for Toronto? Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and the rest of Boston's finest will be far more than the Bulls can handle. 

For the zillionth time, it's fair to wonder about Vinny Del Negro. 

The coach can't motivate his team to get up for an important home game against the Raptors? He can't do something - anything - to keep the Bulls from falling behind big in almost every game, a trend that will bury them in the playoffs? He can't get his lads to play even a lick of defense?

I'm not pinning this all on Vinny. It's not as if John Paxson has given Del Negro a great team. But an outstanding coach might be able to steal a playoff series with the Bulls' roster, and nobody will will mistake Del Negro for that. 

The Quote

"From the jump ball, we got outworked. They had better energy, moved the ball better. We couldn't get stops and didn't move the ball. They outhustled us on the glass. We were lackadaisical. I'm disappointed with our effort and our urgency ... " - Vinny Del Negro

As I was saying ...

The Prediction

Celtics in 5. Only because KG isn't 100 percent. And because I'm feeling generous.

The Balder Truth

It was Jason Marquis vs. Rich Harden - the pitcher the Cubs had to get because they couldn't trust Jason Marquis.

What a mismatch!

For the Rockies.

They got seven strong innings - and a two-run single - from Marquis in smacking Harden and the Cubbies all over Wrigley Field.

Those baseball gods have one heck of a sense of humor. 

On a different note, good stuff from Colorado manager Clint Hurdle. After Huston Street opened the ninth inning by allowing a homer, a walk and a single, Hurdle yanked his closer and went with Jason Grilli, who promptly earned the save.

Too often, managers let their closers go down in flames. Why? "Because he's my closer." Well, unless your closer is Mariano Rivera or a select few others, get somebody ready in the bullpen just in case. 

If your closer is too sensitive to handle that, he's not tough enough to be your closer anyway.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

So Chris Carpenter works like crazy to return from arm problems that would have ended a lot of pitchers' careers. He comes back, pitches great and gets Redbird rooters all excited about their heroes' chances. And then he strains the left side of his rib cage while swinging a bat?

I know I shouldn't feel sorry for the guy because he's got more money than the rest of us combined, but jeesh!

Oh, and speaking of the Cardinals, I'll be at Thursday's Cubs-Cards game making my glorious return as an AP scribe (although this time only as a freelancer). After all I've covered these last 27 years this probably sounds silly, but I actually am a little nervous.

Here's hoping it's the "good nerves" athletes are always talking about.

Isiah's legacy, Oscar's future and my puck reawakening

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The Bald Truth

Are sports yakkers actually debating Isiah Thomas' legacy now that he's taken a college coaching job at some nondescript Sun Belt school? What is there to debate?

One of the great point guards ever.

A mediocre coach when his team had good talent and a bad coach when his team had mediocre talent.

As bad an executive as anyone who hasn't run the Clippers.

There. That's Isiah's legacy.

The Balder Truth

Boxer Oscar De La Hoya has retired because he has pretty much done it all.

Except come out of retirement to win a title.

Translation: His unretirement press conference will take place in eight months. Ten tops.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

Once upon a time, I watched hockey. Lots of hockey.

For most of a decade, as the de facto national hockey writer for The Associated Press, I witnessed every big event the sport staged - Stanley Cup Finals, Olympics, All-Star Games, NCAA Frozen Fours, Minnesota prep puck tourneys, strikes, lockouts. You name it, I covered it.

Then I came to Chicago in the mid-'90s, when the Bulls were the big story and the Blackhawks were a punch line. The NHL started sticking teams in every city that had a population larger than that of the LaSalle-Peru Greater Metro Area and started scheduling work stoppages just for funsies.

As a result, I completely lost my puck mojo.

It's a little too early to say that it's completely back, but now I at least can watch a game all the way through - especially on HDTV. I'm starting to enjoy the entertaining sport again and to re-educate myself about the NHL's top players and best teams.

I'm not going to pretend I know enough about today's NHL to predict which team will win the Stanley Cup, but I do know enough to say this:

Expect playoff upsets. 

Why? Two reasons:

1. The luck factor. In the NBA, the ball doesn't go off somebody's backside and into the hoop. In baseball, nobody hits a home run while diving through the air, his body parallel to the ground. But in hockey, the Cup-winning goal can be scored in overtime on a shot that deflects off of eight people.

2. The goalie factor. Baseball comes close, because one pitcher can dominate the opponent and lift an ordinary team (see: 1988 Dodgers), but that's pretty rare because said pitcher only can work three World Series games max. The NHL goaltender is in the net for every second of every game ... and if he's hot, he's hot. Almost every year, one goalie makes the folks in Canada say: "He's really standing on his head, eh?"

While it's impossible to predict who will be lucky, it's a little easier to forecast which teams might benefit from otherworldly goaltending. 

Watch out for the Canucks and the marvelous Roberto Luongo. It's possible that the neophyte Blue Jackets could steal at least a couple of games from the heavily favored Red Wings thanks to remarkable rookie Steve Mason. There is no better gamer in net than the Devils' Martin Brodeur. The Bruins' Tim Thomas led the league in save percentage and goals-against average.

Or maybe some decent goalie will catch fire at just the right time - a la Jon Casey with the '91 North Stars - and carry a sub-par team all the way to the Finals.

I guarantee that the North Stars won't pull off a repeat. Otherwise, it would be folly for me to try to predict the team that will be drinking from Lord Stanley's Cup. 

I'd have a better chance to score a date with Anna Kournikova while standing on my head, eh?

Chicago: City of Big Winners (for now, anyway)

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Interesting times for those following Chicago's sports scene ...

CUBS

In a shocking development that not a single soul could have foreseen, Milton Bradley is out with an injury. Doesn't matter. The Cubs are doing just what they're supposed to be doing during this 162-game preseason of theirs.

They are winning far more than they are losing and setting themselves up for what is sure to be a typically satisfying playoff run.

It hasn't been boring in Cubbieland. It never is.

Lou Piniella has had to threaten several relievers with bodily harm for failing to throw strikes, Kosuke Fukudome is squeezing some hits in between his spin-o-ram misses, Derrek Lee has morphed into Mark Grace II and Geovany Soto's sore shoulder has made an every-inning catcher out of Koyie Hill.

Oh, and Alfonso Soriano is on quite the lead-off-the-game-with-bombs tear. If I were the opposing manager and my starter threw the first pitch within a foot of the strike zone, I would immediately pull the starter from the game, fine him a million bucks and option him to Dezhnevo of the Sarah Palin Backyard League. 

As expected, aside from the Cubs and the resilient Cardinals, the NL Central is mostly garbage. It remains almost impossible to fathom the Cubs losing.

Until October, of course.

WHITE SOX

I flipped on Monday's game just in time to see Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko hit back-to-back jacks - remarkably, the 300th career home run for each. Congrats to two classy guys.

And Carlos Quentin also smacked two homers in beating the Tigers. For all the talk about how this team now can play small-ball ... please. If the Sox hit home runs, they have a chance to win. If they don't, they usually lose. Fortunately for them, they hit lots of homers.

Though the White Sox have plenty of flaws, I've seen little to convince me they aren't the least-flawed team in a greatly flawed division.

And Bartolo Colon will eat anybody who disagrees.

BULLS

They looked like a lost cause a couple of months ago but now have a great chance to finish with a winning record, the No. 6 seed in the East and a first-round playoff matchup against the Orlando Magic. 

That's huge. Of the East's "big three," Orlando is the least big - even though the Magic have the NBA's best big man in Dwight Howard.

That only seems confusing, so you'll have to trust me. No team wants the Cavs or Celtics in the first round. Orlando is a good team but its forwards are hurting and it is very beatable if the 3-pointers aren't falling.

I've been tough on John Paxson and Vinny Del Negro - for good reason - but Pax especially responded to all the criticism by doing something before the trade deadline. His acquisition of Brad Miller and John Salmons gave the Bulls life.

As a result, Derrick Rose has more teammates he can trust and Ben Gordon doesn't feel compelled to take every shot (only most of them).

I'm still not convinced that the team isn't winning despite Del Negro. I also am not convinced Vinny's team knows what defense is. The playoffs will be a nice test.

BLACKHAWKS

They not only are returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2002, but they also have home-ice advantage in the first round.

Calgary is the opening opponent and I'm proud to say I can name one Flames player without looking in their media guide. Thanks for sticking around through my personal five-year hockey strike, Jarome Iginla!

The Hawks' fine young players sure are fun to watch. Nevertheless, I wonder if they are big enough, tough enough and mature enough to make any serious playoff noise. 

I also have doubts that Nikolai Khabibulin is anywhere near the same "Bulin Wall" who carried Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup a couple years ago - and goaltending is everything come springtime in the NHL. 

BEARS

Cutlermania has only just begun. Bear Country denizens haven't been this excited about their quarterback since ... Caleb Hanie last preseason!

It would be easier to buy in to the bullishness on the Bears if they had a couple of worthwhile receivers and if the defense wasn't as big a problem as the offense ever since Super Bowl XLI.

Still, the Bears at least have a chance to be good now, and that's more than I would have said a few weeks ago.

So bravo, boys, enjoy the accolades you're getting now before you actually have to start playing football again.

The Quote

Talking about infielders getting intimidated by dirty, hard-sliding baserunners, Bob Brenly offered this nugget during Monday's Cubs telecast: 

"A lot of times, guys get a little light in their loafers around the bag."

Uh, sure ... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Cabrera masters the art of hackery better than you and I do

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The Bald Truth

One of the many reasons I love golf: Although I'm a complete hack - or, as some of my golf buddies might argue, an incomplete hack - I could beat even the world's best golfer on any given hole.

Take Angel Cabrera. On one hole, he shanked a shot sideways. On another, he skulled a simple pitch across the green. On the first playoff hole, he hit his drive into the woods and then slammed his next shot off a tree.

And he's the guy who won the Masters, beating Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and the rest of a star-studded field.

Cabrera did hit a bunch of 300-yard-plus bombs, make some amazing recoveries to get himself out of serious jams and sink some incredible pressure putts. I might have a round in which I did one of those things one time - as I said, I'm a hack - so I never could beat Cabrera or any pro over even a short stretch.

But one hole? Sure. For example, I might have been able to avoid dunking my ball in the drink, as Mickelson did on No. 12, and thus might have beaten Phil's double bogey.

Could I ever hit Tim Lincecum's best fastball (or even his worst)? Could I ever score a basket against LeBron James if he didn't want me to? Would I have any chance to put the puck past Martin Brodeur? Would I ever be able to run away from Ray Lewis to score a touchdown?

Of course not.

And yet, even if Tiger Woods was trying to do his very, very best on a hole, I could beat him - and it wouldn't necessarily be miraculous, either. 

OK, it would be at least a little miraculous ... but you get my drift.

For all the talk of golf being the ultimate rich man's game, it really is a common man's game.

Once you get past green's fees, equipment costs and the price of Pro-V1s, that is.

The Balder Truth

Kenny Perry has a reputation of being a great guy, and he seems nice every time he's interviewed. 

It sure was easy to root for the 48-year-old to become the oldest man ever to win a major ... and it sure was easy to feel sorry for him as he choked down the stretch.

And no, it probably wasn't any consolation to him that Tiger and Phil also gagged.

Nerves can get the best of anybody - yes, even Tiger - which is one more thing these guys have in common with hacks like us.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

Thank goodness, the Obamas got their dog. Now we can pay attention to Jay Cutler, American Idol, CC Sabathia, the new Star Trek movie, the Cubs, anything involving Lindsay and Britney, Shaq's Twitters and various other overhyped stuff.

I must admit, though, that I am a little disappointed with the choice of pup's name.

Bo? Really?

"Deficit" would have been both original and fitting.

One-hit MLB wonders and all-time HBO hits

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The List

I like and respect ESPN's Tim Kurkjian, but like all of us professional analysts, he sometimes says silly things. Just the other day, he told viewers that the Tampa Bay Rays can't possibly be one-hit wonders because teams rarely go from pennant winners one year to also-rans the next. 

Now, I'm not saying the Rays will be one-hit wonders, but you don't have to employ a team of investigative reporters to unearth recent Series-to-suckers examples.

Just to jog Mr. Kurkjian's memory, here are five one-hit wonders in the last decade alone:

1. 2007-to-08 Rockies. They never should have started putting baseballs in a humidor.

2. 2006-to-07 Tigers. See what happens when you sign every free agent the Yankees don't want.

3. 2005-to-06 Astros. Apparently, it's impossible to recover after losing a World Series to a Chicago team.

4. 2003-to-04 Marlins. While the Cubs are in their 101st year of championship-free baseball, the Marlins have built, destroyed, built and destroyed two Series winners in the last dozen years.

5. 1998-to-99 Padres. But on the plus side, Tony Gwynn batted his weight.

The List (Non-Sports Version)

Top 5 dramas in HBO history:

1. The Wire. I just finished watching Season 2 On Demand and am eagerly awaiting the start of Season 3 ... and then No. 4, which is as good as any season of any show ever aired on any network. I had watched The Wire's five-season run when it was on originally and loved it then, but watching it again, with the perspective of knowing the show's arc, makes it even more enjoyable. Superbly acted and realistically written, The Wire is centered around the Baltimore Police Department's mostly hopeless fight against crime. But it's the many side stories - involving drug lords, corrupt politicians, public education woes, etc. - that make the show really special. If you've never seen The Wire, start renting it now. And that's an order.

2. Six Feet Under. Just about every character on this show, which is based in a funeral home, is outstanding. Especially noteworthy are angst-filled teenager Claire, her recently decloseted gay brother David and their deceased father (who regularly appears in dream sequences). I won't give the series finale away, but I will say the episode is as satisfying a conclusion as any I've seen.

3. Deadwood. I feel totally ripped off that this marvelous series lasted only three seasons. Early on, the media fixated on the vulgar language spoken by these 1876 pioneers. Soon enough, though, anybody who really took the time to watch this deliciously gritty show realized it was more than curse words. Ian McShane's evil entrepreneur Al Swearengen is one of the great villains in TV history.

4. The Sopranos. Many would rank this iconic show first, and I'd have no quibbles. That it could rank fourth on my list speaks well of the quality television HBO has produced over the years. If you're one of the few who doesn't already know about Tony Soprano and his fellow Mafia men, you owe it to yourself to enjoy this series. But rent or buy the DVDs; the sanitized syndicated version on A&E just isn't the same.

5. (tie) True Blood and In Treatment. After quite a few swings and misses - yes, I actually (and regrettably) watched the entire season of John From Cincinnati waiting for something to happen - the quality of these current series gives me hope that HBO will continue to offer up great television. True Blood is a smart, sexy, occasionally creepy show about vampires being assimilated into Louisiana society (and the women who love them). In Treatment follows a shrink (portrayed perfectly by Gabriel Byrne) who deals with his patients' demons - and his own.

Old golfers, oversold Cubbies and cold Sox

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The Bald Truth

Now that the bizarre infatuation with Greg Norman is over - a 50-something, billionaire choker as an underdog? - the youngsters can get on to being the story at the Masters.

You're up, Kenny Perry!

Gotta love a guy who's two months older than me being tied for the 36-hole lead. And unlike codger/curiosity Norman, who barely is a part-time golfer any more these days, Perry actually has a chance to win the thing.

There's A Carpenter In The House

What? We're supposed to be impressed that once (and future?) Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter earned his first win in eons with a one-hitter?

Let us know when he throws a no-hitter!

Besides, it's not as if he really matters. I mean, he doesn't pitch for the Yankees, Red Sox or Cubs, right?

The Balder Truth

Nice ninth inning for the Cubs in Milwaukee.

New closer Kevin Gregg got himself in trouble by walking famed and feared Chris Duffy with one out. Then he gave up Rickie Weeks' hard, deep liner that a good left fielder would have caught but Alfonso Soriano let get over his head for a game-tying double.

Gregg then threw a wild pitch that catcher-by-default Koyie Hill couldn't corral, letting Weeks get to third. And after Corey Hart walked, shortstop Ryan Theriot fielded Ryan Braun's grounder into the hole but threw home weakly and in the dirt. Weeks scored as Hill grabbed Theriot's bouncer but couldn't block home plate.

So, to recap:

Bad pitching by Kerry Wood's successor ... bad fielding by a guy who plays left field like the awful second baseman he was ... bad throw by a shortstop better suited to play second base ... bad plays by a catcher forced into action because Geovany Soto is hurt and the Cubs failed to keep reliable backup Henry Blanco.

These are the NL Central favorites, aren't they?

The Quote

"We want you back!" - a White Sox fan after new Twin Joe Crede took Jose Contreras deep in his first swing against his former team.

(I understand the sentiment, but Crede's replacement, Josh Fields, has been the team's best player this season.)

THE BALDEST TRUTH

Yes, Crede homered to hurt the Sox ... and then things really went downhill for the cold, surly fans who turned out to watch their heroes get humiliated by the Twinkies.

Just about the only thing the fans had to cheer about was a moron being tackled by security after running onto the field. (Hey, at least he didn't mug the first-base coach.) Oh, they also cheered (perhaps a little derisively) when Ozzie Guillen yanked Mike MacDougal after the scatter-armed reliever walked two batters on eight pitches during Minnesota's seven-run seventh inning.

Methinks I've underestimated Ron Gardenhire's Twins for the umpteenth straight season. And, in the process, maybe overestimated the South Siders.

Tragedy times three

^

Do you know the name Henry Nigel Pearson? How about Courtney Frances Stewart?

Well, they were the "two others" in the AP story that began: "Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others were killed by a suspected drunk driver Thursday, a shocking end to the life of a rookie who had overcome major elbow surgery to realize his big league dreams."

Not until the 14th paragraph were Pearson and Stewart mentioned by name.

This is not meant as a condemnation of the AP, a company I proudly served for nearly 16 years. Nor is it meant as a condemnation of our hero-worshipping, fame-obsessed society. Had I still been working for AP, I would have written the story the same way.

This simply is a reminder that the tragedy wasn't limited to one victim, even if one victim was all anybody talked about all day.

I feel terrible for the family of Nick Adenhart, by all accounts a fine 22-year-old man. I have a 22-year-old child myself and I only can imagine the unspeakable sorrow felt by Nick's loved ones and the profound sadness experienced by Nick's teammates.

Henry Nigel Pearson and Courtney Frances Stewart also had families and dear friends. The deaths of these young people were no less horrible, no less tragic, no less a waste. 

Maybe Henry and Courtney didn't have the same kind of big league dreams their friend Nick had, but they surely had dreams of what they could become someday.

Enough booing, Wise guys

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The Bald Truth

It's not DeWayne Wise's fault that he's DeWayne Wise.

So I sure hope that all those White Sox fans booing every time the leadoff-man-by-default made an out in Wednesday's shutout loss to the Royals were booing Sox GM Kenny Williams for not finding a better player and manager Ozzie Guillen for insisting upon batting Wise at the top of the order.

Wise is a low-average, low-on-base-percentage guy. Period. That's what he's been as he's bounced around the majors and minors (mostly the minors) for a dozen years.

If he's the best a contender can do for a leadoff hitter, maybe the contender isn't really a contender.

Hey, Cubbieland ...

Bet you didn't expect Kosuke Fukudome to be batting .444 and Milton Bradley .000, did you?

Gotta love those first-week-of-the-season stats!

The Question

How many f-bombs did Bobby Cox launch while he helplessly watched three Atlanta relievers walk four Philly batters with the bases loaded as the Braves blew a 7-run, 7th-inning lead?

The Balder Truth

Here's the headline and subhead on page 59 of this week's Sports Illustrated:

STAR ATTRACTION: At 54, Chris Evert and Greg Norman make each other feel like high school sweethearts, but can wedded bliss rejuvenate him enough to conquer Augusta National, the course that has haunted him?

Well, maybe ... if by "conquer" SI means Norman might scramble well enough to make the cut.

I mean, come on! They might as well be asking if Chrissy is rejuvenated enough to conquer Wimbledon.

The Quote

"'Just make me look really cool.' And I think she pulled it off." - Mark Teahen, Royals second baseman, on what he told a Magnificent Mile stylist before she gave him a "fauxhawk."

Yeah, I know this is where I'm supposed to post a picture of Teahen's haircut. Sorry, but they frown on using cellphone cameras in big-league clubhouses, and I don't really want to get kicked out for life.

Besides, I'm more partial to the traditional mohawk. Mostly bald, you know.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

Was slumping Sox slugger Carlos Quentin really thinking about charging the mound after he got plunked by Zack Greinke? Pathetic.

Quentin practically stands on top of the plate. Then, just for emphasis, he leans over the plate, too. No wonder he was hit by pitches 20 times last season - third-most in the majors - even though he missed the last month. No wonder he led three minor leagues in the stat early in his career.

"Everybody that gets hit gets upset, especially when you’re ... not swinging the bat well," Guillen said. "Carlos is gonna get hit a lot because he stands up on top of the plate. I don’t think it was intentional."

Good point. Maybe if Quentin weren't 0-for-the-season, he wouldn't have thought about starting a fight when he got plunked Wednesday.

Grow up and face facts, dude. You lean over the plate at your own peril.

Tell you what: If he did that against Bob Gibson, he'd already be 6 feet under.

If getting '16 Olympics means fixing potholes, bring on The Games!

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The Bald Truth

I was having a great day Tuesday: Got my taxes paid, had a fantastic workout at the gym, saw an entertaining finish to the White Sox opener on TV (with all-time good guy Jim Thome hitting the winning 3-run homer) and enjoyed dinner with my good Marquette buddy John Lamich.

Then, driving home after dinner, I hit one of Chicago's 8,449,066 potholes. Flat bleeping tire! 

By all means, Mayor Daley, show those Olympic honchos how wonderful you're taking care of "The City That Works."

Arrrrgh!

The Balder Truth

First Comcast Sports Net complaint of the young baseball season: 

They were able to show the mph on the 80-something slop Mark Buehrle was slinging, but when Kyle Farnsworth was throwing heat later on ... nothing.

I wanted to see the speed of Farnsie's strikeout pitch to Carlos Quentin - as well as the speed of the Farnsie fastball that Thome launched into orbit.

Good Point

While everybody was gushing over Thome's homer - and justifiably so - Ozzie Guillen went out of his way to praise an excellent defensive play by new third baseman Josh Fields and a pretty piece of hit-and-run hitting by new second baseman Chris Getz.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

Back in spring training 2005, Nomar Garciaparra, ready to start his first full season with the Cubs, batted something like .900 with a jillion home runs. (Not quite, but you get the drift.)

Many prognosticators - though not this one, thankfully - were picking the Cubbie Savior for NL MVP and his team for the pennant.

The No. 5 jersey was all the rage at Wrigley, and Cubbie Love was at a fever pitch.

Unfortunately for Nomar and his believers, the season started.

Garciaparra wasn't just bad, he was brutal. And a few weeks in, after batting .157 with only one extra-base hit, he tore his groin to smithereens. He was done. So were the Cubs.

Flash forward to 2009. New Cubbie Savior Milton Bradley had a monster spring training. Yes, he was The Answer to the believers' prayers.

Then the season started.

Through two games, he's 0-for-7 and hasn't gotten the ball out of the infield. He has hit four grounders, including one for a DP, popped out twice, struck out once, walked and botched a flyball in right.

One big difference between 2009 and 2005 is that Bradley has a lot better players around him than Garciaparra did. Another big difference is that the division is not as strong.

So please, I'm not predicting that Bradley will bat .157, get hurt and take the Cubs down with him.

I really do expect him to hit. Then again, I expected Nomar to hit, too.