Can you believe it? An actual win! An actual good, clean win! I'm pretty sure that Doggie is enjoying a big bag of chips about now!

It was a good game, even though poor Todd Walker took a ball to the jaw/neck at one point. I guess that one could argue that it was an attempt to make sure that he was awake on first base...?

I'm just glad that we got a win: hopefully it will transfer over to Doggie's start tomorrow night! After all, I like chips!! :-)

My mother has always said that the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result".

Well, if that's true (which I think it is), then the Cubs organization is worse off than I thought. They've demonstrated multiple signs of insanity: let me lay a few of them out for you (there's a chain reaction here as well, which is notable)...

#1 Depending on Kerry Wood to "someday" come back and lead the charge when Wood can't pitch reliably; to make it even better, they know this and so does Wood, but they keep playing this game.

#2 Calling up completely inexperienced pitchers from AAA Iowa to fill Wood's spot: these poor guys invariably give up an immense number of runs and then get sent back down after they've gotten us another loss.

#3 When a relief pitcher gets into a jam, Dusty and his crew just sit there and watch him hang himself and the team. Yesterday, Novoa gave up five runs in an inning while Dusty did his best to pretend that he couldn't see it. Now, what did he do after Novoa somehow managed to get out of that inning? Why, he sent the same scared and ineffective kid back out to the mound for ANOTHER one!

#4 Dusty and Hendry spend all of their time trying to convince each other and the media that they're both great guys who know what they're doing... which is bullshit.

I don't know what's worse, how completely irresponsible it is, or how insane it is, that this club is being run this way.

It's fucked up, it's twisted... and somebody needs to do something!!

Yes, I stole a term from the "Bring the Noise" boys, because it's just perfect at the moment, and it'll give them a chuckle no doubt.

WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO THE CUBS?! I mean, not that we have a stellar team, but they're NOT THIS BAD. They're all playing WAY below what they can produce, even without DLee. You know what the highlight of today's game was for me? Watching a replay of Doggie playing catch with his beautiful and precious son, Chase. (Maddy is SUCH a good father...)

Anyway, poor Carlos Zambrano had a great game going today when the ball was handed over to the relief staff. Closer Ryan Dempster didn't just load the bases in the top of the ninth, when we had a two run lead, he actually WALKED IN A RUN. Now what the hell is that? Things went from bad to worse as Manager Dusty Baker just sat there and watched Dempster let the Braves get another two runs to go to the lead. By the time our hitters got in there for the bottom of the ninth, it was all over (Doggie was already eating his chips at this point). Our hitters struck out and popped up... and gave this game to Atlanta on a silver platter.

Dusty said after the game that he doesn't know what's going on... shouldn't he, as the manager, maybe try to find out? Maybe try to do something? Maybe pull out a struggling closer instead of letting the man hang himself and the team? I'm not a baseball genius, by any means, but come the fuck on!

I hate to lay things completely at a managers feet, but when a manager cannot inspire confidence in his players, there's a problem. "I don't know what happened" and "We got beat" are NOT suitable answers to what is happening here. If Dusty doesn't know, then who the hell does, and who the hell can do something to correct it?

I'm with Maddux: I'm going to grab a Louisville Slugger and go after a water cooler, then shatter the bat, then sit down and eat my chips!

Poor, sweet Doggie. He has been trying his damndest to win as well as trying to resist the temptation to strangle his teammates.

He lost the battle today (the battle to win... as of now, all Cubs players are accounted for).

The victim: an innocent water cooler sitting in the dugout. The weapon: Number 31's baseball bat. The crime: assault with deadly, lame-o dork swearing. The cooler is now toast...

Time seemed to stop for me when I saw it: his eyes got big, in the infamous "Don't call me Doggie!" manner, and then I saw the bat... the beating was brutal...

Okay, it wasn't  that bad, but I haven't seen him that angry in a LONG time. It's a combination of frustration with the team, himself, and the fact that he's on the road so he can't get any from me (JOKE).

Afterwards, when questioned, Greg pretended he didn't know what the reporters were talking about. When they said, "You know, when you smacked the cooler?" Greg asked, "Was it funny?".

Oh, Doggie, I'm feeling your pain... I'll SO comfort you... Just give me a call, anytime. I wish I could make it better, because it really sucks at the moment... Hang in there, Doggie: I love you!

By now, I think that all of you out there have heard about the incident at the plate on Saturday afternoon, in which Michael Barrett got slammed by the White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski.

Barrett later said that the only reason that he tried to KO Pierzynski was that he (Barrett) was "irritated". I'll admit, as a Cubs fan and knowing all of the smack that gets tossed around when the Sox meet us, I have a feeling that Pierzynski said something, perhaps when he was at bat, to get Barrett started. Pierzynski has a history of both talking trash and pushing other players to the brink.

I don't, however, condone the behavior of Barrett, especially not during the cross-town series. It's a volatile crowd even when the players aren't at each other's throats. Flipping out didn't help anybody in this situation. It can get tense when these two teams interact, but that should never make violence acceptable.

Why couldn't Barrett just pull a Doggie and take out his frustrations on a Louisville Slugger?