Thank you, Lou - you too, Rich Hill

I didn't get to see Friday's clunker of a game,but I did see Piniella's postgame tirade. Frankly, it's refreshing to see a manager get upset about a loss, especially the way it happened yesterday. It was tough to read the recap, and I imagine tougher to watch in person. As a Cub fan, it truly is great to see someone declare that things are going to change, and mean it. Too often, the managers became like Baker and just react like "well, what can you do?". Lou doesn't appear to be that guy though. Evidently the Cubs must have gotten the message based on today's score. Also, it sure is nice to have a pitcher not named Maddux who can pitch back to back games and complete 7 innings with pitch counts of 78 and 96 pitches. Why can't big Z do that, and why could Prior and Wood never learn how to do that? If they had, maybe they'd be pitching today instead of grabbing their shoulders in Arizona.

Decent Start

It looks like so far, while there maay be a few things to be concerned about, there are also some things to be upbeat about. At 2 wins, 2 losses, the starting pitching has been good, except for Big Z's clunker on Opening Day. Especially encouraging was last night's outing by Rich Hill, who pitched 7 innings and only threw 78 pitches. Who knew that not walking batters was a good thing? Also, it looks like the hitting ought to come around in the warmer weather, based on the offense last night, in a 60 degree climate controlled stadium. The best part about this team so far, though is Lou's hands on approach to managing, like his "throw f--king strikes" advice to Ryan Dempster Wednesday night. The lazy, toothpick-chewing slob would never have done anything like that. I have a feeling if the players screw up or do stupid or lazy things, "hands on" might end up being around their throats.