Till and Ruge on deck for 2011 season

With February over and March in full swing, baseball season has officially arrived. It should be an interesting season for the Varsity bulldogs, with the biggest story being the departure of former head coach Mike Ziroli. Ziroli had been head coach for the last three years before leaving for rival school LT this year. With his departure came the promotion of Dallas Till from assistant coach to head coach. Till, a former head coach at Elmwood Park, is only in his second year at RB and teaches Wellness along with coaching football.

Although the promotion came quickly, Till is excited to take over as head coach and isn’t worried the change will affect the team’s play.

“It was quite an honor to be named head coach; I never thought it’d happen so quickly. I enjoyed being assistant, but I’m looking forward to being head coach this year. Former head coach Ziroli and I are very similar in philosophy and belief: to play hard and to play the game the right way. And if we do that hopefully some wins will come from it,” Till said.

With Till moving from assistant to head coach, someone needed to step in to take over his spot. That role was taken by security guard Mark Ruge, who had been helping out with the team since his son Joe played for the school. Ruge is excited to start the season, and has no worries about working with a new head coach.

“We (Coach Till) share the same philosophies about the game. I also helped run the summer and fall teams with him,” Ruge said.

Besides the new coaching staff, the team will also have to bounce back from losing key seniors from last year. Although that’s always an issue, it’s a little bit more of a big deal this year as they lost two of their top starters and some key offensive players.

“We lost some key guys from last year. The pitching staff is going to have to step up to recover from losing two of our top pitchers in Alex Brown and Matt Kenahan.” Till said.

Ruge echoed Till’s thoughts, but is confident they’ll bounce back.

“We did lose a couple of top guys, but our guys have been working hard to replace them. We’re going to focus on mixing it up, changing speeds, and working the ball down on the mound,” Ruge said.

“Chris James is the ace of the staff and we’ve also got JT Evans who transferred back to RB this year. We’re hoping for big years out of them and David Tortorici as our lefty specialist.” Till commented.

Besides for pitching, Ruge feels the offense needs better execution this year.

“Our infield is returning from last year and we have speed in the outfield so I’m confident in our defense. Offensively we need better execution. Our small game also has to improve along with being more aggressive on the base paths,” Ruge said.

The team will look to continue off of last year’s success in conference and regionals.

“We have some pretty big shoes to fill after making it to sectionals last year. We’re up for the challenge and I’m confident we’ll win conference. Hopefully we make it through regionals and get to sectionals. Our goal going into the season is to win at sectionals,” Till said.

The key to accomplishing that goal, according to Ruge, is to get off to a good start.

“We have a favorable schedule early on so we need to get off to a strong start. The season goes by quickly so hopefully weather doesn’t postpone any of our early games and we can have a great year.” Ruge said.

Tryouts took place on February 28^th and the team was official by the next week. Cuts had to be made early to prepare the team for the season as they don’t have much time before games start. Their season kicks off on March 18^th if weather permits at Elmwood Park. It will be a bit of a homecoming for Coach Till, returning to the school he coached at for many years before coming to RB last year.  After Elmwood Park they have games against local rivals St Joes and Nazareth on March 23^rd and 28^th respectively.

Till is anxious and excited for the weather to clear up so the season can begin.

“We’re getting sick of being inside because of bad weather. We want to get out and play on grass and get ready for our first game. I’m really excited for the season,” he said.

As season approaches, Cubs already in turmoil

We are currently about three weeks from the beginning of the 2011 regular season, and it looks as if the Cubs are going to need every single one of those days in order to fully prepare themselves for the upcoming season. 

During the last couple months of the 2010 season and then this past off season, the Cubs have made several moves that have changed the face of the organization. Most notable of these changes are the new manager and first baseman.  In August of last season, when the Cubs were widely considered out of the playoff race, Lou Pinella announced his retirement.  Pinella managed the Cubs to back to back division titles in his first two seasons with the Cubs, including a 97 win team in his second year. However after those seasons the Cubs slumped back into their normal selves, and one and a half years later they were second to only Pittsburgh for the worst record in the NL central. 

Over the off season, the Cubs made the move to remove the interim tag from Mike Quade’s title and make him the full time manager over Cubs hall of famer and fan favorite Ryan Sandberg.  Although this move upset the Cub faithful, the players seemed to be behind Quade, and were pulling for him to get the job.

In the first few weeks of spring training, Quade has already had to deal with what some managers only have to deal with once the entire summer.  In four days, the Cubs managed to make fourteen errors and looked like a little league team that was just beginning to learn how to pick up a ground ball. This awful stretch peaked when the Cubs made three errors in the first inning of a game against the Milwaukee Brewers that lead to six runs off Carlos Silva.  After this horrid inning was complete, Silva and third baseman Aramis Ramirez had a heated conversation in the dugout the eventually needed to be broken up by multiple players.

The second big move includes really two changes. Part one is the addition of a new possible ace in Matt Garza. Garza is coming over from the Tampa Bay Rays and should be able to dominate the NL central. Coming with him via free agency is Carlos Pena. Pena is a left-handed power hitting first baseman that will step in to replace fan favorite Derek Lee. Pena will be the first legitimate power hitting left-handed hitter for the Cubs since the early 2000’s.

What ever happens this year it looks to be an interesting year in the NL central.

Spring sports seasons officially underway

Though February 28^th is still considered winter, this is the date that most spring sports at RB begin. Excluding boys volleyball (which holds tryouts on March 7^th), every spring sport will hold their first practice or tryout on February 28. Most spring sports are non-cut sports. These include boys’ and girls’ track, boys’ and girls’ water polo, boys’ tennis, and badminton. So anybody play for these teams if they please. Here is the outlook for a few Riverside-Brookfield spring teams.

The baseball and softball teams both finished last year losing in their sectional championship. Both teams will try to take the next step in advancing further, despite losing some key graduates. The softball team was ranked in the top ten in the area for much of last year, so expectations are high. The baseball squad also has high expectations, with their tryouts and early practices being held at 5:30 in the morning. All-time RB single season batting average Matt Scott record holder graduated so the Bulldogs need a big bat to fill the number three spot in the batting order. 

As for the girls’ and boys’ track teams, they both return a lot of key members. The boys’ team has several runners coming back that ran in the state meet. Alex Amaya and Keegan Buttimer were on last year’s 4 x 800 meter relay team and are seniors this year. Amaya and Jason Pomey (now a senior) were both on the 4 x 400-meter relay team that went down state. Two girls went down state last year for the girls’ track and field team: Alexis Adams (graduate) and Brenna Mossman (now a senior). Adams took third in state in the discus and Mossman took 12^th. Look for Mossman among others to make it to Eastern Illinois for state in 2011.

The boys’ volleyball team holds tryouts a week after most spring teams, but this is most likely because they don’t play a game until they open against Morton on March 24. They have a strong schedule with plenty of games against bigger schools. The Bulldogs have games against OPRF, Hinsdale Central, and Hinsdale South, in addition to the teams they will face at tournaments during the season. This schedule should help the volleyball team in the playoffs.

The other spring sports at RB that started February 28 include boys’ and girls’ water polo, badminton, girls’ soccer, and boys’ tennis. These  are all no cut sports for spring excluding girls’ soccer.

Cubs bolster rotation by trading for Matt Garza

When the off season began, Chicago Cubs GM  Jim Hendry had three issues he needed to solve. He needed a first baseman, a starting pitcher and help for the bullpen.  He kicked off the off season by signing Kerry Wood, and Carlos Pena. These signings fixed two of the three problems. The most recent and biggest move of the off season for the Cubs was a trade for Matt Garza, an elite pitcher formerly for the Tampa Bay Rays.

 It was widely known that the Rays were trying to move Garza in order to shed salary and pick up new prospects.  The Cubs were one of  multiple teams who were trying to make a move for Garza. In the end, the Cubs beat out the Yankees and Rangers by adding top pitching prospect Chris Archer to their proposed package that included four other players. The Rays who were looking for a top pitching prospect in return, quickly agreed to this deal. In return the Chicago Cubs received Garza and two minor league prospects.

At first glance this trade looks lopsided in favor of the Rays. But after taking a closer look, it is a pretty balanced trade. The Rays receive more prospects to fill up their already elite farm system, while the cubs receive an “ace” as well as some prospects to replace the ones given up.

Garza is coming off his best season with the Rays going 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA. 

This trade helps the Cubs both in the short term as well as in the long term. In the short term, Garza can become an immediate top of the rotation pitcher for the Cubs. He is making the switch from the American League East to the National League Central.  Not only is the National League considered easier to pitch in, but also the N.L. Central is widely considered as one of the easier divisions to play in. This trade makes the Cubs an immediate threat to challenge for the division crown.

In the long run, Garza’s contract doesn’t expire until after the 2013 season. This means that the Cubs don’t have to spend any extra money on Garza for the next two years or so.  Garza is also only 27 years old, and has the potential to be the Cubs ace of the future.

Pauly re-signs

Paul Konerko, the Chicago White Sox legend, just re-signed to the Sox for three years for 37.5 million dollars. One of his best seasons came last year. He batted .312 with thirty-nine home runs and one hundred and eleven runs batted in, which was the third highest in his long career. The Chicago White Sox offense was pretty solid last season and Konerko was a big part of it.

To start his career in 1997, Konerko was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then in 1998 he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds. He was only there for a year because he was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1999. Now he has re-signed for three years and he will most likely retire after this contract because he is in his thirties.

This is a definite plus for our Chicago team.  Konerko led the Sox to the World Series Championship in 2005. He is always a good contact and power hitter, and people can’t wait to see how he does this next season.

Now, for the next season, the White Sox acquired star slugger Adam Dunn off of free agents. This next year we will have two of the best home runs hitters. With U.S Cellular Field being a nice home run park, Dunn should fit in perfectly fine with the team next season.

Watch out for the Chicago White Sox next season because they will be a threat to take the championship.

Almost got it – World Series prediction

EDITOR’S NOTE:
This story was completed BEFORE the beginning of the World Series but not posted due to administrative error.  We’re posting it regardless to allow our readership to compare Fitz Robling’s prediction and analysis with the actual conclusion of the Series.

Texas Rangers v. San Francisco Giants

In the ALCS, the Texas Rangers put a beat down on the New York Yankees that will be remembered for years to come.  The Rangers out-scored the Bronx Bombers 38 to 19 in the series, including an 8-0 shut out at Yankee Stadium.  The Rangers pitching was outstanding with the exception of the first game meltdown.  Cliff Lee won his game in dominating fashion, but the star of the pitching staff was Colby Lewis who went 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA.  Josh Hamilton Received MVP honors by hitting 4 home runs. Over all it was a dominating performance that left the $210 million dollar Yankees clueless about what had just happened.

In the NLCS, the San Francisco Giants advanced with a 4-2 series win.  The Giants pitching was good but not great. The key to the series was the timely hitting by the Giants. Juan Uribe hit a walk off sacrifice fly to win Game Four and added a solo homerun in the eighth inning of Game Six to help secure the series for the Giants.

This World Series promises to be a good one due to the history of both teams, and how much they want this series. The Giants have not been in the World Series since 2002 and have not won one since leaving New York City. The Rangers, on the other hand, have never been to the World Series in their 38-year franchise history.  Thanks to the National League’s first wild card win in over a decade, the Giants have home field advantage despite a worse record. The Rangers have won five of the seven games they have played on the road this year in the playoffs.  Both teams feature mostly new comers to the series with the exception of one or two long time veterans.

Keys to Series:

The biggest key to this series will be hitting.  Both teams have very good pitching, so who ever can strike first in the game will definitely have the upper hand.  The Giants are not known for scoring lots of runs, but because of the Rangers high-powered offense, they’re going to need to change that. The Rangers are known for scoring lots of runs thanks to a stacked line up featuring Josh Hamilton, and Nelson Cruz.  In order for the Giants to keep up with the Rangers, they will need Cody Ross, and Buster Posey to have a big series.

The second key is the fourth pitcher.  Both teams feature Cy Young award winners as their aces, and their two-three guys have been very solid, but the fourth spot is always a week spot.  The Giants are starting 21-year-old Madison Bumgardner who was 7-6 in the regular season while the Rangers are starting Tommy Hunter who was 13-4 during the regular season. These two pitchers will be very important to their teams. 

The last key to the series will be Vladimir Guerrero. Vlad will be starting in right field for the first time all post season.  He started there 13 times in the regular season. Guerrero is definitely a fielding liability. He is old and aging, so the Giants should be aiming towards him for a lot of their hits. If Guerrero can hold his own then the rest of the rangers fielding core should be all right, but if he can’t it could be a long night for Texas.

Prediction:

The Giants have a very strong pitching staff featuring two time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum, and a strong two- three combo of Cain and Sanchez. They also have great young stars that are looking to prove themselves. Their biggest weakness is their poor hitting. The Giants won the second most one run games all season, which is impressive, but it means that they struggle to score a lot of runs.  The Rangers also have great pitching and hitting. Their weakness is lack of focus and Guerrero playing right field. The Rangers have slacked off when they get a lead, which could allow the Giants to come back on them.

In the end the Rangers offense will be too much for the Giants to handle.  They out scored the Yankees by 19 runs over six games in the ALCS, and are know for jumping on Pitchers early.  The Rangers also have slightly better pitching especially in the fourth spot where Madison Bumgarner is young and unproven. I think the Giants put up a good fight, but with all the story line following the Rangers who have become America’s team, the Rangers will win this series.

Rangers win the World Series 4-2 against the San Francisco Giants.

MLB playoff leads come into focus

As the regular season enters mid-September, the MLB division races are in full gear, and everybody is looking for a way into the post season. The local Chicago White Sox trail the Minnesota Twins by six games as of Thursday, and have a crucial three game series with the Twins coming up this week. Here’s a look at the rest of the divisions:

AL East:
As of Thursday the Tampa Bay Rays trailed the New York Yankees by 2.5 games. These two teams are likely to both make the playoffs so, they are really only fighting for home field advantage. The Yankees and Rays play seven more times this year, which gives the red-hot Rays a real chance at obtaining home field advantage throughout the ALCS.

AL Central:
As of Thursday morning the Twins were six games ahead of the rival white sox.  With less than 20 games to play the Chicago White Sox chances of reaching October are dwindling.  Even with the addition of Manny Ramirez, it looks as if the White Sox don’t have enough to topple the mighty Twins.

AL West:
This is the only division were the race is over. The Rangers are 7.5 games ahead of the Oakland A’s. Even though they are a lock for the division winners, the Rangers’ top 2 players are injured.  Josh Hamilton has bruised ribs, and Cliff Lee has minor injuries which are keeping him from playing.  These two injuries to Hamilton and to Lee may be a blessing in disguise, because it forces the Rangers to rest their key players. The Rangers must hope that when the post season arrives their two top players are in tip top shape to make a run in the playoffs.

NL East:
In Bobby Cox’s last season as a manager, the Atlanta Braves looked like they were a lock for the payoffs, but due to a harsh losing streak at the end of August and a run in the beginning of September; the Phillies are now in first Place.  The Braves only trail the Phillies by one game as of Thursday morning.  The Phillies are trying to make it back to the World Series for the third year in a row. The Braves are hoping to make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2005, and in Bobby Cox last season as manager.

NL Central:
The surprise team of the year this year comes from the NL Central.  The Cincinnati Reds have shocked everybody by winning 79 games so far. The Reds have made it this far by strong starting pitching, and the bat of first baseman Joey Votto.  Votto, who was the player’s vote for the All Star Team, is in contention for the coveted Triple Crown. The only person stopping him is fellow first baseman Albert Pujols of the St. Cardinals.  Even though Pujols is in contention for the Triple Crown, the Cardinals still trail the Reds by six games.  With 23 games left and none against the Cardinals, it looks as if the Reds will be making the first appearance in the playoffs since 1995.

NL West:
This year like every other year the NL West is living up to its reputation as being wild.  While all the other divisions are two team races, the west is a three team race.  Going into late August the Padres had a commanding 6 game lead over the Giants, and a 10 game lead over the Colorado Rockies.  Then the Padres hit an unbelievable 10 game losing streak and as of Thursday, September 10, the Padres had a one game lead over the Giants, and a 3.5 game lead over the Rockies.

Baseball is Here

Baseball is here. The beautiful Spring air has arrived, and with it, the beginning of 30 long, treacherous journeys to the playoffs. But most importantly, it brings us the excitement of the Cubs and White Sox.

However, their respective seasons have been off to rough starts. Both teams currently sit at 3-4, and are looking to improve off of what is safe to say, disappointing opening weeks.

The Cubs opened their season on the road in Atlanta, and Braves rookie Jason Heyward stuck it to Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano, en route to an easy 16-5 win. Atlanta took the series from the Cubs by winning the next game as well. The Cubs then traveled to Cincinnati where the results were similar, with the Reds taking two of three from the Northsiders.

Meanwhile on the South Side, the Sox opened its season on a high note when the team did everything right in a 6-0 blanking of the division rival Indians. Starter Mark Buehrle pitched very effectively and made one of the best plays you’re going to see all year in the process. Alex Rios and Paul Konerko went deep for the Sox and the bullpen came in and shut the door. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the rest of the series as the Sox dropped its next two games to the Tribe and went on to make it four straight losses when the Twins came to U.S. Cellular Field on Friday and won the first two games of that series.

But it’s the start of a new week, and it has already brought good tidings to both sides of town.

The Cubs hosted the Milwaukee Brewers in their home opener at a renovated Wrigley Field. The bathrooms have all been improved, the bleachers have been upgraded, and concessions have been revamped. But the Cubs didn’t need any of the newly installed improvements to take care of the division rival Brew Crew and cruised to a 9-5 victory. Behind the bats of Xavier Nady, Aramis Ramirez, and Jeff Baker, and a solid starting effort from Ryan Dempster, the Cubs faithful enjoyed a sunny afternoon of baseball triumph.

The Pale Hose started its first road trip of the season in style with an 8-7 extra innings win over the Toronto Blue Jays last night. The Jays came in red-hot offensively and were alone atop the eastern division at 5-1, but the Sox offense finally awoke from hibernation and cranked out 14 hits and rode Andrew Jones’ two homers and Mark Teahen’s late heroics to victory. Jake Peavy had a rough outing, but fortunately the Sox rare occurrence of actually scoring runs led to the team’s first win in Toronto in the last 11 attempts.

World Series all tied up

The World Series is tied at one game a piece between the Yankees, and the returning World Series champion Phillies. The Phillies won the first game 6-1, but it wasn’t the same for game two.

The game two starter for the Yankees was veteran pitcher A.J. Burnett. Burnett threw seven innings, only letting up four hits and one run. In those seven innings, Burnett had nine strikeouts and only walked two people.

On the other had old vet Pedro Martinez would like to forget this start. Pedro let up two homeruns, six hits, and three runs.

One of the two Yankee home runs was off the bat of Hideki Matsui. Matsui started in the lineup as DH instead of LF. Johnny Damon had the start in LF yesterday, although Damon was 0-4 during the game. The second home run was hit by hard hitting switch hitter Mark Teixeira in the fourth inning off Pedro Martinez.

The only RBI managed by the Phillies was by their veteran DH Matt Stairs. Stairs got his RBI with two outs and Chase Utley on base. The big bombers for the Phillies did very little. These “big bombers” were All-stars Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. The two of them were a combined 0-7 with 4 strikeouts and a walk. If the Phillies want to win the series, those two need to step up to the plate and deliver.

Hard to predict Cubs season

After all of the success the Chicago Cubs had the past two years, they appeared to be ready for a playoff run deep in to October. All the players and fans were geared for the season in the spring. With the addition of free agent Milton Bradley and a pitching staff that was predicted to be tops in all of baseball, 2009 could finally be the year to end the long drought without a World Series title. 

It is now September, going on October, and all the optimism is gone. The Milton Bradley experience went worse than expected, and that is an understatement. Bradley had a .257 batting average with only twelve home runs before being suspended for the rest of the year by Cubs manager Jim Hendry for publicly criticizing the Cubs. His stability was also a big question because of the many minor injuries he sustained throughout the year. This is not the kind of production the Cubs expected from a player making seven million dollars a year. 

Bradley was not the only disappointment in the Cubs lineup. Three all-stars from the previous year were hitting under .255 as of September 22. Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Geovany Soto all came off All-Star seasons with huge slumps. Fukudome’s defense is one reason his year has not been a complete disaster, but the same can not be said for Soriano. His many miscues teamed with a lack of hustle showed by Soriano combined for one big problem in left field. His bat was not much better than Soto’s, who was hitting below .200 for the early months of the season. 

A few bright spots in the Cubs lineup leave hope for next year. Rookie Jake Fox has been a force in the Cubs lineup since about July. He was hitting over .285 with 11 home runs in under 200 at bats as of September 22. In other words, he put up better power numbers than Bradley despite 200 fewer at bats. The always dependable Derrek Lee had another great year with 35 plus home runs and 100 plus RBI’s, while maintaining a .300 batting average. Aramis Ramirez was very productive when in the lineup, but a back injury kept him out of the lineup for over a month during the middle of the season. 

The pitching staff was average, but did not live up to expectations. Ted Lilly emerged as the lone Cubs all-star and staff ace. The previous holder of that position, Carlos Zambrano, had a down year that combined injuries and the lack of hard work put in. Ryan Dempster and Rich Harden were merely average, despite having been solid the previous year. 

The brightest spot in this rotation was rookie Randy Wells. His 10-9 record is misleading, but his ERA hovering around 3.00 is not. Wells had little run support and several sure wins that were blown by the inconsistent bullpen. Look for the 27 year old to have more solid years ahead of him. 

Of course, there will be the same high expectations for next year’s club. The pressure to end their World Series drought will be as high as ever. With many players returning next year, the Cubs should be in the thick of things come October. But then again, should be does not always mean they will be.