146

Cubs win one against Arizona and the Cards dropped one to the Braves. Number drops twice.

Bradley was back in the lineup and got a rare hit. Lee should be back today. Hopefully both of them will start to heat up.

148

CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!

Finally a win after dropping four in a row. Now, the Cubs need to figure out who goes on the DL so that we can get more players in the dugout... Who's injured but not on the DL? DLee, Marmol, Ramirez, Bradley. I had to have missed some...

Cubs head to Arizona for some late start games early this week. Go Cubs!

150

Solid win against the Reds.

151

Thank you Houston for beating Cincinnati.

152

Cubs win! Ramirez....very clutch.

Go Cubs!

153

8th inning HR by Soriano over the Cardinals breaks the losing streak at home at 2 and drops the magic # by 2 since it's against the Cardinals.

Great game. Go Cubs!

155

Cardinals lost to the Diamondbacks overnight putting the Cubs back in 1st place. Cubs continue the short series with the Rockies today and then a stretch of 4 with the Cards through the weekend.

Let's do some damage!

156

Cubs win the damp home opener.

Read today's earlier post on 89 Cubs' Milwaukee Good Friday!

157

Two buddies and I went up to Milwaukee to catch opening day on Friday since we had off of work for Good Friday. It was a last minute decision that put us at the stadium 20 minutes before first pitch. After some luck, we managed to secure three tickets in the family section (417) in the upper deck for only $20 each. Considering what few scalped tickets that were even available were going for, we were quite lucky & happy just to get in for a reasonable price.

Now, I've been to a few Brewers games over the years, both Cubs and non-Cubs games, and I've always had a great time. I usually find the people in Milwaukee generally pleasant and fun to be around, as long as you can get over that they are generally stuck in 1985. However, my first clue that something was different this time should have been this directly outside the main entrance behind home plate:

That is the final trash can that people can dump their empty beer cans & bottles into before entering the park. See, in Milwaukee tail gating is HUGE and they have no open container law. This being opening day for the Brew Crew on top of that, led to MASSIVE drinking before the game even started. My buddies and I having arrived only just before first pitch from Chicago were 100% sober at this point.

So we went in and up to our seats for our wonderful view of a huge dome-induced shadow across the field:

We headed to the family section and once we realized we couldn't drink beers there, headed down the entrance to the section at the front of the upper deck where the was room to stand for the duration of the game.

One thing we didn't take into account standing there is that the fans were then elevated about five feet above our heads making for easy targets for heckling and throwing food at us as we were all wearing Cubs gear. Now keep in mind here, that even though it was opening day for them, the crows was about 1/3 Cubs fans. I found out very quickly that this irritates Brewers fans a lot. I suppose if every time I went to a Cubs game at Wrigley vs. the Brewers and it was a third to half full of Brewers fans, I too would be irritated.

Now, I have no problem being heckled as a visiting fan, I consider part of the game and sort of a badge of honor as well. It's when fans cross the line into swearing at you, throwing things at you (peanuts, full beer, etc.) that I find it a bit drastic and tasteless. This is why I no longer attend Cubs-White Sox games. After being called FIBs (look it up) which I found amusing, we then had a white trash couple (yes, I know white trash couples go to Wrigley as well, but they seemed to represent Miller Park in strong numbers on Friday) try to challenge us to a fight after the Cubs took the lead. After my beer got knocked out of my hand and onto an innocent bystander who was a Brewers fan I made the mistake of laughing at the guy. I mean, come on, is it really worth it to get in a fight and get arrested over the Cubs-Brewers? (And consequently have my wife cut my nuts off when I got back home.) I think not.

It was then that his lovely lady friend

-- look closely at his fine lady friend...


decided it would be a good idea to throw her full beer on me (did I mention they sell 24oz beers at Miller Park?) Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and they decided to leave the game after that without incident. Funniest part of all is that they missed the Brewers come back for victory in the 9th because they left in the 8th.

Despite all this, and the Cubs blowing it in the 9th (nice piece of fielding by Soriano there) it was a great game and we had a great time. My advice for going to Cubs-Brewers games in Milwaukee is to be prepared to be hated and constantly yelled at. And if possible, wear something that beer runs off of quickly and you don't mind getting ruined.

Finally despite what the fine gentlemen with tattoos on his elbows and wrists says to challenge you to fight on the concourse, don't take him up on it. You'll just end up in jail and then in the dog house with your wife. Fortunately, I followed this advice and was able to enjoy the evening out and about in Milwaukee after the game. I also recommend making sure the next day you'll have time for a four hour nap to adequately recover.

Good times, good times. And I haven't even been to Wrigley yet.

157

Two winning serieses down. If the Cubs can keep the streak up, they'll be in excellent shape.

Home opener at Wrigley today against the Rockies. I give it a 20% chance of being played due to the incoming rain. In that event, it'll likely be played tomorrow instead.

158

Alfonso is clutch. Cubs squeak by the Brewers.

159

Brewers concluded their opening series against the Giants with another loss. That puts the Cubs in sole posession on 1st place and drops the Magic # down to 159.

Cubs are on today against Milwaukee. I wish I could go to the game, but I saw it was sold out (d'uh, home opener for them brewcrew) and didn't want to use the "other markets". It's Good Friday and let's hope it's a great one with a Cubs Win!

160

The offense was lit up last night. Is this a hint of what this offense can do? Fuku: 4 of 5, Fontenot 5 RBIs, Bradley on base 3 of 5. Soriano, another good day. Ramirez 4 of 6.

Looks like the only cold bat was Lee with 3 strike outs and 1 for 6. It looks like his slump will continue from last year... It's more of a decline now.

Our pitching was just good enough to keep us on top. Once again, our bullpen was heavily used. Looks like that may be the trend going forward.

Day off today.

161

Number drop because all teams in NL Central have lost 1 game. Still watching the 'stros/Cubs game in the 10th... hopefully we drop again. Otherwise tomorrow update...

CUBS!

162

And we're off!

Can't comment too much on the game other than the CUBS WIN and only gave up a run. Had a family emergency that kept me at the hospital. Everyone is fine, just a need for some of that glue that shuts wounds. Fun stuff.

Anyways CUBS WIN!

163

Chicago Cubs Baseball is on the air!

162 games yet to be played. There will be countless exciting moments as well as disappointing moments. Let's hope 2009 is more of the former. It's a fresh start! Let's forget last October, which was a terrible month all around (401K anyone?) and hope for the future. I sometimes hope that the horse kicks Woo Woo off...

I predict that we will see the Magic Number hit 0 for the third time in a row. The Cubs will be in the post season once again. I'm not predicting anything beyond that...

Welcome back all those who have visited the site in the last two years. Early in the season updates may be infrequent, so don't complain too much about the number being a few off. But as things heat up, we'll be updating at every number drop. The staff here plans to be in the chat box for many games and I plan on being in there for the whole opening game and I'm sure the regulars will be there too (shortkidd, John, J.Child, PlayoffBound, i heart soto, Cubs Fan Stuck in NYC, kes601, CUBZ Fan, i heart soto, joooosh, steph, FL Cub and the others I likely missed).

If you have any suggestions or comments, please send them to us at 2009@cubsmagicnumber.com. As always, sending in Cubs related pics with a good story may land that photo on this site. We look forward to hearing from you both in the chat box and via comments and email.

One last comment, what the heck is Zambrano thinking saying that Wrigley Field needs replacement? I think he needs to worry about pitching instead of commenting on the digs.

GO CUBS GO!