Posted by Matt and Ryan - May 19, 2008, 2:00 p.m.

We're a little more than a quarter through the baseball season. Believe it or not, both Chicago teams reside in first place. This is not normal. Such an occurrence calls for an evaluation of what's gone right, and what lurking troubles could cause things to go horribly wrong.

We'll start with the red-hot Cubs, fresh off a delicious 8-2 home stand.

What's going right:
Lately? Just about everything. Bob Brenly referred to Alfonso Soriano as the hottest hitter on the planet and it wasn't even hyperbole. Remarkably, all the so-called fans who had taken to booing Soriano with great regularity have quieted down, as Rick Morrissey noted in his column today.

(Now, I've been as critical of Soriano in the past as anyone else. But you don't boo your own team except under a few select extenuating circumstances that I will outline at a later date. We need to do something. Wrigley is getting out of hand.)

Soriano still isn't exactly patient in the leadoff spot (and he won't hit like this forever), but the Cubs seem to have enough patience and talent up and down their lineup to be able to live with him leading off. The heart of the lineup with Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, The Fukudominator and Geovany Soto is downright scary. Ryan Theriot is having a fantastic year. So is Mark DeRosa. Ronny Cedeno would be a regular starter if not for the two previous sentences. The bullpen is starting to come together; Carlos Marmol's giving up a home run the other day notwithstanding (it's going to happen once in a while).


What troubles await:
Some of their hitting has to cool off? Doesn't it? I'll be surprised if Theriot and DeRosa are both able to post an OBP above .400 all year. Soto still seems like he might be too good to be true—highly touted Cubs prospects never come in and perform like they're supposed to … somewhere Felix Pie is slowly slinking back into the corner of the room. But Lee has already hit a serious slowdown and Ramirez still hasn't hit one of his uber-hot stretches, so maybe the Cubs' lineup is really good and I should stop worrying. Which I won't.

The rotation has to be a little troubling as well. Ryan Dempster isn't likely to maintain an ERA under 2.50 all year. And Carlos Zambrano has been known to go through bad stretches as well. If those two start to have problems things could go south quickly.

But let's be honest. It's the Cubs. If/when the proverbial poop hits the also proverbial fan, it isn't going to be something predicted by some idiot blogger (me) on a sleepy May afternoon. It will be something entirely unforeseen. Big Z breaks his pitching hand trying to crack a bat over his knee. Fukudome is deported. Ramirez decides baseball is no longer in his heart … what he really wants to do is … DANCE!

It could be anything. I've had the "is it okay to get excited yet" conversation with five or six different Cubs fan friends in the past week. Things have been too good lately. We all sense the slap upside the head coming.

Posted by Ryan and Matt - May 9, 2008, 10:00 a.m.

Early in the morning on Sunday, May 4, an altercation of historic proportions took place. Channeling generations of anger and angst, a verbal exchange between a Cubs fan and Sox fan became physical at a Dominos Pizza in Normal.

What follows is the Oddballs' respective interpretations of what might well have taken place, told through the eyes of perpetrator and victim.

As seen through the eyes of White Sox enthusiast and Normal city Dominos regular James Falakos:

I'm stumbling down the cold hard streets of Normal after another long night of carousing at downtown hotspots Fat Jack's and Lunkers. I've found myself in better states.  Multiple attempts to spark conversations with the scores of delectable lasses crowding the saloons saw little return on investment. 

I subjected myself to yet another night of embarrassment, rejection and ridicule; and my beloved White Sox are mired in a God awful slump. Oh, cruel Fates, you've really got it in for old James Falakos, don't ya?

But what's that? I feel that familiar rumbling down in my general thorax region. All that beer has given me a hunger fit for a lumberjack. But where to fill this rumbling void in my belly? Such an occasion calls for only the finest in Central Illinois late night dining. Nobody knows. Like Dominos.

[Editors Note: Dominos Pizza can and should only be consumed in large portions by one who has been over served to the point that he or she can no longer taste what is purportedly pizza or by teenaged boys who would eat their underpants if it were served in fast food wrapping. James is the former.]

Now, what of the many scrumptious options before me do I sample? Have I made a poor decision? I could kind of go for a nice bacon double cheeseburger. But then, pizza does sound good. What to do, what to do.

[A beam of light dramatically illuminates the menu board, focused conspicuously on the Bacon Cheeseburger Feast pizza.]

Sweet Minnie Minoso's jockstrap! That's a meal fit for Shoeless Joe himself! But I find myself craving something sweet as well. A Bacon Cheeseburger Feast and an order of Cinna Stix, young squire! On the double!

Posted by Matt and Ryan - May 1, 2008, 11:00 a.m.

So the good folks over at Sports Illustrated have concocted a fan survey that purports to rate all 30 major league ballparks. You know, the sort of gimmicky list meant to generate a little controversy, get some buzz going and trick other forms of media into giving Sports Illustrated free exposure.

To show that we're wise to this sort of trickery, we here at Oddballs are going to respond by … weighing in and giving Sports Illustrated free exposure.
(You may have won this round, Sports Illustrated. But let's just say Peter King's next Starbucks experience in the Windy City will be decidedly unsatisfactory.)

The rankings were determined from the results of survey questions broken down into 10 categories that gauged the level of satisfaction fans have with their home ballpark. Each category was given equal weight.

As we see it, this methodology has two main flaws:
1. The assumption that fans can evaluate their own teams rationally.
2. The equal weight given to each category. Are we really supposed to believe that giving out sweet bobbleheads is as important as whether or not the team is any good?

Wrigley Field clocked in at 15th overall. The Cell did a bit better, finishing eighth.
We're not going to get into a shouting match over what a ridiculous injustice this in, as any observer with half a brain can clearly see Wrigley's superiorit&DB4d RBS<*%&*(&#........................................
[Ryan has just wrestled the laptop from Matt's kung fu grip. The two have agreed to proceed amicably].

Anyway, we'll leave the reactions up to you. Obviously we each have a soft spot for our team's home. What we are going to do is break down where the two teams came in for each category, why they did, and whether or not it's a fair assessment. But in a way that's more amusing than that last sentence made it sound.

Posted by Matt and Ryan - April 28, 2008, 12:04 a.m.

After two straight days of watching Mel Kiper and company give us the lowdown on 252 NFL draft prospects, the Oddballs were in the mood to do a little football prognosticating of our own. This being a baseball blog and all, it presented quite the conundrum. Until we figured out this little numbers game:

Number of starting offensive and defensive football players: 22

Add a kicker, punter and return specialist: 25

What’s the number of active players on a baseball roster you ask? 25!

With the math working out so conveniently, we were left with no choice but to painstakingly assign the Cubs and Sox to a hypothetical football roster. After hours upon hours in the film room and hundreds of interviews with the many scouts who specialize in projecting major league baseball players as football players, we managed to piece the two squads together.

Why did we do this, you ask? Call it intellectual curiosity. Also, we figured if you’re checking in on this blog, there is a solid chance you have some time to kill. We’re happy to oblige.

Without further ado, your 2008 Chicago Football Cubs and White Sox!