VIRTUAL WAITING ROOM thoughts

Some people had suggested to me that the demand for Cub tickets would be down this year. If it is, I am not seeing it in my Virtual Waiting Room stay. I am not a rocket scientist but this is not the solution for keeping tickets out of scalpers hands. Somewhere a ticket broker has an office full of people snagging tickets online. Meanwhile Joe Six Pack either has to take a day off of work or he has to take a real long bathroom break to try and get tickets. I guess they call it progress...

Looking at the Cubs for 2005 a couple of things seem different. The Cubs could have an Opening Day outfield featuring three left handed hitters. When was the last time that happened? The Northsiders will finally enter the season with a lefty in the starting rotation(Shawn Estes didn't count in my world). Finally, the Cubs are getting some of the lefty/righty balance we complained about for years. Now if only they'd concentrate on OBP.

I am still really concerned with the lack of a leadoff hitter. I don't think Patterson is suited for that role. Patterson is a #6 or #7 hitter right now. He's a great defensive CF. But you don't have to leadoff just because you are fast and play CF. With the current Cub roster the best option to leadoff might be, errrr should I say it, Wo... I mean Todd Walker. The guy is not the speed man you would like at the top of the lineup, but he can hit. As the roster is configured today Walker would be my choice. Now don't get me started on his defense...

I still think Jim Hendry is gonna make a move to bring in an established closer. It may not be in March. Come June, Oakland will probably be pretty far back in the AL West. That's when the Dotel deal will happen. That will give Dempster and Borowski Spring Training, April, and May to show if they can close big league games. If one is succesful the Cubs will pass on the Dotel deal.

Every Spring, I hear the same thing about training in Arizona. It's hard to judge hitters because of the altitude. (Remember the spring that Mark Bellhorn put up Maris-esque numbers?) You can't judge pitchers because the ball doesn't move like it will back in the north. If these are both true why do the Cubs train in Arizona and not Florida? Some will tell you the weather, it never rains in AZ so the players get their work in. El Nino has taken care of that this year. Would the Cubs be better served training in Florida? In the Cactus League you can't judge hitters nor pitchers. Can you judge young hitters and pitchers talent better in the Grapefruit League? If you can why are the Cubs still training in Mesa?

Anyways, I'm heading back to the VIRTUAL WAITING ROOM