I just started reading Cubs Nation: 162 Games, 162 Stories, 1 addiction . I have a feeling this book will be pretty engrossing and somewhat depressing. It chronicles the season of the 2004 cubs, with one article/story for each game of the season. The motivation for the book was, of course, the painful 2003 playoffs and the subsequent improvements the Cubs made in the following offseason. Peter Gammons actually predicted the cubs to win the world series in 2004, and vegas was giving great odds on them too. Then everything just fell apart down the stretch - Prior was hurt, Sosa went from team icon to being run out of town, various members of the team feuded with the broadcast guys, and the Cubs blew a big lead down the stretch to miss the playoffs.
Speaking of offseason improvements, I still think things are looking good for the Cubs. The latest rumors are that we are the front-runners for Schmidt and Lilly, and that we're looking to sign Lofton as astopgap until Pie is ready to make the leap. I think this is great news - lofton is a great fit for many reasons, and he's one of Jennie's favorite players too! I'm not so sure about Lilly. He managed a so-so ERA in the tough AL east, but he was pitching in a pitcher's park and is very much a flyball pitcher - so coming to a hitter's park with sketchy OF defense might not be a good match. I still kind of feel it to be unlikely that the Cubs sign both of the pitchers, but if they did, this would be what we were looking at (with stat predictions). It's pretty awesome, the only issue is that Murton should get more playing time.
| POS | Player | BA/OBP/SLG/R/HR/RBI/SB |
| LF | Soriano | .295/.330/.510/112/38/97/32 |
| CF | Lofton | .270/.355/.420/90/1/56/36 |
| 1B | Lee | .322/.402/.570/98/42/122/12 |
| 3B | Ramirez | .292/.340/.550/87/45/112/2 |
| RF | Jones/Murton | (combined) .290/.345/.495/82/28/96/15 |
| C | Barrett | .290/.340/.505/76/20/78/1 |
| 2B | DeRosa | .275/.338/.430/78/75/2 |
| SS | Izturis | .255/.305/.340/60/1/48/5 |
B Blanco
B Murton/Jones
B Pagan
B Theriot
B Some FA Bench player
| Name | IP/W/K/BB/ERA/WHIP/CG/S |
| Zamrano | 210/21/198/97/3.24/1.28/2/0 |
| Schmidt | 197/16/165/70/3.67/1.31/3/0 |
| Hill | 175/12/180/79/3.99/1.21/1/0 |
| Lilly | 190/14/175/90/4.12/1.39/0/0 |
| Prior | 95/7/95/50/4.25/1.34/0/0 |
| Miller | 102/9/97/70/4.52/1.45/0/0 |
| Dempster | 69/4/59/40/3.87/1.41/0/32 |
| Howry | 79/5/67/14/3.20/1.16/0/12 |
| Wood | 58/2/72/45/3.61/1.31/0/0 |
| Eyre | |
| Wuertz | |
| Ohman | |
| Cotts |
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