The Gray Lady Is Open

Year 90 of baseball without a championship begins at Wrigley Field today. Kerry Wood returns to test his arm for the first time this season. A new right fielder takes the field for the first time in a decade. All that and what are people talking about?

Steve Stone and his mouth.

Steve had the audacity to suggest that guys who aren't living up to expectations try to adjust.

"...if you keep saying you can't change your mechanics, and if in fact your mechanics are partially responsible for you getting hurt every year, you've got a couple of choices: You can take all the money you've made -- which is a bundle -- and you can go sell cars. Or you can make some adjustments and try to stay around this league for 10 years."

Thank god someone is saying this. What stinks is that it's not the manager of the Cubs.

The benefit of having Stone in the media klieg lights is that he can act as a shadow manager. If Dusty is unwilling/scared to suggest that Wood change, then having Stone say so with full public awareness might have the same effect as if Dusty said it. Hell, it might get Dusty to say to confrong issues in the privacy of the locker room that he wouldn't have touched otherwise.

Keep it up, Stoney. I've always said you'd be a better field manager than a GM. Keep needling these guys.

Outlook

Milwaukee is a team this Cubs' team needs to pound. The 10-7 record the Cubs posted against the Brewers in 2004 won't cut it. If this team wants to blow games against the Arizonas of the league, then they need to make it up by beating ther other weaklings into a pulp. The Brewers need to give the Cubs about 13 wins this season.

This series is an early gut check for this team.