Cubs 7 Brewers 1

Getty Photo/Jonathan Daniel

Box score.  45,069 on hand to see the Cubs explode for 5 in the 6th, in one of the most satisfying innings of the season on the road, against the rival Brewers.  The Cubs capture their third straight win.  In the game, Aramis racks up three doubles and a single, Fukudome doubles and tripes, Theriot triples, and the Brewers’ defense certainly doesn’t hurt the Cubs.  Also, Soriano and Theriot each steal a base.  Cubbies end up with 15 hits, a walk, and 7 runs.

Big Z was great, striking out 9 in 8 innings, giving up 5 hits, 2 walks, and no runs.  He also helps his cause with a single and an RBI.  The guy can rake.  I’m not quite sure why they sent Zambrano back out in the 8th.  He had thrown 103 pitches through 7, and the lead was 6 runs.  He ends up throwing 118.  It might be nice to give the bullpen some, like, practice, with a big lead.  They need it.

Getty Photo/Jonathan Daniel

Samardzija did come in and pitch the 9th: 1 K, 1 BB, 1 H, 1 ER.

Kerry Wood update: still on the DL, but was eligible to return tonight.  Seems like he’ll be back soon.

Len and Bob lost their audio feed for a couple of minutes in this game.  All you could hear was the fans and the sounds of the actual game.  It was amazing.  It’s not that I dislike Len and Bob, I actually like them quite a bit, it was just a huge relief not to hear constant (often inane) talking, and to be able to think about the game for yourself.  They should really offer a commentary-free broadcast of every game.

Tomorrow’s game is the ESPN game, Dempster vs. Parra, at 7pm CT.

Cubs      63-44  --
Brewers   60-47  3.0 GB
Cardinals 60-49  4.0 GB

The billion dollar men

Five groups have made the Tribune Co.’s cut to continue bidding on the Cubs and Wrigley Field.  All groups remaining have bid at least $1 billion.  The heads of the approved groups are:

Mark Cuban. Billionaire entrepreneur, often-controversial owner of the Dallas Mavericks, founder of HDNet.  Attended University of Pittsburgh and Indiana University.  Keeps a wonderful blog here.  Was once on Dancing with the Stars.  He got eighth.  Personally, I am all for Cuban becoming the owner.  He is clearly smart, and would no doubt be passionate and knowledgeable.  Also, he is by far the easiest to obtain information on, so it is easiest to picture his ownership.  He supposedly matches all fines levied on him by the NBA with a matching charitable donation.

Tom Ricketts. Chief executive of investment bank Incapital, AB and MBA from the University of Chicago.  Greatest accomplishment?  “Starting Incapital from scratch, and being back in the market as a major underwriter of bonds in a very short period of time. What Incapital’s done on a relatively small budget is unprecedented. Small investment banks don’t underwrite $40 billion in debt and open European offices. It’s unique, and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished.”  Fascinating.

Michael Tokarz. Chairman of business development company MVC Capital, BA and MBA from the University of Illinois.  Joining Tokarz’s group is a group led by New York City taxi mogul Andrew Murstein, Sports Properties Acquisitions Corp.  SPA includes Hank Aaron and Jack Kemp.  Also part of Tokarz’s group is “private equity investor and Republican operative” Fred Malek, who in the past has bid on the Nationals and owned a piece of the Rangers.

Hersch Klaff. Real estate investor in Chicago, born in South Africa, “in 1982, his first big deal was arranging (with partners), to buy the old Marshall Fields men’s building in downtown Chicago and redevelop it into a multi-tenant retail, office and medical complex.”

Leo Hindery. Media investor, runs New York-based InterMedia Partners, used to run the Yankee’s YES network.  He was presidential candidate John Edwards’s Senior Economic Policy Advisor 2006 to 2008, supposedly there was talk of him becoming the head of the Democratic National Committee in 2004, and he is currently an advisor to Barack Obama.

The stated goal of the Tribune Co. is to maximize revenues from the sale.  Reports from Comcast SportsNet say that Cuban’s bid was highest, at $1.3 billion.  There are also tax issues, which may eventually determine the winning bidder, aside from the size of the bids.  Here is coverage in the Sun-Times as well as as Crain’s.

Sadly, dreams of a Bill Murray ownership don’t seem likely to be realized.  But seriously, how cool would it be if this guy owned the Cubs?

Those guys at Fenway

Dennis Drinkwater (Boston.com)

I’ve been watching a lot of the All-Red Sox Network (ESPN) lately, and I’ve always wondered who those two guys always sitting right behind home plate at Fenway are.  One dude sits directly behind home plate, and the other dude sits a bit to the right, and looks quite a bit like my girlfriend’s father.  So I did some digging.

Mr. Directly Behind Home is Dennis Drinkwater, the president of Giant Glass.  Mr. Off To The Right is Jeremy Kapstein, a former baseball super-agent and now “Senior Advisor/Baseball Projects” for the Red Sox.

Jeremy Kapstein (AP)

I get a real kick out of these guys, especially Kapstein.  I can remember about one time he ever applauded anything that happened in the game.  I’ve never seen him eat a hot dog.  I remember once he drank some water.  He never flinches when balls are fouled back.  A real pro.  I remember after Manny Ramirez’s walk-off home run in last year’s ALDS, right when Manny made contact, Kapstein immediately got up and darted for the exit.  Gotta beat the rush.

Speaking of Manny’s walk-off, you can see Drinkwater’s face in the background here, and you can see Kapstein heading for the exit here (in the suit, back turned).

These guys are a somewhat different breed of fan than Pink Hat Guy, the guy often behind home plate at Wrigley.  I could only find this (not great) photo.  No one argues more vehemently with the umpires than him, and you can often actually hear him on the television broadcasts.  In fact, it might do him some good to calm down a bit.  But hey, he loves the Cubs, I love the Cubs, there you go…  His real name: Jim Anixter, president of wire and cable company A-Z Industries.  Reportedly he has launched a couple of unsucessful bids to buy the Cubs.