So that wasn't too much fun. The Cubbies came to town and took two of three very boring games from our St. Louis Cardinals at Busch. Some 9th inning heroics Saturday prevented the weekend from being a total disaster, but nonetheless, I awoke Monday morning with a disatisfied taste in my mouth.

The Cubs did nothing special. They simply scored a few more runs than we did, pitched decently, and made few mistakes defensively. Sunday's lopsided score of 7-1 was a poor indicator of how close and frusturating this series was. The Cardinals were simply flat offensively. It seemed Pujols, despite a meaningless homerun Friday (o.k...300 is kinda nice), was attempting his best Tino Martinez impression, hitting fly ball after fly ball to the Cubbies outfielders. Troy Glaus continued his abismal hitting against the Cubs this season going hitless in 12 at bats. Rick Ankiel and Adam Kennedy were two of the lone bright spots this weekend in an otherwise lack luster holiday weekend of baseball..At least the beer was cold...well kinda.

So here we sit, 3 1/2 games back in the Central. Milwaukee made a huge move Sunday by acquring C.C. Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians, making the race in the Central all the more interesting and surely solidifying the Cardinals as the underdog in what's shaping up to be a three team battle. Mark Mulder is scheduled to make a start this week against the Phillies. Tony Larussa is wasting no time in getting Mark back to action. I like it! Mulder's upcoming start could be a huge indicator of just what Mark will be able to contribute to this team this year. With the competiiton starting to really stack up in the Central, Mulder could prove to be a enromous difference maker in the Cardinals second half rotation...or perhaps this will just be another largely disappointing year for Mark.

Adam Wainwright needs to make a speedy return and start eating up some innings and saving our bullpen which is starting to emerge as a huge problem for this team. However, if this team has proved anything to us this year, it''s that we will find a way to continue winning games. There's over 70 games remaining on the schedule...plenty of time to patch holes and buff out the scratches. Patience is truly a virtue, and this city and ballclub may need to become very virtuous as the season progresses to the second half.

Nacho Mama!

Is it too much to ask to put an appropriate amount of cheese on my friggin Nachos. Friday night I needed a beer sponge and Nachos seemed like the way to go. I made my way to the concession stand, waited the standard 35 minutes in line, and placed my order. A beer and regular Nachos with Jalapenos in one of the corners...in case Im feeling dangerous. Not a tall order by any means. I paid the lady...I think it was a lady... and returned to my seats, refreshments in hand. The first three or four tortilla chips were generously covered in sweet sweet powdered Nacho cheese. Outstanding. But this is where the gravy train stopped Susie. The remaining 650 tortilla chips were drier than a Mexican with a lawnmower at 5pm. Now I'm not going back to the concession stand and waiting in line for another 1/2 hour...and Im sure more cheese would not have been free. So I'm stuck with a stack of brittle, somewhat stale chips...I couldnt even give them away.

In a world where the cost of living rises daily and gasoline prices are on the brink of taking away many of the things we enjoy in this country, can we not have a paper tray full of cheese soaked tortilla chips? Come on! In the words of Mike Shannon, "Old Abner's done it again!"

Lets have an ice cream social.  I'll bring the Neopolitan   p_hellwege@hotmail.com