SIGH

SIGH. I seem to sigh a lot this baseball season and just when I think I'm done, the Cubs do something to break my heart again. Sure, I've accepted the fact that they're 20 games under .500 (and by "accepted" I mean "the thought of it makes me want to punch kittens"...no worries kitty lovers, I will not do so).

So, yesterday, the Cubs traded Derrek Lee to the Braves and in return, got some low level pitching prospects that we'll probably never hear of again. Now, I can't blame D Lee in the least for waiving his no-trade clause and getting the hell outta dodge....I'd have done the same thing. But first Ted Lilly, and now another one of my favorites is gone. Good thing we still have Rami (but for how long?). The lineup they throw out to play on a daily basis is now about 90% rookie. Unheard of names like Darwin Barney (who's actually a white guy-who knew?) and Casey Coleman (is his name Casey? I'm not actually sure)....and some Mateo guy. Who ARE these people?

I'll miss Derrek Lee. He's one of the few guys that I've heard is an even better human being than baseball player. When a player has been with a team for 7 years like D Lee has, it sort of starts to feel like a family-granted a really dysfuctional one, but still. We all grieved when we heard about D Lee's little girl having that eye disease and losing her sight, and we also embraced him when he became a Cub, even though he had just won a WS ring with the Fish and was always a Cub killer. He's one of the few good ones left. I'm happy for him-he now has an opportunity to make it to the post season, something he would not have the opportunity to do if he were to stay on the Cubs. He's not getting any younger, you know (sadly, he is my age, but that's old in professional sports). Good bye D Lee, we will miss you. I hope to God Cubs fans cheer for him tomorrow....as the Braves invade Wrigley. How weird will that be to see him at Wrigley wearing a Braves uni?

I totally skipped over Mike Fontenot getting traded last week. Prolly cuz I don't really care.

It is mind boggling to believe that this is the team that just TWO years ago, won the NL central and made it to the playoffs for the second year in a row (let's not even mention their playoff record, mmmmkay?). This team has gone from hero to zero at a record pace. Yep, sounds like the Chicago Cubs, doesn't it? SIGH.

Some of the rookies give me a bit of hope for the future-Starlin Castro and Tyler Colvin come to mind. Time will tell if they'll just break my heart too.

Wanna know the saddest part? I will most likely continue being a Cubs fan. SIGH indeed.