First things first
For me, and I think for a lot of the guys, we’ve been waiting for this. Being in first, you can take a lot of pressure off yourself as far as looking at your own numbers and things of that nature. When you see your team at the top of the list in first place, now your numbers seem like they go out the door. It’s the team that matters. Whether you’re having a good year or bad year, the team recognizes, “Hey, we’re in first place right now. We have a couple months left and it’s all about winning baseball games.”
If you can take the focus off what you’re doing as an individual, I think that’s the main goal of our team — to have everybody involved in that team aspect of things and just concerned about winning ballgames. There are guys who got off to slow starts and I think being in first and really concentrating on what the team needs to do to stay there is only going to benefit everybody. At the end of the year, you usually see guys on good teams will have pretty solid years individually. We have to be smart enough to realize that. If you can have a good year as a team, your numbers will be right where they need to be.
All the injuries and all the ups and downs we’ve gone through, we can finally see ourselves in first place. We know it can go away tomorrow with a loss and a St. Louis win. But it’s helped us kind of refocus on what’s important, which is winning baseball games.
— Reed
Reed Between the Lines 
Great Post Reed, that is exactly what the team needs…. Focus on the team and the rest will take care of itself.
Great series and I hope to get to Wrigley soon…
Go Cubs Go!!!
Sounds good to me! Trust me – none of us fans care about individual numbers or individual plate appearances. Just work together, and find ways to win games. I’m looking forward to an October reversal – the frickin’ Dodgers are where the Cubs were last year, so I’d REALLY love to see the Cubbies crush them in first round of the playoffs this year, and then go on to shock the Phillies. Wouldn’t that be sweet!!!
~Reed~
You have a way of simplifying things that I like. Win games, the rest takes care of itself. This team is looking really good right now and we are playing as a team, which is something we lacked for awhile. We have a lot of injuries, but we also have some young guns that are picking up where needed. This is a great ballclub and I hope they don’t go changing a lot of it now that we are seeing some production. Tell Fontenot that I still believe in him as our everyday second baseman and I’m quite frankly tired of people saying he isn’t good enough to do it, now he just needs to believe in himself. I wish we got to see you start more often, I love the way you play. Go Cubs Go, let’s beat those Astros and stay on top!
~Milli~
Reed,
Congrats to you and the guys for taking over 1st today. Great job by Harden and I’m loving the continued improvements in the offense since the AllStar break. Maybe the break was just what the team needed to clear their heads and start playing great baseball like we all knew you all are capable of. We have a talented group of guys and we can really make a good run in these last two months if we can stay away from any more injuries. Lets hope all the bad is left behind in the first half and nothing but good all the way thru to October. Another solid game today Reed. Go get the Stros tomorrow night! Mary R.
Congratulations to you and all the guys Reed! All of your hard work and your amazing positive attitude have truly paid off as I knew it would! So are you giving Big Z some pointer’s on blogging? Just finished reading his and think it’s great too 🙂
This has to be my favorite post by you Reed. First place feels pretty awesome. It’s great to see the team effort from everyone and hopefully this keeps us in first. Good luck to you and the rest of the team.
When a player is struggling, and you see a player on another team doing well, it is only natural for a fan to wish we could acquire him, but that rarely works. Being a star on another team does not usually translate into being a star for Chicago teams. That’s how we end up with those huge salaries we can’t dump. When you have a player with a history of great
hitting, who is in a bad slump, the smartest thing you can do is help him out of it… And so it is with Fontenot. He didn’t just forget how to hit, or lose the ability. That happens gradually, not all at once. Something is wrong with either his personal life or his vision, and we hope the Cubs have enough sense to see him through it. Even if his hitting continues along the season lines, he is helping his team to be where it is, and replacing him would be very bad for team morale. And, of course, it would be just our luck to replace him, and then watch him start tearing the cover off the ball for another team.
Reed…Congratulations to you and the rest of the players for being our first place Cubbies!! You guys deserve it!!
Keep up the great work as a team and just take one game at a time. I will be at the game on Wed…hope to see you in the line up! Let’s kick some Houston butt!!!!
Reed,
Congrats man to you and the team for never laying down this season. Now 1st place? Gosh, when you guys play as a team that lineup is one of the most potent, dangerous lineups in the bigs! Top-to-bottom. Great job Cubbies, keep it rolling.
You’ve got the right attitude, RJ. Congratulations on making it to the top spot, though, as you say, the battle continues.
Hey, one of you Cubs players should get on Twitter. Maybe Fontenot? After all, you gotta keep it “short” there. (Sorry, Mike.) Check me out at:
http://twitter.com/dat_cubfan_dave
Go Cubs tonight!
You’ve got the right attitude, RJ. Congratulations on making it to the top spot, though, as you say, the battle continues.
Hey, one of you Cubs players should get on Twitter. Maybe Fontenot? After all, you gotta keep it “short” there. (Sorry, Mike.) Check me out at:
http://twitter.com/dat_cubfan_dave
Go Cubs tonight!
I wonder if you actually read this? Well, we’ll take a win tonight after 13 hard fought innings. I happened to be the overly exicited fan awaiting your departure from the locker room tonight, but you gave no props! Nice infiniti.. I have one too! Oh well, still your number one fan. Honestly though, I love when I arrive at Wrigley and #9 is starting out in center! Hope you are enjoying Chicago and get out on the town! Come out in Wicker Park… wicked.
Reed-
First of all…congrats on taking over first place!
I also wanted to thank you for your style of play. Without it, the Cubs would not be where they are today. The way you play all out every minute you are on the field has a great influence on lots of people, and I really look up to you. Thanks so much for all you do to contribute to the team and the community!
-Kelley
I am getting so sick of watching the cubs strike out on a close pitch…. That is not how a champion plays the game…. Ty Cobb was known for reaching out of the strike zone and hitting a pitch meant to be an intentional walk… That is what a great hitter does…. They don’t count on the umps to get them on base… This isn’t freaking Judge Judy…. HIT THE BALL !!!….. If you can put your bat on it… HIT THE BALL !!!….. Reed, you don’t have this problem… Neither does Lee…. and that is about it… the rest of the team is playing like their momma gave birth to a daughter…. you slobs are getting tired from the long season…. you have lost your hunger to hit the ball.. take a long walk in the woods…. go fishing…. do what you got to do to get hungry and play aggressively !! Go ask your stat man to look up how many times the Cubs have struck out in the past month looking to get the call on 3-2…. It is sickening… Every pitch.. Every Hit…. it all counts… one hit could be the difference in winning the division…. one hit could be the difference in winning the wildcard spot…. one hit matters… everyday… every play… and looking on 3-2, and playing lawyer ball…. my god… grow up, and get some “I want to win” in ya’s….
Hey!!! I saw you yesterday at the game. Sorry you lost. I like Lou’s Decision to but in Big-Z as the pinch hitter though. He got a standing ovation for that. One thing I wanted to know. Do you have certian players that pick up on the other teams signs???? Please respond at zjjbaseball@comcast.net.
GO CUBS!!!!!!!!!!!
REEDER, IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE YOU GUYS STARTED PLAYING TO YOUR POTENTIAL. ALL THE LITTLE THINGS DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. MOVING A RUNNER UP AND ACTUALLY JUST TRYING TO TAKE THE BALL THE OTHER WAY WITHOUT WORRYING IF YOU GET A HIT OR NOT. HITTING THE CUT-OFF MAN. YOU KNOW, ALL THE THINGS YOU DO. HOPE TO SEE YOU IN S.D. IN AUGUST. DON’T LIKE SEEING LILY ON THE D.L. HOPEFULLY THE GUYS WILL STEP UP. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK KID. S.C.
REEDER, IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE YOU GUYS STARTED CLICKING. ALL THE LITTLE THINGS YOU DO TO WIN BALL GAMES MAKES A DIFFERENCE. MOVING A RUNNER UP, HITTING THE BALL THE OTHER WAY, HITTING THE CUT-OFF MAN. ALL ADDS UP TO WINS. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK KID. HOPE TO SEE YOU IN S.D. IN AUGUST. S.C.
Reed, I hope your foot heals up as fast as you can grow a beard. That was rotten luck!
~Reed~
I just read about your fractured foot! NO! I am so sad, I was hoping to see you on August 8th when I got to Colorado for a game in the Rockies series. Hopefully you’ll heal fast and get back in there, this team needs your spark! Great game today…Go Cubs Go!
~Milli~
Reed,
After having watched the last ten games, and seeing not only Soriano’s hap-hazard attitude and errors (not to mention that idiotic hop with each catch), but also Ramirez’s lack of hustle, you need to do everything possible to heal as fast as you can so you can LEAD these high priced Jokers with your 120% attitude and hustle. Sorry your hurting dude, get better soon, we the fans need to see you in the line up, playing baseball the way it should be played…..IE Ty Cobb, Ricky Henderson, Pete Rose…..
Get well soon, man. We need your bat/glove back in that lineup for the pennant race.
Ouch!!!!!!!!! That has to hurt, Hope you recover soon.
You are a valuable part of the team. In your defense, we have never seen you foul a ball off your foot before. On the other hand, your little team-mate wore an ankle guard all last year, and this year seems to have lost it, or forgets to wear it, or, perhaps is trying to teach himself not to foul the ball off his foot. It isn’t working. He has hit his foot several times, the last time, it knocked him to the ground. Left-handed hitters seem to have this problem. PLEASE…..
Ouch!!!!!!!!! That has to hurt, Hope you recover soon.
You are a valuable part of the team. In your defense, we have never seen you foul a ball off your foot before. On the other hand, your little team-mate wore an ankle guard all last year, and this year seems to have lost it, or forgets to wear it, or, perhaps is trying to teach himself not to foul the ball off his foot. It isn’t working. He has hit his foot several times, the last time, it knocked him to the ground. Left-handed hitters seem to have this problem. PLEASE…..tell Fontenot to wear protection when he bats. No matter how strong a man is, those bones in the foot are delicate.