Play Ball!!

“Take me out to the ball game; take me out to the crowd…Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks; I don’t care if I ever come back….!!”

All right, boys and girls, you know what time of year it is….Opening Day of Baseball Season on April 6, 2009! Of course, I (like anyone sane *smile*) will be rooting for the Chicago Cubbies, and that is the theme of my blog today – Baseball and the Cubs.

Since I love this sport (and particularly this team), I’m going to include some baseball facts and then follow up with the 2009 Active Cubs Roster – complete with height, weight, and birthday!!


Fact #1 – Did you know?...Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. didn't miss a game in 16 years. He played in 2,632 consecutive games from April 30, 1982 to Sept. 19, 1998.

Fact #2 – Did you know?...Pitcher Nolan Ryan played 27 seasons in major league baseball and struck out more batters in his career than any other pitcher.

Fact #3 – Did you know?...Baseball stars from the National League and the American League played the first All-Star Game in 1933. The National League has won 40 of the 73 games. The game ended in a tie twice. In 1961 rain in Boston prevented extra innings and the game ended in a 1-1 tie. And in 2002, the game went 11 innings with the score knotted at seven before it was finally called off due to a lack of pitchers.


Ok, and here is the active line up for the Chicago Cubs for 2009:

2009 Active Cubs Roster Active Roster Pitchers B/T Ht Wt DOB 84 Neal Cotts L/L 6-1 200 03/25/80 46 Ryan Dempster R/R 6-2 215 05/03/77 57 Chad Gaudin R/R 5-10 190 03/24/83 63 Kevin Gregg R/R 6-6 240 06/20/78 37 Angel Guzman R/R 6-3 200 12/14/81 40 Rich Harden L/R 6-1 195 11/30/81 47 Aaron Heilman R/R 6-5 225 11/12/78 30 Ted Lilly L/L 6-1 190 01/04/76 49 Carlos Marmol R/R 6-2 180 10/14/82 45 Sean Marshall L/L 6-7 220 08/30/82 54 David Patton R/R 6-3 205 05/18/84 29 Jeff Samardzija R/R 6-5 220 01/23/85 51 Luis Vizcaino R/R 5-11 210 08/06/74 38 Carlos Zambrano S/R 6-5 255 06/01/81 Catchers B/T Ht Wt DOB 55 Koyie Hill S/R 6-0 190 03/09/79 18 Geovany Soto R/R 6-1 225 01/20/83 Infielders B/T Ht Wt DOB 17 Mike Fontenot L/R 5-8 170 06/09/80 6 Micah Hoffpauir L/L 6-3 215 03/01/80 25 Derrek Lee R/R 6-5 245 09/06/75 7 Aaron Miles S/R 5-8 180 12/15/76 16 Aramis Ramirez R/R 6-1 215 06/25/78 2 Ryan Theriot R/R 5-11 175 12/07/79 Outfielders B/T Ht Wt DOB 21 Milton Bradley S/R 6-0 225 04/15/78 1 Kosuke Fukudome L/R 6-0 185 04/26/77 4 Joey Gathright L/R 5-10 185 04/27/81 9 Reed Johnson R/R 5-10 180 12/08/76 12 Alfonso Soriano R/R 6-1 180 01/07/76

So, now that you know a little bit more about me (and the ONLY! team that matters *smile*), I bet you can live your life a little fuller, huh? *LOL* Nah, just joshing…Let’s just…

PLAY BALL!!

B.B. Walter