Not Coors Field...

Well from a hitters park to a pitchers park, although for some reason it hasn't played like one this year, mostly I'm sure cause Mr. Bonds is getting on base at a .600 clip, which would help anyone's offense. Here are the Cubs numbers at SBC(formerly Pac Bell Park which ESPN.com still called Pac Bell Park in their preview today)

Name__________G___.AVG___OBP__SLG___HR__HR/AB__Career HR/AB
Grudzielanek__22__.292__.324__.365___1___96.0_______79.7
Walker________7___.360__.407__.480___0___0.00_______43
Sosa__________15__.340__.464__.679___5___10.6_______13.9
Alou__________12__.326__.418__.558___3___14.3_______21.5
D. Lee _______12__.357__.440__.571___2___21.0_______21.8
Ramirez_______10__.361__.425__.556___2___18.0_______23.5
Patterson______6__.240__.231__.360___0____0.0_______33.7
Barrett_______12__.235__.372__.412___2___17.0_______42.1

Obviously it's more important whose on the mound than where the games are played, but I'm always curious about how guys do at certain ballparks. In a move that should drastically improve Maddux's 300 quest, Schmidt got moved up a day and will pitch tonight against Clement. Maybe it's cause Maddux hit him for a .375 clip (3 for 8) and Clement has gone 0-5 against him at the plate. (Okay maybe not) Lee and Ramirez have had some luck against Schmidt, while most everyone else has not. The Giants have been rather pitching poor this year and are trotting out some guy named T. Walker tomorrow who hasn't started all year and hasn't done very well in the bullpen either. Somebody named Lowry pitches Sunday and his numbers look good in limited action but so do Woods'.

As for the pitchers at SBC/Pac Bell:
Clement 1-2, 5.50 ERA, .212 BAA, 18IP, 16K, 13BB
Maddux 2-1, 1.29 ERA, .198 BAA, 21IP, 11K, 3BB
Wood 3-1, 4.50 ERA, .227 BAA, 30 IP, 36K, 18BB

Maddux has obviously enjoyed the spatious grounds up there in San Francisco. Clement has had his issues, particularly with walks for whatever reason. The big question is how to deal with Mr. Bonds (when you have an OBP over .500, you're automatically addressed as Mr. here at Transplanted Cubs Fan).

#1) I don't like the guy cause well he doesn't play for my team and he really does seem like a dick, media reports aside. #2)He's the closest thing to a baseball god since M. Mantle, B. Ruth or T. Williams. #3)I'll argue till it hurts, if you'd pitch to him like any normal All-Star his HR's would certainly go up along with his RBI's, but just about everything else would go down, including the most important number, which is how many runs the Giants will score against you. I think the league has turned into a bunch of patsies. Go after the guy and watch his numbers magically reduce to a .310/.450/.600. Still great numbers, but they will score less runs and your team will win more games against him. Luckily I believe Dusty believes in his pitching staff and unless first base is open, with runners on, and it's late, we'll see the Cubs go after him. Here are some of the Cubs pitchers numbers against Mr. Bonds:

___________AB___H___AVG___OBP___SLG___HR___BB
Maddux_____119__34__.286__.397__.529__8____22
Clement_____19__6___.316__.458__.842__3____5
Wood________20__6___.300__.481__.450__0____4
Mercker_____34__9___.257__.250__.429__0____0
Remlinger___17__6___.353__.500__1.118_4____5

Well apparently Maddux is as smart as they say as he won't even pitch to him and I don't even have to look it up, but I GUARANTEE that he hasn't walked a batter more in his career. Clement should be a little weary but he's been a better pitcher this year than in the past and if I see Remlinger in the game against him rather than Mercker, there will be lots of screaming going on in my house.

Unfortunately Prior/Z aren't pitching this series as I think if you're going to have any luck against Mr. Bonds and you're not lefty, you need to throw hard and willing to pitch inside and as Clemens said, "Knock that armguard right off". On a sidenote I would like to see when Bonds started wearing that armguard and if it coincides with the year 2000 when his numbers began to skyrocket.

In terms of the Cubs, 2 out of 3 would suffice and make the Giants seriously think about next year and start the planning for Bonds breaking Aaron's record. Also all the games are available on TV this weekend which makes me happy, including Maddux's 300 quest tomorrow on FOX for the whole nation. As always GO CUBS!!!!!