Chicago Cubs Baseball

Chicago Cub Nation could use a shoulder to cry on today.  Make that two shoulders.   Preferably healthy.  And both belonging to Aramis Ramirez.

That may sound like a lot to ask for this 2009 season.  Then again, wishing for the improbable, if not the impossible, is part of being a Chicago Cub fan.

Spending any time at all around Cub baseball, one quickly learns that nothing comes easy.  Whether it’s blowing a lead in the late innings like Friday’s game with Milwaukee, or facing 100 years without a World Series title, Cubdom has learned patience isn’t just a virtue, it’s a survival technique.

This season is shaping up to be no different.  Not only is 2009 going to require patience of the team and its fans, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to have a refrigerator full of one’s favorite beverage either.

In the event you haven’t heard, the bug that’s been going around the Chicago Cub clubhouse struck again Friday night.  And this time it took a big bite out of the Cubs roster, leaving Ramirez with a dislocated shoulder after making a diving backhanded stop of a ground ball.

Ramirez is returning to Chicago today for MRI tests.  He’ll likely spend the next four to six weeks on the disabled list.

But the injury bug that has struck the Cubs this season is making the recent Swine Flu scare look like a case of the sniffles.  It’s even been rumored that Chicago general manager Jim Hendry has been on the phone with the CDC looking for suggestions.

This latest injury puts the Cubs most consistent and productive hitter on the DL along side the club’s staff ace in Carlos Zambrano.  The right-handed pitcher is on the 15-day DL with a left hamstring injury he suffered when beating out a bunt last Sunday.

Besides Ramirez and Zambrano, other Cub players to have missed playing time this season include Derrek Lee (neck), Geovany Soto (shoulder), Milton Bradley (groin) and Carlos Marmol (leg).  All the above players figured prominently in Chicago’s plans to successfully defend its Central Division title.  All have yet to even come close to reaching expectations.

Even manager Lou Piniella, who’s professional baseball career spans over four decades is baffled by the barrage of injuries.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Piniella said. Every day it seems to be something different. It just gets frustrating every time you start putting something together, something different happens.”

If there is a silver lining to this otherwise cloudy news, the Cubs will have an apt replacement for Ramirez at third.  Chicago picked up Ryan Freel in a trade with Baltimore for little-used outfielder Joey Gathright on Friday.  On the flip side, Freel has battled injuries throughout his big league career with Cincinnati and most recently with the Orioles.

So much for silver linings.