Jim Edmonds is a Cub and it’s all right. It’s even better that he’s going to be manning center field whether at the Friendly Confines or any other major league ball park.

By now, all of Cubdom has read or heard the talk about Edmonds’ diminishing skill set. The bat speed has slowed down. A step or two has been lost in the outfield. Clubhouse social skills are lacking.

He’s the second coming of Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Listening to the pundits, Cubdom is left to wonder what is right about the guy? And what in the world is Chicago Cub gm Jim Hendry thinking?

For one thing, Edmonds comes cheap. The Cubs brass shelled out a mere $290K for a four-time all star with a .286 career batting average and a Gold Glove winner eight times in his 16 seasons.

Secondly, he’s a veteran left-handed bat with a boat load of post-season experience. Which is more than can be said about Felix Pie, the player he replaced on the Cubs’ roster.

In last season’s NLCS, Pie struck out in his lone at bat against Arizona pitching, pretty much summing up his big league career. Pie, who was Chicago Cubs top prospect a short two years ago, has gone from can’t miss to can’t hit to won’t miss as he returns to Triple A Iowa to hone his hitting skills.

Even at two-thirds speed, Edmonds will likely better Pie at the plate and experience alone should compensate for the difference in defense.

Can we expect Edmonds to return to his former self? Not even Cub fans are that naive.

What makes Edmonds a steal is not that his wrists will suddenly become quicker or he’ll automatically regain those steps he’s lost by throwing on a Cubbie uniform. No, the signing of Edmonds is a deal for one reason.

Pride.

As a Cub fan I may not always have liked Edmonds as a Cardinal. But one has to respect the three D’s he brought to the game - drive, determination and desire.

Edmonds strikes me as the type of player who will leave baseball on his own terms, not based on press clippings. He may not be the player he once was, but pride can cover a lot of ground.

1. Roger Clemens alleged steroid use
2. U.S. energy policy
3. Rubik’s Cube
4. Chicago Cub baseball
5. It’s all too confusing for me

If the rest of Cubdom is anywhere near the vicinity of my mindset, “It’s all too confusing for me” looks like my best answer. It also goes along way in attempting to explain the 2008 Cubs.

Are they the Cubs who entered tonight’s game with San Diego tied for the best record in the National League? Or are they the team that dropped their sticks and balls on way to losing nine of 13?

Nearing the 40-game mark, this season has had more swings than your average pendulum. Call it perpetual emotion. And Cubdom is standing in the thick of it.

As are the Cubs. Week to week it’s uncertain whether the team we’ll see take the field is standing on soft or solid ground. If records alone tell the story then seven games above .500 would indicate a healthy start with the promise of even better to come.

But that’s when my 30 years as a Cub fan takes effect and reality bites. Chicago’s schedule has been a favorable one in the first seven weeks of the season, having played 22 of their first 39 games within the Friendly Confines.

Wrigley Field has been a happy advantage, which is far more than one can say when the Cubs are forced to pack their bags and catch a plane. They haven’t been exactly road kill, but the opposition hasn’t been exactly sad to see them coming either.

”I don’t have any answers to it,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said of his club’s road woes and inconsistent play. ”But it’s too early to draw any conclusions.”

I agree with Lou on both counts. Drawing conclusions is one step away from casting assumptions and that’s one road no Cub fan would want to venture down.

If nothing else, history has taught Cubdom well. There’s no easy answers to Chicago Cub baseball, but guessing is half the fun.

But in two seasons, spanning less than a year, Lilly the pitcher has left us with a pair of indelible impressions that in essence sum up the frustrations - and the hope - of Chicago Cubs baseball.

The first, and most unforgettable, the image of Lilly slamming his glove into the Chase Field turf after surrendering a home run to Arizona’s Chris Young in the second game of the NLDS.

Cub fans grimaced at, and with, the sight.

For that game, that moment, symbolized much more than the impending end to the Cubs 2007 World Series run. Most of all it showed the desperation and the pressure Chicago Cub players felt to win.

Then there was the Lilly of yesterday - and possibly of all of the tomorrows that this season will bring. In facing the D’Backs for the first time since that 8-4 loss last October, Lilly responded with his arm, his bat and with all the determination of a champion.

Just as the NLDS loss showed the vulnerability of Lilly’s character, yesterday’s performance re-established his resolve. Lilly’s seven-inning, three-hit effort propelled the Cubs to a much-needed win, but in the process possibly exorcised the Ghosts of Diamondbacks past.

To think yesterday’s showing wasn’t crucial to his present and future success would be to wholly and solely miss the point. Lilly may have said publicly last year’s meltdown didn’t effect this year’s efforts, but I believe privately he gave a different answer.

“Maybe a little bit,” Lilly said whether he thought back to last year’s NLDS performance. “I don’t want to admit it too much. You sort of let it go, but you don’t forget. And at the same time not try to come out of your game and do anything crazy.”

The only thing Lilly did “crazy” yesterday was shrug off the slag of a lackluster 2008 start.

There still may be ghosts lingering in Lilly’s closet. But for now, they’re hiding behind the curtain. And they just may stay there if Lilly continues to execute his pitches as he did yesterday.

After six weeks of Chicago Cubs baseball I think it’s safe to say that no one knows whether this 2008 version is coming, going - or both. I’m guessing Cub players are wondering the same.

Are they the Cubs that reeled off winning streaks of five and six games in April or are they the club that’s been dazed and abused for the past two weeks, losing eight of their last 11 as of Tuesday?

Despite this six-week roller coaster of a season, surprisingly, major league baseball pundits are standing by their predictions - which even more astonishingly, includes the Chicago Cubs. Sports Illustrated, John Kruk and Steve Phillips of ESPN, and Kevin Kennedy of Fox Sports have all gone on record picking the Cubs - some as far as the World Serious.

Evidently, this group didn’t read the scouting report that includes a five-man starting rotation of three, a closer who’s ability to get the save is as suspect as his arm, and a left fielder who not is an outfield liability, but is hitting less than he weighs. And that little list doesn’t include a sometimes shaky bullpen and Cub management’s continuing search for a center fielder - preferably someone who swings from the left side of the plate.

Oh yeah. Then there’s the defense. In dropping a 5-3 decision to lowly Cincinnati, Monday night, Cub fielders committed two errors, accounting for all five unearned runs.

”Like I told my guys after the ballgame, ‘Make the other team beat you. Just don’t give it to them,”’ manager Lou Piniella said following the loss. ”And I know they’re not trying [to give it away]. At the same time, you play like that, you’re going to lose most of the time.”

Not that there hasn’t been individual bright spots. Derrek Lee looks to have returned to 2005 form (has it really been that long?), while Carlos Zambrano is letting his pitching do all the talking. And what sweet music it has been.

Geo Soto is hitting and catching his way into Rookie of the Year candidacy, even topping the performance of every Cubbie’s favorite Japanese player, Kosuke Fukudome.

But individuals don’t win World Series championships. And neither does a team with more holes than a side street after winter.

The more complex answer is a commander-in-chief who’s unbending in his commitments despite repeated negative outcomes with an unyielding stubbornness that results in a tyrannical fit when his decision-making abilities are called into question.

”That’s why I told him, obviously I knew. I’m not going to take Soriano out for defense. [Rogers] knows it, you know it, and unless it’s a double switch — that’s the only way he’s going to come out of a ballgame. Everybody knows that. You don’t take superstar players out of the lineup. You don’t do it.” - Lou Piniella, Chicago Cubs manager

“Just make sure they hit it someplace other than left” - Bob Brenly, former major league manager, WGN-TV Cubs announcer

No, I’m not referring to the current political administration although I very well could be. Unfortunately for Cubdom, the above description references Chicago manager Lou Piniella, who continues to defend and enable his “superstar” players while the Cubs keep losing (2-6 over their last eight games).

Lou’s latest tirade came Thursday, following a 4-3 loss to Milwaukee. Lou blew when a reporter asked whether he considered a defensive replacement for Alfonso Soriano in the ninth inning. It was a legitimate question considering Soriano was in his first game back from the disabled list and the Brewers three-run comeback was enabled by a double that many who saw the game felt Soriano should have caught.

Instead, Piniella came uncorked at the thought that someone would dare question his managerial skills. Lou’s tirades were cute at first, but now have become a tiresome distraction to the real questions surrounding Soriano and Wood’s abilities to get the job done.

If Thursday was an anomaly to Soriano’s defensive ability, then Piniella would have been inbounds. But it’s not.

Again last night, Soriano misplayed two catchable balls that yielded a St. Louis run. How bad was it? The Cardinals’ Chris Duncan looks more comfortable in the outfield than does Soriano.

In a brief moment of honesty, WGN announcer Bob Brenly summed up Soriano’s play (see quote above). By the next inning, however, he and his partner Len Kasper, were both back to normal, playing Judas to the truth and excusing Soriano’s lack of defensive play on playing under the lights.

Friday was the lights, on Thursday it was the wind.

The reality is it’s Lou coddling an overpaid player who’s one dimensional mindset outweighs his skill set. Continuing to support negative behavior is called enabling.

And there’s no excuse for it.

After pounding Milwaukee, 19-5, to close out the month of April, less than 24 hours later the Cubs allowed the Brewers to stage their own May Day Parade in the ninth inning, dropping a 4-3 decision. The loss left the Cubs one-half game out of the NL Central lead, heading into the weekend series with front-running St. Louis.

Kerry Wood, the Cubs designated closer, was the culprit yet again, allowing all three Brewer runs on three hits, a hit batter and an intentional walk. It was Wood’s third blown save in seven opportunities to go along with his 2-1 record.

May Day also saw the return of Alfonso Soriano from the disabled list to the Chicago Cubs lineup. Soriano assumed his customary left field position and lead-off spot in the Cubs lineup, where he promptly went 0 for 4, dropping his season batting average to .164.

Coincidentally, it was a shot off the bat of Milwaukee’s Gabe Kapler that sailed over the head of Soriano for a double and set the stage for the ninth inning comeback. While some in attendance questioned Soriano could have caught the ball, Fonzi had his own thoughts on the play.

“I feel 100 percent with my legs and I think I have a very good jump,” Soriano said. “He hit a line drive off balance and the ball goes like one bounce to the left-field wall. I think the wind got that ball.”

Oh, yes. It was the wind. Reed Johnson can run a country mile and slam head first into a wall to track down a ball, but for Soriano Kapler’s hit can be explained away as nothing more than a wind-aided double.

For myself, Soriano’s absence did not make my heart grow fonder. Since arriving in the National League, Soriano has proven to be a five-tool player with a one-tool mindset.

Of course it helps to have a manager more apt to enable than he is to insist. Where in lies the crux of today’s loss. And probably even a few more before this.

As much as Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella knows baseball, he’s also proven to be unyielding in his decisions. Unless of course, it involves the lineup card. Then it’s best to have as much eraser as you do pencil.

The decision to make Wood the Cubs closer was settled in March. My guess is Wood will be the closer in September regardless the number of blown saves. Just like Lou stuck with last year’s closer Ryan Dempster and his ups and downs.

As for Soriano, he’s as atypical lead-off man as there is in baseball. He doesn’t take pitches, his OBP is mediocre at best and his strikeout to walk ratio is almost 4:1.

But don’t expect to see Soriano anywhere else in the Cubs lineup besides batting lead off.

”Look, Alfonso is a special talent,” Piniella said. ”Forget the other positions in the lineup. He is going to hit leadoff, and that’s the end of it. You lead him off, and then you do what you have to do second through eight.”

Lou has spoken. As for the rest of us? We’re all just April fools.

”Best play I’ve ever seen in person. Maybe the best play ever,” Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot said.

Johnson is batting .308 through 19 games and has an OBP of .395. Whatever Reed has done thus far at the plate will likely be overshadowed by this sensational catch.

While cliche in its usage of describing any period of time, there’s perhaps no more apropos phrase to summarize Chicago Cubs history than simply to say, “What a long strange trip it’s been.”

Only the New York/San Francisco Giants have won more games than the Cubs and without any research attached to this next statement, I believe it’s safe to say no major league team has lost more either.

I believe it’s also within reason to say there is no more loyal fan base in any professional sport than those that make up Cubdom. Despite what Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman might say or think.

For the better part of its 100-plus years history, Chicago Cub baseball has endured more futility than fruitfulness, more tribulations than triumphs. And so has Cubdom in its loyalty to a city and a baseball team, who’s most noteworthy claim is being known as “lovable losers.”

I’ve been fortunate enough to have followed the Cubs through 2,001 of its 10,000 victories. In that same time I’ve seen 2,162 defeats.

The Cubs have won a National League Division title three times in that period and have finished last on seven occasions. Thirty-eight different men have managed the Chicago Cubs in that time - even if for one game.

Yes, a long, strange trip indeed.

Maybe the nickname that has been attached to the Cubs can be applied to us, their fans, as well. Like our favorite team, we win some, and we lose some. If we look hard enough I’m sure somewhere on the roadmap of our lives it’s dotted with our glories as well as those speckles we’d just as soon forget.

Like the Chicago Cubs, we endure. And we hope for a good day and dream of a better tomorrow.

Happy 10,000 victory, Chicago Cubs. You’ve earned every one of them.

It’s been five games since Chicago Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano went on the 15-day disabled list with his annual leg problems. Add another game to that total since the touted outfielder has taken an at-bat for the Cubs.

What has Chicago Cubs baseball done since Soriano’s been shelved? Since Soriano left the first inning of last Tuesday’s game with the Cincinnati Reds, the Cubs have won five out of six, moved into first place in the NL Central Division and scored an incredible 51 runs.

All that and more without the aid of their $13 million lead-off man. Amazingly enough, none of the players who’ve replaced Soriano have felt compelled to beat outfield boredom with the Wrigley hop or as I like to call it, Alfonso’s Leap of Faith.

‘That’s why I make the little jump, to make that play look a little difficult, because sometimes I might not make the play on a routine fly ball,” Soriano said.

Fortunately Soriano subs Mark DeRosa, Reed Jonhson and recent call-up Matt Murton haven’t caught the complacency bug nor fallen victim to the random acts of boredom by Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez.

Offensively, the Chicago Cubs have thrived with Soriano out. The Cubs have hit double-digit run production in three of the six games and scored 13 back-to-back against Pittsburgh. Their 18-hit performance today was the most since the Cubs collected 20 against St. Louis last August.

Johnson, Mike Fontenot and Eric Patterson have taken turns as Soriano’s lead-off replacement. While the trio went just a combined 4 for 27, they did match Soriano in runs scored with seven.

Perhaps the biggest recipient of the Soriano-less lineup has been Ryan Theriot. The shortstop has gone 15 for 28, scoring nine times and driving in four. Incidentally, Theriot had just one RBI before last Tuesday.

So are the Cubs a better team without Soriano in the lineup? Probably not.

But they certainly are more versatile without him. And as the saying goes, it’s hard to argue with success.

But we all know where the road paved with the best of intentions leads. And if the Chicago Cub brain trust doesn’t know, they’re finding out quickly, barely one year and two weeks into Soriano’s multiyear contract.

That’s how long it’s taken for the “star” left fielder to land on the disabled list not once, but twice in his short duration with the Cubbies.

Soriano’s latest shelving came one inning into Tuesday’s contest with Cincinnati. Following one of his “hop and catch” plays in left field, Soriano left the field limping. An MRI on Wednesday revealed a strained right calf muscle, landing the left fielder on the 15-day disabled list.

Chicago Cubs outfielders have demonstrated a flair for the flamboyant in recent years. From Sammy Sosa’s bop and hop home run trot to Soriano’s leap of faith catch, showmanship has often outweighted productivity.

Take Soriano for instance. In 2007, the left fielder came to Wrigley Field with an advanced billing that in addition to star power, promised some boom in his bat. The result was Soriano didn’t hit his first home run until the end of April and May wasn’t any better.

This year, Soriano is hitting less than his weight (180 pounds) with a whopping two home runs and OBA of .230. I guess that’s what the Cubs get for a $13M lead-off hitter. The best part is Soriano’s salary ups to $16M next year and from 2010-14 he gets paid an incredible $18M annually.

There’s no question Soriano has all the tools - all five of them. Unfortunately for the Chicago Cubs, he chooses when and where he uses them.

For example, the experiment to move Soriano from left to center field was short lived and eventually abandoned. A similar fate followed Cub manager Lou Piniella’s decision to drop Soriano down in the batting order from his customary lead-off slot.

Sure, Soriano accommodates. He graciously accepts the changes and says all the right things. He’s learned his lessons well.

Remember, this was the same Alfonso Soriano who almost was placed on the disqualified list for refusing to play the outfield for the Washington Nationals. The episode was dismissed by both parties as a misunderstanding, but we all know what uniform he’s wearing these days - and for years to come.

With all of his talent, the focus is beginning to turn towards his inabilities.  After all, what good is the equipment if it’s sitting on the shelf?