Leading Up to the Cubs/Sox Series

You don't really give a shit about Cubs vs. Rays or Sox vs. Pirates do you? Neither do we. So with the Sun-Times' scribe Chris De Luca releasing his all-city team, we decided to show you our picks.

I haven't been to a Cubs-Sox game, but mainly for the reason that I don't want to get arrested. I don't want to be that guy who gets in a pissing match. Don't get me wrong, I want to go sooner then later to one these crosstown rivalry games; but I just know that I'm going to go there with full intentions of just watching the baseball game. Then I'm going to be seated next to some jackass, be it a Sox or Cubs fan who feels the need to start shit with the other teams fan base in the section. A few Miller Lites later, punches start getting thrown and I end up in handcuffs.

I know this will most likely happen.

That's why I generally just watch the game at bar or with my buddies who are Cubs fans, because the only thing that eventually happens are disputes, which generally ends in accusations of being a terrorist. That's the way our friends are.

So without further adeiu, Dr. C and Noce's all-city team.

CATCHER: GEOVANNY SOTO, GEOVANNY SOTO
1ST BASE: DERREK LEE, DERREK LEE
2ND BASE: MARK DEROSA, MARK DEROSA
3RD BASE: JOE CREDE, JOE CREDE
SHORTSTOP: RYAN THERIOT, ORLANDO CABRERA
LEFT FIELD: CARLOS QUENTIN, CARLOS QUENTIN
CENTER FIELD: REED JOHNSON, REED JOHNSON
RIGHT FIELD: JERMAINE DYE, KOSUKE FUKUDOME

PITCHING ROTATION: ZAMBRANO, LILLY, FLOYD, DANKS, DEMPSTER / ZAMBRANO, VAZQUEZ, DANKS, DEMPSTER, FLOYD

MIDDLE RELIEF: CARLOS MARMOL, BOONE LOGAN, MATT THORNTON / SCOTT LINEBRINK, MATT THORNTON, BOONE LOGAN
SET-UP MAN: SCOTT LINEBRINK / CARLOS MARMOL
CLOSER: BOBBY JENKS / BOBBY JENKS

MANAGER: LOU PINIELLA / LOU PINIELLA

As you can see, were both pretty like-minded on the infield. Soto is younger and has better power numbers, though AJ is having a good year so far batting .301. His RBI's would be higher if he didn't have to hit in the two-hole.

Despite Alexi Ramirez' hot bat recently, we both took DeRosa because we feel he's a better overall hitter. We take Crede for his defense and great April, and me personally well, I don't want the pig man on my team. Plus Noce thinks Crede is the guy you want at the plate down a run with two outs and a runner in scoring position. One word to describe him: clutch. Theriot is my pick at short, and with his average it's easy to see why. Noce went with Cabrera's defense (even though Cabrera had to call Noce to make sure no errors were in this post) and his finally coming around with the bat.

In the outfield, I'm taking Jermaine over Kosuke. I know Fukudome is quicker and plays better defense, but I think Jermaine has been in situations that Fukudome hasn't been yet in the majors, and is suitted to help in a postseason run. You can put either in there and argue.

Our pitching rotations are set 1 thru 5, with my rotation including Lilly, while Noce wants Vazquez. I picked Lilly because he's looked better then Vazquez has in last couple starts, and I like to go R-L-R-L-R as opposed to Noce's R-R-L-R-R.

The bullpens are equal; with Noce going with Marmol in the eighth. I subscribe to the Lou Piniella get Marmol in as soon as the situation is critical. Plus, Linebrink has justified his 19 million over 4 years contract, thus far.

We both go Jenks, though Noce originally had Kerry Wood. I was stunned when he typed that, but he rethought that one out.

For manager, we'll both take the cranky old bastard. Ozzie is too much of a roller coaster, but that's not to say Lou couldn't turn that way if the Cubs lost six in a row. Having never lost more than two in a row keeps Lou docile, but he seems to have his team do exactly what he wants, while Guillen has no clue what to expect.

That's our all-city team. Feel free to put your changes on what you would put out there if you like. I was hoping there was some more fight footage in Wrigley/Comiskey, but all I could come up with was this:



And even though I'm a Sox fan, I found this on there and thought it was funny. Yes, you will have many more hot girls at a Cubs game then you will a Sox game, but I have seen hot girls at Comiskey, so don't believe this bullshit. But I still find this funny.