Good afternoon. Welcome to the 3rd edition of Ten Things I think I think (TTITIT). How's that for an abbreviation? Well, it's been very busy over the last few weeks, as I've been finalizing the Cubbie Nation website, and developing content. I appreciate your patience during this time, and promise that this will still be a weekly piece, with the quality that I think Cub fans demand.

That said, a few thoughts for your consideration:

I have a small request for Cub fans who wish to still debate whether Alfonso Soriano should continue to lead off...Please stop. Putting aside the fact that Lou Piniella is quoted as saying "We'll put him back in left field and lead him off when he's ready to go" , there is still the issue that he is -- and likely will continue to be -- his best at the lead-off spot. Don't believe me? Check the career stats.

I Split PA AB BA OBP SLG OPS
--—-————-—-————
Batting 1st 2856 2642 .293 .340 .548 .888
Batting 2nd 40 40 .125 .125 .200 .325
Batting 3rd 687 630 .260 .310 .452 .762
Batting 4th 44 41 .195 .227 .390 .618
Batting 5th 626 583 .268 .312 .513 .824
Batting 6th 24 24 .292 .292 .542 .833
Batting 7th 76 72 .306 .333 .486 .819
Batting 8th 234 220 .305 .335 .441 .776
Batting 9th 309 286 .248 .292 .462 .754

Soriano is a .900 OPS star (albeit streaky) when leading off; and a middling player, with rally-killing tendencies when not. Seriously, let it go.

It's been twenty-five years since the infamous Lee Elia rant. Still good stuff; even to this day. But when I listen to the audio, what I really think about is the absence of the managers of old in baseball; the true "old-school". Guys like Whitey, Lee, Earl, and Trader Jack are sorely missed. If only for the press conferences.

I was in the stands for the Mets - Cubs matchup on Tuesday. Let me say: if you're a Cubs fan, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more exciting Cub moment this season than the Ronny Cedeno grand slam; and if you're a Mets fan, start your "Cut Sosa" rants now. Yeah, he was that bad; and I think he's going to cost you a lot of games.

Felix Pie has quietly raised his batting average up to .237 thru Thursday. This is even more exciting than Cedeno and Theriot being red-hot. If he can sustain it, I hope he'll enjoy a long, great summer in Chicago. And if he can't, I'm still convinced that Reed Johnson is more than able to do the job. And actually makes the Cubs a more productive team.

And speaking of outfielders, shame on Jim Hendry for what has become of Matt Murton. Virtually every plate appearance has been a bad one since his call-up, and in AAA, he was showing little to no power. Now, I know you can say (and you'd probably be correct) that Matt just isn't productive enough to merit a starting job. But I don't see where the club has been very clear about their expectations for him; I sense that they're trying to turn him into more of a slugger; and the whole episode appears to be playing with his confidence. Jim, he just doesn't fit here. Trade him, and move on -- before his value diminishes any further.

Around baseball:

Sad to see that ESPN is at it again. For those who haven't heard, ESPN sandbagged Miguel Tejada in an interview for E:60, confronting him unexpectedly over his age. I won't debate the legal ramifications here, but let me say that a.) this is not credible journalism; and I'm reminded of the Baker interview-in-waiting of a few years ago with Steven A. Smith, and I'm sad. This isn’t the first time. They're better than this. B.) That the only thing worse than the piece was watching the hosts of the various ESPN programs bragging about it over the course of the week. It makes me hope and wish that the MLBPA would consider a blackout on interviews with them for a spell, just to get the point across that this isn’t acceptable to their players. And lastly, I really hope that the ages of foreign-born players doesn't become the next MLB hot topic.

22 innings for a 2-1 game? C'mon!! Let me make a suggestion. If any MLB games exceeds 15 innings, suspend it. And any game that makes a lick of difference to the playoff standing of those teams can be continued on the days immediately after the end of season. You're killing those teams for days after with 15,18, 22 innings of work.

I'm officially starting the “Soto for All-Star” campaign. Vote early. Vote often. The kid deserves it, but is going to need some serious support to get in.

Nothing worse than watching a team on a long losing streak, but I'm having trouble feeling sorry for the Texas Rangers in their current seven game slide. They could be a good team, as I've said before, if they can get some pitching. How many decades is that franchise going to take to address this?

I'm sorry to hear about the recent passing of Estella Aaron; mother of Hank Aaron. She indirectly gave baseball fans decades of pleasure, so I thought someone should thank her. And I think I will. She was 96.