Dead Arms

Kevin Gregg had an ugly week, with two blown saves in a row. Ugly blown saves.

On Saturday the Cubs had an 8-5 lead entering the ninth. Gregg gave up 4 hits and 3 runs. He did get a win out of it when the Pickled Ones' own Derrek Lee bailed out the Cubbies in the tenth with a game winning home run.

On Sunday, he went one better on the ugly scale. He entered the ninth inning with the Cubs leading 2-1, and proceeded to give up back-to-back homers to Uggla and Ross on consecutive pitches.

Ouch.

The next day Carlos Marmol came in for the save. It wasn't pretty, but it was a save.

Lou Piniella's explanation was that Gregg had a dead arm, mostly from throwing 38 pitches on Saturday. I can relate.

Yesterday I got my once per decade tetanus shot. Getting a scheduled tetnus shot is a life sign. You're older, 10 years older. You don't get very many of them in your life, and when you get one at age 57, well, there won't be too many more in your future.

Ten years ago I asked my doctor, who graduated from medical school in 1956, if he was going to be around to give me my next shot. He had to do the computation in his head and said "I think so." Sure enough, Dr. Edelman, age 79, was there to do the honors yesterday. I reminded him about his previous prediction, and asked him if he'd be around to give me my NEXT shot. He laughed and said "I hope so."

I hope so, too.

It's wonderful to see an incredibly competent man still doing it and still loving it as he enters his eighties. And it will really be something if he's doing it as he enters his nineties.

Meanwhile, I've got tetanus dead arm. It kept me up half the night. But it is my left arm, so if the Cubs (or any team) need me today to come in to close, I'm available. I'm sitting right by the phone. And I can't possibly do worse than Gregg did, giving up homers on consecutive pitches.