Gonzalez Wants No Part of It

Fredi Gonzalez, who had enough sense to bench Hanley Ramirez for a couple of games for slacking off... and then paid for it with his job as manager of the Marlins, has no desire to follow in the footsteps of Bob Brenly, Bobby Valentine and Ryne "Bob" Sandberg.  When asked to interview for the job, Gonzalez told Cubs GM Jim Hendry:

Gonzalez joins current Cardinal manager Tony LaRussa, who was "repulsed" when asked about the idea of managing the Cubs next season, on the list of people who openly don't want any part of Wrigleyville.

Apparently former Indians manager Eric Wedge has already applied for the job, and he certainly has to like his chances knowing that the list of candidates is actually growing after he interviewed.

Other possible candidates for the Cubs vacancy:
Pat Listach
Bob Melvin
Mike Quade (current interim manager)
Joe Girardi
John Calipari
William "Refridgerator" Perry
The Ghost of Casey Stengel
A pile of my toenail clippings

CarGo's Exclamation Point

Carlos Gonzalez, in one of those fantastic, ironic events that I don't have to make up, completed a cycle for the Rockies on Saturday against the Cubs with a walk-off home run.  It wasn't just any home run.  It was a massive home run... on the first pitch... one of the farthest in Coors Field history... and it went right to a Cubs fan.  Doesn't get any better than this.

If you haven't seen it, check out the video here.  I promise the link is safe.  I would normally embed the video, but MLB.com won't let me.

Cruz Too Hungry to Play Ball

The Rangers and Tigers played a mini-marathon on Monday.  In a game that ended nearly 5 hours after the first pitch, saw 13 different pitchers and lasted for 14 innings, the Rangers bested the Tigers 8-6 on Nelson Cruz's 12th home run of the season, a two-run shot off of Enrique Gonzalez.

When asked about his game-winning dinger, Cruz said, "You know, I just got tired of playing.  My stomach was growling, and it was beginning to annoy me.  So, I thought I'd just end it right there."

After touching home, Cruz was disappointed that the rest of the team wasn't there to jump around him.  In his hunger-fatigue, he forgot that it wasn't a walk-off shot because they were the visiting team.