Sleepless in Chicago

This glamorous life of a baseball writer included walking out of Wrigley Field at 2 a.m. this morning, driving to a Shell station on Addison to fill up the rental car, driving back to my hotel near O’Hare, walking into my room at a quarter to three, packing, watching the last 30 minutes of some horrendous movie called Little Athens on Showtime (there was no sense sleeping for half an hour), catching a 7:05 a.m. flight, arriving in Los Angeles at 1 and driving straight to the ballpark. … No real news today other than Lou Piniella basically saying Carlos Zambrano would be his Game 5 starter if there is a Game 5 because Ryan Dempster, who walked seven guys in the opener, is in the bullpen for the rest of the series. Cubs seemed really tight in the first two games, and the once-fiery Piniella, who is rumored to have mellowed over the years, has seemed as tight as any of them whenever he has come into the interview room. That said, though, if the Dodgers don’t win Game 3, the Cubs will suddenly have new life, and I’m not sure that is something the Dodgers can afford to let happen. Zambrano actually said the pressure is now on the Dodgers. Even more amazing: Joe Torre said he agrees. Barring any breaking news, that’s it for me on this blog until tomorrow. If you happen to be at Gladstones around 8:30 tonight, I’ll be there with a couple of Cubs beat writers.