Dusty in jeopardy?

... here they're talking again tonight that Dusty's job with the Cubs might be in jeopardy ...

whatever.

I said it before, and I'll say it again ... very little of the Cubs problems this year can fall on him. Very little ...

Derrek Lee has become the glue of the club the last year and half, and he's barely played this year. Prior and Wood are done for, and Dusty's had to muddle through with rookies and has-beens ...

... Yeah. So it was grueling to watch them lose again yesterday to the Twins, but seeing Derrek Lee back in action (and hit a nice single!) was a serious bright spot ... and if he can settle back in, there's a lot to hope for yet this season.

As Dusty says: "We've got a lot left of the season. Look at my lineup. It's a totally different look now. I can put [Todd] Walker back in the second spot, I've got [Lee] in the third, [Phil] Nevin fourth, Aramis [Ramirez] fifth, Jacque [Jones] sixth. That gives us pretty good punch there."

I'll say.

Seriously. If Dusty goes, who are the Cubs gonna get. Another Jim Riggleman? Another Tom Treblehorn? C'mon ...

... Although Jay Mariotti makes some excellent points and the notion of Bob Brenly does perk up my ears a bit, I can't imagine he's just going to jump up and leave the broadcast booth in the middle of the season either ...

* * *

... and while I'm at it, can I go on record saying I'm not one bit surprised at the Detroit Tigers success this season!? It seems every other analyst has gone on this season with 'where did the Tigers come from?' 'Who could've predicted they would have been this good?' ... and blah. blah. blah. ... C'mon. The Tigers started knockin' on the door as soon as they lost their 119th game a couple years ago and then went out and got Ivan Rodriguez. They got a great farm system and Jim Leyland was the final piece of the puzzle.

I'm not one bit surprised.

Now if they could just get back John Smoltz (who by the way has floated the idea of being traded) before the deadline. ... The White Sox and the Tigers in the AL Championship -- that'll be this year's World Series.

* * *

Speaking of the Sox ...

How great was that 13-inning gem last night!?!

... I screamed so loud when Tadahito Iguchi hit that game-tying grand slam in the ninth, I scared Kates out of her chair ... Too bad the Sox couldn't pull it out.