Never has the sport of bowling been cooler.

From the top shelf sports memorabilia being auctioned off to Ryan Dempster's '70s imitation of Roy Munson--the Woody Harrelson character from the movie "Kingpin"--Kerry Wood's Strike Zone Celebrity Bowling Tournament was the place to be.

At 10pin Bowling Lounge next to the House of Blues, Dearborn Avenue became a mini red-carpet event. The event went to benefit the the Organic School Project, which helps teach kids a broad spectrum of topics including nutrition, fitness, the environment, recycling, and respecting the earth.

However, last night seemed to serve a double purpose. Not only did it raise money for OSP, the players seemed to have a good time, too. They honestly seemed to be having plenty of fun, conversing, signing autographs, bowling, shaking hands.

I watched as Ted Lilly, spying a little girl too shy to ask for an autograph, gently bade her to approach with the baseball he eventually signed.

I saw Kosuke Fukudome, who I am told does not bowl at all, mug for photos at his lane with a handful of event sponsors, gap-toothed smile wide and welcoming. By the way, Kosuke happened to be wearing True Religion jeans, the same jeans our own Jen Dedes Nowak was wearing....

I watched as Mark DeRosa started his round with four straight spares, skunk one frame then throw two straight strikes. Pretty good, right? Well, Sean Marshall ended up beating him!

And with a day off following, they should be well-rested and de-stressed for the Cardinals.

The auction and the system with which they used to take bids was innovative. Completely digital, bidders submitted amounts on a laptop next to the item, and the top bid immediately went up on a 42" flat screen that detailed all the bids and the bidder. If a bidder is unable to get to the laptop, roaming assistants with Ipods would enter the bids for them from the bar or their tables.

The band Hello Dave was real good, sort of a Wilco-ish feel-good rock with a bit of country mixed in. I had seen these guys often; they played at a bar at which I used to bounce in my younger years. Lakeview Links--ever heard of it? It's not there anymore but Hello Dave was usually pretty fun. I seem to remember former Cub Kevin Orie frequenting it often, as his brother, Mike, was a bartender there.

Probably the coolest auction item was #402: A Kerry Wood and Tom Morello (Audioslave/Rage Against the Machine guitarist) autographed Gibson Epiphone Les Paul Ultra Guitar. The bid I saw was $5,200....The highest bid I saw on the display was $8,050 for two hours of hanging with actor John Cusack....

Seen: Some old Cubs like former right-handed pitcher Jason Bere, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who was mobbed by the media.

"Hey, I'm here every year in support of Kerry and Sarah [Wood]," Cuban said. "You guys just happened to be paying attention this year."

The team of Media Relations Director Peter Chase, media relations assistant director Jason Carr, marketing director Matt Wszolek, marketing manager Dave Knickerbocker, and centerfielder Jim Edmonds took a third-place trophy home! Apparently Edmonds has some serious game...

All in all, a worthwhile and entertaining event for a great cause. Like Cuban quipped: "It makes sense. If the kids can't eat, they can't learn."

--Mike Huang

PS We just traded left-hander Scott Eyre to the Phillies for a Class-A right-handed pitcher named Brian Schlitter. As it turns out our own publications intern, Zach Martin, got a hit off of Schlitter back in high school. Zach, a baseball coach in Winnetka, had this to say about Schlitter's stuff:

"Schlitter threw hard, but straight (like 84-86. He was still a junior). I think he threw me a tight slider as well in the AB. I got jammed a bit on an inside fastball with a two-strike count. I fought it off for a base hit over second base scoring two. It was at Maine South (which on a side note, has the single most illegal mound I have ever seen. It is like 12 feet high)."

Iowa Cubs (AAA): 69-49 Overall
Northern Division 1st Place (+5.0)

Andres Torres propelled Iowa to a 6-5 win over Salt Lake with a game-winning double in the bottom of the ninth inning.

RHP Randy Wells (ND 8-4, 4.24) 6.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

• CF Andres Torres doubled home the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth-inning as part of a 2-for-4 day that included a walk, the double, a triple, his team leading 17th stolen base and a run scored.
• C Casey McGehee went 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBI ... his 76 RBI lead the team.
• RHP Kevin Hart earned the victory in relief, allowing one hit in a scoreless ninth-inning of work ... improved to 3-2 on the year, lowering his ERA from 3.30 to 3.23.

Continue reading 'Down on the Farm: Aug. 6'...

Iowa Cubs (AAA): 68-49 Overall
Northern Division 1st Place (+4.0)

Iowa scored seven runs over the first two innings, but it was not enough to beat the Bees, who improved upon their league-leading record with an 11-8 defeat of the I-Cubs.

LHP Jason Stanford (ND 1-0, 4.09) 6.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

HOMERS - Micah Hoffpauir (15)

• 1B Micah Hoffpauir homered as part of his fifth straight two-hit game, going 2-for-5 with a double, the dinger, two runs scored and four RBI ... his 72 RBI are tied for the team lead (Casey McGehee), despite playing only 48 games for Iowa.
• LF Jason Dubois went 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI ... he is hitting .421 (8-for-19) with a double, three homers, five runs scored and four RBI in August.
• 2B Bobby Scales reached base four times, going 1-for-2 with three walks and three runs scored ... he is 4-for-8 with five walks, a triple, seven runs scored and a stolen base over the first three games of the series.

Continue reading 'Down on the Farm: Aug. 5'...

Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Lee, 1B
Ramirez, 3B
Edmonds, CF
DeRosa, 2B
Fukudome, RF
Soto, C
Marquis, RHP

Right-hander Brandon Backe (6-10, 4.72 ERA) will take the hill for Houston.

Boise Hawks (A-): 30-17 Overall
East Division 2nd Place (-5.0)

Boise took an early 5-0 lead through two innings and held on for its second straight win over Yakima, 8-5.

LHP Jeffrey Beliveau (ND 2-1, 4.24) 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K

HOMERS - Josh Vitters (4)

• 3B Josh Vitters extended his hitting streak to 12 games, going 1-for-3 with a walk, a sacrifice fly, a homer, a run scored and three RBI ... he has gone 20-for-55 (.364) with seven doubles, two homers, 12 runs scored and seven RBI over the streak.
• SS Ryan Flaherty went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple and a run scored ... he has hit in four straight contests, going 9-for-18 with four walks, six doubles, a triple, six runs scored and four RBI.
• 1B Ryan Keedy went 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and an RBI ... his .372 average leads the Northwest League.

Continue reading 'Down on the Farm: Aug. 4'...

The Cubs activated Kerry Wood today from the 15-day disabled list. Wood has been battling a blister on his right index finger. Left-hand pitcher Scott Eyre was designated for assignment.

Jim Hendry said in a media session today that Eyre cleared trade waivers as of noon today, giving the team seven days to trade him somewhere. Any time a player is designated for assignment, thus replacing him on the 40-man roster, the club has 10 days total to move the player.

Scott was emotional today talking to the media and said how he really likes playing here. After a couple solid years with the Cubs, this year never got off on the right foot with injuries keeping him to just 11.1 inning this season.

Jim said he made the decision based on the 12 pitchers the team was going to need until rosters expand on Sept. 1. Though Sean Marshall could have been optioned to the minors, Jim said he gives the bullpen depth in being able to pitch multiple innings and with the job he has done so far.

Last night's game never got off on the right foot for the hitters, and once severe thunderstorms ravaged the area, there was little opportunity to get things started again. Give the groundscrew a lot of credit for squeezing in a few more innings -- playing seven-plus was a minor miracle.

Today's lineup:

Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Lee, 1B
Ramirez, 3B
Johnson, CF
DeRosa, 2B
Fukudome, RF
Blanco, C
Harden, RHP

Left-hander Wandy Rodriguez (6-4, 3.61 ERA) is on the mound for the Astros.

Makes a difference

The Cubs still lead the majors in both on-base percentage (.356) and run differential (+132). ... They are second, only to Texas, with 593 runs scored on the year.

9:21 P.M., Monday, Wrigley Field

While there was a game here tonight, baseball wasn't the story.

Just after the sixth inning, a massive storm hit Chicago, bringing a down pour of rain and winds up to 44 mph. When rain is coming down sideways, there's a little trouble on its way.

I looked out the windows to see fans scurrying for cover. The only thing standing that wasn't buckling was the Ernie Banks statue. Trust Mr. Cub to be our rock amid a storm...

Most of the fans were huddled inside Wrigley Field's concourse, One person had the best line of the night: "It smells like Lollapalooza."

Others sat perched up underneath the mezzanine and the standing-room-only area. It drizzled just a little bit, but the ballpark's massive haunches held out most of the weather. In the distance, lightning shot down and thunder rolled hard.

I was talking to one out-of-town fan when he said: "Hey, isn't that your governor?"

Sure enough, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was strolling along shaking hands and seeing how people were doing.

I said: "Governor, is Wrigley Field our refuge of last resort?" I was joking, quickly realizing too late the non-political correctness of the question.

"Wow, it's that bad, huh?" The tornado siren just past centerfield had gone off twice during the first hour of the rain delay

"It's worse in the South Loop around Soldier Field and US Cellular," I said, referring to the big green and red blob hovering over Chicago I saw on weather.com.

"Well," the Governor said, "We'll just have to wait it out and hope we get the game in."

I had the unfortunate look on my face thinking "that's never going to happen."

But after nearly two hours, he was right--all signs pointed to the teams getting this one in. The tarp came off at about 9:30, with all groundkeeping personnel involved determined to finish the game. Those guys work hard.

--Mike Huang

For those of you holding ticket stubs from last Tuesday's Road to Wrigley game, a make-up date has been announced for the "kids run the bases" promotion that was washed out:

With the suspension of the game, the teams were forced to cancel the planned post game activity of having all children, 14 and under, run the bases of Wrigley Field. In an effort to accommodate all of those who wished to take part in this unique opportunity, the Cubs have offered ticket holders of the Peoria contest the opportunity to return to Wrigley and run the bases.

On Sunday, August 17th, the Cubs will host a high school baseball game presented by Under Armour. The game is scheduled to start at 1:35 p.m. Any person holding a ticket from the July 29th Peoria Chief vs Kane County game will be allowed into Wrigley Field for free to watch the 2008 Under Armour All-America Baseball game. Once the game concludes, all children 14 and under in attendance will be allowed to run the bases.

Don't worry if you missed out on the minor-league game: You still can get general admission tickets for Aug. 17 at just $5.

Iowa Cubs (AAA): 68-47 Overall
Northern Division 1st Place (+5.0)

Iowa used a commanding performance from RHP Mitch Atkins and a five-RBI day from Micah Hoffpauir to overwhelm Salt Lake, 7-3.

RHP Mitch Atkins (W 5-0, 3.90) 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K

HOMERS - Jason Dubois (20), Micah Hoffpauir (14)

• Starting pitcher Atkins allowed one run, three hits, struck out 11, walked none and retired the final 16 batters he faced before leaving after six innings ... won his 10th straight start (5-0 at Triple-A Iowa after he was promoted from Double-A Tennessee, where he won his final five starts).
• 1B Hoffpauir went 2-for-4 with a run scored, a double, a home run and five RBI ... he has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games, going  25-for-63 (.397) with 10 doubles, five homers, 12 runs scored and 26 RBI over that stretch.
• LF Jason Dubois went 2-for-4 with a run, a double, his team-leading 20th home run and an RBI.

Continue reading 'Down on the Farm: Aug. 3'...