Clucking Bell: Aramis Ramirez Out 4-6 Weeks With Dislocated Shoulder

The Cubs‘ 3-2 loss to the Brewers Friday night is sort of beside the point now…what matters is that Aramis Ramirez dislocated his shoulder in the game and will reportedly miss 4-6 weeks while he recovers.  The injury happened on a seemingly innocent diving attempt at a shot off the bat of Ryan Braun.  Innocent or not, Ramirez popped the shoulder out, and had to leave the game, in obvious agony.  It’s just another in a long series of physical blows the Cubs have sustained this spring, including injuries to stars Derrek Lee, Milton Bradley and Carlos Zambrano.  “”I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Lou Piniella said of the situation. “Every day, it seems to be something different.”

Cubs fans of a certain age probably can’t help but be reminded of the 1985 season when the team, coming off their division championship year of 1984, was picked to go a long way, but saw most of their pitching staff go down and ended up having a miserable year.  Let’s hope this team is deep enough to weather these troubles without collapsing.  The Ryan Freel trade will certainly help the infield depth, but obviously, you’d rather have Rammy out there raking.