The Cubs completed their first-ever visit to Arlington, Texas today, and what means is, another team's home fans have been exposed to the special brand of ineptitude that is so very Chicago Cub.

Robinson Tejeda. Kameron Lee. Vicente Padilla. It's a mind-expanding concept that a Major League team could start those three pitchers on consecutive days, let alone that another Major League team could defeat that trio only once in three tries.

Thursday afternoon's defeat was a full-blown, 100% unqualified doozy. The blown rundown play in the last of the 9th (see photo) was just the Maraschino cherry atop the whipped cream of Ted Lilly gopher balls over the sundae of missed scoring opportunities.

The Cub offense is so pitiful so often, I would guess that a majority of Cub fans, like me, figured the team would probably not push a run across when they loaded the bases with none out in the second inning.

Ryan Theriot is showing himself to be a living, breathing example of what can happen when a team's management and fans disregard a player's long-term professional performance record in favor on shorter-term numbers that cast him as something he is not. In this case, a Major League hitter.

I was happy to see Felix Pie moved down in the order today. The problem is, even the #8 hitter has to hit eventually.

Has anybody even considered teaching Felix how to drop a bunt?

Next up are the White Sox, who, lately, have been even more creative in their failures than the Cubs. They're also lifeless and playing like a thoroughly demoralized group of 25. Thing is, if there's a single series on the remainder of their schedule that would inspire them to play with determination so they can shut up their fans and the local sports media, this weekend's series is it.

The White Sox' starting pitching has been decent most of the year, which is sobering considering how Cub batters have fared against many lesser pitchers--Kyle Lohse!--over the season's first 71 games.

Bottom line--I can see the White Sox winning two out of three, not only dropping us 9 or 10 games back of the Brewers in the NL Central, but also arguably leaving the Cubs looking like the second best baseball team in Chicago, which is flat-out sickening.

It's certainly not an unfamiliar position, however.

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)