Kerry Wood was the star of last night’s game for the Cubs, considering at one point he retired 17 of 18 batters and pitched seven scoreless innings after a less than promising first inning. But for the second straight day all anybody wanted to talk about was whether or not Nomar forced his way out of Boston.
The reaction, from the Boston media to their deep thinking ownership to the boy GM they employ is typical. They made a move that they knew would be unpopular and to avoid being completely excoriated by their fan base they’ve decided to blame the guy who they shipped out of town.
You always see it in real life, too. Whenever an employee leaves a job, whether he was fired or left for a different job, everything that goes wrong for a few months after he leaves gets blamed on him. That’s all the Red Sox are doing.
Nobody can prove that they’re taking whatever conversations Nomar had with the trainers, the doctors, the Boy Genius or creepy John Henry, and blowing them out of proportion.
For our part, we could care less. We filled a huge hole at shortstop with a star and didn’t give up squat. So as the great Derrick Coleman once eloquenty said, “Whoop de damn doo.”
Consider what Boston’s ownership has been through the past few months. You can see why they’re a little gunshy.
They traded for Curt Schilling only to find out why the Diamondbacks were more than happy to send him packing. He’s still a very good pitcher, but he’s annoying, he gets on everybody’s nerves and when he gets hurt he stays hurt because he’s 30 pounds overweight and doesn’t seem to want to do anything about it. If they really want to paint Nomar as a clubhouse cancer, they might want to consider whether a guy who keeps to himself and works hard is as disruptive as the guy who runs to any TV camera like a moth to a flame.
They thought they’d made a deal to get Alex Rodriguez from Texas. In the process they not only managed to alienate Nomar, but Manny Ramirez, and they got chuckleheaded Kevin Millar to go on ESPN and say he’d rather have A-Rod than his current teammate. Nice. How come nobody talks about what a pathetic, cloying assbag Millar has been every place he’s ever played? While the Sox can blame Texas for leaking the A-Rod negotiations, they can only blame themselves for leaking the story that Nomar was going to be traded to the White Sox for Magglio Ordonez. That didn’t come from Kenny Williams, who pathologically still insists it never happened.
Bill Simmons has now written two columns in two days about how Nomar forced his way out when his agent turned down a $60 million contract offer and then said Nomar would demand a trade. This is very much like somebody defending Larry Himes for letting Greg Maddux walk because “Maddux turned down a deal that would have made him the highest paid pitcher in baseball” to go to Atlanta. History has shown that Maddux never turned the deal down, but rather before he could agree to it the Cubs lowered the value of the deal. Nomar’s side of the $60 million offer was that it was a starting point for negotiations and that it was never really an offer, when the Red Sox got around to making a real offer it was for $12 less than that.
If you really think Arn Tellem has as much influence over Nomar as Simmons seems to think he does, you should wonder why the all powerful Arn can’t get another of clients, Toni Kukoc, to take a shower.
Here’s what the Red Sox have tried to do by either leaking or exaggerating (or both) the tale that Nomar thought his Achilles would cause him to miss a lot of games the rest of the way. If Nomar plays in 90 percent of the Cubs games from here on out, the Red Sox hope it makes Nomar look like he was jaking it, or at least malingering with the Red Sox. This, despite the fact that Nomar only missed five games to rest his Achilles between June 10 and the day he was traded to the Cubs. It also ignores the fact that he played shortstop 24 times in a 25 game stretch in June and July.
The Red Sox have insinuated that when Jim Hendry called Arn Tellem just before he pulled the trigger on the trade that Tellem must have told Hendry that Nomar’s injury wasn’t serious and that he had been dogging it since the first rumors surfaced that Nomar was headed to the Cubs in a (then) three team deal. The Red Sox claim that Nomar was already fed up with the Red Sox and being dangled in another trade was the final straw, so he tried to force his way out of town.
Here’s why I don’t buy it. The Boy Genius has stated in several interviews, starting with his comedic press conference just after Saturday’s deadline, that the decision came down to a shortstop position manned by a creaky Ricky Guttierrez and a “Nomar who was going to be unavailable” most of the time, or trading for a better shortstop. That’s his story. He’s sticking to it.
Only, it’s crap. Here’s why. The Nomar trade didn’t happen until 2:58 p.m. Central time on a day when the deadline was 3 p.m. If the Boy Genius and the Red Sox owners were so convinced that Nomar was going to miss most of the rest of the season, why hadn’t they already made a deal for a shortstop? They were going to risk playing the Gute and the Gimp for what reason, exactly?
Here’s why. Because they had two possible scenarios.
1) They don’t make a trade, they continue to use Nomar at short (who hit .380 in July for them, by the way) and they blame the Cubs for not being willing to trade Matt Clement and they blame Randy Johnson for not being willing to subject himself to a year and two more months of listening to Curt Schilling talk to hear himself talk.
2) The trade with the Cubs goes through and they spin it to make it look like Nomar wanted out, hopefully appeasing the Boston fans who would inevitably be out to hang the Boy Genius from a tree.
They never thought a new DL stint for Nomar was looming. They just used it to save face. As far as sneaky tactics go, setting it up so if Nomar stays healthy in Chicago that he was faking in Boston is about as low as it gets. Who’s their PR advisor? Dick Morris?
Whatever the truth of it is, and it’s very hard to buy the entire, paranoid story spinning out of the Red Sox organization, the Cubs could care less.
We wanted Nomar. We got him. We’re happy. What’s not to like?
—
This is true, and until I just typed his name a few minutes ago, I’d forgotten this happened. Last week I turned on a Red Sox game just as a batter had the bat fly out of his hands and into the stands behind the third base dugout. I immediately, without seeing who did it, said out loud, “Hey, Ricky Gutierrez is in the lineup.” It turned out to be him. How does that happen to a guy as often as it does to Ricky? It must have happened 145 times in 2001 alone. I know that Gruddy did it last night, but that’s the first time we’ve ever seen him do it. Gute has the pattent on it.
It’s true, Jimmy Anderson became the player to be named later in the Ricky Guttierrez trade, after the Cubs traded Jimmy to the Red Sox for Andrew Shipman and another player to be named later just weeks ago. So for Jimmy and Ricky ,the Cubs will have gotten Shipman, another player and Jimmy? The bad news is that when he’s a September call up, I might just have to order Jimmy another pizza.
We actually did send Jimmy a pizza after a three inning save against Houston on June 11. The fun starts on about comment number 147 or so.
For those of you who ran right out between Sunday and about 8 p.m. last night and bought your new “Garciaparra 8” jerseys you deserve what Nomar and Michael Barrett did to you last night. Barrett went to Nomar and offered him his familiar #5 in exchange for two things 1) Nomar had to promise to seriously consider staying in Chicago after this season and 2) some sort of cash or swag exchanged hands.
Barrett broke in his new #8 by getting hit in the thumb with a bat and taking a foul ball right off the tip of his left shoulder. He probably wrestled Nomar in the clubhouse for his old number back right after the game.
Should we take a moment to ponder the odds of the Cubs keeping Nomar? I think we should.
Had he stayed in Boston, he would have had odds to have signed for 2005 and beyond with four teams:
Boston: 20:1 because they didn’t seem inclined to make him a real offer
Cubs: 15:1 because they’d be jacking around with Orlando Cabrera right now
Dodgers: 10:1 because he’s from southern California, but they have Cesar Izturis signed for cheap and their owner has no cash
Angels: 4:1 because they have David Eckstein (a glorified utility infielder) and their owner has money to burn
Now, with Nomar in Chicago the odds have shifted to this:
Boston: 345,000,000:1 and that’s being conservative
Dodgers: 30:1 because they have said the money they saved in their deadline trades will go to Adrian Beltre and trying to keep Steve Finley if there’s any money left
Angels: 10:1 because they’re going to make a run at Randy Johnson this winter
Cubs: 2:1 because these last two (hopefully three) months are like a long test drive for Nomar. I would imagine he’ll be easily sold on the Cubs (especially if he continues to get standing ovations on the road) and they won’t even have to scrimp pennies to sign him and still have the option of keeping Moises Alou (at a lower price than his option) or shopping for a new leftfielder.
—
There was one, and only one, distressing thing from last night’s win (the fourth in five games for the Cubs), and that was their inability to continue to light up The Troll–Jeff Fassero–after the second inning. He was lying there in front of the ropes like Mike Tyson just waiting to get counted out and the Cubs propped him up.
However, just how strange was Nomar’s second inning at bat?
Corey’s on first itching to steal. He goes on a 1-1 pitch and Nomar sees that Corey got a great jump, so he takes a meaty curveball knowing that Corey’s got second easily. Corey steals second without a throw and Nomar singles him home by going the other way with the 1-2 pitch. It’s good baseball, and it’s not something we see often from the Cubs. Cubs hitters don’t take pitches so guys can run. Cubs hitters don’t like hitting with two strikes. Hopefully the new guy will rub off on his new pals, and not, vice versa.
—
Kerry’s slider wasn’t sliding so he just started jamming guys with his fastball. Hey, that might work more often. You might want to keep trying it.
Nomar’s fed up with the stuff coming out of Boston. Who can blame him?
Barrett handed over number five to Nomar. Now we can call Michael ‘The Ocho!’ OK, maybe not.
I don’t think Mayor Daley likes the Tribune.
Lovie says everybody gets hurt in training camp. Uh, great?
Brad Maynard, Brooks Barnard and Mia Hamm will fight it out for the punting job. OK, not Mia…yet. But here’s my thinking. Since you have a good kicker who can’t kick off, why not make it a job requirement of the punter to be able to kick off? Is that so wrong?
Sweaty Joe is said to be pain free.
Jamal’s going to go to the Knicks finally…right? This is important. Here’s what KC Johnson says the trade is: Jamal and Jerome Williams to the Knicks for Dikembe Mutombo (old), Othella Harrington (bad), Cezary Trybanski (huh?) and Frank Williams (not bad.)
Lacy J. Banks says the trade is Jamal J. Crawford and Jerome J. Williams for Dikembe J. Mutombo and Moochie J. Norris and $3.J million. But Lacy, Paxson said he would never take Moochie’s contract.
The NY Post agrees with KC Johnson and they say the trade would have happened yesterday but the NBA offices were having their company picnic. Huh?
Mariotti puts down the doughnut to blame the guys who begged out of the Olympics for the basketball team’s inevitable failure. Jay needs to shut his yapper. I saw the Bernard Goldberg piece on HBO’s Real Sports and there’s no freakin’ way I’d have gone to the Olympics, either. Then again, nobody asked me.
Eddy Curry says he’s not that fat. Oh, that’s reassuring. Thanks.
Those Bears…they’re funny! OK, maybe not.
The Wizard of Roz is back and he starts today’s column with a bunch of questions.
Dr. Jack says defense will save the US Olympic team…or nothing will.
Spanish-yes.com claims Kobe’s got another accuser.
Spanish-yes.com also has five teams they think can win the national championship.
You have to remember that John Henry is the guy who gutted the Marlins and then somehow ended up getting the Red Sox even though he didn’t have the highest bid.
The Mavs traded for Jason Terry. And now they are after Jason Kidd.
Halle Berry’s out of X-3 and X-4. Yeah, why be in good movies when you can try and make Gothika 2!?!
Scott Peterson got into porn after he killed his wife and the woman he was having an affair with dumped him. Poor guy.
America’s finest news source says that the CIA has asked George Bush to stop writing on his blog.
It’s funny you mention what a "cloying assbag" Millar is. It triggered, somewhere in the bowels of my memory, of an incident in early ’99 when Florida was struggling. Millar was playing their Triple-A affiliate. Well, the two teams (Phish and their Triple A players) played each other and the minor leaguers kicked the big leaguers’ ass. Afterwards, Millar said something to the effect of "we should trade places with the players on the big club, and we’ll do better" (I’m paraphrasing–this was back in early ’99)
That kind of comment is just stupid and unfair. It pissed of the big leaguers when they heard it, ESPECIALLY the Marlin first baseman whose presence was keeping Millar at Triple-A–none other than Derrek Lee.
Stupid hillbilly prick. Cowboy THIS, assbag.
Did Millar write my script?
Nomar is getting absolutely skewered on the Score right now.
Gee, you don’t think we’re the ones doing the skewering, do you?
It’s not like we’re jealous or anything. We love the Cubs and would never try and find a reason to pile on them. Never.
So is Lovie.
Of course, it Shaugnessy doing he skewering, and his opinion doesn’t count.
I’d fit right in between these two asshats, Boers and Bernstein.
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I acted as a child, and I listened to the Score. But now, as an adult, it is time to put away childish things.
The Hot Dog Vendor can kiss my pee-pee!
It’s like Andy said, who gives a rat’s ass why Nomar is here. We now have the best team in the NL, and that’s all that counts.
Can you believe my stories keep getting suppressed by those no-good biased liberals on Real Sports? HBO is BIASED, I say, biased!
Hey Oleg. The Cubs are the best team in the NL? Hell, your leadoff hitter couldn’t fit in our lineup! It don’t even matter what position he played, his bat’d be benched.
Tony Womack is far and away a better option that what you sad sacks have.
But we’re scared now! You’re within 10 in the loss column! Oooooo!!! SCARRRYYYYY!!!!!
Right on about the big failing from last night game, Andy.
When you get a starting pitcher on the ropes, you have to put him down and out, especially in game one of a series. Eating up a pen in game one can make game two much easier if the opposing team has a short bullpen.
The Cubs could have burned 6 innings off 3 or 4 pitchers last night. Instead, they burned two innings off one reliever. That better not come back to haunt them today.
I’ve been wondering why Millar has been getting a pass on all this. Also, I keep reading about what a horrible defensive SS Nomar has become. Funny how that slide seemed to coincide with the arrival of one of the worst defensive first baseman in all of baseball to the Red Sox. How does Millar feel now that the BoSox have "upgraded" his position by trading for a .250 hitter?
Hey St. Louis. Your argument(Womack vs Patterson) is not a good one. How many of your starting pitchers could crack the Cubs rotation? NONE!
I sure look like I’m hurt out there. What have I done to leaping throws? My running looks great, Hell look at my range guys.
Um…Tony Womack?
Hmm, lets see what the team would be if we combined.
SP-Prior, Wood, Zambrano, Clement, Carpenter
RP-King, Kline, Kalero, Hawkins, Farnsworth
C-Barrett
1B-Pooholes
2B-Walker
SS-Nomar
3B-Rolen
LF-Alou
CF-Puppy Fucker
RF-Sosa
By my count there are 11 Cubs and 7 Cards.
I don’t care what team you play for, but the Cubs would gladly take some of the double-digit win totals the Cardinal pitchers put up. Call it smoke and mirrors, call it a deal with the devil, call it a blind squirrel getting an acorn, but the Cardinal pitchers have gotten wins (yeah, backed by that offense, even Shawn Estes would have 10 wins).
To write off their entire staff as not even worthy of a #5 spot on the Cubs staff is akin to saying B.C. could write for the Tribune.
2005 new team name for the Cardinals.
My stats from the last 7 days: 0.2 IP, 108.00 ERA, 12.00 WHIP, 0 K, 0 SV
Ha, those are just funny.
No, No. 17. I believe to say that the Cards starting pitchers have more wins that the Cubs and that makes them better pitchers is like saying that B.C.’s column has run more often the past year than Bob Verdi’s has and therefore B.C. is a better writer.
If the Cubs scored runs for Clement a little bit more, he would conceivably have between 12 and 15 wins.
If the Cubs’ bullpen were even slightly better, you’d be able to notch a couple extra wins on each pitcher, including Prior and Wood.
And now that the Cubs’ staff appears healthy, let’s see who’s better.
Looking at the pitchers stats, I can’t believe that Jeff Fassero isn’t the worst starter that the Rockies are throwing at us. Jason Jennings is actually worse. I see the Cubs are facing some rook with a 2.61 ERA through 2 starts. Time to introduce this kid to the pain that is pitching in Coors Field. It would be a good night for El Toro to keep the ball down.
We’re just mad that we still don’t have more starting pitching which is what we needed. Plus, bostondirtdogs.com told me that Nomar’s a jerk so it must be true!
Barrett got No. 8, which Garciaparra wore Sunday. Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra wore No. 8 with the Yankees.
"It’s a good number," Barrett said. "It’s going to take some time to get used to it. Yogi Berra is the first guy that comes to mind. Hopefully, it’ll bring some luck to me behind the plate to help this team win as many championships as he did."
Last night aside, I think I would crack my way into a combined Cub/Cards bullpen over either LaSuck and Farnsie.
If ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ were candies and nuts, O! what a Christmas we’d have.
If the Cubs scored 20 runs each game they’d be 106-0.
If Clement gave up zero runs each start, he’d probably be 19-0.
If Prior wouldn’t have been injured, he would have won the Cy Young award at the All-Star Break.
Enough with the hypotheticals. If only B.C. were here to give us some perspective…
According to the worldwide leader, I’m going to get the axe the Cowboys.
The Cubs will be a lot closer if you guys keep on giving up grand slams to the Expos
I can’t type. I meant to say that I’m going to get the axe from the Cowboys.
Yeah, we were all over the "Nomar’s jaking it" angle! Why look at Saturday’s Red Sox notebook…
Rest stop
In the latest reminder of the physical challenge he faces, Nomar Garciaparra was forced to the bench with recurrent soreness in his right Achilles’. Garciaparra, who never fully recovered from the tendinitis that sidelined him the first 57 games of the season, was noticeably limping after Tuesday’s rainout in Baltimore, but insisted on playing in Wednesday’s series finale against the Orioles, a 4-1 loss in which he went 1 for 3 to extend his hitting streak to nine games.
He said his condition has not progressively worsened.
"It aches," he said. "It’s still there. You deal with it. We’ve said all along we’re going to have some days [off]. I’m getting a day."
Francona indicated Garciaparra may need more than one day, particularly since the artificial turf in the Metrodome is less forgiving than a natural surface.
"We’re going to try to manage this," Francona said, "and get him back on the field as quick as we can."
Garciaparra acknowledged that "the turf doesn’t help," but he said dealing with the lingering soreness beats the alternative.
"I’m just glad I’m playing," he said. "That’s what I really wanted to do, just go out there and play. I’m able to do that. But you’ve got to listen to [the injury]."
Garciaparra said he is not taking any injections to treat the injury because of the delicate nature of the Achilles’. He indicated the best remedy would be a lengthy rest.
So Nomar said he would need an occasional day here and there and that the heel won’t heal completely until he had a lengthy rest, which Terry Francona seemed more open to than Nomar.
For the first time last night watching a Cardinals game I noticed something. First I noticed what I had been noticing the whole year… men on 1st and 2nd 2 outs and the Expos were batting and King hit the batter on the wrist and they called it a foul ball that would have had the bases loaded with Vidro coming up in like the 8th inning. Of course it is called a foul ball and he later grounds out. Then it happened, a routine ball hit to left field and the Cardinals make an error. This led to the next batter hitting a home run to tie it. Hopefully this is a sign that the luck of the Cards is shifting. But I have watched a lot of their games where everything they need to happen happens, except for last night. Go Cubs!!!
My bad, I meant to add Izzy to the pen.
11-8 Cubs.
Anyone notice when a ball is thrown to me, it always looks as if I’m not touching the bag? So I step off really fast to give the illusion that i actually touched the bag?
Yep, we are 100 percent truthful about Nomar. Just look at what I said last week…
From the Globe:
Quieting trade talk
With the clock ticking toward Saturday’s trading deadline, Francona said there understandably was a measure of anxiety in the clubhouse. Speculation has abounded about Derek Lowe landing elsewhere, and there has been some talk about Nomar Garciaparra moving, though almost anyone could be traded if general manager Theo Epstein received a proposal he couldn’t refuse.
Francona said he felt confident the team would not experience a major upheaval before the deadline.
"I actually have inside sources," he said, all but refuting the most recent reports about Lowe and Garciaparra. "I know [the front office] is trying. They’re hustling, but things like that, I just don’t see happening."
Putting it more bluntly, he said of a potentially major shake-up, "Just because there are a number of rumors, it’s not going to happen. I think that’s the case of somebody throwing something at the wall and hoping it sticks."
Anyone want to bet we would have killed that rally in the 2nd and the score would be tied 3-3. It just shows, with Nomar, we go for the kill, not just satisfaction of tying it, taking the lead.
Check out the White Sox card about halfway down on the right hand side.
Wait til next week, Nomar, they’ll be back to bitching about me.
Whoops, try again.
try it again
You mean this one?
Andy, you ought to write email this column to Simmons, maybe he’d actually have the balls to address it in one of his mailbags. I’d like to see him argue your logic.
Because, seriously? Read this and roll your eyes: "Maybe I’ll root for Nomar again someday. Right now, I see a guy who asked for too much and couldn’t handle the consequences. He let me down. He let everyone down."
That whole statement is so ridiculous and child-like, it’s hard to decide where to start ripping on it.
This is easier ESPN…
Damn stupid slow typing….
Allow me to speak for the Redbird Nation, since I am eloquent in all things verbose.
Bud Selig wants you to win the World Series so he can get big TV ratings and buy a gold plated El Dorado! So he made the Red Sox trade Nomar to you for Rigo Beltran, Lenny Harris and Hector Gonzalez!
This sucks because we went 11-8 against you in the regular season and now you’re going to win like four games against us in the playoffs and steal our pennant! You’re all morans!
Cards rule!
I think we have our new nickname for our catcher #23.
Yogi Barrett. That’s priceless.
You know, if spanish-yes.com actually wanted to compete with Espn.com, and not be content to finish fifth in sports site ratings every month, they’d run a similar column to the one I posted today (even if written by somebody else). That’d be nice.
I don’t blame Simmons. I’d be wholly irrational if the Cubs had traded Sammy when he still had six good years left (which Ed Lynch almost did–even after the Yankees took Alfonso Soriano out of the deal which would have given the Cubs a pile of crapola that we’d still be languishing in). But too many of his readers will just take it as gospel truth, even though I’m sure he’ll freely admit it’s full of pathos.
Pathos is a good word. Aren’t Pathos, E-ramis and Dr. Scholl’s Ortho-gels, the three musketeers?
Interesting, as the Cubs went from winning the World Series in March, to winning the Central Division in May, to winning the Wild Card in July, to winning the NL pennant in August.
Can we finish the season and see if the Cubs make it to the postseason before deciding they’ll sweep the Cardinals?
Just curious…
Did someone say flip flop?
A friend of mine who is a Cardinals fan told me yesterday that he had made hotel reservations in St. Louis for the dates the World Series would be in the NL city. While it’s no big risk and easily cancelled, it just shows how arrogant some of Cardinal Nation can be.
Last night’s implosion against the Expos could just as easily be a preview of what’s to come for the Redbirds. They have been running at full-steam all season, with no major injuries or losing streaks. Odds are that something will happen to them. Matt Morris has been pretty inconsistent lately, and has been HAMMERED in starts against the Cubs and Giants over the past couple of weks. Suppan is starting to come back to earth. And the bullpen is starting to realize that it has some holes in it (don’t tell Lassie).
Yesterday, I mentioned the possibility of the Cubs beating them in the NLCS. The only sweeter thing would be for them to fold like an accordion and blow this huge lead, then we could jam 1969 up Al Hrabosky’s ass.
Nobody’s ever blown a nine and a half game lead in August…right?
Who did?
We did?
Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Here’s the thing, our pitching staff that year had been overachieving and they started to slump, and the Mets they had those damn pitchers like Seaver and Koosman and that guy from Texas who threw really hard. Those guys got hot in August and just wouldn’t lose. That’s the only reason they caught us.
That’s nothing like the Cardinals and Cubs right now.
Is it?
Seriously…A guy wins the MVP of his league’s all-star game and nary a word is spoken? Is this because of the Jim Tacco Rule?
Let’s say the Cubs shave five games off that lead in August. Say they go 21-7 and the Cardinals go 16-12. I forsee anus puckering in St. Louis of epic proportions.
Mmmm… Tacco…
Two things we overlook when thinking about the greatest trade in Cubs history…hey even in the Sosa trade we at least gave up a former MVP and gas station owner…not only did the Cubs get the best player, but they got the best prospect, too in OF Matt Murton.
Also, there’s a rumor in Minnesota that there was supposed to be another prospect, from either the Cubs or Red Sox, in the deal to go to Minnesota and in the rush to get the paperwork filed before the deadline that never happened. So this winter if you see a trade between the Twins and either the Cubs or Sox that’s basically a prospect for nothing, you’ll know that was true.
The Cubs are idiots! Nomar only played in 38 games this year. You can’t trade for a guy unless you’ve seen him play at least 100 times.
They’re doomed!
If Desipio were a cartoon, Jim Tocco and George Ofman would bear as uncanny a resemblance as Homer and Krusty do.
Worst…post…ever
Remember how depressed we all were when the Cards traded for Rolen? Remember how deep down we knew he was going resign wtih them since they got him early and despite everything we said aloud we knew the Cards just got the best player in the NL ??
Yeah.. Payback is a bitch :)
It’s elimination time bitches!!
This a new low, today I blamed his leaving on (among other things) the Sox official scorer.
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2004/08/04/no_room_for_neutrality/
I’m Jay Mariotti with a Sideshow Bob wig.
I can’t believe all the Sox got was Dougie Eyechart and Orlando Cabrera, I at least got Placido Polanco, Bud Smith and Mike Timlin.
I don’t want to even think about it anymore.
Somebody hold me.
3:24 left in the first, Germany 19, USA 17.
How did Milt Palacio not make this team?
CAUTION: Objects may be closer than they appear.
The Nomar deal? Pull your phucken head out, Intrepido. The best Cubs trade ever was Ryne Sandberg and Larry Bowa for Ivan DeJesus.
How come I always get involved in these comments?
Do you think I deserve some of this?
When you are the Captain on the good ship "Obvious", you do deserve it.
Brief point…
If the Cubs want to make noise in the division race, they have to cut the lead down to 5 as quickly as possible. The first step is getting it under double digits for around five days. That would allow doubt to start to seep in for the Cardinals while allowing confidence to develop in the Cubs’ clubhouse. Then the Cubs would need to step on the pedal and have two good weeks. Even if the Cards go 6-6 or 7-5 in a two-week period, if the Cubs can go 10-2, 11-1, or 12-0 in a two-week period then the Cubs can cut it down to 5 or 6 games, where they need to be to really start causing the nervous feelings over in Missouri.
Why do we have to lose? Why don’t we just win the last 58?
114-48 would work.
2-0 since I joined the team is pretty good right?
If we want to make noise in the division race, we need to win games while the Cards lose. Boy, why are people making fun of me?
"If we want to make noise in the division race, we need to win games while the Cards lose."
Well, yes. But where did I say that? I went in detail on the way to come back in the race, but I didn’t say something as simplistic as that.
You may not agree with what I say, but at least don’t misquote.
Whee! We beat the vaunted Germans (pretty much Dirk Nowitzki and four guys from the Dusseldorf Y) 80-77 on an Iverson shot at the buzzer.
We can’t be stopped! Bronze medal here we come!
I didn’t see quotes around #67’s post, B.C. However, I think if you are going to assume the title of Captain of the SS Obvious, quotes won’t be needed.
As usual, you step into the pile of dog doo when you try to argue a point based on widely known facts.
Thanks for the arithmetic lesson, but I think we can all connect the dots on how the Cubs can overtake the Cardinals.
Is first place even the Cubs goal? All I keep hearing in my office full of Cub fans is "wild card, wild card."
Well, I also keep hearing "Cubs Woo, Cubs Woo." That’s what I get for accepting a job with Wickers Enterprises.
It’s only a great web-site that can have the words ‘dog-poo’ on it.
Nice work again today Andy, by the way…
Hey Steve the Sox fan! Nice to meet you. I don’t think first place in the division is the Cubs goal. I think the World Series is. And frankly we can all give a rat’s ass about how we get there as long as we get there.
There was a mischaracterization of my point. That is what I have an issue with. Poster #67 took what I said and summarized it too simplisticly. If they thought a point I had made was too simplistic, then they should have quoted what I said that they thought was too simplistic, and not summarized it incorrectly. That was my issue with their post.
As a member of the Cardinals, my goal isn’t first place in the division or the wild card. My ultimate goal is to be able to see my penis without the use of mirrors. If I can accomplish that and win the World Series, then it’s all gravy. Mmmm, gravy. Gotta go!
Garshkins, Capt. Obvious and Sergeant Slaughter Rule were just talking about whether the Cubs could catch the Cardinals, and some other guy shared what the Cub fans he knows are saying, and suddenly a guy who thinks he’s Nomar appears and invokes me!
Penis, where?
*Sigh* To satisfy B.C.’s whining, I’ll make my point less pithy. B.C. says we need to establish being less than 10 games back before making the Cards nervous, and then we need to go on a winning tear while the Cards play .500 ball. Thus, we can climb to within 5 games in a hurry and then anything can happen. While that’s a lot of verbiage, it differs insubstantially from saying "we need to win a bunch more games than the Cards, and then we have a race."
Just win baby!!!!!!!!!!1
Poor BC…
I think you should start stocking up on supplies from here:
http://www.villainsupply.com/index1.html
May look into a secret lair or a doomsday device…..
If you believe the Boston front office / PGammons version of the story, doesn’t that mean I engaged in some shady dealing? At the very least, wouldn’t communicating separately with Nomar or Nomar’s agent prior to the trade be tampering?
Even I don’t believe what I see in Gammons’ columns.
Wow! Steve the Sox Fan is back. Nice to know that you think Cubs fans are setting their goals too low. We appreciate that you think we should strive for only the highest goals.
I’m curious. What are your goals for the Sox? Why don’t you show them here? For that matter, why do you bother posting on a Cubs focused site? Are you really a Sox fan or just the typical Anti-Cubs Fan that outnumbers real Sox fans by a ratio of 93-1?
#50 had already written the same thing B.C. wrote in the now-infamous #62.
Baseball Oracle said it first, with less-panicked numbers that are based in realism (21-7 is realistic, 12-0 is not), in fewer notes, and with some style.
Chuck, nice to know that you think it’s nice that I post here, even if you don’t really.
My goals for the Sox: just win, baby. (The division, that is.) As we’ve been over several times in this space, the fact that I’m pro-Sox doesn’t make me anti-Cub. But hey, you’re free to inflict your biases/project your assumptions onto me if that’s your thang.
I’m happy for you as a Cub fan now that you’re back on an "up" cycle after the severe despondency that was the Desipio board a few weeks back — a time during which I went out of my way not to kick sand in your faces.
I’m not a columnist or WSCR host, but I’m not convinced Nomar = playoffs, mainly because I’m not his doctor. But it’s definitely nice to replace your weakest link with a pretty strong one — like if my Sox could pick up a PudgeRod to replace our disaster at catcher.
Steve, as a fellow Sox fan, I think your post should read "disasters" at catcher – it’s a plural suckage at its finest.
Cubs fans can recognize the finest suckage at catcher!
You’re damn right they can!
Ditto
and where is my Gamecast?
to point out that the Cubs start out tonight trailing the Satanic Fowl by 10.5 games, since they have already dropped the season series 8-11. If they end the season tied, the Cubs would lose the division title by a tie-breaker. So BC and Baseball Oracle need to put that into their Magic Number calculators…
Major League Baseball uses a single game playoff to break ties in a division, not head to head record. Just look at the 1995 game between the Mariners and Angels. The Angels won the season series by a few games, but it was the Mariners who won the playoff, and then went on to beat the Yankees in the ALDS.
I love Coors Field, Buddy!
sorry, an adendum. The Cards would win the division if the Cubs would get the wildcard, however if the division runnerup wouldn’t make the wildcard then there is a one-game playoff, whose site is determined by a coin flip.
Um, What about the 2001 NL Central? St. Louis and Houston ended with the same record, but Houston was named the division champ without a playoff game.
#93 answered my question.
I apologize for my mistake, I wrote that remembering the one game playoff and then looked up the official rule and wrote it in 93. St. Louis got the wildcard that year, and frankly if losing a tiebreaker meant the Cubs got the wildcard I wouldn’t be too broken up about losing the division.
God dammit Mercker/Farnsworth.
RAMI RAMI!
With Francis gone, I’m gonna box Farnsworth, whether he wants to or not.
All I do is throw meatballs because I’m completely retarded.
NOMAR’S A LEMON WTF THEO!
I gave up 2 homers and 3 runs AND I got the win. Ha ha, Z!
3-0 with me.
11-8 Cubs in a wild one.
Apparently, I requested that Chippy & Steve be removed from our future charter flights. It didn’t work, but that’s pretty funny.
I cannot run, but I can the ball very hard.
Best Cubs trade ever?
How about Larry Jackson for Fergie Jenkins…
Best trade ever? How about Brant Brown for Jon Lieber…
Stoney and Chip to St. Louis for a case of beer. Any kind even But-wiser
Hey Sloth. Lindsay Lohan’s on the cover of the new Rolling Stone. Nice photos inside. Mmmmm.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story?id=6388250
http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery?id=6389117&pageid=rs.Story&pageregion=blob
I gave up a couple runs to the Cubs in the 9th last night.
The work and pay’s a lot better than arguing on the Senate floor, though.
Mmmmm, billy goat taste like chicken….
Everyone else in the NL (and yes, that includes you Satanic Waterfo(u)l) would not want to play us….
…. but someone would have to.
So we are now 3-0 in the Nomar era, all come from behind wins to boot. Bill Simmons won’t like this, but it seems #5s presence has hooked the entire Cub team to the juvination machine, and Nomar himself looks great as well….
Tomorrow we’ll see if Prior is on again or off again, but if its the former, and if they play well against a San Francisco team thats a bit better than the Rockies, this team will have done a 180 to make Michael Schumacher proud.
The unexamined life is not worth living. by party poker
You might just take Bertrand Russell on a beach holiday, as I once did; but Kant, never. by levitra online
Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a prime mover, put in motion by no other; and this everyone understands to be God. by casino
The French are wiser than they seem, and the Spaniards seem wiser than they are. by free backgammon play online
Even if a civil society were to dissolve itself by the vote of all its members… nevertheless, before they go, the last murderer in prison must be executed. by world series of poker