Leave it to the Cubs to finish up a 4-2 road trip, one in which they took over the Wild Card lead, got Greg Maddux his 300th win and got Nomar’s offense cranked into high gear, with such a horrendous effort last night that the hand wringers in Cubdom (and there are lots) have enough ammo to whine their way through another 48 hours.
Taken in total, the Cubs road trip was a success. They swept the Rockies in Colorado and got good pitching performances from Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. On Friday night, Matt Clement showed–again–how a good pitcher can have a losing record. He has that innate ability to let any defensive miscue send him straight into the tank. Last week he lost to the Phillies with two sequences that went error-homer, error-homer. On Friday night a dropped pop-up by Michael Barrett sent him into convulsions.
Saturday the Cubs stormed from behind to get Maddux his 300th win. While tHom Brennaman and Steve Lyons freaked out for twenty minutes that Maddux had hurt himself, those of us who enjoy spending some time on the Earth noticed that the Ice Man, Jon Leicester didn’t get any extra warm-up pitches. How hurt could Maddux have been?
Yesterday’s game was just ludicrous. Two things kill the Cubs’ offense. New guys they’ve never seen before and soft-tossing lefties. Noah Lowry was both. For six innings the Cubs made him look like the 2001 version of Jamie Moyer.
It was an interesting start for the Cubs. The first batter of the night for the Giants, Michael Tucker flew out to right center and Corey Patterson and Sammy Sosa nearly collided. They had a quick chat and the result was Sammy taking off his sunglasses and giving them to Corey. Later on in the inning, E-ramis would lose a pop-up in the sun and allow a run to score. Maybe Sammy should have given his shades to E-ramis instead?
The most irritating part of the weekend was the “Bonds Shift” that the Cubs employed. It backfired on them twice. On Friday night it was the reason Barrett dropped the Bonds foul pop-up. With a normal defense E-ramis is there to make the catch, but Barrett hesitated at first, then realized that he was the only one who could catch it (because God forbid the pitcher ever try and catch one) and he kind of stumbled under it after picking it up late and dropped it. Clement then felt compelled to walk Bonds and struggle the rest of the inning while gazing down TWICE to see if anybody was warming up in the bullpen. You have to love his toughness, don’t you?
Last night, the Bonds Shift cost the Cubs a run when Bonds hit one into the shift, and Mark Grudzielanek inexplicably didn’t go to second to try and start a double play. With the shift on, in which E-ramis plays in the shortstop spot, the shortstop plays behind the bag at second and the second baseman plays in shallow right field. E-ramis had gone to cover second on the play and take a throw that never came from Grudzielanek. Alertly (and he’s only alert to it because everybody plays this defense against Bonds) Pedro Feliz took off around second and went to third, because nobody was covering it.
In today’s Tribune, Seabiscuit’s Jockey blames this on E-ramis, though you wonder how a guy’s supposed to chase a guy to third and catch a throw and tag him out. Kent Mercker says it was his fault, and that makes the most sense. The only guy reasonably close to third with nothing to do on that play is the pitcher. Jon Miller and the Anti Christ suggested that Michael Barrett could have tried to cover third, and that brought to mind the only other time I’ve seen that happen. The Blue Jays were in such a defense against the Yankees last April and Derek Jeter tried to take third only to slide into Jays catcher Ken Huckaby as Huckaby was himself sliding into third to take the throw. Jeter missed a few weeks with a dislocated shoulder. The danger there is that if Barrett had headed for third and Mercker had too, it’d be just too Cub for them to leave home plage unattended, wouldn’t it?
The Cubs bad plays last night were the only reason the Giants beat them. Despite not striking anybody out, Kerry Wood seems to have fallen in love with his new toy, the sinking fastball. He got a big double play when he needed it and only allowed three runs (two of which scored legitimately). Even with the bad plays, bad luck did the Cubs in as much as anything else. Feliz doesn’t score from third if the next batter doesn’t hit a chopper that bounces too high for Derrek Lee to throw him out at first. The Cubs tie the game in the eighth if not for the slowest center fielder in baseball, Dustan Mohr, making a ludicrous diving catch on the warning track with two outs and Nomar digging for home. But the Cubs did enough to lose and deserved to.
I’m not even going to go into the mind-boggling difference in sizes between Noah Lowry’s strike zone and Kerry Wood’s. It just sounds pathetic, but it seemed pretty real. Anyway…
—
Three hundreth wins are rarely good TV. In only rare occasions is the pitcher still on the field when it happens. In Greg Maddux’s case, he was hanging out in the clubhouse. He only came out when Fox TV dragged him onto the field to be interviewed by Steve Lyons.
Lyons is in serious need of a haircut.
I was disappointed in the interview for this reason. There were some Cubs fans leaning over the stands and yelling. It was a perfect opportunity for two guys (Lyons and Maddux) who you know have seen “Animal House” a combined 124 times to do this.
Fans: Woo! Mad Dog! Woo! Yeah! Woo!
Lyons: Would you tell those assholes to shut up?
Maddux: (Turns to fans) Shut up, you assholes!
Nobody would have complained. Not even the FCC.
I think most fans have no idea that Maddux’s win yesterday was his 106th as a Cub. It just seems like he was a young punk with the Cubs when he left for Atlanta and that he got the huge majority of his wins with the Braves. But time has robbed us of the memory that in his last five years with the Cubs he went 87-57, and had the first five of his now-record 16 straight 15 win seasons with the Cubs.
He wasn’t an up-and-coming pitcher who left the Cubs for Atlanta, he was a proven stud. He was 20 games over .500 his career and had just finished a run of 18, 19, 15, 15 and 20 win seasons with a Cy Young. Only the Cubs could have screwed that up. And they did.
So while the Braves got the best of his seasons (194-88), it’s hard to view his 300th win with just unquestioned joy. Would he have won 300 if he’d stayed in Chicago? Maybe. He’d have been just as good, but he’d have played on some hellaciously bad Cubs teams. Then again, maybe the reason those Cubs teams were so hellacious was that he wasn’t on them?
Through the years he’s remained the most likeable baseball player of our era. Even when he’s carving your team up, you can’t find a reason to hate him. Watching Kerry Wood last night you could almost see Maddux rubbing off on him. Wood has started to throw that cut fastball that starts at lefthanded hitters and then breaks over the plate (that has to scare the pants off of just about every lefthanded hitter–especially since Kerry’s only actually breaks about half the time) and whenever Wood had a runner on first he was throwing that sinking fastball on the outer half trying to get a ground ball. It’s a work-in-progess, this transformation from Kerry Wood-thrower to Kerry Wood-pitcher, but if it actually takes…look out.
It amazes me that people are worried because Kerry didn’t strike anybody out last night. After years of complaints that he runs up high pitch counts game after game, he’s making a concerted effort to not throw as many pitches and now he gets criticized for that.
—
On Saturday the Cardinals traded for Larry Walker. It marked the first time ever that a team 30 games over .500 made a trade that will cost them $6 million in payroll next year to employee a corpse. Larry Walker? What, Dante Bichette wasn’t available? What were they thinking? That they have a lack of depth at “bald, injured, white guy?” What are the odds on Larry actually being ambulatory by the time October rolls around?
Basically, Walker’s being brought in because the Cardinals know that Reggie Sanders is due for a DL stint and the thought of John Mabry and Ray Lankford in the outfield full times makes Walt Jocketty pucker. True to form, Sanders got hit on the arm yesterday, had to leave the game and is expected to be out for several more.
Muahahahahahahahaha!
—
Mike Kiley used an anonymous source yesterday to refute the claims that the Cubs players tried to get Chip and Steve booted off the charter plane. Kiley’s anonymous source was believed to be Darren Baker, and the conversation went like this.
Kiley: Darren, do you know if the players tried to keep the announcers off the charter?
Darren: I like Dippin’ Dots! You can get them to mix vanilla with strawberry and they call it Barry White!
Kiley: What about the announcers and the plane?
Darren: They’re making a Sky Captain movie! I can’t wait to see that! Do you have any Dippin’ Dots?
Kiley wonders what’s wrong with Kerry?
Maddux’s hat and spikes are in Cooperstown, but not his glove. He’s keeping that around in case Wood forgets his again.
Apparently, Nomar’s Achilles is so bad that Dusty was able to schedule his day off and give him two days’ warning.
Mariotti puts down the doughnut to throw the dirt over Sammy’s career. It’s nice. He also says that Sammy’s still living off that 1998 season.
You might remember these stats? .328, 64, 160. That was 1998 right? Nope. It was 2001. Sammy’s in a slump, and for him, a bad one. But come in off the ledge. Would ya?
Brad Biggs says the Bears could be the youngest team in the NFL this year. That’s code for “we’ll suck, but we could get better!”
E-ramis is sitting out tomorrow night? Oh, well, who needs to score?
Maddux is geared up for 301. Well, as geared up as he gets.
Dan McGrath on the ugliness of yesterday’s game. Take it from me, Dan McGrath knows ugly.
David Huh makes the Bears’ cuts for them.
The Bears say Rex Grossman is just resting his arm. George Ofman says they are lying!
The Wizard of Roz on Greggie 300.
Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback.
John Donovan on Greggie.
Marty Burns isn’t so sure the Knicks are better. I’m going way out on a limb here, and I’m sure my Illini bias will shine through. But is Jamal Crawford really any better than Frank Williams? Don’t you think that if last year’s Bulls had Frank and had let him shoot 808 times in 80 games that he could have averaged 18 points a game? I do.
Sports Guy likes the Gary Payton trade. For who?
Then again, he likes Varsity Blues a little too much.
Intrepid reader David Bohnenkamp sends in this story about some cool Sox fans hitting golf balls in the parking lot. For them, this is behaving.
Richard Justice has seen enough of Jeff Pornstache.
When one of your pitchers runs off the mound in pain…that’s a bad day.
They have actresses playing corpses in the wax museum? Why don’t they just make the corpse..out of..you know..wax?
Roxie Roker’s kid gets lots of ass.
Lassie Edmonds is throwing stag parties now.
The world’s greatest newspaper says Bubba Clinton wants to “get jiggy with” the Olsen Twins.
Andy, I’m surprised that you want Mariotti to come in off the ledge? I figured you’d like for him to stay out there and risk falling.
Maybe he’s on the ledge because one of the players wanted him banned from the lockerroom for being gay, much like what happened to Les Nessman on WKRP.
I need walls!
Why in his article is Richard Justice assuming that Roger Clemens is going to pitch for the Astros again next year? I wouldn’t pencil him into the rotation just yet. As for Sammy not getting a hit during the Giants series, I just assumed that he was still in Colorado, chasing after Kit Pellow’s triple.
I want Mariotti off the ledge, and I hope he takes the "express" to do it.
I forgot this. This weekend was the Pro Football Hall of Fame and if you sat through Barry Sanders’ speech, I feel sorry for you. The man has no personality…at all. Just horrendous. Even his dad think’s he’s only the third best running back in the history of the game.
I like that Trey Wingo is a big part of ESPN’s NFL coverage this year, he’s one of the few tolerable "heads" on the network any more. Too bad a sweaty Berman had to emcee… Anyway, the question of the day had to be…
What the hell is on Carl Eller’s head?
Is it a hat? Is it a toupee? And why isn’t it on his bust?
Irrespective of Jay’s idiocy, Sammy is simply awful right now. Horrendously awful, Jeter in April awful. That he is hitting in front of both Aramis and Lee is ridiculous.
By the way, did you see that upon hearing the news that the Cards got Walker, Rolen volunteered to LaRussa to go down in the order? Would be nice if Sammy would say, "hey Dusty. I suck. How about E-Ram at clean up. Cool."
Andy,
Is this link right? It’s goes to the Jeff Kent Article.
When one of your pitchers runs off the mound in pain…that’s a bad day.
It should be this one:
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~28541~2322867,00.html
It’s a good thing I wasn’t broadcasting last night’s game or the Cubs would have come after me with pitchforks and burning torchs.
Sammy would have swung his torch and missed me by six feet though.
Very fiscally responsible, this attempt to claim that acquiring Larry Walker for nothing may hurt the Cardinals sometime next year.
Don’t be stupid, you moran.
Sox fans have golf clubs? That’s not part of the stereotype.
Meanwhile, I sure am looking forward to getting my Esteban Loaiza bobblehead on the 21st. I’m gonna repaint mine to look like Jose Contreras.
Andy gives a lot of crap to Sammy bashers. I understand why. He’s absolutely right that Sammy’s best year was 2001. That said, Sammy is being a prick right now. Everyone can see Sammy’s standing too far from the plate. He either swings harmlessly at a pitch on the corner and misses, or tries to yank it and grounds weakly to short. Sammy deserves to be bashed because he won’t take advice from his coaches. He won’t put the team ahead of himself, and in the Padres series, he’s going to start going crazy when the fans boo him and cheer Nomar.
Hey Ben, I think the point you missed was this one:
"What are the odds of Larry being ambulatory in October?"
I did tell Lyons, "hey, man, it’s really hard to hear out here."
Is Larry going to be a really big threat for the Cubs if they meet the Cards in the playoffs? I mean, do you fear the Cardinals any more now that they have the decrepit Walker out there? I’d have been more worried if the Cards picked up Brad Penny (at the time of his trade) than seeing them scoop up Walker from an elated Rockies team.
If the Cardinals were smart (which they usually are in baseball terms, despite being from Missouri), they’d have added an arm to pick up the slack when one of their three "studs" goes down.
Larry’s our secret weapon! In the playoffs I’m going to let Larry pitch and plan Ankiel in right field.
That’ll prove my geniousness!
I’m so smart, I spell words in code. That should be "play Ankiel."
Now I’m off to figure out how cool our lineup would be if I batted the pitcher second. That way when Womack gets on, the pitcher could just bunt him to second.
I’ve got to believe that the Walker acquisition was made in part as a response to the Cubs getting Garciaparra. Cardinal players and St. Louis media were whining about the Nomar trade, so management felt obligated to do something. Faced with the impending free agency of the Ambiguously Gay Duo Part II (Morris and Carpenter) and Edgar Renteria, I can’t see why they’d take on more money.
A rabbit-eared Cardinals fan heard me making fun of the Walker deal yesterday at a minor league game and defensively chimed in (without invitation, of course) that the Cardinals now have the "best line-up in history". I just laughed and said "Oldest?". I then reminded him that the Cubs five starters weren’t gonna be afraid of them come October.
Actually, #17, I will be freaked the phuck out for sure.
The Cubs should send prospects to Montreal (or Washington) for A-Gone. Roberto and Carl should pay off for us sometime soon…..well maybe not, but at least we made moves……well sort of.
I think the next dead body that Larry Walker will find in a field might belong to Ray Lankford.
Minnesota Twins: Purchased contract of infielder Augie Ojeda from Rochester of the International League (AAA); optioned shortstop Jason Bartlett to Rochester
Maybe the Cubs can swing a waiver deal for Augie and get some bench help, hmmmm?
Let’s see if I get this: Eddie Munster is wrong because Sammy’s rep is all 1998 and he doesn’t deserve it. So Andy defends Sammy by saying that Jay is a moran and that Sammy is living off 2001.
Wake up, Rip. It’s 2004 and Sammy ass and bat are dragging this team’s offense down.
And Korey ain’t helping since he hit that dinger in Coors. 2 times on base since, picked off once.
Your guys should be batting 6th and 8th.
Chuck’s hatred of Corey P is well known and documented, as is your own love of Sammy S.
I just can’t get as disgusted with Corey as I do with Sammy. I can’t explain it. Money has nothing to do with it, at least as far as I am concerned.
I just guess I feel that everything Sammy has accomplished in baseball, it’s been for himself. All for himself, from the 30/30 shopping mall, to 1998, to his insistence for occupying one of the glamour spots in the order, when he doesn’t cut it anymore.
The reason you shouldn’t get as disgusted with me as with Sammy is because I’m not earning 16 million dollars and dragging down the entire budget. Plus, while I can be a fucking nightmare with the bat, at least I can field my position unlike the two geriatrics playing the corners of the outfield.
You know why I hate Korey more, Sloth? Because he represents the "new Cubs." He was supposed to be a golden boy, rising through the minors to be the next home grown offensive superstar.
Guess what? He’s so far overrated that Nigel Tufnel’s amp would need to go to 46 before reaching Korey’s rep vs. his return.
This was supposed to be the new age and it shows up as fundamentally unsound. It’s going to be different, McPhail told us. And Korey was going to be proof that it was.
Yeah, it’s different. But it’s still bad.
God, you look at the way Nomar plays and the way Kenny Lofton played last year and you see fundamental baseball.
Korey and Sammy and Alou and Farnsworth?
Puh-lease.
How awful was my throw that it sailed over Derrek Lee, of all people?
Listen, buddy. I don’t need to listen to coaches, broadcasters, or fans. Yeah, I’m hitting from the on-deck circle. So what? You don’t ask thee Man to change his approach just to help the team.
Dusty better sit one of the old bags and let me play LF or RF. I kill the Padres!
Another example of us being the dumbest team in the majors: me not wearing a shin guard.
Don’t you miss me?
Oh, for chrissakes, we’re going to hold Kenny Lofton up now as a bastion of all that is fundamental in baseball?
As I wrote on your Web site Chuck, I find it interesting that for a guy who thinks Corey should be more patient, you can’t be more patient with him. I don’t think three games is enough to decide he’s going in the tank.
My point, and I didn’t express it that well, is that if Doughnut boy is going to claim that Sammy’s still living off 1998, he might want to look at the years since then. And, as bad as Sammy’s been lately, his current numbers over a full season would project to 48 homers and 110 RBI.
I just find it odd that every time he goes into one of his "I’ll swing at everything" jags that we all act like he’s never done it before. He’s done it…every year.
Should Moises and Sammy swap spots with E-ramis and Derrek? Yes they should. Should they go to Dusty and ask to do it? Hell no.
If I’m managing a baseball team, I want guys who have confidence (even if it might not be warranted) that they’ll turn it around. The minute Sammy admits he needs to bat sixth is the day he goes into one of those tailspings and never comes back out of it.
He’s been a Cub for 12 years now, you’d think more people would have him figured out by now.
Chuck,
Your reasoning for Sammy fails to cut the cake, in my opinion. It’s irrational, and the more flames you get rom others here bashing Corey, the deeper you dig yourself to prove your point.
Here’s an idea–drop the agenda before you look any more foolish and be fair in calling Corey out for what he is–a young, still-unpolished hitter with the potential to be a very good all-around ballplayer. His numbers have improved from year to year and, while he sometimes appears to be as headstrong as Sammy, is on a much better trajectory than Sam Me was at the same age–the inflated home run totals notwithstanding.
Your fandom appears suited for the MTV generation. I have no idea how old you are, but this insistence of yours for some instant gratification out of a 24 year old whom the Cubs RUSHED through their farm system because they stunk and were desperate to market one of their young players (a ploy that you’ve obviously fallen for, as you express frustration that he’s not Torii Hunter already) reeks of unfairness.
Understand, nothing personal. I do enjoy your blog, but this irrational hammering on Corey is just plain senseless.
And yes, tailsping is a new word.
Like Pat Riley and Three-peat, I have the trade mark.
Use it at your own risk.
D’OH!
I meant "Chuck’s reasoning for COREY…" not Sammy. Now the whole post is worthless. Sort of like Sam Me’s at-bats of late. Oh well.
It’s a good thing one of the biggest fundamentals isn’t hitting the cutoff man, because I’ve got about an 11 year streak of missing them nightly. I’m the Cal Ripken of bad outfield throws!
3 games? He’s been in the tank since AA in terms of stupid swings. He had 4 good games to start the month and I praised him. Then, he goes yard, and does a drop that makes the Flat Earth Society want Korey for their spokesman.
The guy’s been in pro-baseball since 1999. How much patience do we need?
I have a great attitude. I’m a plus on every team. I’m sure there’s no reason why I’ve been on five teams in three years, or that I signed with the Yankees knowing I’d have to share CF with Bernie Williams and I still bitch that I’m not playing every day.
I’m also such a stud that the Phillies wouldn’t trade Placido Polanco for me and would rather play Jason Michaels and Marlon Byrd in center.
I already trademarked tailsping. It’s no fung to be in a tailsping, especially without your big gungs in the lineup.
Remember when I wrote this:
Where’d He Go?
Who is this guy bunting, walking, disrupting, and causing general offensive positive events? He looks like Korey Patterson, but he sure doesn’t play like Korey. Is this just a fluke? A statistical anomaly due to small sample size? I worry that it is because of that huge strike out while the Cubs were still trailing. But this looks to be a very nice development.
And if it is, kudos to Dusty for goading Korey into changing his game.
Oh, wait, Chuck wrote this. Way back on Thursday. Apparently since then he’s decided it was just a "statistical anomaly". Nice to see his study was so indepth and long in duration.
Were Korey batting 8th, the bashing would be senseless. For a guy batting leadoff who has a self-professed desire to be a third hitter who hasn’t hit above .261 for a full season at any level other than low-A Lansing, yet is still praised as an up-and-comer, it’s not.
Why is this guy universally praised? He’s Curtis Enis. He’s Stacey King. He’s Peter Tom Willis.
Ok, that goes too far.
Sorry Peter. I hear you are a solid golfer.
Nobody ever has a bad month. When you start to struggle you just need to change everything. I think Sammy should bunt more. Maybe he should hit ninth? Maybe he’s really a lefty?
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/splits?statsId=5406
Jeter, you sucked in the first month of baseball when it didn’t matter. Sosa sucks in the middle of a wild card race. Cut his ass.
Chuck,
Corey is not universally praised. We all just get sick of you hammering on him every day. Get over it. Heck, even I am able to give Gabor a little credit when he flares one into the outfield for a hit.
Last I checked a win in April counts the same as one in August.
How about this, then: I’m not a complete jackoff who tries to throw out my back with each ridiculous swing from 10 feet off the plate…even when I’m struggling.
Seriously, buddy, how can anyone defend me at this point? You could see that Lowry kid’s eyes light up each time I step up to way off the plate. Opposing pitchers love me, I’m the easiest out. And it’s awesome for them because even if Moises somehow makes it on base, he will always find a way to get doubled off while I’m batting.
Andy:
That’s fair. And you’ll see I did the same with Korey when he had his little run.
But it sure looks like the little run is over and the big Double-Wide Strike Zone is back.
What’s even funnier is that I wrote one line about Korey here in a week. 1 line. And it was when he deserved it, after he had a brutal series. Yet I’m, "hammering on him every day."
Let me know when it’s OK to rip on a guy who has 2 hits and 6 Ks in 14 ABs and gets picked off after one of those two hits.
Hell, if Bako did that you’d probably have a 100-point blinking Helvetica font headline with the Bako Meter shouting, "Newly Discovered 10th Level of Hell."
I have 24 hits since July 1. I’m selfish just like Sammy!
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/splits?statsId=6871
I got two hits in 14 at bats. It got my status on the Bak-o-meter UPGRADED.
Cool, Gabor. I’m doing just as well as you! Maybe we can use my first name and do something similar to the Bak-O-Meter.
My first name is Donald. Maybe my combover status? How about a scale from, "You’re Fired!" to "Washing Dishes at Red Lobster."
I thought the Bak-o-meter got updated because I took off my mask to catch a pop-up and actually caught it. Which makes me at least a teeny bit smarter than that oaf Barrett. Talent they have, but DUMB AS ROCKS, these guys are.
Don’t drag me into this mess. I’m a Marvell Wynne guy. Always have been, always will be.
Another great outing. Maybe Ken will pick me up next year.
Thank you for not reaming me today. I’m actually trying to be reasonable, and I’m willing to just FORGET about yesterday, as a one-day blip on the map.
Now, tomorrow, if they come out smelling like a stinking pile…
Greg Maddux has 70 zillion dollars, but he knows where to go for the best value in his kids’ clothes….
That’s right, you can’t catch a ball with your facemask on! We think alike #50.
You can’t catch a ball with a facemask on. It’s impossible.
damn, Andy, why’d you cut off that Olsen Twins picture from the bottom? They are both craning their little necks down, with their mouths wide open, and I wanted to see what was so enticing down there.
I mean, it might have been me…but I don’t remember there being any cameras around that night.
I’ll get on base tomorrow and just pray that Lee can drive me in.
Dusty is giving me tomorrow off so I can shop for a cool pair of shades.
I want to thank Sammy for taking all of the heat off of me. Between him being bad for a week while I’ve been bad for two full months, and my name rhyming with Boo, I’m Teflon!
Why the fuck am I batting third? That’s worse than Sammy hitting fourth and struggling.
By the way, Sammy’s way too close to the plate. I’m actually standing on the other side of the outside line of the batter’s box. I like it out here. It’s comfy.
As for Sam, he moved back to the middle of the box about a week ago, and even Thommy and Psycho had to admit it on Saturday. But maybe he only moved back so he could still be tempted to swing and miss every outside slider?
Bottom line: We are awful. Time to pull the plug. But you can’t. AND you have to pay us 25 million. Haha!
Sorry, Moises. I say you get either $2 million at the end of the year and $-0- in 2005 or $11.5 million in 2005.
Only Sammy gets big bux next year without Jim Hendry saying OK first.
Papa Contract, I shouldn’t even be playing baseball next year. Why can’t athletes figure out when it’s time to retire?
Did I hear someone mention my name?
Can’t you Cubs fans just leave me alone until after the season?
I mean, for christ sakes, if the playoffs started today, the Cubs would be in them!
Of course, no one would be ready (right, Andy?)
Isn’t Moises on pace for 30+ homers and 90+ RBIs? I would think many teams would take that. He can be the NL version of Rusty Greer or Rob Deer or any other nameless, forgotten rabble that hit .250, strikeout a lot, hit into double plays, but still manage to put up decent enough power numbers.
If Mo is dropped by the Cubs next year, some other team will pick him up along with his .270/30/90 clip. It ain’t pretty, but it’s been good enough for government work (or Tigers work).
And really, isn’t Moises responsible for at least 2 or 3 wins single-handedly this year?
For those of you who don’t get your daily fix on the Cards blog circuit, the Sabernerds over at Redbird Nation have a long article, chock full of weird stats and big numbers, about how Edmonds is HOF-worthy…
I was just reading that piece of shit myself, boy they are lassie washed.
My ERA in August is twice that of Sweaty Joe’s for the year. But at least there are chicks in the crowd that wear "Farns Girl" shirts. I don’t see any "Sweaty Joe Girl" or "Regular Joe Girl" shirts. That’s why I rule.
Yes, Moshe has been responsible for wins.
All back in April and May.
In the immortal words of Superbowl Boob Janet, "What Have You Done For Me Lately?"
Let Some Other Team pick up Moises. We plan on having someone cheaper in one of the corner outfield slots and keeping Nomar at short.
If the choice is Alou and Gookie Dawkins vs. Geoff Jenkins and Nomar, well….
Shoot me if you think I’m crazy for wanting Nomar and Jenkins.
Alou’s presence = 2 or 3 wins, and that means a Wild Card lead. Yeah, it’s been brutal lately, but over the course of 162 games, he has been valuable.
Let’s remember that the piles of gold coins in Old Man Tribune’s vault mean the Cubs can sign ANYONE they want, for any amount they desire, and still have enough to crank out 50 cent Budweiser every 3rd game.
The notion of the Cubs working with limited resouces is just laughable. It’s a choice to keep those bags of cash.
Why did I cross the road?
Let Mo go and then trade for him next year. It is working for me this year. Ooh wait…..maybe not.
Bwaaaaaack!
WC race news maybe?: Pat Burrell is out for the season, Milwood might be out til September, and we’ve acquired Corey Lidle.
Actually, it looks like Larry Walker won’t be tripping over my corpse after all.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=1855018
HA HA HA HA HA! Buh-bye, Ray!
I’m the key to the Wild Card! I can blow any chance the Phillies thought they still had!
Hey, we’ve been spending money. Get off our backs.
In the last year alone we gave Kerry and Derrek raises, signed Greg when nobody else was going to pay him close to what we did and added that Nomar guy.
Considering Wrigley is actually packed to more than 100 percent of capacity you might just see Nomar and Clement and a new left fielder next year.
Of course when The Franchise’s deal is up, we’ll be paying through the teeth, but that’s why we keep poking him in the elbow with a needle when he sleeps.
I have an OBP 100 points higher than my BA. Would Chicago like me until Hollandsworth is ready?
Ray’s got the kind of veteran leadership I like.
Dusty, you can play me in center between Sosa and Alou. That’d be one of the best defensive outfields ever!
If I wasn’t dead, I’d be playing center for the Cubs right now.
I’m the guy you all ought to be comparing Corey to, by the way.
#85, Does that mean I’ll be the mother of one of the next era’s best players?
If the Cubs waived me, would anyone pick me and my $18MM up? Buddy??
I can out-produce Sam-ME for just $300K/year. I am batting .312 in Iowa with a .380 OBP and 1.006 OPS.
Oh yeah, I’ll bat anywhere in the order the manager wants me too, and I was trained to hit the cut-off man.
And I don’t take steroids.
Yesterday was a bad performance on pretty much every level…
However, we have gone 6-3 in the last nine games. We picked up the Wild Card lead on the road trip. And we come home to face the struggling Padres and the suddenly-weak looking Dodgers. If the Cubs can pull out a 4-2 homestand here, it’s looking really good, as the schedule eases up some after this coming week.
Stop making sense.
There is no way in the world anybody can quote ‘whathaveyoudonefohmelately’ in anything other than _my_ accent…
Gail Fisher’s gone, people! I’m back! I get to flip a coin with that creepy Chris Boden guy to see who gets the Cubs and who gets stuck with the Sox. So far he’s won both times. Damn him.
Can Steve Kashul be far behind?
Now I get to talk real baseball with someone who has a clue, unlike that loud bimbo who could only read from the teleprompter.
Nevertheless, she was still better than Chip.
Dave,
I was way better than you are in the studio.
Remember after a bad loss in Pittsburgh two years ago when they came back to the studio and the first thing I said was, "The Cubs right now are flatter than my junior Prom date."
That was awesome. Besides, I won as many games as Greggie won in 1989, if you count postseason games, which Greggie apparently does.
Actually, if I remember right, Mark Grace, Ryne Sandberg and I were the only Cubs who bothered to show up during the playoffs, or something.
Anyway, what the hell am I doing now? I’m the Polish Prince. I should be king of the Chicago baseball media.
Yeah, you were the greatest Mike, now hurry up, we’re all gonna be late for our shift at Burger King.
Hey, I played for the Braves, too! Why didn’t they take out a full-page ad in the Tribune when I got my 30th career quality start?
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