What’s the trite old saying? Speed never slumps? Well, neither, I wouldn’t imagine would hustling. The Cubs, who have played well of late, winning nine of their last 11 games and now making it look more and more like they’ll grab the Wild Card and let the Giants and Dodgers battle for the final playoff spot–but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re playing hard all the time.
Sometimes you don’t notice. Like last week in his two homer game against the Pirates, when Corey Patterson didn’t even run a flyball to left that first looked like it’d be an out, then a double, then the wind picked up and put it in the basket…and saved his ass. Corey was a victim again on Sunday when with two outs he struck out on a pitch in the dirt with a runner at third and didn’t bother to run to first when Jason LaRue dropped the third strike and had it roll away. LaRue probably would have still thrown him out, but you never know. A bad throw there and the run scores. Hey, it’s not like teams don’t screw that up from time to time. Though they never will if you don’t make them attempt it.
Corey’s not alone. Even before he hurt his groin, E-ramis enjoyed Cadillac-ing on every flyball. Moises Alou looks like he needs a cattle prod to get him to run on anything that doesn’t immediately smell like a base hit. And last night, Sammy joined in on the fun by doing his home run hop on a ball that didn’t leave the yard and then getting nailed trying to get to second. It’s not that hop that killed it, it was the next three steps which were not taken with any kind of urgency.
And no, I’m not just singling out the brothers here. Glendon Rusch covers first base like it’s covered with nuclear waste. Matt Clement takes 19 minutes to get from the mound to the dugout. Carlos Zambrano is the only Cubs pitcher who actually runs out every bunt.
It’s also not just the Cubs. You see other teams do it all the time. Nobody poses at home plate like the Cardinals and their record hasn’t suffered for it. Matt Morris acts like running to first base is uphill both ways. Albie Pujols doesn’t even break a sweat. Even with their scrappy manager the White Sox play like they’re all on valium.
Here’s the thing. If you’re the Cubs, why not just go balls out the last two weeks and see what happens? It’s not going to hurt you. For a team of guys who love their own stats, wouldn’t you think three or four hard runs to first a night, which might from time to time result in a cheap hit and a couple points on their batting average, might seem like a good idea?
—
You can’t fault Corey’s effort last night on Bobby Hill’s triple…just his judgement. With nobody out in the seventh and a two run lead, you probably just want to play that safe and keep the double play in order.
And yes, you can pile on LaTroy for blowing the save because he did it (even though I personally thought he struck out Rob Mackowiak twice before he got to ball four), but you have to give him credit for holding the Pirates to the one run. Closers tend to implode once the lead is gone, but he threw some nasty stuff to Jason Bay and whoever Tony Alvarez is, and gave the Cubs a chance to win it in the tenth, which they did.
Nice job of Dave Otto filling in for Ron Santo last night. He even got the grunt down perfectly on Solomon Torres’ game winning wild pitch.
And what can I say about Ryan Dempster except…who knew? When Dusty brought him in to pitch the bottom of the tenth, I began to weep. I slammed my head down on the coffee table repeatedly, and Dempster proceeded to get the Pirates 1-2-3.
As Chip Caray will remind us, Dempster has made a nearly miraculous recovery from “Tommy John Disease.” He’s an inspiration to us all.
—
If you need to know why the Astros won’t still be in the playoff hunt a week from today, just look at who they used on the mound in yesterday’s 9-2 loss. Carlos Hernandez, Brandon Duckworth, Tim Redding, Humpy Wheeler and Jerry Springer. OK, it was Dan Wheeler and Russ Springer, but really, what’s the frickin’ difference?
As for the Giants, I still don’t know how they’re doing it, but with the Dodgers in complete free fall, it looks like both of those teams will fall below the Cubs and end up duking it out for the NL West. The winner gets the Cardinals in round one.
Speaking of the Cardinals, they aren’t exactly roaring into the postseason. There’s a chance Chris Carpenter is done for the year. Scott Rolen’s calf doesn’t seem to be getting any better (poor baby cow). The Genius couldn’t figure out how the magic number works.
So really, the Cubs aren’t just playing to salvage the season with a token playoff appearance. Chances are when they get in, they’ll be the best team in the the National League tournament.
I know that would make me hustle.
—-
Phil Rogers thinks Corey’s legs are fine. That sounds pretty gay, doesn’t it?
The Cubs did a lot of stuff last night, but quit was not one of them.
Drink some warm tea. Whisper all day. Because tonight you get to start yelling Nom-ahhhhhhhh! again.
For those of you who might be tempted to think the Cubs should just keep playing Neifi, here’s my take on it. Neifi Perez has proven over a long career that he’s not very good. I’d say getting 10 good days out of him in a row is pushing it a little. Besides he’ll still be around for late inning defense and in case Nomar blows out another body part. Also remember that this Nomar guy, he can play a little bit. And his return will return the Cubs lineup to it’s all-time best with Derrek Lee back in the two hole. I would presume that, anyway.
Da Coach got screwed by the McCaskeys? Hey, it’s not like that’s a new thing for him.
Magglio might not be around for the start of the 2005 season. Well, that ought to help his free agent value. Also, the bone’s not getting enough blood? Isn’t that what cost Bo Jackson his hip? It certainly is what ended Albert Belle’s career. Not good news. Oh, and don’t believe for a minute Kenny Williams’ assertation that he wishes he’d signed Maggs to a long term contract. That’s BS. He’s glad he didn’t, because one-legged outfielders aren’t worth $14 million. In fact, those kinds of deals get GM’s fired.
Peanut doesn’t need surgery, but he won’t be around for a while. You know how people say “I’d be happy with 2-14 as long as we beat the Packers twice.” You might get that wish this year.
There’s a lot to like about Rex Grossman. His hair is not one of them, though. Wow. Potsi Weber had a better ‘do than Rex.
Washington comes to South Bend 0-2, but they might not be that bad. No, wait. They are. Losing to Fresno State isn’t embarassing, but giving up 37 to UCLA is.
Maybe Sammy needed Crash Davis at home plate yelling, “Run, dummy!”?
Matt Clement finally figured out how to lose his job and spend the rest of the year sitting in the dugout watching games stress free. He just broke out the Shawn Estes impersonation for the last six weeks. Unfortunately, he forgot about Shawn’s final week shut out the Reds’ last year.
The Wizard of Roz says that the White Sox want to be like the Twins next year. They might want to learn how to be better than the Twins, Indians and Tigers…three teams who figure to start lapping them, starting next season.
Mike Lowell admits he might be in his last two weeks as a Marlin.
It looks like the Expos’ hostage crisis might finally be coming to an end with the team finally ending up in DC.
Ron Artest is still nuts. Gee, what a shock.
TJ Simers will follow the Dodgers as they choke their way out of the playoffs the next two weeks. Hey, if they’re efficient they can blow the whole thing by Tuesday.
Britney may have faked her wedding. Talk about a talentless performer. She doesn’t even know which part of the wedding night to fake.
Kim Cattrall has no fans. I’m sure her VD keeps her warm at night, though.
America’s finest news source with some of the juicy details in Kitty Kelley’s book on the Bushes.
Hernandez, Duckworth, Redding, Wheeler, Springer?
Screw this, I retire. My truck’s dirty.
We do it by scoring the most runs in the National League. Our team BA isn’t as high as the Cubs and we don’t have nearly as many HRs, but OBP counts, for some teams anyway.
Giants, I’d say that having one of the greatest offensive players in the history of baseball probably helps.
Don’t forget us. We’re gonna sweep the Dodgers, then let the Giants pound on them. Meanwhile, we get to play Arizona.
Then we get to play San Fran head-2-head. We finish with Arizona while San Fran plays the Dodgers again!
Not dead yet…. (ba bum de dum)
Not dead yet….
Out here in the hinterlands of Iowa, last night’s game was not available on television. I don’t know if it would’ve been any easier to watch, but it was definitely berve-wracking on the radio. I saw the replay of the Sammy hop on Baseball Tonight and just shook my head.
What has happened to The Score? The North Experiment just spent over four hours on everything but sports, and Boers and Bernstien have been talking about motorcycle riders for the first 45 minutes of their show?
I wonder how much money the Clement decline has cost him. They wouldn’t trade him for Nomar six weeks ago, and now Glendon Rusch is considered a better alternative.
Nice Dose, today. I see you used our service to deliver it.
Dave, North has got to go. I’ve starting listening to Mike & Mike (ESPN’s national morning show) and while it’s not good, it’s better than Mike’s Rants or whatever the hell he’s doing.
Yo, bro, it’s P’Nut, not PEANUT.
White Bread.
I’m a big fan of Pat Hughes. He is far and away the best of the Cubs’ current announcers (tallest building in Durand, Illinois?). I like the fact that he never nags on Cubs players, but let’s fans know subtlely when someone messed up. When Corey failed to run out that dropped third strike, he didn’t go on and on about it, but he mentioned it in a way that let you know he was frustrated and then left it to the fans to fill in their own expletives. There really is no excuse for not hustling. Pitchers act like they’re carrying a piano on their backs when they run to first. It’s 90 friggin’ feet!
Brian,
that’s why you’ve got to love Zambrano. The press criticizes him for his celebrations on the mound, and got all over him about staring at his home run (which he apologized for) but damn, the guy plays his heart out every start, not just on the mound, but fielding and hitting as well. What other pitcher ever started a rally by leading off an inning with a bunt single?
An’ don’ funget, I ruin to fir’ bay fasser than Corey. Wash me fly… It’s lig I got fire outta me a$$ fruh Venezuelan tamale.
Dolan you’re all over it today in the dose. This team has been halfassing it for awhile. Don’t you think Baker as a manager would chew on these guys for that and not tolerate it. That’s Dusty’s weakness, he likes powderpuffing everything with these guys. Clement is a good example. Somebody needs to tell that boy to hustle off that field instead of poutily tramping off the field with that "it sucks to be here look." Baker hasn’t chastised these group of guys all year and will never do that. This team hasn’t yet played to it’s potential because no one has told them that. No one has bellowed out that this is their chance in the last 2 weeks to be the best they can be. Baker, to me, is at best, a basecoach. I believe he could even do a better job then Wavin Wendell. Baker will not lead this team to success. This team has to lead itself to success.
This demotion seriously hurts Clement’s free agency. The last six weeks has to cost him a cool three million per year. While I think he’s a decent pitcher, his history shows he’s roughly little more than a .500 pitcher, run support or no. I’ll grant that he’d have 5 more wins this year if he got more runs in April-June, but that doesn’t erase the abyssmal numbers he’s consistently put up since August 1.
Could this be a Cubs management conspiracy to torpedo his free agency, thus forcing him to return to the Cubs as a suddenly-much-cheaper 5th starter? Where’s George Ofman to run with this?
Ron Santo’s not coming back until Monday according to an item in the Tribune today…
Another thing I like seeing is the fact the Cubs have scored at least five runs in 7 out of the last 8. If only we had had this sort of consistency earlier in the season…….
JH, I’m locked in Carlos Zambrano’s trunk…help!
I want to clear up something from my last post…
With my "Another thing I like seeing" statement, I was NOT implying I like seeing Santo have to miss games on the radio. In fact, unlike some other people here, I think he drives the broadcasts.
He isn’t there for analysis, he’s there to be the "fan" in the booth. And that’s what he does a very good job at.
I hope he can return to health and to the booth as quickly as possible.
And just to clear something else up, when I said Santo drives the broadcasts, I didn’t mean that he physically or literally is behind the wheel of some sort of mobile broadcast vehicle during the game.
You might have already figured that out, or possibly maybe you did not. If you have not figured it out, hopefully my explanation has made some sense of my previous statement. If my clarification was not helpful, let me know and I’ll rearrange select words and phrases from above and try again.
Yeah, so long as I….
[long, painful pause]
…uh…
…make it back for the Uh-lanna series so I can pull for Grundz-uh-lanick.
Take your time, Ron. Somehow our broadcasts have not veered off the road without you there to drive them.
If you’re going to complain about pronounciations, yell at us for not once being able to pronounce Podsednik correctly. Hell, we play the Brewer’s like 15 times a year, you’d think we’d be able to figure it out sooner or later.
You mean "Po-sed-nick" isn’t correct? Let me write that down on the backside of one of my Biggio love-note Stick-‘Ems.
I see I have my first endorsement. Over on the homepage that is.
For all of you who jumped all over my ass for calling Clement a .500 pitcher in June, and stating that his trade value would NEVER be higher than it was at that point in time..
..and, I mean, I take no joy in stating that Clement is mediocre. I wish he would have won 20 this year. But that, my friends, always was and will be, impossible.
Dusty’s never gonna get on any of his guys. He thinks he’s still one of the players. He won’t be able to get any more free wristbands.
Dear BC:
We are pleased to offer you a position as a staff writer for the Times. Your ability to clarify and retract statements as you write them is a skill desperately needed here at the Gray Lady.
We look forward to being your employer.
I’ll vouch for the authenticity of that last post.
The Chicago AM AM Radio Contingent is gonna be stuck with Hot Dog Boy for a while, CT. No one would hire him away and his contract is too big for him to walk away.
If you want sports, ESPN’s Mike & Mike as Northbrook-based Sporting News Radio has no local outlet pre-midnight. Politics is either WGN for mornic-but-sane Spike or WLS if Wade & Roma ever get a contract done. Entertainment options are loaded. Eric & Kathy for one, Howard Stern is another (and politics on Howard, too).
Lotsa Cubs talk on ESPN now as the season winds down. That’s my spot.
Not to speak poorly of the home of my alma mater, but the "hinterlands of Iowa"? Is there anything else in Iowa other than hinter?
I mean, 801 Steakhouse in Des Moines makes a mean porterhouse. But it’s no Chicago Chop House.
Anyone catch Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins fame on WXRT giving his insite to Cubdom. Its rather funny at times.
The thudingly stoopid Mike North Morning Show (and, for that matter, all Mike North radio iterations) has a vast audience out there to speak to.
That is something many people forget: for every person who is rolling their eyes at North’s blowhard act (myself included), there is a grizzled Joe Six-Pack tinner in Palos Hills who is driving to the jobsite in his blue van while beating a heater and talking loudly to the radio, saying, "Yeah! What he said!" then rapid punching the roof of his van in agreement.
I’ll flip North’s breathless audio arm-waving off in the same heartbeat that Johnny Ham-and-Egger turns up the volume and adjusts his wife beater after scratching his beer belly.
Wrigleyville, thank you for specifying the Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins fame, as opposed to any less well-known Billy Corgans that would be associated with the Cubs.
And I think you meant insight. You really should proof your comments prior to submitting. What I try to do is carefully examine each word individually, and then once again agains the overall context of the particular side of an argument I’m attempting to make, before following with a seemingly conflicting statement to ensure all my bases are covered.
You should have said, "Its rather funny at times. Except for some times when it is less funny than the previous, funnier times I just mentioned."
JH:
While that is true, I’d bet a ton of his listeners are not awake for the bulk of his show. I mean, first, they’ve got to shake off the hangover. Then, when they do wake up, they’ve got to scrub off the smoke marks on the parts of their faces where their hoods didn’t cover.
His audience isn’t a morning crowd.
Actually, the term "hinterlands" was recently used to describe Iowa by President Bush in a campaign speech and, after some consideration by people with too much time on their hands, it was deemed to be inoffensive to the Hawkeye State.
AM 1000 doesn’t reach much past the Quad Cities. I can actually get The Score fairly well in my office inside the walls. WGN comes in a little less. I guess I’m stuck.
For someone so quick to take offense when faced with your own literary inconsistencies, BC, you sure are quick to nitpick someone else’s writing.
JH:
while North has an audience, it’s no longer that vast. The fact is, North was moved to the mornings because he lost a few ratings books to Mac, Jurko and Harry on ESPN 1000. Score management couldn’t justify their decision to pay North all that cash and then have him get beat. So they moved him to mornings against weaker competition (a national show, as opposed to local). Murph and Fred always beat out ESPN’s morning radio show, so if North starts losing in his new time slot, it’s likely that whoever okayed that huge contract for the hot dog man is going to lose his job.
CT, I understood that North was being moved to justify that gigantic contract, but they actually beefed it up a couple hundred K when he moved to mornings! Most assuredly, whoever is responsible for that contract increase is on the chopping block.
What is the over-under on Anne Maxfield calling Spike O’Dell and whining to her milquetoast former co-worker that North roughed up her applied-with-a-trowel make-up in an awkward embrace?
In North’s favor, it seems that you can run the EBS warning test on a loop for 4 hours in the morning in Chicago and it will still beat out a nationally syndicated show like Mike and Mike on ESPN 1000. Point being, North won’t be too exposed by the competition on ESPN 1000 because Chicago has proven they prefer a local lunatic to a heavy dose of daily Yankees-Red Sox pants wetting.
North was very refreshing…for about the first 10 months of his reign….back in ’92. He was the anti-broadcaster.
It didn’t take long though, for him to become a mockery of himself. He would hang up on callers who disagrred with him, and only take calls from the bootlicking morons who actually looked up to him, he’s taken so many free meals around town that whatever integrity he jmay have had has been completely compromised(he even goes easy on Jery Reinsdorf. Huh. Some Sox fan this assclown is), and his only remaining niche now is to take a page from his whore mentor Ditka and eke out a living as some sort of caricaturized, unrealistic Superfan character.
The fact that he takes himself–and his demagogue politcs–so seriously is a joke. He’s going to crash and burn and will soon again be asking you if you want a dash of celery salt on your Vienna hot dog.
Hey DC, I’m not BC and neither was the guy you criticized.
Unlistenable.
The bump in Hot Dog Boy’s salary is throwing good money after bad. He was a loss contract in the evenings. To get him to move, and possibly change his contract from a loss to a profit, they had to buy him out.
If they go from losing money to a small profit, the money spent will not be an issue.
What’ll get people in trouble is if his ratings aren’t much better than Murph and Fred. In that case, the net increase in salary is not offset by an increase in ratings and cume. And that gets program directors shitcanned.
JH:
North was given more money because his contract at that time specified that he could only be put on the air between the hours of 9am and 7pm.
Cume?
I’ll call the FCC.
Well, if I said "share" Michael Powell would get me for trying to promote bigamy.
Either way I’m gonna get Mancow fined.
Andy-what?
JH, I think you may be underestimating the locals just a bit.
It’s true that North is awful — by the way, is he airing more of those hilarious songs of his these days? — but it shouldn’t be overlooked that Mike & Mike are just as hard to listen to.
I’m just sayin’ it’s not that Chicago is choosing local awful over quality programming.
When they’re not playing the tiresome Smart Mike/Fat Dumb Mike, you can hear the papers rustle reminding them which character each decided to play in the mock debate they’ve planned to have over some non-issue.
And and and and you know what? Golic can barely speak. But but but but you know what? I agree that his stutterings still should score higher than North.
I don’t know that Murph and Fred ever beat out 1000. I believe that the mornings are the one place outside 3-6 that ESPN outdid the Score.
Don’t forget Greenberg started at CLTV and was almost wooed to be the Sports Director at NBC5 until ESPN beefed up his contract and solidified his spot next to Patrick at 5pm. He’s got Chicago roots and treats Chicgo better than any of the other national guys.
Am I the worst Desipio discussion topic? I just might be!!
…Dan Bernstein with hair.
Both went from ace reporters on the SCORE to annoying hosts.
Ivy6, Murph and Fred didn’t always win out by much, but they never lost the ratings book to Mike & Mike. Greenberg is one of the better national guys for Chicago knowledge, but Golic is an albatross, and the show has degenerated into Greenie the wimp and Golic the fatty schtick. Not to mention that Golic constantly eats while on the air and talks with his mouth full.
That’s not food in my mouth. Well, you might say it was full of "Greens."
Now that baseball is sliding to a conclusion (or heating up, depending on how you look at it), I’ll start listening to ESPN 1000 in the mornings a bit more, if for nothing else than NFL updates as they pertain to my fantasy team. Still, I prefer the bong-rattling stylings of the Drive. A little Sugarloaf beats the snot out of the mess that is AM radio in Chicago.
Mmm…sugarloaf.
I should have my own national radio show! I’m hilarious! I also spit when I talk to the degree that they had to install a salad bar sneeze guard in front of me in the newsroom when I did my Around the Horn bellowings. However, now that I quit to work for ESPN full time, they built a phony little "den" for me to sit in front of so I can pretend I’m at home. I also pretend I’m wearing pants.
I’m movin’ back up!
1 Patterson
2 Lee
3 Ramirez
4 Alou
5 Sosa
6 Nomar
7 Grudz
8 Barrett
9 Zambrano
I only had to go a rip-roaring 12-for-42 to move back up.
Sammy, something tells me Nomar batting 6th is still part of Dusty’s "keep the guy with the injured groin off the bases" theory. Baker actually did criticize Sammy for not running that ball out yesterday. Sounds like Dusty may be getting a little tired of Sammy’s act.
With Dusty’s speed at the top theory, I should be batting 3th.
3th?
I’d like to see Carlos bat thirth, too.
There’s a second chance league for those of us who already got the boot in Survival Football!
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/survival
The number is 33210 and the password is moran.
Good luck.
Thank god. I totally dropped the ball and forgot to get my Week #2 pick on time.
Well, Suicide is Painless saw 12 eliminated in Week 1, and 13 eliminated Week 2. There’s only 14 of us left. Game should be over in 2 weeks!
Sosa not only criticized Sammy for that one, he criticized Walker for doing it a couple of days ago on a bobbled ball he should have beat outif he ran, he chewed out Patterson during the game a week ago and he just demoted Clement from the rotation. These are things made public and we have no idea if anything else goes on behind the scenes. I think these previous criticisms are overstated.
I also like this lineup today in light of Nomar’s long hiatus. The last time he satout for a few days he was pretty slap-happy in the number 2 spot with a few double play grounders in the first 2 games back.
Who ever thought I was hot?
There’s a perfect explanation as to why Matt Clement has struggled since August.
You see, I used to have facial hair exactly like Clement, therefore he was my co-favorite player (with Mark Prior), and he performed up to the task. Unfortunately for me and Clement both, I recently moved to Wisconsin to seek employment, which I found in the first week of August.
This employment required me to shave my facial hair. This was in the first week of August. I’m sure you all can see clearly what has taken place!
I was perfectly willing to blame it on the blue jerseys, SD.
But based on your theory, which is a good one, does that mean Clement should shave or does it mean your company should relax its policy?
A similar facial hair policy was devastating to Esteban Loaiza.
I’m on Sportscenter along with columnists from Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles talking about the wildcard. When the anchor asked why the Cubs would win the wild card I said they won’t. I am sure you all appreciate that.
I have a bad back?
Hmm, if we all could have backs as bad as mine
I wish they’d speed up this pregame ceremony. I want to make it into the 7th before Masur takes over.
Three strikeouts for me tonight
Hey this guy just walked two in a row to walk in a run, I think I will swing at 3 straight pitches and not take any!!
We’re not here right now…
4 K’s for me
I’m back to my early season hitting style folks
I’ll catch you fellas back at Wrigley. I’m going to tend to Ronny for a while.
Our veteran presence is carrying this offense. Back to back K’s…
I’m in the bullpen ready to blow a game for you guys!!!
Right, buddy?
Sammy’s Diving Catch
The Cubs won’t win the wild card! They’re gutless! The Bears aren’t in the Packers class! The Bears are gutless! I will die a virgin! Women are gutless!
Keep bashing us, Desipio readers, but we may have just won a huge game.
Have you noticed we can’t pronounce Remlinger’s name right
Instead of pronouncing his name:
REM-lin-jer
We pronounce it:
REM-lin-gur
Hey, who was that guy, and what did he do with the real Mike Remlinger?!?!?!?
Look at my ERA, genius. I’m pretty sure pitching this one inning of shutout ball didn’t get it down that low, so why are you acting like I suck?
We’re filthy rich, but every season we put the team in a hotel whose beds are so shoddy that they injure Kerry Wood, whose back is apparently made of glass.
Big game from Zambrano again. What a performance! Also, what defensive plays for Sammy and Aramis! They don’t make those, we’re dead.
Baker’s logic somehow worked tonight by using Remlinger in the 9th. On top of that, he was warming Farnsworthless up. My choice would have been to use Leicester and second choice could have been Wuertz. But like I said, somehow the baseball Gods were on our side. Two games in a row winning one run games. The tide is turning into something positive. One more tomorrow with Maddux throwing a gem and it’s a sweep.
GO CUBS!
Woo hoo!
Hmm. I’m making 8 million dollars this year. You’d think that the club that gave me that contract would want to protect their investment and buy a back board to take on the road. Or, I could buy one. In every city we play in.
The real issue with Kerry Wood is that he pitched while not 100%. The Cubs should suspend him, he could have hurt the team!
Who gives a shit what your preference would have been on the relief pitchers?
Shut up, moran.
Hey, hey, #88 — play nice!
Whoops, I mean Jake Potter.
I will dominate tomorrow! Almost everyone except Moises is like 0 for 7 against me lifetime. Whoo!
You’re not pitching. It’s some AA rag arm.
Whatever. No rag arm is quite the rag arm I am – except maybe Shawn Estes. I am tired of the Logan Kensings of the world taking beatings that the Nelson Figueroas should be taking. It is unfair.
I like to keep bringing up a point even when it’s not relevant, even when it’s a pathetic point. I love Mark Prior’s performance this year. His ERA of four and a half is just what this team needed.
We just showed the highlight of Sammy Sosa running full speed and making a full dive to catch a ball, winning the Cubs a huge game in the playoff race. We spent the next ten minutes calling Sosa selfish and saying he didn’t care about winning, due to his comments regarding his homerun hop. We didn’t just call him selfish, though – we verbally crucified him. Someone just tuning in would have thought we were discussing an SS officer, not a baseball player.
Don’t you LOVE the modern sports media?
According to Pirates.com, coach scrapped the idea of starting the AA pitcher today. I’m good to go.
If someone would’ve told you that, with 11 games left in the season, Shawn Estes would have more wins than Kerry Wood and Mark Prior combined and yet the Cubs would be just a half-game out of a playoff spot, would you have believed them?
An amazing catch by Sammy last night. I could’ve sworn that ball was down when I saw its trajectory. Wow.
On ESPN last night, I thought I was watching SportsCentury: Roberto Clemente and part of the show was highlights of a Cubs-Pirates game.
Hmm, You know Dave, someone must be doing something right.
Only one infielder has been injury free this year. And that includes three shortstops (Alex Gonzalez, Ramon Martinez and Nomar).
Our RF superstar has been injured and sucky all year.
Our LF has been more obsessed with moronic rantings of the TV announcers.
Our CF has been completely inconsistent.
We’ve had injuries cause our 2 best pitchers last year to miss significant time.
Our ace, Carlos Zambrano, is 23 years old.
Our other ace, Greg Maddux, is 38, and pitched shakily until June.
Our closer last year sucked until he was hurt, and our bullpen has been a mess since.
But we’re very much in the hunt. Actually, if we go on a losing streak, we wouldn’t be eliminated until the middle of next week, at the absolute earliest. That would mean we’d collapse against Pittsburgh, New York and Cincinnati. That shouldn’t happen.
How many of you would prefer Baker Basher in the dugout?
#94, that’s funny, I don’t remember saying that. And I didn’t realize that Kerry Wood’s pitching with a bad back wasn’t relevant to the Cubs. Oh and whoever posted #94, it’s okay, I know you’re only mad because I’m right.
Wood apparently wasn’t too hurt that he couldn’t go 7 innings the other day.
He had a similar thing against the Mets in September last year, and he went out and pitched a gem.
Yeah, unfortunately, the Cubs sent him home, and he may not make his scheduled start on Sunday, which means *gulp* Clement pitches.
Hey Dusty. Just get ’em to the post-season, and I think we’ll be OK.
Where am I?
#99 Dusty Baker,
I pretty much agreed with you on your statements, until your last one.
All this year the Cubs have dealt with adversity. But one guy who hasn’t helped himself with dealing with certain situations has been Dusty Baker.
Time and time again he has made some erroneous decisions to put us even more behind the eight ball when we were most vulnerable. I’m not saying he makes these types of decisions 24/7, but he definitely makes this blunders often enough to kill a postive run.
Lately here, we’ve played pretty good. Baker hasn’t been using Tom Goodwin to give us a strikeout in that all important pinch hitting spot. He hasn’t had the opportunity to put in Farnsworthless to blow games since Kyle was hurt. He would probably like to sit Alou out and give him time off, but Moises, being the true veteran he is, has balls and wants to play down the stretch. It’s sitting guys out when they don’t need to sit out that has really been a Baker negative this year. There is only one move here lately that I can applaud Baker on and that is making Clement sit out a start or two. That can only help the team. Like I said yesterday, Baker is at best a basecoach or maybe even a dugout coach, since he does think he is one of the boys.
The players will win this thing down the stretch because of the players. Not because of Dusty Baker. That is my final statement.
If they win down the stretch, it will be because of me!
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