You have to love the San Francisco Giants. If the Cubs somehow emerge from the wild card scrum and claim a playoff spot, we will have to look no further than the three games the Giants should have won at Wrigley Field this week. They actually did win one of them, but instead of shoving the Cubs off a ledge, they pretty much tossed them some rope and started pulling.
The Cubs lose yesterday if the best defensive shortstop of the last 15 years doesn’t let a routine grounder go through his legs. They also probably lose if the Giants don’t botch the play the Cubs are completely defenseless at stopping–the suicide squeeze. Throw in a flyball that dropped because the right fielder lost it in the sun (though, the Cubs didn’t really take advantage of that one, but it was still funny) and Felipe Alou’s stubborn refusal to pitch around Jeromy Burnitz to get to Neifi! and the Cubs won a game they had all but gift wrapped for the Giants in the eighth, when Carlos Zambrano was left to die on the mound with nothing left and a one run lead.
It was almost like Felipe Alou spent the series trying to give wins to Dusty. He didn’t. It just proves how dumb he is that he could accomplish it without trying.
The big story was what happened after the game. No, not Ryan Dempster giving Jeromy Burnitz the old shaving cream pie to the face during his TV interview. Derrek Lee, Dusty Baker and Ryan Dempster all came to the defense of former Cubs blowtorch LaTroy Hawkins. Derrek said the fans’ treatment of LaTroy during his eighth inning appearances in each game was “classless.”
I have no problem with the players or Dusty defending LaTroy. He was their friend. Just because a guy gets traded it doesn’t mean you don’t like him. I’ll just appreciate LaTroy squandering the lead in all three games, and I enjoyed the “Hawkins sucks!” chants.
Was it classless? Of course it was. It was also fun and effective.
As for Dusty’s concern that when opposing players see Cubs’ fans boo some of their current and former players, that it makes some of those players unlikely to want to play for the Cubs, I say “good.” If you’re so mentally weak that you will avoid playing in a city because if you suck you will get booed, stay away. It wasn’t going to work out here anyway.
Gone are the days when a player who was just sick and tired of playing hard and playing well can sign a long term deal with the Cubs and nap his way through it, cashing big checks.
The case in point for how to handle it is the guy who got the game-winning hit yesterday. Jeromy Burnitz is not having an MVP caliber season. He’s having a good season at the plate, and he’s busting his ass every day and the fans have warmed to him to the point where even without Derrek Lee-like numbers, he’s one of the favorites around there.
Did LaTroy act like a prick the whole time he was a Cub? Yes he did. Would it have been OK if he’d gotten lots of outs? Sure it would have. But when you act like a prick, or in another famous case you refuse to try and correct your flaws, you are going to get booed and jeered and made fun of, because Wrigley’s not the country club people always thought it was.
Should we get mad at Derrek or Ryan or Dusty for defending an old friend? No. Should we stop booing? Nope.
Cubs’ fans are never going to turn into the strange, cultish crowds the Cardinals have. If Rickie Weeks hits one 519 feet at Wrigley he’s not going to get a standing ovation in his next at bat like he did in St. Louis. That’s just wrong and strange and creepy. But even those fans, the self-proclaimed “best fans in baseball” (when “most likely fans to have an extra chromosome” is more accurate) started booing during Lee’s at bats last weekend because the Cubs’ fans in attendance were “gasp!” cheering him. It even started a very insecure and humorously pathetic “MVP!” chant for Albert Pujols right before he hit into the game ending double play on Saturday.
I was going to write that it’s interesting that the guys complaining about the booing are all relatively new, but if you look at the Cubs’ roster, everybody’s relatively new. Who’s been around the longest?
Carlos Zambrano…and he’s 24! Sure, Maddux was around in the late ’80s and early ’90s, but he went away for a dozen years so it’s not like he’s a lifer.
So who are they to say how it used to be? I’ve got news for them, guys have gotten booed every year and former Cubs have been booed every year. In fact, you can ask Maddux about that. I’m pretty sure there was a day in 1993 when he didn’t think the fans were as “super” as he thought they were Tuesday night.
You want to know why the fans took such pride in booing LaTroy? Because it worked. He melted down in all three appearances and allowed a runner who scored the tying run each time. Why should the fans stop?
You can act like this is new, but it’s not. Ask Dave Kingman or Danny Jackson or Calvin Schiraldi or anybody who played for Lee Elia about the happy Cubs crowds. It was always a myth that Wrigley coddled its players. If anything, the complete and utter lack of success for a century has done one thing. It’s lowered the bar as to what you need to do to get fan adoration. At Yankee Stadium you pretty much need to be a key part of a World Series team. At Wrigley, you just need to run hard to first base and act like you’re pissed if you strike out.
OK, so that’s what changed. The Cubs’ fans no longer just want effort, they want results, too. But you’re not going to get the LaTroy-Corey treatment lightly. Those guys earned it. Just like Mel Rojas and Todd Hundley before them. Wow, that’s quite the fun little club to be in.
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I found this very interesting. Both ESPN’s underwear supermodel Len Pasquarelli and SI’s incredibly shrinking Peter King were in Atlanta yesterday at Falcons’ training camp (OK it’s in some town named Flowery Branch, Georgia–whatever, Atlanta) and both had observations about Michael Vick’s throwing ability. Mind you, these guys watched the same two practices.
Pasquarelli:
Vick was, in a word, brutal at times. And that might not even accurately describe his afternoon. He was too high. He was too low. He was long and he was short. Vick looked anything but ready to ratchet up his completion percentage to the levels that typically accompany a West Coast-style passing design. His body language belied his frustration. At one point, tight end and favorite target Alge Crumpler, following one particularly scattershot effort, returned to the huddle and placed his arm around Vick’s shoulders.
But even more disappointing than his performance in throwing the ball was Vick’s slipshod footwork on too many occasions. Hard to imagine, we agree, for a player so agile and nifty, but the guy looked like he had two left feet at times. Vick still tries, or at least he did Monday, to do too much just with his arm. You generate velocity and even accuracy, from the feet up. But Vick rarely squared up, didn’t get his feet set, had too many skewed release points. There is also a kind of “jump” in Vick’s drop-and-plant, one that, mechanically, forces him to divert his eyes.
I think one of the great things about watching this team practice is the beauty of the ball that Mike Vick throws. Gorgeous pass after gorgeous pass.
Huh? What?
Either Pasquarelli is on a one-man seek and destroy mission about Vick, or Peter King is getting ready for the post-Brett Farvuhuh NFL when he’s going to need another famous QB to suck up to. You decide.
Hey dudes, what’s going on with the Dumbass du jour dudes?
On July 7th we were 40-44 and it was called the “joe morgan ddjâ€Â.
Since then we’ve played .706 ball to a record of 52-49 and now
It’s called the “dusty ddj†dudes.
If the award was not named after me when we were bad, I don’t
see how, now that the guys finally understood what I’m preaching dudes,
there’s a reason to call it after me dudes.
We need to unite dudes, this is too much of a distraction dudes, we’re
fighting for a playoff spot and this doesn’t add up dudes, it subtracts dudes.
You question me all the time dudes. If we loose it’s “we didn’t winâ€Â.
if we win it’s: “we were luckyâ€Â, “pitcher went 100+ pitchesâ€Â, “lineup
is terribleâ€Â, “rookies in the benchâ€Â, “use of the bullpen†etc. etc. etc.
Yesterday we won again dudes and this a classic one used here yesterday dudes:
“we won but I feel unsatisfiedâ€Â. Come on, dudes.
Got a brand new box of caramel flavored toothpicks dudes, I’ll take it
to the ballpark today dudes.
Have faith in your skipper dudes.
I love you Dusty.
I love you LaTroy.
If people don’t ever want to play where they have a chance to get booed, why does anyone play for me. My fans boo everyone at one time or another. Dusty is full of shit and he is tampering with players because he knows that without a prolonged playoff run, he could be done.
The weird thing about Hub’s firing is that now the Score has hired him, and is trying to make Hub into the new Steve Stone: the badass announcer who told it like it was, and got fired for criticizing the team. So it’s hilarious to hear all the Score hosts, who spent the better part of 2 years ripping Hub for being a cheerleader and Bears apologist, kiss his ass now.
I was booed because I acted like a jerk, said stupid things and did not produce what was expected from me.
And you wonder why Dusty was defending me?
FUCK OFF WITH THE DUDES
First hand knowledge here folks. I can tell you in my short time with this team that Dusty is one of the softest, sensitive people you’ll ever meet. He does my laundry for me, and gives me snack packs. He’s awesome!
but also, he started crying when he mistook a comment I made for an inference that he might use too much toilet paper when he uses the team john. He wouldn’t let it go and I haven’t started much since.
“With the tying run on third, it was very important that I stay away from the double play,” Murton said. “I went up there trying to be sure I would not roll my top hand over the ball so I could get some elevation. If I got it up, it could be a sacrifice fly.
“The left-hander (Scott Eyre) went 3-and-0 to me. I took a strike. Then on 3-and-1, he came kind of down and in, and I hit it. I got it up in the air. . .”
Somebody clip this and put in Todd Walker’s locker. Or tattoo it on his forearm or something.
Remember when LaTroy told me that he could do what I did for a living, but I couldn’t do what he did for a living? He was LYING!!! I’m pretty sure that I could go out everday and blow games for the Giants.
#9 reeks of me. This is a good thing.
See, this kid thinks too much, dudes. Just see the ball and whack at it. None of this strategy nonsense. The kid is trouble.
You know who could throw a great pass? Henry Burris.
“Gone are the days when a player who was just sick and tired of playing hard and playing well can sign a long term deal with the Cubs and nap his way through it, cashing big checks.”
Hey! We resemble that remark!
That’s called the “shrimp slide”.
Mike Krukow was a teammate of mine in San Francisco…blah, blah, blah…Gracie played for me as a D Back…….
Hey Bob, tell them the story about the guy with the number and fans didn’t know him or something, you’ve only told it 33 times, I’m sure not everyone has heard it
Look what I pulled out of my ass on my ESPN chat today!
Steve Phillips: Victor Zambrano to the Giants for Alphonzo. Cliff Floyd to the Cubs for Corey Patterson and Glendon Rush. Then, the Mets spin Patterson to the Devil Rays for Danys Baez. The Mets THEN take Mike Cameron, Edgardo Alfonzo, Danys Baez and Glendon Rush and trade them to the Red Sox for Manny Ramirez. The Red Sox get two right handed bats to replace Manny, they improve defensively at 3B and LF, they add pitching depth with Rush and they get a closer with Danys Baez. The Cubs get the bat they are looking for without any substantial impact to the major league team. And, the Devil Rays get a young high ceiling prospect in Patterson — the kind of player they like. And the Giants get pitching depth and free up 3b for Pedro Feliez once Barry Bonds comes back to play. It works for everybody!
The best line of the rain delay was after Krukow was egged on by Brenly to tell that same “I bought a program, and you ain’t in it” story (even though Brenly has told it twice on the air this year) was that Krukow told that story, then said he threw his first warmup pitch so wildly that it went into the Cubs’ dugout.
Kasper interrupts him and says, “We’ll be back with Day Two of the Major League career of Mike Krukow, right after this.”
Good line.
I think there’s an intern that needs banging.
Steve, who are your sources on this? I’ll talk to mine to see if I can confirm the deal.
Why am I employed?
Yes, i’m the same guy who predicted a 40-40 year for Patterson. High ceiling, indeed
If I had any balls, I would have stomped that gorilla’s head for karate kicking me.
Fear of roid rage or something stopped me.
I also disagreed with Pithy Peter on his “think I think” #4. He wrote:
“4. I think the addition of Hartwell and Reese also means the piss-and-vinegar level of the defense has been raised.”
Whereas I wrote:
“Even with the additions of Ed Hartwell and Ike Reese, the poop-and-olive-oil level of the Falcon defensive unit is down.”
Love the Ron Jeremy reference. Have you ever noticed that I look like his twin brother?
E-Ramis, you got nothing on me when it comes to luxuriating in “injuries.” That pile Millar started in the OF yesterday, because I didn’t feel up to it.
That would be my name if I had any other resemblance to Ron Jeremy.
But really, is there an uglier porn star than Ron Jeremy? Just goes to show it’s not what’s up top, it’s what’s under the hood.
Do any civilians ever post here?
I’m a better West Coast offense quarterback than Mike Vick. Virginia Tech blows.
Good call on the Hub Arkush situation, CT. Boers and Bernstein actually encouraged listeners to call in to Hub’s show with Dick Jauron to heckle them and ask smart-ass questions. Most of the Score on-air “talent” openly mocked Hub. Now, he’s a genius. What a bunch of transparent, phony clowns.
Yes they are gone but here’s a ‘hard-hitting’ Q&A with Moises from the Giants “Fans Ask the Players” series
http://giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050726&content_id=1145215&vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf
Enjoy
I used to think it was counterproductive for Wrigley fans to boo struggling Cubs, but after reading this I realize the error of my ways:
“Gone are the days when a player who was just sick and tired of playing hard and playing well can sign a long term deal with the Cubs and nap his way through it, cashing big checks…because Wrigley’s not the country club people always thought it was.”
Fans refusing to accept half-assed efforts and losing seasons might just be the best development around Wrigley since the addition of the vines.
I also predicted the Gladiator will hit 50 dongs this year.
About Latroy Hawkins getting booed and Dusty, Lee, and Dempster sticking up for him, give me a fucking break. He might be a good person, but he sucked in a Cub uniform and for that he deserved everything he got.
And for Dempster to say the fans shouldn’t be as harsh and they expect more since 2003, FUCK YOU RYAN! Don’t get me wrong, I like Dempster but he doesn’t have a right to step in and say anything regarding 2003 and the past.
These players like Dempster saying shit like that isn’t surprising. They haven’t been Cub fans or players for years watching these bullshit seasons, year after year after year. Dempster and the like are players. They are not Cub players meaning legends or legacies like Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg, Ron Santo, Gabby Harnett, Hack Wilson, etc. These are Cub players.
So next time Ryan, you get the bright idea to speak out and say shit like that to us Cub fans, think again.
Baker Basher
About Latroy Hawkins getting booed and Dusty, Lee, and Dempster sticking up for him, give me a fucking break. He might be a good person, but he sucked in a Cub uniform and for that he deserved everything he got.
And for Dempster to say the fans shouldn’t be as harsh and they expect more since 2003, FUCK YOU RYAN! Don’t get me wrong, I like Dempster but he doesn’t have a right to step in and say anything regarding 2003 and the past.
These players like Dempster saying shit like that isn’t surprising. They haven’t been Cub fans or players for years watching these bullshit seasons, year after year after year. Dempster and the like are players. They are not Cub players meaning legends or legacies like Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg, Ron Santo, Gabby Harnett, Hack Wilson, etc. These are Cub players.
So next time Ryan, you get the bright idea to speak out and say shit like that to us Cub fans, think again.
Baker Basher
Thanks for the free pass Basher.
Mmmm, chicken wings and beer…
His average has dropped 30 points in a month. The honeymoon is over. Back to his career normal .270 hitting ass. Good luck with that playoff thing, guys….