Bruce's latest article

[ryno-mvp23]

i didn't see this posted anyhere.....great article

 

 

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/beatwriters.asp?column=miles&id=142443

[LuckyPup]

WOW- I am developing a serious man-crush on you Mr. Miles-Loved it- :oops:

[B]

WOW- I am developing a serious man-crush on you Mr. Miles-Loved it- :oops:

 

Yeah, but did anyone ever really prove that Bruce is Bruce?

 

 

 

 

i keed i keed

[goonys evil twin]

Question: Why was Kerry Wood allowed to pitch in relief after you decided last season that he needed shoulder surgery?

 

Expected answer: We followed the advice of Dr. Tim Kremchek, who told us Kerry would suffer no further damage by pitching out of the bullpen.

 

This is where you'd need a follow-up.

 

Okay, so he said you couldn't do more damage, but given the likelihood that Wood will not be ready for opening day, would you not have been better off having him get the surgery a month earlier and starting his rehab earlier? And even though the doctor said he wouldn't suffer anymore damager, wouldn't common sense tell you that a pitching injury could be made worse by pitching? And given your terrible track record of having pitchers stay healthy, and get back to healthy after injuries, don't you think that taking the cautious approach with this one, would have been the wise approach?

[wastra]

Question: Juan Pierre is your new leadoff man. Who bats second, and wouldn’t Todd Walker look good there?

 

Expected answer: Um, Neifi bats second. Don’t you remember? He saved us last year.

 

 

I know this is tongue-in-cheek (sort of), but NOTHING worries me more about this roster than my deep-seeded (and I think justified) fear that this is EXACTLY what management is planning.

[wastra]

I only PRAY that the media takes off the kid gloves when dealing with this management staff and starts really challenging this idiotic approach to baseball.

 

Some of them, like Bruce, already ask the tough questions, but far too many others just want happy soundbites to put in their articles instead of really challenging them to respond to real questions that it sickens me.

[The Voice of Reason]

Question: Why was Kerry Wood allowed to pitch in relief after you decided last season that he needed shoulder surgery?

 

Expected answer: We followed the advice of Dr. Tim Kremchek, who told us Kerry would suffer no further damage by pitching out of the bullpen.

 

This is where you'd need a follow-up.

 

Okay, so he said you couldn't do more damage, but given the likelihood that Wood will not be ready for opening day, would you not have been better off having him get the surgery a month earlier and starting his rehab earlier? And even though the doctor said he wouldn't suffer anymore damager, wouldn't common sense tell you that a pitching injury could be made worse by pitching? And given your terrible track record of having pitchers stay healthy, and get back to healthy after injuries, don't you think that taking the cautious approach with this one, would have been the wise approach?

 

How about adding given your track record on providing accurate information on pitcher's injuries (i.e., Prior, Wood, etc.), why should we believe anything you say on this topic?

[goonys evil twin]

Question: Juan Pierre is your new leadoff man. Who bats second, and wouldn’t Todd Walker look good there?

 

Expected answer: Um, Neifi bats second. Don’t you remember? He saved us last year.

 

 

I know this is tongue-in-cheek (sort of), but NOTHING worries me more about this roster than my deep-seeded (and I think justified) fear that this is EXACTLY what management is planning.

 

I'm not sure NOTHING worries me more, but that is pretty close. I'm betting Neifi is in the 2 hole at least once by the 2nd week of the season.

 

Other worries are that a slow start by Cedeno at shortstop will lead to a middle infield of Neifi and Hairston, while a slow start by Murton will lead to Grissom getting 100+ starts. There's also the worry that some random veteran will have an unbelievable April, but, while that will be great for the team in April, it'll likely lead to an unjustified number of PA the rest of the year. I'm also worried that Rusch will get 30 starts with an ERA near 5. There's also the chance that Pierre will sign some ridiculous contract extension that will bog down this lineup even further for years to come.

 

These are all just fears of mismanagement, and I haven't even gotten into the fears of what could go wrong with the players themselves.

[wastra]

Question: Juan Pierre is your new leadoff man. Who bats second, and wouldn’t Todd Walker look good there?

 

Expected answer: Um, Neifi bats second. Don’t you remember? He saved us last year.

 

 

I know this is tongue-in-cheek (sort of), but NOTHING worries me more about this roster than my deep-seeded (and I think justified) fear that this is EXACTLY what management is planning.

 

I'm not sure NOTHING worries me more, but that is pretty close. I'm betting Neifi is in the 2 hole at least once by the 2nd week of the season.

 

Other worries are that a slow start by Cedeno at shortstop will lead to a middle infield of Neifi and Hairston, while a slow start by Murton will lead to Grissom getting 100+ starts. There's also the worry that some random veteran will have an unbelievable April, but, while that will be great for the team in April, it'll likely lead to an unjustified number of PA the rest of the year. I'm also worried that Rusch will get 30 starts with an ERA near 5. There's also the chance that Pierre will sign some ridiculous contract extension that will bog down this lineup even further for years to come.

 

These are all just fears of mismanagement, and I haven't even gotten into the fears of what could go wrong with the players themselves.

 

 

I didn't mean that exact SCENARIO- just that the manager will AGAIN totally misuse his roster in favor of "his boys." That might be the most egregious of the ones you mentioned (other than Rusch) since I'm 100% confident Walker will outperform Neifi, but only about 95% confident that Murton will definitely outperform Grissom and Cedeno will outperform Neifi over the course of a season.

[Mark Priors Calves]

I like the angier Bruce. Keep up the good work, and I hope the tough questions do come flying this weekend.

[biittner77]

A few questions:

 

Who's a worse option for the #2 spot, Perez or Jones?

 

If Cedeno starts the game at SS and Hairston at 2nd, which is more likely to be double switched in favor of Perez?

 

If Cedeno and Hairston are in the lineup at the same time, which one of them bats 2nd or do they bat 7th, 8th?

[goonys evil twin]

A few questions:

 

Who's a worse option for the #2 spot, Perez or Jones?

 

Jones is obviously the less bad hitter, making Perez the worse option for #2.

[Dr. Cub]

Question: Why was Kerry Wood allowed to pitch in relief after you decided last season that he needed shoulder surgery?

 

Expected answer: We followed the advice of Dr. Tim Kremchek, who told us Kerry would suffer no further damage by pitching out of the bullpen.

 

This is where you'd need a follow-up.

 

Okay, so he said you couldn't do more damage, but given the likelihood that Wood will not be ready for opening day, would you not have been better off having him get the surgery a month earlier and starting his rehab earlier? And even though the doctor said he wouldn't suffer anymore damager, wouldn't common sense tell you that a pitching injury could be made worse by pitching? And given your terrible track record of having pitchers stay healthy, and get back to healthy after injuries, don't you think that taking the cautious approach with this one, would have been the wise approach?

 

[crickets chirping] [crickets chirping] [long pause]

 

(Drew Rosenhaus appears from underneath the table)

 

NEXT QUESTION!!

[ThePenguin11]

I actually stood up and cheered when I read this article this morning. Well, not literally. This is by far Bruce at his best. I think I can say for many Cubs fans that we thank you for not sugar-coating it like many spineless writers in this town have been for years. Aside from some of the guys who write as columnists like Rozner and Mariotti, nobody on the Cubs beat has had the guts to ask the tough questions (even if it's just hypothetical, as it is in this article) like Bruce Miles.

 

I just hope that someone takes Dusty and Jim to task with these questions and more at the Cubs convention. It's high time these guys become accountable - especially Dusty. I'm sick and tired of the cupcake-softball questions these guys get from Trib-Trumpeters and guys like Kiley.

 

I'm not going to attend the Cubs Convention, purely because I would only go for the Q&A session and let everyone else share the Cubs Kool-ade alotted for me.

 

It took a long time, but I'm close to stepping away from the Cubs bandwagon because of the management and mishandling of this team. Not only will I not be attending the Convention, but I'll be watching the games from the friendly confines of my couch. The Cubs have seen the last dollar from my wallet until they decide to make a concerted effort at winning a world series.

 

Thank you Bruce. Thanks for showing the Chicago media how it's done. Now its on everyone to take these guys to task. I hope to hear reports on Monday that the Q&A session was a 'bloodbath' with no question left unanswered.

[Mizzou]

That's a great column. I really liked this part:

 

Question: What’s the deal with Todd Walker anyway? He had a solid on-base percentage of .355 and you want to dump him and start Neifi Perez, whose OBP was .298. On top of that, Walker made only 6 errors at second base and had a good fielding percentage of .985. What gives?

 

Expected answer: What is this “on-base percentage” of which you speak?

[TXCubsFan]

Bruce,

 

From all of us long-suffering Cub fans ....

 

=D> =D> =D> =D>

[wastra]

That's a great column. I really liked this part:

 

Question: What’s the deal with Todd Walker anyway? He had a solid on-base percentage of .355 and you want to dump him and start Neifi Perez, whose OBP was .298. On top of that, Walker made only 6 errors at second base and had a good fielding percentage of .985. What gives?

 

Expected answer: What is this “on-base percentage” of which you speak?

 

Best line in the article. Bar none.

[TXCubsFan]

A few questions:

 

Who's a worse option for the #2 spot, Perez or Jones?

 

If Cedeno starts the game at SS and Hairston at 2nd, which is more likely to be double switched in favor of Perez?

 

If Cedeno and Hairston are in the lineup at the same time, which one of them bats 2nd or do they bat 7th, 8th?

 

Against RHP, bat Jones second. Against LHP, bat Hairston or Cedeno second.

[soapy]

Question: Why was Kerry Wood allowed to pitch in relief after you decided last season that he needed shoulder surgery?

 

Expected answer: We followed the advice of Dr. Tim Kremchek, who told us Kerry would suffer no further damage by pitching out of the bullpen.

 

This is where you'd need a follow-up.

 

Okay, so he said you couldn't do more damage, but given the likelihood that Wood will not be ready for opening day, would you not have been better off having him get the surgery a month earlier and starting his rehab earlier? And even though the doctor said he wouldn't suffer anymore damager, wouldn't common sense tell you that a pitching injury could be made worse by pitching? And given your terrible track record of having pitchers stay healthy, and get back to healthy after injuries, don't you think that taking the cautious approach with this one, would have been the wise approach?

 

Expected answer (which is complete BS): Well, of course hind-sight is always 20/20. There is no way we could have known that would delay his rehab for the 2006 season. Also, we were still in the thick of the wildcard race at that point and thought having Kerry in the bullpen pitching one inning every third day might be just what we needed to put us over the top. On top of that, it was very important to us to finish over .500.

[goonys evil twin]

Expected answer (which is complete BS): Well, of course hind-sight is always 20/20. There is no way we could have known that would delay his rehab for the 2006 season. Also, we were still in the thick of the wildcard race at that point and thought having Kerry in the bullpen pitching one inning every third day might be just what we needed to put us over the top. On top of that, it was very important to us to finish over .500.

 

Actually they'll just say they are not assuming Kerry will miss any time.

[soapy]

Expected answer (which is complete BS): Well, of course hind-sight is always 20/20. There is no way we could have known that would delay his rehab for the 2006 season. Also, we were still in the thick of the wildcard race at that point and thought having Kerry in the bullpen pitching one inning every third day might be just what we needed to put us over the top. On top of that, it was very important to us to finish over .500.

 

Actually they'll just say they are not assuming Kerry will miss any time.

 

Sad but probably true.

 

Edit: Also, they'll mention that Kerry "wanted" to pitch.

Edited January 13, 2006 by soapy

[biittner77]

A few questions:

 

Who's a worse option for the #2 spot, Perez or Jones?

 

Jones is obviously the less bad hitter, making Perez the worse option for #2.

 

Of course Perez is the lesser of any two options regardless who the other player is. But wouldn't you want Slappy McNostick batting 2nd to bunt, hit-and-run with Pierre on base? That way Jones could break up the parade of RH hitters toward the back of the order.

[goonys evil twin]

A few questions:

 

Who's a worse option for the #2 spot, Perez or Jones?

 

Jones is obviously the less bad hitter, making Perez the worse option for #2.

 

Of course Perez is the lesser of any two options regardless who the other player is. But wouldn't you want Slappy McNostick batting 2nd to bunt, hit-and-run with Pierre on base? That way Jones could break up the parade of RH hitters toward the back of the order.

 

No, not at all. I don't think there is any value in having a bunter hit 2nd, he's more likely to hit into a ton of DPs than provide many successful hit and runs. Perhaps if the leadoff guy was a .400+ OBP kind of guy, I could live with a .300 OBP 2nd hitter who bunts a lot. But there is no value in Pierre's speed if you have to have Neifi continually bunting him over.

 

And I don't put much stock into "breaking up the RF hitters". I'd want Jones hitting 6th or 7th because he's no better than a 6th or 7th hitter, not because the 3-8 will be RH if he's not there.

[goonys evil twin]

Expected answer (which is complete BS): Well, of course hind-sight is always 20/20. There is no way we could have known that would delay his rehab for the 2006 season. Also, we were still in the thick of the wildcard race at that point and thought having Kerry in the bullpen pitching one inning every third day might be just what we needed to put us over the top. On top of that, it was very important to us to finish over .500.

 

Actually they'll just say they are not assuming Kerry will miss any time.

 

Sad but probably true.

 

Edit: Also, they'll mention that Kerry "wanted" to pitch.

 

That is a very good point.

 

"He wanted to go back out there." The standard answer to any "why did you keep him in" question.

[Bruce Miles]

Thanks for the comments. I really appreciate them. Now it's up to the fans. I'm sure they'll come with very pointed questions this weekend. Good point by Goony on following up the Wood "answer," (an answer based on answers the Cubs have given me on the topic). We'll see what the people come armed with this weekend.

Got to head over and meet with the manager and see the players.