We're not THIS bad. But..

[Roast]

Okay, I know these past six games have been rough. Rough to the point where I turn them off in disgust. But this is one of those times where, like Pat Hughs likes to say, "A team is never as good as they look when they're winning, and they're never as BAD as they look when they're losing. We're not THIS bad." And thats true, we are not four(nearly five, save maddux)-shutout-in-six-game bad.

 

-Jones is showing Improvement, dragging his average up past .250

-Murton has been streaky, but is still batting a fairly solid .286, more importantly however, has a .369 OBP

-Cedeno has been excelling thus far.

-Barrett is still hanging around the .280s with a .349 obp.

-Wood is not too far away

-Prior/Miller are not Too awful far behind.

-Marshal has shown his studlyness

-Z finally had a teriffic game

-Maddux is 5-1

 

BUT...

 

Obviously those bright spots don't mean jack poo poo unless we can, you know, score a run. And there are a couple things that absoloutley need to happen if we expect to start winning.

 

-Slappy needs to stop grounding out to the pitcher, or if he hits it on the sweet spot, second base. I dont give a if you bunt every time, just get on at better than a .300 obp

-Ramirez, your obp is over 100 points higher than your avg, cool. But for the love of all that is good, PLEASE freakin start hitting. PLEASE. You NEED to catch fire.

-Walker, you were on fire to start the season, please, stop this 0-fer streak.

-Dusty, DONT START NEIFI OVER CEDENO AND BYNUM OVER MURTON AGAIN!!!

-And please, just please, when someone gets on base, GET A HIT.

 

 

So in closing, we suck, but we're not THIS bad.

[Jehrico]

Okay, I know these past six games have been rough. Rough to the point where I turn them off in disgust. But this is one of those times where, like Pat Hughs likes to say, "A team is never as good as they look when they're winning, and they're never as BAD as they look when they're losing. We're not THIS bad." And thats true, we are not four(nearly five, save maddux)-shutout-in-six-game bad.

 

-Jones is showing Improvement, dragging his average up past .250

-Murton has been streaky, but is still batting a fairly solid .286, more importantly however, has a .369 OBP

-Cedeno has been excelling thus far.

-Barrett is still hanging around the .280s with a .349 obp.

-Wood is not too far away

-Prior/Miller are not Too awful far behind.

-Marshal has shown his studlyness

-Z finally had a teriffic game

-Maddux is 5-1

 

BUT...

 

Obviously those bright spots don't mean jack poo poo unless we can, you know, score a run. And there are a couple things that absoloutley need to happen if we expect to start winning.

 

-Slappy needs to stop grounding out to the pitcher, or if he hits it on the sweet spot, second base. I dont give a if you bunt every time, just get on at better than a .300 obp

-Ramirez, your obp is over 100 points higher than your avg, cool. But for the love of all that is good, PLEASE freakin start hitting. PLEASE. You NEED to catch fire.

-Walker, you were on fire to start the season, please, stop this 0-fer streak.

-Dusty, DONT START NEIFI OVER CEDENO AND BYNUM OVER MURTON AGAIN!!!

-And please, just please, when someone gets on base, GET A HIT.

 

 

So in closing, we suck, but we're not THIS bad.

 

One other thing I'd throw in there...

 

STOP WALKING GUYS!

 

I don't know off of the top of my head, but I'd bet that over half of the runs scored against us (i.e. most of them) are guys that initially got on by being walked.

[srbin84]

I agree, but I don't take much solace in the fact we are better than the Pirates and Royals. Edited May 6, 2006 by srbin84

[Jehrico]

I agree, but I don't take much solace in the face we are better than the Pirates and Royals.

 

At least we're still better than our AAAA club...

[NorthsideAvenger]

I have a little optimism left in my tank, and I am going to cash it in, now.

What I am going to say is pure laughable, but I am still going to say it:

 

When/IF the Cubs get hot, they will be scorching hot. But on the flip side, by the time they reach this kind of "hot" they should be about 20 games down to the Cards, so it doesn't matter.

[Larry Horse]

Are there really Cub fans that are shocked or suprised the Cubs are playing badly?

 

I see the results and just kind of shrug my shoulders. This is in no way groundbreaking.

[MembersOnlyJacket]

Speed never slumps...

[Soul]

I hope it's a bump in the road, but looking at it objectively I don't see the players who make this ballclub better than average.

 

We've got Murton and Cedeno, two rooks (basically) who appear to be slowing down after hot starts. Walker has gone into the tank. Ramirez never came out of the tank. Pierre is pretty much a joke, not sure how he got to be as well-respected as he is, Jones is a little better but face it he's not going to be a large factor. Barrett has hit a huge slowdown since his hot start. We've got a starting rotation in tatters, and once Wood & Prior come back it will take time for them to work out the rust (in other words, probably August before you see anything resembling the old Woody & Prior). Miller's a question mark. The bench is laughably weak.

 

Have I missed anything?

 

I appreciate the desire to be optimistic, but geez----the reality is this is not in any way shape or form a contending ballclub. The real question we should be asking is how long should we put up with this charade? Baker needs to be fired, hands down. He's not even close to the manager we thought we were getting when we hired him. Barry's roids made Baker what he is, not his managing ability.

 

Fire Baker now. Don't wait. And I don't mean fire him to try to jump back in the race, either. I mean fire him because he plain old sucks bones. And fire him to prove the organization realizes what they are trying just isn't working. From 2003 to now is a constant, downward slide.

[Pinktermite]

I so agree with all this. All of this is true and none of it is surprising. What's the definition of stupidity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. This team is average. The longer it takes any of us to realize this, the longer you will all be on psychiatric treatment and antidepressants. We have/had one superstar (Lee) and one excellent player (Aramis...potential superstar)...the rest of these cats are average and some of them are a joke for a team that nearly spends 100 mil a year. For this team to be better, it needs to be sold...and the management up to and including MacPhail purged away. I'm not surprised that they've crashed like this...I am surprised that they continue to do it faster and faster every year. Pretty pathetic, but not surprising. Sad isn't it? Can someone see ANY bright future here? Something realistic?

[hardcorecubfan]

It is time for a Jim Lelynd type of speech when he said his Tigers sucked and meant it , they seem to respond, and the cubs do.

[bc2k]

With a healthy dominant Wood due back soon, and Prior right behind him, we will make our run. There's a lot of baseball left, and don't forget how good we started the season. There's life here.

 

Remember before the season started we said, "As long as we can stay around .500 until Woody and Prior get back, we'll be in good shape." I was one of those who believed that and guess what, we're 2 under .500 with Wood's return imminent.

[NorthsideAvenger]

With a healthy dominant Wood due back soon, and Prior right behind him, we will make our run. There's a lot of baseball left, and don't forget how good we started the season. There's life here.

 

Remember before the season started we said, "As long as we can stay around .500 until Woody and Prior get back, we'll be in good shape." I was one of those who believed that and guess what, we're 2 under .500 with Wood's return imminent.

 

It don't matter HOW dominate Wood, and perhaps Prior are when the come back, if the Cubs CAN'T SCORE RUNS. You can only be perfect for so long as a pitcher, before it takes it toils on you. I'm not concern with the pitching, it's the hitting, I am concern with.

[LoneStarCubFan]

I can't believe I'm about to type this but how soon until we get Pagan back?

[Chocolate Milk]

The Pirates have scored more runs than the Cubs.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

The Pirates have scored more runs than the Cubs.

 

And they're the Pirates! :shock: