Kurkjian: Don't Blame Dusty

[CubfaninCA]

when did 2004 become horrible?

 

Right towards the end, I think.

 

considering how bad they were in 2002 and how they overachieved in 2003, 2004 wasn't horrible. it was disappointing to see them choke down the stretch, but calling the season horrible is hyperbole.

 

now last year was horrible. this year's on the verge of being a disaster. hendry was wrong to count on guys like prior, rusch, pierre and neifi cedeno.

[CubfaninCA]

I can't be the only one that noticed he said the Cubs are both terrible and suffered injuries. I don't have a "burn everyone" mentality, but someone should definately be held to some standard.

 

So I dislike the -everyone is to blame but not anyone specifically- line from Kurkijan. I think the hitting and pitching coaches are far more accountable than Hendry though.

 

Teams can win with toolsy complimentary players if coached properly. It may not be the favorite philosophy of this board (understatement of the year?), but it isn't necessarily destined for failure like this team demonstrates.

 

there's definitely some disregard for the injuries, but this team shouldn't be 10 under. they've just fallen apart. someone in management has to be held accountable. the guy who's in charge of motivating and game strategy (dusty) is most to blame. he's been awful. i'm sure there's a long list of poor moves baker has made just recently.

[Big Fergie J]

Isn't this guy a proponent of assisted suicides ?

 

OK...just forget it.

[goonys evil twin]

Baseball people are absolutely petrified of criticizing one another. There are only a few acceptable targets, and they are always the guys that don't fit into the conventional wisdom area, or a player that breaks a rule. Remember, Timmy is one of the guys who thought everybody in sports should be absolutely delighted to watch Bonds move into 2nd place on the HR record list. He was in denial that 2nd place on a list is meaningless.

 

 

The whole "nobody could win with these injuries" excuse is a just an obvious sign that whoever is talking isn't paying attention. It's true that nobody could win every game with these injuries. It's probably true that nobody could win 60% of the games with these injuries. But I doubt nobody could keep this team around .500, and there's very little chance anybody could do any worse of a job than Baker and Co. have done this year. A .400 winning percentage during this stretch of games would have been bad, but .400 on the season is completely unacceptable.

 

I am somebody who never bought into the myth of Dusty from the start, and I was petrified when he was brought in. So it's going to take a lot for me to ever agree that Baker shouldn't be fired. But this lame excuse making and denial of the obvious is just getting sickening.

[abuck1220]

when did 2004 become horrible?

 

i don't get too excited for third place finishes, sorry.

[Andy]

wow, i didn't know the BS "bad luck" line was being bought at a national level.

 

I don't think Gammons is buying it.

He's the only national voice with that opinion, though.

[Banedon]

wow, i didn't know the BS "bad luck" line was being bought at a national level.

 

I don't think Gammons is buying it.

He's the only national voice with that opinion, though.

 

Gammons for GM! :P

 

I kid.

[Andy]

wow, i didn't know the BS "bad luck" line was being bought at a national level.

 

I don't think Gammons is buying it.

He's the only national voice with that opinion, though.

 

Gammons for GM! :P

 

I kid.

He picked Nomar to win the 2005 NL MVP. Let's not go too far. :wink:

[Tracer Bullet]

wow, i didn't know the BS "bad luck" line was being bought at a national level.

 

I don't think Gammons is buying it.

He's the only national voice with that opinion, though.

 

Gammons for GM! :P

 

I kid.

He picked Nomar to win the 2005 NL MVP. Let's not go too far. :wink:

 

Believe he picked Crosby to win the '06 AL MVP. He's really going to have to raise that .658 OPS to contend with the usual suspects.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

wow, i didn't know the BS "bad luck" line was being bought at a national level.

 

I don't think Gammons is buying it.

He's the only national voice with that opinion, though.

 

Gammons for GM! :P

 

I kid.

He picked Nomar to win the 2005 NL MVP. Let's not go too far. :wink:

 

It's the Gammons jinx. He picks guys, they fail. He picked Kerry Wood for Cy Young in 2004.

[hardcorecubfan]

Jim Riggleman shouldn't have been fired on the premise that he also had a lot of injuries on the staff