Kerry Wood to sit a few days

[UMFan83]

Foxsports

 

Kerry Wood will be shut down for the next several days due to soreness in his triceps.Impact: If it's just a muscle issue, then it's something Wood could overcome in short order. However, these problems almost always seem to be more complicated than the Cubs first reveal. Wood seems unlikely to be ready for Opening Day. Ryan Dempster just gained a little more job security.

 

Talk about blowing something out of proportion...

 

Why? The article makes a solid point that the organization usually under reports these injuries. Until they prove otherwise, its not bad form to speculate the worst.

[C.C.]

We all know this is a possibilty with Wood. So we just have to deal with it moving forward.

 

It's the first Spring in 3 years that news of Wood and Prior hasn't thrown me into a panic. I don't think it's nothing much. I think Wood will be fine, and if not? Oh well....

[98navigator]

Foxsports

 

Kerry Wood will be shut down for the next several days due to soreness in his triceps.Impact: If it's just a muscle issue, then it's something Wood could overcome in short order. However, these problems almost always seem to be more complicated than the Cubs first reveal. Wood seems unlikely to be ready for Opening Day. Ryan Dempster just gained a little more job security.

 

Talk about blowing something out of proportion...

 

Why? The article makes a solid point that the organization usually under reports these injuries. Until they prove otherwise, its not bad form to speculate the worst.

 

It has never been proven that the Cubs under report any more than other organizations (they don't have to give the information at all). It's the Chicago media that has called them liars. Which is strange because in all the previous incidents, the athlete was coming out and saying he wasn't hurt as well... In either case, it's a huge jump from "day to day" to "Wood seems unlikely to be ready for Opening Day."

[C.C.]

Foxsports

 

Kerry Wood will be shut down for the next several days due to soreness in his triceps.Impact: If it's just a muscle issue, then it's something Wood could overcome in short order. However, these problems almost always seem to be more complicated than the Cubs first reveal. Wood seems unlikely to be ready for Opening Day. Ryan Dempster just gained a little more job security.

 

Talk about blowing something out of proportion...

 

Why? The article makes a solid point that the organization usually under reports these injuries. Until they prove otherwise, its not bad form to speculate the worst.

 

It has never been proven that the Cubs under report any more than other organizations (they don't have to give the information at all). It's the Chicago media that has called them liars. Which is strange because in all the previous incidents, the athlete was coming out and saying he wasn't hurt as well... In either case, it's a huge jump from "day to day" to "Wood seems unlikely to be ready for Opening Day."

 

Could not agree more. I'm sick of all the "Cubs are lying" from the various radio shows and newspapers.

[UMFan83]

Foxsports

 

Kerry Wood will be shut down for the next several days due to soreness in his triceps.Impact: If it's just a muscle issue, then it's something Wood could overcome in short order. However, these problems almost always seem to be more complicated than the Cubs first reveal. Wood seems unlikely to be ready for Opening Day. Ryan Dempster just gained a little more job security.

 

Talk about blowing something out of proportion...

 

Why? The article makes a solid point that the organization usually under reports these injuries. Until they prove otherwise, its not bad form to speculate the worst.

 

It has never been proven that the Cubs under report any more than other organizations (they don't have to give the information at all). It's the Chicago media that has called them liars. Which is strange because in all the previous incidents, the athlete was coming out and saying he wasn't hurt as well... In either case, it's a huge jump from "day to day" to "Wood seems unlikely to be ready for Opening Day."

 

Just because the athlete is going with the organization and lying about things doesn't mean the organization isn't lying as well. How else do you explain when Prior goes from "just being taken along slowly" to "oops, hes hurt, cya in July"? How about when Dusty says that Carlos Zambrano left the game because he was injured and then when Carlos is asked about it, he has no clue what the media is talking about?

 

I have no proof that the Cubs lie/don't lie more then other organizations, but I do know they are one of the only organizations that gets heat for it, so that's gotta tell you something.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Wood is a bullpen pitcher. His injury is now no more news than if Howry or Eyre had a slight forearm injury. We should be more worried that Wuertz has been limited in action than we should be in Wood.

[goonys evil twin]

I don't really think this is a big deal. It was inevitable that Wood would have to take some time off this spring, as he adjusts to the bullpen. I feel the same will happen during the season. Lots of relievers become "unavailable" for a few days as they nurse an injury that isn't quite worth going on the 15 day DL for.

[98navigator]

Foxsports

 

Kerry Wood will be shut down for the next several days due to soreness in his triceps.Impact: If it's just a muscle issue, then it's something Wood could overcome in short order. However, these problems almost always seem to be more complicated than the Cubs first reveal. Wood seems unlikely to be ready for Opening Day. Ryan Dempster just gained a little more job security.

 

Talk about blowing something out of proportion...

 

Why? The article makes a solid point that the organization usually under reports these injuries. Until they prove otherwise, its not bad form to speculate the worst.

 

It has never been proven that the Cubs under report any more than other organizations (they don't have to give the information at all). It's the Chicago media that has called them liars. Which is strange because in all the previous incidents, the athlete was coming out and saying he wasn't hurt as well... In either case, it's a huge jump from "day to day" to "Wood seems unlikely to be ready for Opening Day."

 

Just because the athlete is going with the organization and lying about things doesn't mean the organization isn't lying as well. How else do you explain when Prior goes from "just being taken along slowly" to "oops, hes hurt, cya in July"? How about when Dusty says that Carlos Zambrano left the game because he was injured and then when Carlos is asked about it, he has no clue what the media is talking about?

 

I have no proof that the Cubs lie/don't lie more then other organizations, but I do know they are one of the only organizations that gets heat for it, so that's gotta tell you something.

 

The only thing it tells me is that much of the Chicago media is on a witch hunt against the Cubs (with respect to injuries). The national media is merely following their lead... If an athlete says he's "OK" and the team finds out later that he is injured, it's very possible that no one is to blame. It could be that the severity of the problem could not be determined immediately. Which is why most teams like to wait before releasing injury information.

 

The Cubs are damned if they do and damned if they don't. There were times when the team revealed injury information too soon-- before the problem could be fully analyzed; the media said they were "changing their story." Perhaps, they were updating the story based on new information... When Prior had a fractured arm the Cubs, understandably, didn't want to release the information until they did a full battery of tests (and even though the wait time was only 36-48 hours the rampant speculation was that the team was trying to cover something up). It's a classic case of the media helping to foster public perception .

 

On a very similar note, at this time last year, we were all led to believe, by media accounts, that Alfonso Soriano was a primadona. As it turned out, the incident with him "refusing" to play LF was a misunderstanding. He said at the time (and in today's paper) that he was told he wouldn't be in the lineup...

[Laura]

The Cubs have a distinguished history of getting injury reports wrong. You can argue until you're blue in the face as to whether there's intent or a long string of coincidences involved. Hendry should know by now to chill on his constantly optimistic spin on injury reports.

 

A healthy Wood is a potent force in the bullpen, but I'm with others here in thinking 'meh' on this. Hope he'll be available sooner rather than later ... but if not, then we'll see how the team shapes up without the two guys that the team spent all off-season trying to ensure that the Cubs didn't have to rely on.

[98navigator]

There's a big difference between being wrong and lying. Edited March 16, 2007 by 98navigator

[Danny82]

Foxsports

 

Kerry Wood will be shut down for the next several days due to soreness in his triceps.Impact: If it's just a muscle issue, then it's something Wood could overcome in short order. However, these problems almost always seem to be more complicated than the Cubs first reveal. Wood seems unlikely to be ready for Opening Day. Ryan Dempster just gained a little more job security.

 

Talk about blowing something out of proportion...

 

Why? The article makes a solid point that the organization usually under reports these injuries. Until they prove otherwise, its not bad form to speculate the worst.

 

It has never been proven that the Cubs under report any more than other organizations (they don't have to give the information at all). It's the Chicago media that has called them liars. Which is strange because in all the previous incidents, the athlete was coming out and saying he wasn't hurt as well... In either case, it's a huge jump from "day to day" to "Wood seems unlikely to be ready for Opening Day."

 

Could not agree more. I'm sick of all the "Cubs are lying" from the various radio shows and newspapers.

I always found it very amusing that the Cubs were accused by the media of lying about Prior's achilles injury (an extremely difficult injury to forecast precise timetables for) when he took longer than initially thought to come back, yet hardly a peep came out of Boston after Nomar had essentially the same delayed return.

 

The media has truly shaped public perception on this issue of the "cubs lying about injuries" if you ask me. Heck, last year, the Cubs had to stop giving any sort of timetables just to avoid any accusations down the road in case they ended up wrong. It's really quite silly. Like was said before, technically, they don't have to tell the media anything.

[Danny82]

The Cubs have a distinguished history of getting injury reports wrong. You can argue until you're blue in the face as to whether there's intent or a long string of coincidences involved. Hendry should know by now to chill on his constantly optimistic spin on injury reports.

 

Hendry should learn to "chill on his constantly optimistic spin on injury reports?" This isn't 2005 anymore. How many times did the Cubs issue any statements as to firm timetables last year? None, that I can remember.

Edited March 16, 2007 by Danny82

[brinoch]

I rather suspect we're all just extremely sensitive to injuries where names like Wood and Prior are concerned. If this was Novoa or Dempster we'd be much less concerned.

[goonys evil twin]

I always found it very amusing that the Cubs were accused by the media of lying about Prior's achilles injury (an extremely difficult injury to forecast precise timetables for) when he took longer than initially thought to come back, yet hardly a peep came out of Boston after Nomar had essentially the same delayed return.

 

Ummmm, what? Hardly a peep?

[Danny82]

I always found it very amusing that the Cubs were accused by the media of lying about Prior's achilles injury (an extremely difficult injury to forecast precise timetables for) when he took longer than initially thought to come back, yet hardly a peep came out of Boston after Nomar had essentially the same delayed return.

 

Ummmm, what? Hardly a peep?

 

Nothing that I can recall accusing the Red Sox of lying about his return.

 

Maybe I missed it.

[Soul]

I always found it very amusing that the Cubs were accused by the media of lying about Prior's achilles injury (an extremely difficult injury to forecast precise timetables for) when he took longer than initially thought to come back, yet hardly a peep came out of Boston after Nomar had essentially the same delayed return.

 

Ummmm, what? Hardly a peep?

 

Nothing that I can recall accusing the Red Sox of lying about his return.

 

Maybe I missed it.

 

Well, I think in Nomar's case everyone started to blame him instead of the organization. But I could be wrong. That's the way it seemed to me.

 

Maybe the Cubs just need better PR so they can make their players look bad instead of the front office :lol:

[Laura]

There's a big difference between being wrong and lying.

 

No kidding.

 

Hendry should learn to "chill on his constantly optimistic spin on injury reports?" This isn't 2005 anymore. How many times did the Cubs issue any statements as to firm timetables last year? None, that I can remember.

 

Does 2006 ring any bells? A quick google search comes up with this mea culpa from Sullivan, of all people.

 

Second-guessing myself:

After Mark Prior and GM Jim Hendry strenuously denied an Internet report that Prior came into spring training with shoulder problems, I poked fun of the guy who quoted anonymous sources in his report. A couple of weeks later, the Cubs revealed Prior had a shoulder injury. Taught me a valuable lesson.

 

Do you consider Hendry's assessment that Wood will be out a few days a "firm timetable?" I don't. I do think that Hendry has been burned enough times by spinning things positively that he should avoid doing so.

 

I don't think it's a case of "they're LYYYING." I do think there have been consistent PR failures (whether that was due to less-than-stellar medical reports early on before those trainers were dismissed, I couldn't say) which contribute to people suspecting the worst from the organization.

[98navigator]

There's a big difference between being wrong and lying.

 

No kidding.

 

Hendry should learn to "chill on his constantly optimistic spin on injury reports?" This isn't 2005 anymore. How many times did the Cubs issue any statements as to firm timetables last year? None, that I can remember.

 

Does 2006 ring any bells? A quick google search comes up with this mea culpa from Sullivan, of all people.

 

Second-guessing myself:

After Mark Prior and GM Jim Hendry strenuously denied an Internet report that Prior came into spring training with shoulder problems, I poked fun of the guy who quoted anonymous sources in his report. A couple of weeks later, the Cubs revealed Prior had a shoulder injury. Taught me a valuable lesson.

 

Do you consider Hendry's assessment that Wood will be out a few days a "firm timetable?" I don't. I do think that Hendry has been burned enough times by spinning things positively that he should avoid doing so.

 

I don't think it's a case of "they're LYYYING." I do think there have been consistent PR failures (whether that was due to less-than-stellar medical reports early on before those trainers were dismissed, I couldn't say) which contribute to people suspecting the worst from the organization.

 

The story in Chicago has always been "the Cubs are lying" to the public. I think Hendry had relied heavily on the word from the trainers. He was misinformed. Sure, you can say that they had some PR problems but some of that is related to falsehoods created through the media (the other part of it was releasing info too quickly that turned out to be inaccurate).

 

My frustration is that I hear, on an almost daily basis, nonsense about the Cubs lying about injuries. There is no benefit for them to do so. Locally, a lot of it continues to be fueled by people with a White Sox/anti Cubs agenda. The national media also grabs a hold of these stories and turns them into much more than they are or need to be.

[UMFan83]

I always found it very amusing that the Cubs were accused by the media of lying about Prior's achilles injury (an extremely difficult injury to forecast precise timetables for) when he took longer than initially thought to come back, yet hardly a peep came out of Boston after Nomar had essentially the same delayed return.

 

Ummmm, what? Hardly a peep?

 

Nothing that I can recall accusing the Red Sox of lying about his return.

 

Maybe I missed it.

 

Yeah umm...living in New England at the time, it was a definitely a big deal and there was a lot of accusations on both the Red Sox and Nomars side about the legitimacy of information coming out surrounding the injury. Eventually, the blame got shifted to Nomar and he was booted out of town.

[Laura]

The story in Chicago has always been "the Cubs are lying" to the public. I think Hendry had relied heavily on the word from the trainers. He was misinformed. Sure, you can say that they had some PR problems but some of that is related to falsehoods created through the media (the other part of it was releasing info too quickly that turned out to be inaccurate).

 

I think what you refer to as "the other part of it" is the main reason for the PR problem. The story was not always that the Cubs were lying. The distrust grew after faulty information was provided -- it may have been inadvertant and it may have been due to internal misinformation, but either way, it happened and bred mistrust.

 

Overlay that on the normal paranoia that Cubs fans experience and you arrive at the current situation.

 

My frustration is that I hear, on an almost daily basis, nonsense about the Cubs lying about injuries. There is no benefit for them to do so. Locally, a lot of it continues to be fueled by people with a White Sox/anti Cubs agenda. The national media also grabs a hold of these stories and turns them into much more than they are or need to be.

 

You really think there's a vast pro-White-Sox conspiracy? You'll have to run that by your WSI friends and get their response.

 

Are the Cubs simultaneously incredibly popular and a national laughingstock? Indeed. I think their history of, well, not winning very often, contributes more to national mocking than the constant steam of injuries to Prior & Wood.

 

Since the story is that Kerry Wood did hurt himself by overstriding to avoid a gaping hole in the home park pitching mound, I almost wish they were lying about this ... because the alternative is that Kerry was an idiot for not asking that the mound be fixed. That doesn't bode well for him being able to avoid hot-tub and mound hole injuries for the remainder of the season.

[Shilzzz]

doesn't really matter. the bullpen will be solid either way(except glendon cotts).

[98navigator]

I think what you refer to as "the other part of it" is the main reason for the PR problem. The story was not always that the Cubs were lying. The distrust grew after faulty information was provided -- it may have been inadvertent and it may have been due to internal misinformation, but either way, it happened and bred mistrust.

 

Overlay that on the normal paranoia that Cubs fans experience and you arrive at the current situation.

 

The mistakes definitely began on the Cubs end but the coverage has largely become a running joke. Why can't the Cubs be forgiven for their admitted past transgressions? The unbalanced reporting is unnecessary and all it does is feed into the "paranoia" you spoke of...

 

 

You really think there's a vast pro-White-Sox conspiracy? You'll have to run that by your WSI friends and get their response.

 

I have family members who are Sox fans. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago...

 

Sox fans complain that the Cubs get more press (which they probably do) but that doesn't mean that what is being said or written is true or positive. There is a Pro White Sox angle in Chicago media reporting. Spend a day listening to Sports radio here and you'll understand. The Score 670, the number one sports talk station in town, is now the flagship for the Sox. A number of the hosts were Sox fans to begin with now they have license to speak openly against the Cubs.

 

A lot of the beat writers and columnists in town are influenced by the tone on sports radio. Teddy Greenstein, of the Tribune, is often reporting on something that was said on the radio and Paul Sullivan was on The Score, in the last few days, laughing along with Laurence Holmes as they took jabs at the Cubs... You'd think the Tribune guys would be pro Cubs (or preferably neutral) but they, seemingly, go out of their way to prove that they aren't following the company line. Similarly, the Suntimes reporters love to point out Cubs flaws because, they feel, it is exposing ineptitude at Tribune company...

 

Seriously, there is a noticable difference in the way Bruce Miles writes compared to the biased approach Whittenmyer, De Luca, Van Dyck, Sullivan et al. take.

 

On the national level, the Cubs are viewed as inept because they haven't won but they are still "lovable." That is not always the case locally.

Edited March 16, 2007 by 98navigator

[Laura]

I live locally. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

 

I'm a Cubs fan, but history has taught me not to accept everything the organization says or does at face value. Your mileage may differ, and obviously does.

[Red Alert]

doesn't really matter. the bullpen will be solid either way(except glendon cotts).

 

You really think so? Only Howry and Eyre are proven RPs. Dempster could return to form and I think that he will. But everyone else is mediocre, not to mention Cotts who is dreadful and Wood who is always hurt.

 

Nope, the BP is a weak spot.

[goonys evil twin]

doesn't really matter. the bullpen will be solid either way(except glendon cotts).

 

You really think so? Only Howry and Eyre are proven RPs. Dempster could return to form and I think that he will. But everyone else is mediocre, not to mention Cotts who is dreadful and Wood who is always hurt.

 

Nope, the BP is a weak spot.

 

Wuertz has been a really good reliever for a few years now.