Fundamentals

[Old Style]

How is it that the Cubs are so poor fundamentally year after year after year? You can blame it on the farm system, but even the free agents we bring in seem to have no clue how to play the game properly. It is so maddening. Some of the mistakes they make would have gotten me an earful from my coach when I was in little league had I made the same ones. Absolutely ridiculous.

[Soriano12]

IMO, the stink from the Dusty Baker era still remains. By this time next year I think this club will be better at "fundamentals"

[CubinNY]

How is it that the Cubs are so poor fundamentally year after year after year? You can blame it on the farm system, but even the free agents we bring in seem to have no clue how to play the game properly. It is so maddening. Some of the mistakes they make would have gotten me an earful from my coach when I was in little league had I made the same ones. Absolutely ridiculous.

 

I really like Old Style beer. The Cubs? They suck.

 

Every team makes mistakes the Cubs mistakes are magnified becuase they suck.

 

The suckiest sucks that ever sucked.

Edited June 22, 2007 by CubinNY

[dalgreen]

IMO, the stink from the Dusty Baker era still remains. By this time next year I think this club will be better at "fundamentals"

 

Just when I think we are over the Dusty Baker era.... unless you're calling the Dusty Baker the Jim Hendry era.

 

Look, Dusty Baker had nothing to do with the pick-offs and dropped balls this year. I don't know too many athletes in any sport who were fundamentally sound for all of their careers then suddenly forgot. Maddux still was a gold glove caliber pitcher even when playing for Dusty Baker. I think the "stink" you're talking about is the "stink" of valuing "tools" and not really caring about fundamentals.

Edited June 22, 2007 by dalgreen

[baseball7897]

Makes no sense.

[Amazing_Grace]

IMO, the stink from the Dusty Baker era still remains. By this time next year I think this club will be better at "fundamentals"

 

Ditto, most of the players from that team are still here and making the same stupid mistakes and are complaining they don't like Lou because he doesn't give them a pass on it.

[jersey cubs fan]

Listening to the radio in NY yesterday I heard both a Mets fan and a Yankees fan call up to complain about the lack of fundamentals. I think fundamentals is a catch-all crutch of a complaint whenever a team loses.

 

I honestly don't believe "fundamentals" are the reason the Cubs are losing. The Cubs don't have very good hitters, and they don't have very good pitchers. They do have a couple of hitters and pitchers who are very bad. The Cubs need better players, not just more work on the fundamentals. Over the course of 162 games, there are going to be a lot of "fundamental" mistakes. Outs will be made without advancing runners, guys on third won't be driven in with less than 2 outs. Bunts will turn into pop ups. All that stuff happens to every team. When your team loses, that typically gets the blame. But the bottom line is they need more productive hitters and more effective pitchers.

[Old Style]

Listening to the radio in NY yesterday I heard both a Mets fan and a Yankees fan call up to complain about the lack of fundamentals. I think fundamentals is a catch-all crutch of a complaint whenever a team loses.

 

I honestly don't believe "fundamentals" are the reason the Cubs are losing. The Cubs don't have very good hitters, and they don't have very good pitchers. They do have a couple of hitters and pitchers who are very bad. The Cubs need better players, not just more work on the fundamentals. Over the course of 162 games, there are going to be a lot of "fundamental" mistakes. Outs will be made without advancing runners, guys on third won't be driven in with less than 2 outs. Bunts will turn into pop ups. All that stuff happens to every team. When your team loses, that typically gets the blame. But the bottom line is they need more productive hitters and more effective pitchers.

You're right. Howry's inability to properly execute a simple rundown had no effect on yesterday's game. It's not like he let the winning run get safely back to second in the bottom of the 9th. Oh wait.

[jersey cubs fan]

Listening to the radio in NY yesterday I heard both a Mets fan and a Yankees fan call up to complain about the lack of fundamentals. I think fundamentals is a catch-all crutch of a complaint whenever a team loses.

 

I honestly don't believe "fundamentals" are the reason the Cubs are losing. The Cubs don't have very good hitters, and they don't have very good pitchers. They do have a couple of hitters and pitchers who are very bad. The Cubs need better players, not just more work on the fundamentals. Over the course of 162 games, there are going to be a lot of "fundamental" mistakes. Outs will be made without advancing runners, guys on third won't be driven in with less than 2 outs. Bunts will turn into pop ups. All that stuff happens to every team. When your team loses, that typically gets the blame. But the bottom line is they need more productive hitters and more effective pitchers.

You're right. Howry's inability to properly execute a simple rundown had no effect on yesterday's game. It's not like he let the winning run get safely back to second in the bottom of the 9th. Oh wait.

 

This is what I'm talking about. A game where the starting pitcher gives up 5 early runs and the thing people most complain about is a rundown. It was a bad play on his part. But you know what, teams don't lose on one bad play. The Cubs offense was pathetic in Texas. What were the odds they were going to score against that bullpen in extra innings? They'd have lost one way or another. When teams win, people say they do everything right. When they lose, they have poor fundamentals. We've been hearing about fundamentals for years. For some reason nobody paid any attention to the fact that the team was always last in walks taken and 1st in walks allowed. They were unproductive hitters and ineffective pitchers. Produce and the plate and be effective on the mound and all these fundamental flaws won't be so glaring.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Howry didn't cost the team the game. Leaving 13 men on base did. Through the first three innings, the Cubs had left 7 men on. That's passing up on way too many opportunities.

 

Furthemore, Bowen could have scored on Pagan's double in the second, but Quade held him. If he scores that run, the game is completely changed.