Question for someone less lazy than me... (Fred??)

[David]

Since we were citing the ever important since-June 3rd record for the longest time, and since it seemed like the only time we really slowed down was while Soriano was hurt...

 

What is the Cubs' record/winning %age this year since June 3rd, excluding the time while Soriano was on the DL?

[David]

In case anyone cared, I bothered to figure it out myself.

 

52-30 since June 3rd excluding the time Soriano was hurt.

 

Not a bad win total at all for 82 games. .634 clip

 

EDIT.. that seems not right, though... let me check again

[jersey cubs fan]

On June 2nd the Cubs were 22-31. Following the loss against the Mets when Soriano went down, they were 58-52. On the day before he came back, they were 66-63. Now they are 83-73. So, they've been 53-31 since June 2nd when Soriano hasn't been on DL.

[David]

On June 2nd the Cubs were 22-31. Following the loss against the Mets when Soriano went down, they were 58-52. On the day before he came back, they were 66-63. Now they are 83-73. So, they've been 53-31 since June 2nd when Soriano hasn't been on DL.

 

Well, if I was wrong, I wasn't that far off... I think I excluded the Mets game. So that accounts for one.

 

Thanks

[CubColtPacer]

Also another interesting note with Soriano is that the Pie being on the roster helping Soriano continues to hold true. Soriano struggled the first two months except for the couple weeks that Pie was up. When Pie came back up on the 3rd of June, Soriano went on a tear. Pie was sent back down in early July, and Soriano had a horrid July and August. Since he came back in late August though, Soriano has once again been hot with Pie on the roster.

 

I'm not saying it means anything per se, but it is interesting to note.

[Mephistopheles]

does pie go down on him better than red heads? who doesn't like a good red head? soriano's whack.

[David]

I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way. Just addressing how much of a pet peeve of mine this idea has been all year. I honestly don't even see the point of bringing up the Pie/Soriano thing. No offense, CCP, I just think the idea is ridiculous and deserves about as much credence as talk of witchcraft, curses, and jinxes. Any correlation I entirely attribute to pure coincidence (and I'm sure you, and most people here, do too).

 

The only reason I was curious as to the numbers since June 3rd minus the Sori injury is because, for whatever reason, the team really seemed to turn the corner at that point in the season, and missing their most productive outfielder for like 3 weeks during that span was a big blow.

[CubColtPacer]

I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way. Just addressing how much of a pet peeve of mine this idea has been all year. I honestly don't even see the point of bringing up the Pie/Soriano thing. No offense, CCP, I just think the idea is ridiculous and deserves about as much credence as talk of witchcraft, curses, and jinxes. Any correlation I entirely attribute to pure coincidence (and I'm sure you, and most people here, do too).

 

The only reason I was curious as to the numbers since June 3rd minus the Sori injury is because, for whatever reason, the team really seemed to turn the corner at that point in the season, and missing their most productive outfielder for like 3 weeks during that span was a big blow.

 

Oh, I'm sure there's almost nothing to it (there might be a minimal effect of Soriano being more comfortable, but it's not large at all). I'm not saying that having Pie on the roster for all of 2008 will make Soriano have a monster year.

 

At the same time, Soriano is fascinating because of how many times he can be the exception to things. Consider the facts talked about on this board:

 

hitting with nobody on and hitting with RISP should equal about to about the same production over time. Soriano is 99 points better over his career with nobody on than with RISP, which is a huge difference for how long he has been playing.

 

batting in a certain spot in the lineup doesn't affect production. Soriano is 66 points better in the 1 spot than any other spot with at least 100 at-bats (he's had at least 100 in the 1, the 3, the 5, the 8, and the 9).

 

hitting production is not affected by what position you are playing. Soriano has a career .908 OPS as a LF while having only an .820 OPS as a second baseman.

 

prime is between 27 and 29. soriano has now his 2 best overall OPS seasons at 30 and 31.

 

production is not affected by outside influences (such as who else is on the roster). Soriano's production with Pie on the roster has to be at least 300 points better than when Pie is not on the roster.

 

Soriano's career just doesn't quite make sense. He is one of those different kind of players that cannot quite be explained. Not only are certain things about him anomalies, I believe his entire career is an anomaly.