8/2 Other Games Thread

[bukie]

How about just being a realist? *shrug*

 

You mean taking solace in the possibility that the Cubs really are the best team in the NL, if not baseball?

 

That's kind of what I was saying. I'd rather hope for the best and be wrong than predict doomsday and be right.

[17 Seconds]

Still four games ahead of the Brewers and five ahead of the Cardinals.

 

I really like this position.

 

Yeah but think of how many we would be ahead if we had only not come out cold after the AS break.

 

or if the braves werent completely worthless right now.

we better have a decent lead by mid september, cuz the last 2 weeks has collapse written all over it.

 

In a couple of weeks, we'll get our three games versus the worthless Braves, so I'm not too worried.

 

But then they'll play like the Braves of the mid-90's.

 

And why would they suddenly do that? You expecting Smoltz and Hudson to return by then and the Angels to trade them Teixeira back?

 

Why so pessimistic? If you can't enjoy this season, there may not be any hope for you.

 

Well to be fair, the Braves 2 best hitters (McCann and Chipper) will probably be back by the time we face them. They'll still suck, but not nearly as bad as they suck right now. The lineup they're using right now doesn't have a hitter with an OPS over like .775 or something ridiculous like that.

[SouthSideRyan]

Seriously, I don't understand how some of you guys can enjoy a season like this with some constant irrational expectation of an imminent collapse.

 

If you can't enjoy this season, why even bother watching baseball?

 

Wah, wah wah, I'm a Cubs fan, it's what I come to expect, it just makes it easier on me, wah wah wah.

 

It's absurd. You wanna freak out when Marmol puts the tying run in scoring position during a game, fine, that's somewhat reasonable. You people are freaking out because we're not up by 20 games.

 

Oh you've been there before, you've seen what this team can do. No you haven't. I don't care if you're old as dirt and saw the 1969 team blow it. I don't care if you still wanna ESPNize your experiences with the '03 and '04 teams. None of those teams were as good as this team. Oh you've heard it all before, you know better, cripes then quit watching, you're obviously getting no enjoyment out of this at all.

[David]

Seriously, I don't understand how some of you guys can enjoy a season like this with some constant irrational expectation of an imminent collapse.

 

If you can't enjoy this season, why even bother watching baseball?

 

Wah, wah wah, I'm a Cubs fan, it's what I come to expect, it just makes it easier on me, wah wah wah.

 

It's absurd. You wanna freak out when Marmol puts the tying run in scoring position during a game, fine, that's somewhat reasonable. You people are freaking out because we're not up by 20 games.

 

Oh you've been there before, you've seen what this team can do. No you haven't. I don't care if you're old as dirt and saw the 1969 team blow it. I don't care if you still wanna ESPNize your experiences with the '03 and '04 teams. None of those teams were as good as this team. Oh you've heard it all before, you know better, cripes then quit watching, you're obviously getting no enjoyment out of this at all.

 

I heart this post.

[Bote McBoteface]

That 04 team was pretty beastly. Are you sure this year's team is better than a (healthy) 04 team?

[David]

That 04 team was pretty beastly. Are you sure this year's team is better than a (healthy) 04 team?

 

Easily. This team (at the beginning of August) already has a better run differential than that team had over a full season.

 

Although I guess it depends to what level you take the "healthy" qualification and how you account for Nomar, given that he was only there for August and Sept.

 

Even then, this is a better offensive ballclub by a decent margin. OBP is king.

[RedFlash]

That 04 team was pretty beastly. Are you sure this year's team is better than a (healthy) 04 team?

 

2008: 12 players on this yr's team have OBP over .340 (starter and bench players)

2004: 8 regulars with an OBP over .340

 

2008: 6 players slg over .450 (I know the bench mark really is .500, but still)

2004: 9 players on that team slg over .450.

 

Not to mention that team had 5 regulars slg over .500 the 08 team only 2.

 

2008: 12 players hitting .275 or higher with the Cubs (that excludes Edmonds Padres numbers and Jim is hitting.276 with the Cubs)

2004: 9 regulars hitting .275 or higher that yr.

 

I think what it boils down to is this...the 2004 team was built on slg and homeruns, whereas the 2008 is built on the OBP and a deeper lineup baseball concept. 04 scored 789 runs, and the 08 team is 580. In reality the 2008 team could pass the 04 team in runs scored. Essentially the Cubs have to average about 4.5 runs per game for the remaing games to possibility surpass the 789 runs that 2004 team scored. Considering the offense is average something like 5.27 RPG, it's definately possible.

 

For good measure, that team had only 2 pitchers reach double digits in wins

(Maddux and Z), with a third---Clement---getting 9 wins, and Wood had 8. Whereas the 08 team has already has 3 guys in double digits win, with a possibility that two more could join them. (Marquis has 6 wins, and it's possible he could squeeze 4 more wins out of himself this yr and Harden has a combine 6 wins between Oakland and Chicago.

 

IDK if you could call either team better then the other, but it's definately a contrast of styles. It would definately be a fun matchup. All I know is this...the 2008 team, mentally, is stronger then the 2004 team, and is built better. Perhaps Hendry learned from the mistakes of the 2004 season?

[TruffleShuffle]

boy, i wish the 2004 team was as good as everyone thinks it was. yeah, they had a great starting staff and everyone looked at that as the reason they were going to win it all, but in reality, the offense was completely average (11th in the NL in OBP, 7th in runs scored) and the bullpen wasn't good either (9th in ERA and WHIP). this year's team is first in runs scored and OBP, 1st in starter ERA and 2nd in starter WHIP, 7th in bullpen ERA and 4th in bullpen WHIP. this team is easily better on offense and has a better bullpen. it's better than 2004, by a good margin.

[Soul]

boy, i wish the 2004 team was as good as everyone thinks it was. yeah, they had a great starting staff and everyone looked at that as the reason they were going to win it all, but in reality, the offense was completely average (11th in the NL in OBP, 7th in runs scored) and the bullpen wasn't good either (9th in ERA and WHIP). this year's team is first in runs scored and OBP, 1st in starter ERA and 2nd in starter WHIP, 7th in bullpen ERA and 4th in bullpen WHIP. this team is easily better on offense and has a better bullpen. it's better than 2004, by a good margin.

 

Agreed.

 

That September schedule is quite daunting, however. I don't know what will happen, but I feel a bit slighted by the schedule makers this year. They could very easily have taken two of those road series in September and put one in June, one in August. Yet they didn't. I'd like to know why. Doesn't seem like a very fair layout for us.

[Soul]

Seriously, I don't understand how some of you guys can enjoy a season like this with some constant irrational expectation of an imminent collapse.

 

If you can't enjoy this season, why even bother watching baseball?

 

No other fans in baseball have the weight of 100 successive failures on their back. Give 'em a bit of a break. You'll see major change in the attitudes of Cub fans when the Cubs finally do break through.

 

It's like Pavlov's dog. You keep hitting it over the head, and eventually the poor thing cringes when you try to give it a big fat piece of steak. 2008 is the big, fat, piece of steak -- but many Cub fans are still cowering, waiting for the blow.

[Sammy Sofa]

Seriously, I don't understand how some of you guys can enjoy a season like this with some constant irrational expectation of an imminent collapse.

 

If you can't enjoy this season, why even bother watching baseball?

 

No other fans in baseball have the weight of 100 successive failures on their back. Give 'em a bit of a break. You'll see major change in the attitudes of Cub fans when the Cubs finally do break through.

 

It's like Pavlov's dog. You keep hitting it over the head, and eventually the poor thing cringes when you try to give it a big fat piece of steak. 2008 is the big, fat, piece of steak -- but many Cub fans are still cowering, waiting for the blow.

 

Well said.

 

It's also a defensive mechanism...it doesn't necessarily prohibit one from enjoying when the Cubs do well, but it ideally softens the blow if they do collapse.

[SouthSideRyan]

Seriously, I don't understand how some of you guys can enjoy a season like this with some constant irrational expectation of an imminent collapse.

 

If you can't enjoy this season, why even bother watching baseball?

 

No other fans in baseball have the weight of 100 successive failures on their back. Give 'em a bit of a break. You'll see major change in the attitudes of Cub fans when the Cubs finally do break through.

 

It's like Pavlov's dog. You keep hitting it over the head, and eventually the poor thing cringes when you try to give it a big fat piece of steak. 2008 is the big, fat, piece of steak -- but many Cub fans are still cowering, waiting for the blow.

 

You have the weight of 100(well 99, but 100 sounds cooler) failures on your back? Why? How old are you?

[radarluv1]

and i am a bit of a worrier. thats why they call me whiksers