Re: Champs (Marquis) @ Mets (Niese) 6:10 CDT, CSN

[bukie]

The Dodgers have won 16 of 21. They are this year's version of the Rockies to me. They seem to be the team getting hot at the right time. Lowe's ERA is 2.69 since the break. Kuroda's under 2.50 since August 1. Billingsley has been consistently with pretty even with splits home/road and by the month. Manny's been about a 1.3 OPS hitter in the NL. LA is a dangerous team to me.

 

LA has played nobody in the past month. They were swept by the last decent team they played. They are this week's version of last week's Astros.

[CubmanPi]

Funny you should have Pujols and Manny within the same paragraph, was watching a little of the Yankees/Orioles last night. Subject of Manny came up and right on queue one the ESPN baseball crew calls him the greatest right handed hitter of the last quarter century. Makes sense, if you were or are a Yankee or Red Sox and put up big time numbers - you must be the greatest. Don't get me wrong Manny numbers are mind boggling but, Pujols' are better.

Didn't the Cubs have a right-handed hitter in recent history who put up a few pretty good seasons too?

[SouthSideRyan]

I would expect a lineup maybe something like this:

 

Soriano

Fukudome

Lee

Soto

DeRosa

Edmonds

Fontenot

Theriot

 

I expect my lineup will be something like this:

 

Pre-game 2 beers

1st inning 1 beer

2nd inning 1 beer

3rd inning 1 beer 1 hot dog

4th inning 1 beer

5th inning 1 beer 1 food item TBD

6th inning 2 beers

7th inning 2 beers hopefully carrying me over to the 8th and 9th.

 

The pre-game is a bit weak.

 

True, but I'll only be getting into Shea about 10-15 minutes before gametime and there is nowhere out there to grab a beer outside. I could brown bag it on the subway, but the wife will complain about that.

 

What about at work?

[jersey cubs fan]

What about at work?

 

Good point. The nearest deli does sell beer. I could grab one at lunch and keep it in the fridge.

 

 

Although I think I had about 80-90 beers this weekend and 5 shots of tequila, some of that has to to still be in my system. Maybe I shouldn't push it.

[SouthSideRyan]

I wanna drink with goony.

[C.C.]

What about at work?

 

Good point. The nearest deli does sell beer. I could grab one at lunch and keep it in the fridge.

 

 

Although I think I had about 80-90 beers this weekend and 5 shots of tequila, some of that has to to still be in my system. Maybe I shouldn't push it.

 

Sounds like my Thursday day\night expect it was Jameson and not tequila. Friday and Saturday I stuck with Beers.

[Guest]

I absolutely love that we hold the Brewers franchise by the balls.

 

After this series, I think the Brewers will owe us BIG time.

 

They hold us by the balls as well. As I'm sure everyone knows, we need the Brewers to stay in this race until Sunday so the Mets and/or Phillies can throw Johan/Hamels and give us a much better chance of winning the series.

 

The only question about that is would the Mets/Phillies throw Santana/Hamels if they only had the division to play for. I mean, would they risk their No. 1 starter for a game in the NLDS (i.e. only throwing him once) for the chance to play the Dodgers and have home field rather than the Cubs with no home field in the first round.

 

If they do care about winning the division, then the Brewers don't matter. But if all the Phillies and Mets care about is getting to the playoffs, then we need the Brewers to stay in the hunt.

[Soul]

I absolutely love that we hold the Brewers franchise by the balls.

 

After this series, I think the Brewers will owe us BIG time.

 

They hold us by the balls as well. As I'm sure everyone knows, we need the Brewers to stay in this race until Sunday so the Mets and/or Phillies can throw Johan/Hamels and give us a much better chance of winning the series.

 

The only question about that is would the Mets/Phillies throw Santana/Hamels if they only had the division to play for. I mean, would they risk their No. 1 starter for a game in the NLDS (i.e. only throwing him once) for the chance to play the Dodgers and have home field rather than the Cubs with no home field in the first round.

 

If they do care about winning the division, then the Brewers don't matter. But if all the Phillies and Mets care about is getting to the playoffs, then we need the Brewers to stay in the hunt.

I betcha they'll keep 'em rested.

[kujay]

There may be more posts in today's game thread before the game even starts than there were the whole game yesterday.

 

Maybe not, but was surprised at this one.

 

Um, I'll be traveling and will miss this one. And even if I was at home I'd probably mostly watch MNF. But still, go Cubs. Don't suck.

[UMFan83]

This is slighty different than the last few times we've been in the playoffs.

 

Yesterday was kinda like a celebration of unimportant baseball. We had 2 of those games in 2007 and 1 in 2003, but they were all much enjoyed and used as relief for the season.

 

Tonight it kinda sets in that we have an entire week of meaningless games to blow off. Thats 7 games and 2 cities to play meaningless baseball. I'll look forward to this game because we haven't been to Shea since May of 07, a span of 16 months, so its always fun to go to cities we don't play in a lot.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Maybe I shouldn't push it.

that's crazy talk

[UMFan83]

Cubs lineup this way:

 

Soriano, LF

Cedeno, 2B

Lee, 1B

Ramirez, 3B

Soto, C

Derosa, RF

Johnson, CF

Theriot, SS

Marquis

 

Hmm, thats our regular LHP lineup except Cedeno, who as we know hits righties better than lefties, randomly hitting 2nd.

[erik316wttn]

This is slighty different than the last few times we've been in the playoffs.

 

Yesterday was kinda like a celebration of unimportant baseball. We had 2 of those games in 2007 and 1 in 2003, but they were all much enjoyed and used as relief for the season.

 

Tonight it kinda sets in that we have an entire week of meaningless games to blow off. Thats 7 games and 2 cities to play meaningless baseball. I'll look forward to this game because we haven't been to Shea since May of 07, a span of 16 months, so its always fun to go to cities we don't play in a lot.

 

The score of these next 7 games isn't important, but keeping everyone both fresh and sharp is vital.

 

I don't care if the Cubs lose the next 7 games by a combined 50 runs. Just so long as they're ready for the playoffs.

 

You have to wonder, though, despite what the players say, I'm sure a lot of them have preferences as to who they'd like to play in the first round. And seeing as the Cubs are a huge factor this last week, you have to wonder how it's going to play out. I'm not at all saying that people will purposely tank, but you have to wonder if Lou is racking his brain thinking.

Edited September 22, 2008 by erik316wttn

[anabiono]

i thought we still had to win one game to get HFA right?

 

plus...you don't really want to go in on a freaking multi-game losing streak

[erik316wttn]

i thought we still had to win one game to get HFA right?

 

plus...you don't really want to go in on a freaking multi-game losing streak

 

Yeah. Magic number for HFA is 1.

 

I want them to still play hard, but they shouldn't kill themselves out there until Game 1 of the NLDS.

[NomarSammy]

I actually think it is impossible for us to not have home field advantage. If the mets sweep us, then that will mathmatically elimate Houston making the extra game on monday not happen. Due to this our winning percentage would be better than Philly even if they win out.

 

Anybody smarter than me who can verify that i am right??

[Fred Hornkohl]

Complete lineup for both teams.........

 

Monday 22 September 2008

CUBS @ NY Mets

18:10

 

 

CUBS

 

Soriano, lf

Cedeno, 2b

D Lee, 1b

A Ramirez, 3b

Soto, c

DeRosa, rf

Johnson, cf

Theriot, ss

Marquis, p

 

 

NY Mets

 

Reyes, ss

Murphy, lf

Wright, 3b

Delgado, 1b

Beltran, cf

Church, rf

Castillo, 2b

Schneider, c

Niese, p

[Fred Hornkohl]

03/31 - 09/21      AB    R    H   2b   3b   HR  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS  BABIP  P/PA   IsoD   RBI%
Soriano           432   78  125   26    0   29   74   41   96  0.289  0.352  0.551  0.903  0.313  3.70  0.063  0.223
Cedeno            194   31   55   11    0    2   27   18   36  0.284  0.347  0.371  0.719  0.340  3.83  0.064  0.195
D Lee             605   89  177   38    3   19   88   67  115  0.293  0.361  0.460  0.820  0.335  3.93  0.068  0.213
Ramirez           537   94  154   42    1   26  108   71   90  0.287  0.378  0.514  0.892  0.304  4.04  0.091  0.255
Soto              490   65  140   34    2   23   86   61  120  0.286  0.364  0.504  0.868  0.337  3.97  0.078  0.201
DeRosa            495  100  139   28    3   20   84   68  106  0.281  0.373  0.471  0.844  0.322  3.89  0.092  0.214
Johnson           315   51   94   21    0    6   46   17   63  0.298  0.352  0.422  0.775  0.358  3.74  0.054  0.237
Theriot           561   78  167   19    4    1   37   67   58  0.298  0.375  0.351  0.726  0.331  3.75  0.077  0.151
Marquis            56    7   11    3    0    1    5    3   17  0.196  0.237  0.304  0.541  0.263  3.29  0.041  0.091

Totals           3685  593 1062  222   13  127  555  413  701  0.288  0.363  0.459  0.822  0.327  3.86  0.628  0.210

[Guest]

I actually think it is impossible for us to not have home field advantage. If the mets sweep us, then that will mathmatically elimate Houston making the extra game on monday not happen. Due to this our winning percentage would be better than Philly even if they win out.

 

Anybody smarter than me who can verify that i am right??

 

You're correct - if game 162 doesn't need to be played, the Cubs have clinched HFA in the National League.

[Fred Hornkohl]

Tonight's umpires:

 

HP: Randy Marsh (cc)

1b: Phil Cuzzi

2b: Jim Wolf

3b: Jerry Layne

 

CUBS are 5-4 with Ed Montague's crew on the field this year...

 

Gm#    Date       Opponent         Score  Starter         Opp Starter
.23  Fri 04/25  @ Washington    N   3- 5  Dempster        Perez         
.24  Sat 04/26  @ Washington    N   7- 0  Zambrano        Chico         
.25  Sun 04/27  @ Washington        0- 2  Lilly           Lannan        
.42  Fri 05/16    Pittsburgh        7- 4  Gallagher       Gorzelanny    
.43  Sat 05/17    Pittsburgh        6- 7  Zambrano        Duke          
.44  Sun 05/18    Pittsburgh        4- 3  Marquis         Dumatrait     
110  Fri 08/01    Pittsburgh        0- 3  Marquis         Karstens      
111  Sat 08/02    Pittsburgh        5- 1  Lilly           Maholm        
112  Sun 08/03    Pittsburgh        8- 5  Zambrano        Snell         
155  Mon 09/22  @ New York      N    -    Marquis         Niese         

 

Composite scoring with Ed Montague's crew on the field this year....

 

                  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16    Total

CUBS              6  12   3   6   4   1   1   6   1   0   0   0   0   0   0   0      40
Opponents         5   7   0   1   3   4   0   6   4   0   0   0   0   0   0   0      30

 

The CUBS have not seen Randy Marsh behind the plate in 2008

 

CUBS were 1-3 with Randy Marsh behind home plate last year.

 

Gm#    Date       Opponent         Score  Starter         Opp Starter
..1  Mon 04/02  @ Cincinnati        1- 5  Zambrano        Harang        
.57  Wed 06/06  @ Milwaukee         6- 2  Zambrano        Suppan        
118  Tue 08/14    Cincinnati    N   5- 6  Zambrano        Harang        
142  Sun 09/09  @ Pittsburgh        5-10  Trachsel        Morris        

[Little Slide Rooter]

This will be a difficult week for me. First time in my life that part of me will be rooting against the Cubs. Seriously, Id just assume not run into the Brewers in October. Recently, they've been nothing short of awful but when those Howrys get hot, they're damn near unstoppable, and those hot streaks usually last long enough to carry them through the playoffs.

[Soul]

This will be a difficult week for me. First time in my life that part of me will be rooting against the Cubs. Seriously, Id just assume not run into the Brewers in October. Recently, they've been nothing short of awful but when those Howrys get hot, they're damn near unstoppable, and those hot streaks usually last long enough to carry them through the playoffs.

 

They're not likely to have Sheets at 100% and he's been shaky anyway.

 

CC is starting to wear under the strain, and we've shown twice that we can hit him.

 

Parra has turned to junk, and they have literally NO OTHER OPTIONS on their starting staff.

 

Their bullpen remains horrible, and while they once could rely somewhat on Torres if they could get it to him, the clock has struck midnight and he now can't get teams out anymore.

 

We dominate at Miller Park -- it's one of our best venues this season other than Wrigley.

 

I'm not saying you aren't right. But basically, if any team gets hot they would be tough. Even junky teams that slip into the playoffs can get hot and win it all. That said, all things being equal, I don't fear the Crew in the playoffs one bit.

[Little Slide Rooter]

This will be a difficult week for me. First time in my life that part of me will be rooting against the Cubs. Seriously, Id just assume not run into the Brewers in October. Recently, they've been nothing short of awful but when those Howrys get hot, they're damn near unstoppable, and those hot streaks usually last long enough to carry them through the playoffs.

 

They're not likely to have Sheets at 100% and he's been shaky anyway.

 

CC is starting to wear under the strain, and we've shown twice that we can hit him.

 

Parra has turned to junk, and they have literally NO OTHER OPTIONS on their starting staff.

 

Their bullpen remains horrible, and while they once could rely somewhat on Torres if they could get it to him, the clock has struck midnight and he now can't get teams out anymore.

 

We dominate at Miller Park -- it's one of our best venues this season other than Wrigley.

 

I'm not saying you aren't right. But basically, if any team gets hot they would be tough. Even junky teams that slip into the playoffs can get hot and win it all. That said, all things being equal, I don't fear the Crew in the playoffs one bit.

 

All true, but the Brewers are a team with a vendetta against us. twice, we've sent them into a downword spiral, and embarassed them, once big time in their own house. Granted, the second time, they were already well into a downword spiral, but still.

[Fred Hornkohl]

Soriano            AB    R    H   2b   3b   HR  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS  BABIP  P/PA   IsoD   RBI%
Leading off       157   31   47   13    0   10   10    7   33  0.299  0.333  0.573  0.907  0.325  3.55  0.034  0.000
bases empty       268   53   81   20    0   18   18   17   63  0.302  0.346  0.578  0.925  0.337  3.70  0.044  0.000
last 10 games      32    5   11    2    0    2    5    6    8  0.344  0.447  0.594  1.041  0.409  3.97  0.104  0.250
September          61   10   18    2    0    6   11   11   14  0.295  0.403  0.623  1.026  0.293  4.08  0.108  0.167
Road              205   37   58   15    0   12   30   21   55  0.283  0.348  0.532  0.880  0.333  3.88  0.065  0.184
Nite              227   44   70   17    0   15   35   23   55  0.308  0.373  0.581  0.954  0.350  3.79  0.064  0.196
vs Left           119   29   45   11    0   12   27   10   17  0.378  0.424  0.773  1.197  0.367  3.66  0.046  0.273
vs Niese            0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0  0.000  0.000  0.000  0.000  0.000  0.00  0.000  0.000
vs. Mets            0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0  0.000  0.000  0.000  0.000  0.000  0.00  0.000  0.000
Jim Joyce           8    1    3    1    0    0    0    0    3  0.375  0.375  0.500  0.875  0.600  3.88  0.000  0.000
1st inning         96   15   26    5    0    5    5    4   21  0.271  0.307  0.479  0.786  0.300  3.67  0.036  0.000
0 outs            193   42   59   16    0   11   22   10   40  0.306  0.338  0.560  0.898  0.338  3.55  0.032  0.297

season totals     432   78  125   26    0   29   74   41   96  0.289  0.352  0.551  0.903  0.313  3.70  0.063  0.223

[David]

The Brewers won't even get past round one if they make it in.