Random Cubs Musings

[Guest]

not sure which between the 03-04 teams and the 07-08 teams I remember more fondly.

 

07-08 seems like [expletive] yesterday in some ways while 03-04 just seems ancient now.

 

03 has Sammy and Prior, but 04 has tragic Sammy and Prior. They also have Dusty Baker and Steve Stone.

 

yep and i don't think i've watched anything as fun as the dominance that was 08

 

 

CPATT!

[SouthSideRyan]

Seriously the first team I watched as an adult where I'd just assume they'd win their games

[Guest]

Seriously the first team I watched as an adult where I'd just assume they'd win their games

 

it was insane how i felt we still had a shot in that rockies game and even bothered continuing to watch/listen

[bukie]

Man, after they traded for Nomar, I have no idea how they lost games. Lineup of 8 above average hitters, and a rotation of what should have been 5 top 50 starters had Dusty not broken 2 of them in 2003.

[SouthSideRyan]

Man, after they traded for Nomar, I have no idea how they lost games. Lineup of 8 above average hitters, and a rotation of what should have been 5 top 50 starters had Dusty not broken 2 of them in 2003.

 

Oh need another top 50 starter? Here's Glendon Rusch randomly.

[SouthSideRyan]

Man, after they traded for Nomar, I have no idea how they lost games. Lineup of 8 above average hitters, and a rotation of what should have been 5 top 50 starters had Dusty not broken 2 of them in 2003.

 

Oh need another top 50 starter? Here's Glendon Rusch randomly.

 

What's that, Nomar went down? Well I guess Neifi Perez can hit 370 for you.

[bukie]

The more I look back at that 2004 team, the more incredulous I am that Dusty couldn't win 100 games with them.

[Guest]

94 pythag wins

[Derwood]

1. Patterson CF

2. Garciaparra SS

3. Alou LF

4. Sosa RF

5. Ramirez 3B

6. Lee 1B

7. Grudz 2B

8. Barrett C

[bukie]

Todd Walker led off and played 2B and hit .274/.352/.468.

[Guest]

The more I look back at that 2004 team, the more incredulous I am that Dusty couldn't win 100 games with them.

 

the pitchers didn't do as well as you'd expect though (might've been at least partially the defense looking back at some of those guys) and the offense wasn't really THAT good. just 14th in wRC+ (6th in NL).

[Guest]

Todd Walker led off and played 2B and hit .274/.352/.468.

 

good for 1.7 WAR in 129 games

[Pushfrog98]

I can't wait until we're that good again. Back then, I thought times had changed. Back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in forever, falling just short of a WS in '03, etc.

[bukie]

Todd Walker led off and played 2B and hit .274/.352/.468.

 

good for 1.7 WAR in 129 games

Because he was bad defensively. 8 of the 9 starters had OPS+ of 109 or better (Patterson was 96). The Cubs got 9 starts all year from a pitcher that didn't finish with an ERA+ under 110 (Mitre pitched 9 starts and did terrible).

 

LaTroy Hawkins had a 168 ERA+, Mercker, Remlinger, Leicester, and Wuertz all pitched at least 30 games in relief and posted above average ERA+. Basically Farnsworth got 72 appearances and wasn't that good, and Dusty had a bench full of Dusty favorites that he kept giving plate appearances to that had no business on a major league roster (Ordonez, Macias, Goodwin, Gonzalez).

[Guest]

Todd Walker led off and played 2B and hit .274/.352/.468.

 

good for 1.7 WAR in 129 games

Because he was bad defensively. 8 of the 9 starters had OPS+ of 109 or better (Patterson was 96). The Cubs got 9 starts all year from a pitcher that didn't finish with an ERA+ under 110 (Mitre pitched 9 starts and did terrible).

 

LaTroy Hawkins had a 168 ERA+, Mercker, Remlinger, Leicester, and Wuertz all pitched at least 30 games in relief and posted above average ERA+. Basically Farnsworth got 72 appearances and wasn't that good, and Dusty had a bench full of Dusty favorites that he kept giving plate appearances to that had no business on a major league roster (Ordonez, Macias, Goodwin, Gonzalez).

 

i realize that. and because it was 2004 and those numbers weren't as good as they look now (not that they weren't good)

[Guest]

thinking back to how latroy would notoriously implode in higher leverage spots (or at least save spots), how many games did we lose to those blown saves?

[bukie]

If only they realized Ryan Dempster could close about a month earlier.

[Guest]

If only they realized Ryan Dempster could close about a month earlier.

 

holy [expletive] latroy had NINE blown saves in 13 opportunities

[SouthSideRyan]

If only they realized Ryan Dempster could close about a month earlier.

 

holy [expletive] latroy had NINE blown saves in 13 opportunities

 

You're looking at '05. In '04 he had 9 blown saves in 34 save opportunities(+4 holds) They managed to win 5 of those 9 blown saves though.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

didn't nomar play in like 2 games in 2004.

[Careless]

didn't nomar play in like 2 games in 2004.

I was driving by Northwestern the night of the injury listening to the pregame show and Dusty was talking about how he was going to get Nomar to stop swinging at so many first pitches.

 

What an [expletive].

[seanimal]

ugh i was at the game in st. louis when he collapsed outside of the batters box and had to suffer The Greatest Fans in Baseball delighting in his injury

[treebird]

ugh i was at the game in st. louis when he collapsed outside of the batters box and had to suffer The Greatest Fans in Baseball delighting in his injury

 

DATED ALERT one of my cardinal fan friends made nomar's shrieking in pain face his msn messenger avatar like ten minutes after that happened and i blocked him

[seanimal]

ugh i was at the game in st. louis when he collapsed outside of the batters box and had to suffer The Greatest Fans in Baseball delighting in his injury

 

DATED ALERT one of my cardinal fan friends made nomar's shrieking in pain face his msn messenger avatar like ten minutes after that happened and i blocked him

 

the only appropriate response imo

 

and also lol msn messenger AIM 4 LIFE

[seanimal]

*google's AIM*

*finds out it still exists*

*flabbergasted*