9/8 Cubs (Hammel) @ Cardinals (Wacha) 7:15 PM CST, CSN

[Guest]

Soler, Torres, Zagunis and Underwood for Sonny Gray, who says no?

A's definitely say no

 

They should probably reconsider then

I think the deal is close but I don't get why the A's would trade Gray anytime soon. They have him under control for awhile and aces don't grow on trees. Billy Beane has already pissed off that fanbase enough.

 

Because Billy Beane knows pitchers are poison and is no stranger to trading them early when he can get good talent back. Gonzalez, Cahill, Harden, even Brett Anderson.

[Cubswin11]

OK, but seriously, I thought one of the announcers said earlier "he battled testicular cancer" when talking about Rizzo. I'm not crazy, right? Was he talking about someone else all of a sudden?

Rizzo did have cancer of some kind. I'm pretty sure it was his stomach or something tho, not testicular

[Ski]

Stupid lineouts.

[Sammy Sofa]

OK, but seriously, I thought one of the announcers said earlier "he battled testicular cancer" when talking about Rizzo. I'm not crazy, right? Was he talking about someone else all of a sudden?

Rizzo did have cancer of some kind. I'm pretty sure it was his stomach or something tho, not testicular

 

Oh yeah, I know; he had Hodgkin's Lymphoma. That's why I thought it was such a ridiculous thing to say.

[squally1313]

Is RIP Diamondmind the new Chocolate Milk meme?

 

Nah, because there's still like a 30% chance the Cubs lose a game sometime before the end of the year, and you can bet he'll be back then.

[Guest]

OK, but seriously, I thought one of the announcers said earlier "he battled testicular cancer" when talking about Rizzo. I'm not crazy, right? Was he talking about someone else all of a sudden?

Rizzo did have cancer of some kind. I'm pretty sure it was his stomach or something tho, not testicular

 

he had Hodgkins

[imb]

OK, but seriously, I thought one of the announcers said earlier "he battled testicular cancer" when talking about Rizzo. I'm not crazy, right? Was he talking about someone else all of a sudden?

Rizzo did have cancer of some kind. I'm pretty sure it was his stomach or something tho, not testicular

 

he had Hodgkins

 

good hodgkins or bad?

[Guest]

They've definitely overachieved to a point, but they've sustained it for 140 games. I just hate when people try to simplify things down to luck, instead of giving players credit for their performance. Seems like a lot of Cubs fans do it just so they can feel better about their team being a laughingstock for years. Boiling down the Cardinals being the best team in baseball down to "pixie dust" is stupid on so many levels.

 

Unsustainably good things can happen for 140 games, even across a whole team. Two years ago there were lots of Cardinals fans trying to explain their RISP hitting by crediting the approach, but not so much when it regressed the next year.

 

But yes, please tell Cubs fans more about how insecure they are in a game thread with a rival team on a Cubs website.

[CubInOK]

LOL Wacha throwing "purpose pitches."

[Guest]

god we are a pitch count piling wrecking crew

[Guest]

OK, but seriously, I thought one of the announcers said earlier "he battled testicular cancer" when talking about Rizzo. I'm not crazy, right? Was he talking about someone else all of a sudden?

Rizzo did have cancer of some kind. I'm pretty sure it was his stomach or something tho, not testicular

 

he had Hodgkins

 

good hodgkins or bad?

 

knew it was coming and almost did it myself

[Sammy Sofa]

OK, but seriously, I thought one of the announcers said earlier "he battled testicular cancer" when talking about Rizzo. I'm not crazy, right? Was he talking about someone else all of a sudden?

Rizzo did have cancer of some kind. I'm pretty sure it was his stomach or something tho, not testicular

 

he had Hodgkins

 

good hodgkins or bad?

 

That's all I can think every damn time.

[NonProfitCow]

LOL Wacha throwing "purpose pitches."

gotta try something, everything else has been center cut and dick high

[Sammy Sofa]

Baseball people handwringing over the "poor Roger Maris family" are the most obnoxious, shameless types of hypocrites.

[Schwarber Fan]

McCarver has checked out of this game and has reverted to "good old days" mode.

[TruffleShuffle]

rizzo also did those things btw

 

and more than once..well swing/stance

 

i barely remember what he did in between playing for the padres and being called up for the cubs. i know people said his swing seemed too long when he was with the padres.

[Sammy Sofa]

But seriously, I think McCarver said Rizzo had testicular cancer, and nobody corrected him.

[ARCubsFan]

Never knew the Illini recruited Austin Jackson back in the day but Bruce Weber missing out on a recruit seems about right

[Smack]

But seriously, I think McCarver said Rizzo had testicular cancer, and nobody corrected him.

 

One of them said it, can't remember which

[davell]

Serious question, was there some sort of computer glitch in the standings that caused the Cardinals to have the record they have? They look awful.

Their pitching has overachieved to amazingly unsustainable proportions.

 

Their offense hasn't really been able to hit much this year.

 

Not really. They have a extremely high strand rate, but they've still pitched great, just better than their FIP, which is still second to only the Dodgers in all of baseball. So no, they haven't overachieved to amazingly unsustainable proportions.

 

And whenever a team gets blown out, they look terrible. Judging their season performance based off the last two games is silly as the people who judge players off having a bad post season series.

 

But I get it, your Cubs fans who hate the Cardinals, so logic isn't really what you're going to be using when evaluating a rival.

 

The Cardinals can both have a very good pitching staff and overachieve unsustainably, they aren't mutually exclusive. Having a team FIP that is 2nd in the NL means they are good. Having an ERA that is 0.66 better than their FIP(next best gap is the Pirates at 0.25) when their defensive efficiency is middle of the road means that they aren't nearly as good as their results.

 

They've definitely overachieved to a point, but they've sustained it for 140 games. I just hate when people try to simplify things down to luck, instead of giving players credit for their performance. Seems like a lot of Cubs fans do it just so they can feel better about their team being a laughingstock for years. Boiling down the Cardinals being the best team in baseball down to "pixie dust" is stupid on so many levels.

 

Look, this is(for the extreme most part) a very intelligent group of baseball fans. No one here actually thinks the Cards have gotten to where they're at on absolute luck. They do certainly appear to get more than their fair share of bounces. However, this is a Cubs board. If during game threads, some guys critique them, it should be expected. No idea what board you come from, but I'll guarantee there's just as many(or more) asinine things said about the Cubs there as there is about the Cards here.

 

Here's hoping your cheating comes back and changes your fortunes for a few decades.

[NOLA]

But seriously, I think McCarver said Rizzo had testicular cancer, and nobody corrected him.

 

One of them said it, can't remember which

It was McCarver in the first inning.

[Outshined_One]

Never knew the Illini recruited Austin Jackson back in the day but Bruce Weber missing out on a recruit seems about right

 

Normally you annoy me. However, I approve of Illini hate.

 

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/62/62c9653ad4ede7a3224012e1c08ffc4fbb8bd96dbb528151af6166dcaa15a09d.jpg

[Sammy Sofa]

Delicious DP.

[weis21]

kaplan has maybe the most punchable face of all time

[Guest]

rizzo also did those things btw

 

and more than once..well swing/stance

 

i barely remember what he did in between playing for the padres and being called up for the cubs. i know people said his swing seemed too long when he was with the padres.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/anthony-rizzos-swing/

 

he made a few changes, including his proximity to the plate and his 2 strike approach, since then too but has seemingly been settled on his current approach (more or less, at least) since last year