General Cubs Chit-Chat

[mul21]

seems the dumbass meatball sector of our fan base kept len and JD from their rightful spot at the top of these rankings

 

What do you think it is? Meatball-rage over the Cubs not having some beloved ex-Cub in the booth? Bitterness over Len not being party of Harry's family of the damned? Inexplicable longing for dead soul-smarminess of Steve Stone?

 

combination of the first one + disdain for their analytics pushing is my guess

 

I'd be willing to bet a large sum of money that the analytics stuff is the main reason.

[David]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[David]

 

What do you think it is? Meatball-rage over the Cubs not having some beloved ex-Cub in the booth? Bitterness over Len not being party of Harry's family of the damned? Inexplicable longing for dead soul-smarminess of Steve Stone?

 

combination of the first one + disdain for their analytics pushing is my guess

 

I'd be willing to bet a large sum of money that the analytics stuff is the main reason.

 

my only issue with that is that it would seem the internet savvy awful announcing crowd that would be in on those polls would lean heavily against that level of meatballery

[badger]

 

combination of the first one + disdain for their analytics pushing is my guess

 

I'd be willing to bet a large sum of money that the analytics stuff is the main reason.

 

my only issue with that is that it would seem the internet savvy awful announcing crowd that would be in on those polls would lean heavily against that level of meatballery

 

 

the internet is every bit a cesspool with high levels of meatballery. Just go on twitter when Len posts something.

 

Or maybe I'm misunderstanding your theory.

[mul21]

 

I'd be willing to bet a large sum of money that the analytics stuff is the main reason.

 

my only issue with that is that it would seem the internet savvy awful announcing crowd that would be in on those polls would lean heavily against that level of meatballery

 

 

the internet is every bit a cesspool with high levels of meatballery. Just go on twitter when Len posts something.

 

Or maybe I'm misunderstanding your theory.

 

I was going to ask if he's ever read a comments section of anything anywhere on the internet.

[Sammy Sofa]

People hating Len is just flat-out baffling. He's so good at what he does.

[David]

 

my only issue with that is that it would seem the internet savvy awful announcing crowd that would be in on those polls would lean heavily against that level of meatballery

 

 

the internet is every bit a cesspool with high levels of meatballery. Just go on twitter when Len posts something.

 

Or maybe I'm misunderstanding your theory.

 

I was going to ask if he's ever read a comments section of anything anywhere on the internet.

 

internet commenters are like the bizarro internet. a byproduct of how much more of the world is on the internet now but doesn't really know what they're doing...the same people who get into political arguments on facebook comments and think they're winning a free ipod everyday and crap like that. these people are like a cross section of the least actually internet/computer savvy people on the internet, but i guarantee you the internet baseball fan crowd leans way more pro analytics than the gen pop.

 

and awful announcing is a website that sets out to make fun of stupid people.

[David]

People hating Len is just flat-out baffling. He's so good at what he does.

 

agreed... he's a little bit of an acquired taste, i think, though. at least, for me, when he first got hired, i hated his voice. he had to win me over with the things he said.

[Sammy Sofa]

People hating Len is just flat-out baffling. He's so good at what he does.

 

agreed... he's a little bit of an acquired taste, i think, though. at least, for me, when he first got hired, i hated his voice. he had to win me over with the things he said.

 

I can see what you're saying with the voice, but he just has such good chemistry with whoever he shares the booth with.

[Banedon]

People hating Len is just flat-out baffling. He's so good at what he does.

 

agreed... he's a little bit of an acquired taste, i think, though. at least, for me, when he first got hired, i hated his voice. he had to win me over with the things he said.

 

I can see what you're saying with the voice, but he just has such good chemistry with whoever he shares the booth with.

 

I heard someone say he sounds like Ray Romano.

[jersey cubs fan]

People hating Len is just flat-out baffling. He's so good at what he does.

 

agreed... he's a little bit of an acquired taste, i think, though. at least, for me, when he first got hired, i hated his voice. he had to win me over with the things he said.

sure, but it took like a week and a half. Do people not remember Chip freaking Carey's voice? Nerd voice is annoying, but stern, condescending and cocky nerd voice?

 

At least Len brings joy to the world.

[jersey cubs fan]

I heard someone say he sounds like Ray Romano.

that person is dumb

 

len clearly sounds like a midwesterner that worked to lose his midwestern accent so he could get a job that requires your voice not to be grating. He does not sound like a guy from queens

[Sammy Sofa]

 

agreed... he's a little bit of an acquired taste, i think, though. at least, for me, when he first got hired, i hated his voice. he had to win me over with the things he said.

 

I can see what you're saying with the voice, but he just has such good chemistry with whoever he shares the booth with.

 

I heard someone say he sounds like Ray Romano.

 

What in the world.

[David]

i can sort of see it in pitch, just obviously not the manner of speaking

 

the original kermit comparisons were probably better

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

i can sort of see it in pitch, just obviously not the manner of speaking

 

the original kermit comparisons were probably better

This makes sense. I think Len sounds a bit like me, and I can do a pretty mean "Ernie" impersonation (another Jim Henson voice). Maybe Len is a bit more like Guy Smiley?

[17 Seconds]

he sounds like a frog, but i love him.

 

ohhh baaaabbbbyyyyyy

[Little Slide Rooter]

I know that prospects switch hands all the time, but looking over some of the guys we gave up as either low level or mid tier prospects who became big league stars, it's kind of uncanny:

 

On the top tier, there's Josh Donaldson, Chris Archer, and DJ LeMahieu (I know it's early to put him up here, but he's getting there.) Even if we didn't have the team we have now, it would be pointless to bang your head too hard over any of these guys, as you can't fault the trades that sent them off, and there was no indication that any of them would become what they did.

 

On the new level are Josh Harrison, Wellington Castillo, and Justin Bour. Harrison's on a sharp and steady decline from his whole horsefeathers 2014 season. Castillo was pretty well blocked. As for Bour, I'm aware that as a 1B, his slash line is nothing special. However, I felt he deserved mention to the improbability of his amounting to anything more than a AAAA Slug Beast. And I suppose that I could also add Casey MaGehee here, though it's been some time since his improbable rise, inevitable crash, and lesser, repeat cycle.

 

And then sprinkle in guys like Brandon Guyer, Marwin Gonzalez, Jerry Blevins, Al Alberquerque, and Ryan Flaherty (who's managed to maintain a big league job despite not being very good at it) who have or had strung together multiple productive, big league seasons.

 

Again, this is by no means a lament so much as an observation. But how many teams have that kind of combination of former (mostly non top-shelf) prospects (meaning those who moved on from the Cubs before reaching the big leagues, Castillo being the exception) as stars or productive, big league mainstays at one time?

[Sammy Sofa]

On the top tier, there's Josh Donaldson, Chris Archer, and DJ LeMahieu (I know it's early to put him up here, but he's getting there.) Even if we didn't have the team we have now, it would be pointless to bang your head too hard over any of these guys, as you can't fault the trades that sent them off

 

Donaldson, sure, but the hell you can't on the other two (especially Archer/Garza).

[weis21]

Apologies if this has been post earlier. I've never seen it, though.

 

As if the 2016 Cubs team couldn't be more likable...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaBJs3WPYsc

[Bryants Disco Ball]

On the top tier, there's Josh Donaldson, Chris Archer, and DJ LeMahieu (I know it's early to put him up here, but he's getting there.) Even if we didn't have the team we have now, it would be pointless to bang your head too hard over any of these guys, as you can't fault the trades that sent them off

 

Donaldson, sure, but the hell you can't on the other two (especially Archer/Garza).

 

I still say LeMahieu is mostly a product of Coors Field and would be nothing we care that much about should he not play 81 games there.

[Sammy Sofa]

On the top tier, there's Josh Donaldson, Chris Archer, and DJ LeMahieu (I know it's early to put him up here, but he's getting there.) Even if we didn't have the team we have now, it would be pointless to bang your head too hard over any of these guys, as you can't fault the trades that sent them off

 

Donaldson, sure, but the hell you can't on the other two (especially Archer/Garza).

 

I still say LeMahieu is mostly a product of Coors Field and would be nothing we care that much about should he not play 81 games there.

 

Most likely. I'm just still prejudiced against any trade that actually targets Ian Stewart, even if it is for junk like Colvin. The Garza trade, however, was just dumb.

[17 Seconds]

szczur had a pretty sweet rat tail

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I've never seen that Scissors piece either.

 

on a totally unrelated note, there must be a ton of people chopping onions nearby

[David]

Disclaimer: I haven't read this, but I'm posting it so you guys can.

 

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[Transmogrified Tiger]

That article was only posted 3 weeks ago? I feel like I read it in May.