TWalker would like to bat lead-off

[dalgreen]

Someone should inform Todd Walker that Corey is only 25 years old and has crap tons of potential :D

 

 

It's obivious that this is Todd's way of saying "Baker is a moron."

 

A guy who couldn't get on base to save his life asks to be leadoff and gets it. A guy who gets on base better than most on this team AND has experience hitting lead off makes mention of hitting lead off and baker doesn't consider it.

 

Bizzaro Word I tells ya!!!

 

Is it really obvious or did you just happen to skip over the Dusty is knowledgeable quote? So, which is it?

 

Look, Walker won't hit at the top of the order until Hendry makes a move for a true everyday leftfielder or until Baker switches Ramirez and Burnitz in the order. If you move Walker up, Ramirez will never have an official at-bat the rest of the year. Barrett is no protection for Ramirez. And people must have already forgotten Barrett was pretty bad in the #2 hole last year. I just don't get why some think Barrett can be a successful #2 hitter. He drives me nuts with some of his at-bats.

 

Barrett was not very good in the 2 hole last year, but he only got 76 at bats there. Does that mean he should be relegated to the bottom of the order for the rest of his career? That thinking is very overcautious IMO. Neifi in the 2 hole, right in front of Lee, is a nightmare scenario and anything would be less risky than that. Also, while I don't think much of Hollandsworth, I believe the risk of moving Walker to leadoff and hoping Holla can adequately protect Ramirez until Hendry makes a trade is far less scary than sticking with Patterson/Perez at the top of the order.

 

I hate Neifi in the 2 spot, but I will be glad when we can get an order together where we no longer have to use the least sucky guy as justification for switching spots. I'll be glad when we can get a guy that is just flat out better. Actually, I would have no problem with Holla hitting second. I still wonder what Perez and Patterson thought when seeing Podsednik on base virtually all the time except for yesterday.

[dalgreen]

Someone should inform Todd Walker that Corey is only 25 years old and has crap tons of potential :D

 

 

It's obivious that this is Todd's way of saying "Baker is a moron."

 

A guy who couldn't get on base to save his life asks to be leadoff and gets it. A guy who gets on base better than most on this team AND has experience hitting lead off makes mention of hitting lead off and baker doesn't consider it.

 

Bizzaro Word I tells ya!!!

 

Is it really obvious or did you just happen to skip over the Dusty is knowledgeable quote? So, which is it?

 

Look, Walker won't hit at the top of the order until Hendry makes a move for a true everyday leftfielder or until Baker switches Ramirez and Burnitz in the order. If you move Walker up, Ramirez will never have an official at-bat the rest of the year. Barrett is no protection for Ramirez. And people must have already forgotten Barrett was pretty bad in the #2 hole last year. I just don't get why some think Barrett can be a successful #2 hitter. He drives me nuts with some of his at-bats.

 

 

 

Yeah, I read the quote. Walker didn't say this stuff just so he could get his name in the papers. He said it in response to Corey sucking ass in the leadoff spot. Sure, he said Baker is knowledgable, but did he really mean it? I doubt it. Just speculating, but I'd imagine that in Todd's mind, Baker is clueless or he'd have guys that can get on base hitting in the top of the lineup.

 

I'm sure Walker would be happy to know you are his interpreter.

[MembersOnlyJacket]

If you move Walker up, Ramirez will never have an official at-bat the rest of the year. Barrett is no protection for Ramirez.

 

Care to elaborate on this ?

[dalgreen]

If you move Walker up, Ramirez will never have an official at-bat the rest of the year. Barrett is no protection for Ramirez.

 

Care to elaborate on this ?

 

I think any manager in their right mind would walk ARam every time there was someone on base if you knew Holla or Barrett was behind him. I'd take my chances with facing Holla or Barrett rather than pitching to ARam. In fact, I'd probably walk ARam even if the bases are empty.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

That's what I like about Todd.

 

Last year, he specifically said he prefers to hit lower in the order. But this year, apparently, he's seeing where we have a marked deficiency, and is pretty much offering to do it to help the team.

 

And his defense/ability to turn the DP has not been as bad as many people seemed to think it was...in fact, it's been solid.

 

Who did I get into that argument with? God, that was funny.... :lmao:

 

The infamous auggiedoggie. Walker must have stiffed him for an autograph Patterson-style or something, he lived to rip Todd.

[MembersOnlyJacket]

If you move Walker up, Ramirez will never have an official at-bat the rest of the year. Barrett is no protection for Ramirez.

 

Care to elaborate on this ?

 

I think any manager in their right mind would walk ARam every time there was someone on base if you knew Holla or Barrett was behind him. I'd take my chances with facing Holla or Barrett rather than pitching to ARam. In fact, I'd probably walk ARam even if the bases are empty.

 

Even though Barrett has been the second-most productive hitter on the Cubs with runners on or in scoring position ? I can't think of a better player (other than Lee) to protect Ramirez at this point.

[dalgreen]

If you move Walker up, Ramirez will never have an official at-bat the rest of the year. Barrett is no protection for Ramirez.

 

Care to elaborate on this ?

 

I think any manager in their right mind would walk ARam every time there was someone on base if you knew Holla or Barrett was behind him. I'd take my chances with facing Holla or Barrett rather than pitching to ARam. In fact, I'd probably walk ARam even if the bases are empty.

 

Even though Barrett has been the second-most productive hitter on the Cubs with runners on or in scoring position ? I can't think of a better player (other than Lee) to protect Ramirez at this point.

 

Okay. I prefer Walker to protect ARam over Barrett.

 

Now, maybe ARam is more healthy now than before, but his resurgence seems to also have coincided with Walker's return to the lineup.

[boilerXmen4116]

man... do we miss grudzy or what. how is he doing in SL? last i heard he was doing an amazing job filling womacks career year in '04. so the question is will it be hairston or walker as the next second baseman that we'll trade/release to the cardinals, and have to watch them produce like they never could here.

 

walker is an obvious choice for one of the top two spots. i dont like the idea of trading corey, as bad as he has been, walker was right when he said that [corey] is the kinda guy that can carry a team. when he get on, we seem to have a better chance at winning. i haven't done the research, but i would imagine there to be a correlation with our run production and his OBP. maybe i'll do that at work today... got nothin else to do hahah.

 

i'd like to see a guy with speed and high OBP in left field. we have an anomaly (spelling) with power in positions that some teams lack. we really dont need power in left like we did with alou... but someone to get on base ahead of guys, and could potentially get a few in from the bottom. i got so pissed this weekend... how many times did lee lead off in an inning? at least 5 times i would say. that is all either from lack of production in the top two spots, or untimely hitting from our 'back-to-earth' SS.

[frostwyrm]

Possibly the craziest, most dangerous gamble anyone could take with the Cubs batting order is to trust Neifi Perez to hit in front of Derrek Lee. Every idea proposed in this thread is far more safe and sensible.

[samhainn77]

Let Hairston lead-off and put Walker in the 2-hole.

 

Jerry can play LF. We don't need power from our LF spot since Lee, Aram, Burnitz, etc. have that covered. Just allow these guys to get on in front of all those XBH's.

 

I agree 100%. It's easy to see that Dubois was given the token chance rather than a fair chance...and Dusty will have his rear glued to the pine the rest of the year. That travesty aside, I think if Dubois isn't going to be out there then Hairston needs to get the nod. I mean his avg isn't great, but who cares? He works the count relentlessly and finds ways to get on base. He is the closest thing that we have to a leadoff hitter. I can't understand why Dusty tries so hard to prove the most logical options wrong and not even give them a chance.

 

Have we seen this yet?

 

Hairston LF

Walker 2B

Lee 1B

Burnitz RF

Ramirez 3B

Patterson CF

Barrett C

Perez SS

 

I mean I didn't even put Cedeno in at SS or take out Dusty's RLR out of the meat of the lineup. I'm mostly dealing with his guys. To me, this is the most optimal lineup we have available to us...yet we never see it and probably never will. I am a Corey fan (I realize that on this board that probably makes me an insta-idiot) but at this point in his career without developing some discipline at the plate...he has no business being 1 or 2 in the lineup. Anyone should be able to see that. If/when he finally gets it, he's going to be a run producer, not a table setter.

[Laura]

If Hairston can play a shaky CF, I'd think he could play a shaky LF and at least get on base.

 

Though I'd be interested in knowing what his OBP is once his pickoffs and caught stealings are taken into account.

 

I suppose it would be most difficult to factor in the times he should have scored from 3rd but inexplicably did not.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

If Hairston can play a shaky CF, I'd think he could play a shaky LF and at least get on base.

 

Though I'd be interested in knowing what his OBP is once his pickoffs and caught stealings are taken into account.

 

I suppose it would be most difficult to factor in the times he should have scored from 3rd but inexplicably did not.

 

If you incorporated SB into SLG and CS into OBP, Hairston's line is .267/.320/.345/.665. Not very good.

 

EDIT: Accidentally divided by PA's instead of AB's when calculating the SLG, it should be .267/.320/.401/.721

Edited June 28, 2005 by Transmogrified Tiger

[JC]

If Hairston can play a shaky CF, I'd think he could play a shaky LF and at least get on base.

 

Though I'd be interested in knowing what his OBP is once his pickoffs and caught stealings are taken into account.

 

I suppose it would be most difficult to factor in the times he should have scored from 3rd but inexplicably did not.

 

If you incorporated SB into SLG and CS into OBP, Hairston's line is .267/.320/.345/.665. Not very good.

 

Hairston has too often reminded me of Moises Alou on the bases this year. He has been pretty bad as a whole. Just think if Alou is reaquired? The basepaths may look like a T-ball game with guys running to third on a base hit.

[Laura]

So I'm told that Dusty was asked during the post-game show how much longer Corey would continue to bat lead-off, and Dusty responded, "Until I get a lead-off hitter."

[Mushimus]

So I'm told that Dusty was asked during the post-game show how much longer Corey would continue to bat lead-off, and Dusty responded, "Until I get a lead-off hitter."

 

Foreshadowing indeed.

[Jon]

So I'm told that Dusty was asked during the post-game show how much longer Corey would continue to bat lead-off, and Dusty responded, "Until I get a lead-off hitter."

I just saw this on the news and I believe the actual question was something like "How long until you have a permanent leadoff hitter." Corey wasn't mentioned.

[chicubs]

 

 

Hairston LF

Walker 2B

Lee 1B

Burnitz RF

Ramirez 3B

Patterson CF

Barrett C

Perez SS

 

I

 

Nice. Its the only feasable thing I could see Dusty doing. Great post...Just maybe, it will put Corey in a situation where he can drive in runs by luck (groundouts, sacflies cause lets face it: in the leadoff spot, hes not going to be hitting with anyone on third) and thatll boost his confidence and hell return to the Corey before the injury.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

So I'm told that Dusty was asked during the post-game show how much longer Corey would continue to bat lead-off, and Dusty responded, "Until I get a lead-off hitter."

I just saw this on the news and I believe the actual question was something like "How long until you have a permanent leadoff hitter." Corey wasn't mentioned.

 

I wasn't completely paying attention, but I believe the reporter lead-in to the question by mentioning Corey.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I think over the next eight games, we should try this line-up:

 

Hairston CF

Walker 2B

Lee 1B

Burntiz RF

Ramirez 3B

Hollandsworth LF

Barrett C

[Laura]

Ya know, one of the most interesting quotes here hasn't been mentioned, even though this is bordering on an old story now.

 

According to Paul Sullivan.

 

Paul Sullivan/The Trib[/url]"]Todd Walker would like to get a shot as the Cubs' leadoff hitter but won't go so far as to ask manager Dusty Baker to put him in that slot, as Corey Patterson did Tuesday in Milwaukee.

 

"That was probably after they came to him first," Walker said. "If they come up to me … I don't feel like it's my job [to ask]. It's [baker's] job. I give him a lot of credit for what he knows, and he has theories way beyond my opinions."

 

I never really bought into this notion that Corey suddenly decided to bat leadoff a month ago (or whatever) after he came to spring training early to work on his hitting and had a lot of time with Coleman there, etc. It just seemed like another batting order cover story. I don't why there needs to be vast conspiracies having to do with the Cubs batting order, but apparently there are.

 

I blame Dusty.

[chicubs]

I think over the next eight games, we should try this line-up:

 

Hairston CF

Walker 2B

Lee 1B

Burntiz RF

Ramirez 3B

Hollandsworth LF

Barrett C

 

Just not have a shortstop ;)?

 

I assume Neifi at the end, right?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I think over the next eight games, we should try this line-up:

 

Hairston CF

Walker 2B

Lee 1B

Burntiz RF

Ramirez 3B

Hollandsworth LF

Barrett C

 

Just not have a shortstop ;)?

 

I assume Neifi at the end, right?

 

I was hoping we could just skip his spot. But, yeah Neifi at the end.

[Mark Priors Calves]

Walker is batting 2nd today behind Hairston in the order today against the Nats.

[sethuel1]

Walker is batting 2nd today behind Hairston in the order today against the Nats.

http://home.hccnet.nl/a.tonkelaar/avatars/MontyPython_King_Arthur.png

God be praised!

[BigbadB]

Walker is batting 2nd today behind Hairston in the order today against the Nats.

 

:facesjump: