Poise, or lack thereof...

[IowaCubsFan]

There are things that distinguish winning teams from losing teams in baseball. Solid pitching, timely hitting, well-played defense, and a knack for doing the unexpected are all traits you see in winners.

 

But there's one intangible factor nearly all winning teams have, a factor that teams can't practice for yet is essential to their success in this game:

 

Poise.

 

Poise affects every single facet of the game, and it has a huge impact on how a team handles adversity that will surely raise its ugly head throughout a 162-game season. Championship teams have poise; The Yankees have it. The Cardinals have it. The Red Sox last year sure as heck had it.

 

The Cubs don't have it though, and they really haven't had it under Baker since Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. In fact, the Cubs have shown progessively less poise as time has progressed since that day of infamy. By the end of last season, Baker's team collapsed like a house of cards, and players were calling the TV booth during the game to complain about the perceived negative coverage they were getting.

 

Little has changed since last year. Despite having two forty homerun hitters in his lineup and two potential Cy Young winners and a Hall-of-Famer on his pitching staff, the team still plays like the Bad News Bears out there for the most part; booting easy ground balls, swinging at first pitches, and making ridiculously stupid mental mistakes.

 

How could a team with that much talent be so bad? The answer is poise. All you need to do is look at the increase in negativity, finger pointing, and snippyness among the Cub players since Baker came to town. I mean, you had a potential league MVP last week chiding our fans for booing the player of another team.

 

Excuse me? Where would Derrek Lee get the idea that fans aren't supposed to boo a pitcher like LaTroy Hawkins, who caused those same fans so much heartburn? Oh yeah, that would be Dusty Baker, who last year during the Cubs' epic collapse said, "Real fans don't boo."

 

The fact is this talented team doesn't succeed because they're always looking for excuses in their failures instead of addressing them directly. Patterson not a good leadoff hitter, even though he's not a leadoff hitter? Well, he's just not getting enough support. Hawkins failing in the closer's role, even though he's a setup man? Fans are being too negative. Not scoring any runs? Well, it's just bad luck.

 

Poise erodes when you enable people to fail, and Baker is the biggest enabler of them all.

[halplm]

Best post I've seen in a while. Nicely said.

 

When was the last time you saw a good team's manager blame anything on anyone? Their standard answer to a problem is always "We didn't execute tonight." It's as a team they failed. Players may be singled out for exceptionally good performances, but are never singled out for a loss.

 

I hadn't really thought of it that way, but it's true.

[J.R.]

Great post.

[ConstableRabbit]

Excellent post. I think some of this has to do with the Cubs' "losing culture," and I don't necessarily mean that as a knock. For so many years, the fans (hey, maybe even the players, although I doubt it) expected to lose. With revenue coming in from ticket sales, the front office didn't need to spend money on winning teams - the fans were going to come anyway.

 

Think about it: these last 2 seasons were the first winning seasons in about 30 years. Franchises like the Yankees and Cards, however, expect to win. The thing is, we've just gotten a taste of how nice it is to be a top team in the league, a team on the verge of winning the pennant. The booing comes from the frustration that we are all feeling because now that we've had that winning sensation, we don't want to revert back to the old days, even though our record now would've been a blessing in the past.

 

And because Baker gets booed frequently, and has the reputation as a players' manager (you know, the kind of guy who won't discipline players who act up and will make excuses at any cost) he is very quick to defend anyone who's booed, saying 'It wasn't nice for the fans to boo,' when asked about the booing, instead of something along the lines of 'The fans are frustrated, and I can't blame them - we haven't been getting the job done.'

[LoneStarCubFan]

No poise = No heart

[halplm]

No poise = No heart

 

It's not really the same thing. You can have poise but the team can still not have heart. Poise is being able to stick together and accept responsability. Heart is being able to play through tough times and still desire to win.

 

You can have poise without heart, and you can have heart without poise... but this team has neither.

[treebird]

No poise = No heart

 

It's not really the same thing. You can have poise but the team can still not have heart. Poise is being able to stick together and accept responsability. Heart is being able to play through tough times and still desire to win.

 

You can have poise without heart, and you can have heart without poise... but this team has neither.

 

im pretty sure the cubs lose because of poor hitting and pitching, not poor heart and poise

[kente777]

No poise = No heart

 

It's not really the same thing. You can have poise but the team can still not have heart. Poise is being able to stick together and accept responsability. Heart is being able to play through tough times and still desire to win.

 

You can have poise without heart, and you can have heart without poise... but this team has neither.

 

im pretty sure the cubs lose because of poor hitting and pitching, not poor heart and poise

 

I think it starts with confidence. If you really believe each any every game you go out on the field, you have a chance to win, then you will perform up to the level of that confidence. True, execution is very important, but confidence (poise, heart) is just as important....probably more important. If you feel like a winner, you play like a winner.

 

Why do you think the Braves win year after year? Sure, they have talent. But more than that, they believe they can win because they have a manager who believes they can win. It doesn't matter who they play, veteran or rookie, they have the confidence that they can win every ball game, and because of that confidence, they play to a high level.

 

The Cubs are absolutely pathetic in this department.

 

Baker has got to go because a manager sets the tone for the team, and he has set a tone of complaining and not taking responsibility!!

[badger1679666666]

No poise = No heart

 

LoneStarCubFan = find a dictionary.

 

Poise and heart have absolutely NOTHING to do with each other.

 

This team has PLENTY of heart to still be at .500 after everything that's happnneed. They aren't gutless or heartless or any other vitriolic adjective that makes you feel better when you spew it at them.

 

They are talented, but not good. They aren't coached well, and they rely too much on the long ball. They don't execute.

 

All of these are reasons they suck, not because they have a lack of heart. Today a team with a lack of heart would have rolled over. They didn't.

[LoneStarCubFan]

No poise = No heart

 

LoneStarCubFan = find a dictionary.

 

Poise and heart have absolutely NOTHING to do with each other.

 

This team has PLENTY of heart to still be at .500 after everything that's happnneed. They aren't gutless or heartless or any other vitriolic adjective that makes you feel better when you spew it at them.

 

They are talented, but not good. They aren't coached well, and they rely too much on the long ball. They don't execute.

 

All of these are reasons they suck, not because they have a lack of heart. Today a team with a lack of heart would have rolled over. They didn't.

 

Cratering in pressure situations equates to no heart whether you want to admit it or not.

[halplm]

No poise = No heart

 

LoneStarCubFan = find a dictionary.

 

Poise and heart have absolutely NOTHING to do with each other.

 

This team has PLENTY of heart to still be at .500 after everything that's happnneed. They aren't gutless or heartless or any other vitriolic adjective that makes you feel better when you spew it at them.

 

They are talented, but not good. They aren't coached well, and they rely too much on the long ball. They don't execute.

 

All of these are reasons they suck, not because they have a lack of heart. Today a team with a lack of heart would have rolled over. They didn't.

 

Dusty rolled over when he filled out the lineup... How much you wanna bet Neifi bats 6 again tomorrow after going 3 for 4... Oh he'll have to play 2nd with Nomar back, but Walker was 0-4 today so he needs a day off...

[RynoRules]

Season is a bust. Dusty has shown that, unlike in SF, he cannot get the best out of this group. Time to move on.

[badger1679666666]

No poise = No heart

 

LoneStarCubFan = find a dictionary.

 

Poise and heart have absolutely NOTHING to do with each other.

 

This team has PLENTY of heart to still be at .500 after everything that's happnneed. They aren't gutless or heartless or any other vitriolic adjective that makes you feel better when you spew it at them.

 

They are talented, but not good. They aren't coached well, and they rely too much on the long ball. They don't execute.

 

All of these are reasons they suck, not because they have a lack of heart. Today a team with a lack of heart would have rolled over. They didn't.

 

Dusty rolled over when he filled out the lineup... How much you wanna bet Neifi bats 6 again tomorrow after going 3 for 4... Oh he'll have to play 2nd with Nomar back, but Walker was 0-4 today so he needs a day off...

 

I'll bet you any amount you want to bet, that Neifi is NOT in the lineup tommorrow.

[XZero771679666304]

Season is a bust. Dusty has shown that, unlike in SF, he cannot get the best out of this group. Time to move on.

 

I sincerely doubt that Dusty has ever gotten the best out of any team. His managerial style doesn't allow for it.

[Illini Iceman]

No poise = No heart

 

It's not really the same thing. You can have poise but the team can still not have heart. Poise is being able to stick together and accept responsability. Heart is being able to play through tough times and still desire to win.

 

You can have poise without heart, and you can have heart without poise... but this team has neither.

 

im pretty sure the cubs lose because of poor hitting and pitching, not poor heart and poise

 

I think it starts with confidence. If you really believe each any every game you go out on the field, you have a chance to win, then you will perform up to the level of that confidence. True, execution is very important, but confidence (poise, heart) is just as important....probably more important. If you feel like a winner, you play like a winner.

 

Why do you think the Braves win year after year? Sure, they have talent. But more than that, they believe they can win because they have a manager who believes they can win. It doesn't matter who they play, veteran or rookie, they have the confidence that they can win every ball game, and because of that confidence, they play to a high level.

 

The Cubs are absolutely pathetic in this department.

 

Baker has got to go because a manager sets the tone for the team, and he has set a tone of complaining and not taking responsibility!!

 

This type of BS reminds me of the locker room scene in "The Natural" when they bring in that psychiatrist and he drones on about "Losing is a disease....".

I bet Mark Prior has as much or more confidence, poise and heart than any other player in the MLB but it doesn't matter if you give up grannies in the first inning.

Bottom line is that the 2005 Chicago Cubs, for whatever reason, do not have the talent to outscore and outpitch the opposing teams on a consistent basis. Hendry will need to reshuffle the deck in 2006 and try to get a better team on the field but the needs are in the talent department not in worrying about this other junk. I believe in it no more than I believe in freaking Billy Goat curses.

[TXCubsFan]

Season is a bust. Dusty has shown that, unlike in SF, he cannot get the best out of this group. Time to move on.

 

I sincerely doubt that Dusty has ever gotten the best out of any team. His managerial style doesn't allow for it.

 

His approach would be very good for a veteran team where the players are professional and are self-motivated. The Cubs are a team in transition, which doesn't play to Dusty's strengths.

[XZero771679666304]

No poise = No heart

 

LoneStarCubFan = find a dictionary.

 

Poise and heart have absolutely NOTHING to do with each other.

 

This team has PLENTY of heart to still be at .500 after everything that's happnneed. They aren't gutless or heartless or any other vitriolic adjective that makes you feel better when you spew it at them.

 

They are talented, but not good. They aren't coached well, and they rely too much on the long ball. They don't execute.

 

All of these are reasons they suck, not because they have a lack of heart. Today a team with a lack of heart would have rolled over. They didn't.

 

Cratering in pressure situations equates to no heart whether you want to admit it or not.

 

If a guy goes up and flails at three straight pitches and runs to the dugout, I might buy that he has no poise. But every single time a guy fails in a clutch situation, you can't just chalk it up to lack of heart. Believe it or not, a pitcher is out there on that mound, and all the heart in the world won't help you when you are overmatched. I am willing to bet that guys like Burnitz, Walker and Lee have more "heart" than anybody out there, yet when one of them fails to come up big, you chime in with "no heart" or the very tired "No.Sense.Of.Urgency." Lame. This team has shown a lot of heart on more than a few occasions. Lack of heart is not what is losing us games. What is?

 

1.Poor managing. Bad lineups, micromanagement, lack of discipline and accountability, poor management of an already poor bullpen.

 

2.Too many role players, not enough impact players.

 

3.Injuries. Key injuries, wrong players getting rested.

 

4.Bad bullpen.

 

 

That's what it is, IMO.

 

And as for definitions, IMO:

 

Poise = The ability to remain focused during times of extreme pressure. Professionalism in character and execution, gained mainly through experience and/or training.

 

Heart = Determination. A fighting, competetive, never-say-die attitude.

 

 

I think the two things are fundamentally different. In all sports, I think there are three major factors that define athletes/teams: Talent, Poise, Heart.

 

Talent+Poise+Heart = Championship performance.

 

Talent+Poise = Great performance, but may fold when the chips are down. Professional, yet somewhat stagnant.

 

Talent+Heart = Unpredictable, inconsistant. Has the ability and the drive, but lacks the capacity to harness either for prolonged periods. Undisciplined.

 

Poise+Heart = Wants it, knows how to make it happen, but can't. Not good for athletes in individual sports or whole teams, great for scrappy role players. See David Eckstein.

 

 

Clearly, I think the Cubs are the third.

[SwisherSweet]

The starter of this thread is right. The Cubs are currently dead last in Poise Ounce Of Production, or POOP , at a miniscule .004. The Cardinals and White Sox are currently leading baseball in POOP, and Albert Pujols is far and away the hitter with the most POOP, and the Cardinal fans, known for being the best and having poise, are the most full of POOP.

[CDBears1259]

No poise = No heart

 

LoneStarCubFan = find a dictionary.

 

Poise and heart have absolutely NOTHING to do with each other.

 

This team has PLENTY of heart to still be at .500 after everything that's happnneed. They aren't gutless or heartless or any other vitriolic adjective that makes you feel better when you spew it at them.

 

They are talented, but not good. They aren't coached well, and they rely too much on the long ball. They don't execute.

 

All of these are reasons they suck, not because they have a lack of heart. Today a team with a lack of heart would have rolled over. They didn't.

 

Cratering in pressure situations equates to no heart whether you want to admit it or not.

 

If a guy goes up and flails at three straight pitches and runs to the dugout, I might buy that he has no poise. But every single time a guy fails in a clutch situation, you can't just chalk it up to lack of heart. Believe it or not, a pitcher is out there on that mound, and all the heart in the world won't help you when you are overmatched. I am willing to bet that guys like Burnitz, Walker and Lee have more "heart" than anybody out there, yet when one of them fails to come up big, you chime in with "no heart" or the very tired "No.Sense.Of.Urgency." Lame. This team has shown a lot of heart on more than a few occasions. Lack of heart is not what is losing us games. What is?

 

1.Poor managing. Bad lineups, micromanagement, lack of discipline and accountability, poor management of an already poor bullpen.

 

2.Too many role players, not enough impact players.

 

3.Injuries. Key injuries, wrong players getting rested.

 

4.Bad bullpen.

 

 

That's what it is, IMO.

 

And as for definitions, IMO:

 

Poise = The ability to remain focused during times of extreme pressure. Professionalism in character and execution, gained mainly through experience and/or training.

 

Heart = Determination. A fighting, competetive, never-say-die attitude.

 

 

I think the two things are fundamentally different. In all sports, I think there are three major factors that define athletes/teams: Talent, Poise, Heart.

 

Talent+Poise+Heart = Championship performance.

 

Talent+Poise = Great performance, but may fold when the chips are down. Professional, yet somewhat stagnant.

 

Talent+Heart = Unpredictable, inconsistant. Has the ability and the drive, but lacks the capacity to harness either for prolonged periods. Undisciplined.

 

Poise+Heart = Wants it, knows how to make it happen, but can't. Not good for athletes in individual sports or whole teams, great for scrappy role players. See David Eckstein.

 

 

Clearly, I think the Cubs are the third.

Excellent post!!! What motivational poster did you steal it from? J/K

[gus_dog]

This type of BS reminds me of the locker room scene in "The Natural" when they bring in that psychiatrist and he drones on about "Losing is a disease....".

I bet Mark Prior has as much or more confidence, poise and heart than any other player in the MLB but it doesn't matter if you give up grannies in the first inning.

Bottom line is that the 2005 Chicago Cubs, for whatever reason, do not have the talent to outscore and outpitch the opposing teams on a consistent basis. Hendry will need to reshuffle the deck in 2006 and try to get a better team on the field but the needs are in the talent department not in worrying about this other junk. I believe in it no more than I believe in freaking Billy Goat curses.

 

 

=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>

 

I agree. The Cubs problem is not 'heart'.

 

IMO, they lack real talent in the bullpen (a stopper), and they have had some performance issues.

 

These things can be measured, and improved upon.

 

Hopefully, the talent will be available this off-season, either through the free-agent market, trading, or on the farm, so Hendry can re-tool.

 

Sheesh, 'he has no heart' is easy to say, but difficult to gauge or measure. Really, since none of you guys likely actually know any of these players personally, I really don't understand how you can say that they have no heart. You really don't know, and it seems to me that you're just guessing.

 

Their poise could be questioned because of their lack of execution (e.g. pitchers failing to cover first, Barrett blowing the run-down), but that's on the coaches/management, IMO. They either don't stress fundamentals enough, or tolerate poor fundamentals.