08-14-04

[DCNashville]

The Houston Astros were 56-60 this date last season. We are currently 57-61.

 

Could this series with St. Louis (3 of 4) give us the kind of boost that the Astros got by beating us 3 of 4 last August?

 

I still haven't given up...lets sweep the Stros and get back in this thing!

[DCNashville]

And before anyone says "Well they fired their manager!", Garner had been at the helm for 28 games already when the Astros hit 56-60. It wasn't like a magical turnaround happened immediately.

[CubfaninCA]

The Cubs have got several shots in the arm of late, so maybe. Nomar, Lawton and Patterson are helping the hitting, and Kerry could be huge in the pen.

[imb]

Well they fired their manager!

[hawkeyecub]

Consistency!

 

That will be the key. It's possible with the remaining games against Houston and the other teams in the race aren't exactly stellar. With Lawton, Nomar, and now Wood giving us a boost in the bullpen we should have a shot at making a run.

 

But we need to get solid starting pitching and play consistently well overall. If we get hot, we can't turn around and drop 4-6 in a row again.

[Illini Iceman]

Rusch and Williams will have to be great for the Cubs to have a chance. The bullpen looks like it will be pretty good with the addition of Williamson and Wood. CPatt will also need to make a big turnaround, but overall the offense will probably still be inconsistent so to make a big run the starting pitching will have to be lights out.

[CubsHawks25]

Consistency!

 

That will be the key. It's possible with the remaining games against Houston and the other teams in the race aren't exactly stellar. With Lawton, Nomar, and now Wood giving us a boost in the bullpen we should have a shot at making a run.

 

But we need to get solid starting pitching and play consistently well overall. If we get hot, we can't turn around and drop 4-6 in a row again.

 

 

Bingo. That "dropping 7-8 in a row, after doing well" crap has gotta stop. Should have stopped before the last 8-game-loser streak, but alas, must play the cards they dealt themselves now.

[CubfaninCA]

Rusch and Williams will have to be great for the Cubs to have a chance. The bullpen looks like it will be pretty good with the addition of Williamson and Wood. CPatt will also need to make a big turnaround, but overall the offense will probably still be inconsistent so to make a big run the starting pitching will have to be lights out.

 

They need to skip Williams next start. They have an off day on Thrs. Just go w/ Prior on Friday. Then skip Rusch when they have an off day on Aug. 25.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

The Cubs have 44 games left, spread out over 7 weeks. In my opinion, to have a shot at the wild card, they would need to go 33-11 over those seven weeks. Is it possible? Maybe, but still not likely. If the Cubs can play at that clip, it will get them to 90 wins. I think it will take at least that many to make the playoffs. Simply put, we must win 3 of every 4 we play for the rest of the way. We can't afford to lose any series. We can't split any four game series. We'll need some sweeps. That's the only way we make it. I still don't find the prospects to be too probable. To get there, we're going to have to play better than we've played all year.

[CubsHawks25]

The Cubs have 44 games left, spread out over 7 weeks. In my opinion, to have a shot at the wild card, they would need to go 33-11 over those seven weeks. Is it possible? Maybe, but still not likely. If the Cubs can play at that clip, it will get them to 90 wins. I think it will take at least that many to make the playoffs. Simply put, we must win 3 of every 4 we play for the rest of the way. We can't afford to lose any series. We can't split any four game series. We'll need some sweeps. That's the only way we make it. I still don't find the prospects to be too probable. To get there, we're going to have to play better than we've played all year.

 

 

I'm sure we're getting tired of hearing the comparisons... but if Houston could do it last year, we can do it this season.

[CubfaninCA]

The Cubs have 44 games left, spread out over 7 weeks. In my opinion, to have a shot at the wild card, they would need to go 33-11 over those seven weeks. Is it possible? Maybe, but still not likely. If the Cubs can play at that clip, it will get them to 90 wins. I think it will take at least that many to make the playoffs. Simply put, we must win 3 of every 4 we play for the rest of the way. We can't afford to lose any series. We can't split any four game series. We'll need some sweeps. That's the only way we make it. I still don't find the prospects to be too probable. To get there, we're going to have to play better than we've played all year.

 

What team do you see winning 90?? This group of wildcard contenders don't look too strong.

 

Anyone know what's the lowest win total to take the wildcard??

[David]

The Cubs have 44 games left, spread out over 7 weeks. In my opinion, to have a shot at the wild card, they would need to go 33-11 over those seven weeks. Is it possible? Maybe, but still not likely. If the Cubs can play at that clip, it will get them to 90 wins. I think it will take at least that many to make the playoffs. Simply put, we must win 3 of every 4 we play for the rest of the way. We can't afford to lose any series. We can't split any four game series. We'll need some sweeps. That's the only way we make it. I still don't find the prospects to be too probable. To get there, we're going to have to play better than we've played all year.

 

What team do you see winning 90?? This group of wildcard contenders don't look too strong.

 

Anyone know what's the lowest win total to take the wildcard??

 

I don't know.. but in 2003 we took the division with only 87... :)

[CubfaninCA]

The Cubs have 44 games left, spread out over 7 weeks. In my opinion, to have a shot at the wild card, they would need to go 33-11 over those seven weeks. Is it possible? Maybe, but still not likely. If the Cubs can play at that clip, it will get them to 90 wins. I think it will take at least that many to make the playoffs. Simply put, we must win 3 of every 4 we play for the rest of the way. We can't afford to lose any series. We can't split any four game series. We'll need some sweeps. That's the only way we make it. I still don't find the prospects to be too probable. To get there, we're going to have to play better than we've played all year.

 

What team do you see winning 90?? This group of wildcard contenders don't look too strong.

 

Anyone know what's the lowest win total to take the wildcard??

 

I don't know.. but in 2003 we took the division with only 87... :)

 

I'm guessing 87 or 88 games. How many did Florida win in 2003??

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The Cubs have 44 games left, spread out over 7 weeks. In my opinion, to have a shot at the wild card, they would need to go 33-11 over those seven weeks. Is it possible? Maybe, but still not likely. If the Cubs can play at that clip, it will get them to 90 wins. I think it will take at least that many to make the playoffs. Simply put, we must win 3 of every 4 we play for the rest of the way. We can't afford to lose any series. We can't split any four game series. We'll need some sweeps. That's the only way we make it. I still don't find the prospects to be too probable. To get there, we're going to have to play better than we've played all year.

 

What team do you see winning 90?? This group of wildcard contenders don't look too strong.

 

Anyone know what's the lowest win total to take the wildcard??

 

I don't know.. but in 2003 we took the division with only 87... :)

 

88.

[David]

The Cubs have 44 games left, spread out over 7 weeks. In my opinion, to have a shot at the wild card, they would need to go 33-11 over those seven weeks. Is it possible? Maybe, but still not likely. If the Cubs can play at that clip, it will get them to 90 wins. I think it will take at least that many to make the playoffs. Simply put, we must win 3 of every 4 we play for the rest of the way. We can't afford to lose any series. We can't split any four game series. We'll need some sweeps. That's the only way we make it. I still don't find the prospects to be too probable. To get there, we're going to have to play better than we've played all year.

 

What team do you see winning 90?? This group of wildcard contenders don't look too strong.

 

Anyone know what's the lowest win total to take the wildcard??

 

I don't know.. but in 2003 we took the division with only 87... :)

 

88.

 

My bad, you're right.. I think 87 might have been the 2001 win total. I was thinking we won 88 last year, and I knew we won one more last year than in 03... but we actually won 89. That team could easily have won 92-93 games.. :evil:

[Rob]

Rusch and Williams will have to be great for the Cubs to have a chance. The bullpen looks like it will be pretty good with the addition of Williamson and Wood. CPatt will also need to make a big turnaround, but overall the offense will probably still be inconsistent so to make a big run the starting pitching will have to be lights out.

 

They need to skip Williams next start. They have an off day on Thrs. Just go w/ Prior on Friday. Then skip Rusch when they have an off day on Aug. 25.

 

I don't know about that... Prior could use the extra day of rest after tonight's start.

[erik316wttn]

To do anything, the Cubs need to get hot. Oakland A's hot, and fast.

 

But this team is far too streaky to do anything of the like.

[Fro]

To do anything, the Cubs need to get hot. Oakland A's hot, and fast.

 

But this team is far too streaky to do anything of the like.

 

The hope is, with Nomar, Lawton, Patterson, Williamson, and Wood, that this isn't the same team we've seen all year.

[Flames24Rulz]

as i said in the game thread, Houston's offense is going to be the downfall of that team. They will go on a bit of a rough stretch like we did sooner or later. You can only have good pitching go so far for so long.

 

this 3 of 4 thing has me believing slightly again... *sigh.*

[erik316wttn]

as i said in the game thread, Houston's offense is going to be the downfall of that team. They will go on a bit of a rough stretch like we did sooner or later. You can only have good pitching go so far for so long.

 

this 3 of 4 thing has me believing slightly again... *sigh.*

 

Don't let yourself get sucked in. They'll rip your heart out and stomp on it.

[Flames24Rulz]

as i said in the game thread, Houston's offense is going to be the downfall of that team. They will go on a bit of a rough stretch like we did sooner or later. You can only have good pitching go so far for so long.

 

this 3 of 4 thing has me believing slightly again... *sigh.*

 

Don't let yourself get sucked in. They'll rip your heart out and stomp on it.

 

i know, im not too much sucked in thank god. But if they sweep Houston....

[10man]

Between Rusch and Williams, I'm more confident of Glendon coming up with more quality starts. Let's hope that Lawton and Nomar and the others can continue to spark the team. What was great about that last win against the Cards was that Lee and Aram didn't do much but the other guys picked up the slack. We didn't have that earlier in the year.

[halplm]

it's not going to happen people... the only thing this 3 of 4 did was extend the misery that is our manager...

 

They might even win this series against the Astros... but don't kid yourself... Macias won the game for us last night... MACIAS.

 

He's playing like Neifi did at the beginning of the year... and we know that won't last...

[BleedCubbieBlue81]

Yeah, I knew this would happen... false hope. Don't get too sucked in guys. This is the same team that just dropped 8 in a row to some bad teams. Now we have to play contenders? Sure, we beat St. Louis, but we're not done with them this year either. We're currently 6.5 games out of the wild card, with a large group of teams ahead of us. Beating St. Louis is just the Cubs way of making the end of the year heartbreak that much worse.

 

Call my pessimistic, but I don't see them pulling off what Houston did last year. If they can prove me wrong, great. But I'm not going to hold out hope for a team that specializes in breaking my heart every year. Especially not when they are down 6 and a half games.

[neely crenshaw]

the difference between the cubs and houston is this....houston has an awesome lineup that had underachieved as a whole then suddenly started to hit that they were capable. the cubs aside from cpatt have had hit much better than expected. it would be hard to hope burnitz,barrett,dlee and rameriz could do much more.