TruffleShuffle

I don't see .350 as really being possible. Here are the 3-year OBPs on this team, at least for guys likely to see significant playing time: Soriano: .329 Theriot: .382 Lee: .385 ARam: .361 Jock: .323 Barrett: .349 Murton: .370 DeRosa: .332 Floyd: .347 Izturis: .315 I'd expect Soriano, Lee, ARam and DeRosa to be pretty close to those numbers. Floyd, Barrett, Murton (given what we've seen this year) and Izturis will probably be a little lower. I'd be happy if Theriot could stay in the area of .350. Jock might be a little higher. Pie is a bit of a wild card, but I'd guess his OBP would be around .325 for a full year played at this level. The Cubs' team OBP in 2006 was .319 - truly atrocious. The NL average OBP in 2006 was .334; the Dodgers were tops at .348, followed by the Nationals at .347 and the Rockies at .341. In 2005, the league OBP was .330, the top figure was the Phillies at .348, and the Cubs were 11th at .324. In 2004, the league OBP was .337, the top figure was the Giants at .357 (thanks Barry), and the Cubs were 11th at .328. The Giants were the only team above .350. In 2003, the league OBP was .333, the top figure was the Cards at .350, and the Cubs were 13th at .323. My point in all of that is that the league average OBP tends to fall around .335, and in only two of the past four years has any team reached .350. Those teams had guys named Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols. When I look at the Cubs, I don't see a team that I'd expect to be very good at getting on base, but looking at upgrades like: 2B: DeRosa over Cedeno/Neifi/assorted trash SS: Theriot (please play him) over Izturis/Cedeno CF: Soriano over Pierre Bench: Floyd/Ward over Mabry/Pagan ...it's clear that some glaring OBP black holes have been filled. Hell, even Marquis is a really good hitting-pitcher. So I don't think .350 is realistic, but something close to the league average (guess at around .335) is doable, and optimistically I could see the Cubs falling in at around 5th-6th in the league, somewhere close to .340. This isn't perfect, but there is enough power on this team to make a solidly productive offense out of a .340 OBP, and it represents a huge departure from the past four years, when the Cubs were in the bottom third of the league in OBP. It's a big step in the right direction.

rangers gone, devils gone... it's a great weekend for hockey

hope they're both at the top of their game... it's great watching highly-anticipated pitching duels that are as good as promised

color me jealous you can go to Five Brothers. I bet it's just as good In N Out is a little better IMO, but Five Guys is a very tasty burger too.

color me jealous

enough. I'm SORRY I'll try to STOOOOOP. YESSS!! i'm really starting to suspect that you're a fan of hawk harrelson

enough.

i knew that ward signing was a good idea

cubs overcome chris's attempts to sabotage the game

i think i'm the only one who doesn't mind murton stopping there... if he got a poor jump off 2nd, it was not a deep fly. Decent throw and he would've probably been nailed.

hey barrett, ever think about not swinging at the pitch, or trying to move the runner along?

PU LLEH EHT TUHS

they showed regulus in the crowd again!

For what? grounding out

even barrett couldn't swing at that first pitch

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/6/66/200px-Stop_sign_MUTCD.svg.png Amen. I think our record is 0-14 when those words are uttered. i'm starting to think chris is really a cardinal fan in disguise

TNO'D EW ON

watch this loser get a hit

great job holding on the runner... i think he was halfway to second base when dempster released it

almost had to put up the dumpster image

odds we win this game? i say about 100:1

tluaf ruoy, esol sbuc

i nominate chris for goat of the game

why effin swing?

thanks a lot... i'll get ready for extra innings now