CubinNY

Look on the bright side, at least Glendon will get a chance to redeem himself. It will be grand.

This team will come close to 100 losses. If anyone else gets hurt and/or if Prior is sidelined for an extended period they will lose over a hundred. If Walker gets traded and they replace him with Neifi at 2nd and batting 2nd they will lose over a hundred games. If JJ cools off at all they will lose 100 games (he is on pace for his best season in a long time). IMO, the best case scenario is between 95-100 losses.

In anticipation of our cross country move in a few weeks I was putting away some old books and got sidetracked (as I often do) and started re-reading Baseball Dynasties by Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein (2000). In the introduction I came across this gem:

:ball: :whistle: I'm waiting. Really and truely, if Hendry doesn't plan on re-uping Dusty he should do everyone a favor and end this soap opera.

I agree. And it's a damn shame.

It's a good thing. No such player exists. Even when the entire team in Philly hated Bowa, not one player came out publically and said it. The players on a team will rarely criticize a manager in public, unless he is a moron like Kline.

Remember before I say this that I like walks much better than Dusty seems to..but what if I came on the board last Sunday and said see...the Cubs took 0 walks, and scored 15 runs! It looks like they should keep preaching agressiveness. I would be roasted for looking at that one game as evidence, because the 2 stats are not well correlated. So it's silly to look at this game as evidence of the other side, however a help it might have been. except the stats are well correlated (that is obp and runs) Yes, but OBP is not exactly what we are talking about here. Most of the correlation between OBP and runs is inherent in the correlation between batting average and runs. For example..there are 11 teams with over 300 walks this season. 6 are in the top 10 of runs scored, 2 are between 11-20, and 3 of those teams are in the bottom 10 of runs scored. Out of the bottom 5 teams in walks, 1 of them is in the top 10 of runs scored, 2 are in between 11-20, and 2 are in the bottom 10. Also, look at this. The average number of walks by the division of 10 Top 10: 313.2 BB's 2nd 10: 277.2 BB's Last 10: 280.4 BB's Do walks have an affect on runs? Definitely. Does it have as much of an affect as a change in batting average? Not a chance. That's why OPS is such a good stat in evaluating runs for a team. The top 10 teams in OPS are also the top 10 teams in runs scored. That has direct correlation-while walks do not. And remember, it is walks alone we are talking about, since the original posted did not say that we had 9 walks and also had so many hits, which would be the components of OBP. Instead, he singularly wanted the Cubs to walk more, and walks have only a slight to moderate correlation to runs scored. except the stats are well correlated (that is obp and runs) Ok, that's fine. I will say that it is irrelevant to this discussion however, since the original poster was talking about the effect walks have on runs, not overall OBP. When I said that the stats were not well correlated, I was talking about walks as well, so therefore your statement is irrelevant to the current discussion and has no impact on my original statement. The primary reason that OBP and runs are decently well correlated is the difference in batting average (and still not nearly as well correlated as OPS). Differences in walks play a smaller role in run production, which is what I was saying to the original poster. What you are missing, and this is big, I mean really big, is that you cannot take walks out of OBP or OPS. Walks are important.

Bulls on parade We gonna rally round the family with a pocket full of shells. One of the best rock songs ever.

Brenly is a moron. I was going to start a rant, but why bother. I don't want him anywhere near a baseball field in congunction with the Cubs.

Steve Stone is just a bitter... Oh wait, he was right again.

I wish they would honor Dusty's wishes. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. If it is true he declined the offer for an extension. If his team is playing terrible and he won't be around next year anyway Then, why not get rid of him and get on with whatever the future holds?

Emitt Smith couldn't hold OJ's Bruno Magli's. Here are five more running backs better than Smith: Gayle Sayers Earl Campbell Billy Simms Franco Harris LaDaneon Tommelson Emitt's one and only claim to fame is that he played a long time. And he mostly on very good teams where he wasn't even the most important player on the team.

That is a decent line against lefties for his career and he is doing much better than that this year. Are you freaking kidding me? In what universe is that a decent line?

to me that's like saying Mikan miles and miles Russell Kareem Shaq = Chamberlain This isn't baskettball. When Miken played, baskettball barely resembles the game that is played today. In football it's not so much the case. No one is hailing Broco Nagursky or "Crazy legs" Hursh.

No, it's primarily a problem of low and mid-market clubs who are hampered by financial concerns. The Cubs are in the same boat as KC, Cincinnatti, Pittsburgh, and Tampa. But, by the same token the Cubs have focused on pitching prospects over the last decade with their high draft picks. Even so their track record is pretty piss poor.

Brown Miles and miles Sanders = Payton OJ Ricky Williams = Tony Dorsett Many, many other running backs Emitt Smith If Barry wasn't such a weird humanbeing Emitt wouldn't have the yardage record. And Barry, Walter, and OJ played for some pretty bad teams.

I bet that Pierre will be ahead of Patterson in 2 of those 3 categories by the end of the season. He is catching up-very fast. Your on.

You support the idea of not letting Cedeno hit against lefties and then advocate letting Neifi play a lot next year if Cedeno continues to not hit lefties. Sounds like a plan designed by somebody who wants Neifi to play a lot. Neifi sucks, left handed or right handed. A small portion of his splits against LHP where he was a little better than incompetent is not nearly enough to plan, on purpose, to have Neifi get regular time. There is not justification for giving Neifi playing time. Neifi should only be a last resort. He should never play into preseasons plans as a guy who will be getting regular playing time. He's awful. His presence on this team severely limits the chances for victory, and the more he plays, the lower the chances become. Goony, are you then calling Neifi the worst player in the major leagues? That is certainly the implication of saying that playing a player severly diminishes their chance of victory. Neifi is a fine player for what he should be-a utility player to give players a day off. The people in this thread are showing his career numbers to show that if Neifi is used in this way, and only gives people days off when there is a lefty on the mound, that he is a fine bench player. Let me give you a scenario. I told you I wanted to sign a utility guy for the bench. His primary position is shortstop, a postion where our current shortstop cannot hit lefties. This utility player hits decently against lefties, with a .275 career mark, which is certainly better than our starter. He also is an excellent defender at the position. I want to sign him to only spell this shortstop and occasionally other positions only when they need a day off and only when a lefty is on the mound. Both of these conditions could easily be done. Doesn't this sound like a fine move for the bench? Are you saying you wouldn't take this player? The problem is, people have seen Neifi so misused over the last year and a half that they cannot stand to see him in the lineup at all, even though he does have a limited role that could help a ballclub. Neifi might be a 25th man, but his usage pattern indicates otherwise. Having Neifi on a team with Baker is like giving a crackhead 2.5 million dollars a year for two years. The crackhead is going to hit that pipe early and often.

Why is Slayer on this list?

vomit

Calling Gene Wojokowski a sportswriter is an insult to sportswriters.

Give Neifi enough ABs and Walker's numbers will look like Big Popi's.

Aramis didn't blast anyone. Go back and read his qoutes. This team only needs one scapegoat and his name is John B. "Dusty" Baker.

It would be great if the Cubs got Abreu, but I don't see the motivation/willingness to give up anything for him. Why would the Cubs make a deal for them when they are so hopelessly out of contention and JJ is maning RF for 2 more years? Maybe trade Pierre and move JJ to CF? But I can't see Hendry being that creative.