CubinNY

No there are a lot of players who can bring: 1. a good work ethic 2. a good clubhous presence 3. a job knowing abilitiy Heck, I'll do that and for the league minimum. What I hope Pierre brings is a +.350 OBP. The rest I could care less about.

Three year splits for Lee PRASB 272/366/536 POASB 314/399/578 Last year PRASB 378/452/733 POASB 287/380/581 Three year splits for Barrett PRASB 284/347/458 POASB 255/316/446 Last year PRASB 264/323/448 POASB 292/373/519 Lee is a notoriously slow starter while Barrett usually has a better first half than a second. The conditions were reversed last year though. My question: Will the missed ABs hurt Lee more than Barrett? The hypothosis is this: Lee appears to need the extra spring training swings to gear up for the season while Barrett seems to wear down as the season goes along. This could mean that Barrett will have better season than last year and Lee regresses to career norms or worse. or It could mean nothing! I am just putting this out there to get some discussion going. The last week of ST is dreadfully boring.

What a sissy punch. I hope he didn't upset whatever was in his purse with that punch.

We'll see. Jose Contraras had the exact same "strain" and missed two months.

Depends on what he is throwing. If it's a towel it's not really news at all. We'll see Prior in June or July if the Cubs are still in it. If not we'll see him in 2007.

Buyers or Sellers? If the Cubs are selling Lee Jones Pierre Neifi Walker (if not traded already) Barrett Williamson Dempster Maddux (little value though) I don't think any of our pitchers outside of Z would have trade value, but I wouldn't trade Z If the Cubs are buying: Abreu JD Drew Pat Burrell Any number of BA top 100 position prospects at 2nd, SS, or outfield

The problem is he is a a Jose Macias type. And we all know how much Hendry loves the, Jack of all trades, master of none baseball player.

Neifi starts a min. of 50 games at SS. I guarantee it. Interesting. Several months ago when Neifi signed, you were guaranteeing much more playing time than that. I guess if it keeps shrinking, you'll eventually get it right. I'd be very surprised, barring injury to Cedeno, if Neifi gets more than 20 starts. If Cedeno gets hurt, I wouldn't be surprised if the Cubs revisit the Tejada-Prior talks mid-season. If Neifi get less than 50 starts I'll be shocked. Remember, he can fill in at 3rd, SS, and 2nd.

Right on target.

Just for S & Gs here are Babe Ruth's numbers. They make Sammy, McGuire and Bonds look like pikers. Year HR HR/AB 20 54 8 21 59 9 22 35 12 23 41 13 24 46 12 25 25 14 26 47 11 27 60 9 28 54 10 29 46 11 30 49 11 31 46 12 32 41 11 33 34 14 Not much fluctuation, but Ruth was a true freak.

Only when one wishes to ignore evidence to the contrary. Aside from Hank Aaron you can look up any slugger's numbers and see very dramatic fluctions from year to year in their prime. Sammy's growth is not out of the ordinary for a world class athelete. Sammy came to this country a rail thin 19 year old. I've lifed weights and I use to be a personal trainer. I've seen guys maintain rock hard chissled bodies into their mid 40s. Even so, maybe Sammy is a freak of nature? Maybe Sammy is a jucer? I don't know. But not one person in this thread has demonstrated any evidence that Sammy's power growth is either A)out of the ordinary or B) chemically enhanced. All I've read is "Sammy looked like a WWF wrestler in 2001", "He used a corked bat, therefore he used steriods", and my personal fav, "Look at his head". Fergie mentioned his HR spike, then I show evidence to the contrary that shows it is not out of the ordinary. Whatever, believe what you want. As for me, I will remain undeceded.

Here are some Totals: Roger Maris Year HR HR/AB 58 28 21 59 16 27 60 39 13 61 61 10 62 33 18 63 23 14 64 26 20 65 8 19 Mikey Mantle Year HR HR/AB 54 27 20 55 37 14 56 52 10 57 34 14 58 42 12 59 31 17 60 40 13 61 54 10 62 30 13 63 15 11 64 35 13 Willie Mays Year HR HR/AB 54 41 14 55 51 11 56 36 16 57 35 17 58 29 21 59 34 14 60 29 13 61 40 16 62 49 13 63 38 16 64 47 14 65 52 11 66 37 15 67 22 22 Those numbers are from the prime of careers for three "sluggers" of a bye-gone era. I think we can all agree they probably weren't on the juice, unless the juice includes beer, chew, and uppers. Maris's HR/AB totals swung from 10 to 27. Mantle was a little more consistent but his swung from 10-20. And Mays's swung from 11 to 22. Maris and Mantle never approached those numbers from 1961 and Mays had his best HR/AB year at the very end of his prime. Given the day and age in which we live with enhanced off-season workout regims and better nutrition, I see nothing out of the ordinary for Sammy's prime of career numbers. As an aside, I hope I never have to read "Take of the Cubbie blue glasses". Take off your convential wisdom BS glasses for a bit. Edit: I made a mistake in my original analysis> The lower number the more HRs per AB. So Mays tied his career number in 65 when he was clearly on the downslope of his prime. However, Mantle and Maris had their best years in 61 during the first "the chase" of Ruth.

What astonishing HR spurt are you talking about?

I called it.

Sing has mad power.

He's going under the knife to clear bone spurs. Check in Rivials.

Why? Because he was Sammys "personal trainer". No, why is it almost impossible to believe that Sammy was jucing? Lot's of MLB players have personal trainers.

we could still get the no hitter well played, sir. I wrote that about a minute before Koronka gave up the hit. i know and i realized that i probably jinxed them also It's alright. Dusty Jinxed the Cubs by putting in the Kronik.

we could still get the no hitter Jinx

WPL? Is paintball a sport?

This almost never works. 2 IBB in a row. Walk in the winning run.

Nice bunt. That one of the very few times I agree with the "small ball" mentality. Close and late.

I gotta say Marshall. He's been lights out this spring. Although the walks concern me. How's married life treating you?

My personal fav. is Guzman. Marshall hasn't really pitched much above AA ball. He's been injured.

Why?