jjgman21

the play is very similar to the blown call at second in the Cubs game against the Astros. you have the way the play is usually called by an umpire, ie. the 'neighborhood' call and the 'if it beats you by that much their gonna call you out' call. on both plays, not only did the umpire decide to not do what umpires usually do, they got the play wrong. in fact, they went out of their way to see something that simply did not occur on the field.

I can't stand this. way too much of it in today's society. essentially what you are saying is it is understandable to do the selfish thing instead of doing what is best for the good of the whole. to me, there is no greater reason in the world to blame someone than when they are acting out of purely selfish motivation. it is the least understandable thing someone can do.

now, on this part of your post...that means that Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn weren't franchise players, right?

sorry to take this out of context, and divert the thread, but this, and his recent comments about 'playing to compete/win everyday...blah blah blah' summarizes in a nutshell why Dusty has got to go. he simply is not interested in the improvement of this team this year or in the future. he is interested in eeking out any win he can here or there to bolster his ego and create some grand illusion that he is holding things together. on the topic of Williamson's comments, he signed his trade papers after making the initial comments. you have to wonder what management holds over players heads to keep making them back off their criticism/honesty.

my two college football teams are the Badgers and the Irish. Badgers - I fear from the lack of comments from my Badger brethren that there isn't much to look forward to this year. and I'm not too confident that the D coordinator who hasn't been able to stop NU, MSU or Iowa for years is now the head coach. then again, much like the Cubs, it's a helluva lot more difficult to take when you start out with high hopes, things go well for awhile, you get some national recognition, then fall flat on your face. it's more fun and easier on the blood pressure knowing you're mediocre and hoping for an upset here or there, which the Badgers always manage to accomplish. Irish - I'm a big fan, but sorry, they don't require much more than 7-5 to get to a BCS bowl game. the polls are still a huge part of the BCS process, and you don't need a good record to be ranked highly in the polls when you are ND or a few other select programs.

Mabry is no more a catcher than you or me. And my presumption puts Barrett and Blanco on the field at the same time on May 5th. You don't do it. god forbid the Cubs should have to go with a position player at catcher for a few innings. that might cost them a baseball game. what on earth would we and the Cubs do if they lost a baseball game.

which Metra line? you may not end up at Union Station, and you may not need to take the Metra all the way downtown.

exactly. people can argue all they want that there is only one meaning of the word and everybody's minds operate the same way, but any linguist would tell you that is not true whatsoever. you can say Ozzie or my cousin meant it as a slur against homosexuals, but nobody knows how Ozzie's or my cousin's mind works. language is very imprecise, and there are alot of people who lack the ability to articulate with the proper words. as for jam's comments, I have heard and know of several homosexuals that call each other or other homosexuals "[expletive]" and "queer" all the time. do they have no harmful intentions when using that word? the answer is obvious, sometimes they do and sometimes they don't, just like the rest of us. the term is much more flimsy and has alot more meanings and connotations than most racial slurs. one of those meanings is a catchall phrase used by unarticulate people to have no more signicance that calling someone a "jerk." the best analogy I can think of is using the word "gyp" when somebody rips you off. that's the word you know and came to use, not even realizing it is a derrogatory phrase about gypsies. there is nothing in peoples heart or mind that means it as an insult against a group of people. it's just the word that they use in that situation.

What, do you think some third party is gonna yell "ROUND! ONE! ... FIGHT!" like in Street Fighter II? I think people can figure out when a fight is gonna start. Some of you people still don't get what a sucker-punch is. Main Entry: sucker punch Function: transitive verb : to punch (a person) suddenly without warning and often without apparent provocation - sucker punch noun Was there any warning that Barrett might throw a punch? Not unless you consider "I didn't have the ball" to mean "I'm going to hit you". That's quite a stretch. Was there a lack or provocation? Considering that Barrett is a catcher, and that catchers get bowled over on almost a daily basis....... I'd also say it's quite a stretch to say that Barrett was provoked into throwing a punch. Therefore, the shoe fits. would you expect a big smooch if someone grabbed you around the neck and spoke to you with words that are not allowed in this forum? would you feel provoked if someone ran into to you in an unnecessary way, in an unnecesary situation, and in an unnecessary location? I think the better point is that Palphabet is a catcher, and therefore should know there are situations in which the collission is appropriate and that there is an appropriate way to do it. they both broke unspoken codes. catchers get bowled over on a dailey basis...yeah, that's it. bowled over by the king of Siam, yeah that's it.

the word obviously has alot of different meanings to alot of different people. when I was 8, I moved from the city to the far out burbs with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, including one cousin who was my age and remains my best friend to this day. he and his friends were much like you and your friends. they called each other '[expletive]' all the time. a couple years later, we found out what the word actually meant. but it stuck with him, and he continued to use it. my cousin is not a big baseball fan, but the team he follows is the white sox. his reaction to the Palphabet/Barrett incident..."what a [expletive]!" now I find the word offensive, but does anyone really think my cousin's comment had anything to do with degrading homosexuals or implying that Barrett was a homosexual for his acts? I'm a pretty PC person, but that is really a little thin skinned. to some people that word has little meaning, other than as a general insult. for others it has the meaning that many are objecting to. I can't stand Ozzie, but an argument of his meaning can be made either way. english is not his first language. on the other hand, he's been in this country for about three decades and, as I learned above, he has a history of derrogatory statements about homosexuals. in the end, I concur with whoever it was that said Ozzie should just shut up, and agree that Rocket hit the nail on the head with his comments. oh, and one more thing, if I heard the n word as often as goony, I'd move.

What, do you think some third party is gonna yell "ROUND! ONE! ... FIGHT!" like in Street Fighter II? I think people can figure out when a fight is gonna start. Some of you people still don't get what a sucker-punch is. Eye contact would have been a start. AJP was on the winning end of a clean play so there was no reason for him to expect a punch in the face. I hate defending this guy because he is of questionable character, but this situation was entirely on Barrett. I haven't commented on the play until now, but I haven't subscribed to the notion that the play was clean. in my mind, the collision at the plate is a play reserved for one situation, to knock the ball out of possession of the catcher when he is waiting at the plate for the runner. hence the words Barrett chose to say (which by the way were clearly fighting words, thus it was not a sucker punch) to Palphabet before blasting him. I might be able to buy it if there was a close play, but the ball was about half way between third and home when Palphabet plowed over Barrett. Furthermore, Palphabet obviously lowered his shoulder and plowed it into the middle of Barrett's chest. in my opinion, that's in the league of throwing at a batter's head. it goes beyond playing the game hard, but rather shows intent to injure. combine the two, and I think it was an obviously dirty play. I also think the portrayal of the whole affair in the sports media was just typical 'it's not what happened, it's who did it' mentality. if it were the Cubs and the Pirates, there would have been much more even handed coverage of who was at fault in the situation. all that said, I don't believe in violence, so I think Barrett was wrong, but he was a helluva lot more justified in his actions than some make him out to be, including MLB.

I don't understand how everyone thinks MLB suspensions are inconsistent. Kerry Wood get suspended more than anyone ever for throwing at a batter, even though it was obviously unintentional (IIRC). his appeal is denied. Moises Alou gets suspended more than any batter ever for arguing with an umpire. his appeal is denied. LaTroy Hawkins get suspended more than any relief pitcher ever for arguing with an umpire. his appeal is denied. Michael Barrett get suspended more than any player ever for fighting. his appeal is denied. edit: one more thing. with both Wood and Barrett, the league took exceptionally long to issue their decision on the appeal, when prompt decisions would really have helped the Cubs out. it's all very consistent.

If I remember correctly, Neifi's homer was just after the Cubs lost to Houston and everyone thought we were toast. It was in the Astrodome in the series when Terry Mulholland overthrew a little lollipop throw to Mark Grace at first that allowed the Astros to win. I mean it was literally "Cubs lose, they're now a 1/2 game out" to "news from Coors Field: Neifi Perez has hit a homerun to defeat the Giants, the Cubs are back in it!" we were all consoling each other, then someone clicked over to the national game right as a ball was leaving the yard. I didn't know who hit it, but knew it won the game and forced game 163. two minutes later we were in the car, speeding down the street, weaving through other maniacs just like us.

you're in McHenry County, aren't you? I was 11th in line at Jewel in Crystal Lake. we were in the car about 2 minutes after Neifi went deep (best damn thing he's ever done for us). there were cars coming from everywhere speeding to Jewel as we drove. the only reason we were able to get tickets is I jumped out of the car and ran in as soon as we got in the parking lot, then my brother parked. people who parked and then walked in were left out, as were people who didn't have cash in hand.

does anybody honestly believe the guy has upper round NFL WR speed? not even close. good hands. good knack for getting open. not a top NFL pick by any means.

not supposed to send messages at work anymore, had to sneak on to show people this.. http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/careersearch?searchSport=MBA good source for prior year's stats on the college kids.

I got .376/.490 for a .866 OPS. He has a 1.034 SLG against us, jeebers. my calculation was before the Houston series. your's was after the second game of the Houston series. after his 0-5 yesterday, he's back down to .850ish against non-Cubs pitching.

never say never. I think you have to come up and in a couple times to Edmonds to get him twisting out of the way. then drop the change on the outter half to get him lunging with his swing. make him work the injured abdominals.

Berkman tweaked his knee recently, and both the Cubs and Bucs lost their top 1B prospects to injuries too.

bothering you.

I did a quick calculation and figure Dunn's OPS to be somewhere in the neighborhood of .850 against non-Cubs pitching.

LOL. That was a sucker punch, plain and simple. Pierzynski had no reason to expect a punch was coming, and no chance to defend himself even if he did. By the time Pierzynski had a chance to begin processing why the heck Barrett was grabbing him, he was already headed to the ground. if AJ didn't see that punch coming and turn his head slightly as the punch came, he'd be in the hospital right now. Barrett threw a sledgehammer that was heading right for its target. AJ is very lucky he saw it coming and had time to react, as are the Cubs, because if that punch landed with full force, Barrett breaks AJ's jaw and is suspended for a month or more.

I think people need to clarify what statement of Hendry they are attacking. the first says Baker shouldn't be criticized. the other says he does not deserve all the blame. two different statements, the first is a load of snot, the second is true. bsb makes a good point. fact is we do have additional information. we have the background knowledge that the Cubs organization never tells you exactly what is going on. we also have the general sports background knowledge that 90% of managers/coaches/GMs that are fired get a vote of confidence from their boss shortly before fired. in other words, anything out of Hendry's mouth about Baker must be taken with a pile of salt. as for Jones, most of what we hear on this board is how important hitting is to all other aspects of the game. he's made the baserunning errors, and some crappy throws (I don't think any of them have caused runners to advance more than they would unless he had made a perfect throw), but he's also the ONLY batter on the team performing beyond what our even reasonable expectations were for him. further, this lineup simply cannot afford to have his stick out of the lineup right now. but gawwd do I wish they would fire Baker.

Equivalent players get 1 year contracts for similar or less money. Big difference. Very big difference. I already said I don't like the length of the contract, but you're pretty much dead wrong that similar free agent players get less money.

Who is an underachiever on the Cubs? Ramirez, I guess? This team just flat sucks. They've not underachieving. They're just bad. "Underachieving" connotes that they should be playing better. They shouldn't. Ramirez, Walker (power wise), Pierre, Z (until his last few starts), Rusch (he shouldn't be quite THIS bad), Neifi and Blanco (apparently they wanted to get worse), Ohman (shouldn't be this bad). Conversely, the White Sox have virtually every position player playing above their career numbers (and most all are past their prime). I'm not trying to make the argument the Cubs should be blowing teams away. However one can't ignore these two teams' players are operating at opposite ends of the spectrum. To this fan its quite sickening. I guess we should feel lucky that Dusty gets the most out of his players. exactly the reason why his continued employment is 100% unjustifiable. for three years now the teams has performed worse than it should, even taking the injuries into account. the guy had two assets when he came to the Cubs. attracting free agents and keeping his team motivated. he has done neither the past three years.