jjgman21

maybe you don't understand because you don't have your facts straight. the Cubs were expected to win around a hundred games last year. before Wood went down, the Cubs were 5 games over .500 on May 11. when Prior came back on June 4 the Cubs were 2 games over .500 after 52 games. when Wood came back, they were 6 games over .500 through 86 games, and 8 games back. how is that not doing poorly without Wood and Prior early in the year? as for the end of the year, do you really need the accumulative effects of an over extended bullpen and a burned out starting lineup created due to injuries to starting players explained? and the team was never really completely healthy. by the time Prior had his second 7+ inning performance of the year on August 21 the Cards had a 15 game lead. two weeks later, Clement went down.

of course injuries can't be predicted, but you expect things like that to even out over a season. both teams are littered with injury risks up and down the pitching staffs and lineups. you can rely on Pythagorean W/L because it is generally a good indicator of how a team performs. defensive stats, even the advanced metrics, are generally considered unreliable in measuring defensive ability. maybe you didn't mention anything about Pythagorean, but your breathren sure wouldn't shut up about it a year ago. if you want to argue that stats indicate true defensive ability, you better not turn around and defend some of the Cardinals gold glove winners the past 5 years. in fact, you can give Vina a call and tell him to ship one of his to 1060 Addison, Chicago, IL. while you're at it, give Edmonds a ring and have him ship one to the same address.

allow me to add, as has been pointed out many times, career years its difficult to understate the Cards luck. its amazing how Card fans don't want to talk about health issues and Pythagorean W/L anymore, when its all you heard from them last offseason. and on Grudz v. Womack and Renterria v. Eckstein, when predicting the improvement the Cards should expect, you do need to break it down properly. Defensively - what to expect from Grudz v. what the Cards got in 2004 from Womack and what to expect from Eckstein v. what the Cards got in 2004 from Renterria. Offensively - what to expect from Grudz v. what the Cards got in 2004 from Renterria and what to expect from Eckstein v. what the Cards got in 2004 from Womack. defense at short and second - statistical measurements indicate an improvement at both positions for the Cards. observation tells a completely different story. it will be interesting to see what Grudz and Eckstein do in those statistical catagories when playing behind a staff that allows a ton of groundballs v. a couple of staffs that strike out a ton of batters. it is amazing how the Card fans now recognize how overrated Renterria was now that he's not a Card, though. leadoff hitters - downgrade. without getting into the nitty gritty, you just can't expect Eckstein to match Womack last year in terms of OBP, times reaching second, p/pa and the unmeasurable factor of distraction of the pitcher. Renterria's role in the lineup v. Grudz role in the lineup - like Renterria, I think Grudz will bounce around in the lineup a little. Renterria had a down year, but you also have to realize Grudz is coming off two unexpectedly good years and will turn 35 this year and won't have most of his ABs in front of the heart of the lineup. the Cards might actually do a little better this year, but not much and if Grudz battles injuries again, it will be a downgrade. I'm in the camp of thinking both the Cards and Cubs changes since last year essentially even themselves out. I am banking on run differential creating closer to expected W/L and luck evening itself out, resulting in the Cubs winning the division by 3, 96 wins to 93 wins.

April 9 v. Brewers - 6 tix 506 9 107-112 (love the second day) May 26 v Rockies - 6 tix Bleachers (had to buy at least one value date) June 14 v. Feesh - 4 tix 538 3 108-111 (if the Torco sign had lights, they would give me a sunburn at a night game) June 29 v. Brewers - 4 tix 223 23 5-8 (g-friends aunts tix. I'll go SRO) Aug 8 v. Reds - 6 tix 205 1 1-6 (front row, aisle! baby's first Wrigley game!) Aug 29 v Dodgers - 5 tix 215 22 106-110 (back to school game for the boy) Sept 27 v Bucs - 2 tix 142 11 3-4 (any messages for Burnitz?) if any of these dates have significance to any of you, let me know. I got more than I need for most of these games.

April 9, second game of the year, preferrably upper deck box seats, only need 2 tickets.... I want those too. hey barton, if I don't get them, get me a fridge magnet off the ground :lol:

thanks for your help guys. and sorry for hijacking the thread with my questions. one more though how many windows can I open without freaking my puter?

will my toolbar saw something different once I am in, or should I keep clicking between screens?

neither...its about to go back to start counting again...or at least it should. You should have as many windows open as possible, press control n while in the VWR...and your last post sorta read like a haiku :D still it does not count but I will open windows and pray for cubs tix

clocked stopped running and the little box is blank. MS flag is waiving but nothing is happening. am I about to get in, or did I get booted?

Nilo what's your secret? I got nuttin.

to be honest, the bullies played like garbola tonight, but still managed to pull one out. the heat 'supporting cast' played incredibly, but the Bulls should have won this game easily. terrible shooting night.

how many Bulls can Wade punch in the face without getting a flagrant called?

well late last night I saw donnied's post of tickets available and sent a pm around midnite. I wasn't able to get online until about 11:30, but called him and found out he still had 2. I was shocked that they were as inexpensive as they are, and pleased that Donnie and I struck a quick deal. getting a late start with my girlfriend's son Sam in tow and two train rides later, we arrived a little after 4, and Donnie gave us a bonus. a certificate for a Ryno autograph. we were about 12th from the end of the line but Donnie was there with his friends, and he and his friends we nice to the boy. Sammy had a 1986 card on him, but I liked the photo and cheesy bio in the program as a better spot for the sig. the real quandry was whether to go meet my boyhood idol, or let the boy get the thrill, since only one person should go up there. I probably could have pulled the handicap card, since Sammy is mute and shouldn't be left to wander even for a few moments, but I played it straight and stayed back to get a pic. I don't know how some of you do it. I'm exhasted from the trip downtown and back, getting one autograph, looking around the hotel and one tour through the merechandise. we got back to the metra station starving, with two minutes to board. but the train didn't have its doors open yet. being a veteran train rider, I knew they couldn't leave for at least 10 minutes, so we were able to get some burgers for the ride home. they announced the boarding as we were handed the burgers. perfect! there was a mom with two sons, like 16 and 13 year old. I overheard her tell someone else that she had her camera or something stolen last night at the convention. she told the cubs people, and it went really high up. they got to meet Ronnie (no, not Woowoo, who I saw twice) and each had a signed bat from him. I don't think I have the time or energy to head back tomorrow, but that's ok. this was more just recon anyway for a future trip to the whole three days. however, if I were to go tomorrow, I would try for an autograph with Dubois, and point out the confidence most of the people at a certain website have in him. hint hint. thanks again to donnied.