jjgman21

Ronnie and Kerry. cool.

I don't like them, mainly because they're not fitted. Not a big fan of the shirt either. That blue roster shirt does look pretty solid though. that's par for the course. I'm sure fitted will be available. pretty tough to match everyone with sizes when they wouldn't let the camera crews put up plastic. the out was made, the hats passed out.

love Bob muscling in on the print media.

not sure if posted, and it means nothing, but today's effort got Carlos back down under 4.00. nice finish Z. keep it up.

Love the caps. haven't gotten a good view of them, but I like the retro look to them.

the guy on the right looks like the snippet from Silence of the Lambs that OMC posts

Ronnie with a barley soda.

Marquis and Eyre sucking up to Lou for post season innings

way to take it out of Froemmings hands Hirschbeck.

I'm a rolling thunder, a pouring rain I'm comin' on like a hurricane My lightning's flashing across the sky You're only young but you're gonna die I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives Nobody's putting up a fight I got my bell, I'm gonna take you to hell I'm gonna get you, Satan get you Hell's Bells Yeah, Hell's Bells You got me ringing Hell's Bells My temperature's high, Hell's Bells I'll give you black sensations up and down your spine If you're into evil you're a friend of mine See my white light flashing as I split the night 'Cause if good's on the left, Then I'm stickin' to the right I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives Nobody's puttin' up a fight I got my bell, I'm gonna take you to hell I'm gonna get you, Satan get you

re: the Wrigley Cam, kind of shocking people aren't starting to file out there yet. I guess we all know better. TREVOR TREVOR TREVOR TREVOR TREVOR

watching the Cubs always go half way on those instead of waddling to third always yacks me. speaking of yak, nice job Bell.

heart skipped a beat when that first left the bat. c'mon Bell.

Brewers get a break. that was off the knob.

what fricken idiots. take the barricades down. they'll be blocking the intersection anyway (hopefully).

Word. Paragraph.

CAN A BROTHER GET A HELL YEAH!!

Rieu, screw you! Keith Law, screw you more! I hate Keith Law. Even before this. He always bugged me.. All the more reason to hope the Mets get eliminated. I think his head would explode. I was wondering, why didn't he say two of the "Mets, Phillies, Rockies and Padres" go home? does he think it would not be a shame if the Mets went home? or has he reached the foregone conclusion that the Mets will make it? as for the Rockies, why does he have any sympathy for a team that could only go 2-5 against the lowly (soon to be) central champions?

what kind of thinking is that? you really don't care about the cardiac health of Cubs fans do you. would be awesome if the Cubs game took 4:05 because the Reds made 8 pitching changes while the Cubs scored a dozen and a half runs while the Brewers game takes 2:45 because Maddux got through 7 with 68 pitches.

You'd swing at a patented 85 mph Trachsel-meatball grooved down the middle, too. that's lame. you'd swing at a 91 mph, flat, straight, Scott Olsen grooved fastball as well. same can be said of a pitch from Whatever Barone. not a single first pitch swing by the Marlins against Trachsel resulted in a man getting on base. the constant attempts to compartmentalize every bad inning and every loss into a function of whatever one thinks is the Cubs major weakness is far more annoying than the imaginary 'excuse making' the Cubs and their broadcasters allegedly engage in. if Marquis and Trachsel are blamed for their losses, why isn't Lilly and Marmol equally to blame? if first pitch swinging is the problem, why did the Marlins have three straight victories? if patience is the problem, why did the Cubs lose all three games when they saw far more pitches in each game of the series? if Kendall is to blame when he hits two rockets for outs with men on base, why isn't Soto to blame for a couple horrible ABs this series with men on base? for the most part this series was equally played. the Marlins have a strong offense and a strong bullpen. the key to the series was the Marlins got virtually all the breaks, ie bloop hits or the lack thereof, line drives right at em, long flies that are HRs in any other park, bounces off the rubberized track, borderline/bad calls all going against the Cubs, etc etc. it all comes out looking like the Cubs played horribly, and while they didn't play as well as they are capable of, it certainly wasn't only a couple of players or a lack of whatever philosophical approach we may wish the Cubs had.

I didn't have a huge problem with Monroe getting the start because I convinced myself it was for defensive purposes, which made sense with Trax and his inability to strike anyone out, and for pinch hitting purposes, because he trusts Murton to hit righties more than Monroe if Gonzalez switched out the lefty once the PH was announced, which is exactly what happened. just a couple days ago one problem with the all-right lineup vs. lefties was exposed, the lack of a right handed PH'er (where the hell is Chad Fox, anyway?). the problem I have is that ANY right handed hitter would have gotten Olsen out of the game. if Lou put Cedeno or Kendall up there, the result would have been the same, Olsen pulled, nasty righty in. then you could send Ward or Floyd up there with a better chance at that hard throwing righty, still have the one not used on the bench, along with Murton, who would have come in handy later in the game, ie when Jones was taking feeble swings vs. a lefty he stood no chance against.

Scott Hairston was your player of the game. 2-5, 3 RBI, Run, and the Pads only extra base hit. How did the Padres score 9 runs with only 1 extra base hit? Impressive. correction to Hairston's line, he actually scored 2 runs...but here's how B Clark singled to center. J Cassel reached on bunt single to catcher, B Clark to second. B Giles singled to right, B Clark to third, J Cassel to second. S Hairston doubled to deep left, B Clark and J Cassel scored, B Giles to third, B Giles scored, S Hairston to third on error by left fielder G Jenkins. K Kouzmanoff grounded out to third, S Hairston scored. A Gonzalez struck out swinging. K Greene struck out swinging. B Clark walked. O Robles grounded into fielder's choice to third, B Clark safe at second on error by third baseman R Braun. B Giles reached on infield single to shortstop, B Clark to third, O Robles to second. S Hairston reached on infield single to third, B Clark scored, O Robles to third, B Giles to second. K Kouzmanoff grounded into fielder's choice to pitcher, O Robles out at home, B Giles to third, S Hairston to second. A Gonzalez hit sacrifice fly to center, B Giles scored, S Hairston to third, K Kouzmanoff to second. K Greene singled to shallow left, S Hairston and K Kouzmanoff scored. J Bard flied out to left. in other words, they were very lucky, and incidentally, while I don't follow them closely, most of the Padres big innings seem to develop in similar fashion. the Pads are 14th in the NL in OPS, tied for 14th in OBP, dead last in average, yet are 9th in the league in runs. if the guy on the Brewers board has any rant about luck, it should be directed at the Padres.

you say this as if the zone changes pitch to pitch as opposed to the way it actually changes, half inning to half inning.

I don't get that impression at all, especially from BB. Bob has no trouble calling out stuff on the field he sees as poorly done or just plain dumb. i get the impression (perhaps incorrect), that BB doesn't mind calling out certain players (primarily younger guys), but hesitates to call out others. i have heard him question Lou's decisions a few times this season, but not this week. that was primarily what I was talking about. I think the generalized 'excuse making' and calling out players are two different things. I agree that Bob has no problem calling out certain players, but he definitely has double standards. his particular targets do seem to be younger players, but not entirely. there seems to be a set of players that he absolutely nitpicks, ie. Murton, Cedeno, Aram, while other players seem to get a pass, ie. DLee, Theriot, Soriano. as a for instance, I guaranty that Bob wouldn't have said "Aram thought he got it all" and little more had it been Aram who admired that fly down the right field line yesterday. between first pitch bitchin and swinging at ball four, DLee was a joke for much of the series, but nothing is said. had it been Murton taking those same ABs, something definitely would have been said.

so much of being a fan is our own perceptions. I'm sure it would surprise most to find out that the Cubs had a grand total of three first pitch swings in the first game of the series, one of those Lilly's lame attempt to bunt. yesterday the Cubs swung at the first pitch 14 times...but so did the Marlins. in fact, the Marlins swung at the first pitch far more often than the Cubs did this series. that being said, I realize that Baker was a jackass, but this entire 'excuse making' rant that occurs year after year is more lame than if the commentators actually were excuse making. it's more in the way people take what is said than the intent behind the comments that are labeled 'excuse making.' they are trying to explain some rather inexplicable phenomena in a sport where the outcome of individual games often comes down to luck. any commentary that is not just outright bashing of the players, manager, and organization as a whole is going to sound like 'excuse making' to some regardless of whether it is or is not 'excuse making.' why some would rather the commentators sound like the mindless rants from the game thread, I have no idea.