FergieJ31

IIRC it was hovering around 93% when Castillo was up to bat.

Gary Gaetti showed such promise at first too... Yeah - his HR in the 1998 playoff vs the Giants was one of the few truly memorable moments in Cub history. Little known fact: Gaetti hit a home run in his first ML at bat. He was sporting quite the pornstache back then too: http://www.thebaseballpage.com/images/players/gaettga01.jpg

Of course, why wouldn't he be?

I know it's only May 2 but when the Cubs signed Marquis, all I could see were moonshots ... not 1-2-3 innings with Maddux-like efficiency. Baseball is a funny sport.

:lol: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=270501123

On MLB GameCast it looked like Demp was getting squeezed by the ump on that walk ... is he?

CCP - thanks for putting that together, that was fast! I'd be curious to see the final pythag numbers too. If the pythag numbers are truly predictive, the April pythag/Final actual correlation would be higher than the April actual/Final pythag correlation.

Go COBS - let's win 2!!!

Are there any studies that look at lead-lag relationships in Pythag WL % vs actual WL %? I havent seen any evidence that Pythag WL % has strong predictive value, but maybe I missed something. Just to be precise, the claim is that the Cubs won't necessarily start winning games at the rate indicated by their current pythag %; the pythag number could just as easily drop toward 42%, the current actual WL. No one said anything about "little chance".

Exactly. I never understood the assumption that actual WL % mean reverts to the Pythag WL % ... it could just as easily go the other way ... or they both mean revert to a % somewhere in between.

It's tough to say. I think he was being sarcastic, but not entirely. His defense, just calling it a stupid mistake, makes me believe that like many, he doesn't think DUIs are all that serious. I think DUI is far beyond a stupid mistake. It's reckless, negligent, completely selfish, criminal behavior. A stupid mistake insinuates that it's not really his fault. I agree. There should be a zero-tolerance attitude toward DUIs. We still don't know for sure if Hancock was driving drunk. I hate to speculate and assume the worst -- but what if he was blitzed? What if the car in front of the tow truck in the breakdown lane was a Honda Civic with a couple of kids in the backseat, and the tow truck hadn't arrived before Hancock's Explorer? We'd be talking about an entirely different tragedy -- and Hancock would be looking at jail time. Jersey Cubs Fan is right: when we say "stupid mistake" it insinuates that it's not really his fault -- and that's wrong.

Wow that's pathetic. Absolutely agree that lack of plate discipline is a continuing problem with this team. In Lou's defense, it's only May 1 - work habits are slow to change. The Cubs would strategically be much better off if they weren't so damn afraid to fall behind 0-1 in the count. Pitch identification must improve too. I hope Lou will take the younger guys under his wing and work on this.

I know if I show up late, hungover, and unable to perform they will intrude in my personal life by removing me from their payroll. Even if it was for the first time? That seems a little extreme. In my job, if I show up under the influence of alcohol or drugs, I'm terminated. If I get a DWI, I'm terminated. I can drink all I want on my own time. I can go to all the gentleman's clubs or carouse about on my free time at will. But if I get a DWI or ever happen to be believed to be under the influence at work, they can order me to be tested. If I refuse, I'm terminated. If I consent and I test to be under the influence, i'm terminated. So, while I have a right to do what I want on my own time, there are strict parameters that surround that. Do you believe your employer is doing the right thing? Since it's a school, yeah, I'd think so. Same with a pilot or anyone involved with public transport. But under the influence and hungover are two different things, you wouldn't get terminated if you were talking with co-workers about being hungover, would you, Vance? What does a DUI have to do with being an effective teacher? The reality is that an effective teacher is also a role model. One DUI obliterates that image. The point is valid when it comes to baseball also, to a lesser extent, with athletes' off-field conduct having a direct correlation with on-field performance if we're talking about a hangover. Certainly a team's image and PR come into play too (see '86 Mets).

This was what I assumed - the Cardinals have always considered themselves a family. How incredibly sad.

Agree 100%. Cubs don't need two all-glove(*) no-bat SS's on the roster. (*) Just please, no more 3 error games, Izzy.

There has to more to this story than meets the eye, right? The column was a big fat nothing. Just a not-very-clever throwaway "poem" about a few Cub historical foibles and tired cliches ... so what? Mariotti-ish trashtalk. Nothing to get anyone's panties in a bunch. It's not like the columnist asserted TLR and the Cardinals are saying the Cubs have no chance unless I'm missing something - then I could understand him being upset.

"Then I bring in a reliever that's throwing 30-40 foot curve balls ... WHAT THE HELL YOU THINK ISN"T WORKING?!?! YOU SEE THE DAMN GAME :evil: "

Is this the column that LaRussa found offensive, or is there another one? http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/3D9C787870A16102862572CA000E5C22?OpenDocument I didn't think this one was that bad; just barely amusing trashtalk. I didn't see any TLR quotes referenced there either, but props to him on taking a stand for what he believes. EDIT: crossed with the prev post.

I think it was Pierre IIRC. I also think assists can be a misleading stat; guys tend to run more on noodle arms like Pierre so they get more assist chances.

It was borderline which is why I was shocked the call went to the Cubs. I honestly couldn't tell from the camera angles if he was safe or out. Anyone else feel Taguchi made no attempt to get out of the way of the pitch that grazed his uniform? Maybe it's just me.

We had to wait through almost an entire month of agonizing baseball to finally see the Cubs win a tight game. Break out the beer - it's party time! :D

Pfft I'm not impressed. Z breaks em over his thigh. And Taguchi should shut up.

Amen to that.

That was quite a home run "trot" ... think his adrenaline was pumping a little bit? :lol: Love that kid.

Nice publicity stunt. Reminds me of a 69-year old Gordie Howe suiting up for one game with the IHL Detroit Vipers in 1997.