Cubfanintheknow

During Sunday's blowout win, Pat and Ron had a little down time, so Pat was teasing Ron about getting manicures. Ron replied, "I don't get manicures. I'm a Cubs fan. I don't have any fingernails to do. I've bitten them all off." That's what I love about the guy. Not the most insightful, nor eloquent. But he's a fan. He's one of us. And Pat does a great job helping Ron out and setting him up for something of note to say. They make a great team. And as a previous poster noted, there are color commentators who try too hard and end up sounding stupid.

Haha, same. I called Heyward's homer, and Z's overthrow tht led to a run and also Lee's overthrow. It's comical, really. You called 2 overthrows? Yes. He quickly posted while the ball was in the air. You had to be there. Actually, I wasn't either. Never mind.

Needed a disclaimer on that one. Subbing in a 7th grade classroom and had two boys working right near my terminal. Couldn't hit the back button fast enough. Unless someone can turn this into a social studies lesson... Best to save it for later.

My guess is he'l see playing time on crappy days when Lou doesn't want to risk an injury to Soriano. Good for Colvin. Hopefully he'll get enough at-bats to justify his presence on the 25-man roster.

That's dumb. They approved the spending, they didn't force Hendry to screw up the spending. Hendry let the OF cupboard go bare, which is why he felt the need to sign Soriano (and then Fukudome) in the first place. Had he done a better job as GM before then, or even a better job as minor league coordinator before that, maybe they wouldn't have needed to go hard after an OF. It's been widely rumored John McDonough wanted to make a splash before the '07 Cubs Convention. The Cubs of '06 sucked and McDonough wanted eliminate all the bad feelings from that year--and make one last run at that World Series ring he had promised Cub fans. What better way--in his mind--than to give one of the biggest free agents of that winter a huge contract! Shows the commitment by the Tribune company to make it happen! Here's a buttload of money, Jimbo, sign him to an 8/136 contract now ('cause I"m pretty sure I won't be around to see it through, thankfully)! Pretty plausible, if you ask me. Wouldn't surprise be a bit if all of that were true. The Cubs have tried to make a splash every year around the Convention. That doesn't mean they had to get Soriano. It's really convenient to blame others for Hendry's failures. Never, ever said it wasn't Hendry's fault. Everyone knows you hate Hendry. Look past that and you'll see there are others in this whole deal who are just as complicit. Really!

That's dumb. They approved the spending, they didn't force Hendry to screw up the spending. Hendry let the OF cupboard go bare, which is why he felt the need to sign Soriano (and then Fukudome) in the first place. Had he done a better job as GM before then, or even a better job as minor league coordinator before that, maybe they wouldn't have needed to go hard after an OF. It's been widely rumored John McDonough wanted to make a splash before the '07 Cubs Convention. The Cubs of '06 sucked and McDonough wanted eliminate all the bad feelings from that year--and make one last run at that World Series ring he had promised Cub fans. What better way--in his mind--than to give one of the biggest free agents of that winter a huge contract! Shows the commitment by the Tribune company to make it happen! Here's a buttload of money, Jimbo, sign him to an 8/136 contract now ('cause I"m pretty sure I won't be around to see it through, thankfully)! Pretty plausible, if you ask me. Wouldn't surprise be a bit if all of that were true.

position

That Kevin Millar still has a chance to make the team just shows how incredibly deep and talented this team really is. Man... I am PUMPED!

The article says his knee was surgically repaired - not sure how that compares to "major knee reconstruction," but it definitely doesn't sound like a scope (which I believe takes hardly a week or two to return from). It was a scope. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0223-cubs-soriano-chicago--20100222,0,2521191.story Thanks. Wonder what confused me . . . isn't there some very minor procedure done with a scope, perhaps just an exploratory procedure? It's an outpatient procedure where they put a camera inside your knee to check it out. They can then do some minor procedures, like remove loose cartilage or bone fragments. I'm assuming it can vary in severity, but I don't think it would keep him out 5 months. I'm with those who think he's just saving it for ST. Arthroscopic surgery refers to the manner in which the surgery is performed. Doctors can do just about anything to the knee arthroscopically. While the surgery is usually minor in nature, some procedures can be more traumatic. I'm glad he waited until spring training to push it.

Glad the Vikings lost. I don't think I would have been able to take the two week long Peyton Manning/Brett Favre media circle jerk.

A great opportunity to get autographs is to go to Ho-Ho-Kam when the Cubs are playing a road game. They get ready for the game there and board a bus to the other team's ballpark. Been 6 years since I last went, but several players were pretty gracious with their time (even Sammy signed a few), since they were really only at arm's length from where we were standing.

What is idiotic about that? Oh, there's this quaint notion I adhere to, it's called watching the games. You can play them simultaneously and still have them on television and the viewer flip back and forth and enjoy both. It's not simultaneous that's the problem, it's breaking them up by region and making one game unavailable that is the problem. That whole flipping back-and-forth thing? Advertisers hate that. All this talk has me longing for the good, old days with 24 teams, 12 in each league. 18 games against teams in your division, 12 against teams in the other division. No interleague. And in September you only played against teams in your division. Balanced and very entertaining.

I guess spending money to do a better job of scouting for talent and then actually developing players isn't splashy enough for some people. I've waited a long time for a World Series championship. And if it takes a couple of years to build a perrenial World Series contender, I'm willing to wait on that, too. Look, we all know John McDonough was a major force behind the signing of Alfonso Soriano. McDonough wanted a big splash and he got it. Unfortunately, the waters are still rippling from that signing (in a bad way) and will continue for some time to come. The last thing this organization needs is more clueless moves. There's a plan. Give it a little time.

Interesting quote: Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that sounds like they expect Hendry to do well this year or he's gone. Finally. Tom Ricketts was asked if he was going to be a "George Steinbrenner hands-on" type owner regarding personnel decisions. Ricketts says he's not going to make those decisions, but will hold accountable those who do. So I read that as "get it right or you're gone."

and that's quite ridiculous. Sports are good. I can see J.R.'s point. Who wants to hear whether or not the Jacksonville Jaguars improved their offense in the draft in the middle of June? Some of the crap ESPN puts on to kill time is, well, crap.

Didn't see this posted anywhere, but... For the first time since 2000, the Cubs' pitching staff did not lead the majors in strikeouts. The Giants--no surprise there--led the bigs with 1302. The Cubs tied the Dodgers for second with 1272. Pretty amazing, when you consider the turnover rate of the pitching staff from year to year. The only real constant is Larry Rothschild.

The elimination of the Cardinals and to a lesser extent the Red Sox has made the playoffs much more watchable for me!

What an embarassment. Not an embarrasment at all. The Tribune Company didn't have to do this, but did so merely to expedite the process. Quite smart, actually. And very beneficial to the Tom Ricketts and the team.

Another team stealing the signs. Oh, the horror! Why do managers go through a litany of signals to their catchers and coaches? Why do third base coaches seemingly give themselves a rubdown before just about every pitch? Why do catchers flash indicators to their pitchers when there are runners on? Why is this even being discussed?

Hmmmm..... no mention about how the Dodgers are getting as lucky as the Cardinals.

OT: Bob Brenly goes from working with Len Kasper and his knowledge of the game to Dick Stockton, who should have retired ten years and several thousand mispronounced names ago.

Wouldn't be surprised at all to see Aaron Miles DFA'ed at the end of April of 2010, if not the end of spring training. I don't think the Cubs can take another full year of this. And I know the server of this message board won't be able to take it, either.

Not a big Joe Buck fan, but at least he's a technically competent broadcaster. He's still a smarmy doucherocket, though. This will forever be the best phrase to describe Joe Buck. No one else need try. Well done!

I don't miss Chip one bit. Maybe he needs his grandpa's glasses to see the field better.