erik316wttn

In other news, the Mariners have confirmed that Ken Griffey Jr is announcing his retirement, effective immediately.

This story has been confirmed by the Mariners organization http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/06/02/ken-griffey-jr-to-announce-retirement/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter 630 career HR's, would have been a whole lot more had he not been made of glass. Enjoy Cooperstown in 2015, Junior! It's just a shame he never got to play in the World Series.

I wonder why. Can't wait for Lou to just throw Baker in the 3 hole to take Lee's spot. God forbid he'd have to write up a whole new lineup card or anything.... Dusty was a master at that. I remember seeing a game in Milwaukee in which Sammy had the night off, so Troy O'Leary was in RF and batting 3rd. Everyone else was in their normal lineup position.

I wonder why.

I know Ive went to my one and only game this year. I usually go to about 10 a year, but thats not happening this year. The Sunday game against St. Louis was bad enough. I don't think I can expose myself to that anymore this summer. You expose yourself?

I may try to dump 1 of my 2 remaining games at Wrigley, but unfortunately I still have a potentially miserable trip to St. Louis planned in August. Luckily I only bought tickets to 2 of the 3 games in advance, so at least I can get away from the Cubs for the middle game and find something else to do. Why would you even go to St. Louis in the first place, even to see the Cubs?

Trade discussions start at Pujols.

I've thought about it, but I have tickets to go on August 6th. I haven't been to that wonderful place in three years. I'm jonesing to go again.

At least then you could blame it on inexperience or growing pains. This current bunch of losers has no excuse.

I think they passed "funny bad". They're now just into "sad" territory now.

He's on the take!

So this is what the Pirates felt like in 2007-2009 against us.

Lou doesn't care anymore, Jim either doesn't care or is grossly incompetent (I haven't decided which yet), and I fear the team will quit soon, as Lou just doesn't have the fire that he once did to keep players motivated and playing hard.

Yeah I know, we should have spread those runs out a little bit. Those 2 runs could have got us 2 wins against a lesser team! I've been for firing Jim Hendry since like 2 years ago. Maybe we could hire someone who understands how to use $140 million to make an above .500 type team. According to Bruce Levine on Waddle & Silvey this morning, he thinks Hendry has done a good job and isn't going anywhere. He said that a lot of the fault lies with Sam Zell and the Tribune Company pushing him to spend money to drive the value of the team up. Yep, he really said that... Wow. It's a good thing we have the Good Bruce here at NSBB.

Good point. From now on, I'm going to encourage actual discussion. Would you like to start ? lol, don't get testy, i'm making an actual point yeah, but your hair covers it. :wink: ZING

Ok, you know something is going on when even imb is on my side.

What? It's a tangent from the game and it's a discussion about the Cubs. Are the game threads only going to consist of updates as to what happens in the game? Agreed. I responded to one of Raw's posts and we had a discussion from there. I don't see how it's different from any other discussion that breaks off from game thread discussions. But, to keep the peace, i will stop.

How could anyone argue it wasn't a fluke? Please point out where people here have argued otherwise. Yes, I'm going to meticulously search through 50,000 posts to try to find a few that back up my opinion. Well, it just seems like an odd conclusion to take. Why would someone still be arguing that it wasn't an outlier season? There are some Cubs fans who never take the rose-colored glasses off. 2008 was a hell of a lot of fun, don't get me wrong, but it just adds to the frustration. We did it then, why can't we do it now?

How could anyone argue it wasn't a fluke? Please point out where people here have argued otherwise. Yes, I'm going to meticulously search through 50,000 posts to try to find a few that back up my opinion.

The approach this team has at all times is comical. Whether it's cutting down on their swings with 2 strikes, hitting the ball where it is pitched, swinging at the first pitch after a 4-pitch walk, it's all just bad. And has been bad for the majority of my life as a Cubs fan, except for 2008, when they reverted back to form in the postseason. I wonder if there are still people who believe that 2008 wasn't a fluke.

sounds romantic

Now I'm curious. What's the lowest SLG, OBP, and OPS for a non-pitcher in a season, minimum 500 PA's?

It's not like Erik made that up. I believe he's paraphrasing a story from "Crazy 08". That said, it's highly suspect that any ballplayer would have actually taken up such an impromptu proposition, especially for that little (MLB players averaged $2,500 a year in 1908). The only dollar amount that I know of from back in that era where someone was actually paid to throw a game (other than the Black Sox) was $50, which was paid to a Reds pitcher in 1918. There, stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

? I count at least 17 cops in that shot I just meant in general. If you watch old videos after World Series games fans just pour out on to the field. You also see shots of fans watching games in the early 20th century and there isn't much in the way of fencing or space between the fans and the field. Here's 1903 for example http://ideagirlconsulting.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/worldseries1903-640.jpg I realize that was the first World Series, but what the heck is going on here? Do fans in the outfield catch homeruns? That's in Boston by the way. The American League Boston club (Red Sox) against the Pirates of the National League. Boston won 5 games to three. This one (1907) is interesting as well. It's hard to tell if there is a fence around the field or not. There are also rooftop seats. http://www.ticketcity.com/images/world%20series/1907-world-championship-series.jpg Some more World Series photos here http://www.ticketcity.com/world-series-tickets/world-series-pictures.html It just seems much more regulated and secure today compared to even 20 or 30 years ago. The early 20th century looks like people just sat where ever. There seemed to be less security as far as who gets in the ballpark and what they bring in. I believe I've read that those on-field fans would often (but not always) be courteous and part to give an outfielder enough room to catch the ball. However, some interesting situations occured when there was a ball in the air. For example, a fan would shout "Five bucks if you drop it!" Another would shout "Ten if you catch it!" and so on. There are no reported instances (that I know of) of players taking them up on it, but it must have been tempting for a player making a very low wage in those days.

As I posted in the Game Thread, I blame Hendry now. Aram want(ed) to work through it himself, and that's fine, but it's not working. Lou has the authority to force him to work with Jaramillo and/or drop him in the order until he gets it together. So far he's done neither, and continues to pencil Aramis in the #4 or #5 spot, giving us an automatic out in the middle of our order. So now, seeing as the player and the manager refuse to do anything, it's now up to the General Manager to step in and take charge and either DL him with his thumb, force him to work with Jaramillo and/or have Lou drop him in the order. However, Hendry isn't a "tell the manager how to do his job" kind of guy, so unfortunately this is going to continue for quite a while yet.