erik316wttn

Like my dad always used to say when I was a kid: They ought to rip up all the grass at Wrigley Field and lay down newspaper, because on paper the Cubs are the best team in baseball.

He made more outs than anyone who ever played. Shouldn't that disqualify him? No, and your argument is ridiculous. He did the worst thing a batter could do more times than anyone, ever, in history. That shouldn't even be considered, but most hits should make him a shoo-in? Baseball is a game where the most elite hitters make outs 6 out of 10 plate appearances. Like CyHawk said... if he wasn't great, he wouldn't have been around long enough to make all those outs.

He made more outs than anyone who ever played. Shouldn't that disqualify him? No, and your argument is ridiculous.

You're right. Betting didn't help him get to over 4000 hits. Playing five years longer than he should have did. The last five years of his career were pretty much a joke offensively, and he collected 559 of his hits during that time. He was also playing primarily first base and corner outfield during that time, positions where you'd actually expect to get some offense. Yes, Pete Rose has the all-time hits record. He also has more games played, plate appearances and at-bats than anyone in the history of the game, which certainly didn't hurt him in his quest for most hits. I agree he probably stuck around longer than he should have. However, lots of the greats have had terrible seasons at the end of their careers: Ruth, Mays, Aaron, and many others stuck around a little too long. However, there isn't a Hall of Fame exception for artificially extending one's career. HOF voters look at the stats first. He had more hits than anyone who ever played. He should be in.

I agree. It just annoys me how hypocritical the HOF can be about some of this stuff. Look at the first guy they ever inducted (Cobb) and some of the things he did. Now, surely you can draw some distinct differences between what Cobb and some other HOF'ers have done and what Rose did, but you can't discount what Rose did on the field. 4,000+ hits is ridiculous. Let the man in. He deserves to get in, but I've always said two options: -the plaque and awards ceremony must mention he bet on baseball and/or -he doesn't get in until after he passes away I'd be OK with this. Illegal substances helped Barry Bonds set the all-time Home Run record. However, betting on baseball did not help Pete Rose attain even one of his 4256 hits.

I'd at least consider it. If he ever is inducted to Cooperstown, though, the gambling thing gets mentioned. Of course, if you induct Pete Rose you have to induct Shoeless Joe Jackson.

Kerry Wood on his A-game. Sickest stuff I've ever seen.

This whole "winning" thing is fun. Please do more of it. Thanks.

I'm not quite as anti-Stone as some here, but it's worth noting that he wasn't acting like a bitch towards the Cubs franchise prior to September of 2004. That may be, but whether he is or he isn't doesn't change his work that he did in the booth for the team. If he rips the team now, that doesn't change his performance in the booth all those years for us. It just seems that suddenly now that he has a grudge against the Cubs, he was a bad color man for all those years, and that simply is not the case.

I've been around Cubs fans all my life. I find it odd that nobody had these things to say about Steve Stone prior to September of 2004.

It's not brutal but Flordia is decent and seems to give us fits (although that trend is reversing) and Colorado has been very solid and is a contender. It's harder than the Nationals i guess. The Marlins always play us tough, and this goes tenfold down in Miami.

Any man named Wandy should be easily knocked around on the diamond. Win, Cubs.

I could care less about his ego. The problem is that he's ten times the baseball announcer than anyone in the Cubs booth, both the TV and radio side. I don't want to be friends with him, I just want a quality baseball broadcast. I disagree. I've never liked him, and I'd much rather listen to Len or Pat... Uh, ok? Stone's an analyst, not a PBP guy. I'd still take Stone over Brenly, and that's not a slight against Bob. It sucks how his tenure with the Cubs ended and he has every right to be bitter at the Cubs organization. Wouldn't you be bitter towards a former boss of yours if you spent close to a decade working with that organization before being forced out for basically telling the truth about what was going on? This. Stone was hassled because he was right. That whole matter was on Dusty and his band of idiots, not on Stone. He did his job. I have been a Cubs fan since about '88 or so, and Stone told it like it was. If they were playing well, he said so. If they were lousy, he said so. I remember a game against Colorado in 2000 or 2002 or so when he was in the radio booth for a while and the Cubs were in the midst of a terrible slump. The Cubs were getting killed, making stupid mistakes and not learning from them, and Stone just went OFF in the booth. He openly ripped the team and chided their stupid play. I was impressed that he had the stones to tell it like it was, to say what every other Cubs fan was probably thinking at that point.

A guy on the street corner said the Cubs are players for Grienke, A-Rod, Utley, and Hoffman.

One of these days his arm is going to fly off when he delivers a pitch.

(sigh)

Come on, Kouske. Stay hot.

I don't mind that. He could be like Chip and think a popup is bound for Waveland. The thing that bothered me the most about Chip was that every time the opponent led off with a hit it was automatically an "inauspicious start." Harry Carey was notorious for that as well. His first year or two he tried way too hard to be like Harry. Once he settled into a groove, he was actually quite tolerable. Chip and Steve were just a hair below Harry and Steve. Joe Carter was a sin against baseball, though. Good gravy.

I don't mind that. He could be like Chip and think a popup is bound for Waveland. The thing that bothered me the most about Chip was that every time the opponent led off with a hit it was automatically an "inauspicious start." I admit I was a fan of his "Swung on, belted!" home run call.

ARAMBOMB!

Yep, especially the break on that last K to Bell (I think that's who it was). I think that was his slider, but that very last pitch defied physics.

why? I happen to think it was better. 20k games have been done 4 times by 3 pitchers, perfect games 18 times. Also the only hit in Woods game was a slow hit grounder just out of the reach of the SS. That bit of bad luck (where the ball was hit) was the only thing separating his game from a no hitter (or perfect game. I can't remember if he walked anyone) No walks, and it is pretty clear to me that Kerry's performance was far more dominant. It took a ridiculous play just to save the shutout yesterday, whereas hardly anyone could even put the ball in play vs Kerry. Having said that, pitching a no hitter and a perfect game in your career is damn impressive. Props to Mark, but I still think Kerry's game was better. The 20 K game was the single most dominating single-game pitching performance in the history of baseball.

reaffirming that even blind squirrels stumble upon a nut every once in a while Wow. What a week in baseball this has been. We've had 2 things you hardly ever see: A perfect game and a Koyie Hill base hit. Wow.

Depends on what you mean by "better" You really could make a case for either. 21 men put the ball in play against Buehrle yesterday. 7 did against Kerry. 8 no? Len said 7. I do think it's 8. The 7 non-strikeouts and the Orie play.

Depends on what you mean by "better" You really could make a case for either. 21 men put the ball in play against Buehrle yesterday. 7 did against Kerry.