erik316wttn

Cedeno pops out. Looks like Bynum is pinch-hitting.

If there is a grand slam by a Cubs hitter this inning, I'll buy you a free month of premium.

So who goes long this inning?

And, true to the nickname I just gave him, Jones is the 3rd out.

Well, Jacques "3rd out" Jones up now with 2 men on.

Lee gets jammed and pops up.

Walker singles to center. Let's get a few this inning, guys.

What are the odds of the Reds scoring in every inning today?

You didn't expect a dominating performance out of Rusch did you? Wait till we get to both our bullpen and their bullpen. The tides may turn. We can't give up many more runs, though. You don't want to be in such a big hole you can't get out by that time.

Walking Pierre here essentially takes away his speed with Rusch in front of him.

Double for the fat man. Let's get a nice 2-out rally going.

Murton's slumping.

Because we're only 3% done with the season. Has he gone this long without pissing people off before? It seems like him acting competent irritates some people more than anything else he's done. Because they don't have anything to incessantly complain about anymore. Their existence is unsatisfying. I take a bit of an issue with this statement. I'm simply asking where was this intelligence the last few years? Why does it all of a sudden show up now, convieniently in his contract year? I always have thought giving a contract to someone who underperfoms in every year but a contract year is a mistake.

Get someone up. Now, please.

Figured Arroyo would go deep again. I was just about to post that.

That was the hardest hit ball so far today by a Cub.

Jones up. Come on, Jacques. Keep the hotness going.

Oh my God, an out that wasn't a long fly ball!

Rusch. You suck. Ground balls, please.

Dunn homers. 2-0. Damn, does Rusch suck.

Need to get things up in the air, let the wind take care of it.

Because we're only 3% done with the season. Has he gone this long without pissing people off before?

Two words. Contract. Year. 2002 was a contract year for him as well, and he was suprisingly less idiotic then, too, and took the Giants to the World Series. I don't buy that for a second. He has the tools to manage more effectively this year and is doing a fine job thus far! He had the tools in 2004 and 2005 as well. What happened then? Dusty is a below-average manager who pulled his head out of his butt long enough to try to get an extention (or a big contract somewhere else). Once he has it, you'll see the Dusty of old. Let's look at it this way. Dusty is good in his first year on the job, and in contract years. 1993: Won 103 games 2002: Got to the World Series 2003: Led Cubs to NLCS 2006: Looking pretty good so far. I think you should always be leery of someone who only performs at his absolute best once money is on the line. Dusty has given us very little to complain about this year, but where were these managerial smarts a few years ago? I'm pretty skeptical about the contract year phenomenon in the first place, but at least with players there is something they can do to improve themselves.(Work out more in the offseason, take extra time in the cages, field, reviewing film.) With a manager what does he do to do well in a contract year? Did he go to the library in the offseason and take out books on strategy because he realized this season mattered? Did he say "now that I've wasted the last 2 seasons actively trying to lose games, now I'm gonna try and win?" Dusty's always tried to do his best with regards to winning games, he's just doing it a lot more intelligently this year than in year's past. But WHY is he doing it more intelligently this year? I think last year he was miserable in Chicago and wanted to leave. This year he figures if he has a good year someone else will give him a good contract, so he's pulling out all the stops. Dusty's been managing for a long time. Long enough to where he didn't just magicially learn the common sense moves that he's been making this past offseason. That knowledge has been there all along, and for whatever reason he chose not to use it.

A Cubs-Cards NLCS would be the stuff of legend.

Bet Kerry didn't hear the end of that for a week.