erik316wttn

Ok, its been proven a corked bat hurts it. And come on, for years and years we saw how far Sammy hit them. Cork, if it worked, would give warning track hitters power to hit it into the 2nd or 3rd row, not warning track onto Waveland Avenue. Frorgive any lapses in logic or spelling errors I'm drunksw.

Jacque Jones? Yech.

If they love him so much why didn't they make more of an effort to keep him? Excellent question and thank you for raising it. Walker lovers the floor is your's. :D I wasn't questioning Walkers baseball ability, just Epstiens love for him.

Well, seeing as Andy MacPhail pretty much came right out and said they're not firing Dusty this offseason, I'm not optimistic.

It will never happen.....he ticked off too many fans and more importantly Cubs management, who unfortunately created their own monster. It would be embarrasing to have the ceremonies amongst a parade of boos. And there is not proof, but that's like saying McGuire hasn't been caught so don't accuse him. Time heals all wounds. 5,6,7 years down the road, I'm positive fans will cheer him if he comes back for a number retirement ceremony.

If they love him so much why didn't they make more of an effort to keep him?

I agree with you. He's very valuable as a trade chip, but I'm beginning to think that Hendry wants to go in another direction for 2B. He may be satisfied to go with Hairston, Cedeno or even Nomar. If he wants to make a deal, the guys I think Hendry is interested in trading for are: Soriano and Castillo. And, I do think that if LA makes Jeff Kent available that the Cubs have the cash to take his contract on for one season - kind of a Baker and Kent one year and done reunion. Aug. 31 is Wed - let's say if Hendrydeals him in the next 72 hours. You will get more for Walker in an offseason sign and trade than you will now, because this would be a waiver wire deal; all you'd get is some team's low-level prospect(s) not on their 40-man roster. I'd rather wait until November/December and get at least one decent player for Walker that can help the 2006 Cubs. A nice reliever would be good. A solid bench outfielder would also be acceptable. Not a flame, but you'd be ok with trading a solid starting second baseman for a 4th outfielder?

I posted this question in today's game thread, but I think it deserves its own... Personal feelings aside, do you think Sammy's #21 should be retired sometime in the future? I say yes. How can it not be? Consider the reasons below.... 1) He is a sure bet for first-ballot HOF'er, and he'll go in wearing a Cubs hat. 2) He and Mark McGwire brought the game back after the 1994 strike. 3) He was the face of the franchise for a lot of the time he was here. When someone said "Cubs", people thought "Sammy Sosa". He was the only reason to watch the terrible teams of 1999, 2000, and 2002. His really only "bad" year as a Cub was 2004. 4) He holds the franchise record for home runs, a feat not easily accomplished. If Sammy's number is not retired in 6 or so years when he goes into Cooperstown, there is something seriously wrong. Don't use steroids as a rebuttal, because he was never caught, and there is no solid PROOF he used them. Speculation and suspicion, sure, but no proof.

I agree with you. He's very valuable as a trade chip, but I'm beginning to think that Hendry wants to go in another direction for 2B. He may be satisfied to go with Hairston, Cedeno or even Nomar. If he wants to make a deal, the guys I think Hendry is interested in trading for are: Soriano and Castillo. And, I do think that if LA makes Jeff Kent available that the Cubs have the cash to take his contract on for one season - kind of a Baker and Kent one year and done reunion. Aug. 31 is Wed - let's say if Hendrydeals him in the next 72 hours. Castillo I could live with, as we'd have our leadoff hitter. But would Florida want to trade him right in the middle of the WC race? I'd still rather have Walker, though. I think our INF is set for next year. Our infield hasn't been the problem. I'll pass on Soriano.

MVLEE!!!

The Cubs will be 1-0 on days in which Sandberg's number was retired.

:pukel: I'm not saying one way or another if #21 should be retired...but I don't think his # deserves the same respect that Sandberg's does and I would hate to see #21 under #23. I don't see how you can't retire it. Sammy was the face of this franchise for many years. You said "Cubs", people thought "Sammy Sosa." He and McGwire brought a lot of the fans back after the strike. He was the only reason to come out and watch the pathetic teams of 1999, 2000, and 2002. He is a sure-bet HOF'er, hit 500+ homers for this team, and is one of the best players the Cubs ever had. Regardless of what you thought of him when he was here or how he left, you can't deny his importance to this organization and what he did for it while he was here. he put butts in the seats, thus allowing management to sit on their laurals and take a few years off from trying to field a winning team Are you saying Sammy should be punished because he brought people out to the park to see him? i'm saying that sammy was a bad thing for the organization from the stand point of fielding a winning team, therefore he set the franchise back...players who set the franchise back should not be honored in such a way But that's management's fault he didn't put a winning team around him. I really don't see how you can blame Sammy for management's incompetence. It's like saying "Oh, it's ARod's fault Texas overpaid for him and wasn't able to put winning playerse around him." Your beef is with management and you're letting your dislike of Sammy cloud your judgement. Now if Sammy said to management "If you bring in star players, I'll leave" then you'd be right. But he did lobby for Alou to come here.

:pukel: I'm not saying one way or another if #21 should be retired...but I don't think his # deserves the same respect that Sandberg's does and I would hate to see #21 under #23. I don't see how you can't retire it. Sammy was the face of this franchise for many years. You said "Cubs", people thought "Sammy Sosa." He and McGwire brought a lot of the fans back after the strike. He was the only reason to come out and watch the pathetic teams of 1999, 2000, and 2002. He is a sure-bet HOF'er, hit 500+ homers for this team, and is one of the best players the Cubs ever had. Regardless of what you thought of him when he was here or how he left, you can't deny his importance to this organization and what he did for it while he was here. he put butts in the seats, thus allowing management to sit on their laurals and take a few years off from trying to field a winning team Are you saying Sammy should be punished because he brought people out to the park to see him?

:pukel: I'm not saying one way or another if #21 should be retired...but I don't think his # deserves the same respect that Sandberg's does and I would hate to see #21 under #23. I don't see how you can't retire it. Sammy was the face of this franchise for many years. You said "Cubs", people thought "Sammy Sosa." He and McGwire brought a lot of the fans back after the strike. He was the only reason to come out and watch the pathetic teams of 1999, 2000, and 2002. He is a sure-bet HOF'er, hit 500+ homers for this team, and is one of the best players the Cubs ever had. Regardless of what you thought of him when he was here or how he left, you can't deny his importance to this organization and what he did for it while he was here.

Too bad they'll never retire Andre's #8. I can't wait till they have "Sammy Sosa Day" somewhere down the line and #21 flies in right field forever. Wonder where the boos will be on that day.

Baseball royalty getting honored today. I wish there were more players as classy as Ryno.

Good to see JoBo finding success. I hated giving him up and thought that his being let go would come back to bite us.

Count me among those worried, since it's the Cubs. What a stupid move this would be. Walker's very productive, especially at his price, and the Cubs have no replacement. He should be penciled in next year at 2B. As for Soriano or any other trade, the Cubs have far too many holes to worry about upgrading a position that's already a strength. Couldn't have said it better myself. Bravo.

Yes. Very, very stupid. You're just creating yet another hole you need to fill in the offseason. There currently is no better replacement, and if you trade Walker you're taking a very big risk that you can find one. With the crappy job Hendry did filling holes this past offseason, I'm not overly optimistic that he can adequately fill them this offseason, and he has less to work with on the FA market.

Even without Sheets, the Brewers have shown quite a bit of improvement this year. 2 years or so and they'll be a legit WC contender, I think.

Well, I guess the season really is over. They traded Lawton, they're shutting Wood down... if you need to shut Aram down for the rest of the way, so be it.... I'm glad they didn't ride Kerry to the bitter end. I really hope he has his surgery within the next week or two.

Yeah, Neifi, swing at a pitch over your head. Idiot.

Gotta make sure that option vests, dude. He's pitched a good game. I get so sick of hearing about his goddamned option.

See? Good things happen when you work the count. Good AB, Jerry.

It's to the point that I could care less if Walker goes as well. SHip him off for a prospect and play Hairston next year. If we swap Walker's production for Hairston, we will take a step down in secondbase production for 2006. I wonder if Garciaparra is ready to try 2B in 2006. A troika of Cedeno at SS, Nomar at 2B and Neifi! as backup would work well. Ronny could gradually break into the bigs, and you could rest Nomar to keep him healthy. Besides, having Nomar at 2B would give time for EPatt to develop. In theory you may be right. May. However, if Neifi is on this roster, he'll be staring somewhere as long as Dusty is managing. It's foolish to think otherwise.