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Or good coaching, something the Cubs sorely lack. Yeah, LaRussa goes and swings the bat for these scrubs. gmab TLR + Macias = All Star I'm not saying a coach plays for them, but they do have an impact. They're teachers. They teach. If they didn't have an effect nobody would have coaches, or am I wrong in that line of thinking? No need to be a smartass about it. LaRussa's the hitting instructor?? I never said "a good manager." I said good COACHING. There are more coaches on the team than just the manager.

Or good coaching, something the Cubs sorely lack. Yeah, LaRussa goes and swings the bat for these scrubs. gmab TLR + Macias = All Star I'm not saying a coach plays for them, but they do have an impact. They're teachers. They teach. If they didn't have an effect nobody would have coaches, or am I wrong in that line of thinking? No need to be a smartass about it. Sorry Man.......just jokin with you No problem. It's kinda hard to judge if someone is joking or not on the internet. You can't hear voice inflection or anything. All is cool. No worries. ;)

Or good coaching, something the Cubs sorely lack. Yeah, LaRussa goes and swings the bat for these scrubs. gmab TLR + Macias = All Star I'm not saying a coach plays for them, but they do have an impact. They're teachers. They teach. If they didn't have an effect nobody would have coaches, or am I wrong in that line of thinking? No need to be a smartass about it.

Or good coaching, something the Cubs sorely lack.

And see? Corey hits= no booing.

Corey with a homer. Good job, Corey. And Joe Miller says "Corey Patterson is back." A) He wasn't here to begin with, except for half a season B) One homer does not a slump break. But he's doing well since being called up. I hope he continues it.

NOMAHHHHHH (come on, I haven't been able to do that hardly at all this year)

This one can throw strikes

Yet another hitter with his first career homer against the Cubs. Wish I had a dollar for every one of those I've seen over the last few years.

Mahoney homers. Wonderful.

Nasty curve there. Stupid Morris. Whats this.... Aram batting behind Lee? Wow, Dusty's really feeling the heat if he caved on that one.

WALKER WITH THE LEAPING LEATHER LARCENY!

Come ON, Mark. You got the first 2 outs just fine. Now put them away!

You're thinking way too highly for this team. The Cubs could win the next 10 games in a row and get to within a game of the WC lead, and I still don't think they'd win it. They'd find a way to blow it somehow.

I think that was a very well-written article. I agree with almost everything.

But that's the thing. Macias is one of "Dusty's boys" and by definition would not be used properly. Sometimes you just have to take the toys away, which is why Hollandsworth (even though he's more valuable off the bench) and Neifi have to be taken away as well.

Here's my issue with that. A hitter's mentality has gone from "try to get a hit/get on base", to "hit it to this side of the field/hit it with this elevation, so if I make an out something good will happen". The hitter is no longer focused on success, he's trying to make sure his failure isn't as bad. Does that make sense? This is the best post here. And yes, it makes sense. I don't want players changing their approaches at the plate just because a runner is on 2nd with none out. Everyone used to bag on Sammy for striking out and not cutting down his swing to go to the right side on these situations. But to me, that's much more of a waste than a strikeout. If you try to hit the ball to the right side, that's exactly what you are gonna do. Best case scenario, runner moves up 1 base....1 more out is on the board. If the hitter keeps his same approach, best case scenario is a HR. Worst case scenario is a strikeout or doubleplay. In it's simplest form, more good can come out of a normal approach than a limiting approach. More bad can come also. But the difference between having a run or 2 on the board already (after runner on 2B, with none out) and having a runner at 3B with 1 out, is MUCH GREATER than the difference of having that runner on 3B with 1 out and having him at 2nd with 1 out. Oh, I agree with CPatterson completely. I'm not saying a player should go up there with the "well, I should hit it to the left/right side" mentality, they should just go up there and forget about trying to pull it or whatever. They should look for a pitch they can make good, solid contact on and go for that. But, if they do make an out, a productive one is better than nothing. Other than a sac bunt, you shouldn't be aiming to make an out. Simply try to take a pitch to drive somewhere.

I heard that last night on WSCR as well. Should the Cubs be interested? I guess that teams place a bunch of thier players on waivers just to see what would happen. I don't really think it's big news if a player clears waivers unless it's a player the caliber of Griffey.

11M is only a few million more than elite closers are paid. It would suck to overpay for a closer, but it's preferrable to putting Wood in the rotation and having him land right back on DL again. People, including myself, are going to speculate about this stuff. That's what message boards are for. Except Kerry Wood is not an elite closer. He's not even a closer. And you still want to pay him "a few million more" than an elite closer? It's more of a risk having him close than putting him back in the rotation, in my opinion. The only reason Wood is not an elite closer is because he hasn't been one yet. If he is moved to closer -- and I'm not saying he should be, he's more valuable as a starter -- he'll immediately be an elite one. I say give him one more honest chance in the rotation before moving him to closer. But we have a closer that can get the job done, one that is far cheaper than Wood. $12.5 million is a hella expensive closer. I'd rather have him going every 5th day. And we may have to overpay to land Burnett, but at this point we need another starter.

Interesting idea, but he may have "too much" power to leadoff. A bat like that may be more productive lower in the lineup.

This is why the "Well, he K'ed, at least he didn't hit into a DP" argument doesn't hold water. True. A strikeout is only one out while a DP is two. However, I'd MUCH rather have a "productive" out (one that moves a runner over) than one that leaves the runners where they are. If you make contact, granted you'll hit into your fair share of DP's. But give me a lineup with about 3 speedy contact guys in there to leg out those DP's and I'll give you a 1st place ballclub.

I disagree. Can you imagine a rotation of Prior Z Burnett Wood Maddux? 4 flamethrowers and a crafty vet.

Well, the Cubs and Cards do have an off day on September 19th, right after a 4-game series vs. the Cards at Wrigley. The Cardinals only have to travel to Cincinnati for Tuesday, and the Cubs would just be going up to Milwaukee. Making up today's game on the 19th wouldn't be the worst tragedy in the world. While I'm kind of bummed about not seeing the game, a rain out wouldn't break my heart. Williams would be skipped, and it would be Prior vs. Matty Mo on ESPN tomorrow. Sure would be nice if the Cubs clobbered the Cards on national TV for ONCE - double treat because it would put Joe Morgan's knickers in a twist! :D Um, they got clobbered in the WS and all of those games were on National TV.

I work at 3, so I'm going to miss the whole game AGAIN. Stupid rain.

How long will it take him to recover from this surgery? If it means he misses the start of the year and ST again, I say shut him down now, and drag him to the hospital kicking and screaming if you have to. I don't want him to do more damage pitching in (lets face it) meaningless games. Shut him down now and let him be ready for Opening Day 2006.