gflore34

Never doubt the Astros. Last week it was Pedro Martinez vs. Ezequiel Astacio. Pedro pitched like his usual self, but Astacio mowed down the Mets. The Astros won that game. :roll: At some point the better pitcher is going to win out, why not tonight?

True enough however, every season we see things fall into place over the last few months for a team or two, why in the hell can't one of those teams be the Cubs for a change?

If the bullpen could get hot for 8 or so weeks and Garciapparra, upon his return, is 90%, I believe the Cubs could blow the Astros away. Right now, the biggest and most important difference is pitching, the Astros are consistently pitching well, maybe a little too good - Clemens is great but, a 1.45 ERA? Come on... If the Cubs staff could come close to performing as the Astros staff has the last 6-8 weeks, it'll come down to the lineups. This is where the Cubs, with a somewhat effective Garciapparra, have, in my opinion, a huge advantage.

If the Cubs could somehow pull out a victory tonight they should gain a game on the Astros tonight. Vazquez vs. Ezequiel Astacio, huge pitching mismatch in the Diamondbacks favor, in fact, I believe there's an excellent chance Vazquez shuts out the Astros.

The Cubs have games remaining against NY, FLA, PHIL. and Houston, its in their hands, they don't need help from any other team to take the WC. The Grail is within their sight and grasp.

1. I would like to listen some frickin baseball at work, wish it was 1 PM game. 2. Thank you picked it from amongst the plethora of avatar choices NSSB offers.

You might want to drive to Philly instead. Or he could drive to O Hare and fly to Philly.

I believe we're more likely to see Burnitz, Hairston and Lawton in the OF than, Burnitz, Lawton and Murton. As much as Baker seems to dislike Hairston I just can't see him going with a rookie when he has the opprotunity to go with three veterans.

Im hoping Remmy gets DFA'd and Mitre and Cedeno get sent down. With the return of Williamson and Wood I'm thinking Mitre and Remlinger may be on their way out. I also believe Wellemeyer is going to take Wuertz spot in pen as Wuertz gets sent back down to Iowa.

To me it means Hollandsworth assumes the role his best suited for PH-4OF, maybe, its for the best, I didn't like the prospect of watching Hill, Mitre or Wellemeyer winning 15-18 games next season for the Reds, Rangers or Devil Rays.[/quote] I haven't seen enough out of them to make that suggestion quite yet. Granted that may have been a little outrageous on my part but, this is the Cubs and we all know they've been burned time and time again in such a manner.

To me it means Hollandsworth assumes the role his best suited for PH-4OF, maybe, its for the best, I didn't like the prospect of watching Hill, Mitre or Wellemeyer winning 15-18 games next season for the Reds, Rangers or Devil Rays.

Seconded

The most dissappointing aspect of Patterson' minor league stint thus far is I've seen no mention of pitch selection. That's been his biggest problem from day one, I was hoping he was going down to work on this but, apparently that's not the problem. Its his long swing... I've heard you've got to hit rock bottom before you can ascend again, Patterson' real close to rock bottom if he's not already there.

My heart tells me Garciapparra, Williamson and Wood will come back and be very effective but, my head tells me, due to the nature of injuries and it is the Cubs, they'll have little no to impact.

But of course the Cardinals will acquire Giles! Hey, didn't you know Garciapparra, Williamson and Wood are going to return from the DL Friday? That's the equivalent of trade for a Giles.

Spoken with the pessimism that only a lifetime Cubs fan looks at his baseball team with :D The Cubs realize that Kerry can't be an effective starter this year, but I think Hendry will look to the farm system (ie Hill, especially given his start today) rather than trade for a starter. I'd be surprised if Nomar will be 100% at any point this year, but given the black hole of baseball talent that is Neifi Perez, having Nomar in the lineup even at 70% will be a significant upgrade at shortstop. Whether or not it will be the catalyst to us putting together a strong two months is questionable though. Thanks, I've seen too many things go awry for the Cubs to expect any other outcome. My outlook is hope for the best but, expect the worst. The most frustrating aspect of this is Hendry really believes their return is like a block buster trade. He's made several comments about their pending return along with the "we're not going to make a trade for the sake of trading" line. So you prefer he does make a trade just for the sake of trading? This year seems like a bad buyers market. Everything I have seen so far is either adding a guy that won't make much of a difference (eg - Kearns) or paying way to much for the few top quality players being made available. Personally I don't think even adding Ramirez would ensure getting this team over the top so it doesn't make sense to give away some of the top young players in the system. Unless a real good deal becomes available for Hendry I would rather he just keep the team as it is and hope that some guys catch fire and allow the team to squeak in as the WC. If not, there should be plenty of money available in the offseason to retool and put a team together that can make a serious run in 2006. Good point, the only one who may make a big enough difference is Huff, he offers a combination of OBP, SLP and AVG that could really help the lineup. Beyond him I agree with you, Kearns et al will cost too much and bring too little to Cubs. Its more the frustration of seeing teams like the Astros (lately) and the Nationals (early) overachieve whilst, the Cubs take two steps forward, followed by three steps back most of season.

When you're hitting .206 in a month and your team is down by a run in the 9th, you need to take what the pitcher gives you. It was a slow pitch that missed the zone by about two inches and both the batter and the umpire had a clear look at it. Dowdy was just terribly inconsistent (and terrible) behind the plate for both teams today. I agree, I do think the he was inconsistent today. But this looked like a really good pitch that Hollandsworth was not expecting to get on a 3-2 count. That said you cant watch a pitch anywhere near as close to that wiht 2 strikes. Especially if you know the ump has been inconsistent all day. answer honestly... is that called strike three on Jim Edmonds? for that matter, is that called strike three on John Mabry? for that matter, has that been called a strike on any Cardinal in your memory? What is that supposed to mean? :head scratch: By the way, for those who want to argue whether or not it was a strike......anyone noticed Hollandsworth didn't take the bat off his shoulder once during the AB. Maybe that gives a little insight on his approach to the AB, and whether or not he was fooled by the pitch. Gee, did you notice that Murton swung at 3 breaking balls like he had never seen one before? He missed breaking ball calls on both Gosling and Hill today, I don't think he can pick up or properly call left handed breaking balls...

Spoken with the pessimism that only a lifetime Cubs fan looks at his baseball team with :D The Cubs realize that Kerry can't be an effective starter this year, but I think Hendry will look to the farm system (ie Hill, especially given his start today) rather than trade for a starter. I'd be surprised if Nomar will be 100% at any point this year, but given the black hole of baseball talent that is Neifi Perez, having Nomar in the lineup even at 70% will be a significant upgrade at shortstop. Whether or not it will be the catalyst to us putting together a strong two months is questionable though. Thanks, I've seen too many things go awry for the Cubs to expect any other outcome. My outlook is hope for the best but, expect the worst. The most frustrating aspect of this is Hendry really believes their return is like a block buster trade. He's made several comments about their pending return along with the "we're not going to make a trade for the sake of trading" line.

Their pending return from the DL is why I believe Hendry isn't going to do a thing. He, in my opinion, unrealistically believes they're going to contribute if they do, I can see one of two outcomes well, really one: 1. They contribute enough to get the Cubs within a game or even tie for the WC late and in the key game one of them goes down again as the Cubs fall short of the WC. 2. They take two - three weeks to get back into the grove while the Cubs drop winnable game after winnable game then, finally turn it on as Cubs fall just short of the WC.

I have the feeling Hendry really believes his going to get something out of Wood, Williamson and Garciapparra. To him, those three coming off the DL is the equivalent of a block buster trade. Normally it would be but, this is the Cubs and we can all count on one hand when something like that has worked out for them. Bottom line, look for Hendry to stand pat while every over WC contender makes a move.

Not the Cubs didn't deserve to lose but, I loved the fact the Umpire managed to call several breaking balls late in the game for strikes yet, missed on at least 5 of Hill' breaking balls. Particularly two on Glaus prior to his HR in the 6th.

I am as well however, it must be LF and not 2B as I've read of Walker going to Texas in a Soriano deal. Walker' a consistent hitter, Soriano one day, he'll go 4-4 the next 0-4 with 3K's, the Cubs don't need this type of hitter at the cost of Walker.

What Mr. Stone doesn't understand is that it's a sellers marker. Since the Reds don't *have* to move any of them, they're correct to hold out. Look at what Tampa almost got for Huff and Baez. Holding out is one thing but, this is also the team that signed Eric Milton so, one has to wonder if they're holding out for the best deal or don't know what they're doing.

Well, according to "experts" at BT, Buster Olney in particular, the probability Soriano gets traded to the Cubs is .10 or less. Funny, if the Yankees or Red Sox were in the picture, I'm guessing that probability would be significantly higher. As for Dunn and brillance that is the Reds management, they'll have to be overwhelmed, in the words of Steve Stone, to trade him or any of the other three OF's. Talk about unrealistic, there isn't a team in baseball that's going to give up a 1 or 2 starter for Dunn, Griffey, Pena or Kearns, a solid 3 and prospect but, not a 1 or 2.

If true, we'll probably see the Oompaa, Loompaa at third today.