vaball

Did Voice of Reason get banned? Haven't seen him/her around lately. If so, good job mods. I voted for Lee every time by the way. Pujols is having another great season, but Lee's season has just been preposterous and he deserves to start.

The best part about it is that in spite of an embarrasing loss to the worst road team in baseball, the Cubs gained no ground in the standings.

I just want to take a moment to savor one of the most absurd sentences in recent NSBB history. Solid work. Thank you. I take that as a compliment since I didn't mean it seriously. And, no Vance, I don't think that is trolling. It would be trolling if I started a thread called "Corey Patterson Sucks" or something like that.

It is relevant. It illustrates that as compared to another manager that DesMoinesCub knows a lot about, Tony doesn't let his players walk all over him. I wasn't arguing beside the point, I was using LaRussa's tactics as compared to Dusty's tactics as evidence to prove my point. I disagree, further, I would observe that Baker has no relevance whatsoever when observing a whining LaRussa. That is, unless he was whining about Baker (or Baker's Cubs), neither of which are the case here. We'll just have to agree to disagree here, because I just do not see the point in bringing Baker into this thread whatsoever. Bringing Baker into it is probably my fault as I was playing tit for tat. "Our manager is a whiner, well you's is an idiot." Something like that. But bringing Baker in is relevent insofar as what people here are lambasting LaRussa for doing, complaining, is something that every single manager in MLB does as well. Tony is the target in this case because he is a Cardinal and this is a Cubs board. That's the simple truth and that's to be expected. Fine. And to say that he is a hypocrite because he sometimes does what he accuses others of doing seems like a watered down criticism to me since every single person on this planet is guilty of the same thing at various times throughout their lives.

The difference being that one is employed by the organization whose quotes are put in the media. The other is a typical fan. What is different about that? Also, I for one would not want LaRussa managing the Cubs. No thanks. Any manager that allows someone to flip them off and not do anything about it is a manager that has no respect from his own players. Now you are going to say it was competition and stuff, but I don't agree. It has also been stated that TLR complains about Cox, when he is worse then Cox. Makes no sense. Dusty might say some stupid stuff, but he doesn't complain. TLR complains about stupid stuff. to me the difference goes a little further. Cub fans complain about scheduling because the scheduling makes it more difficult for the Cubs to win baseball games that count. LaRussa whines about the schedule because his all-stars won't be fresh for the homerun derby. there are other differences as well. for example, LaRussa preaches whining to his players. see Larry Walker, who NEVER complained to umpires before becoming a Cardinal, and now complains after every called strike, just like eye-liner boy. and perhaps the most significant difference is this...LaRussa's whining actually makes a difference. he'll unnecesarily argue close plays where the ump clearly got it right, then get a 'make up' call sometime later in the game or series. let's compare a couple scenerios of whining last year Maddux starts in StL and gets a fairly generous outside corner. LaRussa comes out to argue balls and strikes. not only is he not ejected, as is the rule, but the ump actually changes his strikezone to appease Larussa. now let's look at Moises Alou last year. the guy has a bs strikezone all year. he complains about it, and the umps put him and the Cubs on a 'secret watch list' or how about the hypocrisy. the Cards employe someone to sit in the scoreboard and signal pitches to Cards hitters. they pride themselves on stealing signs and are well known for it. of course the Cards are also the the biggest complainers when they suspect another team of stealing signs. you beginning to see the difference there Cowboy? No, Partner, I ain't. This whole thread began as another of many that dogs TLR for being a "whiner," the implication being that he should just shut up and manage and that whining in general is uncalled for. Isn't it strange that whenever TLR whines, it's innapropriate, but when Cubs fans whine, it's justified? You are being just as big a Homer as you accuse me of being. How on earth do you know that TLR "preaches" whining? You don't. Plain and simple. Since when do the Cardinals employ somebody to steal signs from the upper deck scoreboard? That is an outrageous allegation. And if TLR's complaining gets calls to go the Cards way then I'm all for it. Something tells me the players' execution has a little more to do with winning the games though. TLR will be the third winningest manager of all time before this season is over. He's doing something right.

and there's the difference between Cub fans and LaRussa/certain types of Card fans Cub fans' complaints are legitimate So when LaRussa complains about the schedule it's whining, but when Cubs fans complain about the schedule it's legitimate? Personally, I don't think changing the Cardinals/Giants game to a night game the day before the all-star break is a big deal. But if Tony LaRussa wants to gripe about it what's the big deal either? Don't Cubs fans have enough problems with their own manager that they don't need to harp on what they don't like about TLR all the time? Any time Tony makes some comment of a complaining nature Cubs fans on this board and others start calling him a hypocrite, a whiner, etc. He contradicts himself, very well, he contradicts himself. Tony contains multitudes. I'm sure 9 out of 10 Cub fans would love to have him as their manager. It must suck being on the business end of all that competitive fire 16 times per season.

No, he's too busy saying that white guys can't play in the heat and comparing Corey Patterson to Lou Brock. But I'm sure there will be plenty of Cub fans complaining about the schedule if they flub that road trip like they probably will.

Moving the game to a night game means that LaRussa, his coaches, and the Cardinal players going to the all-star game won't arrive in Detroit until 6:00 AM Monday morning. They then have a full day of scheduled workouts and media committments. It's not like they go to sleep and then wake up in time for the Home Run Derby.

And such a handsome devil too. Last night I think I saw a dugout shot of Morris showing he had trimmed his beard back a lot. If I saw what I think I saw then I'm worried. I have my fingers crossed until his next start. As it relates to his pitching that is, not his handsomness.

The guy to the left hasn't been too bad either. :D

Good post Vaball - nice to see not everyone has lost their sense of humor. BTW, are tractor pulls more fun than square dances? I wouldn't know. I've never been to either. I do however have it on good authority that both are more fun than being a Cubs fan.

This is only Pujols' second season as a first baseman. He can already pick a ball out of the dirt with the best of them. He always knows where to throw the ball and isn't afraid to be aggressive with throws to the plate or throws to second. He is definitely underrated as a defensive first baseman. He's currently sporting a .993 FP, 10.98 RF, and .846 ZR. Compare that to the first two years of Lee's career and Pujols' first two years are just as good. As for career averages as a 1B, Pujols has almost the same FP, and a better RF, and ZR than Lee.

I'd vote for Lee but I'm in a full body cast on account of an unspeakable accident at the most recent tractor pull I attended. I must dictate this to a surrogate typist, who refuses to vote for Lee on my behalf.

It also helps that the Cards seem to handle Ben Sheets very well.

It might have something to do with relief pitching and defense . . .

I think they will be a better team but won't win as many games. They were so healthy last year, a feat I don't expect to see repeated. I think Eckstein's defense will cost them a few games. Improvements by other teams in the division will probably also cost them a few games. I still say 97-100 wins though. I expect the Cubs to win about 95. The division race will be very close, but I think the Cards win by 2-4 games. And TrueBlueCubFan, of course I'm biased, but no more than you or any other fan on the board is towards the Cubs or any fan is towards his/her team. I don't, however, think I'm misguided. If I had been posting on this board in ST last season I'm sure I would have been callled that and more when I said the Cards would go to the World Series, but I was right.

I agree that the division will probably come down to the two teams' relative health. But even if Prior, Wood, and Zambrano stay healthy all year, I still think the Cards finish first. I really do think they are a better team than last year. We lost Renteria and Womack, but I think they have been well replaced. Grudz is both an offensive and defensive upgrade over Womack, so we have upgraded at second. I don't think we're losing much at leadoff except speed. All we need Eckstein to do is get on base. He has a career OBP of .347, which is almost exactly what Womack put up last year, in the best year of his career, which he would be unlikely to repeat. Eckstein was the second hardest batter to strike out last year in the AL. Walker will be batting second for a full year (fingers crossed), giving us two pretty good OBP guys up before Pujols, Rolen, Edmonds. Between Eckstein and Walker, or big three will get to see a lot of pitches before they hit. Grudz will most likely take over for Renteria in the 6 or 7 spot. His career numbers are only a shade below Renteria's, so I expect similar production. And considering what a down year it was for Renteria in 2004, I don't see that lineup spot being any weaker. Molina will be an offensive upgrade over Matheny. Overall, I say our offense has improved on paper. Defense has dropped at short. Will that be offset by an improvement at second? Probably not entirely, but the upgrade at 2nd will mitigate the defensive downgrade at short. I see Eckstein's defense costing the Cards maybe 7 games off last year's total. Much has been said of the bullpen and it's being weaker. I agree that it is. However, I think a healthy Izzy (after his offseason hip surgery) will be a better closer than last year. At some poing we will get Lincoln back. We have two solid leftys in King and Myers. Jocketty will get a righty reliever at the deadline if he needs to. But I think again the negative effects in this area will be mitigated by an improvement in another, the starting pitching. Mulder is a huge upgrade over Woody, and I anticipate a comeback for Morris. He had shoulder surgery, and the reports thus far from ST are very encouraging. Likewise for Carpenter. There are plenty of question marks, most of which have to do with health. Which is why if the Cards stay healthy, I feel totally comfortable predicting 97-100 wins for them.