fiver

Do you recall if that game was in Mobile? I remember going to the latter half of a really, really long game at Stanky Field a few years back. The lights were on...we were drunk.....

so who is going to start tomorrow's game?

Wow...so I just got back home, and this game is still going. Has anyone mentioned placing Dempster in the rotation next year after watching this game? We could move Howry or Eyre or someone else into the closer's role.

Post of the Year nominee actually, the adlib in rants is better; sethuel has definitely had some quality posts lately.

Yeah, I am not sure why the guy has to be experienced in order to be succesful. In fact, that sounds contradictory to what may on this bd. have argued in the past (calls for Fredi Gonzalez for Atl, for example). He spent years around Torre and Stottlemeyer in NY. That's good enough for me. If his philosophies are sound - and I believe they are - he'd be a great manager. Fire Dusty. Hire Girardi. The guy doesn't have to be experienced to be successful. However, as pseudo-evidence in this thread has suggested, Joe supposedly was against inserting Johnson and Nolasco into the rotation well into the '06 season. He supposedly had to be overruled by high ranking representatives of the Marlin's front office. As I stated earlier, I don't necessarily believe this is true. However, Girardi's managing style is still largely an unknown. Do we want replace Dusty with someone that is equally inept? I don't watch a lot of Marlin's baseball, so I'm not one that can provide expert analysis on his everyday managing ability. If you do watch a lot of Florida ball, then please chime in with why we should hire Girardi. Edit - I'm not sure that "being around Torre and Stottlemeyer" is good enough for me. Dusty was "around" Hank Aarron, yet he is unable to produce a team with much of an offensive prowess. Huh? I am not sure how you can logically compare being around another player (as Dusty was with Aaron) to being around the most succesful manager-pitching coach combo in a generation (as Girardi was as a player and coach with the Torre-Stottlemeyer regime). That's like saying you know as much about counterterrorism technique as a CIA specialist b/c you read Tom Clancy books. First, I'd like to reiterate that I'm not anti-Girardi. I'd much rather have him as manager instead of Dusty Baker; however, that doesn't mean that he is necessarily the best option. Sure, comparing Dusty's exposure to Aaron with Girardi's exposure to Torre-Stottlemeyer is certainly a reach and may not be extremely solid. However, the fact remains that Girardi does not necessarily practice the idealogies to which he was surrounded while a member of the New York Yankees. Furthemore, we all know that Torre and Stottlemeyer have greatly benefited from having a payroll double that of any other team in the league. Yes, they both had success prior to becoming manager/pitching coach of the Yankees, but I doubt one would evaluate either as the best pitching coach or manager of their generation prior to their work with the Yankees. I'm just asking someone to tell me why Girardi is the best option; I understand that the Marlins have overachieved this season, but how will that translate into success with the Cubs?

Yeah, I am not sure why the guy has to be experienced in order to be succesful. In fact, that sounds contradictory to what may on this bd. have argued in the past (calls for Fredi Gonzalez for Atl, for example). He spent years around Torre and Stottlemeyer in NY. That's good enough for me. If his philosophies are sound - and I believe they are - he'd be a great manager. Fire Dusty. Hire Girardi. The guy doesn't have to be experienced to be successful. However, as pseudo-evidence in this thread has suggested, Joe supposedly was against inserting Johnson and Nolasco into the rotation well into the '06 season. He supposedly had to be overruled by high ranking representatives of the Marlin's front office. As I stated earlier, I don't necessarily believe this is true. However, Girardi's managing style is still largely an unknown. Do we want replace Dusty with someone that is equally inept? I don't watch a lot of Marlin's baseball, so I'm not one that can provide expert analysis on his everyday managing ability. If you do watch a lot of Florida ball, then please chime in with why we should hire Girardi. Edit - I'm not sure that "being around Torre and Stottlemeyer" is good enough for me. Dusty was "around" Hank Aarron, yet he is unable to produce a team with much of an offensive prowess.

Sounds like he doesn't like to listen to management, but wants to build a Yankees team part 2. Yeah....this snippet certainly makes Girardi out to be the "bad guy" for wanting to start the season with both Johnson and Nolasco in the pen. However, can we know for sure that a few weeks of major league experience in the pen didn't help those two once they were inserted into the rotation? I'm not comfortable that we can truly evaluate this situation based soley upon what a Marlin's "source" or Tracy Ringolsby have said or written. I certainly wouldn't go as far as to say that Girardi wants to build a Yankees team part 2. I'm confident that one would be naive to believe that Girardi cannot discern b/w the financial situation of the Marlins and that of the Yankees. Obviously, different strategies are needed. I'll give Joe a bit more credit for now. I do agree with CubinNY; I'd like for Girardi to gain more experience before being offerred a job as manager of the Cubs. There are probably better options.

Hayyyy what did you win today? The award for "Making a baseless statement, getting pwned by Rocket Sauce, then totally ignoring said pwning and continuing on with more intelligent analysis". Awesome. while i agree with the sentiments...why would one use terminology such as "pwned" or 'pwning'? I'm 27, still fairly young, and I'm baffled. I would expect my niece or nephews to use such terminology if they were obnoxious. Thankfully, they aren't. Again, I do agree with the sentiments outlined in your post. Edit - actually, I just agree that it may not be wise to evaluate Prior as "done, nothing, etc".

that's the 5 million dollar question.

Fred and/or CR for '07 opening day starter...

hey, hey...congrats vance...I'd have few qualms with handing dierker the reigns.... ..yes, the saints d (lowercase d) is going to be bad. The simply won't have the LBs that will be able to stop the run. That said, I'll be at several of the NOLA home games this season and will probably attend the game in ATL against the dirty birds in late November.

I dislike both at this point. About two and a half years ago, I briefly lived one block away from a Krispy Kreme and that smell just knocked me down everytime i walked out of the door. I'm pretty sure my clothes smelled like Krispy Kreme for those two months, and i only entered the store twice. Fresh donuts are all fun and games until you live on top of one of these places....and then they become as wretched as a paper mill.

I had fond memories of rushing home after school as well, but I'm an adult now (kinda..lol), work 8-5, and thus prefer night games.

Dear Dusty Jr's in this thread, There are no '06 playoffs in the Cubs future. Let's not be delusional. Do we really want to focus on getting back to 5 games below .500, or do we want to thoroughly evaluate what we have for next season? Do we want to continue skipping the 5th spot in the rotation when able, or do we want to utilize the 5th spot to further evaluate a young arm? We need to be working towards next season. Thanks.

If you read the thread, then you'll note that most are upset by the opportunity cost incurred by the Chicago Cubs in this trade. On the surface it does appear that we received 'something' for a pitcher that will no longer be with the team next season. That is peachy until one considers the......OPPORTUNITY COST. Neifi Perez is under contract for next season. Neifi Perez is likely a better fielding SS than Izturis. At very least, they are quite comparable. Izturis will be paid around 5 million dollars next season. These are 5 million dollars that could have gone to a very much needed big bat and/or dominant pitcher. As it stands the Cubs probably need to obtain two of the former and at least one of the latter to have any hope of contending next season. It's not that Izturis is a horrible SS. It's that he's not a good offensive player, and we already have a very skilled defensive SS under contract for next season. Unless Izturis bats as he did in the first half of '05, then many will remain unhappy with the OPPORTUNITY COST associated with this trade. edit - unless the payroll figure is increased significantly, I am betting that the Cubs only obtain one of the players mentioned in bold...not three. If this trade had not happened, one could argue that Hendry may have been able to obtain 2 of those emboldened.

Don't be suprised if you one day find a Freddie Mercury bumper sticker adhered to your vehicle....if you don't already have one. :getyou:....................O:)

exactly

I fall in that category and I voted for the Who. Not voting for them in the Finals though. same ^^^^^ I agree with all of these sentiments.

Agreed...He is spotting his pitches much better over the last two games and even more so in yesterday's outing. That said, he also received a lot of help from Pittsburg yesterday. Not every team is going to fan on that chest high fastball. Better players are going to lay off that pitch and challenge Rich to get them out with something in the strike zone.

I was thinking the same yesterday. I do understand that Wrigley has a fairly dangerous bullpen setup, and he likely will get better at negotiating that area as he continues. However, Izturus should have made that play along the left field line. He subsequently bobbled the groundball, but I was impressed by the way he recovered. abuck and goony aren't saying anything abnormal. He is touted as the best defensive shorstop in the league, and he supposedly helps win games with his defense. He hasn't shown that as a Cub.

Ahhhh...I can smell the pigskin in the air. LSU will be an early test for #6 Auburn. Two of their linebackers, Blackmon and Sears, will still be suspended for DUI and underage drinking infractions. They weren't necessarily starting LBs, but it will still hurt.

I said before the season that he should have started this season at AA. He only played a couple of months at that level last season, and then he was injured. Of course he needs another year at AAA. How could one promote him to the majors based upon this year's performance?

Wood problems were way before Baker You're wrong. In 1999 he had his TJ surgery, which was the culmination of a lifetime's worth of abuse. In 2000 he came back in May, and had your typical "back from elbow surgery" season. From 2001-2003 he made over 90 starts. His current woes began after a 2003 season that saw him throw 3545 pitches, which IIRC was the most of anyone in the league. 2003 also saw him throw the following #'s of pitches in games: 122 on April 12th, 141 pitches on May 10th, 121 on May 15th, 126 on June 29th, 129 on July 9th, 130 on July 19th, and 125 on August 27th. In total, he had 13 starts not including the postseason with more than 120 pitches. Wood's problems begin the season after Baker arrived. There's no way around it. People can talk about mechanics or conditioning all they want, but the way he was worked in 2003 was asking for him to break down. No offense but you can't blame this on Baker. Kerry Wood was bound to break down again because of piss pour mechenics. I agree that 2003 didn't help his cause, but I didn't see any fans complaining when we were thisclose from going to the world series. It's like people complaining about Ozzie letting pitchers complete games in the playoffs and WS, and now his staff looks tired. If you have a chance at the ring all bets are off. Sorry I don't blame Baker for Riding Prior and Wood because every manager would do the same. Those were his strengths that year. Again, please explain the Wood situation last year. Why did he continue to pitch? Were we in playoff contention then? Please advise. Thanks.

CubbieChris, You are asking us to explain much. Please answer our questions.

I don't know about that? Wood problems were way before Baker and has Z really been overworked this year? And most of Prior injuries have been accidents...i.e. Linedrive off his elbow, collision with Giles....Or non-arm problems Achillies heel, Oblique Muscle...Etc... Baker was still part of the decision making process that had Wood pitching from the bullpen at the end of last year instead of having his surgery then. And Z has thrown a lot of pitches this year. I don't have the numbers, but I don't think he's thrown under 100 pitches most of the year, and he's near the top of pitcher abuse points. And in 2003, Prior threw a ton. His injury actually helped him get a break, if I remember right. And did it really matter if Wood got surgery a month earlier? He still never really made it back for 2006. And Z is going to throw a lot of pitches. He's a power pitcher that walks and K's alot of batters. It's unavoidable unless he learns a bit more control. Yes. We were realistically out of playoff contention. How can you advocate playing an injured Wood just to chase a pipe dream? That's absurd. Baker and company are not clairvoyant. Although Wood's surgery was not successful, and he did not truly contribute this season, Baker and co. had no way of knowing that would happen. They believed at the time of the decision that he would contribute this season. They were sacrificing playing time this season for a month of playing time last season when we were out of contention. What am I missing? How can you advocate this? Z is going to throw a lot of pitches, huh? You're damn right he's going to throw a lot of pitches under Baker. Explain to me why he continues to lead the league in pitches thrown when we are out of playoff contention this season?