Electron Blue

That's not at all how we viewed eckstein. pretty sure that anyone with half a brain would have loved for eckstein to be a cardinal for life beat me to it. now... Fielder or Braun I wouldn't mind being in the AL East or somewhere far away

He probably does have "some" authority -- more than the average person around here, perhaps. He gave his perspective, and gave full disclosure as to what his perspective was. He certainly did not - that was your (and some others') interpretation.

I've spend a good portion of this season working on the field as a field guard. Certainly not a clubhouse attendant, but I'm still in close proximity with the players and have the opportunity to see them interact during warmups before gates open. Thus, I can assure you based on what I see that they do not "hate" each other. Next time, try getting your facts straight before you make smartass comments. Oh, my fault. That makes a world of difference. Being 50 feet away instead of 150 feet away gives you remarkable insight into the innermost thoughts and feelings of the team, as well as the overall mood and tenor of the clubhouse and camaraderie of the roster. I'm happy you have a cool job at the park, but get some perspective. Not even the beat reporters always know if those guys get along. Your statement is no more or less a guess than the other one. He gave his perspective in response to somebody who claimed they also had an opinion on the team's chemistry. And no offense to Gingerballs, but he probably has an even less direct view of the team. What's really wrong with what Roast said?

The dodgers are also the best team in baseball, which just got their best hitter back into the lineup. Why would LA fans make being a dodger fan complicated right now? Go with the flow and enjoy the ride. In fact, that sounds a lot like the LA baseball fan stereotype. And Manny is a pretty unique personality, anyway. Like or not, the manny-being-manny thing is for real -- people have always looked at him differently

A common belief. In fact, one of humor's many uses is to convey one's opinion, often with the use of sarcasm.

I was going to write pretty much the same thing. The starters are doing a great job and the hitting is just disgusting. It's pretty much hard to watch. I can't see this team staying in contention long enough for Aram to make a difference whenever he does come back. He has missed more than a month -- a very substantial part of the season. When he left we were exactly 2.5 games out of first. We are now 2.5 games out of first. My point isn't that Aramis is not important to the team -- he is very much so. But the starters (and as of late, the bullpen) have been doing well enough. Our pitching, thus far, has kept us in the race. I see no reason that we won't be able to contend, at this rate, when he eventually comes back.

I'm trying to remember . . . wasn't the same said about Kerry Wood? It seems the mindset (whatever that even means) is different for the first inning of a start versus coming in as a reliever.

Let's see. - Everyone here knew signing Miles, especially as basically DeRosa's replacement, was a stupid idea. Misleading. Mike Fontenot was more of the replacement in the lineup than Miles. Miles replaced Derosa's versatility, which means a good deal less. - Everyone here knew that Bradley was injury-prone. 36 games played at this point isn't really a big deal. His production is, which nobody predicted. - Everyone here, for the most part, could see that Derrek Lee had been declining throughout most of 2008. (I'm glad he's on the uptick right now, but he's got a long way to go before having a productive full season.) - Most here, while glad to be rid of Jason Marquis, thought it was iffy to bring in a nothing reliever for him. Sure not the way I remember it. "The board" seems to have been very aware of the reason for the deal: payroll money. - Everyone here was skeptical as to why we were shedding like 5M in bullpen pitchers for no apparent reason less than two weeks in when we weren't exactly loaded with great relievers. agreed. But doesn't have much to do with hindsight. - Most here were skeptical of Dempster's contract considering his career numbers. Even if Marquis hadn't been traded, try and imagine the rotation without Dempster. They would have had to have gone to FA to get at least one starter -- what better deal that Dempster's was out there? This isn't hindsight. For the most part, these moves were bad even in foresight.

Seven game losing streaks are not the GMs fault, though. It's a combination of the players' fault and bad luck. Obviously, Hendry has made moves worthy of criticism this year, but let's not get caught up in the losing streak madness.

I wish other teams' players were prone to slumps

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4191562

I don't think there was any question about whether he sold high on DeRosa. He obviously did, given his age and numbers. The question is whether the "high value" was matched with a high return. I'm no minor leagues expert, but it seems there is definitely some doubt about that...

that is so sweeeet.

A quick check of teams with similar overall records to us: Giants: 6-13 Reds: 7-11 Mets: 5-8 Phillies: 0-9 Marlins: 5-12 Tigers: 6-8 Rangers: 1-9 Twins: 3-13 (16 loses total)

I have increasingly willed myself to care less and less about the legitimacy or honor or whatever else of the all star game, allowing it to be a minimally fun exhibition to talk about. Life has been better ever since :)

He'll be back in July, what's the difference to Cubs fans? Aside from the 4 game series coming up, it won't really matter. It doesn't matter to Cubs fans. I just don't like the Dodgers that much. I like our chances in those 4 games more now, though :)

Tony Larussa and Jimmy Carter?? Is Pawelek homeless :?:

Or a GM, or a baseball writer, or a hall of fame voter, or a Joe Morgan spokesmoron, or an NSBB troll, or . . .

Wow, and it's still there. Thanks :D

Prove it. Via scoreboard, of course.

and... no he doesn't. what does that even mean?

Yeah he gave up a homer . . . but it's a 3-run homer because of a bunt single and ground ball that found a hole. Still, though, the game's over ;)

How is that your concern after seeing the play? Amazingly enough, I can multitask with the best of them. I can have concern over Ankiel hitting the wall AND have concern for why it is considered an out, all at the same time. I just don't get how you were able to get so worked up about that being called an out. Good god, man, how can you manage to argue over the internet while rick ankiel lies in a hospital bed!?! ;)

My hometown! yeah, meth is very common around here ("common" being a relative term, of course)

Ward's entire tenure with the Cubs was made worth it with one swing of the bat against Kevin Gregg last year. (granted, before last year, he was quite solid as a PH)