swordsman

Please be a balk. Oh yeah.............good one Failed hidden ball trick.

As true as the rest of the article is, I'm not sure he'll get much agreement with this on this board.

Hey Bruce, can you shed any light on the "Hate Mail" story. Some are suggesting that this is a tactic by Dusty to make excuses for the season. My reading of it is he is just answering reports questions. How did this story get started and what are your thoughts about Dusty's intentions regarding it if any? BTW - sorry for hijacking this thread. I figured my little question didn't warrent a whole thread on it's own.

Well-written or true and correct? I'm not sure i agree with either, but I'm just curious which you meant. I'd say both. I don't often agree with Mariotti, but I definitely think he has a grasp on this situation. I think his article would have been stronger if he had left his personal experience out of it, but I think he did a nice job with the topic. I think he's interpreted Dusty's motives in this issue very well. The notion of Dusty's motives here, I guess, is important. Did I miss an article or report that showed that Dusty shopped this story around until he found someone who would tell his tale of woe? It seems just as likely that the story grew more organically than that and that it isn't a case of Dusty "making excuses" but rather just answering questions and a writer trying to tell accurate facts in a compelling, provocative and interesting way. If a reporter had asked Jay M "Hey Jay, did you ever get any response from fans about that whole Ozzie calling you a [expletive] thing?" and Jay responded exactly as he did in his article... "I was subjected to national attention after Ozzie Guillen, the White Sox manager, referred to me as ''a [bleeping] [expletive]'' in late June. My mailbag, so to speak, was a hodgepodge of reaction. There was a fair share of hatred, mostly from Sox fans who defended their maligned manager and weren't sophisticated enough to grasp what Guillen had done wrong. A handful of goofs stooped low and fired homophobic and ethnic slurs. But refreshingly, I found the majority of non-Sox fans to be focusing on Guillen's ignorance -- and questioning why some members of the Chicago media would defend him." You can bet the writer would focus more on the "hatred from Sox fans" than the "majority of non-sox fans focusing on Guillens ignorance" and we would all be pointing and laughing at "crybaby Jay". That would not be an accurate or reasonable reason to hate on Jay M either especially when there are so many other more compelling and acurate reasons to do so...kinda like Dusty.

Well-written or true and correct? I'm not sure i agree with either, but I'm just curious which you meant.

Jay makes a lot of assumptions and paints alot of pictures there that he really doesn't support with any facts. He does a nice job of making himself look good by juxtaposing his bout with hate mail and the media's telling of Dusty's. You can be sure that if someone else had written an article about Jay's hate mail the story would not have been told as he did. I still don't see the copout or the whining or shirkingof responsibility the rest of you and Jay do in this stroy line. I must have missed a meeting. Please be clear, I think Dusty should not be the manager of Cubs.

I guess if he was asked "what are the reasons the team has underperformed this year" and he answered "hate mail and I don't feel loved" then I could agree with you. But that just doesn't seem to be the case here. The first artlicle last week was about Dusty receiving hate mail and how hard that is on him and his family. His reaction was that it sucks he wants to protect his family from it but it isn't going to stop him from doing his job. The second, more recent, article was Dusty being asked for his reaction to the reaction to the first article and whether or not he feels welcome in Chicago. He said he is tired of the topic (hate mail), that he feels the animosity and sometimes feels like people (fans and management) don't want him managing the Cubs. He never demonstrates his double standard with regard to playing vets in either article. He doesn't fill out a baffleing lineup card and he doesn't abuse anyone's elbow or shoulder. I get that he does all the things that you are saying he does. I just don't see it in this story line.

Sorry guys, I read this article and the other one discussed last week and I just don't get how Dusty is making excuses or not taking responsibility or artificially being made the victim in this story line. The guy doesn't feel wanted. DUH!!! But he never said that is why they are losing. The guy gets hate mail. That's probably pretty disturbing. It's probably even more so when it has racist overtones or is blatently racist. Given his expereience with seeing it in Atlanta and through his father, I'll bet it strikes him pretty close to home. There are plenty of reasons to not want Dusty managing the Cubs. I don't see that this is a particularly compelling one. There is no story here. Why are you letting it get your truss in a tangle?

No flames please, just going to throw out another potential factor: steroids and/or HGG. There is certainly some circumstantial evidence: Prior's longtime association with Tom House and Tom House's admitted substance use. As I said, no flames. I'm not asserting he did or didn't, but the evidence is worth addressing. Thoughts anyone? What's HGG? Human Growth Gobstopper

Did you get your kicks?

How much does in-stadium revenue (ticket sales, beer sales, hot dog sales, etc) contribute to the bottom line v.s. things like broadcast revenue?

Sorry folks, I read the article and I just didn't read it as making excuses for the losing. I also find it difficult to comment on how much effect the letters, phone calls and verbal taunts and threat would effect a player without more details. Now, who will be the first to bring up Jackie Robinson? There is a reason his number is essentially retired throughout the Major Leagues and it ain't just this play on the field.

Thanks, folks. Mods feel free to delete this thread.

I have a guy at work who thought that Z was a free agent at the end of thiw year. I didn't think that was true. Who's right? Details?

I seem to remember reading that the reason Wrigley fans don't do the wave is because Padre fans did throughout the '84 playoffs in San Diego. there is bad mojo in that thing, boys. baaaaad mojo. Trib article

Building on the idea that some guys get fatigued sooner than others...could the fact that the league is larger now (meaning more guys in the league so likely a greater percentage who are not "horses") means that more pitchers need the attention than before? In other words there are more pitchers who are less inately fatigue-proof than back in the day so there is more attention put on it?

Hey Bruce, Nice job on TV with Len and Bob. Nothin' like Rain Delay Theatre. How much notice did you have that you would be on?

http://www.adamsfamilyfarm.com/images/animals/goat.jpg "This trade was a baaaaaaaaaaaad idea." See, I heard a whole different "Goat Curse" story. Who knew?

I must say, hearing Dave Kaplan reporting the story, I did not get the impression that an extension was a forgone conclusion at all. I got the impression that Hendry wanted to silence the speculation that Dusty would be let go this season. He also seemed to imply that Spier's recent troubles made this decision even easier. I didn't get the impression that a Dusty extention was inevitable at all. In fact just the opposite that it was in even more doubt. That was just the feeling I got so don't just off the cliff yet.

It's true. Mods feel free to delete this thread as it was beaten by the other. That's what I get for typing in complete, coherent sentences.

Dang! You beat me by a minute. Mods feel free to delete the other thread as this one got in first.

Dave Kaplan (WGN radio) just reported that Jim Hendry just announced that Dusty will be the manager for the rest of the season. ANY talk of extention will happen in the off season.

That place is enough of a sausage fest as it is.

Yes, and Jim will be on at 7:30.

I just thought folks might like to know that Jim Hendry will be on Sports Central tonight on WGN radio at 7:30. He will take calls. If you aren't within the listening range of AM720 you should be able to listen online at WGN Radio.com Enjoy! P.S. May God, and Cubs fans have mercy on your soul, Jim.