BigbadB

The pitch was down and in. Lee swung at a pitcher's pitch, a ball he would not be able to drive even though he did get pretty good wood on it. As wild as this guy was throwing, Lee had no business swinging at that pitch.

Watching Marmol transition from a catcher to a pitcher makes me want to see the Cubs switch out all of their farm system hitters into pitchers, since most of them can't hit anyway.

How did Lee look silly tonight? He was 2-5 with a walk and the double play was just bad luck. He hammered that ball. He should have been trying to get it in the air, but still, it's not like he reached out and guided it weakly to the shortstop like he usually does. Oh, and they scored 4 runs after Zambrano left the game. The thing is that Lee has been hitting ground balls at people for a long time already. His inability to drive the ball on a consistent basis is a reason for his movement out of the 3 hole. That spot in the lineup, as shown yesterday is one where you are expected to drive the ball or hit it in the air at times and with his inability to do so anymore, Lee should not be moved somewhere else in the lineup. He simply is not the run producer that he once was. Derosa and Soto have driven in more runs from spots in the lineup that are less conducive to collecting RBI. Part of the reason for Aramis' tear this year has been Lee missing out on RBI as well. Agree. And that was not a good pitch that he swung at. There was a struggling pitcher on the mound and the count was 2-1, IIRC. The pitch was way inside. He should be looking for a pitch he can put in the air to bring in the go ahead run. Terrible at bat and this is happening way too often with DLee this season. I don't want him benched, just moved down in the order. If I recall correctly, Fontenot walked on 4 pitches and Lee actually had a 1-0 count when he grounded into the double play. That at bat was almost as frustrating as watching Bob Howry suck.

But, there's 4 weeks of playoffs. Week 1: 2nd vs. 3rd Week 2: 1st vs. winner of week 1 Week 3: winner of each divisional playoff final Week 4: ?? All I can figure is that week 3 is two weeks long.

Is the championship match 2 weeks long?

Haha. Whoops. I have no idea why I thought was more recent than that.

Didn't Craig test positive for PED's during the last offseason? Could be another reason he didn't get the call.

C- Geovany Soto 1b- 2b- Alexei Ramirez 3b- Alex Gordon SS- Stephen Drew OF- Jacoby Ellsbury OF- Vernon Wells OF- Matt Holliday U- Ian Stewart SP- Brandon Webb SP- Roy Oswalt SP- James Shields SP- Ubaldo Jimenez SP- Johnny Cueto RP- RP- Carlos Marmol This is my current keeper wish list. Unfortunately, there are 4 names too many on this list. But, I should be able to trade some of the guys that don't make the cut for draft picks or minor leaguers. If I had to make the cuts today, Carlos Marmol, Johnny Cueto, Ubaldo Jimenez and Jacoby Ellsbury would be my casualties, making my official keeper list: C- Geovany Soto 1b- 2b- Alexei Ramirez 3b- Alex Gordon SS- Stephen Drew OF- Matt Holliday OF- Vernon Wells OF- U- Ian Stewart SP- Brandon Webb SP- Roy Oswalt SP- James Shields

As a baseball fan, I love watching pitchers throw a no hitter. But, changing a 1 hitter to a no hitter several days after the fact doesn't really do it for me. I actually liked Joe Morgan's thoughts on official scorekeeping on Sunday Night Baseball (and I despise the man). His comment was that an official score keeper should never award the first hit of a game on an uncleanly fielded ball. I would agree with that. However, the official score keeper did score it as a hit, and at no time during the game did the official scorekeeper feel the need to change the call, therefore, it should stand as a hit. I think SouthsideRyan has hit the nail on the head from several angles in this thread. The pressure of actually throwing a no hitter is why many no hitters get broken up late in a game, and CC never had that pressure. There is no way to know if he could have maintained his composure in that game if the possibility of a no hitter was within reach, which is part of the reason I enjoy watching pitchers throw a no hitter in the first place, and why so many more times a guy ends up giving up a hit late in the game. As much baseball as I watch each season, I can come up with numerous occasions where hitters are awarded a hit on mishandled fielding plays. As relaxed as the official scorekeepers have become in marking errors season after season, I wouldn't be surprised to see the word error eventually stricken from MLB's vocabulary altogether within another decade. That's probably a bit of an exaggeration, but it has gotten ridiculous. I watched A-Rod screw up 3 times in a game that were very clearly and obvious errors. When I read the box score, they turned two of his errors into hits. Probably because they didn't want to make their golden boy look bad. The game I'm referring to was actually several years ago, but I still see this kind of stuff everyday.

I know that. What I meant was a contract extension.

You're definitely going to have some tough decisions to make.

No. And I didn't say that I was going to keep him. I said I was glad he decided to implode during an off week. The negative points from Brandon Webb is what I don't mind to try to keep Webb, Oswalt, Holliday and V.Wells under the cap. They are currently sitting at 1701.

I'm quite pleased to see RJ implode during my off week. Also happy that Brandon Webb took a dump last night while I had a big enough lead. Those negative points will be very beneficial come keeper selection time. I think I'd kind of like to see the Dodgers slip past Arizona in the West. I'd much rather face a combination of Billingsley, Lowe and Kuroda rather than face Webb, Haren and RJ.

While that is surprising, I think his broken wrist earlier in the year might have a lot to do with his disappointing season.

What's really nice with this team is that they can fill most of the position needs for next year from within. Pie and Hoffpauir can replace Edmonds and Ward. There are plenty of pitching options to replace any departing starters or relievers with names like Hill, Ascanio, Hart and Guzman to name a few. Any outside addition just adds to the options. I don't think I'd try to spend on a bat this offseason. I'd be looking for ways to keep Dempster and Harden. If the Cubs can manage to do that, they are looking at being a dominant team for several more years.

What's wrong with the offense lately? In their last nine games, they are averaging 6.67 runs a game.

I wouldn't bring him back. If you think his bat swing has slowed significantly this year, just wait until next year after wearing that heavy World Series Championship ring all offseason. :D

I think the bigger story is who will win their respective divisions.

I agree with Adam. If he doesn't get promoted during September call ups, I would think you would be able to keep him in your minors.

The close race I'm currently watching is the point totals between Brandon Webb, Roy Oswalt, Matt Holliday and Vernon Wells. I would love to be able to keep all 4 of those guys for next year. They currently have 1626 points. My guess is one of them will have to be cut loose, which will be Vernon Wells. I have a lot of talented exemption players who will be available at the end of the season since I can't keep them all.

USA has the makings of an incredibly talented olympic gynmastics team in 2012. Not only would Liuken and Johnson make for a solid top end, there was another 16 year old girl (can't think of her name at the moment) that competed this year as well.

Yeah, if the team that has the player says, "okay, you can have him," then the team that makes the claim gets the player, and his salary. D'oh I forgot about that. I can't remember what it was, but that backfired for some team (it was probably the Mets) and they got stuck with a bad contract. The Padres did that several years ago with Randy Myers to block the Dodgers from getting him. That ended up being a horrific decision by the Padres.

I love scrambles. In fact, my very first experience with golf was a scramble. The only part I don't like is the shotgun start. I like to play holes 1-18 in that order, not really sure why. We played a scramble last week and had a blast. There was a dogleg right around a lake on one hole. The first guy put a beauty in the fairway, so it was bombs away for the rest of us. I made it over the lake and we had a 15 foot chip for eagle. Unfortunately, we had to settle for a bird. Then I put another par 4 drive right on the green. We had a 30 foot putt for eagle. Unfortunately, we had to settle for a bird. I need guys with a better short game with me next time. [-(

I believe they have 48 hours to work out a deal.

The problem is that there is judging at all. Well, yeah.