BigbadB

Josh Hamilton most definitely was the steal of the Rule 5 draft. However, who could have predicted it? He had never played above A ball and was in more trouble with drugs than any player I can recall. It looked more like the biggest waste of opportunity than just about any other prospect in the game. The Reds are a small market team and can afford to hide a Rule 5 player on their 25 man roster. The Cubs are not the type of team that has the luxury of hiding a gamble at the tail end of their roster. There probably isn't a scout in baseball that would have predicted that Josh Hamilton would outproduce Cliff Floyd this year at the major league level.

I love watching Cub baseball, but this game is really making me weigh my other options.

You know what I love about this board? That absolutely no one goes to extremes or jumps to irrational conclusions. Me asking what the reasoning behind him hitting 8th was in no way saying whether I agreed or didn't agree. It certainly should not have sparked 4 or 5 random comments that ultimately are unhelpful. I thought my comment was helpful. To drive in Soto and to get on base for Soriano.

Bruce, any reasoning behind Murton 8th that you know of? To drive in Soto and to get on base ahead of Soriano. I like this line up.

Yay Soto!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah? How 'bout I come over to your house and kick...... Ah, nevermind. BigbadB is an actual nickname, thus the screen name. I'm not necessarily big (6'1) and I'm not necessarily bad (I don't have a record of any kind), but someone threw BigbadB against the wall one day and it stuck. Ironically, I went into a bar one day and a guy who barely knows me and most assuredly doesn't know the people who call me BigbadB said "hey BigbadB" to me one day when I walked in. Apparently, I look like someone people like to call BigbadB. That's my life story and I'm sticking to it. Now that my life story is known, people may not be nearly as intimidated by me now that they know I'm not really all that big or bad, but all I have to say to that is......... Modzilla is a very dear friend of mine.

Who is Bob? I thought the last B stood for Bob! I don't know why, but I've always thought that and now realize I have no idea why. :D Well, my name does start with a B, so you were close. :D It's Brian.

Who is Bob?

It would probably be best for everyone, if people who lack integrity and will resort to cheating to get through life, elected not to reproduce. :wink:

And you've officially made a bigger deal of the spelling of McGwire's name than the mockery he made of baseball. Cool.

Well, the point I'm trying to make is that MLB needs to put a stop to it now, and stop allowing players to get away with it to the point they've already made their millions. Strip them of their opportunity to earn millions by catching them and booting them right away. To those who cheated and got away with it, I hope their pee-pees fall off. :D

And when you are caught doing it, you no longer look like the svelt, well toned 6 foot tall athlete that I remembered you to be. All I see is a 6' tall syringe stepping to the plate. If that's how you wish to be remembered, more power to you. Enjoy your millions and all the public castration. I wonder if Mark McGuire had it all to do over again, if he would have gone near the stuff. I'll also bet there isn't a public place he can go without hearing whispers.

The thing that frustrates me to no end on this subject matter is the fact that players turn to this stuff in an attempt to improve their game and reap big monetary rewards. Meanwhile, guys who don't touch the stuff and follow the letter of the law end up losing roster spots to these clowns and possibly never achieving a professional career. That, or they see that they too need to order PED's to be be able to compete on the same level as those already taking PED's. Maybe Ankiel falls under the last group, but we'll never know. Baseball needs to find a way to rid itself of this demon (PED usage). While I have never been a fan of peeing in a cup because it's each person's right to live their life as they choose, playing a professional sport that can earn you millions of dollars is limited to a small talent pool. Those that abuse that privilege don't deserve to be there any longer. The players who deserve to make millions in front of a national stage are those that got their without the assistance of illegal substances. And while I can see someone like Ankiel getting "off the hook" because of the time frame, I'm referring more towards moving forward. If earning millions to play a game means peeing in a cup once or twice a week, I think that's a small price to pay to not only help clean up this game, but to put an end to PED use to get ahead of the competition.

While I haven't actually heard too many people calling for Ankiel to be burned at the stake, we have poked a little fun at his expense. If it turns out that Cub players did the same, a little turn about would be fair play.

Wow, that firing came only about 6 years too late. But, thanks for Aramis!

How do we know he didn't jack up the price and sell them to DLee to make a quick buck? His numbers did jump in '05. This really is fun. :roll: Rick Ankiel sold it to Jose Macias, who in turn dropped it in DLee's coffee cup unbeknownst to Derrek. Yeah, that's it.

And how do we know that the shipment Ankiel received wasn't a lifetime supply? :D This is fun.

While I agree with this premise, could it be that Lou didn't feel like he could get someone else ready quickly enough to pitch in Dempster's place?

Now we all know why half of Ankiel's throws ended up at the back stop when he was a pitcher. The track marks in his arm hurt very much each time he threw the ball. :D

I agree with this, but unfortunately, there isn't a single guy in the Cub line up that even closely resembles Ted Williams at the plate. Pitchers often walked Ted Williams because Ted had an amazing plate presence, AND pitchers feared the alternative (grooving a pitch down the heart of the plate). On a related note, why does it seem like Soriano always swings at the worst pitches of an at bat and lets the best pitches to hit hit the catcher's mitt?

I also recall about 3 come from behind victories in the last few weeks.

It's been explained once already to get back on topic. Please respect these requests. Now, back to Rick "track marks" Ankiel.

The Cubs had wonderful scoring opportunities that never came to fruition. The wind was blowing out, so 4 runs isn't exactly setting the world on fire offensively. This loss hurts, but the ridiculous losses in April hurt a lot more.

Milwaukee's very last series is with the Padres, possible playoff implications for both teams. That might be a fun one to watch.

Can I get a shout out for the great defensive prowess of Fred McGriff, who singlehandedly proved to the world how valuable good defense at 1b really can be?