BigbadB

I hate the Sox. But, the management team over there has a clue. They may not exactly classify as "intelligent", but they assembled a very solid baseball team.

I did find it interesting that one of the Cub announcers mentioned that Dusty seemed more perturbed tonight than usual. I'm curious at what he would be perturbed about? He couldn't be perturbed at the hitters. They are doing exactly what management wants. Be aggressive and swing away. He couldn't be upset with the umpire about balls and strikes, since it's rare that a pitch goes by that a Cub hitter doesn't like. They didn't cause any errors. Other than Rusch being Rusch, there was nothing for Dusty to be disgruntled about. He's getting exactly what he should expect.

Yeah, I gotta do that on occasion,too. Otherwise I'd be buying new tv's every week.

Cubs pitchers threw 164 pitches through 8 innings. Reds pitchers threw 136 pitches through 9 innings. Same old song and dance. Opposing hitters show more patience and they rack up more OBP and more runs scored. Cub hitters tonight had 5 hits and zero walks. Reds hitters tonight had 10 hits and 5 walks.

He saw a lefty with a high K rate who ended up beating the stuffing out of the league in 2004. I don't blame Hendry for rolling the dice here, but they've clearly come up snake-eyes. That's all well and good, but he gave out the 2 year contract after the 2005 season, not 2004. :wink:

Horribly, I believe.

Not really. They have a high team OBP and score a lot of runs. Seems like a good example. Let's look at Cincinnati, who spends less on their roster than the Cubs. OBP of the Cincinnati Reds: Felipe Lopez= .369 Austin Kearns= .363 Adam Dunn= .380 Edwin Encarnacion= .364 Brandon Phillips= .361 Ryan Freel= .378 Scott Hatteberg= .400 Ken Griffey= .352 Rich Aurlia= .338 The Reds have drawn more than 100 more walks than the Cubs. They've also scored nearly a 100 more runs. Of the players listed, only Griffey and Dunn make significant money. 5 Cincinnati hitters have over 30 RBI's on the season. 7 have over 20. They've had 788 base runners via hit or walk. As a team, their batting average is only .268. That's really not all that great. Cubs have had 647 base runners via hit or walk. 141 less than the Reds. The Reds are scoring more runs because they get more guys on base. Plain and simple.

Me too, I saw that, then went and built a house. What's the best field to major in to become a construction worker? :D

Oh cool. Personal insults to attempt to win a debate. How original. =D> yes, since that was a personal attack directed towards you personally. It's my opinion that you can believe whatever you want to believe. If you believe that the best way to score runs is to have all 9 guys in the line up bunt every time up, more power to you. You can share your opinion that the current Cubs approach to hitting is the best way to score runs, but the standings, the stats and the durability of the opposing pitcher seems to dictate that this is not the case. Do you have some sort of evidence that aggressive hitting actually produces winning results? I really hope that it's just an aberration that the Cubs will eventually score 10 runs a game with this aggressive approach they preach. Instead, I see shut outs and 1 run games, and I'm tired of them. I want them to put patient hitters that have a high on base success rate. To me, the aggressive approach isn't working. What is your evidence that it is working?

Maybe the Cubs should invest in guys who take 6 or 7 pitches per at bat. Those guys tend to be better hitters. They'd also help get to the bullpen much sooner in games when the opposing pitcher is on. Who on the Cubs takes the most pitches? Their best hitter, Derrek Lee. Coincidence? Well, they can replace the centerfielder, but who else you want gone from the starting lineup?? lee? walker? cedeno? Aram? Barrett? murton?? jones?? The manager, the general manager, the hitting coach, the vice president. And I broke a vow to no longer discuss baseball with you to answer that question, so I shall now call it a night and go hit myself in the head with a hammer.

Oh cool. Personal insults to attempt to win a debate. How original. =D>

Cubs: 29th in runs scored, ahead of only Kansas City 25th in hits 30th in Walks (I'd give them credit for being tied for 29th, except that Cub hitters have been intentionally walked more times than the Royals, the team they tied for last with) 29th in pitches per plate appearance. 4 MLB teams have walked more than 100 times more than the Cubs. The Cubs are at the bottom of many other offensive categories, and it's not really just coincidence. Today's pitcher is not the next coming of Roger Clemens. He's a 28 year old never will be. But, at least the Cubs made every effort to give him something he can relive with his grandchildren.

The Marlins just need to get their arms all in a row, and they're going to win games in bunches. It's an exciting team to watch.

Maybe the Cubs should invest in guys who take 6 or 7 pitches per at bat. Those guys tend to be better hitters. They'd also help get to the bullpen much sooner in games when the opposing pitcher is on. Who on the Cubs takes the most pitches? Their best hitter, Derrek Lee. Coincidence?

That's why they are called professionals. :wink: Of course, that word should probably be used loosely when speaking of players on the Cub roster.

I don't have a problem with it when it happens occasionally. But, each time you make an out on that "pitcher's pitch", you gave up on any opportunity to be on the receiving end of a "mistake pitch" that you could have driven out of the ball park. You know, the slider that hung, the fastball that didn't have any movement. The inside fastball that ended up right down broadway, etc... And if you can actually work a count into your favor, the increased chances that you can guess accurately what will be thrown next.

Absolutely. You are the opposing pitcher. You're facing the Cubs and they are famous for getting out of innings in under 10 pitches. What are you throwing up there on the first pitch? I'm throwing a pitcher's pitch. I'm throwing something up there that they can't drive. What did pitchers do on the first pitch when Ryne Sandberg was at the plate? A lot of them grooved one in there. They knew he wouldn't swing at it no matter how good it looked. And if the Cubs hitting style is something you approve of, do you believe it's only a fluke that they are in last place in nearly every offensive category? Boston is a patient team. Cincinnati is a patient team. They score runs at will. They win games they probably don't deserve to win because the offense carries them. Is Boston or Cincinnati's offense a horrible thing? Cincinnati has given up just as many runs as the Cubs, yet they've nearly outscored the Cubs by 100 runs. Who is where in the standings? As good as the White Sox pitching was last year, they didn't just sit on their hands going into 2006. They went out and improved their OBP and SLG. And they look like an even better team this year. They are well balanced this year. The Cubs? Yeah, their balanced too. But, not in a good way. They have bad pitching and bad hitting.

That isn't always the case. Some at bats the most hittable pitch you see will be the first one. The argument I'm making is that swinging at the first pitch and getting out is not a wasted at bat. If you hit a hard ground ball to the shortstop is that a wasted at bat? I'm sure not every team in baseball knows all the Cubs hitting tendencies as much as we all do. However, one only has to look at the stats for these guys to see that they are aggressive. So, you are the opposing pitcher and you're facing the Cubs. What are you tossing up there on the first pitch against a team that loves to swing at the first pitch?

I like that you brought this up. What do the 2005 White Sox and the 2003 Cubs have in common? What REALLY got both teams to the playoffs? Pitching? YES! I'd bet that most of the other 10-20% teams that finish in the bottom 10 teams in OBP all had pretty decent pitching. That, or they played in a really horrible division (Padres last year for example). I suppose if you wanted to gamble your entire season on your pitching being healthy, you could do that. But, wouldn't it be a much better idea to build a strong pitching staff, and build a respectable offense as well. Oh, and maybe even provide some depth in case injuries pop up. And then while we're at it, find a manager who won't bat the worst possible options at the top of the batting order. These are just some of the keys to building a successful baseball team. By ignoring OBP, depth and someone who has a clue about how to fill out a line up card, when your only strength (pitching) all goes on the DL, you may not end up being the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked. Instead, you may still have a competitive team that might stay in the thick of the race until the pitching is all healthy and ready to dominate. As it stands, it wouldn't matter if Christy Mathewson, Sandy Koufax, Cy Young and Roger Clemens were starting every game with this Cub team, because most of the guys that the Cubs employed to swing the bat aren't any better hitters than the pitching staff.

The Cubs have zero patience at the plate. Today's opposing pitcher threw 86 pitches in 7 innings. That's 12 pitches per inning. For a whole game, that's 110 pitches. Go through the box scores of all the games they play and you will see this trend. Carlos Zambrano averages 111 pitches for 7 innings. The Cub hitters are told to be aggressive, and they sure are. They don't draw walks, they make outs on the first pitch they see, and they are one of the worst hitting teams in the entire MLB. I don't think it's all that coincidental that they are horrible at the plate. It's a very poor philosophy that hasn't produced decent offensive results in the entire tenure of this management team.

Seems more logical. Or were they just as eager to get rid of LoDuca, Delgado, Castillo, Beckett, etc... because they weren't any good either. :D

oh no you didn't :lol: I think I am too young for that picture reference...or too clueless about 80's rock ballad bands(?) That would be Rikki Rocket from Poison. :P

I would love to see what would happen if they pitched underhand to Pierre.

Jimmy Rollins is having a good day as well.

Yeah, he keeps this up and I'll have my 2nd win in 3 weeks. :shock: