BigbadB

I didn't vote, because I had every reason to believe the Cubs could have had Eyre, Howry and Giles. Therefore, it's not an either/or. Bring back Nomar, sign Giles, sign Lofton, sign Eyre, sign Howry, and sign Miller. Don't trade Patterson and don't trade for Pierre. Lofton, Patterson and Hairston hold down CF until Pie is ready. Lofton could also split time in LF with Murton against tough righties. Nomar also figures into the mix in LF, SS and 3b, and now he could be manning 1b. It could have happened.

Settle down there, buddy. They only scored 2 runs.

The Cubs broke of a string of 80 straight innings where they scored 1 or less runs.

Late night for you, maybe. It was prime time here in So Cal. The Padres focused on it quite a bit. Matt Vasgersian had some pretty funny quips about it as well.

was it to second base? Greene plays SS. i was being sarcastic Ah. If I was a betting man, I would have said 2nd also.

was it to second base? Greene plays SS.

Pitchers aren't afraid to throw Pierre strikes. He's not going to hit it very far when he does make contact.

Not a chance. He had to make sure Cameron wouldn't catch it. In fact, Jones had to worry about getting forced at 2nd.

Guzman is hitting 95 with the fast ball. why aren't you at the game?? I'd be there, but i have family visiting. Petco banned smoking anywhere in the stadium grounds. Screw them and the stadium they play their games in. I'm also not happy with the Cubs team in general. I was going to go to one of the games if a friend of mine gave me his season tickets. But, I didn't hear from him and I didn't really want to go that bad in the first place, so I didn't bother asking. It works better this way anyway, now I don't have to support in any way a stadium that I'd rather not go to anyway.

Guzman is hitting 95 with the fast ball. why aren't you at the game?? I'd be there, but i have family visiting. Petco banned smoking anywhere in the stadium grounds. Screw them and the stadium they play their games in. I'm also not happy with the Cubs team in general.

Guzman is hitting 95 with the fast ball.

"Showy" isn't what needs to be removed from the game. Disrespecting the other team is what needs to be removed. There isn't a thing wrong with running the bases hard and showing some enthusiasm after hitting a home run. They just recently showed Kirk Gibson's home run in the World Series where he did some fist pumps as he rounded 2nd base. That was a display of excitement for his own team rather than a "hey, I'll just stand here for a minute and admire my work" disrespect of the opposing team. Aramis sort of did it last night. How exciting is it to see a guy hitting below .200 standing there at the plate admiring a towering shot that went 370 feet. Last time I checked, Neifi Perez could hit a home run 370 feet. How special. "Around the horn" is a tradition. It keeps the infielders on their toes and kills some extra time while the next batter makes his way to the plate. They don't just do it on strike outs. They do it after just about every infield out, unless there are runners on base. There is not a thing wrong with showing some emotion. I never said there was. Standing there like an idiot watching your home run isn't showing emotion. It's showing up the other team. And I have absolutely zero problem if pitchers start earholing anyone who does it. Pujols is not bigger than the game. Aramis is not bigger than the game. No one is. Do a Scott Rolen and hustle around the bases. If you want to be admired for your accomplishment, the fans will probably call you out for a curtain call. If they didn't, it probably wasn't all that special to begin with, and certainly not worth standing there and admiring yourself. It's selfish and unsportsmanlike, and these attitudes (along with many other things) are helping to tarnish this game.

Now is not the time to start selling off players. The trade deadline is a different story. Between the trade deadline and the offseason, there is plenty of reason to believe the Cubs have the resources to make this a good team again. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that the people in charge are capable of doing so. They won't just blow it up. The Tribune spent a lot of money once again this year to see a good product on the field. They won't do a fire sale. They will do everything they can to stay competitive this year and thereafter.

I have a different philosophy. If teams used Bellhorn for his strengths, I think he'd be more consistent. When Bellhorn was truly at his best in Chicago, he was providing a .378 OBP out of the lead off spot. In 2003, Dusty tried to turn him into an RBI guy and batted him 7th. When that didn't work, he traded him. Colorado didn't use him as a top of the order guy, and he struggled there as well. In Boston, Mueller got hurt, so they stuck Bellhorn in the 2 spot, where he put up an amazing OBP and helped the Red Sox win a World Series. The next year, Boston had other options to put in the top spots, and once Bellhorn was relegated to bottom of the order status, he struggled driving in runs. San Diego isn't using him properly now, either. It's a small sample size, but his numbers will probably continue to decline. He's really an all or nothing type player in every sense. He can walk really good and he can strike out really good. But, his OBP when asked to bat in the top spots are worthy of note. He's a perfect fit to hit #2 in just about any teams line up. Anywhere else? Not so much.

They also need to play the few bats that provide offense as much as possible. Move Barrett to 1st base in games that Blanco is scheduled to catch. Have Walker play 2b in these games. Use Maddux or Zambrano in sac bunt situations. On an unrelated note, I'll go ahead and predict that Piazza will never catch another Jake Peavy outing in his entire career. :wink:

How close is Pagan to returning?

I honestly felt that there would be a play at the plate on EY. Not even close with that throw.

As if the ball isn't bouncing 15 times with the guys we have now?

There were a lot of bad offseason moves and non moves by this organization, but the worst one was Hendry's extension.

We already had one. Todd Walker.

Speaking of comedic, did anyone see Jacque Jones throw to home on the play that scored the run? It bounced where the 2nd baseman typically stands prior to the pitch. What was up with that? I don't think it made it 50 feet in the air.

Wow, no faith in Peavy to have one of his unhittable outings, eh?

In 2004, KC got shut out 3 times in a row directly following a game they scored 1 run. It was also at the tail end of an 8 game losing streak. Interestingly enough, the 2005 Houston Astros were shut out 17 times last year and went to the World Series.

Nope, not Kansas City last year. They had a string of games where they got shut out 3 out of 4, but scored 3 runs in that one game in between shut outs. They also had a string of games where they lost 19 in a row, and they were only shut out 3 times in that span of games. In 6 of those games, they scored 5 or more 6 times.