BigbadB

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.

While I won't argue that this Cub team needs help now, this is the 2007 draft thread. :wink:

Yes, and this is why I thought that it was absurd at the time. I'm not sure how anyone can measure something like this. Last year, we saw how inept the offense could be when you put low OBP guys in front of an offensive machine like Lee was. How many runs and/or games did it cost the Cubs to have Patterson, Neifi and Macias getting a ton of at bats in the top two spots last year? If Lee had OBP machines in front of him, I don't think a 150 RBI season would have been out of the question. This time around, it's poor OBP guys and no Lee. That's probably worse than poor OBP guys and Lee. But, how do you truly and accurately measure the impact 1 player missing from a line up? I don't think you can.

Did you all miss this post? Okay, I was overdefensive of Corey. Drop it already! I did.

And if Bynum's fantastic looking at bats weren't enough, his two errors were rewarded with even more playing time. =D> :cheers:

If it wasn't Kansas City, it might have been Detroit or Arizona. Those teams were pretty pathetic in previous years.

The walk. It's how the Cubs last scored. It's also how the Cubs lost last night's game. It's amazing how a team can completely ignore the value of a walk for so long.

Agreed. Very funny comeback. =D>

Jake Peavy feels very sorry for our situation and promises to loft a few underhand tomorrow.

Glass half full, huh? currently, who's worse? howry and eyre have been really good. sorry for "celebrating" that. If you are looking for a fight from me, you won't get one. I'm fine with Howry and Eyre. This team is bad with them. They'd be bad without them. It's your claim that we should all look at this optimistically. Then you proceed to be a hypocrite by screaming how horrible Aramis is. At least I'm consistent. :D