BigbadB

Nothing angers me more than ANY player standing there admiring their work. Aramis, Sammy, Albert, Bonds, whoever. If a guy hit a home run every time they stepped to the plate, that might actually make them bigger than the game itself. Until then, they are likely to fail to get a hit 70% of the time (and currently 80% if your name happens to be Aramis). Because they will fail 70% of the time, I don't see the need to showboat if they do actually get ahold of one. I don't want to see the pitcher watch the hitter walk back to the dugout after every K and I don't want to see any other display that tells me these players think they are bigger than the game. That was one element of the WBC that I really enjoyed. The Cuba/Japan game was one that I truly enjoyed. The catcher would practically beat the runner down the first base line on a grounder and every other defender was moving on every play, knowing they could back up somebody. It's all about selfishness and poor showmanship anymore and it's quite disgusting. The part I don't understand exactly is, who exactly are they attempting to impress when they stand there to admire a home run they just hit? It's an absolute honor to be one of the few talented enough people to play baseball in MLB. Don't bring your attitude with you. That's not what got you there. Respect the fact that you are being paid very well to play this game, and give something back, even if all you really can give back is hustle and sportsmanship. If I ever wonder why some of my all time favorite baseball players are guys like Mark Loretta, Bill Mueller and Shawon Dunston, it's because these guys play the game right. They run out easy grounders, they back up their teammates, etc... If Rolen plays the game the same way, then I respect him the same way. Bottom line, what Albert did was definitely wrong, as was what Oliver Perez did. Zambrano's fist pumps are not a problem in my mind IF they are in celebration of the successes of the team and not meant to show up the opponent. I can't say that each time Zambrano has fist pumped in celebration that it wasn't to show up the opponent. He's young and he's very emotional. I'm sure everyone has their own grading curve of what constitutes poor sportsmanship. But, you better believe it that it doesn't matter whether they play for the Cubs or the Cardinals, when I see someone get ahold of one and stand there and admire it, I'll have the same reaction. I'll probably be a bit more forgiving of a Cub that does it, simply because he plays for the Cubs and I see all sides of him. The only time I'd watch a Cardinal game is if they are playing the Cubs, so I can't be as forgiving. That's a bias I'm sure a lot of us share. Are you going to think the same way of a family member who does something that offends you as you would a complete stranger? Probably not. This isn't the first time I've seen Pujols behave this way. Therefore, I don't think too highly of him. He's a great hitter, no doubt. Arguably the best in the game. Unfortunately, it's HIS own actions that I can't say the same about the way he treats the game that gives him the opportunity to show the world his talents.

I have too many guys that just don't play. Jose Cruz Jr. has been relegated to 6th outfielder. Brady Clark gets about as much playing time as a Dusty Baker managed rookie. Ken Griffey hasn't played in weeks. Dmitri Young hasn't played in weeks, and Rocco Baldelli hasn't played in years. If Neifi Perez was eligible in the outfield, I'd really be eyeballing him right now. Yeesh!

Earl Weaver is awesome. Has Dusty ever been kicked out of a game?

I appreciate that you attempted to edit it. Unfortunately, that quote is probably impossible to edit to remove an "R" rating. :wink: The link with the discretion warning is acceptable. Thanks!

Honestly, if the Cubs traded for someone like Guillen, it's Murton that will end up getting the short stick. There is no way that Dusty would sit Jacque Jones and his big contract, a guy who has basically never been a platoon player even though he always should have been in favor of a young kid who makes league minimum. I'm thrilled that Dusty has played the kids. But, to expect him to sit a high paid veteran for a kid is asking for more than I believe he'd do. There were plenty of reasons I was upset with the Jacque Jones signing. You are now seeing one of those reasons. RF was the absolute #1 biggest need these last 2 seasons and they practically ignored that hole these past 2 years. Then, when they actually got around to filling the hole, they paid premium money for mediocre talent. If it was just one year, no big deal. Now, it's going to be at least 3 years, maybe 4.

Agreed. Walker, IMO, has always been a tell it like it is kind of guy. I think many of his comments have irked the front office. I'm sure his comments irked a few other front offices as well, which is why he has built somewhat of a reputation as a poor clubhouse guy. Personally, I think he's just passionate about the game, passionate to see everyone around him play well, and he's passionate to win. When some of those things don't happen, he speaks up. Bottom line: What he provides with his bat is worth more than twice what he makes. He never was the problem.

Would the Bears have taken Pope if Arizona didn't grab him with the pick directly in front of theirs? I'm a little bit peeved they didn't get a top TE in the draft. It's a bit odd that they are a top ranked defense and they spent most of the draft beefing up the defense. I sure hope Bradley comes back 100%, and I also hope Desmond Clark is a lot better than he appeared to be last year.

Can this week just end today? I think it's the first time I've had a lead all season.

Yeah, he did show up Murton for getting caught at the corner of the well. I didn't care for that either. Let's see, he expects Murton to be flawless, yet he can be ineffective without getting shown up.

No. If he goes to get Wilson, he doesn't get the runner at 2nd. It should have been a DP. The umps just blew it. If you make sure you get the lead runner, they can't get a cheap run. I'd rather make sure we get the runner at 3rd than take a risk at a DP and let the man at 2nd advance to 3rd. No. You have to expect the umpire will do his job. It wasn't as if Wilson took a single step outside the baseline. Aramis made the right play. You can't expect the umpires to do anything. Always get the lead runner. Our offense is brutal. I totally disagree. Exactly how far is Aramis supposed to chase the guy? The umpire failed at HIS job, not Aramis.

Lofton would have been a nice bat off the bench with the occasional spot starts, while keeping the seat warm for Pie.

Honestly, why does my response shock you? These are the same things I have screamed about since his first days as a Cub manager. That he's actually doing the things I'd like to see him do isn't going to change my views. I don't argue just for the sake of arguing. And I'll give props when I feel he's doing a good job. I can't say he's been perfect, but what manager is? I just wish he had a completely healthy team so we could see if he could work a little magic this year. Now, that also doesn't mean that I'm not still mad that Brian Giles, Aubrey Huff, Milton Bradley and/or Kenny Lofton aren't on this team, but that's not on Dusty. :D

With the way he's pitching tonight, Tall Unit might be more accurate. :wink:

I'd say Todd Walker and I are a lot a like. We are outspoken and we want the Cubs to put the best team on the field that they possibly can.

Yeah, I tip my cap to him. I wasn't able to see most of the games last week, but prior to that, I was quite pleased with Dusty sticking with the kids, giving the kids a chance at the top and middle of the order, batting Neifi at the bottom of the order when he does play, dropping Rusch from the rotation instead of "sticking with him" because he's a veteran. We've gone around quite a few times. I'm sure I didn't need to point that out. However, Dusty is doing things that I can't really complain about. Therefore, I'm not. :wink:

So do you want to call him "Tall Smooth" then? Yes.

Tall? Yes. Big? Not so much.

Yep, he should be done for the year.

There is more to the story. The Padres are cheap. Not only did they trade off Loretta (who was fairly cheap considering his production), but they also let Ramon Hernandez go, nearly allowed Trevor Hoffman to leave, nearly allowed Giles to leave, but also dumped Brian Lawrence's contract and Mark Eaton was due to earn an increase via arbitration and they traded him. They traded Nevin last year and would have been happy to move Klesko as well if someone would take him. There is no excuse for how they are currently doing business, and it will catch up with them soon. Look at their attendance. Look at their ticket prices. Instead of rewarding the fanbase, they've kicked them in the crotch. I am absolutely shocked this organization isn't getting boycotted at this point. I'm shocked Trevor and Brian Giles came back. The writing was on the wall. I think I originally pegged San Diego in front of Colorado, but no one else. Right now, they are one of the worst teams in baseball.

Just 2 seperate stat lines: Pre All Star .289/.343 Post All Star .320/.365 Day Games .344/.394 Night Games .285/.334 I hope his stats do pick up to his career norms. However, the stats thusfar, and actually watching him play combined with the stats thus far have me very concerned. He's an absolute hack. Now, his hack philosophy might be what made him the premier lead off hitter management guys seem to like in a guy, but I've always had concerns about a guy who can't hit a ball out of the infield. I was opposed to trading for Pierre. He's here and I hope he puts up numbers like he has in the past. Maybe a lot of those ground balls will find holes soon. But, there is plenty of reason for concern as he was coming off a .326 OBP, which is not good for a lead off hitter. I don't understand why we should all sit back quietly and be ever so accepting of how poor he has played so far. The kid has heart. I'll give him that. But, he really is pretty one dimensional from where I sit. The best thing he could do is to be more patient with his at bats. Drawing a lot of walks would actually make him quite valuable. Unfortunately, because he really can't do a lot of damage with a bat, pitcher's aren't afraid to throw him strikes, so he probably won't walk a whole lot even if he was more patient.

Well then, if Cedeno was so "obviously" playing him to pull in such a sever manner, shouldn't Walker have been playing virtually up the middle? I guess that depends on what the spray charts say. Also, I don't remember Baker ever saying "walks are overrated". Does anyone have a link? Maybe I missed it. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2669 Nice work! Lots of really interesting quotes in there. Is it merely a coincidence that each year the Cubs are poor at OBP and scoring runs? Is it merely a coincidence that seemingly every time the Cubs pitchers walk the opposing hitter, that opposing hitter eventually scores? I'm certainly not against an aggressive approach given certain situations. However, I am a firm believer that drawing walks is a good thing. A walk, in and of itself, is boring. Everyone wants to see smashmouth hit and run baseball. A walk won't do that for you. However, a walk gives the next hitter the opportunity to provide smashmouth hit and run baseball. A walk extends an inning. Aggressive or not aggressive, the players that are currently on the Cubs are going to hit pretty much the same as they typically do. For example, Jacque Jones will probably end the season at .280 (+ or - .010) AVG. That's "acceptable" production in regards to AVG. The critical part is how often he gets on base via "other ways". If his OBP is only .300, then his .280 is virtually worthless in the big picture. If his OBP was .380, then he's providing many more extended innings and RBI opportunities for his teammates. Dusty asking players to be aggressive is likely not going to change the overall picture of their batting averages. It will, however, deeply affect their On Base Percentage. And that is where there is a real danger in what he preaches. That is why Hendry and Dusty will justify giving Jacque Jones a 3 year deal. He has 20+ HR power and his batting average is typically a respectable .270-.280, something these guys seem to cherish. True, walking to first base will typically NOT drive in a run. But, if you go in and look at the teams who score the most runs all year long season after season, the teams who score the most runs are the teams who have the best OBP, not the best AVG. Offense isn't the only thing involved with creating a winning team. Solid pitching, good defense and health are other very important factors, which is why the White Sox and Astros found their way to the World Series last year. OBP has been an extremely sore subject for me with this team over the past several years. Mainly because management clearly has no desire to consider the importance of it. Last year, the Cincinnati Reds hit .261 as a team. The Cubs hit .270 as a team. You would think that the team with the higher batting average over the course of the year would score more runs, but.... Cincinnati scored 820 runs last year. The Cubs scored 703. AVG or aggressive hitting isn't what had Cincinnati score more than 100 runs more than the Cubs last year, and it wasn't power either. It was the ability to get on base. The Cubs OBP last year was an atrocious .324 compared to Cincinnati's .339 OBP. The argument regarding "timely hitting" is one that I usually stay away from. One could argue that guys who get hits when people are on base are guilty of timely hitting or clutch. My counter-argument is that the more often you have guys on base, the increased likelihood that you will have more oppotunities to be found guilty of timely hitting. How does that happen? By having runners on base. Derrek Lee could have had 150 RBI's last year if he had guys with really good OBP's hitting in front of him all year. We can't argue that he just isn't very good at driving in runs. That would be a ridiculous argument. The correct argument is that he had a whole lot less opportunities to drive in runs, because the guys who were employed to hit in front of him were miserable failures of what should have been their most important job when asked to hit in front of him. GET ON BASE! I apologize for the rant. I won't be able to respond to any rebuttals as I'm heading out of town for the week. Improving OBP wasn't the only issue that needed to be addressed this offseason. They did improve the bullpen and they also improved team speed and defense. But, they set themselves up for failure by ignoring the importance of OBP, when there were so many options and so much money available to spend to improve it. Milton Bradley currently sports a .375 OBP. The A's gave up 1 minor league player to get him, and he makes HALF of what Juan Pierre makes. Juan Pierre was coming off a year he provided a .326 OBP. We gave up 3 pitching prospects and pay him quite well. The "need" for a lead off hitter isn't really what the Cubs needed. The "need" was really someone who could get on base 38% of the time instead of 29% of the time. Granted, Pierre is an improvement over the abomination that Dusty sent out there last year. But, I never thought it was enough. I won't even bother discussing Jacque Jones.

Without a winning ticket, all the lottery tickets in the world won't get you a bag of cash. :wink:

"Hey, Cracky!".

Please see the Cubs line up thread w/o Lee started by CubsfaninCA in this same forum.

Well, until the next ROOKIE who registers takes your place, why, yes, yes you are a beer fetcher. We reserve the right to haze our newbies. It's a longstanding ritual here. :wink: The good news is you'll be able to tell the next ROOKIE to get YOU a beer. :D Just make sure you shake up the beer real well before giving it to BBB. Throw it up in the air and catch it a few times, roll the can along the floor... he loves that sort of thing. ;) :twak: