BigbadB

Stupid question. Why was Griffey not out because of the infield fly rule? There was a runner on base and the SS was basically camped under the ball. What am I missing here? I realize the ball actually landed in the outfield grass, but it wasn't by all that much and I've seen the infield fly rule called there before. Not that it means a whole at this point anymore... ](*,)

I watched the Brave's game last night - had to laugh when Cox brought Remmy out to start an inning where he would be facing Utley and Howard. He got Burrell out, then hit Utley and gave up a hit to Howard at which point Cox pulled him. No need for the left specialist any more with righties coming up! :lol: And as great of a manager as Bobby Cox is, I'd be yelling at him through the tv for making a poor decision that hurts the team. Even great managers make poor decisions. If Cox keeps using Remmy like that all year long, Cox is in for a long year.

Before people start new threads that question why people don't give credit where credit is due, they should first read all the threads to make sure people haven't given credit where credit is due. A lot of people (including myself) have given Dusty credit for how well he has managed the team so far this year. Some people will never reach a point where they feel inclined to give him any credit, and I can't blame them. If the Cubs win a game even though a poor decision was made that could have cost the team that game, it doesn't nullify the poor decision. Yes, every manager will make poor decisions. And it isn't necessarily the manager who makes the least amount of poor decisions that will win. It's the managers job to put a team in the best position to win. Period. If Dusty ran out a starting line up that looked like this: Rusch SS Aramis 2b Lee CF Neifi C Jones 3b Pierre 1b Cedeno RF Blanco LF Novoa SP All hell would break loose. But, what if the Cubs actually won that game? Would it justify running that same line up out there the next day? Would the poor decision to run this line up simply be forgiven? While Dusty's decisions aren't nearly close to the scale of the line up above, his typical day to day decisions don't put the team in the best position to win. And when a manager doesn't do his job as well as he could, he deserves criticism. But, this thread really wasn't needed anyway, because a lot of us Dusty detractors have given credit to Dusty for his nice start. Winning does solve a lot of it, as well. Many of us aren't really Dusty detractors because we want to be. He seems like a guy that I'd like to like. However, I watched too many games last year and the year prior to just simply write off all of those games because he has a mini winning streak going to start this season. I'd love for nothing more than to see him make many more "right" decisions than "wrong" ones. I always hope that he has learned from his mistakes. I hoped we would never see Neifi at the top of the order. Not in the line up in general, because that really isn't that big of a deal. I don't want to see him at the top of the order. Neifi belongs at the top of the order just as much as any of the pitchers on the staff belong at the top of the order. The top of the order is not where you hide poor OBP guys in your line up. I'm not going to sit there and analyze every single play to determine if it was the right move or the wrong move on the manager's part. I suppose I could applaud Dusty for leaving Todd Walker in the game to lead off the 8th inning on Sunday night, but that was obviously the right NON decision. I suppose Dusty could have taken Todd out of the game and let Neifi pinch hit for Walker. I don't think Neifi draws the walk in that instance, and now the inning is completely different. But, I don't think you could imagine how unglued this place would get if Neifi was ever brought in to pinch hit for Walker in a close game and the Cubs needed to get a guy on base. And I get just as unglued each time I see a poor hitting guy at the top of the line up. Macias, Perez, Patterson, ENRIQUE WILSON. Doesn't matter who it is. Dusty is getting my wrath anytime he puts a sub .300 OBP at the top of the line up. I'm sorry if anyone doesn't like it. I find it interesting that the St. Louis Cardinals are running Juan Encarnacion out there in the 2 spot everyday. Why, that's the same poor decision as running Neifi out there in the 2 hole. For that, LaRussa is not putting his team in the best position to win. And I'm actually quite fine with that. :D

I don't know who it was, but when they flashed to the Marshall family prior to the start of the game, a kid in the row in front of mom (who I assume was part of the family) looked an awful lot like a young Ryne Sandberg.

Well, I wasn't aware of the rule that SP can't be placed in the RP spots. But, without the status change, I can't use him at all. What I'd ultimately like to do is get Bucholz in for Moyer. I put my relievers back in and neither actually play today, so no points issues there. Bucholz doesn't pitch until tomorrow and Moyer is later in the week. It does say that players will be eligible at their primary position. This shouldn't be Juan's problem, but rather Sportsline's problem.

No. I stand corrected. My apologies.

Can I have someone change their status? I have potentially two starts from Bucholz and another one from Madson, even though it is in Coors Field.

IIRC, Dusty was making many boneheaded decisions in the first week of 2005. I want to say the "Dusty makes another boneheaded decision" thread in baseball discussions was well into page 10 of the thread after the first week. Therefore, I have to give credit where credit is due.

You're absolutely correct. That was a whoopin' and I want my due. :D

Remind me again. What did he do that warranted needing a shower after last nights game?

I think the Cubs will need these kids to step up, not for trade purposes, but rather for the hole in the rotation next year. Williams is my #1 trade candidate at the deadline. Maddux may retire or possibly not resigned. Wood is in the last year of his contract. That leaves Zambrano and Prior as the fixtures in the rotation. If Wade Miller works out, bring him back. There has been no interest shown in bringing back Wood. I'm not sure the Cubs will be in a position to trade all their young pitching prospects for Abreu. Not all of these prospects are going to work out.

I'm glad you pointed this out. I was mocked for calling Neifi's Friday start a spot start, but that was exactly the right word for it. Weren't you also mocking people that didn't want to see Todd Walker traded? Granted, he's only adequate defensively. But, his offense is much needed. While Barrett pretty much settled things last night with his dramatic grand slam, let's not forget that Walker worked the count and drew a much needed walk to start the 8th. A wild pitch moved his replacement (Hairston) into scoring position. It was only a 1 run game and we had Lee and Ramirez to try to get that runner in. OBP is very important at the top of the order and in front of the most productive hitters. I'm not so sure Neifi draws the walk in that instance. And considering how little playing time Hairston has seen so far this year, I'm not so sure Dusty doesn't have him listed 3rd on the depth chart at 2nd base.

Hmm. How far can we take this "New Dusty" idea? Maybe if we can convince Dusty he's the "New Dusty", he'll take the ball and run with it.

I'm more critical of Dusty than most. In fact, if I was in charge, Dusty would have been gone already. But, other than the Neifi at the top of the order (note that I didn't say "in the game") the other day, I haven't had much to complain about. In other words, if he kept managing this team for the rest of the year like he did this past week, I'll shut up. I don't want any "I told you so's", since he's clearly managing differently than in previous years. But, I'm willing to give credit where credit is due. 1) he has stuck with the rookies. 2) Neifi has mostly played in double switches and late inning defense. I don't mind an occasional start, but bottom of the order please. 3) He moved Jacque down in the line up yesterday while struggling. While I wouldn't have a problem with him being moved back up tomorrow, a struggling player should not be hitting 5th. 4) His line ups have been pretty consistent. Good OBP guys batting 1/2 in front of Lee and Ramirez. 5) Pretty good use of the pen. 6) I've been pleased with the calls to the bench for pinch hitters. 7) Good call bringing in Hairston to pinch run for Walker late in the game. 8) Maybe it's just me, but the team appears to be hustling more this year. I'm sure I could name some more if I spent more time with it, but I've been generally pleased with Dusty this week.

Was it Grackel that dropped Garrett Atkins during week 1. :shock: [-(

Maybe they should do ballpark renovations every offseason. They haven't lost a game yet in the new park.

Cool. So it's possible someone could find me an extra 50 or so points overnight? :D

Fix your sig!! Is this better? Ha! Great sig!

isn't it weird how as Cubs fans, the ump gets a call right, and we feel fortunate. the pitch to Barrett before the GS was a ball. I'm not sure which call you're referring to. bottom line is, pitches that Morgan describes as "acceptable" strikes went like this today: one corner call for Marshall against Pujols one corner call for Barrett against Izzy all others went the Cards way. The obvious bad call at 1st base that went the Cubs way is the one I was referring to. But, Murton was safe at 1st earlier in the game, but they called him out. I felt like it was a make up call. The Barrett pitch was definitely borderline, but there were a bunch of them that Marshall threw that I felt were strikes also. I thought Marshall was just getting the "rookie" treatment. Izzy and Rincon on the otherhand, weren't anywhere near the strike zone when they missed, so the ump apparently didn't feel like being generous to them.

On the post game show, Dusty's reasoning for pulling Marshall is that the most he pitched in ST was 4 innings. I would have liked to see if Marshall could pitch out of his own jam also, but I really didn't feel all that strongly either way. Turned out to be a pretty good call going to Wuertz. He kept the damage to a minimum. Cedeno seemed a bit out of position on that since the bases were loaded and there probably wasn't a huge need to check the runner, but I'm sure it did shorten the guy on 2nd's lead. There was nothing about this game I feel like picking apart. I enjoyed it all the way through. We got a call back after a bad call against us. The ump's strike zone was small for Marshall, and he still managed to pitch through it.

I thought he did a great job. The umpire hosed him a few times, including the Rolen at bat. If that one pitch is called a strike, I believe Marshall is ahead in the count and doesn't serve up the pitch he did. I wouldn't have minded seeing him work out of the bases loaded jam, mainly to see if he could get out of it and preserve his first major league win, but going to the pen was probably the better idea. Cedeno just missed that ground ball, but I'm not sure he would have been able to get a throw off in time if he did get it.

I kinda felt like that base was stolen on Williamson more than it was stolen on Barrett. But, Williamson picked him off anyway, so moot point.

I enjoyed this game from beginning to end. I stand up and applaud Dusty today. The lead off guys (well, Walker anyway) got on base in front of the big bats. They didn't swing at bad pitches all night. They hustled (Cedeno double especially). Marshall looked good except for that one pitch to Rolen, but the umpire blew the strike before that pitch, which changes that plate appearance if Marshall doesn't fall behind. The Barrett home run. WOW! And against the division rivals, no less. Happy to see Jones finally break through. It is exciting to see the speed, but it's also awesome to not have to expect Lee or Ramirez to do all the power work.

If they keep drawing walks and showing general patience at the plate, I'll be happy. Of course, with the way Izzy was pitching, how do you not draw walks? :D

Can you enlighten me on this comment? Have the points not completely updated in the game center? Rookie question.