Laura

Scorecard Auction #3 Now Running: (Bids Accepted Until 5:15pm CT Sunday, November 6!!) San Diego Padres (Justin Germano) @ Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster) Spring Training March 27, 2005 HoHoKam Park, Mesa, Arizona http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/DJAXXFAN/Len%20Scorecards/Scan0008_008.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/DJAXXFAN/Len%20Scorecards/Scan0007_007.jpg Final Score: Padres 9, Cubs 5 Notes included on the lineup card: • Illinois comeback: Down 15, won in OT • Updates on Prior, Wood, Borowski and Williamson • Note on Zambrano being named Opening Day starter • Update on Barry Bonds Position Players for the Cubs: Patterson, Ransom, Hansen, Garciaparra, Ramirez, Burnitz, Lee, Dubois, Kelton, Murray, Blanco, Fox Pitchers for the Cubs: Dempster, Oropesa, Ohman, Randolph, Wuertz, Hawkins Position Players for the Padres: Roberts, Young, Jackson, Giles, Macias, Nevin, Fick, Klesko, Blum, Hernandez, Burroughs, Garcia, Greene, Ojeda. Pitchers for the Padres: Germano, Reyes, Seanez, Linebrink, Williams

Scorecard Auction #2: COMPLETED Milwaukee Brewers (Ben Hendrickson) @ Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano) Spring Training (Split-Squad) March 19, 2005 HoHoKam Park, Mesa, Arizona http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/DJAXXFAN/Len%20Scorecards/Scan0003_003.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/DJAXXFAN/Len%20Scorecards/Scan0004_004.jpg Final Score: Cubs 4, Brewers 2. Carlos Zambrano was the winning pitcher. He struck out 9 through 6 IP, giving up 0 runs and 4 hits. Position Players for the Cubs: Hairston, Ransom, Macias, McClain, Garciaparra, Hoffpauir, Lee, Murton, Rojas, Kelton, Harvey, Murray, Chris Walker, Blanco, Kopitzke. Pitchers for the Cubs: Zambrano, Rohlicek, Wuertz, Fox. Position Players for the Brewers: Krynzel, Weeks, Fielder, Jenkins, Anderson, Miller, Borders, Helms, Cirillo, Hart, Hardy. Pitchers for the Brewers: Hendrickson, Obermueller, Botallico, Adams.

Scorecard Auction #1: COMPLETED Chicago Cubs (Renyel Pinto) @ Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernandez) Exhibition Game April 2, 2005 Cashman Field, Las Vegas, Nevada http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/DJAXXFAN/Len%20Scorecards/Scan0006_006.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/DJAXXFAN/Len%20Scorecards/Scan0005_005.jpg Final Score: Cubs 3, Mariners 2 Notes included on the lineup card: • Notes on Dempster and Prior • Notes on cuts from 28 to 25 by midnight • “The world mourns today with the news that Pope John Paul has passed away” • Breakdown of Prior vs AAA Padres Position Players for the Cubs: Patterson, Murray, Walker, Hairston, Garciaparra, Ramirez, McClain, Burnitz, Kelton, Lee, Echevarria, Hollandsworth, Dubois, Barrett, Blanco, Macias (DH). Pitchers for the Cubs: Pinto, Remlinger, Hill, Mitre, Leicester, Bartosh. Position Players for the Mariners: Ichiro, Reed, Bloomquist, Beltre, Speizio, Sexson, Boone, Garciaparra, Ibanez (DH), Nunez (DH), Winn, Nelson, Wilson, Valdez, Jones. Pitchers for the Mariners: Hernandez, Franklin, Hasegawa, Jimenez.

The Fine Print -- North Side Baseball Charity Auction Details The auction is open to all NSBB posters. All auction proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross. The scorecards will be auctioned off one at a time. The opening minimum bid for each score card is $25. The minimum bid increment is $5. The auction will be annonymous. DJAXXFAN will manage the bidding process. To submit a bid, please send DJAXXFAN (Premium) a private message with the dollar amount of your bid. Only firm bid amounts will be accepted. Please do not submit a total amount "to bid up to" -- this is a charity auction, not E-Bay. If the bid you submit is the highest received thus far, it becomes the new minimum bid. DJAXXFAN will post in the auction threads to update people on the minimum bidding amount when it changes. The cutoff time and date will be listed when each auction is announced. If a new high bid is placed within 5 minutes of the scheduled close of the auction, the auction will be extended an additional 5 minutes after the new bid is announced. If bids keep coming in, the auction will continue to be extended until there is a 5 minute stretch with no bids. Winning bidders must contact DJAXXFAN within 48 hours of the end of the auction to make payment and shipping arrangements. Payment must be received within one week of the close of the auction. The contribution to the American Red Cross will be made once all the auctions are finished and the payments received. Receipts for tax purposes are available upon request to winning bidders. We will post the final amount raised when the NSBB donation is made. Thanks for bidding -- and good luck! :D

North Side Baseball is pleased to announce a charity auction to be held on-site with all proceeds going to benefit the American Red Cross. Thanks to the generosity of Cubs Broadcaster Len Kasper, NSBB will be auctioning off authentic 2005 spring training scorecards used by Len Kasper during televised Cubs games. Len autographed each card with the inscription "My 2005 Spring Training Scorecard" and each one has the game statistics and notes that he used for the broadcast. Every one, including broadcasters, scores games differently. Len explained his scoring system -- and described the evolution of his unusual scorecard design -- in a September 6 entry in the WGN Sports Blog kept by him and Bob Brenly. (LINK, scroll to September 6 entry.) The score cards available in this auction are among the first he used as a Cubs broadcaster. There will be a total of four authentic Len Kasper score cards available. A sample scan of one of the available score cards -- featuring Mariners phenom Felix Hernandez in a spring training start vs the Cubs and Renyel Pinto -- is below. The auction will be held in the NSBB Events Forum (Premium Link). Full descriptions of each score card, including scans, will be posted there. The first auction kicks off this Sunday, October 16, and will run for eight days! Please visit the Len Kasper Score Card Charity Auction Thread (Premium Link) in the NSBB Events Forum for all the details! NSBB extends our gratitude to Len Kasper for making these truly unique Cubs memorabilia items available to raise money for the American Red Cross! We also thank the NSBB community in advance for their generosity to help raise funds for a good cause. Good luck bidding! :D

I understand the scheduling problem. I'd like to see more wiggle room in the schedule to allow MLB to assume that every playoff series will go the maximum number of games plus lose a game (or two) to unfavorable weather conditions or other events. Is it going to happen? Doubtful. For what it's worth, I'm opposed to the notion of building domes into every baseball venue to ensure that mother nature never encroaches upon the game. Why should it be up to any team to earn or not earn an opponent's sleeplessness? Nonsense. White Sox took care of their own business (blech). Angels did, too; it just took them a little longer to do so.

I don't have a problem with the non-day off after the ALDS ... or, to be accurate, I don't think MLB should have flip-flopped the designated schedule for ALCS-NLCS games because the Yankees-Angels series went to 5 games. That's the main proposal I heard (mainly from Yankees fans thinking ahead to the ALCS). I think if MLB is going to build a scheduling advantage in the series before the series starts*, MLB then needs to stick to that schedule and not reverse it mid-course. *the advantage going to the team(s) that don't lose as much in the first round TV seems to decide it, anyway. In terms of building in an extra day or two ahead of time between series ... I have no problem with that and think it makes good sense, but apparently tv and advertising and $$ lean in the other direction.

Same situation, call goes for the Angels at Angel/Edison/Anaheim/Stadium/Field/Park? Eddings would need a SWAT team flying into Chicago. MLB security wouldn't cut it. I wish I were kidding. No, you should have called it and maintained the call. One way or the other. Needing to sell the call is what led to the situation. Next time you're selling it ... let the teams know the price tag ahead of time. "Arnold Rothstein ... white courtesy phone."

BOOO! No doubles today! :) Brandon Wood is scary.

It's good to hear that from someone whose opinion I respect, because I don't have hope for the foreseeable future with the current management in place. I just don't think anyone could build a good enough team to overcome the consistently worst-possible-option decisionmaking that apparently will be cemented in place for at least another year. But maybe there's a glimmer. :?

LaTroy's talent was giving up runs in then-meaningful games. Hop on for the trip to rivalries. P.S. And the booing worked. Even if Dusty didn't approve.

How does not collecting hits at the most opportune times correlate with batting average with RISP?

BBB kind of beat me to it ... :) I am interested in your take on this, because I have a really hard time understanding / agreeing with it intuitively. I've heard it said that the precise makeup of a lineup doesn't matter "unless you do something unorthodox like batting the pitcher leadoff." How would have batting the pitchers leadoff have affected the Cubs scoring opportunities in 05? For better or for worse? The Cubs had such horrendous production from the top of the order. But if you maximize the at-bats of the worst hitters on the team, shouldn't that affect RISP (or situational hitting, however you define it)? I saw the worst hitters consistently being hit at the top of the order and consistently being played over players that 1) potentially could have hit better, and 2) needed to be evaluated for future use once the Cubs were out of it. Given that, it's hard for me to believe that randomized situational hitting is the culprit for the '05 season.

Now that the bleachers are being built up, there will be more warm seats on days the wind is blowing in. :(

From minorleaguebaseball.com. Congrats to the Chiefs organization! My personal favorite promotion = Chiefs kahki floppy hat day :) (much nicer hat than the Cubs giveaway)

Blech. :x

I got the same message several times while trying to log in. I closed the window and opened a new one, which worked.

So we should root for the Cubs to let more good free agents go? Who would be Type A this year? Todd Walker? Would Neifi be Type A? :o

DJAXX won an emoticon of his choice in the predictions contest. :D

Farnsy choked. It's hilarious!

Hooray! :D You have to register to post at the emergency board, so do it now if you haven't already.

BA also listed their all-star teams by classification. The classifications are by level across leagues. AAA RP Jermaine Van Buren, Iowa (Cubs) AA SP Ricky Nolasco, West Tenn (Cubs) High-A No Cubs org players selected Low-A 2B Eric Patterson, Peoria (Cubs) SP Sean Gallagher, Peoria (Cubs) No Cubs org players were named for short-season or rookie ball.

We were so derisive and it felt really good

Sweetpeteman it is. Your turn. :) Sometimes there's more to the later prize packages than meets the eye.

I remember seeing a few Boise boxes with some absurd GOs/FOs listed for him. I'm interested in seeing him pitch in Peoria. I was keeping some Chiefs 05 pitching stats, but Gallagher's are the only ones that I maintained all season. Anyone who is interested can download the excel sheet of his stats here: http://s44.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1Z3LBPEKB2D331J55MRYM6OUEO I was holding off posting it because I wanted to clean it up but all the basic splits are there and completed. The one category where there's obviously incomplete info is for pitches per game; I've included what I was able to glean from the broadcasts (thanks Nathan!) I listened to and game articles/recaps.