Laura

NSBB T-Shirt to the Game Thread Cy Young Winner!!! :wtg: :mrgreen:

Well, the lowest batting average anyone picked for Nomar was It Might Be! with .295. Unless Nomar's able to make a comeback and jack up his batting average, that scoring category will be zeroed out. :cry:

So he has allergies? Good grief, is he malnourished? (that's the rumor Mike North pushes on the Score)

Welcome aboard! :) It's not too late to sign up; I'll put you on the list on the front page.

Maybe I'm the only person who doesn't have a huge problem with Aramis taking a day off on a cold, windy and wet day in April even if he says his groin feels fine. I might not like Neifi batting second (or Macias subbing), but I'd rather be a tiny bit safe than a lot sorry later.

No, still the same.

Your Dad can call the ticket office and put the tickets in your name for pickup. Make sure he has the credit card info and confirmation number for the tickets before he calls. You should then be able to pick them up with just your id.

FYI: Roast is going to start Friday's game thread. Since Thursday is an off-day and the game ran late, he'll start it tomorrow (actually, later today/Thursday). I hope that makes sense.

Starts down the stretch and hopefully in the playoffs. That's funny. We need something to give away as well. I'm on it. :) Do I need to make another donation of something from my vast stock? I was thinking along the lines of an NSBB tshirt ... but I'm open to suggestions! The only "prize" we really had last season was the opening day gig, so I considered it a plus start. I suppose, though, that if Roast had been opening day starter, we would have had to change the order since he was the first to sign up ... so maybe we should change it for next year. We should also probably have a cutoff time for starting the next game thread before someone else can start it (when there's a game the following day). Does midnight central work for people?

Hopefully you'll get to see Prior's debut. Those seats are excellent; live it up for the rest of us! But I don't think Dusty takes well to managing advice. Dude.

Starts down the stretch and hopefully in the playoffs. That's funny. We need something to give away as well. I'm on it. :)

I'm pretty sure Serena PM's the people who are upcoming when it gets close to their turn, although there may be a different procedure this year. Correct. And I will if Serena hasn't. There's also a list on the first page of this thread, and we're just going in order of the people listed. Someone will PM you, but you can check and guesstimate when your turn will come up.

Thanks, Raisin. Roast had said earlier in chat that he was probably crashing out. When games run late and someone can't be around to start the next game thread, then a spot-starter is needed!

More prizes to be added - Renyel Pinto 2004 SP prospects card Bobby Brownlie 2004 Bowman 1st year card Carlos Zambrano 2000 Topps Traded rookie card Jason Dubois 2005 Just Minors card Kevin Orie autographed rookie card Kent Mercker auto card (Braves uniform) :D

Just wanted to mention this: we will have additional prizes added to the master list throughout the season (so people really should enter the contest before the deadline! :) ). A few items that still need to be added to the list include: 2003 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Ed McCaffrey authentic game-worn jersey swatch --very nice display item with an etched glass picture - comes in case 2004 Iowa Cubs Yearbook 2004 Iowa Cubs Media Guide I'll work on pulling together the list of who has donated what items -- if any donators do not wish to be listed, please let me know.

It'll be in the same order as on the first page -- so You're on deck, Roast! :mrgreen:

Congrats to CT Cubs Fan, the NSBB 2005 Opening Day Game Thread Starter! :cheers: Sorry I wasn't able to announce it earlier, but better late than never. Feel free to fire it up at any time, CT. :)

Mizzou kindly pointed out to me that I had 14 games listed as the total season series games vs. the Cardinals -- and it should be 16! (I edited the first post here). Sorry ... don't know what I was thinking. :x :oops: I'll sitemail everyone who has entered through this post and put up an announcement about the change. Feel free to edit and change your predictions based on the correction.

That might be the best strategy. :D

i beat you in the first transaction contest (because i won the whole thing) Sure, if by "won" you mean "finished second." :mrgreen: Congrats, SC!

See? The strategy will make it all that much more fun. :clown:

You've been added to the list, WindyCity and tadowdaddy! :) I guess since the actual Opening Day starter has been named, it's getting time to name the game thread opening day starter ... :-k

I'm likely to be on travel the week that entries are due, and I can't commit to receiving anyone's entry via PM. Unless I find a suitable replacement who is willing to accept entries, the posting system will have to work. If people are worried that others will copy their numbers, they can submit their entries later rather than earlier ... or submit fake entries early to throw off the competition, then edit them in the waning moments. :P

SAMPLE ENTRY Team Predictions 1. 92 wins 2. 9 wins 3. 796 runs 4. 625 earned runs Player Predictions 1. 34 home runs 2. 59 BBs 3. .305 4. 135 RBIs 5. 16 wins 6. 2.90 ERA 7. 253 Ks 8. 31 starts Tiebreaker .832 OPS

Team Stats & Scoring 1. Number of Cubs wins, season - 79 Scoring: +350 for correct number +300 for being within 1 win +275 for being within 2 wins +250 for being within 3 wins +200 for being within 5 wins +050 for being within 10 wins 2. Number of Cubs wins, Cardinals season series (16 games) - 10 +100 for correct number +75 for being within 1 win +50 for being within 2 wins +25 for being within 3 wins +10 for being within 5 wins 3. Number of runs scored, 2005 - 703 Scoring: +300 for being within 5 runs +250 for being within 10 runs +200 for being within 20 runs +175 for being within 30 runs +150 for being within 40 runs +125 for being within 50 runs +100 for being within 60 runs +075 for being within 75 runs +025 for being within 100 runs 4. Number of earned runs allowed, 2005 - 671 Scoring: +300 for being within 5 runs +250 for being within 10 runs +200 for being within 20 runs +175 for being within 30 runs +150 for being within 40 runs +125 for being within 50 runs +100 for being within 60 runs +075 for being within 75 runs +025 for being within 100 runs Total Possible Team Stat Points: 1050 Player Stats & Scoring 1. Number of DLee Home Runs - 46 Scoring: +50 for correct number +40 for being within 1 HR +35 for being within 2 HRs +30 for being within 3 HRs +25 for being within 4 HRs +20 for being within 5 HRs +05 for being within 10 HRs 2. Number of CPatterson BBs - 23 Scoring: +50 for correct number +40 for being within 5 BBs +30 for being within 10 BBs +20 for being within 15 BBs +05 for being within 20 BBs 3. Nomar's Batting Average - .283 Scoring: +50 for correct average +40 for being within .005 +30 for being within .010 +20 for being within .015 +05 for being within .020 4. Aramis' RBIs - 92 Scoring: +50 for correct number +40 for being within 5 runs +30 for being within 10 runs +20 for being within 15 runs +05 for being within 25 runs 5. Maddux's Wins - 13 +50 for correct number +40 for being within 1 win +30 for being within 2 wins +20 for being within 3 wins +10 for being within 4 wins +05 for being within 5 wins 6. Zambrano's ERA - 3.26 +50 for being within .10 +40 for being within .20 +30 for being within .30 +20 for being within .40 +10 for being within .50 7. Kerry Wood's Ks - 77 +50 for being within 10 +40 for being within 15 +30 for being within 20 +20 for being within 25 +10 for being within 50 8. Mark Prior's Games Started - 27 +50 for being within 01 game +40 for being within 03 games +30 for being within 05 games +20 for being within 10 games +10 for being within 15 games +05 for being within 20 games Tiebreaker: Michael Barrett’s OPS - .824 To be used only in the event of ties. Closest Number Wins Total Number of Possible Player Stat Points: 400 Total Possible Points: 1450 Resources To see 2004 Team Stats and Player Stats, visit the MLB.com Stats Page. To see player career stats, visit BaseballReference.com.