Laura

I think a lot of this has to do with Game 6. I get blind with rage at Dusty just thinking of that entire series, so I don't have any blame left over. For what it's worth, Prior has always talked like an MBA when it comes to baseball. Back in '03, my friends would laugh about how he would he would always talk about playing in terms of "doing his job;" how the team was made up of "professionals doing their jobs" and how our job as fans was to revel in them winning and partying on. So I can't fault him for discussing it in similar terms now. I really did foolishly trust them in '03 by the time the NLCS rolled around. Maybe the rude awakening is part of the anger now. The way I see it, Wood and Prior both pitched their arms off to get the Cubs to the playoffs that year (and Z and Clement were solid as well). It's not like I want their mummified corpses to remain on the team in perpetuity, but I refuse to hate them because they couldn't do it all in '03. It might be best for them to move on, too.

Return to French Lick and recapture pennant-winning glory!

Group A: David Ortiz Group B: Jason Bay & Lance Berkman Group C: Jermaine Dye, Bill Hall & Gary Sheffield Group D: Morgan Ensberg, Brian McCann, Hideki Matsui -> Jimmy Rollins, Mike Piazza -> Adrian Gonzalez & Miguel Tejada -> Brad Hawpe WC: Alex Gordon -> Ryan Braun First Half Transactions:

There won't be any extra innings for a tie score -- the Cubs will be leaving after the game for the flight to Las Vegas.

AZ Phil has a pitch-by-pitch breakdown of the start today at The Cub Reporter.

Bruce Miles posted in the gamethread:

Vance, could you edit the fax number into the first post? I tried to find it, but couldn't.

Thanks for the updates & descriptions, Bruce -- very much appreciated!

Just a reminder -- there are only a few days left to enter the HR Derby & the Piniella Ejection Pool contests. The Predictions Contest is open. All the contests are in the Events Forum.

SAMPLE ENTRY 1. 81 wins 2. 10 wins 3. 780 runs 4. 770 runs 5. 3rd place 1. 35 2. 40 3. .302 4. 144 5. 17 6. 5.12 7. 211 8. 190 1. batting average 2. Aramis 3. DLee 4. Barrett 5. Hill 6. Hill 1. Aramis 2. DLee 3. Zambrano 4. Howry Barrett's OPS: .888

The Entry Form: Team Stats & Scoring 1. Number of Cubs wins, 2007 85 +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) 11 +150 for correct number +100 for being within 1 win +75 for being within 2 wins +50 for being within 3 wins +25 for being within 5 wins +10 for being within 10 wins 3. Number of runs scored, 2007 752 +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 runs allowed, 2007 690 +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 5. Final Placement in the NL Central Division 1st +200 for correct place +100 for one place off +50 for two places off Total Possible Team Stat Points: 1300 Player Stats & Scoring 1. Number of DLee Home Runs 22 +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 +10 for being within 10 HRs 2. Number of Soriano Stolen Bases 19 +50 for correct number +40 for being within 5 SBs +30 for being within 10 SBs +20 for being within 15 SBs +10 for being within 20 SBs 3. Murton's Batting Average .281 +50 for being within .005 +40 for being within .010 +30 for being within .015 +20 for being within .020 +10 for being within .025 4. Aramis' RBIs 101 +50 for being within 1 run +40 for being within 5 runs +30 for being within 10 runs +20 for being within 15 runs +10 for being within 25 runs 5. Carlos Zambrano's Wins 18 +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. Jason Marquis' ERA 4.43 +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. Rich Hill's Ks 183 +50 for being within 20 +40 for being within 25 +30 for being within 50 +20 for being within 75 +10 for being within 100 8. Ted Lilly's Innings Pitched 207 +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 +05 for being within 60 Total Number of Possible Player Stat Points: 400 Bonus Questions I (30 points each) 1. Which will be higher: Z's batting average or Z's batting average against? 2. Which will be higher: Aramis' HRs or Marquis' HRs allowed? 3. Which will be higher: Cesar's OBP or DLee's batting average? 4. Who will have more HRs: Barrett or Murton? 5. Who will have more wins: Hill or Lilly? 6. Who will have a higher K/BB: Zambrano or Hill? Bonus II Questions (30 points each) 1. Most HRs: Soriano 2. Highest OBP (min. 350 ABs): DLee 3. Lowest ERA (min. 150 IPs): Lilly 4. Most saves: Dempster Total Possible Bonus Question Points: 300 Total Possible Points: 2000 The Annual Tiebreaker: Michael Barrett's OPS To be used only in the event of ties.

Welcome to the 2007 NSBB Predictions Contest! Like last year, this contest consists of listing yourpredictions for Cubs team and individual players stats for the 2007 regular season. The categories and the scoring for each category are listed below. A sample entry is also included. This contest is not for the impatient – it will take the entire 2007 baseball regular season to determine the winners. All entries are due by NOON Central Time April 5. The thread will be locked at that time and no further entries will be accepted. That gives everyone a week to get entries in and two whole Cubs games on which to base all of the seasonal predictions. Contest winners will be announced a few days after the 2007 season ends. Thanks, and good luck with the contest! Please use this thread for contest entries only -- feel free to discuss the contest elsewhere in the forum. This thread will be thread that is locked on April 5. Thanks! The Fine Print The contest is open to all NSBB posters. However, premium and non-premium members will be eligible to win different prizes. The non-premium poster who finishes with the top overall score among non-premium posters will be awarded 3 months of premium service. Premium posters who finish within the top 10 overall premium member scores will choose from a list of prizes donated by other NSBB members. The prize list will be posted soon. Some preliminary prizes were posted in the Call for Donations thread in this forum, and you can look at previous prizes in the 2005 & 2006 Predictions Contest - Prizes thread in this forum. The premium posters will choose from the list in order of placement. If there's a tie between premium members even with the tiebreaker, then whoever posted the entry first wins the tie. To be considered a premium member for purposes of this contest, a poster must maintain premium membership by any means (yearly or monthly subscription, etc.) from April 1 through October 30. Tim will determine whether that requirement has been met, and his determination is final. If you are interested in bartering goods and services for premium membership, please contact Tim directly. The MLB.com stats page will be used to determine the final correct numbers for each category. Feel free to edit your entries as many times as you wish up to the contest deadline. Please don't submit more than one entry -- just edit your previous one if you want to change it. Winners will be notified via PM and the standings being posted here and need to respond within a reasonable time frame to claim their prizes. Good luck! :D

That was the Barrett grand slam game. In fairness to Wuertz, he came in with the bases loaded and one out. He struck out Encarnacion gave up a seeing-eye GB single to Pujols that scored two runs, and an infield single to SS before getting yet another groundball to end the inning. I can't speak to his other appearances.

It would make more sense in context if he meant 12 position players, but accidentally said 12 outfielders.

Now Piniella is hinting at Guzman in Iowa?

When is this going to be posted? I'd like to get in on it, but I'm going to be out of town this weekend. When I get a chance to post it. There will be at least a week for people to enter.

Bellhorn's bats are in the Hall of Fame!

The article was update to clarify that it's anti-inflammatories: Wood was evaluated by a team physician Monday. The Cubs are referring to Wood's injury as "shoulder fatigue" and he's being treated with anti-inflammatories. He'll be evaluated "day-to-day."

per Inside the Ivy.

Congrats -- she's adorable!!

Me too - but it doesn't even give me the opportunity to log in. Just opens the media player and sits there with the MLB logo. The only thing I can suggest is logging all the way out and restarting your browser. :? Pagan grounds out, 1-3 I think. 6-1 Cubs through 3

derosa hits into a DP, 2 outs.

I went to the MLB Media Center schedule to log in and the audio came up right away. Leadoff walk to Cliff Floyd.

Audio is up. Score now 6-1 Cubs, no info on scoring details.

Good grief. There's never anything straightforward, is there?