Sarcastic

Heaven help us if he strikes out in his first at-bat. He'd probably be beheaded.

Hell, just go with this... CF - Macias SS - Perez C - Blanco RF - Hollandsworth P - Prior 2B - Walker LF - Lawton 3B - Ramirez 1B - Lee it doesn't really matter Nah, Lawton's a vet, and he's got speed. The lineup won't be good, but Lawton will leadoff if he's playing, I guarantee it.

It feels like that's what it had come down to. It sounds awful to say, but every game is almost a win-win situation :( Wow! I'd hate to see how bummed you'd be if it were a lose-lose situation.

I'm sure some people do, but I think that is ridiculous. How many chances has Dusty had so far to try to change Lawton's swing, approach, or whatever? I'm guessing he hasn't, but I don't know. Actually, I'd be really surprised if any of us know. Dusty couldn't put together a good lineup if his life depended on it, but I really doubt he would be able to turn a patient hitter with a .380 OBP into a hacker in one week. Lee never became a hacker, did he? Besides, it has only been six games. That is a pretty darn small sample size. That said, I agree on moving Garciaparra to the 2nd spot and batting Walker 5th. It might be a bit soon but I'd do it anyway.

The MLB average is skewed by the DH, so that isn't a good measurement. Right now the Cubs are around average in RS, but after the next hot streak they will probably be around were they were before this slump, 5th in the NL. They do score runs, though they are very streaky. Besides, even that still doesn't rebut the point that a team built on hitting for average and power can succeed. The person I replied to argued that the Cubs were built poorly because they lacked OBP. If they lacked in overall talent I'd agree, but they have a good offense that has been both unlucky and very streaky.

](*,) The Cubs are not below average in RS. Until they started their most recent nosedive they were well above average. I don't know if you realize this, but while getting on base is important for scoring, with the right amount of power and hits, a walk deficiency can be overcome. IT IS NOT COMPLETELY NECESSARY TO HAVE A HIGH OBP. Adding more power and BA can be just as good as adding more OBP, although at least until recently, it was usually more expensive. Also, the team is NOT strike out prone. In fact, even after this disgusting slide in fourth place, they still have the fourth least strike outs in the MLB. That said, I agree that the team would benefit from being more patient and taking more walks, but they don't have the players for it. Besides, what team wouldn't benefit from being more patient? That's like saying the team would benefit from hitting more home runs (which it would.) On defense, you are right that the team does not have great fielders up the middle, but while that would help, I don't think it will ever sink a potential contender unless the defense is really terrible and the team has a low strikeout, high groundball staff. As for injuries, teams that are sufficiently good and balanced (without one or two specific star players that must take the team on their shoulders) can get past limited injuries, but you can't expect the bench to be as good as the starters. I don't think the injuries the Cubs sustained hurt them much more than they would have hurt any team. You can't expect the two best starters and one of the best batters to go down long term and have the depth for it to not be a problem. Finally, on Baker. Well, he is a very convienent scape goat. We see him make idiotic managing mistakes in game and get ticked off. The blame for that rests on him. As does the blame for playing Hollandsworth over Murton (though some seem to see him as the second coming of Jesus Christ, like they saw Dubois and Cedeno before him). But I think it is a big leap to blame the team's sloppy play and terrible situational hitting on him as well. Some of the blame does rest with him as the manager, but some rest with luck, and some with the players. And we definitely can't blame most of the strokes of bad luck on him. He didn't make Nomar tear his groin, and he didn't make Hawp nail Prior. And though he is not the best manager, and it would be good if he left soon, I don't see why some people need to villainize him.

The team would be well under .500 if DLee wasn't doing so well, but he is. I hate hearing that line. If, if, if, if. If Prior and Zambrano were playing up to their potential, our pitching staff wouldn't be so mediocre. If Maddux was having his usual second half surge, we'd be better off. If Corey Patterson hadn't lost everything, our CF situaton would have been a lot better. If Nomar hadn't gotten injured for most of the season, we wouldn't have the worst starting short stop in the MLB. Lots of things could have happened that didn't so I don't think saying the Cubs have been lucky to get as far as they have is anywhere close to accurate. They aren't talentless. They're just unforgivably sloppy and miserable when it matters.

No they only play like little leaguers occasionally. Unfortunately, that's enough.

Satan, if you help the Cubs win this game, you can have OldHappyCubFan's soul.

Did anyone else just get a feeling of dejavu? Until Walker caught the ball, that is.

I don't want to ruin the moment, but boy is this board bipolar.

Playing the numbers doesn't work everytime, especially if the Cubs are doing it.

Why does it seem like the Cubs are the first team every rookie faces this year?

Woohoo, Lawton hits one through the infield.

Gack. At least the effort was there on that play.

Bunting? With a 6 run deficit? Isn't Glendon supposed to be a decent hitter for a pitcher? Maybe I'm wrong, but still...

You'll be back. That, or you will go insane.

This is a really horrific meltdown. Seriously, I don't tink I've ever seen a string of bad plays as long as that one.

I think he thought he was in a run down. They did send him.

That's my question too. So Burnitz is not an ideal defensive CF, but Macias is hardly a gold glove outfielder either. It's Dusty, he'll always go out of his way to play his boys. I don't know why people are still acting so shocked.

Actually I do feel sorry for Ronny. The Cubs are doing their best to screw up his career. No, screwing up Cedeno's career is just a side benefit. What they are really trying to do is tick you off.

What, still no lineup? How are we going to get in the obligatory pages of lineup and Dusty trashing if the lineup isn't posted well before the game starts?

I agree. And what is really maddening is that the organization has the bucks to outbid just about anyone for good OBP players... but iirc Jim Hendry has gone on record in not believing in that stat. Check it out, Jimbo - today the Oakland A's head the Wild Card race in the AL (and one game out in the West)... even with all THEIR injuries and a horrific first half. I'm about ready to cash in my chips with respect to our current GM. The A's have a better record than the Cubs do because they don't have the same problem with fundamentals and their pitching has been very good, not because their OBP is .006 higher than the Cubs'. I'd like you to try to find a quote where Hendry has specifically said he doesn't care at all about OBP. If you do that, I'll believe you. Otherwise, I doubt it. True, he assembled a team that is comprised largely of free swingers, but if he really despised OBP, why would he trade for patient hitters like Lee or Lawton? I think he did the best he personally could (there were mistakes) with the hand he was dealt.

Because they don't meet your expectations and you don't like rooting for a team that can't rise to its potential?