Irrelevant Dude

Does anyone know what the July 3 ESPN Insider article under MLB Rumor Central titled "Goodbye Wrigley" was about?

What a bunch of garbage. Someone please put an end to this misery. This has gone well past the point of being a distraction and it's making me very angry listening to the Dusty defenders use the same meaningless baseball quotes over and over. And on top of that, Hendry has backed off his comment about evaluating the coaching staff over the All-Star break...

What about the possibility that he underestimated the Tigers and believed he had a better chance to win with the Cubs?

There are so many severe platoon splits on this team that running guys out there blindly every day is pretty counterproductive. Jones can't hit lefties, for example while Murton can, and vice versa. That's true, but at the same time I believe platoon splits can be self-fulfilling prophecies. A hitter struggles for awhile against left-handed pitching, then is platooned and no longer gets to face lefties, which sets him back further if he has to face them in the future and the cycle goes on and on. And so a career platoon player is born.

As of 7/6, Neifi Perez is on pace for 311 At Bats this season. Stay tuned for daily updates.

Popped it up, Willie Mays Hayes style.

I have to agree with the idea that Dusty isn't playing for the team. If they do something dumb or are ineffective it's on the players. Dusty is responsible for strategic blunders however. That's just BS. The things they do that are dumb and ineffective are a direct result of the manager. It's not like these things happen every once in a while. The mistakes they make are repetitive. Repetitive mistakes are the manger's fault. I am sick and tired I hearing that crap. This is a terrible baseball team BECAUSE Dusty is the manager. It's not BS. The majority of the stupid plays have been committed by veteran players that shouldn't need a manager to hold their hand. This team isn't going to improve JUST BECAUSE THERE'S IS A NEW MANAGER. And these stupid plays have been made by a variety of different veteran players over a number of years. It's not just 1 or 2 guys, it's a lot of them. Why don't other teams have the same problem? I don't know why the manager is the only one in the hot seat when this team was ill conceived. Hendry is to blame for personnel of the field. People keep using Bobby Cox-like analogies of benching players for a lack of hustle but the truth is, he has only done that with young players (not veterans). If a GM acquires a veteran player with a reputation for being lazy there's only so much a manager can do (short of constantly be at odds with the player and or refusing to use him; which ultimately hurts the team if the player has a key role). I'm not being a Dusty apologist but these players are making themselves look bad with their poor play. There's only so much someone can do from the dugout. A change of managers without corresponding personnel changes isn't going to provide improvement. Nobody is absolving Hendry of any blame. He has as much fault as Baker, if not more, but the fact is he already has his contract extension and is not going to be fired. The ideal situation would be for the entire slate to be wiped clean from top to bottom, but since that's not going to happen then the next best thing is to at least get rid of part of the problem (Baker and his staff).

I have to agree with the idea that Dusty isn't playing for the team. If they do something dumb or are ineffective it's on the players. Dusty is responsible for strategic blunders however. That's just BS. The things they do that are dumb and ineffective are a direct result of the manager. It's not like these things happen every once in a while. The mistakes they make are repetitive. Repetitive mistakes are the manger's fault. I am sick and tired I hearing that crap. This is a terrible baseball team BECAUSE Dusty is the manager. It's not BS. The majority of the stupid plays have been committed by veteran players that shouldn't need a manager to hold their hand. This team isn't going to improve JUST BECAUSE THERE'S IS A NEW MANAGER. And these stupid plays have been made by a variety of different veteran players over a number of years. It's not just 1 or 2 guys, it's a lot of them. Why don't other teams have the same problem?

Yeah but Skiles can put him back in the game whenever he wishes. Ramirez might come back to hit the GW Homer. Not that I don't agree with you, I'm just simply stating why that is not an effective argument That's true, but he usually doesn't put them back in much though. When someone does something bad enough to get in Skiles' doghouse he's usually pretty much done for the rest of the game.

Going back to Ramirez's lack of hustle last inning... What if just once Dusty would have pulled him out of the game immediately? Wouldn't that make him less likely to repeat that same behavior again? Using the same example with Scott Skiles and the Bulls, if one of their players makes a dumb play or isn't hustling he would be taken out of the game right away. The Bulls players respond and even though they didn't quite have enough talent, they played harder than any other team I saw in the playoffs this year. If Ramirez is lazy and nobody ever says anything to him and there aren't any consequences, why would he do any different than jog to first base?

I have to agree with the idea that Dusty isn't playing for the team. If they do something dumb or are ineffective it's on the players. Dusty is responsible for strategic blunders however. What happens when everything they do is either dumb or ineffective?

Bench Ramirez. I've seen enough. Let him sit until after the All-Star break.

In the coaching staff's defense (did I really just say that?), it's not like the Cubs have a lineup that is consistently working. I don't fault Baker for continuously changing it up and looking for the right combination, but I do fault him for running Neifi Perez out there every single day.

To be fair, Capuano is pretty friggin' good. And to be fair, the Cubs are pretty friggin' bad.

What, you mean the camera panning to right field looking for the fly ball that Fielder caught at the pitcher's mound? Seemed perfectly normal to me. :)

Are both teams anxious to get to the All-Star break or what?

Would you rather have Jones in there flailing away? The way he's been hitting lately, I wouldn't mind to see him in the lineup even against lefties. But I'd definitely prefer to see Walker over Neifi.

Good thing Dusty loaded the lineup with righties. It's paying off like it always does.

Poor Neifi. Once Dusty is gone, he will be the puppy who lost his way.

Nope, just a somewhat routine popup to short right field.

Marshall looks pretty good tonight. Hopefully he can pitch a 9 inning shutout only for a reliever to come in and give up a run in the 10th for a 1-0 loss.

Single for Neifi... Dusty is a genius!!! It's too bad I dislike him so much now. I always liked Neifi as a utility player until he was constantly shoved down our throats.

Poor Ausmus. That was a pretty funny quote though, good to see he's keeping a good attitude about the 0-40 slump.

I think that pretty much says Baker is not being fired next week. As I pointed out earlier, Bruce's article today stated that Baker's job was safe for the moment also. :cry: Would Baker sacrifice his coaching staff to keep his job? I interpreted "safe for the moment" as he won't be fired before the All-Star break.

I think that pretty much says Baker is not being fired next week. What else would he say, that he's nervous about being fired? This doesn't change anything, of course that's what Dusty is going to say.