Irrelevant Dude

Honestly I couldn't care less about the "industry people." Is Peter Gammons an industry person? I think Steve Stone will say what he wants to say and not worry about who he's offending, and most of the time he's right. Baseball insiders may not respect him for that, but I do.

Steve Stone, as well as Boers & Bernstein, think the extension is pretty much done with the Cubs just waiting for the right time to announce it.

Contreras is coming off of an injury. Knowing he's probably on a pitch count, it's a really good thing we're being patient and forcing him to throw a lot of pitches. Good game plan!

6 pitches again...

6 pitch inning. Unbelievable... I take that back, it's believable. Maybe pathetic is a better word.

Great quote by Brenly... "As wild as Rich Hill was yesterday, he could have hit A.J. Pierzynski 5 times and nobody would have thought anything about it."

A quick glance at the Iowa Cubs statistics revealed an unusual name at the bottom of the list. Augie Ojeda pitched a scoreless inning, when did that happen??? Maybe he is the answer to our #5 starter woes. Player W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR HB BB SO WHIP HLD GF Les Walrond 4 1 2.15 8 8 0 0 0 46.0 41 23 11 3 3 23 30 1.39 0 0 Jae Kuk Ryu 1 3 3.12 8 7 0 0 0 43.1 38 16 15 4 0 17 37 1.27 1 0 Raul Valdes 1 3 7.59 7 7 0 0 0 32.0 44 27 27 5 2 11 20 1.72 0 0 Ryan O'Malley 2 2 3.41 11 4 0 0 0 31.2 28 12 12 2 3 2 27 0.95 1 1 Jerome Williams 1 3 5.60 5 5 0 0 0 27.1 36 17 17 5 0 13 10 1.79 0 0 Rich Hill 1 0 1.44 4 4 0 0 0 25.0 13 6 4 1 1 7 33 0.80 0 0 Brandon Emanuel 0 2 3.42 16 0 0 0 0 23.2 21 10 9 5 1 8 16 1.23 2 5 Angel Guzman 2 2 5.40 4 4 0 0 0 23.1 23 15 14 4 0 4 30 1.16 0 0 Andy Shipman 0 1 3.68 16 0 0 0 0 22.0 30 9 9 0 0 11 20 1.86 4 5 David Aardsma 1 1 2.65 12 0 0 0 3 17.0 12 5 5 1 0 4 20 0.94 1 9 Mark Watson 1 0 4.02 17 0 0 0 1 15.2 15 8 7 0 1 9 18 1.53 1 4 Michael Wuertz 1 0 1.23 10 0 0 0 2 14.2 11 4 2 0 0 5 19 1.09 0 7 Kerry Ligtenberg 1 0 1.42 11 0 0 0 0 12.2 15 3 2 0 0 2 8 1.34 4 3 Robert Brownlie 0 3 10.80 8 1 0 0 0 11.2 24 15 14 4 1 6 14 2.57 1 1 Federico Baez 0 1 2.89 5 0 0 0 0 9.1 10 3 3 0 0 6 7 1.71 1 2 Roberto Novoa 1 0 2.70 4 0 0 0 1 6.2 3 2 2 0 0 3 3 0.90 1 2 Kerry Wood 0 1 1.80 1 1 0 0 0 5.0 5 1 1 0 0 2 3 1.40 0 0 Augie Ojeda 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 0 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.00 0 1

This team is much more likeable than the 2004 version... although also much worse.

Indeed. And back in '03 when Torii Hunter bowled over the Sox backup catcher (was it Josh Paul then?), White Sox fans would have loved it if he had stood up and punched Hunter silly aftewards. Although Guillen also backed Hunter at the time and said it was a good play.

I'd settle for seeing him win one. He's throwing the ball well, they're just hitting good pitches dude. Just bad luck... It will all even out.

I didn't see this posted here yet, from ChicagoSports.com...

I've been as critical of Baker as anyone and I still think he needs to go, but I don't think anything will make this team any better. Honestly who could win with this bunch of crap? I know I'm beating a dead horse, but Baker is part of the reason that the team is inadequate. He asked for many of the players he has now. He rides he starters too hard - especially in 2003 when Prior was what, 22 years old? Or was he 23? It sickens me that injuries are being used as an excuse when Baker probaby played a part in some of those injuries. I completely agree, but not even Jim Essian himself can save this season.

I've been as critical of Baker as anyone and I still think he needs to go, but I don't think anything will make this team any better. Honestly who could win with this bunch of crap?

The Pirates are coming, tra-la tra-la.

Blasphemy!

He should have pulled a Bob Uecker, "Aww hell, nobody's listening anyway."

Just keep waiting, they will even out!

I caught that too. First honest and rational assessment I've heard out of Dusty in quite some time. Yep, I agree for the most part with what Baker said, but I don't agree that he said it. It seems he just doesn't understand when to back his players. Even if he knows that it was a good baseball play, I would think he would try to defend Barrett when there is a suspension riding on his actions.

And Baker kind of throws Barrett under the bus there, not defending him at all...

I heard that on the radio, made me laugh.

That pretty much covers it!

If a world series champ throws it, its gotta be a strike, dude. If a 700 home run guy doesnt swing at it, it's gotta be a ball, dude. After seeing the 3rd strike called on Murton, yes he is.

Good to hear some of that coming from a national person, we're not the only ones who see it!

Was he actually being serious? It would take more than another year or two for Maddux to get into the Hall as a Cub (I doubt anything less than another three years with a World Series title would do it). And it would be a horrible move for Hendry to make. There's no real impact move for Hendry to make. Aside from finding a platoon partner for Jones and firing most of the coaching staff, Dusty, and then himself, there are no easy answers. Yes, Stone was being completely serious and he thinks that will happen soon, but he also hinted that it would be done for all the wrong reasons. By the way, what happened to Hendry's policy of not negotiating contracts during the season?

Back to my original question though... I'm trying to be objective and just wondering if there is any precedent for a manager being on the verge of being run out of town who somehow regains the fan support? It seems like it always follows the same pattern, first the vote of confidence then the firing. Are there any examples to the contrary?