jaxxradio

Stitch, you right.. you don't need the greatest SS defensively to win.. but you need DEFENSE and PITCHING to win a World Series. I can name you a ton of teams that didn't have a great offense that won a ring (the 1988 Dodgers and the 1990 Reds come to mind). I can name you a BOATLOAD of teams that had a great offense that didn't win the ring (as an Indians fan, I'll put the 1995 Indians, as one of many cases in point).

I'll say it again.. Great pitching beats great hitting..you can have all the great hitting in the world, but when that great or hot offense goes up against a great or hot pitching staff.. you'll get beat.. in the Cardinals case back in the 2004 World Series, swept.

Gee Goony it could also be that maybe (just maybe), Izturis is having a bad year defensively because HE DIDN'T PLAY SHORTSTOP THIS SEASON UNTIL THE CUBS GOT HIM!!! Stitch, by making the defense better up the middle (especially at 2nd and short), the pitchers get better. It all goes hand in hand.

Okay, so is it safe to say that you would go with a guy like Tejada over Ozzie Smith (who wasn't very talented offensively average wise) or Omar Vizquel (an offensive clone of Ozzie's)?? If that's the case, you have an interesting perspective on the game.

Dang biit.. I'm 42 but if someone called me a kid, I would be happy.. It was just an expression..

Sure Izturis is having a bad year defensively.. he played over half the freakin year playing THIRD BASE, not shortstop. Trust me on this one.. I saw him enough in Dodgertown over the years to say without a shadow of a doubt.. he is one of the three best defensive shortstops in baseball today.

BTW Goony, I'm not talking about "good fielding" guys.. they do come a dime a dozen.. I'm talking GREAT fielding guys. Great fielding guys up the middle take alot of pressure off average pitching staffs. Izturis at short is GREAT defensively. Cedeno or Theriot at 2B has the potential (I hate that word as much as anyone else) to be GREAT defensively as well.

Offense put butts in the seats.. pitching and defense win championships.. Great pitching (and defense) beats great hitting 99 times out of 100. If the infield in place plays the way they are capable of playing defensively, they will save enough runs to justify putting them there in the first place. BTW, Izturis is one of the three best defensive SS in the game. While it's true his glove isn't great right now, give him the benefit of the doubt. Come 2007, he will be gold glove caliber again.

Having seen both Theriot and Cedeno on a daily basis when they played in West Tenn, I can tell you that they both play solid defensively, which is WAY more important than what they bring to the plate based on the position they are playing. I said this when the Izturis trade was announced and I will say it again, the Cubs made a GREAT move in picking up Izturis. By playing Izturis at short and playing Theriot or Cedeno at second, the Cubs now have a solid defensive base up the middle. Throw in a 1B that picks out low throws better than anyone in Derek Lee and you have an infield defense that will be among the elite in the National League next season (provided Ramirez stays at 3B). Now I know alot of you kids are fixated on offense and while I agree the team needs more offense, this Cubs team is in more desperate need of pitching. Specifically, pitchers that tend to yield ground balls. If the Cubs can get their pitchers to induce more ground balls with the infield currently in place, I think alot of you will be surprised how improved this team will become both defensively and team ERA wise. By improving those two facets of the game, it puts less of a sense of urgency on the offense. Believe it or not, this team isn't nearly as far away from contending as alot of you might think.

Vance, I really like Trustmark Park.. they did a wonderful job putting the stadium together. The only blemish is the radio booth on both the home and road side. It's to cramped and they did a poor job of constructing it but the rest of the stadium is really impressive. As far as ranking it with the rest of the league, here is how I rank the stadiums: 1) Jacksonville (hands down) 2) Montgomery 3) Mississippi 4) Tennessee 5) West Tenn 6) Chattanooga 7) Birmingham 8) Carolina 9 (tie) Huntsville and Mobile (both places need to blow their stadiums up and try again)

Update on the Double-A affiliation.. there are currently four teams looking for a Double-A home (Cubs, Arizona, Seattle & San Diego). If the Cubs and the Diamond Jaxx don't re-sign a two year deal, it would appear that West Tenn would have either Seattle, Arizona or San Diego as their Double-A affiliate. As for Montgomery, I am not totally convinced that they will be successful for many years to come. The stadium is great but it's built in downtown, which has nothing in terms of hotels, bars, restuarants, etc.. Unless the city of Montgomery gets off their butt and starts developing the downtown area, that franchise will see it's attendance figures dwindle dramatically. I'm looking forward to seeing how this club will be received once the typical three to five year honeymoon period comes to an end.

As long as they put Pie in the five or six hole, everything will be good. He is NOT a lead-off hitter. Hopefully the Cubs realize this before he Felix gets to the show.

It occured to me just now why I love the city of Chicago. It is the midwest version of New York without the garbage in the streets or the obnoxious attitude that alot (not all) New Yorkers have.

Okay, some observations on my first trip to Wrigley (and Chicago as well).. The city is alot cleaner than I thought it would be. Riding the subway/train was quite enjoyable and what I liked most was the fact that I could clearly hear what our next stop would be. When I was in New York, their subway system had horrendous sound as far as when/what the next stop was. Enough about the subway system.. Wrigley Field in general.. very cozy, alot smaller than I thought it was going to be. The field was beaten up, probably because of the horrible weather the city had had prior to the start of the homestand. I LOVED the scoreboard in center and it goes without saying, I LOVED the ivy walls. It reminded me an awful lot of Cleveland Municipal Stadium back in the day. An old ballpark that has plenty of beams that could tick people off. Unlike Cleveland Stadium, this place was made for baseball and has a much better baseball atmosphere to it. That's what makes Wrigley so magical. BTW, there are fifteen guys on the expanded roster that has made a stop in West Tenn from 2004-2006. It looked like a West Tenn reunion of sorts. I could get used to broadcasting games in Wrigley.. maybe one day.

I want to thank everyone here at NSBB for your support and your listenership. Yesterday was the final game of the 2006 season and possibly my last broadcast with the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx. In the four years I have been here, I have learned alot about media relations, the business side of baseball and have improved (well somewhat anyway) my ability to broadcast a game. I have been invited back to broadcast the 2007 season, but I am concentrating more on my family. A decision will be made during the long off-season. Two years ago, Chris Dishman came to me with an idea to incorporate northsidebaseball.com into the Diamond Jaxx broadcasts. When I met him, the first thing that came to my mind was how great this relationship could be and how perfect it would be to incorporate a website dedicated to Cubs fans all across the world with the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. Two years later, what I envisioned was reality. By giving Chris, Serena and Tim press credentials, they were able to give you fans an inside look at the future Chicago Cubs. The sponsorship of the Chicago Cubs Farm Report was yet another great tool, not only for the broadcast but to give the listeners an opportunity to hear how cool your website is. This certainly isn't goodbye by any stretch of the imagination. I have the e-mail address and if it's okay with Tim, Chris and Serena I would like to hang around and give everyone a hard time about OBP, moving up a runner, etc.. (I couldn't resist). The off-season is going to be one with many questions surrounding not only the Chicago Cubs, but in many ways the relationship with the Diamond Jaxx. I'm looking forward to hearing the answers to these questions this off-season. In closing, I want to thank everybody associated with this tremendous website. In the two years I have been associated with northsidebaseball.com, I have been warmly received and have had many compliments about my style of broadcasting (BTW, for all you people that did compliment me, your check for $100 is in the mail..buying people's opinions sure have gone up in price through the years..). The forum has been a great place to discuss baseball and though there are times when the threads could go on forever and ever, know that I respect everyone's opinion and passion for this great game. I hope to be in the big leagues one day. If it's with the Cubs, it would be a tremendous honor knowing that it would be for you fans again. Thank you for allowing me into your website and listening to the Diamond Jaxx.

One of the bright spots in my journey here has been you guys..

I'll be around for a bit.. then I'll be trying to find a Triple-A or (dare I dream), a big league job. I have been invited back next year and if I don't have anything else, there is a chance that I will be back.. but I really don't know if I want to waste my time in a town that doesn't want this team. It's been a pain in the ass for the past four years years

I'll write my thoughts and my thanks to youze guys at some point this week.

I resigned last week.. If I come back iit will only be as an in-season employee. My family means more to me than the game.. it took a long time to fiigure it out, but I did..

The internet service is working today.. you kids might want to hear my LAST broadcast with the Diamond Jaxx...

I want to apologize on behalf of the flagship station for not getting the internet working. It's very unfortunate that the announcement wasn't able to be heard by you loyal fans. I am SO GLAD I don't have to deal with this problem anymore after tomorrow.

he played one game at short for the Jaxx about four or five days ago. The Cubs AREN"T experimenting with him at short.. he's there to add a bat in the lineup to try and get the I-Cubs into post-season. It's sad that the Cubs didn't try to stack our roster in 2005 when we we're in the Southern League post-season.

Thomas played in thirty-two games and hit 12 homers last season, not the kind of numbers that are going to make a huge difference one way or the other. I suppose White Sox GM Kenny Williams, manager Ozzie Guillen and most of the clubhouse that commented on the chemistry being better in the clubhouse because Thomas isn't around isn't all that important. I mean after all, it's only the GM, Manager and the players that said it. I guess having players congratulate a teammate for moving a runner over shouldn't have any bearing. I mean, it's only the guys that know more about baseball and have been in the game longer than me or anyone else in this forum. USSoccer, baseball is so much more of a team game than you think. Is there a pitcher-batter matchup? Yes, but the batter isn't in that alone, nor is the pitcher. Who do you think tells the pitcher what pitch to throw?? The manager tells the catcher who tells the pitcher unless the manager completely trusts his catcher. Who do you think tells the hitter what to do? The third base coach by flashing those signs that you see. He isn't rubbing his hat, belly, arms for nothing.. it's called COMMUNICATION. Who do you think tells the infield and outfield where to play in certain situations?? The manager or the bench coach.. Who do you think sets up the defense with runners on?? The third baseman or the catcher after the manager flashes a sign to tell that player how to set up the defense. To say baseball isn't a team sport is ignorance. Here's the bottom line without stepping on anyone's toes or offending anyone. Fans have numbers at their disposal and for the most part you stand by those numbers because that's the only thing you have. Sadly, fans aren't allowed to go into a clubhouse, interview players, get to know them on a daily basis, etc.. like myself and the rest of the media. I believe in the "chemistry breeds winning" theory because I know first hand that it works, much like you fans know that player A is a better hitter, defender, etc.. than player B because you have numbers to back it up. I admit that there is truth to numbers, much like there is truth to what I have said.

I find it very hard to believe that a publication has 100 years worth of boxscores with the play-by-play of each inning attached to the boxscores. I want to ask yourself a serious question. How did they get the information over the last 100 years of baseball? You can't use a regular boxscore because it doesn't have enough in depth information needed to get the numbers. I'll give you the last 30-40 years, but enlighten me on how you can get that specific statistic from the early 1900's through the 1960's? The only possible way you could get that information is by getting a play-by-play report written of every game ever played and since the play-by-play sheet used today didn't come out until the last 30-40 years, I find it really hard to believe that they can get the information needed to support the theory.

Stitch, I don't like statistics because they aren't the end all on how to judge a player and more importantly from a radio broadcasters perspective the majority of fans listening in to the game don't want to hear what Aramis Ramirez average is while wearing purple underwear on a Tuesday night with clear skies and a full moon (BTW, he is 4-9 in those situations this season..). If you were a GM and you were given the choice between a player who puts up MVP caliber numbers but isn't a team player and a player who puts up good, but not great, numbers who is considered to be a great teammate, who would you pick? If you choose the guy who puts up MVP numbers that isn't a team player, you wouldn't be making the right decision if you want to win a championship IMO. Why do you think guys like Barry Bonds and Frank Thomas haven't won a ring yet?? They both belong in the Hall of Fame and in Bonds case, he's the greatest player I have ever seen and will probably ever see in my life. So, why do you think it is that these guys haven't won a ring?? Why did the White Sox happen to win it all last season, the first year after Thomas left? Because the clubhouse got a whole lot better chemistry wise without that pain in the arse in the clubhouse.