cheapseats

:D Weeks homerun. :(

Congratulations! I envy you.

Thanks for the stats, Fred. I always look forward to your worthless stats post.

I remember way back to 2004: Vasquez, Brown, Mussina, Lieber, Loaiza. Not to mention Gordon and Rivera. But it sure would be nice to have our pitchers healthy all at once.

Sure! Placing them on Hendry's office door would be a good place to start.

He got desperate and started juicing.

Why don't we organize a Vote For the Worst type campaign to show Jacque that we really love him and want him to be happy and help him forget lovely Minnesota. Example: http://www.votefortheworst.com/ They organize a group of people to vote for the worst contestant on American Idol every week.

First Dempster, then Williamson. I hope Hedry can make it 3 for 3 on reclamation projects with Miller. Chad Fox?

It was the booing that woke him up and snapped him out of his funk.

Hell.... we could be done by 3:00 the way this is going. I've got to go to a business meeting. At this rate, the game will probably be over by the time I get back.

Did anyone catch the name of the home plate umpire? Was it Randy Marsh? It's Marsh. Thanks. Marsh has one of the tightest strikezones in baseball. Evidence: In 2005, he was 66 out of 86 umpires in K/BB ratio. In 2004, he was 83 out of 84. In 2003, he was 78 out of 84. In 2002, he was 80 out of 86. In 04, for example, his K/BB ratio was about half that of Doug Eddings. If we were a team that walked, we could get some walks today.

Did anyone catch the name of the home plate umpire?

Why should there be rath (sic) for Aram? He's a very good hitter who's slumping.

Brewers fans give their players at least 15-20 games at the beginning of the year before they start booing them. Because of the unwavering fan support, Fielder has been able to turn the corner and become the hitting machine he was meant to be. He was teetering on the brink of success and could have gone either way, but luckily for him and his fellow Brewers, the fans gave him the patience he needed.

He's not fat, he's just big-boned.

Jacque's bat is worth $5 million? Is that why it looks funny?

Of all people, Junior Spivey has always hit Maddux well, so Cubs fans should rejoice that he's no longer with the Brewers (or playing for the Cards, for that matter).

The Cubs don't care if one person quits going to games. They don't care if a few hundred people quit going to games. Those people can be easily replaced right now. You made the point yourself that they've sold more tickets than ever during the past three years (although they've been averaging 32,000+ since 1998). Any season tickets that are relinquished will be snatched up by those on a years-long waiting list. Cubs management won't care nearly as much about callers on talk radio or newspaper articles as they will negative behavior at the games. I do fundraising research for a $100 million organization that's been around for over a hundred years. My institution is like most companies: if a group of our constituents has a problem with us, it's a much bigger deal than if a group of outsiders has a problem with us. I do like the idea of standing at the street corner with a sandwich board, but I like the idea of fans wearing anti-management shirts to the game better. Devilrays fans staged protests last year - including an in-game walkout - and Tampa ownership changed during the offseason. Was the ownership change (and subsequent firing of the GM) directly effected by the demonstrations? No, certainly there were other factors in play, but the very public and visible protests put the owner in a difficult position.

No, while the first part of your post is definitely true, the latter part is not. Actually, the fact that the people booing are paying customers makes management more concerned (not less concerned) about their sentiments than they would be about what gets posted on a site like this one or what Jay Marriotti writes in a column. The booing is an embarassment to management, particularly with a team like the Cubs, who are very visible because of their television deals. One can certainly make the argument that Latroy, Sammy, Hundley, Corey, etc would have been shown the door without boos from the fans, but the fans probably do make an impact on roster decisions. Like it or not, a lot of people go to Wrigley for the nostalgia of the park and (if the people around you aren't TOO drunk) the pleasant atmosphere. If fans create a negative atmosphere, part of the appeal of the Wrigley experience diminishes, and management has to do what most other teams have to do: field a winning team to sell tickets. It's not unrealistic to argue that such a thing could happen. In 1997, when I first moved to Chicago, average attendance was just barely over 27,000. It wasn't impossible to get Cubs/Cardinals seats at the ticket window on the day of the game.

The loud booing and subsequent banishment of Patterson is what led to the high price paid to acquire Pierre. I don't want management making decisions based on fan/player interaction, or else you might see them going out and signing the Augie Ojedas of the world. Hence the need to educate the fans. If fans boo the bad players, spineless management gets rid of the bad players. Of course, you do point out the weakness of said approach: the fans don't have any control over who replaces the bad players. If we got a good GM and a manager who could teach fundamentals and stay out of the way, we'd be set. But if we had a good GM and manager, we wouldn't have to educate them by booing. Right, that's what I meant. Sorry if I didn't make that more clear.

The loud booing and subsequent banishment of Patterson is what led to the high price paid to acquire Pierre. I don't want management making decisions based on fan/player interaction, or else you might see them going out and signing the Augie Ojedas of the world. Hence the need to educate the fans. If fans boo the bad players, spineless management gets rid of the bad players. Of course, you do point out the weakness of said approach: the fans don't have any control over who replaces the bad players. If we got a good GM and a manager who could teach fundamentals and stay out of the way, we'd be set.

I don't think anyone is suggesting to boo Pierre until he improves. I for one will hold off on booing Pierre until he shows improvement, at which point I will begin to boo him vociferously. And I think that's ridiculous. It's not as if Pierre isn't trying or showing poor attitude. Creating a hostile home environment for players who are giving their best is the last thing we need, but unfortunately it's becoming the norm. Maybe I should have used a smiley to indicate I was kidding. Would this one do? :twisted: Like I said earlier in the thread, I don't think Pierre should be booed for his lack of power or his noodle arm. If he fails to run out a ground ball or tries to steal third with two outs (ahem, Jerry Hairston) or lets a fly ball drop because he thinks Jacque Jones is going to catch it, those are causes for booing. It's OK to express disapproval when a guy does something selfish or stupid. It's not fair to blame someone for being who he is. However, I do believe that good things can come from booing. The Cubs have a track record of getting rid of players who the fans dislike. The key would be educating the fans at Wrigley to boo for the proper players. Maybe volunteers could pass out information about Neifi, Jacque, etc before games?

I don't think anyone is suggesting to boo Pierre until he improves. I for one will hold off on booing Pierre until he shows improvement, at which point I will begin to boo him vociferously.

Mark Grace never did that for you? No, but he did seduce my overweight sister when he was in a slump.

no such thing :D I believe in hell. :twisted: