Tracer Bullet

No, just lurk. But it's a great site.

Do you mean ND Nation?

Nomar's hitting .329/.368/.620/.988 with 6 homers and 5 doubles in 79 ABs since returning from the DL. If he wants to roast a pig in the clubhouse before every game, I'll help him build the fire.

I hate Dusty Baker.

That doesn't make sense to me. Why get Jones & Stewart, who each have OBP around .333 and have OPS of about .780 and .730, for $13M, and then play Neifi & JHJr at 2B when we could exercise two options and at the very least have Walker (.351 OBP, .824 OPS, 2.5M) and Burny (.330 OBP, .790 OPS, 7M), with Hairston back out in CF? Walker would be just as good at leading off as Stewart and we wouldn't have to start or platoon the .300 OBP, < .700 OPS that is Neifi Perez. I'm not advocating these moves, btw, I'm just saying that the deal proposed doesn't make the team any better. And since Jones costs more than Walker, we're essentially paying $3.5M (not to mention CPatt, Rusch, and Welly) to lose 15 to 20 points of OBP and add JC Romero (and his $3M contract). Is there something I'm missing?

Yep. At least according to the Trib

He'll probably sign in StL, find the fountain of youth and have 3 consecutive career years.

You're right. I didn't realize how tough this was until I tried to do it. A lot hinges on the FA market (do they get Giles or another corner OF, do they get Furcal, which impacts Nomar, and maybe Walker if Nomar stays to play 2B, etc). But here goes (me/Cubs): 1. B/A (unless they sign a FA corner OF) 2. A/A 3. C/C 4. A/B 5. C/C 6. B/A (unless they sign Furcal) 7. A/A (unless they sign Furcal) 8. B/B - which is probably a bad idea, given how far above his career avg he's been. I don't like signing guys long term after career years, but Lee may get pissed if the Cubs don't offer big money this offseason, given what he's done and how much ARam got last spring. 9. D/B - (D - signed to be set-up man, but not sure Dempster wants that). 10. A/B.

I don't think this is a big deal. If announcers criticize players, the players should be free to state their case too. I can understand Walker being frustrated. He's played fairly well and been subject to a number of trade rumors this week (when he clearly wants to stay in Chicago). There's no reason to blow this out of proportion. But what is the big deal when an announcer says anything as long as it's not personal? Are there now spies relaying information from the tv sets in the clubhouse to the players? If Brenly had said, "The Cubs have quit" or "They are showing no heart" I could see the need to respond, but Walker responding to "The Cubs haven't hit the ball hard" doesn't seem harmful to me, especially if you've been one-hit. There are other things he should be concerned about. And regarding the trade rumors, I think it a bunch of bunk when professional players allude to or claim that they may be distracted by trade rumors. These are the same guys who are constantly saying, "it's a business." I have no idea how Walker found out about it. I don't even know when Brenly made the comment. But none of that really matters. If someone says to Player A "Brenly doesn't think the team is hitting the ball hard," and he responds, "Brenly's crazy, we hit a lot of hard balls, they were just right at people," why is that a big deal? It doesn't mean he's thinking about other things. I don't understand why this is even an issue. It's not like he called the booth during a game or went on a local radio show to rag about the mean announcers or whatever. Brenly stated his opinion and Walker stated his. I don't see how this is a knock on Walker at all. And I didn't claim (nor did Todd, that I've seen) that the trade rumors were distracting him or harming his performance. I'm just saying that he's probably as frustrated with the team as we are. They expected to win, it's Sept and they're out of the race, they just got 1-hit, and even though he signed a reasonable contract with a very reasonable team option and wants to be a Cub (and should be a Cub), there was rampant speculation that he was being traded. Trade rumors may not have any effect on some players, but I think it's bunk to say that players aren't or shouldn't be concerned about it after the game. Yes, they say "it's a business" but that's what they're supposed to say. A player would be skewered in the media if they said "yes, I couldn't focus during that AB b/c all I could think about was being traded to NY" or whatever. If you want to stay in a city and play for a certain team, it's human nature to have some concern or at least give some thought to the fact that you might get shipped out, esp when it's being rumored.

I don't think this is a big deal. If announcers criticize players, the players should be free to state their case too. I can understand Walker being frustrated. He's played fairly well and been subject to a number of trade rumors this week (when he clearly wants to stay in Chicago). There's no reason to blow this out of proportion.

I have always wondered where that statement originated from. Does anyone know? What about "a can of corn"? Don't know about the screws comment, but "can of corn" dates back to when cans of corn used to be on the top shelf of the grocery stores. Apparently people would use a stick with a hook on it to pull a can down and then catch it (with their hand or their basket). That's my understanding and I'm pretty sure it's right.

Then I hope the Cards hire him.

Too bad Dusty has already proven BA wrong - even w/o Holla and Lawton he will find a way to keep Murton firmly planted on the bench.

lead-off single by Hairston. Who was promptly doubled up by Neifi...The 10th best SS in the NL!! (IMB! is right, not really that interesting).

I'm sorry, I was unaware this board was lacking in Corey bashing. The point is there is a discussion of guys who haven'r produced and his name isn't being mentioned. Give me a break. Why does Perez merit greater bashing than patterson? Topic of the hour? Not every discussionhas to be about Corey. This one for instance, is about the Niefster. Some of the people on this board have an unbelievable double standard. Are you talking about me? If so, please enlighten me....otherwise, carryon. I'm talking about those criticizing players for being non-productive and mentioning a number of names without Patterson's name coming up. Those and all the excuse makers for him earlier in the year ("it's, sob, Dusty's fault, sob, that Corey swing, sob, at pitches over, sob, his head.") who never desist in ripping Perez and macias while calling for an end to Patterson bashing. Not sure what point you're trying to make. There's been lots of discussion about CPatt's poor performance this year on this board. Today, we're discussing how Neifi compares to Burnitz & Hairston. We're clearly not talking about everyone who has had a bad year (I don't think Macias has been mentioned once). If you'd like us to add Patterson to the mix, fine. IMO, Patterson has been worse than Burnitz, Hairston, and Neifi. Please discuss.

What does that mean Neifi has outhit him most of the year? Burnitz has been better than Neifi all year. neifi has a better batting average than burnitz for most parts of the season and overall. True, Neifi has had a higher AVG, but there's a lot more that goes into being a hitter than AVG. Burnitz has a better OBP and a far better SLG than Neifi. You really believe that the 10 point advantage in AVG makes up for the 100 point disadvantage in OPS?

Actually, I don't think that's true. Neifi has 10 points of average and more homers and RBI than Hairston (in 150 or so more ABs). But for much of the year Neifi was asked to be a top of the order guy and he has a .300 OBP (compared to JHJr.'s .338). The 10 or so extra points in SLG are easily outweighed by Jerry's near 40 point advantage in OBP. And Neifi isn't comparable to Burny either. Again, a 10 point lead in AVG is easily outweighed by the 25 point advantage Burny enjoys in OBP. Add in the 70 or so points of SLG and the homers and RBI and Burny has been better. By no means have Burny or Hairston been "great" (or even good), but I don't think it's fair to say that Neifi has been better than either. Neifi is what he is - a solid utility player that would be a good backup infielder. The fact that Dusty has wildly misused him this year should not be held against him. But let's not let Pat & Ron's unfounded love for Neifi outweigh the facts. Neifi, over the whole season, has not been a good offensive player for the Cubs. the problem is for these cubs no one outside of lee and aram have been good. barrett has been for a catcher but that does not make him good overall! I don't disagree that this is a "worse of 2 (or 3) evils" issue. I'm just disputing your claim that Neifi has been better than Hairston and comparable to Burnitz.

Actually, I don't think that's true. Neifi has 10 points of average and more homers and RBI than Hairston (in 150 or so more ABs). But for much of the year Neifi was asked to be a top of the order guy and he has a .300 OBP (compared to JHJr.'s .338). The 10 or so extra points in SLG are easily outweighed by Jerry's near 40 point advantage in OBP. And Neifi isn't comparable to Burny either. Again, a 10 point lead in AVG is easily outweighed by the 25 point advantage Burny enjoys in OBP. Add in the 70 or so points of SLG and the homers and RBI and Burny has been better. By no means have Burny or Hairston been "great" (or even good), but I don't think it's fair to say that Neifi has been better than either. Neifi is what he is - a solid utility player that would be a good backup infielder. The fact that Dusty has wildly misused him this year should not be held against him. But let's not let Pat & Ron's unfounded love for Neifi outweigh the facts. Neifi, over the whole season, has not been a good offensive player for the Cubs.

Really? More info please!

How does Jose Cruz friggin Jr. become a stud against the Cubs?

Gameday shows the 4th pitch to Lee was an "Automatic Ball." For those of us not able to watch the game, can someone please explain what happened?

Of course it should be retired. Regardless of whether he's proven guilty of taking steroids now. If he tests positive for roids in '05 that doesn't necessarily prove he was on roids while with the Cubs. And frankly, I think he probably was using roids or HGH or something while w/ Chicago. Even so, I still retire his jersey. All those players on roids (and I think there were a lot of them) from the 90s will have their jerseys retired, and the Cubs would be crazy not to retire Sosa's. And for the record - I'm not biased by a love (current or former) for Sosa. I actually never liked Sosa, don't know why. But my favorite sports number has always been 21. So I've been bummed for the last 5 years or so after I realized that no player on my favorite team would ever wear 21 again and every time I go to Wrigley I'll have to see his name and number waving on one of the poles. :( But I don't think you can pretend that the Sosa years never happened - he was the face of the franchise for a long time and deserves to be recognized for it.

Leaning into pitches is apparently how you play the game "The Right Way." :roll: I'm glad an umpire called him on it.

I understand your point. And I hope that Barrett improves defensively. This team needs to make some changes before 2006 starts, I just don't think that moving the 28 yr old best offensive catcher in the NL is one of them. Would it help to fire Dusty and hire Joe Girardi? Joe was a defensive catcher, maybe he could help! Couldn't hurt (and not just for Barrett's sake).

My favorite part of that article is the following: It just cracks me up that at one time Enrique Wilson (who hit .136 for the Cubs this year) was someone that the Twins would want to hide.