USSoccer

Okay, today's game got me thinking, if for no other reason that, as a history guy, my mind makes connections. We're in, as has been pointed out ad nauseum, the same position roughly that Houston was in last season. Same issues-inconsistent play, spotty starting pitching, spotty offense, bad managing. Cue the 4 game set with the Cardinals. Cubs win big, ARam gets hit in the 9th by a RHP. Lest I just rest on pointing out the parallels between this series and the Cubs/Astros tilt last August where we "woke them up", let me run through some rules and preconditions for getting back into the race. #1-No contention talk until the team is above .500. Simple rule. You can't consider yourself a contender (unless you're in the NL West) until you are a winning club. So that's a precondition for the rest of this mess. #2-Corey Patterson has to be the X-Factor. Has to be. We all know Corey is talented, and his defense alone in CF will be a big help. But he needs to bring the stick. He took a walk today, which made me spit up diet coke at my desk. If he gets hot, suddenly our offense becomes that more potent. #3-Z and Prior have to pitch lights out. No more 5th or 6th inning exits. They have to be the aces. Z, up until the Mets game, has been that guy, but Prior's been giving up the long ball. Those two have to win or at least put the team in a position to win every one of their starts. #4-Lee and Aramis. If they hit, we win. If they don't we generally lose. They have to bring it the rest of the year, and Baker has to figure out a way to get these guys rest without sitting them very much. In blowout games, for example (like today), pull them. Sit them, especially Lee. Find creative ways to get them a break here and there, to keep them sharp. #5-No more blowup starts. Maddux's start today was a great thing, since our bullpen has been used and abused, which has contributed to our recent awful stretch. Our pen is really, really shaky, so our starters have to keep us in games. They have the talent to do so. With Rusch in the rotation now, I'm more confident. #6-Luck. We need baseball magic. We've lost games this year in ways I couldn't imagine. Throwing balls into the dugout after catching a line drive, botched rundowns, you name it. These things usually even out during the season, and we need some luck to fall our way. We need seeing eye singles, bloop doubles, wind blown homeruns, and generous strike zones. And solid defense. No more giving away outs. #7-Matt Lawton needs to get on base. Period. Nothing really to say here beyond.... #8-Dusty Baker. He has the rep of being a September manager. His job may be on the line, but his reputation is teetering on the brink of joke here. He needs to prove his mettle right now. He needs to find a way to somehow overcome the fact that he's Dusty Baker, the worst in-game manager in the NL, and consistently put us in position to win games. No mroe forfiet lineups, no more using your LOOGY against a RHH, no more ignoring splits and keep the team focused and ready. If we can do all of these things, we can put ourselves in a position to be within 4 games of Houston by the last week of the season. As bad as we were the past 10 games before today, Houston was only 5-5. They had a chance to bury us (as we did they last season), and didn't. We have many teams in front of us (as they did), but we have head to head matchups with the front runner, and the teams in the east all play each other. We have a chance. Things must break our way.

If Macias and Neifi spark the team back into contention, or, dare I say, into the WC by Oct 1st, Dusty can bat them 3-4 for all I care.

Alright Corey!! Nice game!

Why do you have to make something out of nothing? La Russa does not order pitchers to throw at players. Period. You have to be kidding me. Seriously.

Did Eldred just throw at ARam?? Stupid way to wake up a sleeping, struggling team.

ARam!!

He got the hit and the RBI - no sense in pulling HIS groin in the process. We did that at a Cards game already. Not as if him running hard on wet dirt could possibly hurt his-oh wait, we already lost a guy to that this year. :P

Wow...how does Dusty possibly still have a job? Someone tell me? And Maddux getting shelled today gets us a bit closer to his option not vesting. Maybe a nice 4 inning outing? How many starts can he have left this year??

I ate some fiberglass insulation. It wasn't cotton candy like that guy said. ...my tummy itches. The bears are attracted to the menstration! Where did you get those clothes? The toilet store? Would you like to go to the pants party? I threw a trident, and I killed a guy. He's dead. I love...lamp.

There was an unsubstantiated report of him being benched for loafing after a ball in the gap Tuesday

Hey, maybe this series will be like the Houston series last year...the Cards will wake us up and we'll go 47-4 the rest of the way? Hahahahaha? *calls looney bin, makes reservation*

That looks like Macias is at 2B. Good thinking Dusty, Walker's only 5 for his last 13, and 5 for his last 15 against LHP. Oh, and Walker had a day off 3 games ago. Actually, replace Burnitz with Nomar, move Macias to RF, and slide Perez to 2B, and that's the correct lineup. I misheard it. It's still bad, though.

Macias Perez Lee Ramirez Burnitz Murton Barrett Patterson Maddux is what I just heard...god that's bad. I think Dusty is just throwing spaghetti against the wall, hoping it will stick

Hendry has been preety good as far as trades go, but has been good-god awful when it comes to FA or resigning his own players? Why do I say this? -He bid against himself for Maddux -Resigned and gave raises to Macias and Perez -Promised Hollandsworth the everyday LF job (implicitly or overtly; certainly implicitly in comments to the media) -Overpaid a bit for Henry Blanco -Spent far too much time trying to move the supposed "cancer" on the 2004 team, to the point where it severly limited the team's ability to do anything but sign Jeromy Burnitz, while ignoring or being indifferent to the actual flaws in the team. There are other flaws with JH as well, such as: -Leaving Sisco unprotected in Rule 5. -Not trading away bulk excess Rule 5 players, ensuring that, in all likelihood, someone good will again be lost this winter to a numbers game. -Stupidly called up Ronny Cedeno to sit behind Perez. When it became apparent that Ronny wasn't going to play more than once every 10 games, he should have been sent down. -Made the decicion to reactivate Wood rather than just get him healthy and ready to start in 2006. He's not doing us any good pitching 1-2-3 innings at the end of blowouts. -If his philosiphy on young players differs from Dusty, he certainly has not done enough to correct the situation (Murton vs Macias/Holla, Cedeno vs Perez. Dubois over Hollandsworth, etc...) Hendry needs to show us something over the next 5 months or so, IMO. His track record runs about average when you balance this list with the good move list of aquiring Ramirez, Lee, Barrett and the other moves.

you called it Oh good god. It as if he's trying to run the team into the ground.... I said it once before: Half eaten breakfast>>Dusty.

Now if Dusty goes with Williamson for a 2nd inning....

I'm calling it...a flyout of medium depth.

3-run jack for Corey here...I'm calling it....

4 times in 6 days isn't the best usage plan for a guy coming off of 2 reconstructive elbow ops... I actually do agree with your final statement, though. No need to take chances with either guy right now..

Dusty Baker wants another Chad Fox episode? Man...I just cannot fathom the tactical and strategic ignorance that is #12...

Why is Williamson pitching 3 days in a row..... :x

i shouldnt ask, but what happened? what happened?

that would have to be some knid of record...

Good lord....this is a bloodbath. Baker and rothschild need to go buh-bye...

Wow, this is getting brutal. The bottom has just completely fallen out...