Dirt Dog Sparly

I agree with you about Z. Either be at your best or be bad and take one for the team by staying out there 110 - 120 pitches. Cherry coming up is a given but instead of DL for Ohman, if he has options left, is AAA. You cant afford to send down a position player if you arent going to DL Soriano.

Happy Birthday Bruce!!!

QFT Cubs.

trying to hit the ball on the ground isn't wise. Sully have a great time :wink:

Right now we arent hitting like the 27 Yanks. Time and a place for everything. If its through then it is 1st and 3rd. On the ground you still have a guy on. H&R with Sorri, not a big fan. Barrett up with Murton on makes a good Run and Hit combo. we were hitting well in that inning. no need to take chances when we're hitting well. As others have said, it was moving the defense that picked up an extra run. Blindly H&R I agree with you, not smart. Picking times and places. Remember you are dealing with humans. The Mental is 2 to 1 the physical.

Right now we arent hitting like the 27 Yanks. Time and a place for everything. If its through then it is 1st and 3rd. On the ground you still have a guy on. H&R with Sorri, not a big fan. Barrett up with Murton on makes a good Run and Hit combo.

Put a leash on it and see if it will chase you around there Kid. :wink:

Does we got a run dance. :roll:

I thought scouts were all dirty old men. Most of the ones I know are. But then this is a family board so lets not get to much further down that road.

What's your problem with that quote? You wouldn't consider a combined 11-2 record with an era around 1.3 to be "stupid" good? Or do you just not like the phrase? I hate the phrase. He's been a scout for over 30 years. I'm assuming he's over 50. It's bad enough when a 20 year old talks like that. What's next? Yo, that Samardzija is just phat. He is in a young mans environment. As a teacher I was constantly having to value shift my vocabulary between the kids and the adults. You pick things up whether you want to or not. I will agree with you that vocabulary is part of image, but if he was excited about the player he was talking about then I can see things slipping out that wouldnt normally.

Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. Right now the offense is not clicking, period. Am I worried? Not at this time. Am I a little peeved? Yes. But not at the lack of homers. What has me peeved is the hangover from last year where when something bad happens it cascades over out of control. I am not so certain that they expect to win at this point so much as they expect for something to go wrong and then lose. The one thing that gives me hope is that Piniella wont tolerate losing. That is what this team needs the most. Someone to dig them kicking and screaming out a losing mindset. Once that is accomplished then I will start worrying about OBP with this team.

I became a Cubs fan the summer of 82 when we finally got cable. I was able to watch the Cubs and Braves at that time and that was it. Both teams were really bad, but Harry made the games so much fun. As I got older I really came to appreciate what Steve brought with him. Harry though is why I am a Cubs fan and even more a baseball fan. Pat and Ron are the same way. Its like going to a game with friends.

To those of you going to the game, enjoy yourselves you lucky....... :wink: I myself will be working, except during the game when I have already told my boss I have a lunch meeting. :twisted: Go Cubs! Astro??? Isnt that a cartoon dog?

Ill take the under today. In a month I'll lean toward the over.

A college team I listen to has a great PBP radio team. The color guy is a big Cards fan and yes, they are already squirming to listen to him on the radio.

Beautiful Girl, she takes after her mother I am sure. Ring of Fire??? What does the teacher have against Mr. Cash?

The Cubs cant show a 150 game schedule on WGN per MLB rules. Its the Anti-Super Station Rule. It was aimed At The Braves, Cubs and Yanks as a way to hamstring the owners who also had a TV channel as part of the empire. Once the Cubs sale WGN could broadcast 150 games if they wanted. However the loss the Cubs have taken on the TV deal, (a tax thing), would mean that WGN would have to pony up real fees for Cubs games. You could see an owner who miscalculates and then those of us not in Chicago lose all Cubs games outside the TBS/FOX/ESPN games. Which at that point I would probably go dish.

Yeah, but Theriot almost became the most hated man in Chicago. Ping: Mr Steve Bartman, please pick up the blue courtesy phone :lol:

Cubs 7 Reds 5 First Walk Murton First Hit Lee First SB Soriano First Double Soriano First HR Ramirez Z 6IP 5H 6K 4BB

I'll jump on before it gets too crowded. Its a Band WGN that I have been waiting on for a while.

In general, that has been his problem but that really wasn't evident today. Frandsen got a bloop hit ahead of the homer. It can happen to any pitcher. He finished off more hitters today than recent memory. 3.1 IP/ 4H / 2R / 2 ER/ 4SO/1 HR Yes, more hitters than in recent memory. But he's still not at 03 levels. The changeup would help a lot with that. I mentioned this earlier. I haven't seen him use it much at all this spring. I really wonder why. I said a few pages back that he may be keeping it in his back pocket for the regular season. Have a new wrinkle to show hitters. Plus a change up is more effective the second time through the order. Might be his starters mentality not wanting to show it off right away to hitters when he comes into the games. But why? Why wouldn't he work on it in spring training? How is he going to throw it effectively if he isn't practicing throwing it now? And why hold it back? It's not like he's been facing the Astros or Cardinals in spring training. He's been pitching against the Angels or the Giants, teams that he won't see at all this year or will only see once or twice. The whole point of spring training is to work on your pitches. I really do wonder why he isn't working on his changeup. The Cardinals and Astros might not be in in Arizona, but the scouting department is. Including the guys who normally would be looking at the draft right now. They are getting double dipped. As Bob Sanders said the change is there and he is working on his other pitches. Trust me, the pitching staff is doing enough throwing in the side sessions to work on anything they want. Then the daily throwing is another time to work on change ups and fastballs. I taught a guy to throw a split finger and let him toy with it during daily throwing for two weeks. We worked in the pen a week, including not tipping pitches, and then turned him lose with it. It was a nasty pitch and replaced his curve as his out pitch. The moral of the story is that you dont always need to work on things in a game setting to develop them.

In general, that has been his problem but that really wasn't evident today. Frandsen got a bloop hit ahead of the homer. It can happen to any pitcher. He finished off more hitters today than recent memory. 3.1 IP/ 4H / 2R / 2 ER/ 4SO/1 HR Yes, more hitters than in recent memory. But he's still not at 03 levels. The changeup would help a lot with that. I mentioned this earlier. I haven't seen him use it much at all this spring. I really wonder why. I said a few pages back that he may be keeping it in his back pocket for the regular season. Have a new wrinkle to show hitters. Plus a change up is more effective the second time through the order. Might be his starters mentality not wanting to show it off right away to hitters when he comes into the games.

He is still short arming his pitches huh?

Nice bounce back after giving up the homer.

The audio feed sounded like he squared it up. How far did it get out?