Dirt Dog Sparly

Right now? Several teams. He is Izterrible, but that's better than what San Francisco or Houston is playing, and might be valuable to Toronto, Baltimore, the White Sox, or Seattle. San Fran has Vizquel, just say no Jim, so Izturis isnt old enough. The White Sox arent buying this year so I cant see them adding him to pay his buy out at the end of the year. Toronto and Seattle I dont know alot about. Why do you think they would want to add him?

Jim Hendry did last year... I actually didn't mean that as sarcastic as it sounded. I'm legitimately questioning where he may end up. In that case. Houston needs a SS, but they would have to be part of a three way for that to happen I think. Baltimore maybe, Tejada is out for a while. I honestly cant think of anyone else that needs a glove SS at this point. Boston maybe but that is a big maybe on my part. I wonder what teams are under the false impression that Izturis is good defensively? I meant the glove SS as what he brings to the table. He isnt an offensive SS.

Jim Hendry did last year... I actually didn't mean that as sarcastic as it sounded. I'm legitimately questioning where he may end up. In that case. Houston needs a SS, but they would have to be part of a three way for that to happen I think. Baltimore maybe, Tejada is out for a while. I honestly cant think of anyone else that needs a glove SS at this point. Boston maybe but that is a big maybe on my part.

Jim Hendry did last year...

Yeah, Murton's call-up will occur when they are ready to give him steady playing time. They are looking for a short-term fix here, and a guy like Fox, with his 1B experience, better fits the bill. Plus why use up Murt's options when you know he is headed back down soon? Isn't it one option used per year, and then you can yo-yo him around as much as you want? Yep

Yeah, Murton's call-up will occur when they are ready to give him steady playing time. They are looking for a short-term fix here, and a guy like Fox, with his 1B experience, better fits the bill. Plus why use up Murt's options when you know he is headed back down soon? You used one sending him down, bringing him back up wont use another one till next year.

I think he is being spanked by Lou for not taking his advice to try something new when he was struggling. Especially since Lou seems to like him from what was said earlier.

Was Blevins on the 40 man?

Fox was drafted as a catcher. Hard hands so he has been moved to corner OF and first base. Right handed hitter with some pop. Yes his K/BB ratio is interesting.

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2007/07/fox-joins-cubs.html There is the link folks.

Just read the entry on the blog. No idea who is being sent out to make room. http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2007/07/fox-joins-cubs.html

I fully understand the love for Marmol, but I can't understand why everybody hates Howry. Its a board thing :shrug:

Be careful, you might hurt him. :lol:

I dont like the trade at all. But since he is a Cub, lets go Jason Kendall. :gallon blue kool-aid:

QFT

DING,DING, DING,... We have a winner! ...seriously? I mean...really? I think a pitching coach has a significantly greater impact on a pitching staff than any catcher would. Yeah, catchers can have some impact, but the pitching coach is there to, you know, coach. He's there to analyze his pitchers and make sure he gets the best possible production out of them while protecting them from injury. This includes going over hours of game tape with guys, making mechanical adjustments, overseeing various exercises, keeping pitch counts, and a ton of other things which come with coaching. It's his job to do those things. A catcher, on the other hand, has nowhere near the same impact. Yeah, a catcher can educate himself to do those things, but his basic job with a pitcher is to call a game and receive the ball without incident. On occasion, he might need to do stuff like switch up the signs or go out to the mound to calm his guy down. That's pretty much it. The difference between the two is rather stark, if you ask me. The impact of a pitching coach on a given pitching performance is a heck of a lot greater than a catcher. Seriously yes I do. Go read my post on page 3 of the Cubs catchers post. The thing you didnt put in there is that the catchers are watching that same film, and going over those same charts as the pitching coach. Its part of their job. As far as the catchers on field job you have just barely scratched the surface. He has to be shrink, diplomat, parent, situationally aware, field aware, and the Managers /pitching coaches eyes and ears on the field. The hardest thing I have had to teach catchers is the mental side of the game. To look at your friend and tell me honestly, " he is done coach."; is the hardest thing to teach. A good "mental catcher", (to me anyway), is a good defensive catcher. I say a defensive catcher is a catcher that will block and throw 1.8 to 2.1 to second. In addition to knowing the charts as well as I do, and will be able to tell me that so and so didnt sleep well last night. There is just so much that goes into catching. Other than the SS he has to be the smartest baseball guy on the field. I have seen lots of idiots that can pitch and pitch well. I have never seen a good, baseball dumb catcher.

DING,DING, DING,... We have a winner!

A pitcher that dosent trust a catcher to block the best hook or slider in the dirt that they have is going to throw their second best pitch. You get beat on your second best pitch. Stats are a result of humans playing a game. When we can measure the emotional and mental states of players with stats then I will ignore what body language and pitching patterns tell me. As for now stats are a very good tool to further our understanding of the games situations, matchups, and deeper interactions. You ignore them at your own peril. Ignoring the human factor is just as dangerous. That being said I seem to recall a couple of hard hit line drives that resulted in outs in that 2 for 57+ stretch. Looking at the results of a series of at bats is just like looking at ERA. It dosent always tell the whole story.

When he was in Nashville he K'ed to end a game. Walked back to the weight room and tossed the 25lb and up dumbbells through the metal back door. Yes I did say through. I know because I was picking them up after the clubhouse cleared out later that night. So he does have some pop, just not alot in his bat unfortunately.

Listening to "The Show" on XM yesterday the conversation was with one of the NY sports people from an earlier show in the day. (Charlie Stiener's show I think.) The writer was of the opinion that ARod hated NY so much that he was going to refuse to waive his no trade. Then walking away at the end of the year only allowing the Yanks to get the comp pick for him. I have heard the same opinion floated from others on various XM shows the last few weeks. The big question is would Lou help recruit ARod to get him to come to Chicago? For me the answer is yes. Then the question becomes can he convince ARod to change his stance or does he hate NY so much that he is willing to stand his ground? Posada would be a nice bat to add but would Lou be willing to give up the defense behind the dish?

No children. Married almost thirteen years now. As always life can help or hurt the frequency.

How can they call him back so quick? In case of an injury to a player on the 25 man you can recall a player w/o having to wait ten days. In this case I hope/think it is an "injury".

Nice job doing that, thank you. The music selection was ok too.

Respect the streak.

The clubhouses are about 2/3 size of the ML clubhouse in StLouis I am told. The weight room is done in Cardinal red with wall to wall mirrors on the wall opposite the door. The visitors double hitting cage and indoor mound are opposite the door for those scantily clad cheerleaders. The cages and indoor mound are between the clubhouse and the dugout so a guy can go get some cuts in easily. The lighting level isnt the same as the field but... The view from the dugouts are great. You are slightly above field level when you sit on the bench top. Nice roomy dugouts with a nook for fans to sit at field level and be able to look right into the dugout. The time I was there security had to remove two fans before they got their buts kicked by Hack. There are three industrial washers in each clubhouse, heaven on earth, and the eating area is about the same size as the visitors clubhouse in Nashville minus the cave. The lockers are ML sized but you only get one locker instead of two. The tile work is of course white and red, along with a carpet that is deep but can handle spikes that is red. All in all a very nice facility. My major complaint however is the difficulty in getting to the loading dock to load and unload equipment for roadtrips. The dock is on the opposite side of the stadium from the visitors clubhouse and takes a good 10 to 15 min to make a one way trip. Add to that the ramp up to the loading dock from the tunnel that access the clubhouses leaves one to believe that it was an o yea moment solution when they figured out they had screwed up somewhere. The same people who built Camden Yards built Redbird Stadium.