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waffle

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Everything posted by waffle

  1. Either or... It just means you're good at keeping the bat head in the zone for longer than most in a swing, good at choking up on the bat, or will swing at anything with two strikes with the two previously mentioned. Jose Cardinal (there's a name from the past) used to drive pitchers crazy by intentionally fouling off balls. I remember opposing pitchers commenting on it in the day. As I remember R. Carew was pretty good at it too.
  2. don't closers seem to be just about the most random players to predict outcome for? Doesn't it seem like every year there is at least 5-6 guys who are decent closers who A) have never done it before or B) have been inconsistent in the past? Is it just me? I think Dempster has a chance to return to form simply because the team he is trying to close for is quite a bit better. Closers seem to feed on confidence as much as they do on their actual pitches. Rod Beck was a good closer with an 85 mph fastball. Again, the relationship between experience and stuff for closer to their actual performance seems like black arts to me.. mysterious and hard to understand.
  3. Sounds like bye bye to Big Z, which is a shame.
  4. In my heart, if the cubs won with Barry on the team, I would mentally put an * on it. I would become a Sox fan for a year, either Red or White, who cares, rather than root for the cubs with Barry on it. Am I a fickle fan? No, I just hate Barry that much. I am one of those boring folks who believe in fair play and winning the right way.
  5. He's an innings guy, he has worked with Rothschild and he obviously likes what he sees, he's had a decent year recently, and the contract is not all that bad (current conditions considered). Perfectly happy with this signing. If we got 200 innings and a close to 4.00 ERA I'd be quite happy with that.
  6. I liked Pagan. Seemed like an energy guy and a really timely hitter. But that's just me, eh?
  7. My pop is a Red Sox fan and says that they are talking about a cubs/sox trade there, he thinks it is Coco Crisp for unknown. I suggested it was Jones and maybe an arm of some description. he told me he would listen and let me know if he hears anything new.
  8. I am of the opinion that starting pitching is a crap shoot. Every year teams that make the playoffs have starters that have career, or near career, or finally healthy years. The # of pitchers that you count on YEAR IN AND YEAR out is tiny. In most instances I think you have to have one or starters who provided you better than expected performance (and stayed healthy). THe guys we are talking about, Meche, Lilly, Schmidt all seem to fit that bill. Warm bodies who could overacheive
  9. You can have Drew, we'll take Manny.
  10. Manny is one of the most automatic bats in baseball. Watching him dance out there in the OF in Wrigley might be nerve wracking, but we might over look it if he put up his usual #'s (say 40/130 and a v. good OBP of around .400). We would seem like a very very realistic landing place for Manny.
  11. As someone who lives in Philly and watches the phils more then he would like. Wolf - Raises my temperature not at all. Low ceiling kind of guy.
  12. In a second. 200 innings <40 walks combined 4.00 era (approx.) One of the smartest pitchers to ever take the mound Still a great fielder Consumate professional Always stays in shape Hey, when playing for a winning team (the dodgers) he put up some very respectable #'s. If he'd have us, I'd take him TODAY
  13. manny is an adventure out there, but I think he led the AL in assists recently. GOD I would love to see him hit in Wrigley. He'd get Sammy level love I think. I personally love to watch manny hit. He's simply amazing. I gotta think he'd enjoy playing in Chicago also. The pressure is still there, hey, he's a professional athlete, but Chicago fans are a bit more relaxed than RSox fans. Quite a bit (I come from a family of them, Rsox fans that is).
  14. '69 cubbies were stacked. Much better than the miracle mets....
  15. I THINK lou was my 3rd choice (let me check that...) Girardi Bochy Lou Satan Yup, #3. He is better than Busty. He has tailored his game to his team (Seattle, Yanks). He is not afraid to skewer and slowly flay a player (when they deserve it, sometime probably when they don't). He seems to expect to win and will do what he can to make it happen (something Dusty sure didn't. He seemed to feel winning was pre-ordained and unlikely to be impacted by his actions, so just let it FLOOOOOW baby....) I betcha Hendry is trying to say with this hiring "see? He isn't at all like that last guy, what's his name!" when in fact he is just another example of the same, only white and with more of a temper. Add Hendry "Now when they fire Torre we will have stolen their manager to be! Take that (as the Yankees shrug their atlas-like shoulders and hire Girardi...)
  16. I just caught the end of Mike and Mike and they said that things were pretty hot in regards to Piniella to the cubbies.... It's very much an improvement, in my opinion.
  17. I could live with Bochy. He seems like a solid baseball guy. He has almost a .500 record in SD, no mean feat. G is still my preference, mostly because he is a chicago boy and because he is a hard *ss. Maybe I am over-reacting, but I am ready for a manager who is a hard *ss.
  18. as you can see, I was only 1/2 listening (on a conf call at the time). I doubt it. Sweet Lou I think would turn us down. I think....
  19. On mike and Mike they were just talking to their baseball guy and he stated with some confidence that he thought Girardi was going to end up in Washington, simply because the Cubs orginization is just not that interested in him. Crazy men win. Pat Riley is Crazy. Phil Jackson is crazy. Mike Ditka was crazy. Bill Cowher is crazy. That guy over on the south side is crazy. I could go on and on. Sure, Girardi seems wound, and sure the Trib and Co. is risk averse to an insane degree, but at some point you have to decide that you are going to shoot for the moon, not just 3 million fans and a dull thud. I still think Francona is the dark horse here, he is just EXACTLY what the cubbies think a manager should be.
  20. I have a 2 year old. THey say that any behavior can be modified in 3 days... waking up often.... throwing things...whatever, if you CONSISTENTLY address it. My experience? Pretty much true. Players are only slightly different than 2 year olds. I want someone to come in and INSIST the cubbies play baseball right, or at least as instructed, and to play to win every day. I have a huge respect for boring old fundy baseball. Moving the runner. Taking the extra base. Hitting the cut-off man. First pitch strikes. Hit and run. Working a walk. What do all those have in common? They were not things we saw alot of this year with our beloved cubbies. You can add to that developing youth (and showing patience as they mature). I would have enjoyed this year's cubs, whatever the record, far more if we had seen more of the above. I want Girardi, baggage and all.
  21. Stone is great. KNOWS his stuff, doesn't dominate the conversation. HE actually talks baseball, balls and strikes and strategy. And when someone, player or manager, scr*ws up, he points it out professionally, rather than ignoring it or going postal. Bring back stone in the booth (and give me Girardi in dugout)
  22. I have to admit... I feel like a worked over chew toy in a holding pen for pit bulls. This version of the cubbies has really taken it out of me. I cannot feel optimistic. If they bring in Gerardi and give him some actual power, It'd help.
  23. My dad is a Red Sox fan. Apparently it is all over their radio stations that the cubbies have asked to talk to Francona. the reaction of the sox fans was "please, god PLEASE let them talk to him" I have a particular perspective on this as I live in Philly and watched Mensa Terry while he coached here. He is UNBELIEVABLE. No sense whatsoever. He and Dusty must have learned managing at the same ivy league institution... So, this of course makes perfect sense. He's EXACTLY the kind of non-threatening, "proven winner" piece of jetsum that the Cubs will undoubtedly hire. I want Genardi. Bring back Stone. Play as if it mattered.
  24. right on 3rd eye. Yes this team stinks record wise. Yes the chemistry is aweful what you indicated is almost exactly what I said. 1 good FA pitcher, 1 old, fat savvy innings guy. Figure out what the plan is for 2nd/ss. Izzy and Ced? O.k., well make sure Ced gets alot of time in the offseason to work on that (and his hitting). Send Jones to Japan. Resign Pierre. Let Murton develop. That is even a pretty good defensive team. Add a new manager (the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT STEP) and this team could compete.
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