mlarner

This makes me sad. Seeing Pie in the background makes me more sad.

Marmol shuts the door. Cubs Win!

Wow. Just sit down.

Should be a 3 hit game for Fukudome.

I love watching Fontenot hit. Seems like we have a bunch of 2 out RBI's tonight, too.

Not sure which is more amazing: Fukudome going the other way to the warning track or Burrell making an over the shoulder catch.

Wow. The Cubs obviously stress good, solid fundamental baseball in the minors. How does he not get back behind that ball? If he sprints back and gets behind the ball instead of just drifting back like that its an easy play. Then Koye with a great play behind the plate right after.

STUD. Both base hits he just went with the pitch, not trying to do too much. I only get WGN out here in CO so haven't been able to watch Starlin very much but wow I am excited to watch him grow up in a Cubs uniform.

Wow, no errors that inning. See guys, the game is much easier when you only have to get 3 outs per inning.

Really good AB again from Colvin.

:D

WOW! FUKU-Bomb.

Very good at bat by Castro.

This really caught my eye. The Cubs have only a 53.4% winning percentage when they get a quality start, while opponents win 74.2% of the time when they get a quality start against us. A difference of over 20%, it amazes me we are barely winning half of our games where the pitchers are giving us a very good chance at taking the game.

How has his movement looked? Is he having a night where his pitches are running all over the place because there is so much movement or is he just wild? How about his velocity? To me it just looked like he didn't have much control. Velocity-wise I don't remember seeing him hit above 91, but I could have easily missed it if he did. MLB.com says he never got higher than 91 on the gun. Not too much of a surprise his control was off after the "break" I guess and the velocity is not much of a surprise either, unfortunately. I wonder if Z will have the patience to really learn how to pitch now that he doen't have the stuff where he can make a mistake and still get the batter to miss because he has such amazing movement. It has never looked like he had much of a game plan out there, but without the velocity and movement he can't get away with that anymore and be successful.

How has his movement looked? Is he having a night where his pitches are running all over the place because there is so much movement or is he just wild? How about his velocity?

Man. How many warning track outs is that for us today? Four? I thought the wind was blowing out at a good clip.

You may want to stop doing drugs. Just be sure to wait until after the game to stop. Watching this team sober is not recommended.

Milton was bad in his first year here, Lee has a track record and has built up goodwill with the fans and community. There's a really big difference there. Not as bad as Lee has been this year with hardly any complaints from the media. One got torn to shred, and the other hasn't really been touched. First half of Milton's season last year and first half of Derrek's this year.. Bradley last year: .243 .379 .381 .760 Lee this year: .233 .329 .366 .695 This directly correlates to my post that Derrek's been pretty well protected by the Chicago media because he's perceived to be a quiet leader/nice guy to the media. MAN could that guy get on base. I still kinda miss him, I loved that everybody hated him and I knew better SAME i want to buy a bradley jersey and a taser and go sit in the bleachers. it would be the best day ever. THIS. 8-) =D>

When Tulo went down I thought of this as well and thought we might get something in return. But Barmes has been looking pretty darn good at short defensively, and the kid they have been playing at 2B has been solid in the field and seems like he gets on base 2 or 3 times every game I watch. Haven't looked at his numbers, but appears to be playing some very good baseball. Tulo is coming back fairly soon now, isn't he? http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/tulo.jpg Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Yup, that was just about right. If the first half doesn't convine the front office to blow thing thing up in the second half, I don't think anything will.

I like the blues. Wow, no towel/Prior jokes after watching Padilla get warmed up last inning? This game thread is dead!

You could watch the first 2 innings of this game and learn everything you need to know about the 2010 Chicago Cubs.

Yeah, I posted that before I saw your edit and then I edited my post. The edit cleared up my question. Wasn't Z suspended when he punched Barrett? If so, I don't see how he wasn't dealt with the first time he threw a fit. It wouldn't have been smart to trade him for nothing then and we don't know how Hendry is going to react here - other than suspending Z indefinitely. I don't get what more they should have done that would have helped the team. I agree 100% with you about not trading him for nothing either then or now, and hopefully Hendry will not go down that road again. The last thing we need is another player being the scapegoat and getting traded for table scraps after he has been designated/labeled as this year's problem. Carlos has been a huge part of the team's success and deserves better than that. I am sure you are right about him getting suspended before with Barrett, but I am thinking more of all the times he has stared down his teammates after an error in the field or had things to say to them in the dugout. Maybe my memory is not right here, but if sure seems like he has done this quite a few times in the past and if as an organization the Cubs made it clear that was not acceptable from the start I think he would have gotten the message many years ago. Sit him down and talk to him after the first time and tell him why a major league player cannot do that. Then, when it happens again, begin the fines and suspensions to make it clear it will not be tolerated. I know Carlos is fiery and it is one of the things that makes him fun to watch (and could be part of his success in the past) but in my opinion you cannot direct it at your fellow teammates.

I really don't see why Lou or Hendry should be fired over Z pitching a fit. He's been a very good pitcher for a few years now and, while he's been overpaid, his contract didn't look very bad at all when he was signed to it. A player throwing a fit shouldn't be held against the manager or GM. I don't believe either of them will be or should be fired, but I really hope it plays into the decision to not bring either one back. Maybe I am the only one, but this seems to be a larger issue than just 1 player throwing a fit 1 time. You don't think they should be fired, but you think this should cement the decision to get rid of both of them? I'm confused. And it's not just one player throwing a fit one time. It's a very hot-tempered player throwing a fit again. It's not good, but there's little Lou or Hendry could do about it. I edited my posting to be more clear as soon as I published. I am not saying that this single incident should or will lead to either being fired mid-season, but I do think both should be gone after the season for the many reasons that have been hashed out in these forums. This is one of the many reasons both need to go. That was my point, it is not 1 player throwing a fit 1 time, it is a player that has done it over and over and over again and it still has not been dealt with by the organization. I don't have a problem with Z getting amped up and going crazy at himself or the umps (even though it usually is not good for the team it is fun as heck to watch) but going after teammates like that cannot happen. I think there is quite a bit Hendry, especially, could have done about it in the past to ensure that this kind of thing did not happen again in the future.