Andy

Mabry strikes out swinging

Jones strikes out swinging, 2-3

Pujols - flies out to right field Cards 2, Cubs 0 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors Zambrano pitch count - 40 (18 last inning) Due up for the Cubs: Jones Mabry Blanco

Duncan - reaches on FC, 3-6, Miles out at second

Miles - singles to left field

He talked about Murton for a whole minute without once mentioning his very good on-base percentage. That's pretty much the end of that.

Suppan - pops out to shallow center field

Molina - homers to left field

Ramirez - flies out to center field Cards 1, Cubs 0 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors Suppan pitch count - 20 Due up for the Cardinals: Molina Suppan Miles

Murton grounds out to first base, 3 unassisted, Pierre holding third

Pierre steals second base, advances to third on throwing error E2

Perez - popped out to second base

Pierre - singled to shallow left center field

Belliard - strikes out swinging 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors Zambrano pitch count - 22 Due up for Cubs: Pierre Perez Murton

Wilson - walks, Spiezio to 2nd

Spiezio - reaches on FC, 3-2, Duncan out at home

Rolen - doubles down the LF line, Duncan to third

Pujols - sac fly to RF, Miles scores

Miles - IF single Duncan - single to RF, Miles to third

Well, Murton hitting 3rd is good...anyone after Jones is not.

:D

It's a daily occurence on this board and in life (I live in Illinois after all). Except I recognize the disconnect between sports and life, so I am able to either brush it off, respond blandly, or further stoke the fire by speaking my mind with the consequences well in mind (consequences being a mind-numbingly dumb argument that proceeds). I've got no problem with Notre Dame per say, I just think it's funny when ND fans don't understand why people don't like them. You understand why people don't like the Yankees don't you? Duke basketball? Same reasons. Oh I know why people don't like them. It just seems that the fact that people don't like them is brought up quite a lot on here, much more so than any dislike of the Yanks or Duke (although I guess most of that could be attributed to the fact that there aren't m/any of those fans on this board).

I don't think they are necessarily 'critical' to a teams success either, but something has to be said for the non-measurable attributes speed creates like annoying the crap out of the opposing pitcher and him throwing a fastball that catches too much of the plate. Also, what can be said about players like '03 Lofton, '05 Damon/D. Roberts and '05 Podsednik directly leading to a teams playoff success? I'll assume you mean '04 with Damon and Roberts (since that was the year the Sox won it all) and give you each guy's numbers for that season: Lofton (with the Cubs) in 2003: 327/381/471 Damon in 04: 304/380/477, 20 home runs Roberts (with the Sox) in 04: 256/330/442 Podsednik in 05: 290/351/349 The answers to your questions are: Lofton and Damon were shots in the arm because they got on base at over a .380 clip, and slugged nearly .500, which is pretty good for a CF, not because of "situational hitting" or stealing bases. (For Damon you also can add in the fact that he hit 20 homers, which any team can and should take out of their leadoff man or CF every time). Roberts probably hurt the Sox more than he helped most of his time there except for that one stolen base, which clouds everyone's judgment on him. Podsednik was no more than average for a leadoff hitter, and when you factor in that he was only 59/82 in SB (72 percent), his running around probably hurt the team more than it helped. Oh, and his .700 OPS was absolutely awful (AWFUL) for a LF. The fact that he is largely credited with that team's success is one of the biggest jokes in baseball history.

Well, many pro baseball people, with experience, believe that you need speed at the top of the order, that guys like Barrett are worthless because he's supposedly really bad defensively, and that wins is the best stat to judge a pitcher and that RBI is the best stat to judge a hitter. So I'm not so sure on jumping on this bandwagon either.

Three non-conference opponents (all games that BSU was significantly shorthanded): 157 Ball State in those three games: 3 Oddly enough, in the MAC opener against BG that fell in between the first two games, BSU damn near won the game and would have if DE Cortlan Booker had not dropped a pass that Jacobs threw right at him. BSU ended up losing 40-31. This year though they start with 4 out of 5 at home, which has to be the first time in team history. (Only Purdue is on the road in that span.) If the Cards can upset IU in Muncie on Sept. 9th, there's no reason they can't be 5-1 after the first 6 (their 6th game is against Buffalo, ranked the worst team in the country by at least one system in preseason), which would be huge.