Andy

There are lots of places to look, but in the interest of promoting this site, why not look at They Call It Small Ball For A Reason written last year by one of our own regulars. Now the data in the article shows definitively that small ball is questionable in any situation other than 1-run games. But it supports usage in one-run games, even despite the fact that the article is clearly arguing against the usage of small ball. Personally, I promote responsible usage of small ball, which is sparingly and just the situations described previously. I also promote OBP and power. Unfortunately, in my experience, the anti-small ball crowd dismisses this combination and assumes for some reason it's impossible to have balance, and never appropriate to play for one run. This isn't on Hendry though. The GM has to assume the manager is responsible and only plays for one run in the late innings. And btw, I watch baseball daily, and I rarely ever see what you're describing, except for the last week of the season and the playoffs when desperation and pressure sets in. Apparantly, you didn't watch many Cubs games when Baylor was managing. The Cubs had 117 sacrifces in 2001. 117. Fifty of those came from non-pitchers. There were numerous occasions where Ricky Gutierrez was called on to bunt after a lead-off double by Eric Young. Nobody out, man on second, early in the game, and the Cubs were bunting. Jim Leyland is another manager that likes to bunt...a lot. Bunting in 2001 was a smart move. I think Baylor knew as much as anyone that there was no way in hell the Cubs were scoring many runs if they tried to outslug teams so he played some small ball. It worked out pretty well, didn't it? A very mediocre Cub team talent-wise nearly made the playoffs.

If Carpenter wins it I will lose my mind. D-Train maybe over Clemens, but definitely not Carpenter.

Yeah, but how many years will it take to undo the damage that Baker and Hendry could do? And moreover, how many World Series could this team have reasonably competed for behind the Wood/Prior/Z/Lee/Ramirez core with a competent GM?

And high-fiving. And just like the other NBA GMs with Isiah Thomas, they'll be offering him terrible trades as jokes just to see if he takes them.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Unsurprisingly, no quotes from Hendry in the Cubs.com article about the signing. Even the editors knew "I like guys who can catch the ball" was a miserable excuse for a signing like this. Well I would be too for being given 5M for sucking.

Hendry doesn't have a plan. He's doing whatever Dusty Baker tells him to do at this point. It won't be long now before we announce a lifetime contract for Dusty as Cubs manager.

I change my vote to No. Dusty Baker has emasculated Jim Hendry and made him his personal lapdog.

After the ROYs, they were due to screw something up. This should have been Mariano Rivera IMO.

You know, it'd be funny if Phillips actually said the Cubs signed Neifi because we like guys who can catch the ball. Then when ESPN guys ask him seriously why the Cubs did it he will say "No, seriously, Jim Hendry said he liked guys who can catch the ball" and everyone will laugh and Hendry will be shamed into being a competent GM again. Hopefully.

Well this ought to be interesting for Phillips. I wonder how he will rationalize the Neifi signing in his fake press conference.

That was Jim Hendry rationalizing giving Neifi about 2.49M more than any other team was going to give him for 2006. I think we should put CuseCubFan's new team motto on the shirt. "Cubs Fever 2006...Catch It!"* *and if you can't catch it, you'll be traded

Cubs fever...catch it!!! Thanks Cuse for the highlight of a crappy day so far. That's my motto for next year's team. :lol:

It's looking like this for 2006: C Barrett 1B Lee 2B Neifi SS Furcal 3B Ramirez LF Macias/Murton (mostly Macias) CF Patterson RF Encarnacion Season over. :cry:

My buddies and I have gone to a few Cubs games consecutively together the last couple of years and the intention was to make it an annual tradition, but if Hendry has no annual commitment to putting together a winning team then why should I have an annual commitment to going to Wrigley? I'm curious as to whether ANYONE would have signed this waste of space if we had not donated 5M to the Neifi Perez Charity. And we all know where this is going. Ronny Cedeno will double Neifi's BA in spring training and field better but Dusty will say he needs "veteran leadership" and Neifi will start all season. Ronny gets 70-90 AB in the 1st half of the season and is included as a throw-in in a deadline deal to get some overrated past-his-prime OF. Ronny goes on to be a multiple All-Star with his new team. I hate this organization.

I thought USC was the best team in college football after the 2003 season and after the 2004 season. The fact that LSU played Oklahoma and not USC for the 2003 title was a joke. You should not be allowed to play for a national title without winning your conference title and the Sooners did not.

Isn't that what happened two years ago? It's exactly what happened two years ago. Thanks to SC not losing since 2003, no one even remembers that technically LSU won that year's national title. They didn't win technically. They got the effin trophy. What does USC have to show they won it? I still don't understand why Auburn didn't get a split last year. It was the exact same scenario as '03. I hate USC. It was a much different scenario from 2003. In 03, the Number 1 team going into the title game (Oklahoma) lost, otherwise we never have this discussion. Logically the Number 2 team in the AP poll, which was USC, hopped past Oklahoma. In 2004, the Number 1 team in all polls going into the title game (USC) won, and won in absurdly decisive fashion, 55-19 over Oklahoma. What possible evidence was there that Auburn deserved to leapfrog USC after the title game was played?

I'm sure this topic has been broached by previous threads, but as a relative newcomer I was curious as to how everyone's Cub allegiances came about. I didn't really know which area to put this thread in so if it belongs somewhere else, mods feel free to move it. Anyway, my story: I was a Braves fan, albeit a very casual one, for a while because they were the closest team to me when I lived in South Carolina as a little kid. Then when I moved up to South Bend, my now-best friend would basically make me watch Cubs games with him because he was a Cubs fan. After a while, we habitually started watching the games together and before you knew it I was bleeding Cubbie blue (sometime in 1999 was when my conversion was complete). I've been in love with the team and with Wrigley ever since. Other stories?

Absolutely nothing that anybody doesn't already know about. That's what he is saying. Just a question for you nd, but how the hell are you a Redwings fan. Not that I particularly like hockey, in fact, I was kinda pissed when the NHL didn't just fold, but im just interested in how youre a Bulls, Redwings, and Panthers fan. Due mostly to my state-hopping as a child. Long story short: Bulls - Saw MJ play and that was the end of that. Red Wings - Never that much into hockey until a few years ago so I adopted my cousins' favorite team by default. Panthers - Lived in South Carolina when they started playing. You aren't the first to ask why my allegiances fly around so wildly in terms of region. :P Yeah, but youre nowhere near the most random. I know some kid from New Mexico who chose the Cubs and the Yankees as his baseball teams (dont even ask, I dont understand it either), Tennessee Volunteers for college football, Cleveland Cavaliers, the New Jersey Devils, and for college basketball Duke ( :evil: ). And to make matters worse, he gets mad when we call him a front runner. I have a friend like that. He's liked the Pistons since they became year-to-year competitors, he's liked the Titans since they nearly won Super Bowl XXXIV, he's liked the D-Backs since they won the World Series. It's maddening to be a sports fan when you've got nutjobs like those spoiling all the fun! :lol:

The result could easily be a split championship in the polls. The #1 position in the coaches poll (ESPN) automatically goes to the winner of the BCS championship game; the coaches are obligated to vote the winner #1 as part of the BCS agreement. Voters in the media poll (AP) are able to vote for who they think is the best team regardless of whether they play in the championship game or not.I remember there was a mini-uproar when a few (I think between 4-7) voters in the coaches' poll voted USC 1st in their poll anyway after the 03 season. I wonder if anything ever happened to them...

Absolutely nothing that anybody doesn't already know about. That's what he is saying. Just a question for you nd, but how the hell are you a Redwings fan. Not that I particularly like hockey, in fact, I was kinda pissed when the NHL didn't just fold, but im just interested in how youre a Bulls, Redwings, and Panthers fan. Due mostly to my state-hopping as a child. Long story short: Bulls - Saw MJ play and that was the end of that. Red Wings - Never that much into hockey until a few years ago so I adopted my cousins' favorite team by default. Panthers - Lived in South Carolina when they started playing. You aren't the first to ask why my allegiances fly around so wildly in terms of region. :P

Bulls lose 104-95. Tough loss, but on the other hand, got to be proud of the effort. Gordon was iffy most of the night, Duhon didn't do that much and the Bulls were still able to hang around. Not a bad loss, not that there's such a thing as a good one. Hopefully we can down the Warriors and Jazz before that stupid circus trip.

This is depressing. Sweetney and Chandler both have double doubles, Deng with 19 and 9, Gordon pulls his Superman routine at the end and we still can't win. That's why they're the champs and we're still just the Bulls.

Raisin is probably getting it because he's in Cali. At least I'd assume that. Dagger 3 by Finley after Gordon turned it over. Bulls down 5 with 3:19 left in the extra period.

This could be a little exciting.... Ben Gordon to the rescue!!! Picks up Capt. Kirk after the missed shot and sends it to OT. Who else?