Sammy Sofa

Very true. No need to be more specific than that, because then you're implying correlation between that and something more specific than an unfortunate reality of human nature. Saying that Wrigley or sports in general cause any sort of increased correlation to such behavior is just as thick-headed as the behavior itself. IBL/split. I never said Wrigley was some kind of unique factor. I do indeed think sports fandom elevates too many people's innate prejudices to the surface in the heat of the moment. How someone could be adamant that an environment involving such irrational, spur of the moment emotional peaks and valleys WOULDN'T have an effect on personal prejudices is beyond me.

Not me. Seriously, I think most of the people that go to Wrigley (and most sports fans) are shallow scum. They just go with the flow and are easily swayed. Most of them may not be actively "racist," but they're pretty damn prejudiced and love to believe all kinds of absurd stereotypes as to why players don't perform as they want/expect them to, and there's a very clear difference across baseball, football and basketball as to what those expectations are for non-white players vs. white ones. No, it's not a hard and fast rule, but anyone who thinks the racial divide in America isn't explicitly on display in those sports on a near daily basis is just fooling themselves. Our racial prejudices are so deeply ingrained that of course it should be no surprise to see how naturally they flow forth when people get all worked up over sports.

Too late. Dave Matthews already dropped the bro-bomb there and it cannot be undone.

I'm glad you've come around on this. It's really disheartening to watch. do you not remember people booing the [expletive] out of jeff blauser and steve buechele? Todd Hundley too. And no, no one booed them. They were booing the brown guys standing next to them. Yes, thank you! I really cannot thank you enough for backing me up in all of this! It's a noble cause we're fighting for, and by God, we'll fix things one of these days!

I'm glad you've come around on this. It's really disheartening to watch. do you not remember people booing the [expletive] out of jeff blauser and steve buechele? No. Stop lying. Steve Buechele was a saint.

Exactly. Soul seems to be saying that since the Ricketts didn't do the exact same thing the first offseason they owned the team and had overspent on whoever the best FA was after last season (I assume it was Dunn, right?), then that's evidence of them planning on not dishing out any big contracts anytime soon. FTH?

Smart people here wanted to trade Marmol well before this.

What's going on is that he refuses to throw anything else. An offspeed pitch (even a great one like Marmol's) needs a decent fastball to be completely effective. The frustrating part is that Marmol HAS a very good fastball. Had, apparently. YES. NICE JOB, MARSHALL.

I'm glad you've come around on this. It's really disheartening to watch.

Finish this, Marshall.

It's because it's all he's throwing.

His fastball might as well be gone if he's not blowing this guy away.

Alright, that was pretty smooth, Quade.

Gah, come on.

HOLY [expletive], NICE DEFENSE.

I'm much more concerned about the physical breakdown.

Why couldn't this be the case? Why do we have to become the Pirates for the next ten years just because we won't take on another huge, lengthy deal while our lower levels are brought up to speed? I don't understand why my theory -- wrong as it may be -- would necessarily mean that this team is heading for a disaster. There's no guarantee signing a guy like Fielder would do anything other than fill a few more seats while the team still languishes around the .500 mark anyway. And once you are realizing production from your lower levels on a more regular basis, that puts you in a better position to make saner forays into the free agent market, rather than feeling like you need to throw insane amounts of cash at a guy like Soriano because you have nothing else to go with. And yet again you conflate signing Fielder with signing Soriano. Please stop that. And yes, avoiding big name FA's will mean the team languishes in mediocrity or worse for at least the better part of a decade. The Cubs don't have any prospects on the horizon that project to be much more than decent everyday starters at best. Guys like that can obviously be very useful, but they're not enough to put a team over the top. The Cubs are going to have to wisely mix developing talent with smart signings, and yes, some of those signings are going to have to be big contracts. The Cubs not spending simply doesn't equal good business sense.

Awesome outing by Demp today. Of course, Garza was awesome yesterday, too. Then...the disheartening.

And here we go.

You were making a joke, right? I was talking about Kenny Williams.

Pretty much. The Cubs will be garbage for at least most of the next decade if they go that route. Really doesn't jive with how savvy the Ricketts are as businessmen/women. If Ricketts really wants Joe Cowleys prophecy to come true and have Chicago become the White Sox town, then he should definitely go this route. Nah, they're pretty screwed, too. Especially if Kenny is left in charge.

Pretty much. The Cubs will be garbage for at least most of the next decade if they go that route. Really doesn't jive with how savvy the Ricketts are as businessmen/women.

I just traded Byrd and Dempster and an amazing pitching prospect I created for McCutchen in MLB: The Show 2010. McCutchen is now out for he rest of the year with an ACL something or other and Byrd is leading the NL in BA and all CF in OPS, HR and RBI. DAMN YOU, THE PIRATES.

There's already a ton in the stands for every game (and infesting Wrigleyville every [expletive] weekend). Just hire one of them.

And, of course, it'll be on the side of his neck. Can anyone confirm whether or not he already has a barbed-wire or tribal pattern tattoo somewhere on one of his arms?