Sammy Sofa

Neifi probably would have been slapped down as well. The biggest key is whether you suck or not. Hill just added to it by being young AND crappy. If you talk the talk, you need something to back it up. In the world of pro sports, that's how it goes. All the hand-wringing and "play nice" sentiments in the world aren't going to amount to a Hill of beans.

I think it was supremely cosmic...Ozzie is Carlos the manger in 20 years.

I know we're beating a herd of dead horses into the ground at this point, but this is the most simple way I can put this... Should Hill be able to say what he said? Of course. But in the world of the MLB, how the pecking order and social environment has existed for over a century, did he do something stupid and get exactly what he deserved, IN AND ONLY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WORLD OF THE MLB? Yes.

Marshall the stallion will be dining on a fine banquet of fish tomorrow night! LET'S GO CUBS!!!

Its like that other places too.Some people feel if you haven't been " on the job" long enough you do not have a right to an opinion. But for some strange reason it was ok for both Prior and Zambrano to stand up to Bonds? I mean afterall he is an established player and they weren't at the time. Oh that's right, nobody likes Bonds so it was ok. Well, for one, Zambrano and Prior never sucked as hideously as Hill has for as long as he as at the ML level. Prior especially looked like a superstar almost out of the gate. Carlos eased into it, but comparing them to Hill is absurd. Hill is new and he's awful. In a game like this, you're going to get eaten alive if you run your mouth, and he did. He has nothing fall back on in a battle like that, so the smart thing to do is shut up. It's not like Ozzie went after him...Hill slammed his player and Ozzie got pissed at the scrub doing it, and Hill thusly got PWNED. So if Hill were playing well it wouldn't be a problem? It is to laugh. Honestly? Yes! Do you think Ozzie would have said the same thing if Hill wasn't so terrible? Or even said anything at all? Based on how things have worked in pro baseball pretty much since its inception, and in most other lines of work, if you're new and you suck HARD, you keep your mouth shut and fly low. It's crappy, but that's the way it is. You have to prove yourself before people aren't going to smack you down.

Its like that other places too.Some people feel if you haven't been " on the job" long enough you do not have a right to an opinion. But for some strange reason it was ok for both Prior and Zambrano to stand up to Bonds? I mean afterall he is an established player and they weren't at the time. Oh that's right, nobody likes Bonds so it was ok. Any time someone stands up to a cheater it's a good thing. No. What is happening in this thread is hypocricy at its finest. If Hill were 4-0 with a respectable ERA I suspect some of the opinions in this thread would change. I don't like what Barrett did, but I think Hill was trying to defend a teammate. Since when is that a bad thing? Oh, yeah when the player is playing well. Go figure. Good Lord, most of us are just saying this is how it works in pro baseball. Doesn't make it right...that's just how it is! The crappy rookie ran his mouth off and paid the price! If he didn't suck, opinions and responses would be different EVERYWHERE. That's how it works in the big leagues, period. It's nothing new.

Its like that other places too.Some people feel if you haven't been " on the job" long enough you do not have a right to an opinion. But for some strange reason it was ok for both Prior and Zambrano to stand up to Bonds? I mean afterall he is an established player and they weren't at the time. Oh that's right, nobody likes Bonds so it was ok. Well, for one, Zambrano and Prior never sucked as hideously as Hill has for as long as he as at the ML level. Prior especially looked like a superstar almost out of the gate. Carlos eased into it, but comparing them to Hill is absurd. Hill is new and he's awful. In a game like this, you're going to get eaten alive if you run your mouth, and he did. He has nothing fall back on in a battle like that, so the smart thing to do is shut up. It's not like Ozzie went after him...Hill slammed his player and Ozzie got pissed at the scrub doing it, and Hill thusly got PWNED.

What Jones needs is a good platoon partner so that a couple of good lefty starters don't mess with his stroke or his confidence. Don't blame JJ's troubles with LHPs, blame Hendry for putting him in a position to fail. If this team can give $5 million to Neifi!, it can afford a couple million more for a platoon partner in RF. True. All this Carlos Lee talk has visions of Murton platooning with JJ in RF, and all would be right with the world.

They hit 3 HR's...and take 0 walks. And then the days they actually take a bunch of walks...they're lucky to hit anything more than a single. WORLDS COLLIDE, DAMMIT!

In a sane world, that's true. But this is MLB. That's just how it is.

Like it or not, there's a pecking order in this kind of environment. If you're a scrub rookie who hasn't done a damn thing as a major league pitcher, defer to the manager or the guys involved to talk about what happened. Is it right? No, but hey, that's life. If you've been around a while or show you can get things done, you get more slack. That's true in a number of aspects with this game. Hill has absolutely zero to stand on if he wants to fire off like that. That's just how it is.

At this point someone has to question a guys like Prior and Wood who have to invent reasons not to get on that mound and earn that hefty paycheck. Someone needs to gut check these guys Wood needs to pitch or go home and sell cars. Enough is enough. The shoulder is medically sound it's time for him to be like other major league pitchers and pitch through pain. It's not fair to call them wimps and say they are taking themselves out of games (even if it is true, but we don't know for sure one way or the other). The best thing to do is identify players that get hurt all of the time and get rid of them. You won't get much support though because despite all of the crap we've been served, a lot of people still love Prior, Wood and Nomar. I guess it's the lovable loser thing. Hardly seems fair to put Nomar in there with those guys...he's actually suffered injuries where it made it impossible for him to play. Hell, so has Prior with the line drive and the basepath collision...those things are just bad luck and are really unfortunate. Wood's injuries, quite honestly, for a guy who has a career of throwing a ball, are the result of someone who just seems like a really stupid pitcher.

Dude, you can't forget about those injuries, dude. Dude, injuries made all of our crappy sac bunts fail, dude.

Jones needs to rock a few more left handed pitchers before I start to "love" him. But today definitely elevated me to " non-hostile tolerating."

Woody, I love ya, but I have zero desire to see you in Cubbie blue next year.

If the Cubs are going to target anyone on the Marlins, it needs to be Cabrera and only Cabrera. I think they definitely need to target another quality starter for next season, but Willis is not that guy. He's a ton of DL stints waiting to happen, and given this club's track record with pitching health and coaching, the Cubs will put him on it in no time. I'd rather gamble on the in-house DL jockeys than bring in another one.

From awful to mediocre! SKY'S THE LIMIT, BABY!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!

OK, so maybe the "fire" is a little slow-burning... CUBS WIN!!! Awesome battle back win...great way to head down to Florida and hopefully beat up on a team that might be even crappier than the Cubs are.

There needs to be a "solo" owner like Steinbrenner or Cuban...I can't see anything else significantly shaking up this organization they way it needs to be. Owners like those two realize it's their name and face up there alongside the team if it wins or loses...they take it personal. Being run by nameless, faceless beancounters doesn't work...we're seeing it right now.

The management and most of the coaches are very easy to loathe...but as a whole, I find it very difficult to hate or even dislike players unless they're out and out a-holes, a la AJP or Bonds. Sure, guys like Neifi and Rusch stink 99.9% of the time, and I may hate their performance, but to actually hate THEM? Naaaaah... Well, except for maybe Bynum. The blatant laziness he's showing on the field is driving me nuts.

If you're trading for an outfielder, especially Cabrera, you have to assume Murton will be part of that deal. Honestly, if you get Cabrera, I have zero problem with JJ in RF.

Rich Hill will be worse then Glendon Rusch as a major league pitcher throughout his failed major league career if he continues to be put in the starting rotation on this or any other team.

I'd settle for seeing him win one. here's a fun fact...how many runs have the cubs scored in hill's four losses? 1 (that's combined) pretty sure it wouldn't matter much if hill had an era of 8 or 1...the offense is the problem, not rich hill. It's really convenient to toss that out and then not mention how many runs he's given up in his games pitched this season. Hell, last season, too. Obviously, the offense is letting guys down, but Hill on the mound typically means you need 5-6 runs just to keep it close, almost every single time. He's a useless sack of meat. Greg Maddux: SEASON TEAM G GS CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB SO W L ERA 1986 ChC 6 5 1 0 31.0 44 20 19 3 11 20 2 4 5.52 1987 ChC 30 27 1 0 156.2 181 111 97 17 74 101 6 14 5.61 He turned out ok. Rich Hill will be lucky to end this or any other season with an ERA under 7. Comparing Rich Hill to Maddux is appalling.

Along that line of thinking, maybe Rich Hill will end up being the manager that leads the Cubs to victory after his pitiful career as a player ends... Hmmmmmmmmmm...

Lee was a pleasant surprise. Nobody went into picking him up thinking he'd be as good as he ended up being. When was the last time the Cubs sought out a genuine world beater at the top of their game? Nomar's the closest in recent history, and even by then he had established his rep of long and frequent DL stints and sliding defensive skills.