goonys evil twin

I guess this means if the Cobs were batting, they would not have scored? :cry: BCB Actually just heard the most asute thing to come out of Ronnie's mouth in a while....after Pat said the Cubs need baserunner, Ronnie followed saying "We need some guys to drive them in." We've had the same chances the Sox have had, the only problem is that they get the clutch hits while we are left clutching our bats CWS have .371 OBP today, Cubs have .273. They haven't had the same chances. More baserunners equals more runs. It's hard to get hits in the clutch when you can't even get hits in the non-clutch. It's a bit much to expect them to hit better in the clutch than they do overall.

They're four games under their expected W-L, with an 11-21 mark in 1-run games. Still, even if all NL East teams were performing in line with their runs scored and allowed marks, they'd be 12 games back of the Mets. Yeah well, they aren't good. They are middle of the pack in runs for and against, but it's the bottom half of that pack for each, I believe. They've got some issues with both their starting pitchers and their relievers, and no stud hitter.

Two problems, recovery time and getting lose. It supposedly takes a while for Wood to warm up, which isn't good for a guy in the bullpen, and he needs time between outings to recover, again, not good in the bullpen. It's not like they never put him in the pen before. They foolishly did it last year when he was to go under the knife.

Probably because it's rare for them to come up with any sort of hit. And the few guys who do get hits are on base for those "clutch" situations, so the guys who need to come up with those hits typically are the ones that are less likely to get any sort of hit anyway.

Not to be a smartass, but it shouldn't be that surprising. Lee was out for a long time with a wrist injury. He barely had any rehab time, and he suffered some sort of setback, however benign, yesterday. Teams are probably going to force him to beat them before they give him IBB status again.

For some reason the White Sox don't swing at every pitch like the Cubbies do. Cowards.

The other problem is that Dusty won't do it, since he's playing to win today instead of developing players for next year. I like the idea since it saves Marshall, and gives Wood/Marmol/Hill solid innings, but it concedes this year as done. Dusty won't do it since he's coaching for another contract. I don't think it concedes this year. It could actually make this year's starting rotation more solid. 3-4 innings of Wood and 3-4 innings of Marshall could be better than 5 innings of either. Although I'm sure such a drastic change would make them feel like they are giving up. I'd say it's more like admitting that what you are doing isn't working and trying something different.

what happened?

I see a single to Pierre, a pop single to Jones and a single to Cedeno. What doesn't he have, because it looks like they are just putting them where they ain't.

I think their run of getting great performances from fill-ins, youngins' and utility guys has ended; Smoltz is hurt and aging; their bullpen is horrible. I agree - other than putting any blame on Smoltz. He's got a 1.20 WHIP, .255 BAA, 3/1 K/BB. The ERA is bad, but I'm not concerned about that. He's still getting it done this year. Am I missing something?

He is the most ridiculous homer in the announcing business. Way over the top. Much worse than any Yankees sycophant.

It's not so much the excitement of the division races as it's increasing the amount of teams whose fans are still interested late in the season. If you just took the 4 best records, you're probably going to lose out on a lot of tickets sales and ratings from teams that are out of that exclusive race. People might complain about the integrity of the playoffs, but baseball is still the most exclusive of the team sports as far as qualifying for the postseason.

Well, they are paying Mike Hampton $13.5 million to do less than Prior or Wood. They have one quality starter, as they're getting a Maddux like year out of Hudson (that's bad Maddux, not good Braves Maddux). But I have a feeling their record is worse than what it "should" be, considering they are ranked in the middle of the pack in hitting and pitching stats.

http://www.popasmoke.com/notam2/member.php?u=138 http://jophan.org/mimosa/m16/cinci.htm http://www.c-7acaribou.com/album/mlphotos/ml_101.htm http://www.vintagecardboard.com/Chase_Nomad.asp TUCSON, Ariz.- A disheveled and broken figure stumbled into the gorgeous lobby of the Hotel El Conquistador here. "I'd like to see Doc Barrett," he told the clerk. Charley Barrett is the veteran trainer of the Columbia University football team (on a stopover for the New Year's Day game with Stanford. "Chase," muttered the man in filthy clothing, "Chase, tell Doc it's Hal Chase" Barrett couldn't believe it and came down to the lobby to ascertain who the imposter was. But it wasn't a pretender. Although Barrett scarcely recognized him, there stood once glamorous Prince Hal, the baseball immortal considered by many to be the greatest first baseman who ever lived. Barrett trained the old New York Yankees, with whom Chase played some years ago, when he was at the height of his fame. Tears poured down the cheeks of both as they embraced each other. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671689746/104-9256135-4478323?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155 From Publishers Weekly Perennial bestseller Deveraux ( The Duchess ) involves yet another spunky heroine in a formulaic romance. After her divorce and her father's death in early 1991, 28-year-old Sam Elliott arrives in New York City to search for clues to the riddle of her grandmother's mysterious 1964 disappearance. Her father's will directs her to spend a year on this quest while renting an apartment from his young friend Mike Taggert, who is writing a book about Prohibition-era gangster Doc Barrett. http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/7119/Jude_Deveraux.html But now they were working together, probing deep into the history of Anthony "Doc" Barrett - and coming closer to the dangerous truth about a bloody spring night in 1928, and what had become of a seductive blues singer named Maxie.

Considering what constitutes a horribly painful foul in this tournament, that would probably qualify as a massive brawl.

Giddy-up!

Probably true. But there's a very small part of me that's hoping that JH instructed Dusty to play guys like Nevin in hopes of increasing their trade value. I know, it's the irrational part of me, but I'm hoping. Exposing guys who can't play everyday by playing them everyday is a poor way to increase their trade value. Use them in the best situations for them and you might get some productivity, which is the only way to increase their trade value.

That could be a problem. But, with the two man combo groups, you should be able to get 8 innings out of them. You'd still have 5 strictly bullpen guys, plus, in between their outings, the guys who start and only go 3-4 innings, can pick up garbage innings here and there. Plus, you can always bring Wuertz, Novoa, Marmol and others up from the minors if anybody is getting overworked. This would take smart moves by the manager. Dempster has had rest periods of 7, 4, 4 and 6 days between outings, while Howry and Eyre have worked practically every other day. It doesn't have to be like that.

For some reason that seemed a little high. I'm wondering what the total value is. I wouldn't think he's worth much more than $1.5-2m per.

She's a cutie too, isn't she?

I think the popular opinion shares in that opinion. There are a lot of backward thinkers in baseball.

http://www.northsidebaseball.com/Majors/2004PitchingPerformances.php http://www.northsidebaseball.com/Majors/PitcherPerformances.php

It's unconventional -- it sets up the starter to not get the W. Not arguing against your idea, because I like it, just giving you the reason. In theory, you could get 5 innings out of the first guy and 4 out of the next, giving your starter a chance for victory. Although it'll probably be more like 3/4 innings for each guy, but that would just give your other starter a shot at the win, and they could rotate the starter A and starter B roles if they want. I know they'd never do it, because they have to stick with conventional wisdom and try to make things respectable. I guess I should say I see no logical reason why you couldn't try something like this. I know they'd have some sort of excuse not to.

That's exactly what I'm saying. Do you agree? If so, thanks! I'm not doing a two step. I dismissed the idea that Nevin was producing and driving in runs right now. You stepped in and called me ignorant for thinking Murton should be playing more, and then went off on tangents about hitting vs RHP, which I never brought up in the first place. I argued against Nevin full-time, you called me ignorant and said Nevin is better vs RHP. You decided to debate me and then changed the debate. I never strayed from what I was talking about in the first place, there was no two-step. I just think it's absurd to argue that Nevin gives you the best chance to win everyday because he's hit a little less poorly against RHP.

The point would be trying to salvage something from an asset. Wood could be part of the future. If he'd sign an incentive laden contract the Cubs would be fools not to give it to him, assuming guarantees are low.