goonys evil twin

The one dimension you speak of was the SLG. The reason all those homeruns didn't lead to a lot of runs is because of the bottom of the barrel ranking in walks, which led to pathetic levels of OBP. The Cubs feasted of power, but starved for baserunners. To make the offense better, they need to get more baserunners while minimizing the reduction in power.

Forgetting the topic of speed for a second, the phrase "you cannot underestimate" always seems confusing to me. Presumably you're talking about something you value highly when you start a sentence off with those three words. However, if you are saying you cannot underestimate something, you are essentially saying it is not possible to place a value on something that is lower than the actual value, or, this thing is so lacking in value that it is impossible to arbitrarily name a value that would be lower than its actual value. Or, in this case, speed is so worthless, you can't possibly come up with a value, however stated, that is lower than the actual value of speed. Although, if you take is as a command, as in "YOU, yeah YOU, you are not allowed to underestimate the value of speed." Well, besides being a little harsh, this pretty much guarantees the person will be forced to overvalue speed, or whatever the object/concept is, because nobody can assume you will be perfect when assessing value. So, in other words, the value of speed is going to be overestimated, because it's either impossible to underestimate it, or you are not allowed to underestimate it. It's like saying "I couldn't care less" when if fact you could very easily care less. Anyway, it's been one game. You can't use one game to show us anything about how the offense will be different from year's past. Personally I'd love all Cubs players to have blazing speed as one of their many abilities, along with elite vision, hand eye coordination, balance, strength, quickness, intelligence, decision making ability, instincts, spunk, grit, confidence, clutchiness, intangibility, chemical capability, courtesy and generosity (to the fans and need, not opposing teams). But I don't think it's possible to find such a player, or group of players. So I'd just like to see them assemble the most productive group of players possible with a mixture of several traits.

So you admit that speed is not as important as OBP, but then you claim it's sickeninig that people don't think it's as important as OBP? A fast player with no OBP isn't as good as a slow player with lots of OBP. If two guys have the same OBP, it's better to have the faster guy. But speed is already partly factored into OBP, because if a guy is fast he should be beating out more balls than others, which helps his OBP. Is it really necessary to critique people who aren't as enamored of speed as you when you praise the speed of this team? I don't see the point. I don't think anybody is wishing for a slow team, or slower players. I think a lot of people put speed down the list of definitions of a good player. Speed is neither necessary to be good, nor does it guarantee you will be good. It's a small part of the package, but it can still be impactful.

Not by me. I just find it unbelievable how many try to diminish the importance of non-Moneyball facets of the game. That's not to say speed in and of itself will win games, however when watching today's game it was pretty easy to see it will be a determining factor in many. I thought it was importnat, that's all. I find it unbelievable that people still use phrases like "moneyball facets of the game." Some people choose not to glorify speed as the greatest thing in the game of baseball. If you want to call that "diminishing the importance" go right ahead.

It depends on how fast he gets around the bases on that homerun. I think that thread should focus more on the harnessing of time travel, but that's just me.

The Cubs used 19 of 25 active players in just 9 innings.

That's my point. You can't use lack of confidence in one pitcher as an excuse to misuse another. If the guy is on the team, and you've clearly given him the role, use him. Don't carry a long man if you are afraid to use him with a 6 run lead in a game when your pen was hit early. The Cubs have an off day tomorrow and a pretty relaxed week, I don't see why you have a problem with Dusty taking advantage of the schedule and using the best pitchers available. Seems a little nit picky of an otherwise well managed game. It is nitpicky, but it's still symptomatic of the same stupid mistakes Dusty makes all the time. The off day tomorrow doesn't excuse extending an important set-up man in a 6 run lead. If you want to take advantage of the off-day, use more guys, don't use one guy longer than he should be going, in the first game, in temperatures much lower than they were playing in during the spring, when the biggest concern about that guy is the overuse in recent years. Go to Williams to start the 7th. If you get in trouble, you still have Howry and Dempster, not to mention Wuertz. These little things might seem unimportant, but this is the kind of stuff that hurts the team down the line. Will Eyre be ready in 2 days? If he is used Wednesday, will he be available Friday. It's these little things that lead to things like Farnsworth throwing in 6 straight games, and falling apart in that 6th game. Or Wuertz pitching in 6 of 7 games, and going from dominant to terrible during that stretch. I'm happy Dusty didn't foolishly try to "get Zambrano the win", but I wouldn't say that's great managing, it's just common sense. That should extend to other players as well. On another note, these guys have given up 10 freaking walks.

That's why it's banned.

That's my point. You can't use lack of confidence in one pitcher as an excuse to misuse another. If the guy is on the team, and you've clearly given him the role, use him. Don't carry a long man if you are afraid to use him with a 6 run lead in a game when your pen was hit early.

I don't often defend the arms in the Cub pen, but it is a significant weather change for them to adapt to. However, there still is little defense for Williamson not throwing strikes while up by 7. Williamson put Baker in a pickle. I'm sure Dusty wanted to hold Eyre for the next ininng. Also, with the way Wuertz has been pitching, I'm certain he didn't want to go to him even though he had warmed up earlier with Ohman. As a result, Eyre threw more than he normally will. You simply can't use other pitchers as an excuse to misuse a guy. Eyre shouldn't have even pitched. Williams, who is the longman, should have been ready to go 7-9 this game. It's the first game, there's just no reason to extend a guy like that.

Recent meaningless performance.

around 35.

Eyre on his 7th batter, up to 27 pitches. Is somebody warming up?

Cripes, Dusty's going to have to use the whole bullpen today. With a day off tomorrow, that's no big deal. Plus he has Williams who could go the rest of the way.

I don't want to nitpick this early in the season. But you've got a 7 man bullpen, including a starter in Williams. The big concern with Eyre is he's coming off some serious overuse. Why not start this inning fresh with Williams, and keep from extending Eyre this early in the season?

You clearly have not a done very good job with the training. She should know not to even have to ask. I teach on Saturdays and she had to make sure I could get out of it. Breakfast club?

Lowell went deep to LF for his first AL HR.

Who the heck is this even older Reds announcer? They seem to have about 6 guys working at various times during the broadcast. Murton is now Mutan, like mutant without the 2nd t. And they're randomly talking about grandchildren now.

Get Williams warmed up right now. Put him in for 7-9 if he keeps the big lead.

2 relievers used already, 4 batters faced, 1 out. At least 12 outs to go. Nice job fellas.

If there was ever a time to put Neifi in a game, it's when you're already winning by 4 or 5 runs.

I love how much Marty is ripping into Dunn. This is Marty, right?

Lieber did a good job showing he's no ace, and that Philly really should have traded for pitching this offseason. 5-0 Cards in the 4th. Rolen just hit a GS, now it's 10-0 Texas got on the board, though they're losing 5-2 in the 7th. Hank and Ortiz each went deep down the RF line.

Is this the fastest 3 Cubs on the bases at the same time?

These announcers absolutely hate Adam Dunn.