goonys evil twin

No, it's a Cubs fan that doesn't give a crap how a team of Americans plays against a team of Dominicans in meaningless March games thinking.

For one, basketball sucks, it doesn't matter, and the players don't try. Pitching deliveries are far different from shooting threes. Also, while a basketball player who performs in the Olympics might wear down over the course of their season, they can afford to take time off during the season since it's so easy to make their playoffs. In baseball, you don't have the luxury of resting your superstars for a month, because it is twice as difficult to make the playoffs. Baseball is all about routine. These guys have had a routine in spring training for years, and now all of a sudden they want the best to get to work earlier, go all out in made up games in the name of BS nationalistic "honor", and then get back to spring training with their pro team who pay the bills.

Just as easily? No. You don't go all out in spring training games, or at least vets with guaranteed spots don't. Guys will have to work out earlier, and they will wear down sooner. Seasons will be ruined. This is a bad idea if you are a fan of a major league baseball team who will have players in the event.

Sounds like a done deal. It has been announced.

Conratulations on a great start to your pro career so far in the Midwest League. At this point of the season it looks like you have played well enough to earn a promotion to the next level, playing for the Daytona Cubs. Has anybody from the organization talked to you about plans for future moves up the ladder, or do you have any idea if/when you'll move up during the season?

I think the Baylor firing happened during the day on a Friday, Lacheman became the manager for the day, and Kimm joined the team the next day. I don't think Baker is going to get fired soon. But if he was, I'd expect it during the All Star break, specifically the Wednesday following the game (Bud doesn't like headlines taking away from the game). If it's going to happen today, I think it would happen sooner rather than later. They'd have to have a press conference, introduce the interim guy, and try to calm things down long before the players start warming up.

That's very interesting news. Is it because they have to add a Cubs player to replace Pie, or was he really next in line among everybody? Luis is really running out of time to show something at the higher levels. I wonder if there is any plan to bump him up in the second half, to see what the 23 year old has to offer.

I've seen that, don't know what it's called. I thought pepper was a game where you practice rundowns. That's pickle. That's why it's called "getting in a pickle." I never heard it called "pickle". We always called it "pepper". That's what we called it, too. Maybe there are a combination of games and they were all lumped together and called "pepper". No, you guys probably just grew up in a hotbed of communist sympathizers. As much as people whine "kids these days" no longer going out to the sandlot and playing the games of old, I still see a lot of these games going on. I play a lot of games just like this with my fiance's cousins. In fact, I've seen a huge increase in play in the old classic, whiffle ball. I think it's really just Bob Costas and Billy Crystal waxing poetic about their youth.

We called that "running bases", and others call that pickle. And it wasn't just 3 guys, it was 2 fielders and 1 or (more often than not) multiple baserunners. Great game.

Do some people really not know what pepper is? I thought everybody who grew up with baseball knew that game. There's different versions, but the typical game that I played involved 4-5 fielders/pitchers standings in a line or semi circle, facing a hitter. They'd toss the ball to the hitter who would have to hit it forward on the ground. If he hit it in the air he was out, and the guy who caught it was up. If he missed or hit foul, the next guy in line was up. It was a hand eye coordination thing and theoretically helped fielders react to balls and hitters follow the ball in. I've heard it was banned for multiple reasons. One, guys tend to play it in the same area of the field, and they tear up the grass. Two, it's easy for injuries to happen both to the fielders who are only 8-10 feet from the batter, and fans or other passersby when a ball gets by the fielders. Three, people play it againt the fence a lot, and grounds crew don't like their stuff being beaten up.

So you're telling me the winter's harsh weather didn't damage this year's orange crop?

Let's hope your prediction comes true. I for one would celebrate if that happened. There's the post of the year. Hoping for a Cub loss. I hate Perez, but I don't hope he goes 3 for 55 just so he might sit. Hoping for a loss is just as bad as players quitting. The Cubs are going to lose more games this year, one way or the other. In fact, they are going to lose lots of games, even if they go on a fantastic second half run. If somebody truly thought that getting swept again would be the nail in the coffin, I don't see anything wrong with rooting against the team for one game. If it achieves a greater goal of getting rid of the incapable Baker, it's got to be a good thing. Personally, I don't think a loss would affect Hendry's view on Baker. I believe it would take a collapse of monumental proportions the rest of the year to get Dusty fired, and even then I wouldn't be convinced that a move was imminent. But if I knew that a loss this evening would be the end of Dusty in Chicago, I wouldn't have a problem rooting for that to happen.

No

I'd sell Mitre and Williams if you could get anything for them. Williams doesn't impress me at all. Even in his "good game" against Milwaukee he was hit extremely hard, with lots of deep outs. And he wasn't very good in his other start. I think he's a setup man with stamina. That being said, he's had some major league success, and that's what might make him valuable as trade bait. Same thing with Mitre. I'd also trade Barrett or Cedeno in a heartbeat if they could find an upgrade at those positions. Barrett isn't good, and he's not going to get better. Cedeno has surprised the heck out of me, but I still don't see him as anything more than an average shortstop at best, and am somewhat skeptical of his ability to even be that (although I'm fairly confident he'll be better than Neifi). Novoa and Ohman are also a dime a dozen and I wouldn't hesitate to put either of them in a deal. Assuming this is a firesale and the team is giving up on 2005, I'd trade Walker if anybody wanted him. I like the guy, but don't see him as a future cornerstone. So if you could get young value for him, I would most certainly trade him. With Fontenot having a very solid season at AAA, Hairston more than capable of holding down the fort for a season or two, and guys like EPatt down the line, I'd be very willing to move Walker, and wouldn't even have to be blow away to make the deal.

That may be, but do you really think he's worse than Macias? I mean that's what were talking about here. Nobody is claiming that Grieve is some outstanding player. The point is, he's better than Macias. As is Kelton for that matter. It seems fairly obvious to me. But that's a different point than the fact that Grieve sucks - Macias sucks too, but Grive is not a big upgrade over Macias to me. Things like attitude, versatility, yes, even body-language, all these things count to the guys on the field. Is Grieve better than Macias, yes, but not by a significant amount IMHO and he still definitely sucks. Grieve can't even hit in AAA -all he can do is not make contact. All Macias can do is provide defensive versatility and that's more useful out of your 25th man to me. He can't hit in AAA? .248 .365 .523 Body language? We're judging who the worthy players are now on body language. Wow, talk about grasping for straws.

Something I really don't understand about Dusty. He makes a big deal about going RLRL whenever he can. When there is a righty on the mound, he tries to insert a lefty where possible, but not stack the lefties back to back. However, when a lefty is on the mound, he almost always bats his lefties back to back. Before it was Burnitz/Patterson back to back, right now it's Burnitz/Walker. I just don't get it. Why is it a good thing to go RLRLR with a lefty on the mound, but he goes RRRRLLRR with a lefty on the mound?

I didn't say that I thought Barrett's athleticism meant someday he'd be more than what he is right now. I don't expect much more out of Barrett, and considering his contract, that's not good. But he's still talented as heck. You don't put up an 800+ OPS from the catcher spot for a prolonged period of time without being talented.

Why? Why is it that when Dusty came here he was almost unanimously praised as a guy who didn't call out his own players, and did get the most out his guys? Why is it that he has completely shown that to be false, yet he can get off scott free with Patterson. If Patterson developed into a great player under Dusty, wouldn't his supporters be patting him on the back? Baker is all about taking credit for his team's successes. He deserves blame for the failure, including blame for not taking full advantage of and developing some of his most talented players.

Oh lord, wouldn't that be great. Juan is 29. He's been a regular player for 7 years now, and has been a consistent 700-760 OPS player, and at least for the past 3 years, he's consistently declined significantly in the second half. So, while his 2005 numbers look nice, they are completely out of whack with his career, and not likely to be sustained. Career: .266 .315 .441 2002 - 2005: .260 .313 .435

That would help preserve more 4-1 deficits and keep them from growing to 8-1.

Is that more or less irritating than a seasoned manager who supposedly knows the game inside and out trying to stuff a player into a particular spot in the lineup where he has no business playing?

We're loaded with tons of talent? :scratch: I'd say there is tons of talent. Productivity and talent are not he same thing. Some of the most talented players in the game aren't all that productive. They have physical gifts that allow them to do things others cannot, but they don't consistently utilize those talents in a productive manner. If you ask me, that defines the Cubs. Corey is talented as heck, just not productive. Zambrano, Prior, Wood, Lee, Ramirez, Dempster and Barrett have enough talent to measure up against the best in the game. They just don't all produce to their talent level on a consistent basis, or maximize their abilities. 8/25 = tons? And I don't think Barrett is talented. But I'll give you that one. You don't think Barrett is talented? I think he's incredibly talented. He's a great athlete capable of producing outstanding numbers for his position for sizable chunks at a time (April, May, July and August 2004, May 2005) he's just terribly inconsistent and at times appears clueless at the plate. I don't think there are a lot of teams who have much more talent than the Cubs have. There are just several more teams that do a better job utilizing their talent. That's an organizational failure, from the players, to the coaches/instructors to the front office. Inefficiency defines this organization, and considering they are owned by a well respeced corporation, that's surprising. It's like in football, with the Patriots, vs a team like Washington. The Redskins are a terribly inefficient organization, while New England runs their ship like a high class fortune 500 company.

I would say, if you think keeping Dusty Baker is the answer, you're twice as delusional. Replacing Dusty is one of many answers. He's the wrong manager for the wrong team. I said it before he was hired and I haven't seen anything resembling evidence to the contrary.

I doubt that. Peter plays close attention to the minor leagues and knows most teams' best prospects. He wrote about Pie and Murton a few times earlier this season. And if he was a GM I think he'd be very much willing to callup top prospects to fill needs. But I don't think the Cubs would have done that.

We're loaded with tons of talent? :scratch: I'd say there is tons of talent. Productivity and talent are not he same thing. Some of the most talented players in the game aren't all that productive. They have physical gifts that allow them to do things others cannot, but they don't consistently utilize those talents in a productive manner. If you ask me, that defines the Cubs. Corey is talented as heck, just not productive. Zambrano, Prior, Wood, Lee, Ramirez, Dempster and Barrett have enough talent to measure up against the best in the game. They just don't all produce to their talent level on a consistent basis, or maximize their abilities.