TenzilKem

I was never much of an athlete. I had a rag arm and had trouble hitting the ball out of the infield. About all I could do is run fast. Needless to say, I never entertained any thoughts about being a major league baseball player. Now, about 20 years later, I realize I could have played CF for the Cubs.

Rusch looks like a BP pitcher. Rich Hill's next start should be with the Cubs. Send Aardsma down and move Rusch to mopup duty.

Ryne Sandberg through April 28th: 1982: .211 .240 .324 1983: .174 .208 .217 1984: .256 .337 .436 1985 .159 .194 .275 1986 .230 .275 .392 1987: .308 .416 .462 1988: .183 .227 .354 1989: .282 .311 .388 1990: .225 .243 .310 1991: .198 .270 .272 1992: .239 .329 .403 1994: .296 .367 .457 1996: .212 .323 .506 1997: .197 .269 .344 Stats found at retrosheet.org.

http://www2.jsonline.com/sports/brew/image/2001/sep/rq922.jpg

Link to wire obit.

I've been posting on Cub message boards since 2001 (ESPN, now NSBB), and I have seen enough to note several trends that will undoubtedly continue in the future: 1. No manager will ever be popular on a message board. Every manager, at some point, is going to send up pinch-hitters who strike out, put in relief pitchers who get shelled, and give a guy on your fantasy team a day off once in awhile. 2. No GM will ever be popular on a message board. Hendry could walk on water and the next day you'd see a thread on NSBB titled "Jim can't swim." 3. The roster filler guys--your backup catchers, 5th outfielders, 5th starters, long relief guys--will always be the subject of derision unless they are Cub farmhands. I strongly suspect that this is the case for many other teams as well. I also want to state that I agree with RocketSauce: engaging in the above behavior doesn't make you less of a fan, just as being president of the Neifi Perez Fan Club doesn't make you less of a fan. But I also have to say that I get a bit tired of the relentless negativity. I don't mind reading criticism per se. One of my favorite posters to read is Goony. He's often critical, but his posts are well-written, and he always supplies evidence to back up his criticism. But I have little interest in wading through 10 pages of another "Neifi Sucks" thread.

How dare you bash my favorite player!!!!

How dare you bash my favorite player!!!!

I believe that 3 of the home runs Guzman gave up were in a start in Albuquerque, which has always been a hitter's paradise. If we want to go strictly on ERA, maybe the Cubs should have called up Augie Ojeda. He's got an ERA of 0.00 after throwing a scoreless inning in Iowa's blowout loss today. His ability to pitch, switch hit, and play three positions would give Dusty a myriad of options late in a game. You could consider him a poor man's Brooks Kieschnick--or maybe utterly destitute starving homeless man's Brooks Kieschnick would be more accurate.

I looked around on google, and apparently Gregg Olson (Baltimore Orioles) set a record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched by a reliever in 1990 with 41. So far I can't find any reference to anyone surpassing that mark.

He already is. He made an appearance with the Giants vs. the Astros in 2004(I think 2004). He'll move to first on the the alphabetical list of Cub players, an honor he might hold for some time. Former #1: Bert Abbey, who pitched for the Chicago Colts back in the 1890's. Former first of the modern era: sidearm reliever Ted Abernathy. Last of list of Cubs and all major league players is Dutch Zwilling.

If they went to 12 pitchers I think they'd call up a reliever--Aardsma or Novoa--rather than a starter to take Rusch's place. My personal preference would be to have Felix Pie do a Wally Pipp job on Jacque Jones.

I look forward to reading this.

PHILADELPHIA - Tony La Russa watched too many teams pitch around Mark McGwire to let it happen to Jimmy Rollins. Rollins' hitting streak was on the line when he came to the plate with two outs in the eighth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies trailing the St. Louis Cardinals 13-5 in Monday's season opener. Reliever Adam Wainwright's first three pitches were out of the strike zone, and those remaining among the sellout crowd of 44,614 at Citizens Bank Park booed each one. Before the next pitch, La Russa got catcher Yadier Molina's attention and signaled for a strike. The right-handed Wainwright threw a fastball down the middle and Rollins ripped it down the right-field line for a double to extend his hitting streak to 37 games. continued I'm no La Russa fan by any stretch, but I tip my cap to him for this move.

I'm fairly certain it's a website screwup. Rapada isn't listed on the 40 man roster, but he is listed on the active roster.

You'll have to include my sig. It's several years old, but I haven't gotten around to changing it because I've never come across anything better.

I think there are quite a few fans who enjoy ragging on who they perceive to be the worst player on the team--in the past it's been Macias, Bako, Harris, Coomer, etc. There seems to be some cathartic release gained by ragging on mediocre players.* ** *** *The above mentioned players were, indeed, mediocre. **I am not guiltless in this respect. ***Regardless, Pagan is a cheap, toolsy player who has had a very nice ST and deserves a shot to go north with the big club and show what he can do, even though there's almost no chance he'll put up numbers comparable to Carlos Beltran.

I read somewhere--not sure, maybe Daily Herald notes--that the Mets tried to get Pagan to emphasize hitting down on the ball to utilize his speed. In other words, they took the same approach that the Cubs tried to take with Corey Patterson. Maybe he's benefitting from the Cubs' laissez-faire approach to hitting instruction.

There was an interview with Buck on Keith Olberman's show last night. He's a true gentleman who deserves to be in the HOF.

Baker likes the guy so the Cubs throw him a AAA contract and yearly NRI as a favor to Dusty. Whenever I see a guy that old playing in the minors I assume he either really loves baseball or really dislikes his wife.

He's pretty much a NRI, even though he's on the 40 man roster. He'll be given a chance to compete for a bench spot, but will probably lose out to Grissom. At that point Pagan will be cut and Grissom will take his roster slot.

I personally think that Sosa is older than 37 and his decline is fairly typical of a hitter in his 40's. For example, look at Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. Both had their last decent season at age 39 and declined rapidly thereafter. Here are their homerun totals by age (Aaron, then Mays): 39: 40/28 40: 20/18 41: 12/8 42: 10/6

The thought of Neifi starting at 2B scares me a little. The thought of Neifi regularly hitting 2nd in the lineup scares me a lot.

Maybe Wells could make the 25 man roster as 12th pitcher/emergency 3rd catcher. We all know how Dusty loves versatility. (Yes, I'm just kidding.)

I'll try to clarify. There's no question that Patterson's 2005 numbers were abysmal. Still, this is a team with a rookie in left, a fading vet in right, and bench that is so barren that Marquis Grissom gets a NRI flyer. Depsite Patterson's awful 2005, he's a young, cheap, toolsy outfielder that has had success in the past. The Cubs traded him for 2 players who will have no impact on the 2006 season and may never reach the big leagues. I think there was more to this trade than Corey's 2005 numbers. I think management was unhappy with his overall attitude and approach to coaching. It was clearly evident that he and Baker were never on the same page.