Abe Frohman

At LSU, I'm pretty sure Theriot played SS all the time. He might have played 2B a few times - and I can't say I ever remember him playing in the OF. Not sure about in the Minors, though.

Sweet fancy Julio!!! Look at how many times a year that guy gets hit by a pitch!!!! In 10 Minor League seasons, he has been plunked 166 times! In the last four minor league seasons, he has been hit 83 times! That's incredible.

I doubt Lou was talking to anyone in particular with the "you want a job, earn it," comment. I think it is great, and will get the best out of everybody on the team. I am impressed with Soriano and the way he showed up to camp early to work on his OF play. That tells me that he is doing everything possible to secure a job - which we all know is his with the huge contract. That is professional, and everyone on the team should be like that (if they aren't, I have no idea). So far, I love what I hear from Piniella.

I divided the following player's career BB totals by their career AB totals and then listed their OPS (OB% + SLG%) so we can sort of see the relationship between the BB/AB% and the OPS%. Bellhorn - .154 (322/2093) - .738 (Bellhorn has actually shown good power when playing in full seasons) Hatteberg - .127 (458/3813) - .767 Guillen - .108 (330/3064) - .798 Dunn - .203 (574/2832) - .893 Burrell - .161 (569/3527) - .841 Youklis - .161 (138/856) - .802 Pujols - .141 (493/3489) - 1.048 Bonds - .253 (2426/9507) - 1.051 Howard - .153 (143/932) - 1.023 Perez - .045 (227/5063) - .674 Izturis - .050 (121/2437) - .631 Kingman - .092 (608/6607) - .780 Soriano - .057 (224/3902) - .835 Monroe - .068 (139/2057) - .771 Francoeur - .037 (34/908) - .782 Guerrero - .099 (544/5502) - .973 (actually, Vlade has a .390 career OB%) Ramirez - .072 (279/3897) - .825 LaRoche - .096 (121/1267) - .841 There are all kinds of hitters, and some are good by some standards while others are good by different standards. Overall, I think that you can see that the hitters with higher percentage of BB per AB's tend to be your better overall hitters if you use the OPS to judge a guy. Of course, a higher OB% is going to contribute to a higher OPS, but you can clearly see that the big hitters NOT drawing walks make more outs, while the guys who draw more walks tend to have fewer ABs. Your best hitters are the ones who produce runs - scoring them and driving them in. High walk totals only increase run proficiency.

There is absolutely NOTHING negative that can come out of taking a walk. The worst thing is that you "clog" up the bases and create "force-outs." The benefits of being a patient hitter are limitless. * You see more pitches. * The pitcher has more chances of throwing down the gut. * The pitcher throws more pitches, inducing fatigue. * You greatly increase the chance to score a run. * You give your teammates a look at what pitches the pitcher is throwing. The idea of being a patient hitter is not to draw a walk, it is to get a pitch to hit. Ted Williams is arguably the greatest hitter to play the game, and he wrote books about hitting (most notably, "The Science of Hitting"). Williams lived and died by working the count in order to allow the pitcher to make a mistake and give him a pitch to drive. When a player walks 100 times a year, that is 100 additional chances he has created for himself to score a run. Teams that don't get on base don't score runs (2006 Cubs). Teams that get on base score more runs - it's all relative. Patient hitters are better hitters. Period.

Bruce, you down with the horizontal stripes too?

...this time he is feuding with former Sox pitcher Brandon McCarthy. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/cs-070302soxguillen,1,7725564.story?coll=cs-whitesox-headlines

One kid that has kind of intrigued me is that Lind kid for Toronto. Dude LIT UP AA, AAA, and MLB pitching last year while using.....wait for it.....TWO BATS. Can you imagine how special that is? The man only used two bats all year. I read that somewhere, and if it is true - that is a special kind of hitter, and I want to pay attention to his ascent.

I don't think it's that ridiculous. He hates it in NY and NY hates him. People are saying the right thing, for now, but the Yankees would absolutely move him if they got value, and he'd absolutely accept a trade to the right situation. You're probably right, it's not ridiculous - but it's highly unlikely. With all the money the Cubs have invested in this team, is there more for a guy who deserves at least $18 million/year (with this market) when you consider that if all goes well, an additional $30 million/year will be invested in Zambrano/Prior? I'm all for it if McDonough and Co. are really serious about spending whatever to give the best chance for the Cubs to win a WS, but that is Yankee money we are talking there.

I'm sure that A-Rod could adjust to LF or RF just fine if he couldn't handle SS anymore. This is ridiculous talk folks - for A-Rod it is a nice media distraction to his uncomfortable situation in NY.

Most awesomeness picture ever. Agreed...but I don't remember him having that high of a leg lift on his swing...don't some suggest that that leads to slumps? That high of a leg lift almost guarantees 100+ strikeouts because it's going to cause head movement. It also is the trigger for the swing that has made Soriano the power hitter that he is. I imagine someone along the line has tried to work with him to cut down on the big step/head movement, but it is probably the sacrifice you make to be a 40/40 man.

They hired Dusty to commentate on baseball, dudes.

Who? Oh, you mean the best lead off hitter the Cubs have had in the 21st century. Well, I just remember Bellhorn ripping it up in Spring Training before the 2002 season, and ended up having a very nice season for the Cubs.

Jeez, Hendry was wearing his "ace" again.

You sure about that? With Dish Network?

As a Dish Network customer, I like to call in once a week to see if I can get any information on them carrying the MLB EI package, and I had an interesting conversation today. Talked to an operator named Megan, and she GUARANTEED to me that they would be carrying the package. She said they will continue to fight, but they would DEFINATELY be offering it to us. Still feel uneasy.

Vance - your account should be a bit fatter. Thanks bro, and let me know if you recieved your payment. Also, I'll plan on bringing the jersey for you to the game unless you would like me to ship it to you. Gabe

Trust me, when Matt Lawton starts threatening to leave his mark on the game in a way that is impure - he will be under the spotlight like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa are. This is no different than a normal kid competing in the Special Olympics. Many of today's superstars are under the spotlight because they are setting the records by using dishonorable methods. Keep the game clean and pure. To hell with those who tarnish it. Including the owners and Office of MLB who let this happen to make money. Greed is ruining the game. The National Pastime. No one is bigger than the game.

Or use the prospects. Honestly, has this type of activity really worked? It takes away a roster spot and also takes away some young guy from getting innings too. I see a lot of complaints about Perez and his 2.5 and Macias and his contract but these guys that don't come close to panning out get a free ride from complaints. And I really don't consider all the money the Cubs have spent on Miller to really be low cost. Yes, it does work; for the Cubs as well as other teams. It's a good gamble. The reality is, Miller has been on the DL, more often than not, during his brief time with the Cubs so it can hardly be argued that his presence has prevented the team from using its prospects. If the Cubs can't extend Z because of the $1M+ they have given Miller, thus far, then they have big problems. I doubt that's the case. I think it's kinda funny talking about preventing prospects from dipping their beaks, considering the 2006 Cubs. I wouldn't give up on Wade Miller yet, I am interested in seeing how he adjusts. If he can mix up speeds he can be effective, even with a mid to upper 80's arm. We'll see.

Matt Murton just seems like the perfect #2 hitter to me. Just like Todd Walker was last year. I just don't understand how you would rather have a Jacques Jones, Neifi Perez, etc. in the 2 hole when you have a guy like Murton who would only benefit your leadoff man's attempt to disrupt the pitcher with a stolen base. That's what I think.

Yeah, they opened it right around Valentine's Day.

Jeez. Nice Dunlap. I'm one to talk.

Wow. Last I had heard his brother was modeling in Europe. Mark was a hell of a soccer player in HS, and was a FG kicker at LSU. Cool.

Ever hear of a restaurant called "Meiki's?"

Technically, you are correct. However, most don't even bother to make a distinction between low-profile and unstructured (usually unstructured is considered a subset of low profile). I didn't see the need to make that distinction in this thread because we are really talking more about the change to the high profile ones more than what they might someday become. That said, my high profile hats get much closer to a low profile structured hat after they are broken in. I don't really like the way they look brand new. I used to always wear the 5950 "official" game hat. When I look at pictures of me back in the day wearing them, it just looks goofy. Nike makes a great low profile Cubs hat, but it is adjustable - not fitted. I had to buy a new one recently because my old one smells like beer (I have no problem with this, but my wife must have thrown it away). Seems like I had a bit too much fun at Hi-Tops last time I was in Chicago and had to pour a beer over my own head.