apete6

I was going back and forth on that one as well. Both have the stupid "you can't go to any part of the stadium except your own level" rule. The food is pretty good in both places, especially the dogs at both stadiums. I gave the Cell the advantage because of things to do other than the game and the much easier transportation options. Dodger Stadium has a beautiful natural surrounding, but there is even less to do after the game there than there is at the Cell. Also, while a lot of Sox fans are D-bags, at least they are there at the beginning of the game and most stay until the end.

I went to the Friday and Saturday night games this past weekend at Nationals Stadium, along with about 15,000+ other Cub fans. It was a pretty good time, despite the bad managing by Lou and badness of Howry. Here is what my "grades" and comparisons would be. Accessibility: We were coming from inside the district and found the Metro to be easily accessible. A tip for going would be to walk to the further of the 2 entrances after the game to ensure yourself a better chance of getting on the first train you see. Parking, however, seemed like somewhat of a pain with limited on-site parking. They do, however, offer free parking at RFK stadium with a shuttle to Nationals Park. 3/5 for accessibility Food: You can get pretty much anything you want here. You can tell that the staff is still figuring things out as far as speed and service go, but it's not awful. There are several local options including Ben's Chili Bowl, Five Guys Burgers n Fries, Hard Times, and a few others. Some of the more obscure options included a Cajun stand w/gumbo & crab cakes, a few cheese steak stands, and several micro brew options. Prices were high, but pretty comparable to the DC area cost of living. 4/5 on food. Seating views: We were in the 300 level and had a great view of everything, including the Capitol dome and the monstrous HD video board. Pretty standard for a new park. 4/5 for views Gimmicks/Atmosphere: The President's race was entertaining, as expected, but the whole "Teddy Roosevelt never wins" thing will get old in a hurry. The postgame fireworks on Friday night were pretty solid, if unspectacular. The "red porch" bar in center field is kind of cool. The line is pretty deep throughout the whole game, but gives some people something to do while watching the Nats get pounded by everyone except the Cubs. The playstation/speed pitch/batting cage/playground area is decent if you have kids. Pretty much all you can ask for in regards to a new stadium. They relied on the jumbotron for most of the entertainment, and it delivered. That thing is sweet. The atmosphere was mostly Cub fan dominated and I could see how it would be a boring place for a Nationals vs. Marlins game. 3/5 for gimmicks. Home Town fans: As expected, a pretty lame bunch of Nats fans. Probably about 50/50 as far as Cubs fans to Nats fans ratio. Nearly the entire area of expensive "Presidential seats" directly behind home plate were empty for all of the games. Apparently a lot of them are owned by politicians and lobbyists, so they are more of the corporate crowd and don't attend most of the games or spend a lot of time inside at the food/bar area. Kind of lame if you ask me, but I guess I've never had the chance to sit in a $325/seat area with unlimited food and booze. The rest of the fan base was OK, but they don't really have anything to root for currently. 2/5 for the home town fans. Surrounding Area: Incomplete--this area used to be an industrial wasteland/hood. There are a ton of condo/office/multi use buildings under construction and the renderings make it look like it should be a great place to spend some time before and after the game. Overall, I was pretty impressed with the park and after they build up the surrounding area and maybe get a decent team/history in the city, it will be a great place for a game and I'm glad baseball has found a home in DC. I would rank it as so in my list of stadiums that I have been to: Wrigley Field , Fenway Park, PNC Park, AT&T Park, Camden Yards, Petco Park, Coors Field, Nationals Park, Miller Park, New Busch Stadium, US Cellular Field, Dodger Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Great American Ballpark, Angels Stadium, Old Busch Stadium, County Stadium, Old Comiskey Park, Tropicana Field, Shea Stadium, Metrodome, Veterans Stadium

If they win, I'm going to die. If they lose, I'm killing Piniella. Marquis guaranteed to suck tomorrow after this PR experience.

What the hell is going on? Pinch running for your two best hitters and probably 2 of 3 best everyday defenders. Then wasting Ward when they might have walked Blanco as a PH, therefore saving Ward. And Marmol warming up? Why not Hart who can go more than 1 or 2 innings. Lou sucks tonight.

Meh. They owed us for the Howry fan/Soriano game last year. We'll return the favor by going to the World Series.

Brian Fuentes...here is your closer role back.

Either Lou is drunk or Ned Yost is the new Cub manager. Take out your best hitter and fielder for a pinch runner? Good god, man, can't you fall asleep in the dugout for once.

2 fake rallys in a row, can a 3rd be far behind?

Shoulda left Hill in. Oh well.

That 11 pitch at bat that started with an 0-2 count was a thing of beauty. I was really impressed with that AB in particular. Agree on both counts. He looks like a completely different guy out there. Laying off the fastball over his head and trying for contact/foul balls on "pitcher's pitches" rather than trying to hammer everything on a 2 strike count. Hopefully Ronny is "getting it" and Felix is not too far behind.

I don't think I can agree with this. As a society we should not take anyone who has made one mistake or done one wrong thing and forever accuse them of being guilty of anything else if they fit the "profile". Profiling the general populace is wrong. Guilty until proven innocent for people with a history isn't right, either. It is reason enough to suspect him, I'm okay with that. But saying you're okay with the burden of proof being on him I can't go along with. That's cool, this is clearly a matter of opinion. Guilty until proven innocent is a matter of law, not public opinion. It's not designed to get the maximum percentage of casese correct, it's designed to make sure that the errors are rarely wrongful convictions, even if wrongful acquitals become more likely. There's certainly not enough evidence for anyone official to do anything to Sosa, were there still punishment possible, but if I'm being asked to evaluate the likelihood that Sosa used PEDs, I think the proven willingness to break rules for perceived advantage and the statistical profile is enough to push me over the 50% mark. Proven cheater? Those were batting practice bats with cork, duh :roll: I am probably in line with Tim on this one, however. He may have done it. Hell, he probably did it, but with the way the hammer has come down on everyone, including McGwire and Bonds, I find it interesting that no one has nailed Sosa with even a suspicion of buying/using. Granted, a lot of the use/training may have come in the Dominican Republic where most reporters/investigators might not go or have an in, but for no one to come out and say "I used with him" or "I heard a conversation he had about doing them," I am going to give Sammy the benefit of the doubt.

Boy, this guy hasn't wasted any time turning into a world class idiot. If he wanted Joba starting and throwing 150 pitches/game, he should have hired Dusty Baker. Good thing Steinbrenner can decide whats best on the field after 20 games. What a clown. I hope Girardi gets fired and then somehow gets the Mets managing job and wins 3 World Series in a row or something (obviously after the Cubs win a minimum of 6 in a row).

Unless they are getting a legitimate starting SS (think Khalil Greene), I think that is ridiculous. With Marmol and Wood pitching like they have for the most part, the game is over after 7 innings. Marmol is making peanuts and you lose Howry and Eyre next season (and their contracts) and maybe Wood if he gets hurt or they don't offer him enough cash. Unless Wuertz or someone else morphs into Marmol-like domination, you have a crappy end of game situation next year without Marmol.

Exhibit 8,000:

GEOVANY SOTO

It's a lot easier to Boo a player than an entire organization. That and he never tried to change his approach at the plate. He was one of the Cubs most hyped position prospects in the last 20 years and he sucked for the most part. Felix looks like he's on the same path, except Felix appears to be much more willing to change and accept a more limited role as long as the team is winning. Prediction: even if Felix sucks more than Corey, he won't get as much grief because of his good attitude.

Vindication from Tim! I might have to print this out and frame it. I just can't help but look at that lineup and think that it would be well worth dealing with Bonds and his defensive deficiencies and media circus. Then again, we had a damn good lineup in 04 and look how that turned out. Although we had no patience and a terrible closer situation then, both of which are better this year with Fukudome/Bonds and Wood/Marmol.

Thanks for being a dbag and derailing a potentially serious baseball discussion. Go back to Cubs.com

Does that mean the contract would be either void or covered by insurance?

I agree. From a baseball perspective, it could be risky because he's so god awful on defense, but I would imagine that he could make up for that with his .500 OBP. I could care less about roids or PR or any of that stuff. Besides, he's presumably been clean the past 2 or 3 years and has still put up some damn good numbers.

If Soriano (or god fobid, Lee or Fukudome) were to miss 2 months with an injury, would you (or the Cubs) have any interest in signing Bonds to play LF? Why not the most hated guy ever changing his image and bring a championship to a team that hasn't won in 100 years? Fukudome RF DeRosa 2B Lee 1B Bonds LF Ramirez 3B Soto C Pie CF Theriot/Cedeno 2B

You know its a bad signing when Jayson Stark and Steve Phillips (usually idiots) say that this really has no effect on the Cubs. They're like "he's batting 175 and can't do anything on the bases". If anything, this lets them get a normal lineup together and then bat Soriano 6th or 7th when he comes back. Murton LF Fukudome RF Lee 1B Ramirez 3B Soto C DeRosa 2B Pie CF Theriot SS Although you could get this craptacular effort: Theriot SS Reed Johnson LF Lee 1B Ramirez 3B Fukudome RF Soto C DeRosa 2B Pie CF

Not that this makes the organization look much better, but remember this: Bobby Hill = Aramis Ramirez Hee Seop Choi = Derrek Lee Sometimes over promoting your own guys can reap some benefits. Looks like this most recent crop still has some hope. Soto is obviously on his way to the Hall of Fame and whatever we may think of Theriot, he will likely stick on a major league roster for a decade or so. I would think Eric Patterson will eventually have a decent stint in the major leagues somewhere. Cedeno should have an OK run as a major leaguer. Pie is the real wild card of the bunch. If he develops into a serviceable player, the last 5 years will have been good. If not, it will have been a waste. I don't count Murton or Fontenot because we didn't draft/sign them. I think with Wilken in charge, we should reverse this change. However, the Vitters pick didn't make me too happy. Wieters or Porcello would have been a better start.

Update: "Mr Clutch" grounded back to the pitcher to end last nights game with the winning runs on base. But, but, but he hit a grand slam on Sunday with his team up 7-0. You can't get more clutch than that.

Meh. I'm not too worried about it. The rest of this weekend doesn't look good, but I think we tell Dusty and the Reds to eat a bag this week at Wrigley and then we get the Pirates again next weekend. Cubs go 5-3 minimum in the next 8 games. Not too bad.