KyHen

Ankiel with the outfield assist of the year in the 7th.

I think the Cub girl is gorgeous, so I pick her.

Cubs vs. Cards -- who has the hotter unofficial message board official rally girl? Note: the Cards girl is the one in the front right. ...................................Cubs.............................................................................Cards................................... http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/6236/rallygirlng1.jpghttp://img177.imageshack.us/img177/6528/hotbeergirls400jf7.jpg Track the progress at the rival board: http://gatewayredbirds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21521

I don't think the Jacques Jones signing was bad at all. I personally preferred him over Juan Encarnacion because I thought Jones would at least be productive out of platooning. At the time they looked bad, but I don't think Jones nor Encarnacion were bad signings in hindsight -- not after seeing what guys like Juan Pierre and Eric Byrnes are getting.

Honestly, I wouldn't listen to anything Bernie says. That dude stirs the pot more than anyone. And yes, I'm sure he's hurt. Is he ever not hurt? They're saying he possibly needs Tommy John for his elbow. He battled Plantar Fasciitis for years. Arguably the thing that impresses me most about Pujols is how tolerant he is to the pain because of his love and commitment for the game.

This reminds me of St. Louis picking up Wilson last year. Both Wilson and Monroe were absolutely horrible with their respective teams before being DFA'd. I don't know how it will turn out but I don't necessarily think it was a bad pickup. There outfield has been horrible this year. And look at how Kendall turned out.

Projects should never turn into Chris Carpenter. He's another good example of this. Carp was mired in mediocrity in TOR -- his ERA+ from those days looks pretty much like Marquis to me. 91, 106, 112, 79, 116, 85......just bobbing up above the 100 mark occasionally, and then tanking well below in other seasons. Then he comes off devastating arm surgery to put up this: 121, 151, 143. Mediocre pitcher, devastating arm surgery........then suddenly Cy Young?? Who else has ever done this? Jason Marquis clearly does not have the repertoire that Chris Carpenter does.

I really thought Floyd was a good signing. I thought in limited duty he would have a lot of success.

Rogers Hornsby.

DWard's 2 homers this weekend pushed his season HR/AB total to right around his career norms (he averages 1 every 30-40 AB, and he has 80 AB on the button this year). KyHen, you posted a bunch of examples of terrible players who continued to be terrible on the Cards, which isn't really what we meant. Bad players playing bad is expected. As for Reyes, you might have to give it time. It took Rich Hill nearly 2 full seasons to figure out how to go from AAAA pitcher to decent big leaguer. Hill, if you'll recall, tore up AAA as well. Yes but something tells me that if in 2 years Reyes is pitching like Hill is this year there will be threads just like this saying how the Cards are lucky casue Reyes sucked the past few years but now is pitching well. I think that all Cards fans know that we have brought some players in that have outperformed their career norms. What most of us are trying to say is that every year there is players that do that on every team in the league. I can't think of a single example of an STL prospect coming up, struggling at first, then getting good and myself (at least) being upset about it. I do remember being upset that Pujols and Duncan (particularly Duncan since he got his first regular action at age 26) came up and immediately tore it up. Well then kudos for being rational in that regard. That's more than I can say for 80% of the posts in this topic (or every post pertaining to this absurd notion).

I have no problems with Lincecum's theatrics on the mound. So I've got no beefs with you! 8-)

i have killed for worse my friend... no rational objective observations allowed. I guess I get pretty crazy too during intense ball games.

As an objective onlooker, I find it kind of silly that some of you guys are complaining about Lincecum being emotional out there, seeing as how you have that Zambrano fellow and whatnot. Not saying celebrating is good or bad, just pointing out my ... uh.. observation. Also, impressive resilience out of the Cubs to come back after Lincecum looking so good all game...

WOW! Did anyone else see that foul ball that Fielder hit? Calling that "mammoth" would be the understatement of the century. It was foul, though...

Chris Young is a beast. How silly do you think Ken Williams feels? He gave him up for Javier Vasquez, in case anyone is unaware. It was an awful trade at the time, let alone now as Young pushes Braun for ROY consideration. Totally agree. Vasquez was coming off of two consecutive subpar seasons.

They just showed a graphic: Mark Reynolds has struck out in nine consecutive at-bats. He was hit by a pitch this time up.

Double in Arizona. 2-2 is the score. 2nd and 3rd, 1 out.

Chris Young is a beast. How silly do you think Ken Williams feels? He gave him up for Javier Vasquez, in case anyone is unaware.

Chris Young HR 2-1 Brewers

Before the 15th of July I couldn't post here unless I was under a proxy (a huge pain). I'll leave it at that.

Actually nothing like Bo Hart. Bo Hart saw more than twice as many AB's in his fluke season - Theriot's #s last year could be attributed to a small sample size. Also, Bo Hart's #'s the following year were not even in the same ballpark as Theriot has been this year. I'll concede this. I was actually considering including the sample size argument when I first posted it. I was not trying to imply that Ryan Theriot was a Bo Hart-caliber player.

Implying that an 88 OPS+ is "thriving" borders on a hyperbole. His production is significantly down from his time with Chicago last year. I'm not saying he sucks -- it's acceptable from a versatile middle infielder. But much like Bo Hart a few years ago, Theriot was playing way over his head in 2006.

Like I posted before, Marquis was even better with the Cardinals his first two years that what he has been with the Cubs this year. The Cardinals are too lucky to have him struggle that badly for a year with them, though. There would have been some sort of divine intervention that helped him right his path. They already had turned him around. He posted ERA+ of 82 and 75 in his final two years with the Braves. 2004 and 2005 have nothing to do with it. Marquis having a down year in 2006? Possible. But being the worst starter in the NL? Very unlikely. And for the Cardinals, no less? Inexplicable. I think you're missing the point, man: the Cards are protected by a magical aura that prevents them from suffering from the problems and distractions that normal, mortal teams are exposed to. Marquis 2006 season defies logic. Is this even debatable? Why do 04 and 05 have nothing to do with it? The Cardinals took a well below average pitcher and turned him into an above average pitcher for two seasons. Why do they have nothing to do with it? Because I can ignore it. I can be delusional. Similar to the way that people can ignore common sense and non-tangible factors and attribute everything to luck. Or in other words, similar to the delusional premise (luck) that this topic is based on.

How could I have forgot that? It marked the first time in MLB postseason history that a starter went on an improbable run.