fromthestretch

Pound for pound, that would be a great deal for the Cubs.

His voice sounds just like Kermit the Frog. I never cared for him either. He always sounds like he hasn't blown his nose in a month! Outside of the voice, Skip - and the rest of the Braves crew for that matter (outside of Chip) - does a fantasic job. It's actually refreshing to listen to a broadcaster who has a sense of humor and doesn't get overly excited about a two-out, bases-empty single in the second inning of a scoreless game. He picks his moments, and in today's world of play-by-play guys who all sound the same, it's nice to hear someone with that style. A lot of people have trouble getting past the voice, which is understandable. But he calls a great game, especially on the radio.

Well, that's depressing.

You are correct. It also means the player can't play anywhere else either. I have no idea if what I am about to tell you is true or not. But I played with a guy in a 30 and over league a couple of years ago who was a catching prospect with the Cubs during the Wilkens, Berryhill, Girardi era. Supposedly, he was ahead of both Wilkens and Berryhill in terms of talent and was the starting catcher in Iowa. He said the Cubs drafted Girardi and pushed him through the system. Anyway, when Joe was ready they put him in AAA and made him the starter. They guy I played with (his first name was Scott) got pissed and asked for his release. The Cubs wouldn't give it to him. So like an idiot he quit. Well, he had just signed a two year contract. The Cubs put him on the restricted list. By the time his contract was up he was done in professional baseball. If one is around a lot of minor league ballplayers one hears these stories all the time. But appearently this dude was a stud. He was the best 36 year old catcher I've ever seen. You could probably contact someone in Media Relations with the Iowa Cubs and request stats and/or a roster for the 1988 and 1989 teams. Girardi was with Iowa in 1989. Not to hijack the thread, but are you still playing in the amateur league? Since we moved to NY I haven't played (3 years). But we are moving to Memphis and they have a MSBL league I might play if my shoulder will let me. Cool. We have a couple NABA Leagues here, as well as a few others with another affiliation. It might be MSBL...not quite sure.

You are correct. It also means the player can't play anywhere else either. I have no idea if what I am about to tell you is true or not. But I played with a guy in a 30 and over league a couple of years ago who was a catching prospect with the Cubs during the Wilkens, Berryhill, Girardi era. Supposedly, he was ahead of both Wilkens and Berryhill in terms of talent and was the starting catcher in Iowa. He said the Cubs drafted Girardi and pushed him through the system. Anyway, when Joe was ready they put him in AAA and made him the starter. They guy I played with (his first name was Scott) got pissed and asked for his release. The Cubs wouldn't give it to him. So like an idiot he quit. Well, he had just signed a two year contract. The Cubs put him on the restricted list. By the time his contract was up he was done in professional baseball. If one is around a lot of minor league ballplayers one hears these stories all the time. But appearently this dude was a stud. He was the best 36 year old catcher I've ever seen. You could probably contact someone in Media Relations with the Iowa Cubs and request stats and/or a roster for the 1988 and 1989 teams. Girardi was with Iowa in 1989. Not to hijack the thread, but are you still playing in the amateur league?

Quinlan would be great. When Lee comes back, Quinlan would provide a good RH bat off the bench, and he's capable of playing 3B and OF if needed.

And we continue to see pitchers suspended for steroids. I love how all the focus in the media continues to be on Bonds and other position players, yet pitchers are just as guilty. They focus on Bonds, because of the name appeal, just like the focused on Sosa. Do I believe both dip into the steroids...no doubt. But there have been rumblings that Eric Gagne had used steroids. And with Ryan Franklin, Juan Rincon, and there was an Indian pitcher---I believe---all suspended last yr, so I don't buy into the media is looking squarely at offensive players as abusers. Most stories and reports of steroids focus on position players and/or the number of home runs being hit. The most you ever hear about the pitchers is simply their name at or around the time of their suspension. All the rants are about how home run numbers are inflated. You rarely, if ever, hear anyone talk about how there have been just as many pitchers suspended at the major league level and more pitchers than position players suspended in the last year at the minor league level. The primary reason for this is most likely the fact that you can measure the number of home runs. There's no statistic to tell us that Joe Southpaw is stronger on three days rest than most pitchers because he's on steroids.

I'm loving this scoreless innings streak. Anybody know the longest scoreless innings streak for a reliever?? If I had to guess I would say Gagne from a couple years ago or the Eckersley 1990 year where he had a 0.61 ERA and only allowed 9 runs all year. Not sure though, those are just guesses. Les Lancaster had a really nice scoreless inning streak in 1989. I think it was 30.2 IP.

And we continue to see pitchers suspended for steroids. I love how all the focus in the media continues to be on Bonds and other position players, yet pitchers are just as guilty.

O M G thats friggen hilarious Fire Joe Morgan has a great post about it: http://firejoemorgan.blogspot.com/2006/04/jim-bowden-has-always-hated.html

He was a catcher for most of his minor league career. Does anyone know how good/bad he was defensively behind the plate?

Why? Does Damon want to play LF? Hunter's much better defensively in CF than Damon. Maybe he does. Is Sheffield a free agent after this year? If so, and they get Hunter, you could put Hunter in RF I guess. Otherwise, Matsui would move to RF and Damon to LF.

Why? Does Damon want to play LF? Hunter's much better defensively in CF than Damon.

I believed last season. The guy flat out raked in the minors. It's hard to ignore a line of .332/.428/.539 in just under 1200 minor league at-bats. I thought going into this season that he could be a legitimate 30-homer guy if he wasn't playing half his games in Detroit. Now I'm starting to think that his home stadium is not going to prevent him from reaching 30+ homers.

Juiced ball or not, that home run that Arroyo hit at Wrigley would still be a home run. He hammered that ball.

And not really "proven." There are lots of 20-year-old pitchers who don't reach their potential, due to injuries or other things (like Doc). Felix has a very high ceiling, but being a pitching prospect means he also comes with a great deal of risk. It's not like you're dealing all of those guys and getting a guarantee that he'll have a Clemens-type career rather than an injury-riddled one. But think of how much it took to bring Doc down. People can point to the drug use, but I'd say that throwing an average of 234 innings per year in his first five seasons prior to the age of 24 probably didn't help matters.

Considering the crap production they were getting with other players...yes, I would have. He'd have been hitting in front of Lee, which would have probably allowed him to see a few more pitches to hit. I disagree with that. When what you have is failing, you try other options. You don't bury those options at the bottom of the order until you deem them to be ready.

He actually played 51, and probably could've played more had Baker written him into the lineup. And the damage was done? So freaking what. You don't throw in the towel. You try to fix the problem.

So you were ok with Patterson, Macias, and Perez getting regular at bats in the first two spots in the order last year? Yes, considering the injuries to Nomar and Walker had a ripple effect through the entire lineup last year. If I recall, Dusty tried different lineups literally every other game last year trying to find the right mix. I think it was more a lack of options and not stupidity. He had options, such as putting Walker up there every game when he was healthy. Walker got 100 at-bats batting sixth last year. He could have given Murton and Cedeno more opportunities in either of the first two spots. Instead, Murton spent most of his time in the 6th, 7th, and 8th spots. There were options.

So you were ok with Patterson, Macias, and Perez getting regular at bats in the first two spots in the order last year?

Ozzie Guillen has to be high on that list, too.

Yeah, Jon Miller has always been my favorite announcer. Too bad he gets cancelled out a little by Morgan. I love watching Karl Ravech try to deal with his co-hosts on Baseball Tonight. You can see the frustration on his face.

Too bad we don't have Dwight Smith on the bench. He has experience helping a team come back from being down 9-0.

Did you get the express written consent of Major League Baseball? :wink:

See Uecker, Bob. Exactly. He does a very good job.