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If Fontenot thought it went to the backstop and so could take 3rd easily and have Johnson right behind him, then it makes sense to take 3rd (to stay out of the DP that Soto grounded into). Unfortunately Fontenot read it wrong while Johnson read it correctly. The sad part is that if either one of them had reversed (Fontenot reading it correctly or Johnson also reading it wrong) the Cubs would still be batting. The problem is you don't go to 3rd if you think it went, you have to know it went. You can't mess around with so few outs and such little value in going from 2nd to 3rd. There was just nothing to gain there. Oh, definitely agreed. I'm just saying there is a situation there where taking 3rd is the correct move. But you have to be absolutely sure, and it's a really bad mistake when you're wrong like Fontenot was.

If Fontenot thought it went to the backstop and so could take 3rd easily and have Johnson right behind him, then it makes sense to take 3rd (to stay out of the DP that Soto grounded into). Unfortunately Fontenot read it wrong while Johnson read it correctly. The sad part is that if either one of them had reversed (Fontenot reading it correctly or Johnson also reading it wrong) the Cubs would still be batting.

ball went between catcher's legs. Fontenot thought it went to the backstop because the catcher was having trouble but it was actually right behind the catcher who threw Fontenot out at third.

I have a feeling Lou will hold Ramirez until the 9 spot if the Cubs can get there because Bradley is almost certainly not available and if Ramirez hit 8 that would leave Hill for 9.

Neither is great, but give me the guy that has more upside, plays better defense, hits for more power, and doesnt cost 2.5 million for 2 year. That's fine. I would completely agree with you (although I would have kept DeRosa, not signed Miles, and still traded Cedeno as part of the deal for Heilman). But you said that Cedeno was better specifically at the plate than Miles. And that isn't really true. It's his other things (upside, defense, contract) that makes him the better option, not his hitting.

I agree. That .328 OPS would look miiiiighty fine right about now. Oh damn you showed me. If you think Miles is a better option at the plate than Cedeno, I dont know what to tell you. If Cedeno develops he is a better hitter. He has much more upside than Miles ever will have. But Miles has outproduced him each of the last 3 seasons. It's certainly not irrational to think he could outproduce him for a 4th straight. At least at the plate (Cedeno's a much better defender).

I'm not a huge fan of the hit and run either. But our minds are always going to be conditioned against the hit and run because we remember when people are gunned out much more than when either the steal is successful or the hitter hits a ground ball that becomes 1 out instead of 2. Unfortunately we'd have to track each result by ourselves. My guess it is overall a negative thing but much closer than people think.

Well, that last one was a double steal so it had to have been called from the dugout. And the first time when Theriot ran in the Fukudome at-bat it was on a 3-1 count, which is a count that is almost certainly called from the dugout as well (runners would rather go with the runner down in the count). And I also thought the last pitch to Lee was a strike while the previous ones weren't.

I would have no problem doing a reboot of the first round or two. I'm just pulling names off of ranking sheets right now this deep into the draft and so it doesn't provide that much value. Plus I do agree that the first round would change significantly if done again. It's the ripple effect..2 or 3 picks change and suddenly everything changes because most teams can't just take BPA.

Just because it's a "generally known fact" around the league doesn't mean it's true. It's a generally known fact that Cardinals fans are the best in baseball. I think many here would disagree with that. My problem comes from the fact he uses Jacque Jones and LaTroy Hawkins as examples of racist behavior. They weren't booed because they were black; they were booed because they failed a lot. Also, the most booed Cub I've ever heard is Todd Hundley. I'm sure there are racists who go to Cubs games, but I really am skeptical that it's a higher ratio than any other ballpark. He didn't say booed though...he said racial taunts. Even if those were because they failed quite a bit, racial taunts are still completely unnecessary. And that certainly wouldn't apply to all the opposing players who come in and hear supposedly racial things about them. And I really doubt that it's a generally accepted fact among the players that the Cardinals have the best fans. That's where the difference lies. What incentive do these players have to lie? I guess you could say the 06 Cubs had a little bit of an incentive to try to gain sympathy (although that is still a very shaky explanation) but what about the others? Players hate to go on record speaking something negative about groups of fans because they understand it's a business. The fact that they were willing to for this story says a lot about what they think.

I don't see the problem with the article. He didn't call out all Cubs fans-what he said that it was more likely to happen in Wrigley than at many other ballparks. And then he found several players who were willing to back up that assertion, along with at least one of the players (Cameron) saying that it is a generally known fact around the league. If all the players believe that it is worse in Chicago than at other parks, then they are probably right. They are the ones standing in the OF in every park so they would have a better idea than anybody else. And most players are probably predisposed to like Cubs fans for their passion, so there is no bias angle here.

I think it's clearly talking about today's game. He has a separate blog about Monday's game and Aramis getting pulled. The date on the right side shows this blog as the 15th. Besides, if you believe the April 13th date, it says it was at 7:26 PM. Why would Levine say at the end: More to follow after Piniella's pregame news conference? It's obvious the date is wrong after that statement because Lou's next pregame conference wouldn't be for almost 2 days from the time the date/time combination says it was posted.

I probably would've liked TJ Lang at this point if he hadn't been picked, but not sure another offensive lineman is worthwhile here (at least to me). On the defensive line, I think either Myron Pryor or Roy Miller at DT would work with Marks already being selected for UT. The secondary I would lean towards Bruce Johnson (good KR too) or even Kevin Ellison at safety. I would love the Colts to load up on DT's, a la interior offensive linemen last year, but in real life I might expect secondary. Lean towards Miller probably; up to you of course. I was waffling and then I saw this on your recommended pick: The Colts lost their DT/H-back, so might as well get another one. We know they aren't going to carry an actual H-back anytime soon. Don't worry, I didn't choose him just based on that :D The Colts select Roy Miller, DT, Texas

Samardzija has said that he won't waive his NTC no matter what. It was the fact that Chicago was so close to his home that pushed him to go exclusively baseball in the first place.

Unless Ricketts says that he wants a huge budget for 2010, I wouldn't want to spend over 10 million for a closer. The Cubs are going to be really tight on the moves they can make after 09 already. I wouldn't want to shut the door on something like re-signing Harden because of re-acquiring Wood.

Ok, I'll give Exile some time once again. Still a lot of spots we could go here. Offensive line, defensive line, and corner are probably the 3 that I would see as most likely.

TBS does not do Braves games nationally anymore. WGN is still one of the best things going and there's still a lot of people that depend on it. And when you don't have any other channels to watch the games besides the 5-6 national games, you better believe that WGN's picture looks just fine. I've never heard somebody complain about WGN's picture that didn't have CSN, and that's including a bunch of people with huge HD packages. I've got CSN now which I'm very thankful for. But I couldn't imagine WGN going away because all the people in my area who are Cubs fans wouldn't really be fans anymore because they could never watch the team. I would trade being able to chat with them over a little better of a picture any day. It's not like WGN is broadcasting in 60's quality anyway.

The 3 people who have seen Marquis for at least 10 at-bats have all destroyed him. Of course, for 2 of these people all those at-bats were from 06 and earlier. Lee, Ramirez, and Miles have had a lot of success against him though. Bradley interestingly enough has had trouble with Marquis. 0-6 could be attributed to sample size, but the fact that 4 of those are strikeouts is puzzling.

The booing occurred in the pregame when all the players and coaches were announced to the fans one by one. To add to what was said by manbearcub, Marquis and Gregg were also both booed before the game, and there were a smattering of boos for players like Miles and a couple of others.

The commentary on today's game is up on the front page. Here is a direct link to the article which discusses everything from booing to Lou Piniella's managerial skills: http://www.northsidebaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1279:lilly-throws-gem-in-cubs-win&catid=50:kyle-clark&Itemid=117

I wanted Blanco back, but Hill will do. He caught someone stealing last week on a tough pitch in the dirt. On the other hand, I don't know if he or Gregg called that curve to walk Milwaukee's 5th outfielder. That was inexcusable. But he's doing just fine so far. Hill called that pitch and apologized for it afterward.

As most of you have heard, Tim is trying to revitalize the front page. I think most people would agree that he has done a great job with the look and content that is on the front page. One of the things that is being tried is for a few NSBB members to write articles about the Cubs. What we want from you is how to make these articles better. What will cause you to read the game recaps as they are posted throughout the season? How can the authors make things more interesting? What topics would you like to see addressed? If you're not reading the articles, what is the reason? Please speak whatever is on your mind. The authors are fine with criticism but no feedback at all is hard to work with.

Gregg has 1 year on his deal at 4.2 million. Wood signed a 2 year deal with an option. 10 million this year, 10.5 next year, and an 11 million option (he has a chance to make the option guaranteed by hitting certain criteria or the club could exercise the option as well)

Soto could almost certainly pinch-hit like he did last night. I'm not sure about the other two. If the other two can't, that leaves 3 bench bats and of course Zambrano.

I don't mind the lineup. 4 of the top 5 hitters are red hot right now. The conditions and strong winds today favor hitters who keep the ball on the ground or hit line drives. The main loss of losing Bradley, Ramirez, and Soto is power and power isn't going to do a whole lot of good out there today. The lineup is still worse than the regular lineup of course, but it's not nearly as bad of one as if the Cubs trotted out the same lineup in the middle of July when balls are jumping out of the park.