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2 1/2 weeks of development time for Pie is not going to be worth the drop of the Cubs playoff chances. In fact, one could argue that throwing Pie in there now could hurt his development. Trying to make adjustments in the middle of a playoff race can lead to some bad habits just to get a quick fix, and it can also lead to a much faster loss of confidence if Pie struggles and the team doesn't make the playoffs. In short, let him do what he's doing now, and then plug him in from day 1 next year (at worst have somebody to platoon with him against left-handers) and then don't remove him for the rest of the year. Your right. It probably wouldnt do much good now. He should have been playing since he came up though. I think he should have been playing since he came up in June, and the Cubs would have seen the benefits by now. When they made the mistake of sending him down, by the time he came up in mid-August, I felt it was a little too late in the year for him to make his adjustments at that point (plus Jones was in his huge hot streak). So basically I agree with you that if they had played their cards right, they could have gotten his adjustment period to mostly be in 07, not 08.

2 1/2 weeks of development time for Pie is not going to be worth the drop of the Cubs playoff chances. In fact, one could argue that throwing Pie in there now could hurt his development. Trying to make adjustments in the middle of a playoff race can lead to some bad habits just to get a quick fix, and it can also lead to a much faster loss of confidence if Pie struggles and the team doesn't make the playoffs. In short, let him do what he's doing now, and then plug him in from day 1 next year (at worst have somebody to platoon with him against left-handers) and then don't remove him for the rest of the year. Could we not assume for any team that might be out of it might show us some kid from triple A that Pie is more familiar with than another veteran. would you play him then? A pitcher that Pie has faced and had success with in the minors and Jones hasn't faced? Yeah, I'd start Pie in that scenario.

2 1/2 weeks of development time for Pie is not going to be worth the drop of the Cubs playoff chances. In fact, one could argue that throwing Pie in there now could hurt his development. Trying to make adjustments in the middle of a playoff race can lead to some bad habits just to get a quick fix, and it can also lead to a much faster loss of confidence if Pie struggles and the team doesn't make the playoffs. In short, let him do what he's doing now, and then plug him in from day 1 next year (at worst have somebody to platoon with him against left-handers) and then don't remove him for the rest of the year.

I'd actually be slightly surprised if the Brewers went better than 8-9 the rest of the way. 2 of 3 against cincy (home) 1 of 3 against houston (road) 1 of 4 against atlanta (road) 2 of 3 against st. louis (home) 2 of 4 against san diego (home) I think the Brewers will probably leave this weekend a game up on the Cubs (unless the Cubs continue to just dominate the Cardinals) but after that the Cubs should have opportunities to catch them and pass them.

I say this time the Brewers lose and the Cubs win and they get to try out first all alone for a day. Well, the Cubs have their own destiny tomorrow with the Brewers off. In fact, it's kind of strange-for months, the Cubs had played less games then the Brewers. After the next 3 days, the Cubs will have played 2 more games than the Brewers (because of the off day tomorrow for the Brewers and then the doubleheader on Saturday for the Cubs), and then of course the Cubs have those two off days in a week to a week and a half where the Brewers game thread might reach 40 pages.

regardless, dempster puts far too many runners on base to be an effective closer with 1 run leads. Can Fred provide us with the numbers that show how many inherited 1-run leads Dempster has saved or lost? By my quick count, Dempster is 7 out of 9 this season with a 1 run lead. In 5 of those 7 he went 1-2-3.

True, but before tonight all those 3 had a .994 OPS or higher in September. Those 3 have been carrying the Cubs the last couple weeks, so I'm actually glad to see a night where the other hitters stepped up.

Completely agreed-the first ball should have been an out, the second one should have been a double at most, and Dempster did a great job of pitching out of the jam. BTW, to answer the question earlier, Floyd was taken out and Jones did slide over to RF in the 8th.

With the doubleheader on Saturday, Trachsel was going to start one of the next few days no matter what. According to the cubs.com article that someone posted in this thread earlier though, that may be his last start of the season.

I like the moving up of Jones and the dropping of Theriot because of how they've been playing lately. I don't really want to see Floyd playing, but he has had 2 straight good games (1 for 3 with a BB on Monday, and 2 for 3 with a BB last night) so hopefully he can put together a 3rd straight good game.

Gonzalez gets an incomplete for this season. His team has gone way under expectations, but his pitching staff was decimated as well which means that he hasn't really heard the criticism yet.

The Cubs game is on WGN tonight.

Honestly though, that happened when the Bears game threads were here too. I know Andy got pretty maligned in one in particular, and OleMiss catches a lot of Saints flak. And it happens to Card fans being critical of Cub fans in the Cub game threads. We do our best to be diligent with moderating that kind of stuff, but game threads, be it here at NSBB or at WCF, are hyper-emotional places anyway. And I'm sure you already know that. I'm not breaking new ground here. I know that we have great posters that are Cub fans and fans of non-Bear football teams. And I hope you all can get something beneficial out of posting at WCF. It's still a work in progress though, and I hope you'll be patient through the growing pains. All I can promise as a moderator is that when we see something inappropriate, we'll try to take care of it. We won't always be successful at it. And I think game threads here at NSBB and at WCF are always going to be a challenge to moderate. Finally, if you think something is inappropriate over there, use the "report this post" option. It'll help the mods. EDIT: Unfortunately I'm going to be at the Cubs-Cards game on Sunday and will not be around for the Bears-Chiefs game thread. So I won't be able to help much then. I understand that you go in at your own risk to those threads. When a couple non-Bears fans tried to debate a particular call though, a moderator shut them down-twice. There's a difference between members getting upset and moderators giving warnings out for innocent things. Bascially, there's nothing a non-Bears fan can do in a Bears thread unless they agree with the consensus (IMO). Last week showed that they cannot disagree with any calls or even put in the occasional comment that is favorable for the other team. I'll keep working through it though and see how the moderation goes for the season, and let everyone attempt to make the tough transition and understand in what ways the rules need to be similar to NSBB and in what ways they need to be different based on the very different circumstances.

How can you say that when everyone who has seen him in CF this year describes his defense as well above average? 99% of people who see Jeter play SS say he's great defensively. True, but 1) most of those fans who have seen Jeter are casual fans, while most people who evaluate the minor leagues know much more what to look for. 2) The only evidence of Colvin in CF is late last year and this year, so until we get other evidence the only thing we have is what people say about his defense, and even the ones who were skeptical of his defense in the first place have been pleasantly surprised. They all say that he's not Pie level out there, but he's quite good.

One of the things that has really put a sour taste in my mouth is the game thread on Sunday. Basically, I know if the Bears ever play the Colts again I have to avoid the game thread like I did last time or else be labeled a troll as soon as I post something. People have also made the same accusations when other fans want to post critical things in the bears discussion (even for the people who have also defended the Bears in other posts), even though they know that people from this community simply wouldn't troll on other people's threads. As much as I have posted over there already, I question if it will be a good situation for me to continue if I feel I have to avoid participating in most of the site.

How can you say that when everyone who has seen him in CF this year describes his defense as well above average?

True, but the majority of the blame should go to the offense and the opportunities they missed. It's definitely a team loss. The offense sucks. Kendall sucks. Marquis sucks. Lou is an idiot. I'm not sure why Kendall is included in there. He went 1-2 with a walk, that hit was a double scoring the first run, and he got 2 sacrifices down. He did let a run in on defense, but overall he was a net positive on the game, which there weren't enough of tonight to single him out. The people who really didn't come through tonight include Soriano, Theriot, Ramirez, and Lou.

10 hits, 10 walks, 1 HBP, and 4 runs-one of which was a 3 run homer. It's almost not possible. Well, this is how the race goes. It's simply a competition to who can blow more games, and there's still enough time for both sides to go up and down a few more times.

I agree with the 1st 2, but what's the "etc.?" I actually agree with Lou's decision to bunt Pie because of Pie's struggles at the plate this year. I don't agree with the bunt with Kendall that set up the walk to Ward though. Kendall's been playing well the last 3-4 games, and there wasn't any reason to give away an out there.

Soriano has a much better chance at a crap ab then does Ward. Just goes to show how "respected" Soriano is in the league. or how respected Ward is..that's the 7th intentional walk for Ward and he's only had 95 AB's this year. IBBs in the NL don't mean as much - don't know how many times he had a much weaker hitter/the pitcher's spot behind him. True, although I know 5 of them. 3 in front of Soriano, 1 in front of Theriot, 1 in front of Barrett. I'm not completely sure about the other two.

Soriano has a much better chance at a crap ab then does Ward. Just goes to show how "respected" Soriano is in the league. or how respected Ward is..that's the 7th intentional walk for Ward and he's only had 95 AB's this year.

well that is certainly true. it's not a perfect solution But football trumps bball. I dont know what tv market Hawaii brings but Boise expands the Pac10's market a little. And as you know Penn State didnt get invited to the Big Ten for its Bball. (i see what others are listing in this thread as more likely) The Big East isnt that whacked because Providence/Nova/Georgtown/Marquette dont even have a football team. Im sure they would remain in the Big East when it comes bball season. The Big East becomes a 20 team conference in basketball. Their current number of 16 is already too large-20 wouldn't be feasible. Boise and Hawaii might get the TV market a little higher, but it also makes sure that the Pac 10 has no chance to be a great basketball conference. I'm sure there would be problems in other sports as well. It's simply not worth it for a small benefit in football to greatly hurt some other sports.

It certainly is an interesting idea, but I think school presidents would balk at it. Scheduling issues would be a lot easier under that system. There's one other big problem-you have to consider what happens in the other sports beyond football. As bad as you have made the Big East in football now, you have just destroyed their conference in basketball. The same goes for the Pac 10 and basketball-Hawaii and Boise State would be horrible additions to their conference. So basically the plan is debatable on if it makes college football better, and it's horrible for the other sports.

Making your boss look like a fool is a tough sell. I realize it's for the good of the team but this is a sticky situation imo. I don't see how skipping Trachsel makes Hendry look like a fool. Hendry makes Hendry look like a fool. Trachsel pitching makes Hendry look like a fool. Lou deciding he's seen enough of Mr. Experience makes Hendry look like the guy who hired the right manager. Can't Lou just come out and say something like "Trachsel gave us the innings we were looking for, blah blah blah, he did well in his role, blah blah." You know, totally lie about it and make Hendry look better......then move on and do what's best for the team. Basically I think that's what Lou is doing. He's skipping Trachsel's start next week. My guess is that Trachsel gets 2 more starts the rest of the year-one on Thursday, and one in the final week of the season.

Hill has allowed the same amount of HR's as Lilly, even though Lilly has pitched 14 2/3 innings more. So Hill has given up a greater HR/9 than Lilly, not less. Their K/BB ratio is close, but Lilly's is a little better (3.06 for Lilly to 2.88 for Hill). Lilly's WHIP is better-1.150 to 1.219. They've been close this year, but Lilly has been slightly better in every phase of the game besides straight K rate.