stitchface

You think Kerry would have been ticked off if they shut him down w/ 50 too go?? Too bad Kerry has a heart.... I guess.... I think Kerry would have been fine.

I wouldn't confuse the anti-Thome faction as being pro-hendry. I agree with your first statement but I think signing Thome would have been a big mistake. Right about now Derek Lee is looking a lot better than Thome at 1b.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-060113cubs,1,318638.story?coll=cs-home-headlines This is from Paul Sullivan's latest. Should Baker be talking about where he would play Julio Lugo, who plays for another team? Does this mean there is something to these rumors, or does it just mean that Baker has no tact? Also in that article Prior is quoted saying he is planning on talking with Jom Hendry about the trade rumors. Shouldn't Hendry be the one seeking out Prior to talk to him? This organization really is a mess from the top down. its obviously a non-issue with prior. what do you expect baker to say when someone asks him about lugo? I expect him to say "Julio Lugo is not on this team. I don't think it would be right for me to speculate on where I would play a player who is with another organization. I would be glad to answer any questions about our midddle infield which consists of Ronny Cedeno, Todd Walker, Jerry Hairston, and Neifi Perez." this is dusty baker not bill frist.

I wouldn't put Dawson in the HOF. Cubs HOF yes but not Cooperstown.

thats understandable. I really like matt clement as a person. I am still shocked he hasn't had TJS yet.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-060113cubs,1,318638.story?coll=cs-home-headlines This is from Paul Sullivan's latest. Should Baker be talking about where he would play Julio Lugo, who plays for another team? Does this mean there is something to these rumors, or does it just mean that Baker has no tact? Also in that article Prior is quoted saying he is planning on talking with Jom Hendry about the trade rumors. Shouldn't Hendry be the one seeking out Prior to talk to him? This organization really is a mess from the top down. its obviously a non-issue with prior. what do you expect baker to say when someone asks him about lugo?

I've heard of clutch hitting, just like I've heard ghost stories. I just don't think there's any proof that either exist. of course clutch hitting exists. what doesn't exist is players that are consistently better at it than others.

I meant psychologically. The achilles probably messed with him too. I hate to say it but this team can win 90 if Wood and Prior are healthy. Those top three are the best in baseball (assuming no clemens and a normal pettitte).

I think my hatred of polls is well documented. Perhaps I should have invited goonygoogoo9 and not his evil twin who actually seems kinder and gentler than the original.

Prior's command was awful last year. This is one of the items that makes me seriously wonder about Rothschild. What the heck happened to Prior? Do you think the injuries screwed up his mechanics?

as much as it pains me to say it: joe morgan was the superior player that set the offensive standard for all modern 2nd basemen to be judged. That's the thing that is so shocking. He is a sabermatrician's wet dream. Yet, he still preaches old fashioned baseball. How Ironic. john kruk, too. it took the anti-moneyball player to finally champion the cause. if i see corey patterson running a successful team in 15 years while bobby abreu is doing moronic commentary for baseball tonight, i'll marvel at the way history continues to repeat itself. Hahahha!

you need a stiff drink!

they would make a good combination - the coach with all the talent and the coach with the command. hopefully prior gets back to being both this year.

I'm not sure. My biggest worry with maddux would be that youngsters wouldn't listen to him.

Dierker was run out of town for consistently getting into the playoffs and getting knocked out by ATL. You know 4 division titles in 5 years with the Astros. Williams replaced Dierker and then was fired. He was replaced by Garner. he won as much or more than williams or garner. Dierker was fired at for a reason! Then Williams came in and turned the whole thing around! Why not then just hire Williams, he did something Dierker could not do? Williams was then fired the next season and replaced by Garner and the same thing happened for the Astros. They had the talent Garner and Williams proved it. Dierker was not winning with the talent that is the reason he was fired.

williamson was godawful. if the team was trying to contend, which they must have been since wood was pitching, why was williamson in in key situations? Dempster was nursed back to health in 2004. In any case, you seem to completely ignore the fact that abuse has to do with fatiguing the arm during a game as much or more than how often one pitches.

the size of the park didn't matter in sammy's prime - he was not the classic hit lots of long flies home run hitter. not sure if that's true anymore. quick question, is there more contact made at Coors?

goonygoogoo9 and his evil twin. I've invited him into this forum since he belongs in this group.

I'd take Maddux thank you.

yes, things like pulled muscles and sore achilles can result from overuse. if you can't see that you don't understand physiology. getting hit on the elbow obviously is a fluke. to compare position players to pitchers is nothing short of ridiculous. the strain on a pitcher is many times greater than on a position player. to dispute your invalid point however, perhaps you should consider that Ramirez was told not to run hard the second half of the season, nomar was told not to explode out of the box. yes, every player coming off an injury must be careful with it. pitchers are under extraordinary strain and must be closely watched. your argument seems to be that wood had a long history leading to injury and that exonerates his usage by the cubs. sort of lacking in logic if you ask me.

With the talk this week of extensions for Hendry and Baker, I have to think we are in for an extended period of mediocrity. This team is probably good enough to win 85-90 games in 2006 if they can keep people healthy. Honestly, if Wood, Prior, and Zambrano are healthy, the pitching is pretty good at the top. Maddux and Williams aren't a great back end but they aren't the worst in baseball either. The offense is probably going to be about the same as last year. Pierre and Cedeno should be better than CF and SS last year. Lee will drop but hopefully ARam will be around for the whole year. I could see 700-720 runs again in 2006. Thus, if the pitching can improve to 650 runs or so, a tall order but not at all impossible, with a little luck this team will be in contention. Granted those are a lot of ifs, but I think the 2006 Cubs will be good enough to warrant extensions. What amazes me about Hendry is that he almost seems to strive for medicority. Constantly pursuing the second tier, the almost great, the pretty good (in addiiton to the pretty bad). The Cubs seem doomed to never step into the dominant team role because they aren't willing to commit to dominant players.

you should post this in social

Probably will be my last post for tonight, I can see I'm not going to change minds... However that is not the point, it is to simply talk baseball! Cubs Baseball! Although I may not agree with everything posted, I think we all can agree that the end result of CUB WINS is what we all want! Now I will start with "The pitcher abuse is quite evident in the injuries to wood and prior in 2004 and 2005" I assume that the fact Wood had a Major arm operation in 1998 and had been on the DL 6 times prior to Baker even being hired as manager had no factor in this, abuse? Prior,,, DL 2002 - Prior placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained hamstring. 2003 - Prior on 15-day DL with shoulder soreness. (ran into Alt 2nd Base) 2004 - Missed First two months due to inter elbow and achilles pains. 2005 - Missed first start of the year! Pitches until he gets hit in the arm with a hit baseball! In 3 years with Baker as a Manager Prior has missed I will give you one month, due to an Unexplainable arm pain! The other month I'm giving to the achilles! I'm not going to say that the arm pain could have been a result of the achilles problem! To assume the achilles is the cause would be just as easy as it is to assume it was Baker the year prior. Se we have a pitcher who has missed basically 2 months in 3 years due to a unexplainable arm pain! We have a pitcher with a who showed MAJOR ARM problems in his past, Prior to Baker! And we blame Baker for miss use! I'm not going to buy it! Your choice - to me its a matter of risk. the fact that wood had a history of injury problems is all the more reason to reduce his risk by overuse. aside from colliding with giles, prior's injuries all point to overuse. welcome to the forum - be careful - its addictive! And I am willing to bet you do change your mind on some things. I sure have!

They will need to hold opponents under 650 runs because they aren't going to score a ton.

no, I think so to.