inari

My first Cubs game back in the states. Eek. Makes me wish I never came back.

Wow, those are awesome. Thanks.

He's got a fat bat, now he just needs to start hitting some ding dongs.

He's proven that he has a career .824 OPS. Seriously, I was blasted in the offseason when I had some questions about how good he'd be even when he was on the field. I thought he'd be good, but I don't understand why people were penciling him in to be some awesome offensive threat. I was expecting a high .800's OPS, but it wouldn't surprise me to get like 100 games of an .830 OPS or something trashy like that. YeAh his career .824 is partially because of bad parks, but he always got helped ENORMOUSLY by Arlington last year. So for all the people saying "he's getting his walk, he'll rake eventually..... walk were never the question. He has a career .370 OPB and still only an .824 OPS. He doesn't always hit guys. I was right there on board with you. Bradley's offense has often looked quite good for a center fielder, but he's not playing center field. He's a corner outfielder that posts an OPS a couple dozen points better than Matt Murton's 2006. And he's not on the field much to boot. If it wasn't for this stupid crap about needing a more left handed lineup, we could have just used DeRo in right full time. And we still would've added another lefty in Fontenot.

Vizcaino has pitched quite well in limited action and over most of his career has been a decent arm. I can't imagine he'll be cut this quickly. Then again, I couldn't imagine Shark would be called up at all.

The latest of many mistakes the Nats have made. The first was moving to DC in the first place.

How do you access the site that these are on to browse pictures?

Easily the most underrated RBI guy in all of baseball, and has been for several years now. I dunno, I feel like most everyone knows how good Aramis is. He's very good and elite for his position.

Nothing like a Pat Hughes home run call. YES!

Jesus Christ...

Good start, fatty.

If the Cubs don't score this inning, I'm pretty much convinced they're not going to score. How has the rest of the pitching looked today anyway? Do the lines tell the story?

"Dennys Reyes throwing in the bullpen; gotta stop looking at him because it's making me hungry." - Pat I know he meant it because his name has Denny's in it, but it's a lot funnier to associated it with his gordoness.

Come on Guz, you've got this.

Nothing is more annoying than the 3-0, battle back to 3-2, walk him anyway.

Guz hasn't done much to impress this year.

Totally thought there was only one out. Whoops...

I'd be angry that Gathright is hitting but I'll assume Hoff's already been used.

I hate listening to plays like that on the radio, since even with Pat Hughes excellent descriptions, I still like to get a better picture of the game. Okay, come on Miles, stop being a piece of crap. You've won games like this against the Cards before.

Glad to see that the game is still on when I wake up. When it's a 1:20 start they're over by 7 AM.

I liked the younger version of Z better. The one who didn't strike out as many people, but threw a ton of ground balls and didn't throw as many pitches. He also didn't give up many homeruns. Well the past couple of years version of Z doesn't strike people out or get ground balls.

Z is obviously a cause of concern now. That said, he's finally striking people out again.

I had no problem with giving Kerry Wood the contract he ended up getting, but I would have problems giving up tradeable assetts to get him AND taking on that contract. As much as I love KW, he'd have to come at virtually no cost player wise for it to be worth it.

Please tell me you are joking. Why? The whole "they played so they know better" line is a bunch of bull-puckey. I have no doubt that Lou is probably better at managing a 25 man clubhouse, practices, and all the other crap that a manager has to do than any of us in here probably could. But when it comes to in-game moves, I can think of 5-10 guys here off the top of my head I'd rather have making moves than lou. Actually your first line is pure bull-puckey, because I never said or insinuated any such thing. Pure fabrication on your part. To assume that anyone on here knows any more about statistics than Lou, or anyone on the Cubs coaching staffs is just plain laughable.And to say that Lou is PROBABLY better at managing a 25 man clubhouse than anyone on here is even more laughable. In fact, if i were you, I would be embarrassed. This is really too far out there to even argue any further. Believe what you want. I can always use the laugh. I don't really agree with that statement, but Alan Trammel is one smart dude. The fact that Trammel is almost certainly going to be our next manager delights me to no end. I mean, I sure hope he will be. I love Lou, but I think Trammel is one of the smarter minds in the game.

I saw this discussion going on at another board and thought it was interesting, especially with the recent retirement of #31. In my mind, there is no one likely to get their number retired, but there is one with a realistic chance and one that you could end up making an argument for that wouldn't be laughed out of the room. Zambrano - A fan favorite who has been with the Cubs his entire career. He's slipped off the pasts couple years, of course, but let's say he continues to be productive, if not as productive as he once was. He's currently a three time All Star (might not mean much but it looks pretty) and has finsihed in the top five of Cy Young voting several times, as well as winning a couple of silver sluggers. Let's say he is good for the duration of his contract. That would give him thirteen seasons with the Cubs, none of which were exactly subpar (though some obviously left something to be desired), and most of which were very good. He has the reputation of an ace even if he hasn't pitched like it the last couple of years. I don't think Z will end up getting his number retired, but I think he is the guy that easily has the best chance, and it's not inconceivable at all. If he is productive for the rest of his contract, he will certainly have done a lot more to warrant it than Greg Maddux in his stints with the Cubs. Aramis - He has been with the Cubs since 2003 and has also been a fan favorite ever since. He'd have to produce for the Cubs for more than the duration of his current contract to have any chance at all, though. Even if he is productive for the rest of it, he wouldn't have been with the Cubs for even a decade, and would have played for two other teams. Okay, thoughts?