third eye

I'm down. Islandcub, can we update the game thread title?

Whoa, easy there. I predict this rally cry will spark a winning streak.

Any chance the positive from this game is that Lou lays off the Howry sauce?

That has been said on a number of occasions over the last couple of weeks, even during wins. Not convinced it means a whole lot anymore.

Would have had a runner on 3rd with Blanco up. That fly ball could have won it. You would've bunted with Alfonso Soriano? For real? That shallow pop up by Blanco that was caught by a guy with an absolute cannon for an arm would have won it? No, but it might have changed the at bat from one where you are looking for contact to one where you are looking for a strike out. That could have led to a wild pitch. You can't extrapolate situations like that. Not saying they would have won it, but the fly ball in that circumstance may not have occured in another. Either way, Soriano bunting, probably doesnt result in a great outcome.

Because you've hit into four double plays already today. And that impacts this how? You want a guy in scoring position. End of story. youre not going to win this I know...groupthink rules all. If by "groupthink" you mean logic This board is full of logic, but let's be honest. Group think in Game Threads = Hysteria. Hmm, I may nominate that in David's 80's song thread.

Pat made it sounds like Lee hit that DP ball hard. For those watching, can I at least take solace in that or was it the same old?

Howry throws straight fastballs down the middle, not this many balls. And...Lee does his thing. Wow.

I look like Gooz, I don't look like Marmol? Ah, so you're rocking the ethincally ambiguous, could-be-latino look as well? Word to that. Edit: For clarity, I'm subcontinental by ethnicity, but have been mistaken for Mexican, Italian, African American and Native American.

I look like Gooz, I don't look like Marmol? Ah, so you're rocking the ethincally ambiguous, could-be-latino look as well? Word to that.

You obviously have no idea of what kind of arm Guz has. One that has been surgically repaired and has not been in a big game MLB situation in while? Oh yes, I do. That makes him a washout? I guess that means Ryan Dempster is a washup too? He had TJS Woody?

Fonte-WORD!

Well as long as baseless predictions are in vogue, I predict a big inning late in the game from the Cubs. Plenty of baserunners, and I dont see this string of "non-clutchiness" continuing.

I don't agree with Sabathia throwing this many CG (except for today) but why is this just assumed that Sabathia got lit up from being overused? He did face the 2 of the best teams in the AL last year in the postseason. Okay, I guess he just can't beat good teams then. Anyway a point I saw brought up on BTF is that a big part of a no hitter is holding on to it as you start counting down outs late. CC didn't have that pressure because of the hit. He didn't have to worry about making his perfect pitches because he had nothing to pitch for. (And a logical manager wouldn't have had him pitching to begin with. Isn't this just another wrinkle in the "existence of clutch" argument? How someone performs under extreme pressure? I know it has been rehashed ad nauseum from a hitters perspective, but I wonder how h/9 splits vary for pitchers who have taken no hitters into the 7th inning (arbitrary cut off). More relevantly, if you were to to look at career h/9 for pitchers relative to how they performed in no-hitter type situations, I wonder how much variation there would be. I know sample size would be an issue here. But, if historically league wide h/9 was 9 - and I'm pulling that number out of my a** - then the odds of pitching 9 more outs without a hit would be 2/3*2/3*2/3 (no hit inning *3), or just under 30%. So we should see about 30% of no hitters taken into the 7th result in no-hitters. this obviously doesn't account for fatigue, so you would need to account for h/9 over the last three innings for the pitchers in question to compare apples to apples. In any case, I'd guess the h/9 is higher than the baseline for those innings. This really only speaks to anti-clutch, but does anyone know if there has been and study put out there about this?

Aren't all 3 losses to weak teams NL Central teams? (Cubs 2003 vs. Braves, Astros 2005 vs. Cards, Cards 2006 vs. Mets) Mets only won 97 in 2006. I counted 100 win teams at 7-11 in playoff series since 2000 and 1-2 against teams with 89 wins or fewer. St. Louis (100) beat San Diego (82) in 2005. St. Louis (100) lost to Houston (89) in 2005. Atlanta (101) lost to the Cubs (88) in 2003. I also wouldn't call that 2005 Astros team a weak one. They were 30 games over .500 after an awful 15-30 start when (I believe) Berkman was injured. In any case, sure it is a danger when you have pitching staffs like the 2003 Cubs and 2005 Astros. I guess you could consider the Dbacks that kind of threat this year. But the rest of the DBacks' roster is not as good as the aforementioned teams IMO.

So 20-6 in August? Wow. What is the team record for wins in a month out of curiosity?

This was an unclutch delivery of a great line. Aren't we missing something about getting a good look at a t-bone? Or is there some other reason for sticking one's head up a cow's ass? ;)

Hahahaha, oh man, I almost feel bad for them. Almost. That is an awful stretch for them

I'd love to see that, at the very least to keep Webb and Haren out of that opening round series.

WHIP still significantly less than 1, with a K/9 rate well into the double digits. Yeah, I'd say I'm pleased. Wow, great work Wood! Cubs Win!

no one knows what length of contract Lee would have wanted with the Cubs could be the same could not so I don't take length into factor just relative price per year. And Lee's production has held up because he routinely (from the games I've seen) either hits it into the porch or off it to get a double. No one out there was willing to go 8 years on Lee, likely due to concerns over his conditioning. It was also my understanding that he wanted to come back to Chicago, so he might have signed for less here.

D'oh, can't say I agree with those reasons. Mostly, I would just prefer the similar production for fewer dollars and years.

#1 - depends on how he is pitching in September. He has these slumps for several weeks every year, and he should be able to work out of this one. #2 - Yes I have. Though I'm pretty surprised Lee's production has held up as well as it has given how out of shape he is. Plus 6 years is better than 8 years.

Will mascara be the new Clement goatee at Wrigley this fall?

He does have these stretches every year. He's not the type to have random off starts. He strings them together when he does. The upside, as others have pointed out, is that there is plenty of time to get it straightened out before the end of the regular season.