Pushfrog98

Clines did do some good things... wasn't he the one responsible for altering D-Lee's stance/approach to the plate that lead to his breakout 2005 season?

I had a brain fart for a second and thought "Didn't San Diego trade Barfield to the Indians?" Then realized that they also signed Marcus Giles this winter.

would we be ok with the 2004 version of Izturis? .288avg, .330OBP, .381SLG, 25sb, and the all important gold glove. If he puts those numbers up again, I have zero problems with him being our SS. Would I prefer the '99 version of Nomar? Heck yes. oh to dream. Sorry, back to what I was really talking about... I HOPE Cesar can reproduce his 2004 numbers, but with the hamstring injury, I don't think he'll have the same speed he had before. I also think it might affect his range. If he proves to be a solid player, by all means, play the little guy... but darn it if I am not pulling for Theriot to snag someone's starting job.

That's true for mid-season games. However, the Reds always sell out opening day and they usually do it very quickly. True, I didn't read the "opening day" part on the first post... my bad!

Last year, my wife and I ordered tickets fairly late (like in March or something) for a Cubs/Reds game in cincy and we ended up with 2nd row next to the Cubs dugout. A few years ago, my brother and I bought tickets for a Cubs/Reds game in April and got seats next to the Cubs bullpen. We had a conversation with Zambrano before he warmed up and we also talked to Remlinger. Cubs/Reds tickets in Cincy aren't very hot selling tickets... but this year it might be different. It was easier for us to get Cubs/Reds tickets and drive from st. louis to cincy than it is for us to get tickets at wrigley or cubs/cards tickets.

Not to mention having Woody available in extra inning games... I'm sure there's a thread or something that talks about this... but what is the "most potent rotation" in terms of pitchers ability to hit? How many teams have this many "silver slugger" candidates on their staff?

Murton has proven he is a major league caliber player. He doesn't need spring training to prove anything. As far as playing time, it's up to Lou Piniella to find plenty of playing time for all 4 outfielders, and the ones who are playing the best deserve the most playing time. I think however much he's overstated his point that this is his point as well. If Floyd is playing better than Murton at the end of ST, then it's not a problem if he gets the majority of starts at the beginning of the season. Murton should still get plenty of time in any scenario, and if he then started out-performing Floyd (assuming the prior scenario) than Murton would start getting the majority of time. No matter who starts when though, all 3 corner outfielders should get plenty of at-bats. Thank you, that is basically what I'm saying (along with being a devil's advocate). A lot of people have pretty much said that if floyd gets any playing time, they'll be pissed... without thinking, "Hey, what if Floyd IS in fact healthy and playing well?!" I surely hope Murton plays up to his abilities. I think he's a great guy and he seems like the kind of guy that gives "110%" day in and day out. But if Cliff Floyd is playing balls out and getting the job done, he too should get some playing time. All in all, I think this will be a great year. I get all "butterflies in my stomach" when I think about it.

And before last year, were either Encarnacion or Duncan thought of as #2 hitters? If I recall correctly, Encarnacion was penciled in as a 5-6-7 guy (depending on who was sitting), and Duncan was more of a 5-6-7 guy as well. Put ANYBODY in front of Pujols, and I promise you they will hit better.

I hope you were kidding with that first sentence! I think things have a way of working out for the better player to play, especially now that Baker is gone. If Floyd is hitting 320/410 and Jones is doing really well also while Murton is struggling I have no problem with it. I think it benefits the team best if Lou can find a way to use the OF's efficiently and to try to give AB's to the top 4 guys as much as he can. I'm sure Soriano is in there pretty much every game so I'd like Murton in there against all leftys and to get some AB's against rightys too depending on the matchups. I was only moderately joking... sometimes "fans" of certain teams develop man-crushes on certain players and deem them as "untouchable" when in reality, they aren't as good as they may think. For example, outside of Cubs fans, not many people know who Michael Wuertz is, but apparently, he's one of the greatest relief pitchers to have ever played the game (exaggerated, I know, just trying to drive the point home). Also, I think Jones batting 2nd would be a great idea. Its very Tony Larussa-ish (which has been said already, but I live right outside St. Louis, so I get to hear about what kind of genius LaRussa is on a daily basis). The cubs have said to heck with small ball, so you have to change your mindset in terms of the batting order. Although, LaRussa and the cardinals don't have anything to show for their "stupid" moves of putting Duncan or Encarnocion(sp?) in the 2 spot... aside from that world series title.

I'm very much against using limited spring training at-bats as a deciding factor in who gets the starting job. Are you against using limited spring training at-bats as a deciding factor only when it goes against what you want? Again, I like matt murton, but what if he "jerome walton's" on us, shows a lot of promise last year and then is horrid this year. He has the "skills" but what if it never matures into a great player, and then we have Cliff Floyd who was sitting the bench because someone didn't want to use "limited spring training at-bats" to decide who should play. I think who ever is playing well at that particular time should be playing. If murton is better than floyd (and I think we can all agree that overall, he is), then murton should be playing, but if murton his a slide like he did last season, then he should sit for a while and let whoever is hot play until he gets his act together. Also, I am pretty sure there are several articles that state Lou Piniella saying he doesn't want to take any at bats away from Murton, which I take as "He thinks murton is good and doesn't want to take any at bats away from him."

not really relevant to this conversation, but I do imagine Cubs hitters walking a LOT more this year with the new hitting coach and with Dusty being gone.

I know this will probably get me banned from this site, but what happens if spring training rolls around, and Matt Murton doesn't play as well as cliff floyd? What happens then? do we still play murton because he has "tremendous upside potential?" or do we play the man who plays better NOW? I like murton and I hope he plays well and gets the appropriate playing time, but I'm at the point where I don't care WHO plays, just as long as the cubs WIN!

We should definitely go with an outfield of LF: Cliff Floyd CF: Jacque Jones RF: Daryle Ward vs. LHP. I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it? [/sarcasm]

Or linebacker...

Red Barron/Ryno... is that you!?!? It must be! How's Arkansas? 'tis I. . . . the man. . . .the myth. . . the legend Which of my long lost IFF are you? It's the Disco Stu/Smiley

Red Barron/Ryno... is that you!?!? It must be! How's Arkansas?

Isn't he slightly ahead of Greg Maddox? Ramirez has 11, Maddux 9... but Maddux has only been caught 3 times, Ramirez has been caught 11.

Its the jewish guy from "So you think you can dance" which was like the "American Idol" for dancing. Ian Bernardo was definitely the best dancer on there... and best singer on American Idol. [/url]

what are the chances of him ending up with the Yankees or some other AL team if the Cubs can't extend him?

Aramis Ramirez only needs 9 more stolen bases for 20 career SB's.

whew... now I'm FINALLY starting to feel good about dealing for Aramis and Kenny Lofton back in '03 since we got bobby back!

Switching to .net might cause a lot of problems early on, but if you are going to be working with it in "real life" it might be nice. There is an ASP forum called "Snitz" (http://forum.snitz.com/ ) which is kinda like phpbb. You'd probably have to make sure your blog software was compatible with asp/.net programming if you want to use one "users" table, though I haven't done much research on the cross-compatibility of .net(i'm asuming mssql) and mysql. Now that I'm rambling, its possible to run phpbb/smf and snitz and most blog software on mssql servers, so if you do go that route, you could use the same table. [/end babble] Go Cubs!

show's how far behind I am... I remember the long awaited release of version 2.0. Have you messed around with SMF at all? They have conversions from phpbb available... but I'd assume it'd be messy with a database the size of this one. http://www.simplemachines.org/download/?converters