98navigator

A-Ram doesnt get full blame. At least he had an RBI. Look at Soriano... the $136 mil we're paying for our leadoff man... He only has 1 lone RBI this month... or Murton, who has totally lost his patience and discipline and Duke was the guy he could show himself off against like he's done in the past. yeah, a good hitter hits .300, so it's not like you can expect anyone to deliver all or even most of the time in that spot. There were other opportunities lost, the only player on the team to draw a walk was Theriot, Soriano continues to not produce, Murton looks bad, and everybody continues to put balls in play on the first or second pitch. I understand what you're saying but we need our best hitters to start coming through in the clutch. The way I see it, all games come down to a handful of plays. It's the teams who can take advantage of the situation that win the majority of the time. Let's look at the White Sox. As much as I hate to admit it, they have a team of players who know what it takes to win. We have a much better BA and a better ERA, but they have a better record, because although guys like Dye or Konerko are hitting 220, their hits usually drive in runs. The Sox have lost a few games recently due to a lack of "clutch" hitting. They are 12-11 so it's not as if they are taking the world by storm. The biggest difference in the Cubs and White Sox records has been their shut down bullpen. Don't get me wrong, the Cubs bullpen has been great overall but they have 7 losses collectively (and no wins). By contrast, the Sox bullpen has 3 losses. There have been a number of times where the Cubs bullpen surrendered runs, when the team was ahead or tied, that directly lead to a loss. Off the top of my head, Ohman walked in two runs that lead to a loss against Cincy and he was the losing pitcher versus SD, Eyre contributed to losses against Cincy and ATL, Howry had a blown save against Cincy in Marquis' first start and he also gave up the lead against HOU, Wuertz got the loss tonight, Cherry got the loss in his debut, etc... Add to that Zambrano and Miller's poor outings and it's no wonder the team is 10-14. Again, this team has underachieved because they should be over .500 right now. The Sox have also faced some pretty good opponents while we've faced the pathetic NL Central teams (teams that we are supposed to beat if we are going to win the division). The toughest team we have faced has been Atlanta and that was only a 2 game series. Our schedule has been pretty pathetic thus far and it's pretty bad that we're 10-14. Just another way to look at it. The White Sox have overachieved by one game. They are just about where they were predicted to be (and it has been their bullpen that has allowed the team to keep pace). Their pythagorean W-L is 11-12 As I already stated, the Cubs have underachieved and the bullpen combined with poor outings by Zambrano and Miller are largely to blame. The Cubs pythagorean W-L is 14-10.

The law of averages also suggests that any MLB team in continuous existence should have won at least a couple of World Series titles since 1908. When it comes to the Chicago Cubs, Murphy's Law supersedes the Law of Averages. Bad and or indifferent management is to blame over the years... This 2007 team is much better than they are playing. I believe they will turn it around and eventually win this division. Someone's under the influence. Nope

A-Ram doesnt get full blame. At least he had an RBI. Look at Soriano... the $136 mil we're paying for our leadoff man... He only has 1 lone RBI this month... or Murton, who has totally lost his patience and discipline and Duke was the guy he could show himself off against like he's done in the past. yeah, a good hitter hits .300, so it's not like you can expect anyone to deliver all or even most of the time in that spot. There were other opportunities lost, the only player on the team to draw a walk was Theriot, Soriano continues to not produce, Murton looks bad, and everybody continues to put balls in play on the first or second pitch. I understand what you're saying but we need our best hitters to start coming through in the clutch. The way I see it, all games come down to a handful of plays. It's the teams who can take advantage of the situation that win the majority of the time. Let's look at the White Sox. As much as I hate to admit it, they have a team of players who know what it takes to win. We have a much better BA and a better ERA, but they have a better record, because although guys like Dye or Konerko are hitting 220, their hits usually drive in runs. The Sox have lost a few games recently due to a lack of "clutch" hitting. They are 12-11 so it's not as if they are taking the world by storm. The biggest difference in the Cubs and White Sox records has been their shut down bullpen. Don't get me wrong, the Cubs bullpen has been great overall but they have 7 losses collectively (and no wins). By contrast, the Sox bullpen has 3 losses. There have been a number of times where the Cubs bullpen surrendered runs, when the team was ahead or tied, that directly lead to a loss. Off the top of my head, Ohman walked in two runs that lead to a loss against Cincy and he was the losing pitcher versus SD, Eyre contributed to losses against Cincy and ATL, Howry had a blown save against Cincy in Marquis' first start and he also gave up the lead against HOU, Wuertz got the loss tonight, Cherry got the loss in his debut, etc... Add to that Zambrano and Miller's poor outings and it's no wonder the team is 10-14. Again, this team has underachieved because they should be over .500 right now (15-9 or 14-10)

The law of averages also suggests that any MLB team in continuous existence should have won at least a couple of World Series titles since 1908. When it comes to the Chicago Cubs, Murphy's Law supersedes the Law of Averages. Bad and or indifferent management is to blame over the years... This 2007 team is much better than they are playing. I believe they will turn it around and eventually win this division.

I think Soriano is coming around. Obviously, he's still lacking in the power department but he got two hits tonight and has raised his batting average over the last few games. Theriot's 3 BB's tonight were very encouraging as well and Lee and Ramirez continue to impress even though they both left runners on base. To be fair, it was the guys hitting 5-6-7 that didn't help to pad the lead. Also, tonight's outing by Wuertz notwithstanding, the pitching has been outstanding. I have to think that in the long run the Cubs will start winning these close games. The Cubs are underachieving right now but it would seem that the law of averages will even out. This is truly the best 10-14 team in MLB :)

This hurts but if they win this series (and 5 out of 6 games by extension) all is forgiven.

DLee flies out to the warning track this sucks big time!

come on DLee!!!!!

Theriot walks on a 3-1 count!

Soriano out to CF 2 down

Jacque out 6-3

Torres pitching

all rocket shots

Doumit flies out to the wall in RF GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr

well that sucks

Bay homers damn

Sanchez flies out DEEP to Sori WHEW

Jacque in RF should have PH for Murton Wilson out 1-3

Wuertz pitching

Pie out 4-3

looked like he stepped on the bag just before the ball hit the glove

DeRosa nippd at 1B UGH

Barrett was off on the R & H

Barrett singles!

damnit Murton!