cubsfan5150

Way more bad ass? Better, but not much.

I can see why some of you would feel this way. However, Dawson has always been my favorite player BY FAR, and I'd take him on the bench or in the front office immediately, and still love him all the same if he failed. We are Cubs fans, we are so used to failure, we should be immune to hating people because of it.

If you are that player, why not make sure that you work on other parts of your game though. That's what Pujols, Sandberg and Dawson all did. Instead, these other guys, while valuable in some ways, don't improve themselves in the other parts of baseball. It's not that simple. Some guys simply have inherent weaknesses in their game that they fortunately can overcome or compensate for with strengths in other areas. It's simply not realistic to think that every player can or even should be an "all-around player." I agree here, basically I'm saying that I believe some guys are content to hit 35 HR's and strike out 200 times. I think a batter that hits 25 HR's but strikes out 80 times a year is typically more valuable because he's not failing his team in other situations. Aramis is more valuable than Reynolds IMO. Cool sidebar... I just read that Pujols only swings about 87 MPH as opposed to the 100+ MPH by many of the other power hitters. Don't know if that's a good thing or not. Probably has more swing control I suppose.

If you are that player, why not make sure that you work on other parts of your game though. That's what Pujols, Sandberg and Dawson all did. Instead, these other guys, while valuable in some ways, don't improve themselves in the other parts of baseball.

The bunting with Ty Wright thing bothered me, but I'll admit I don't expect him to bunt in the first inning with a middle of the order guy if he manages the Cubs. I do think, from that event and from things he's said, that he prefers the more traditional type of baseball that emphasizes batting average and small ball. Baseball might be moving in that direction as a whole. Pitching has been pretty dominant this season. Regardless, all the bitching about Ryno bunting his #3 batter is nonsense. The point of the minors IS TO DEVELOPE PLAYERS. That's what he was doing. I've seen books and such that stated that the big league club lets the minor league coaches know what they want certain players to work on. As far as Ryno's statement that grounding out to second to get the guy to third is not a bad thing... it's not when the other outcome is the batter striking out and now your sitting with a guy on second and one out. I think what he's referring to is the exact reason that Dunn, Howard, and a multitude of other HR hitters will never be near the player that Pujols is. Pujols makes sure to put the ball in play. Striking out is not OK most of the time, especially in the fore mentions scenario. Part of what Ryno is saying, is that the HR hitters in his day were for the most part "baseball players", not just HR hitters. Dawson, Schmidt, Canseco (I know), Bonds, Griffey, Evans, etc., these guys were all around players, not just one dimensional strike out artists. If Nolan Ryan pitched now, he might strike out 6k batters. I don't have the table memorized, and I don't have either book here, but I'm almost positive your run expectancy goes down from a runner on second and no outs to a runner on third and one out. That would mean intentionally giving yourself up to move a runner over is a bad thing. If it just happens, ok, but they (the old timey guys like Sandberg) talk about doing things like that on purpose to help the team. In reality, things like that cause you to score fewer runs, which in turn, hurts the team. Agreed, it does go down, but guess what's even lower... a runner on second and one out after Mark Reynolds just struck out because he's incapable of making contact on a regular basis.

I didn't say "hitter", I said "player". Pujols does everything, Howard, Reynolds, and Dunn do one thing. Pujols is excellent defensively, can you say that about the other guys, probably not. Pujols is said to be one of the best baserunners in the league, can you say that about the other guys? No. Pujols is an all around player, which is what Ryno is saying you should be, not just a HR hitter that strikes out every third at bat.

The bunting with Ty Wright thing bothered me, but I'll admit I don't expect him to bunt in the first inning with a middle of the order guy if he manages the Cubs. I do think, from that event and from things he's said, that he prefers the more traditional type of baseball that emphasizes batting average and small ball. Baseball might be moving in that direction as a whole. Pitching has been pretty dominant this season. Regardless, all the bitching about Ryno bunting his #3 batter is nonsense. The point of the minors IS TO DEVELOPE PLAYERS. That's what he was doing. I've seen books and such that stated that the big league club lets the minor league coaches know what they want certain players to work on. As far as Ryno's statement that grounding out to second to get the guy to third is not a bad thing... it's not when the other outcome is the batter striking out and now your sitting with a guy on second and one out. I think what he's referring to is the exact reason that Dunn, Howard, and a multitude of other HR hitters will never be near the player that Pujols is. Pujols makes sure to put the ball in play. Striking out is not OK most of the time, especially in the fore mentions scenario. Part of what Ryno is saying, is that the HR hitters in his day were for the most part "baseball players", not just HR hitters. Dawson, Schmidt, Canseco (I know), Bonds, Griffey, Evans, etc., these guys were all around players, not just one dimensional strike out artists. If Nolan Ryan pitched now, he might strike out 6k batters.

10 minutes left and I haven't seen anything yet. Suppose there might be an extension?

Maybe Harper has said something privately to Strasburg about not really wanting to play in DC. Who knows.

God I hope we sweep them out of first. Go REDS!

Watch... here comes Hill, too freaking bad he didn't pinch run with Lilly.

Why not use Lilly?

Ugg... Shlitter bomb

[expletive]

Come on Marlon

Really?

That was his pitch... just hung it in there.

Purpose pitch... double play machine now up.

Hmm, nice call by the ump, I thought he was safe by a long shot.

Fuku yeah!

LOU KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING \:D/

please double play, :beg:

How should be as calm as a pot head now.

Way to inside out a hanging curve ball #-o