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Wow I really have no respect for Diamondbacks fans. They are so stupid and know nothing about baseball. Some of the worst bandwagoning I've ever seen. They only know 3 or 4 players on the team and all they know about the Cubs is Bartman. Also, as another poster said, it really is pathetic that they have to have the jumbotron tell them to make noise. There were not nearly as many Cubs fans as I thought there would be. Don't get me wrong, there were a ton, but not as many as there have been in other parks. I'd say about 25%, and they never got very loud, partly because they never really had a reason too I suppose. At one point a Cubs fan held up a big sign and turned away from the field and held it up towards the crowd. Pretty ballsy. Some lady had to stop a drunk hick D Backs fan from attacking him.

I'll be there cheering them on tonight. I'm so pumped. GO CUBS!!!

I bought singles to both games because I was thinking of flying home from Tempe, but now after seeing what these are going for, I decided to just sell them and hopefully the Cubs end up playing the DBacks in the first round. I sold the ticket to the 2nd game, but I still have my ticket to the first game. I would prefer to sell it to an NSBB'er. Section 237 row 22. PM with offers

I was just looking at those teams last night and I thought the same thing about the 98 team - how did they ever make the playoffs? That team looks terrible on paper. And I forgot how good the 2004 team was. I think the current team is better than the 01 club, but we are a much weaker playoff team than 2003 was because we lack the dominant 2 or 3 starters that are so crucial in the playoffs. On the other hand, this lineup may be better suited for a playoff run because we have smarter hitters. They don't hit for as much power, but against great pitchers, I think our guys would have a better chance of scratching across 2 or 3 runs than a lineup with Sosa, Alou, and Patterson. Those guys seemed to hit very well off of weak pitchers, but were easily fooled by tough competition.

Thank you! Seconded

I don't understand why everyone is so interested in a guy that's hitting .235...and based on the Red Sox offer, we probably have to give up way more than he's worth.

I wish we had an aggressive Gm that knows what he's doing "We feel good about where we are and who we have". Of course he said that. What's he supposed to say? "We are probably not good enough to win this division. We have a couple big holes to fill and this offense just isn't good enough. I am desperately seeking help for this team." That insults the players that are currently on the team and it also makes other GM's think that they can hold out and make Hendry offer more. I am sure Hendry is aggressively seeking help for this club, but there aren't a lot of guys out there that would make a difference for us, and the GM's that do have these players are asking for a lot because they know that nobody else is available. The only guy that could make a difference for us is Griffey and the Reds are likely asking for too much. If their asking price was reasonable, I'm sure Jim would be all over it.

No, we have a good GM. His name is Jim Hendry. A bad GM would have traded Marshall or Hill for a relief pitcher with a history of arm injuries.

Well, I guess the line here would be that he was just getting something his manager valued and thought the team was lacking. Not much of a defense considering that to most it was pretty obvious that Pierre wasn't worth the price we paid. The best I can say is that at least he realized that signing Pierre would have been moranic, especially at that price. Though, he followed not overpaying Pierre with overpaying Soriano. That was the worst one in my opinion, as I don't really see a problem with trading away Maddux in principle, just what he got from it that was bad. I also don't see the Barrett/Bowen trade as being a 'negative', more a wash than anything. Furthermore, the positive weight of the Ramirez/Lofton and the Garciaparra/Murton trades, though Garciaparra didn't work out, still outweigh the negatives presented here. If Hendry is good at anything, it is definitely player acquisition via trades. I think the Grudz/Karros is the cherry on top. That was a pretty lopsided trade. I agree. Overall I think Hendry has done very well in trades and he doesn't get the credit around here that he deserves. The Ramirez, Garciaparra, and Grudz/Karros deals were very lopsided to us, whereas even Hendry's worst trades have only slightly favored the other team. Maybe we could have gotten a little more for Maddux, but we were never going to get a top level prospect. I think Hendry understands the balance between being too cautious and giving up the farm. He has never given up top prospects, yet he has consistently been aggressive in pursuing deals to help the club.

What is ARam thinking? We're down by 5 runs. Take it easy before you hurt yourself again.

That was so awesome. AJ's collision was completely unnecessary and as a catcher he should know better. Barrett just became my favorite player and I hate the Sox more than ever now. Yeah Barrett is gonna miss some time but this team is going nowhere and it was worth it.

it's funny cause that is the first thing i thought of when i read the story.

Williamson in for Wuertz

Didn't Todd take less money to come to the Cubs in 2004? Didn't he sit behind a far inferior Mark Grudzielanek and not say a word the entire year? I always had it in my head that he was one of the best team guys. Oh well.

By that logic we should bat Derrek Lee first. He is the best hitter, so it should be best for the team if he gets the most at-bats. Just because one hitter is better than another, does not mean he will benefit the team more. Pierre has assets that are much more valuable to the Cubs than Wilkerson's.

The Cubs ranked 2nd in HR and SLG last year. They were 13th in SB and 11th in OBP. Despite Derrek Lee having a phenomenal season, he finished with a relatively low number of RBI's - only 107. This can most easily be attributed to a lack of production from the hitters in front of him. Based on that information, I'd say that the Cubs are definitely set in the power department. What they need is a solid leadoff man and #2 hitter, yet many of you are diminishing the importance of a solid leadoff man. After watching Derrek Lee for an entire season, I don't know how any of you can say that. In addition to a good leadoff man, the Cubs need hitters with good OBP and speed to steal bases. Which player - Pierre or Wilerson - fits what the Cubs need more? Wilkerson has a marginally better OBP. Pierre had a down year in this category last year, but his career OBP is only 10 points lower than Wilkersons. I believe he more than makes up for this by having a career average that is 50 points higher than Wilkerson's. And nobody is going to debate that Pierre is a better baserunner. It's not even close. Pierre is also by far a better leadoff man. Maybe you could make the argument that Wilkerson is an all-around better player than Pierre, but there is no doubt that Pierre is a better fit for this Cubs team. Add that to the fact that the Marlins were desperate to unload players while the Expos are only willing to trade Wilkerson if it will improve the team, and it is clear that Pierre was a better option for the Cubs to trade for. We probably would have had to give up even more for Wilkerson, a player of roughly equal but a worse fit for our club. I look forward to watching DLee and ARam drive in run after run as Pierre creates havoc on the basepaths. The Nats can have Wilkerson and his 8 extra home runs - most likely solo shots. Pierre will create way more than that with his speed.

Can't believe some people are disappointed with this deal. It's not quite on par with Hendry's previous robberies, but it's damn good considering the circumstances. Everybody knew the Cubs were desperate and the free agent market is extremely thin. Hendry gave up very little to get a guy that will be very good for our offense. Who even knows when Nolasco or Pinto would have gotten their shot and Mitre already blew his. Even if we gave up much more, this would have been an okay deal because we were so desperate. If not Pierre, then who? The alternative would be watching Corey struggle to keep his OBP over .300. Oh but that's okay, because we would have had two really solid mop up men for 2007.

Hopefully the little leaguers gave Jose a few tips on hitting.

Just say no to Finley. This deal is so bad it has me seeing double. (triple?)

Definitely Kimmel. I used to love Conan, a couple years ago. Now I think he is very unsophisticated and he gets really really old. Every night its the same thing. It was funny the first couple months, bearable the next few months, but not funny at all anymore. Kimmel on the other hand. What a great show.

=D>

I think he should be laughed at. What a mess the Giants are. One of the worst GM's in baseball, one of the worst managers, their best player used steroids and can't play, and they're in fourth place in the worst division in baseball.

The Cubs haven't made me feel so unhappy since the NLCS. I was really getting into this season with DLee having such an amazing year and I thought we had a great shot at the wild card, despite Woody and Dusty. Our post ASB run got my hopes up and now we undid all of that. I love the winning streaks but it isn't worth the losing streaks. I want a team that takes 2 out of 3 and grinds out a series win. These Cubs are too streaky and they're killing me. I've pretty much given up at this point and I have lost all interest. We have so many automatic outs that it isn't even fun to watch us hit. I feel bad for Lee, Zambrano, Burnitz and Dempster. Those guys try hard and are fun to watch but having Macias bat #2 too much to overcome. What's worse is that this year's free agent crop is really weak. All we can hope is that JH gets creative this winter.

Fly out to left. I thought that one was gone at first.

Awesome. Couldn't have happened to a better person. I despise Raffy. Remember last year when he declined a trade to the Cubs?