jersey cubs fan

You're going to have to ask Bruce to find out in the postgame interviews. Daytime tv doesn't allow us that info.

That was in no mans land, nothing the Cubs could have done about it Have better range? Nobody in baseball has the range to get to where that was That's pretty crazy when you consider Baker actually got to it and he's hardly known for having great range.

Too right handed

The masters iphone app was phenomenal

all the streets near me are one way.

and those lines are just going to slow down the natural procession of the troughers.

you could easily fit 6 or 7 spraying wangs in there. What kind of pathetic freak is going to stand in line at those things with all that trough space?

Sure, he was a good player. I don't see why we have to pretend he was a force though. And I don't see why I have to respect what he's done in his career mostly with other teams when he's been one of the most overhyped players of this past decade, and that hype led directly to a horrific contract. If some mediocre player makes a little more money than he should, you can't really be that upset at him. Especially if he plays to expectations. But when a guy who wasn't close to deserve franchise money gets a franchise crippling contract and he sucks, there's no reason why I can't complain. And don't give me this injury nonsense. If he was well enough to play, he should have been well enough to not be completely incompotent.

He certainly wasn't a force. Not picture perfect is an asinine way to describe it. He's got about as bad an approach as you can get while still being a professional.

This sort of thing has probably happened in every ballpark in the country.

He was ahead of schedule? When it first came out he talked of being ready for opening day. Most reports were in April sometime, and a bunch of people just assumed it would be later.

It definitely does not compare to a Big Ten school in that regard, but the seeds are there. I know some alums and they love going to games and are big into it, but NYC in general is a pro sports town; it's all Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Knicks and Rangers with the others also drawing interest. I'd say Rutgers fandom is bigger than Nets fandom though, and along the lines of the Devils. Moderately sized but quite passionate. It's tough when your conference has been made over and rivals have been spread out among various teams. And schools like Louisville, UConn, Cincy and Pitt have no cache here. Have them play PSU, OSU and Michigan on a regular basis and the interest will rise. UConn doesn't? You know better than I, just surprising to me. It was a DII program a decade ago. I know of nobody who cares about its football team and have never heard any discussion about the program. There is NYC area interest in the basketball teams, but not all that much.

HUMAN ELEMENT PART OF THE GAME!!!

It definitely does not compare to a Big Ten school in that regard, but the seeds are there. I know some alums and they love going to games and are big into it, but NYC in general is a pro sports town; it's all Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Knicks and Rangers with the others also drawing interest. I'd say Rutgers fandom is bigger than Nets fandom though, and along the lines of the Devils. Moderately sized but quite passionate. It's tough when your conference has been made over and rivals have been spread out among various teams. And schools like Louisville, UConn, Cincy and Pitt have no cache here. Have them play PSU, OSU and Michigan on a regular basis and the interest will rise.

I think Rutgers would be proud to be compared to Northwestern. A couple years ago people started to really care about Rutgers football. It was a very hot ticket. In NYC, college sports are strange, Syracuse has the most upside for support, but St. John's basketball and Rutgers football are the two best candidates for that attention. Strangely, Big Ten football probably has the most overall interest. Rutgers could very easily have a strong rivalry with Penn State. Anywhere you go in northern NJ you will see PSU and Rutgers alums, followed maybe by West Virginia, and then Michigan. Given Iowa's track record of recruiting in NJ, and PSU's roster being filled with NJ students, I think there could easily be a budding rivalry. I'd definitely go to games.

That was my guess.

Is this show getting any trouble from the Square D guys who run all those awful radio ads on WGN?

Show respect? Give me a freaking break, what a stupid comment. He sucked last year. He was grossly overrated due to his ties to the Yankees and all the morons who get giddy about 40/40 nonsense. He has a horrible approach at the plate and was always a terrific candidate to fall apart with the Cubs. I can hate him if I want to.

I mean, it's the right call, but it's crazy how quick Lou's hook is with some guys. Lou was all worried about the kids in the bullpen this year and after 3 games he hates Grabow.

Again, discounting injuries of oft-injured players is a foolish. Why would you assume they play a full healthy season this year? They are old players with frequent health problems, the reasonable bet is they miss time this year. As for Soriano "forgetting how to hit", he never knew how, he simply counted on his physical abilities and had a horrible approach. The older he gets, the less he's going to be able to count on his physical abilities to make up for his horrible approach. It's not like disappointing seasons are something new for Soriano. For one, it's a pipe dream to pretend last year was all about the injury. He was fine enough to play, and he sucked. He's been disappointing before, he's well past his prime and he has a horrible approach at the plate, that is not a recipe for a guy guaranteed to have a strong bounceback season at 34. They might have a better offensive season this year, but there's no reason why they should see a large improvement.

Does this Papelbon guy have a chance of being a decent reliever? I wonder what that means for the return date for Lilly. I had the choice of the April 19 and April 20 Mets tickets and chose the 19th, thinking that was a date some were throwing out for Lilly's return.

Aren't most people predicting a winning record and an outside chance? That's still very diappointing from where this team should be. That was 2009. I did get excited for last night's game since it was the first I was able to watch all of on my couch without interruptions, and I'm as susceptible to the short-term emotions of wins and losses as anybody.

I don't get this reasoning. There's no reason why we should see a large improvement in hitting. It's possible, but I wouldn't count on it. The default position for Cubs' lineups is weak. They have several weaknesses still, and their best hitters are old. Discounting a lack of production last year due to injuries to oft-injured players is no way to justify the statement that the offense should be better. The middle infield is weak. Catcher is a big question. Soto is no lock to make a significant step forward, and the backup C is as bad a hitter as you can find in baseball. Marlon Byrd was a huge bust until arriving in Texas in his last 20's. , and he took a step back in his third season there when he played his most time. The bench is not particularly strong. There's one guy who can be considered an asset, but he's coming off major surgery. Everybody but Aramis Ramirez is capable of playing a full season while being fairly unproductive. They've all done it at various points of their careers, and not just in weird age 23 seasons or anything like that. They've got a bunch of 33/34 year old players who don't have a consistent track record of tremendous success. Expecting those players to be better simply because they were at some point earlier in their career is delusional. It might happen. But there's a really good chance it does not happen. There's no "should" about it when it comes to major improvements in the offense.

Not completely untradable, but his no trade rights make it virtually so. You don't think he would have some interest in moving to a contender at the deadline if the Cubs were out of it? (I expect the Cubs to re-sign him anyway, though.) It's possible, but he also already has a WS ring and multiple playoff appearances. He's not desperate to play for a winner. And his NTC (or 10/5 rights) makes him less valuable in a trade since it may force a team to offer an extension to get him. There's probably not much point in trading him, you'd probably be better off with an arbitration offer and taking him back for one year or getting picks.