abuck1220

You don't think Maddux has taught Kerry, Prior and Z a thing or two?? Also, I don't notice any teams beating down the Cubs door for Mitre. and you are privy to the private discussions between hendry and other gms...so, if anybody would know, it's you. as i've mentioned in other threads, it's ridiculous how baker continues to defend his guys (neifi, holla, rusch), while doing nothing for the young guys (murton, hill, mitre) except keep them on the bench or demote them. nearly every team in contention is getting contributions from young players/rookies/guys w/ little experience... cardinals: molina, reyes a's: swisher, johnson, street, haren angels: kotchman, santana braves: frenchy, johnson, langerhans, davies, mccann, betemit astros: lane, burke, taveras the yankees have cano, the phils have howard and even the red sox have given papelbon starts. all of those teams have done more w/ regard to giving youngsters a chance than the cubs...and they are all 'in the race' a heck of a lot more than the cubs are. who is going to have accomplished more this season, the cubs or the pirates? it's likely that both teams will be out of the postseason. except the pirates have given experience to duffy, duke, doumit, eldred, snell and now mcclouth. what will the cubs have to show for their likely non-playoff season? experience for rusch, macias, hollandsworth, neifi? bench time and minor league ab's/innings for hill, cedeno, murton, mitre, welly? whoop de doo...that really helps get ready for 2006. i'm personally not a fan of mitre, but i'd at least like to see my doubts for him confirmed at the major league level. all these people who say that not all these prospects will pan out are absolutely right...but how are the cubs going to know which ones will and which ones won't?

Hey PJ we'd love to have you in Peoria for a game. My brother lives in Burbank and works on a prominent TV show and I love the LA area and can't wait to get there at least a couple of times this off-season! You can fly into Peoria on Delta or Northwest and then either take a $15 cab ride downtown to the hotels or catch a bus downtown though I would advise the cab. There are a few hotels that are about a mile walk from the stadium and right near everything downtown. Our team hotel is the Holiday Inn City Center...There is also the Mark Twain Downtown, Staybridge Suites. in walking distance and the Radisson a few minutes away. As for things to see, i dont know if CAT gives regular tours or not but they have their headquarters in Peoria and some impressive buildings/machinery close by. Wildlife Prairie Park is awesome and i would suggest that. Otherwise, check out http://www.peoria.org to see what else is going on the days you are gonna be there! the riverfront, which is right near the stadium, is a pretty nice place to walk around. there are restaurants there, and i've seen live music there before. i don't think the area has taken off quite like they hoped it would, but it's a nice area for the ballpark.

i think wood should be moved to an operating room in a chicago hospital.

bartosh also got lit up, jinxy mcgee. any other of your favorite players whose career you'd like to ruin? and i'll stick up for brownlie a little by saying that i don't think he's pitched into the 6th inning much lately. of course i could be wrong, but i thought i'd give it a shot.

always wait till they're out of the game before you say something. that's what i do when i'm getting ready to brag about hill.

sully's has the best wings ever. they were the first wings i ever had, and i just assumed that all wings tasted like that. boy, was i wrong. my friend and i enjoyed three pounds of those babies after my brother's wedding in july. deeeeelicious.

But better than losing a game or 3 in standings as well, too. at this point in the season, gaining one game every other week or so may as well be losing three. but i agree...they're playing better of late.

the cubs won the games i thought they'd lose and lost the game i thought they'd win. a sweep would have gotten me half way on the bandwagon, but for all the hard work that went into a 2-1 series win, it only gained the cubs a game. that hurts.

by the way, for those who think that hill will be 'figured out' once teams see him a time or two, he has faced omaha three times this summer...and struck out 10 each time. and before everyone points out to me that they're a AAA team and not a big league team, i'm fully aware.

these baker quotes are even better (and by better, i mean worse) than his previous ones... see, that was hill's problem. he didn't want to pitch better than he did.

i'd dfa hollandsworth, as there is no need for a left handed back up to a left handed starting lf. and now that macias is swinging relatively well, hollandsworth isn't even the first lh bat off the bench. i think the cubs will send welly down. w/ williams available in the pen, they would essentially have 13 pitchers if they kept todd. there's also a chance they send murton down...only a baker managed team would keep hollandsworth over murton at this point in the season given the cubs place in the standings. these wins over st. lou and houston have been fun, but all they've probably done is put off the chance to see murton, hill, welly, cedeno.

it's reassuring to hear that the cubs' AAA hitting coach accomplished something in three weeks that our major league hitting coaches couldn't do in three seasons.

i agree...rusch and ohman.

i was a bit surprised to see him that high after 6. he only went to a three ball count on maybe three or four guys, and he got strike one a pretty good % of the time. one thing about hill that drives up his pitch count is that he seems to get a ton of foul balls.

In fairness, I think Dusty was referring to the defense in reference to Hill's start. he may have been...but that doesn't change the fact that 24 hours later he was back w/ the i-cubs. i have a feeling that same fate doesn't await his old pal g-unit. it's also pretty much par for the course when it comes to dusty making excuses for his guys...neifi, hollandsworth and now rusch.

the cubs are in a tight spot...they need to see if nomar's worth re-signing, but at the same time, they need to see if cedeno's ready to step into the job next season. unless cedeno plays 2b (and you bench -- and tick off -- your 2006 2b) that ain't gonna happen. plus, the cubs seem to still think they're in this thing...

oh man, so did i! he used to come on with these made up stats...saying walker was a -2.98 on defense while grudz was an 18.43. he would swear that these stats meant something, but he never would say what. classic...

i wouldn't be too upset if they sent him down. but at this point, you might as well see if he has what it takes to compete for a spot in the rotation next year. sending him down to insert rusch into the rotation is pretty pointless. If they were facing San Fran, I'd like to see Hill get another start so he could try to get on his feet. However, it's @ Houston. Yes the Cubs are pretty much done, but it's a big series anyway, and it's the leadoff game of the series. Also, Hill might be trying to break a 12 game losing streak. :cry: things worked out great for rusch tonight, didn't they? i wasn't going to give you crap about your pining for glendon over hill until i come to the game thread and see you're still ragging on hill....long after rusch has been rocked and removed. did you see hill's line tonight, by the way? Touche. :D Hopefully Hill can get on his feet against minor leaguers. He wasn't ready for prime time. I'm one to give Baker and Hendry the benefit of the doubt from time to time. Perhaps they know what they doing every once in a while??? i agree. the world series trophies speak for themselves.

lol....take a gander at rusch's career numbers some time.

If he can't make it here, then he's a commodity that can be sent to the teams that can use him. Why do you want Welly cut from the organization, yet clamor for Rueter to be signed? What can the Cubs get for him?? Seriously? Could catch lightning in a bottle w/ Reuter. At least he's had success in the majors, and can't be much worse than Hill, Mitre or Welly. Wait, you want Reuter over Hill, Mitre or Welly? Reuter had success when he could get that FB up over 80 mph. I'd rather lose 8 - 4 than 15 -4. what are your feelings on losing 12-4?

Release Wellemeyer. No loss @ all. Majorly disagree. raisin, what do you see in Welle? He has the pitches to be a bottom of the order starter - he posted an ERA of 3 at AAA in 11 starts this year. He could also be a good set-up man. The Cubs need to give him a proper role and not dust him off once every week in blow outs. I dont mean to pick a bone with you, but I dont see it. lower to mid 90's fastball, ok slider, changup...and limited success at AAA. it seems like every time he gets called up his head implodes and he cant find the strikezone. do you think he needs to start? He needs regular playing time to succeed. He doesn't get it in the big leagues (except for about two weeks in May) and that's why I think he struggles more with his control in the big leagues. He gets proper playing time in the minors and does well. If only Choi could play ever day...... And the song plays on.... It's Dusty fault. doo dooo. Dusty's fault. dooo dooo. It rained today and was Dusty's fault. doo doooo :D it'd be one thing if your boy glendon had pitched well tonight and you were over here taunting people about their preference for youngsters. it's just mind-boggling that you're still doing it after rusch got rocked.

i wouldn't be too upset if they sent him down. but at this point, you might as well see if he has what it takes to compete for a spot in the rotation next year. sending him down to insert rusch into the rotation is pretty pointless. If they were facing San Fran, I'd like to see Hill get another start so he could try to get on his feet. However, it's @ Houston. Yes the Cubs are pretty much done, but it's a big series anyway, and it's the leadoff game of the series. Also, Hill might be trying to break a 12 game losing streak. :cry: things worked out great for rusch tonight, didn't they? i wasn't going to give you crap about your pining for glendon over hill until i come to the game thread and see you're still ragging on hill....long after rusch has been rocked and removed. did you see hill's line tonight, by the way?

It doesn't matter. Wuertz is shaky but Welly should not be here (period). If you can't keep your ERA under 4 in the minors you don't belong in the MLs. I was shocked when I saw that Koronka was sent down so quickly in favor of Wellemeyer. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Koronka is the answr. Actually, I'm inclinded to think that Hill out of the pen is better than as a starter because of his limited pitches. Bring him back. Welly has got to go! Yep, bring Hill out of the pen. Just don't let him go beyond an inning. Might get a 7 spot tagged on him. :( lol...still ragging on hill even after your boy glendon got shellacked. nice.

10 k's thru six for hill. first pitch strikes to 15 of 24 hitters. omaha gets one after a leadoff walk scores on a ground ball single off lewis' glove. 4-2 iowa...hill likely done after 103 pitches.

8 k's thru 5 for hill. perfect innings in four of the five innings. if you have the right set up, you can simultaneously listen to hill dominate hitters while rusch sucks up the town. it's fun, you kids should try it.