Bruno7481

Just struck me as odd to throw a first pitch curve to Weaver, who has been in the AL all year. On top of that Hill hasn't thrown but one or two for a strike. Get ahead of him and then get cute if you want to.

First pitch curveball to Weaver? Why?

Endy Chaves? Seriously?

Might have been funny if we couldn't see that line coming from a mile away. Who is suggesting he sprint around the bases on a home run? Good for A-ram.

more air time for Orestes Destrade!

I believe the problem is a mutual one; the Cubs shouldn't alllow him to do it or put up with it, but Aramis should have enough self-pride to hustle when he needs to. Bingo! Yep! And you can't tell me Aramis isn't in control of the amount of hustle he puts forth.

Or in Aramis' case, he seems to have a bad day 75% of the time. He looks bad doing it. Losing looks bad in itself, loosing and not putting for the appropriate effort looks even worse. Thanks for classifying the discussion as juvenile, silly, and pointless. Didn't know you were the authority on that. Agree or disagree, and stats the reasoning. Its silly, juvenile, and pointless to tell someone their argument is the same. It's not an discussion, it's some silly rah, rah, go team knute Rockney crap. Aramis has what, 8 HRs in the last week? How many errors has he made? Maybe he still not 100% in the groin/hamstring/calf region? Hell, I have no idea. He's not fast, I'd rather have him play it conservative on the bases. He's certainly been on fire, no doubt about that. Maybe one reason he always has leg/hamstring/calf issues is a lack of conditioning or effort?

Or in Aramis' case, he seems to have a bad day 75% of the time. He looks bad doing it. Losing looks bad in itself, loosing and not putting for the appropriate effort looks even worse. Thanks for classifying the discussion as juvenile, silly, and pointless. Didn't know you were the authority on that. Agree or disagree, and stats the reasoning. Its silly, juvenile, and pointless to tell someone their argument is the same. You are saying he loafs it 75% of the time? Wow. We have our 2006 scapegoat, folks. Yes, I'm blaming 2006 on A-ram, you figured me out. No... 75% was exaggerated, my apologies. But he is the most common offender is he not? I'm not blaming the season on Ramirez at all. I'm just saying it looks bad. Would 100% balls-out play make a different in the grand sheme of things? Maybe a few games, thats all. But that isn't the point. When the team is already as bad as it is, things like this, no mater who does it, makes it look even worse.

Or in Aramis' case, he seems to have a bad day 75% of the time. He looks bad doing it. Losing looks bad in itself, loosing and not putting for the appropriate effort looks even worse. Thanks for classifying the discussion as juvenile, silly, and pointless. Didn't know you were the authority on that. Agree or disagree, and stats the reasoning. Its silly, juvenile, and pointless to tell someone their argument is the same.

That's nice rahrah stuff for the kids, but it doesn't hold up to life in the real world, or for guys playing 162 games a year. Outside forces can affect attitude/effort quite frequently, no matter how tough you talk. How tough I talk? Didn't realize that was "tough talk". Thanks for the laugh. It does hold up in the real world as well. All I am saying is at the end of the day, the individual is responsible for the amount of effort they give. They are also responsible for the attitude. Its not just a baseball thing. Is this the beginning of a Tony Robbins commercial? No matter how much you want it to be, people aren't always 100% in control of their attitude/effort. I'm willing to bet that everybody can look back at a time when they wish they had a little different attitude about a subject or put in a better effort, certainly I am not the only one. And if you have a physically and mentally draining job that involves a load of travel and world class production on a daily basis, you will be affected by outside forces. There's a reason golfers slip up from time to time, it's not physical, it's mental. Same with ballplayers going through slumps. Guys aren't physically incapable of throwing to first, they let down mentally, lose focus. It takes attitude and effort to maintain focus throughout the course of a game or season. Every player inevitably loses focus at some time even if they really don't want to. But that's because they cannot control their attitude/effort 100% of the time. I appreciate the efforts to triviliaze my beliefs on the subject w/ the Robbins remark. I have at home two binders, one from the St. Louis Cardinals and the other from the Philadelphia Phillies. Each player every Spring is presented with this. The same philosophy/quote that I am referring to (controlling attitude and effort) is prominently displayed on the fornt cover of both. So, it isn't something that just "kids" get, or isn't applied to baseball at the major league level or in the real word. They get the same message every Spring. It is obvioulsy up to the individual if they are going to try and live by it or not. I'm not asking you to agree with me, I'm just making the point that this is discussed and drilled into players in yearly in at least two other organizations. It's not just me.

That's nice rahrah stuff for the kids, but it doesn't hold up to life in the real world, or for guys playing 162 games a year. Outside forces can affect attitude/effort quite frequently, no matter how tough you talk. How tough I talk? Didn't realize that was "tough talk". Thanks for the laugh. It does hold up in the real world as well. All I am saying is at the end of the day, the individual is responsible for the amount of effort they give. They are also responsible for the attitude. Its not just a baseball thing.

Maybe it is a cliche (I've never heard it), but it's certainly not true. Guys act out of character quite frequently. Temper is a big part of attitude, and people vary in their ability to control that. Desire can come and go, as evidenced by the frequent listless days players and teams experience. Exhaustion can negatively affect both your attitude and desire. This is especially true in a sport like baseball, which is a marathon. That type of talk might work in football, or lower level baseball that has fewer games, where you prepare for a limited amount of contests. But in pro baseball, attitude and desire will fluctuate throught the long season, no matter how macho somebody wants to talk about always giving 110%. I couldn't disagree more. An individual can always control their attitude and effort. Doesnt matter if you are professional baseball player, a teacher, auto mechanic, anything. Other outside forces are beyond your control, but you are the sole person responsible for the attitude/effort you will choose to have on a given day. It is an example I try to use with my pitchers. You can be out there and make every pitch possible, be hitting all your sports but your defense can let you down. The rest is beyond your control after that. You do your job. In my playing career there were a thousands of times where I would have liked to rip into my teammates, but you can't do that. Zambrano has had similar episodes. It s in situations such as this where control of your attitude and effort is absolutely essential. Control your emotions and keep on as if everything is fine, even if sometime it isn't. Like Ramirez, is some of his lack of hustle due to the sorry state of the franchise right now? Possibly. It shouldn't matter though. It doesn't excuse it. Nobody can make him do this, I personally don't think he will ever change. He is what he is.

Maybe it is the coach speaking in me, but it is always the players fault, even if management condones it in a roundabout way. Obviously Hendry and Baker are to blame as well. But just because they seem to allow it to a degree, it doesn't excuse Ramirez. As a player, you know when you are doing things the right way and when your not. It all comes back to the player and the decisions/behavior that they control and are responsible for. It is a cliche but you can control two things 100% of the time, your attitude and desire. A coach/manager/boss etc can't make you care, it comes from within.

join this is a start, i guess. they should get rid of kruk and phillips too. I think he was a shade less dumb than Kruk, but still a moron. Take a guess: 1) Slept with the wrong person 2) Sexual harrasment and/or assault 3) Drugs/alcohol 4) Management realized his incompetence (hard to believe since Kruk and Phillips are still there) Item #2 didn't get Mike Tirico fired, but perhaps they're taking a stronger stance on that at ESPN these days. What happened w/ Tirico?

I'm actually agreeing with Dusty on this one. Hill does need to produce at the major league level. Hill will get a confidence boost when he goes out and pitches a good game. Whatever Dusty says or doesn't say isn't going to make a difference. Hopefully he can get a regular spot in the rotation with some good outings. I'm not expecting him to strike out 14 every time out. For starters I'd like to see some better control and better command of the curveball which he has lacked in his brief stint with the Cubs.

at least we got our ace pitcher Novoa out there to put out any fires........ To be fair, Novoa didn't deserve that. He was doing fine.

Dear Todd: Quit making errors. Your killing your trade value.

That was NOT Barrett's fault. That pitch was barely within his reach. Sure it was, the hitter wasn't even in danger of being hit by the pitch. Barrett just raised his glove and missed it. I just rewinded my tivo, clearly catchable.

Prior obviously didn't hit his spot with that pitch, but it was certainly catchable.

Barrett, love him as a hitter. As a cather? hmmmmmmmmmmm....

Can anyone tell me why you wouldn't cheer for Jones? I understand many were against the signing, but he has had a good year. Him and Barret have been #1 and #1a as far as offensive production.

Any chance of Dusty getting canned, or submitting his resignation tomorrow? It can't get any more embarassing than this.

Booing is fine, trashing the field is classless. You can get your frustration across by booing, no need to also make yourself look like an idiot and throw trash on the field.

Christ Todd.... I never want to see the argument that he is a good defensive 2B.

Walker owes Marshall a dinner or two.