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mcgoobs

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Everything posted by mcgoobs

  1. There's been two large knocks on Soriano when he was struggling: 1) a rehash that he's overpaid, and 2) that Johnson should start over him, or that the Cubs should try to trade him. Knock #1 is pointless to argue over, and doesn't relate to a decision of whether he should start or not. Knock #2 overlooks how Johnson's lack of power and ability to hit right-handed pitchers make him a fourth outfielder at best. It also overlooks the fact that Soriano is untradeable given his contract (point #1).
  2. Only this team would follow up a three-game sweep of the best team in the majors and a solid performance today with a bonehead move like this. I need a case of beer.
  3. Or it could just be the fact that he's, you know, in his late 30's. And had several concussions. I've been told they do wonders for the hand/eye coordination. I use to make fun of him, but secretly I've always admired his skills on the baseball field. He's probably the best defensive CF in the last 25 years. Are you kidding me??????!!!! He is without question the most overrated defensive CF probably to ever play the game. He made his entire career out of making routine flay balls look like amazing catches. Yeah, he was good at making the diving catch, but if you judge the ball correctly off the bat and take the correct line on it (like Andrew Jones) you have to dive a lot less often. Don't let your biases cloud your judgment. Don't let Sportscenter highlights cloud your judgement.
  4. I'm almost positive that game gets the highest game score ever according to Bill James' Game Scores, and that's without factoring in that the Gutierrez single could/should have been ruled an error. My brother was in school out of state at the time, but got the Tribune delivered to his dorm. Since he was studying for finals he didn't get a chance to watch SportsCenter at night to see what happened. The next morning he was expecting the cover of the sports section would have coverage of the Bulls playoff loss to the Hornets. When he instead saw the 20Ks listing down the front page all the way to Kerry's name, he spat up a mouthful of cereal and milk over the cover of the newspaper. That cover is now framed in his house.
  5. For those who are receiving a tax rebate check, which category accounts for the primary use of the rebate?
  6. Why Pie and not Murton? If this is true, hopefully Hendry is doing his best to convince San Diego that Murton is the correct outfielder to trade for Greene instead of Pie. Given age and the Cubs general patience regarding each player's development it would be better for the team to keep Pie.
  7. Give credit to Bochy. Too many managers would have left him in the rotation since he gets paid to be the ace of the rotation.
  8. I don't believe there's any evidence so far that Mars will be shedding the Wrigley brand name anyways. If your last point does come true.
  9. What about last year? He had a significantly lower LD%, but a higher BABIP. The general rule of thumb is a player's BABIP will be something around his LD rate + .120. There is some variability around what that .120 will be for a given player in a given year, and what a player's LD rate is throughout a year (Diaz's has already fallen to 24%) and year-to-year.
  10. This year he's has a 26% LD rate so far this year, so it's not that out of line for Diaz to have a high BABIP.
  11. All-time greatest thread.
  12. He was always too good of a hitter for me to have full disdain for him..... similar to Pujols. And Thomas had a better start to his career than Pujols did, (Cardinals lurkers should baseballreference their OPS+'s if they don't believe me).
  13. It's not out of realm to think when Soriano comes back Murton is out the door via trade and Pie stays.
  14. After 18 games the Cubs offense is..... - On pace for 999 runs - Has the highest OBP in the NL at .365 - Is fifth in the NL in walks (after being last or next-to-last for the past few years) I'm sure these will all moderate once the level of teams we play improves and many of our players come back down to earth, but still it's amazing to see.
  15. More often than not people pointing to home/road splits aren't saying Player X plays better at home as much as the ballpark where he plays half of his games affects his statistics to the point the don't show his true performance. Examples would include Derrek Lee leaving Florida and coming to the Cubs, Greg Maddux leaving Chicago and going to LA and eventually San Diego, and yes the proposed Khalil Greene trade.
  16. As long as Soriano is out, and as long as DeRosa keeps hitting well, it sounds like Murton becomes the fourth outfielder.
  17. On "60 Minutes" Bill James said he would be the one player he would start a team with (I think.... it was either that or the player that has all the qualities he's looking for).
  18. Even with established and productive hitters though there is value in trying to correct specific holes. Derrek Lee closing the hole on the inside of his swing before the 2005 season, or Sosa learning plate patience and the ability to hit to the opposite field are two examples. Tony Gwynn tells of a conversation he had with Ted Williams, whereafter he began turning on inside pitches more and produced the 2nd highest slugging percentage of his career at the age of 37. To correct serious flaws though seems to take significant time and best achieved during the offseason. I can't imagine that Soriano's overall approach to hitting, which he's probably developed since he stared playing as a child, could change during the course of a season. Also as long as we're here.... Dude. Wow. Commitment.
  19. The man who ruined Derrek Lee's epic 2005 season by giving Corey Patterson, Neifi Perez, Matt Lawton, and Jose Macias over 600 PAs in front of a guy with a 1.080 OPS. Among other things.
  20. This year's team appears to be showing an unusual amount of patience at the plate. Whether this is due to a change in mentality, specific players, or the pitching we have faced, it's not clear. But here are the walk totals by the offense: 2005: 419 (2.6 per game), 16th in the NL 2006: 395 (2.4 per game), 16th in the NL 2007: 500 (3.1 per game), 15th in the NL 2008: 48 through 12 games (4.0 per game)
  21. During Johan Santana's 2004 season, he once had a three game set that went as follows: 5.1 IP, 4 ER 3.0 IP, 7 ER 6.1 IP, 4 ER During Jake Peavy's 2005 season, he once had a three game set that went a follows: 5.2 IP, 5 ER 7.0 IP, 1 ER 5.0 IP, 7 ER During Pedro Martinez's 2002 season, his first three starts went as follows: 3.0 IP, 7 ER 6.0 IP, 0 ER 5.1 IP, 4 ER None of our pitchers should be expected to put up the performances the three above did, but it's selective sampling to show that 3 starts does not a pitcher make. I don't see Lilly or Hill getting demoted to the bullpen, and given Dempster's performance so far, the coaching staff will keep him in the rotation for at least the forseeable future. It really comes down to Marquis vs Lieber for that last spot. Lou and the staff might like having a reliable long-man in the bullpen like Lieber, in which case you can assume no change to the rotation. I'd love to see Marshall get the nod over Lieber or Marquis but don't think that's likely.
  22. Being in favor of the DH is being against the double-switch, which is just wrong.
  23. I would have thought that by no Memphis's lack of outside and free throw shooting would have caught up with them at some point. That is hasn't shows how good Rose, CDR, and the rest are. Sportsbook has the line set at Memphis -2.
  24. If I was in Las Vegas, I'd put a bet on that. Fudge, $5.00 could get me $185?! It's the record, knucklehead, not the "odds." Even tho.........it wouldn't surprise me to see Vegas put those kind of odds for Memphis. The odds of Memphis winning it all aren't going to be even close to that. With how even this year's Final Four is, I wouldn't be surprised if the longest odds are less that 5-to-1. Here are the current odds from Sportsbook: Kansas: 3-1 Memphis: 3-1 North Carolina: 8-5 UCLA: 3-1
  25. Regardless if Dusty should or shouldn't have, did or didn't come out to calm down Prior in the 8th, he should absolutely be faulted for leaving Prior in when he was clearly fatiguing. Before laying blame to Bartman, Alou, Gonzalez, or anyone else Baker needs to be singled out for this.
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