CubsHawks25

3 doubles in 3 innings and we have 0 runs. THIS is why we're a .500 team.

Prior at 70 pitches yet? After only 3 IP. :(

Only if the only guys off the bench are Macias, Hollandsworth, and Perez. Get them all suspended for a week, so that means Cedeno would backup Nomar, Nomar would get the majority of time, and Murton would be the main backup OFer. Or even the starting LF, Lawton in CF, if Hairston is worse than believed.

We acquired a "real leadoff hitter", great. Except, nobody on this team can currently advance a runner without making an out nor can they score a run to save their lives. We need another bat, and not just Nomar. If a deal can be made for a KG or someone similar, it HAS TO BE DONE, Jim!!!

If you talk to people around these parts, the umps are out to get the Cubs. :roll: No, we realize that ALL umps are perfect. So perfect in fact, they've never missed a call or a blown pitch ever, in the HISTORY of baseball. :roll:

I repeat.

Just stay on the DL and get fully healthy, Nomar. Woody, go get that shoulder scoped. Look forward to '06 peeps.

You speak English very goodly. :wink: :lol: Mark Prior attended English classes, but he left his calves at home/back at the dorm room. ;)

With this (what will be the) lineup? Ha. Good luck with that. If Derrek can play today, it'll be a miracle. (Didn't see game, just the very horrible ending, but some said that Derrek's shoulder appears to be giving him problems again, like just before the AS break). Hairston is back in Chicago getting his elbow checked out. Oh, and Myers is a RHer, so that means Burnitz between DLee and ARam. LF Lawton 2B Walker 1B Lee RF Burnitz 3B Ramirez SS Perez CF Macias C Blanco P Prior (Lawton/Walker/Ramirez/Burnitz/Hollandsworth/Perez/Macias/Blano/Prior if ToddH starts for Derrek at 1B) Not that I'm happy about it, in the least bit!, but I frickin nailed it - except for the ARam/Burnitz switch. I got Dusty figured out. It took no effort at all to come up with that lineup. Actually, I can't BELIEVE he did the right thing and put Ramirez behind Lee.

With this (what will be the) lineup? Ha. Good luck with that. If Derrek can play today, it'll be a miracle. (Didn't see game, just the very horrible ending, but some said that Derrek's shoulder appears to be giving him problems again, like just before the AS break). Hairston is back in Chicago getting his elbow checked out. Oh, and Myers is a RHer, so that means Burnitz between DLee and ARam. LF Lawton 2B Walker/CF Macias 1B Lee RF Burnitz 3B Ramirez SS Perez/2B Walker CF Macias/2B Walker C Blanco P Prior (Lawton/Walker/Ramirez/Burnitz/Hollandsworth/Perez/Macias/Blano/Prior if ToddH starts for Derrek at 1B)

Again, there's that concession stuff I brought up earlier comes into play here. What happens when Nomar is still only playing 2 of 3 games, no matter what, in early September and getting pulled for his "Defensive Replacement (Neifi)" after 6 or 7 innings in almost every game - because he hasn't played a-or-many whole games since he came back/minor rehabs? If he is as healthy as he purports to be, then the "kid gloves" need to come off. And as soon as sometime next week, preferably the sooner the better.

Actually, Houston has a better PITCHING STAFF as a whole, at least the last month they have/do. Their lineup leaves alot to be desired, even compared to ours. One thing they do do, however, is they play fundamental baseball. Something Dusty must not believe in, because our fundamental's have sucked total arse the last 2 years.

Oh. God. :cry: Here's your lineup for this afternoon's game (in 12 hours or so); If Derrek can go: LF Lawton 2B Walker 1B Lee RF Burnitz 3B Ramirez SS Perez CF Macias C Blanco P Prior If Derrek can'T go: LF Lawton 2B Walker 3B Ramirez RF Burnitz 1B Hollandsworth SS Perez CF Macias C Blanco P Prior Hell, even if Derrek could go tomorrow (shoulder is ok), I'd still see Dusty playing that 2nd lineup. "Gotta give DLee some time off man. Dude, we gotta load up on the lefties vs Myers, who a RHP."

Let me guess, the throwing hand of the scheduled starters for Fri-Sat-Sun, for the Mets, are LH-RH-LH, right? That was sarcastically said, but seeing as how the Astros lead just continues to get bigger, I don't see the benefit of giving Nomar a day off RIGHT AFTER HE COMES BACK. But maybe that's just me. I understand "being cautious", but at some point a concession needs to be made - needing to do everything possible to keep Nomar healthy (only play him 3-4/6 or 4-5/7 games a week) or needing to do whatever it takes to try and catch Houston. Playing Neifi Perez 2-3 days a week ahead of a guy like (now healthy) Nomar is not how you play "winning baseball". But, as I always forget, there is the "Dusty Baker is manager" problem that can't be overlooked.

Thanks to Perez chasing 2 pitches that would have been called balls. Look, all I'm saying is that it must be something that either Brenly's noticed or its been proven somehow, that Dempster sweats more than what the heat/dewpoints help produce. Why would Brenly not have just said "with the heat and humidity, its creating sweat on Ryan's hand"? IIRC, Bob said something to the effect of "because of Dempster's profuse amounts of sweat on his throwing hand, he can't get an effective grip on the ball to throw his splitter the way he wants to." Isn't that what the rosin bag is for? Perhaps more pitchers should take advantage of it. I wasn't out there personally, so I'm not sure what happened (maybe it did help him out more than appeared to do so), but Ryan did go to the rosin bag at least 3 times, but still the sweat seemed to have overpowered it and his continual hand wiping.

Thanks to Perez chasing 2 pitches that would have been called balls. Look, all I'm saying is that it must be something that either Brenly's noticed or its been proven somehow, that Dempster sweats more than what the heat/dewpoints help produce. Why would Brenly not have just said "with the heat and humidity, its creating sweat on Ryan's hand"? IIRC, Bob said something to the effect of "because of Dempster's profuse amounts of sweat on his throwing hand, he can't get an effective grip on the ball to throw his splitter the way he wants to."

"We don't want to mess with the R-L-R-L thing, Dude. I'm a manager and I know how to do what I'm doing, man"

When it affects a pitcher and hampers the way he throws certain pitches, then yeah, its something to keep in mind and remember.

just to be clear...Dempster might not be a good closer because he sweats too much? If you believe Brenly, then I guess you could make a slight argument, yeah. Brenly said a couple times that because of Ryan's sweating profusely, that he couldn't get the grip on the ball that he needed to throw his splitter for a strike (notice how they were all high and really tailed outside tonight). And also you would have noticed his continual wiping of the hand on the his pant leg to try and dry it, and going to the rosin bag after every hitter/looking at his hand after alot of pitches.

BETTER really re-energize this team. Yeah we won tonight, miraculously somehow, but the offense has disappeared - at least the ability to score runs (THANKS ARAMIS for the clutch hit tonight!) - and I don't know if Dempster just isn't a closer and has been lucky, or he doesn't have the right temperament (too nervous, aka sweats alot, even more than heat would cause). I don't know if Wood would solidify the closer spot or not, but man... Dempster has tried really hard to give away either the last 3, or 3 of the last 4, of his save opportunities.

I guess I'm not sure how the whole waiver system works. Wouldn't Cincy have really high priority, and if they were to claim him, he doesn't have to try and make it through the rest of the teams... would he? Couldn't a deal be made right with Cincy instead of waiting to see if others would claim him?

My mind is working overtime here, but a thought concering a possible interest in Griffey and the recent "announcement" of Corey being recalled in a week-to-10 days...... Any chance the Cubs are hoping Corey's bat wakes up a bit to showcase him if wanted to go after Griffey? I know Cincy has a surplus of young OFs already, but I don't really see either of Dunn/Kearns or Pena as quality MLB CFs, at least defensively. Do they have any stud CFs that are just about MLB-ready?

Despite all my "bashing" of Corey, I'm pulling like Hell for the guy. I like him. I like what he brings to the table in CF and his speed on the basepaths. I just wish he'd change his plate approach, he thinks he is/should be a cleanup-type hitter - aka, a "power" guy. Don't get me wrong, he's got "pop in his bat", but he's no DLee, Ramirez, or Burnitz. I honestly believe that just because he plays CF, hits lefty, and has similar body-type/speed as Ken Griffey, Jr did early in his career, Corey thinks should be a HR hitter destined to hit 500+ like KG,Jr did/was. It just doesn't work that way. Griff, as a youngster and in his prime, was special. His swing was the prettiest/most effortless around during that time, and it still looks good. Don't try and be the next KG, Corey... just be Corey Patterson and play to your strengths. Corey is playing into his strengths....the problem is his strengths expose his weaknesses. He led the MWL in SLG in his 1st pro season. He was top 3 in the Southern League in HRs. He hit 24 HRs last year. He slugged .511 the year before. I believe that people think because he's small he has to be a slap hitter. That's not his strength, although it'd be nice if he had the ability to do it a little. Yup.. He's up there with anyone on the team in upper-body strength. Well something needs to happen, and unfortunately, maybe that will prove to be with another team/hitting instructor. He either needs to be a power guy with speed, or a speed guy with power. He's clearly confused right now as to which it is, both what he is now and what he should be. I'm not saying Sarge, or whoever the hitting coach is, is incompetent or not smart enough, but so far this year and in this big slump of Corey's, they either obviously haven't helped him much - or he's too damned stubborn to want to change his ways. Personally, I see Corey as a 2Bs (few 3Bs mixed in) hitter with ~15-18 homers per season kinda guy and I think that's what this current Cubs team needs most out of him, especially if they had wanted him to leadoff like Dusty did. But with that uppercut swing that has a huge hole on the down-and-in pitches, he just makes it TOO easy to get him out.

So who you going to bench for Murton?? Lawton or Burnitz?? I highly doubt Prior, Maddux and Z will appreciate either Burnitz or Lawton butchering plays in cf. A team that fields a subpar defense deserves to fail. But I think some people favor defense at the expense of the offense. Ok. But if you're allowing runs, that forces the offense to be that much better. I'm all for offense, believe me, but you can't always "outhit the opponent".

Despite all my "bashing" of Corey, I'm pulling like Hell for the guy. I like him. I like what he brings to the table in CF and his speed on the basepaths. I just wish he'd change his plate approach, he thinks he is/should be a cleanup-type hitter - aka, a "power" guy. Don't get me wrong, he's got "pop in his bat", but he's no DLee, Ramirez, or Burnitz. I honestly believe that just because he plays CF, hits lefty, and has similar body-type/speed as Ken Griffey, Jr did early in his career, Corey thinks should be a HR hitter destined to hit 500+ like KG,Jr did/was. It just doesn't work that way. Griff, as a youngster and in his prime, was special. His swing was the prettiest/most effortless around during that time, and it still looks good. Don't try and be the next KG, Corey... just be Corey Patterson and play to your strengths.