cubfan1955

Dusty has decided to platoon Murton and Bynum. So tonight Bynum got the start with the righthander going. Then in the 9th inning Baker brings Murton up to pinch hit against one of the toughest righthanders in the game for the lefthanded hitter that is supposed to be much better against righthanders. Did I miss something? I did come in late and didn't see the whole game. Feel free to correct me if I've missed something. It just seems Dusty wants him to fail.

Watching the Cardinals/Tigers. In the 10th inning the gun they use at Detroit clocked Zumaya at 104 mph. Is that even possible to do?

They should send Murton, Cedeno, Lee, Ramirez, Walker, Barrett, Prior, Z, Marshall, Marmol, Dempster, Eyre, Howry, Guzman, and Maddux to Iowa and let Dusty have free reign with his boys. Getting players away from the 3 amigos Baker, Clines, and Sarge can only be considered good.

Hill has started a total of 8 games over two seasons. Very few of those in sucession. I'm not sure what he is, but he's got some of the best numbers of any pitcher in the minor leagues, anywhere. Hill may or may not be a major league pitcher. Right now, it appears he isn't, but with his track record in the minors, he deserves a full half season in the majors to either sink or swim. He's done all he can at AAA, so it would be in the Cubs best interest to see if he can do it at the major league level if given the time to make adjustments. Hill is 26 years old. If he's going to make the adjustments, it's sink or swim time for him. Marmol is only 23 and obviously has some adjustments to make. Marmol has never pitched at the AAA and has less than half a season at AA. While Marmol might make the better pitcher, why do wins even matter at this point? It's time for the Cubs to stop being shortsighted and play the hand that will set them up best for the future. Right now, that is to allow Marmol to continue his development in the minors and let Hill pitch through his funk in the majors. Hill has mastered every level but the big time. It's imperative to know whether he can do that and the only way for him to work through his struggles there is with the big league team. He might fail. If he does, so what? You know he can't cut it and cut him lose. So we get blown out in a few games this year? Big deal. We're not making the playoffs, so it's best to use this year to evaluate what we may have next season. If Hill somewhere along the way learns to get big league hitters out like he has in AAA, then he will restore his trade value or give the Cubs another option for 2007. It just makes a lot more sense to let Hill pitch the remainder of the year regardless of how poorly he does. It won't stunt Marmol one bit and it will allow Hill a consistent number of starts to see if he can make the appropriate adjustments to become more than just a AAA ace. It makes sense...except the Cubs don't have the stomach for it. One or two bad starts and he is back at Iowa with Glendon going back to the rotation. Some how it's okay to suck if you are a vet.

Why was Speier fired at Oakland? Just asking. I really don't know.

Speaking of Glendon...Columnist quote of the week: A call to young arms: Cardinals' beleaguered starting staff needs assistance :D

In the heat of the moment Barrett felt provoked. He later admitted he was wrong. Still doesn't make it a sucker punch.

Doubtful. Here's my scenario. Fire Baker, Rothschild, Clines, Pole and Matthews. Promote Spier to interim manager. Promote Von Joshua as interim hitting coach. See if Billy Williams will serve as third base or bench coach for the interim. Promote other guys within the organization to serve in the other capaities. At the end of the season, interview Gonzalez, Dierker, and even Spier. Hopefully, Davey Johnson will be available for an interview as well. The new manager can select his own staff. Just curious. Why Spier? I just don't see that as productive at all. Who else would be a interm manager? Spier is as good as anyone else on that worthless bench... I don't think they would have a problem finding an interim manager. If they're going to take out the trash...take it all out. Heck, Hendry is such a genius why doesn't he come down to the dugout for the rest of the season to evaluate the players? He's managed before. Obviously he can't see how bad Neifi and Rusch really are from the front office. Maybe he could see it from the dugout. :lol:

Doubtful. Here's my scenario. Fire Baker, Rothschild, Clines, Pole and Matthews. Promote Spier to interim manager. Promote Von Joshua as interim hitting coach. See if Billy Williams will serve as third base or bench coach for the interim. Promote other guys within the organization to serve in the other capaities. At the end of the season, interview Gonzalez, Dierker, and even Spier. Hopefully, Davey Johnson will be available for an interview as well. The new manager can select his own staff. Just curious. Why Spier? I just don't see that as productive at all.

What, do you think some third party is gonna yell "ROUND! ONE! ... FIGHT!" like in Street Fighter II? I think people can figure out when a fight is gonna start. Some of you people still don't get what a sucker-punch is. Main Entry: sucker punch Function: transitive verb : to punch (a person) suddenly without warning and often without apparent provocation - sucker punch noun Was there any warning that Barrett might throw a punch? Not unless you consider "I didn't have the ball" to mean "I'm going to hit you". That's quite a stretch. Was there a lack or provocation? Considering that Barrett is a catcher, and that catchers get bowled over on almost a daily basis....... I'd also say it's quite a stretch to say that Barrett was provoked into throwing a punch. Therefore, the shoe fits. I believe saying "I didn't have the ball b**** qualifies as warning that Barrett considered he had been provoked. Therefore...the shoe does NOT fit.

That's not good enough. It wasn't hindsight when we were up in arms over the treatment as it was happening (many predicted it would happen before Baker officially signed). You can't just say, "Well, they might have ruined him, but that's in the past, let's move on." That's incompetence. Another good point. I know I wasn't the only one upset throughout the 2003 season (and heck, that 135-pitch game for Prior in 2002). This isn't hindsight here. You and anyone else that was upset during the 2003 season about pitcher abuse were a very smalll minority. A few million Cubs fans would have been very upset if the Cubs had not went for it. I'm not arguing that Dusty didn't abuse his pitchers. Just that there wasn't a wave of protests during the year over Wood, Priors and Zs pitch counts. So was it worth it? With the benefit of hindsight, of course it wasn't. Maybe 3 years down the line Prior will be dominating the league and people will say it's because the Cubs were overly cautious and didn't rush him back during the 2003 season. Who knows? I can't see into the future now just like no one could in 2003.

I can't believe I'm going to defend Dusty and the rest of Cubs management but the people on this board and others would have had a heart attack and probably would have burned Wrigley to the ground if the Cubs had shut Prior down in September with the division title within sight. Everyone would have been screaming for their heads. We can't have it both ways. 2003 is in the past and now we're paying the piper. Such is life. I didn't say shut him down, did I? Limit his pitches and innings. Although I replied to your post I didn't mean you specifically. If you recall all during the year Wood pitched well but got no run support and the bullpen would blow the game. Down the stretch run Dusty didn't have the faith in his bullpen to go to it which could have lessend the abuse of Prior and Wood. All I'm saying is no one was complaining when we were winning in September 2003. Hindsight is always 20/20. Believe me, I'm all for firing Baker and the whole coaching staff. There is plenty of ammo left in the gun for that.

I can't believe I'm going to defend Dusty and the rest of Cubs management but the people on this board and others would have had a heart attack and probably would have burned Wrigley to the ground if the Cubs had shut Prior down in September with the division title within sight. Everyone would have been screaming for their heads. We can't have it both ways. 2003 is in the past and now we're paying the piper. Such is life. I didn't say shut him down, did I? Limit his pitches and innings. This may be beating a dead horse, but how many times have we seen 7,8,9 run leads and starters left in to pitch 125+ pitches. Craziness. Actually not that many. You just remember them more because it rarely happens the Cubs have a big lead and that includes 2003 to the present. Yes, I remember the playoff game where Dusty left Prior in with a huge lead. Still, it hasn't happened that many times. During the stretch run almost every game was a close one and that is where Prior and Wood racked up a lot of innings. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the biggest reason for the Cubs pitchers abuse is the lack of offense and having to leave the starters in so long because the bullpen sucked. Then this year we finally have a bullpen and can't get the game to them with a lead.

My guess is it's because we usually score fewer runs than the opposition.

I can't believe I'm going to defend Dusty and the rest of Cubs management but the people on this board and others would have had a heart attack and probably would have burned Wrigley to the ground if the Cubs had shut Prior down in September with the division title within sight. Everyone would have been screaming for their heads. We can't have it both ways. 2003 is in the past and now we're paying the piper. Such is life.

Might as well get them all suspended. They might be better then. LOL...it might be kind of neat to get about 15 guys suspended at the same time and see them play with 10 players. I'd bet they couldn't do worse than the month of May. :lol:

And then he proceeded to allow five runs (four earned) over five innings, including three home runs, in a start for Triple-A Salt Lake Sunday, June 18.

This team would suck (and have) in any ball park.

Watching this team for a week, Bowa's head would literally explode.

A letter is all it's going to take? :shock: Maybe if the unibomber sent it. :lol:

Nevin coming in to catch. Dusty is a genius.

I agree.

I heard him mention Sosa but didn't catch all of it either.

Look in the stands. Listening to the radio - am I missing something?? The stands are full. (Paying customers)

LOL...the FIRST double of his career at age 41. Only the Cubs.