Benchwarmer

Geez..what's Castro doing looking back twice on the sac fly? He needs to run home as fast as he can. Hope somebody corrects him on that.

We have this discussion every year and they just don't seem to be able to work the counts and take pitches. With no speed and little interest in walking, we just seem to hack at everything.

Don't be confused, Hendry is still signed thru 2012. Our only chance to sign a big name FA is to fire Hendry immediately, get our new GM in here and then make our moves on rebuilding the team, including a new manager. Pujols/Fielder will want to see what the team has for 2012 before even talking to us.

He proved his point..then he opened his mouth. THAT'S WEAK. When you start an argument with the man who throws the ball..you lose. This won't be the end of it because teams remember. Guillen better have his head on a swivel, because somewhere down the line it's coming.

Guillen was weak. He made his point by hitting a HR and staring a second. Shappud..round the bases and don't say anything. Weaver was wrong to throw at anyone's head. Used to be if you sent a message, you went after the other team's best player with one at his backside. Headhunting has never been a good decision. Al Cowens waited two years to get back at Ed Farmer for plunking him in a ST game. Farmer was with the WSox then and Cowens hit a grounder with a man on first and charged the mound to level Farmer, rather than run to first. Harry Caray called it "the greatest sneak attack since Pearl Harbor.". And the way Verlander was dealing, bunting your way on in a close game makes sense.

In the 3rd inning as ARAM grounded into a DP, Pat Hughes said on the WGN Radio broadcast: "Aramis Rameriz running not as hard as he can...". Hm-m-m-m.

And his first game at Wrigley with the late HR. Good memory. Kinda like Tuffy Rhodes' 3 HR day.

Actually Masanori Murakami was the first Japanese player to play in the majors with the Giants in 1964. BTW..Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother have been regarded as the first African American players to play in the majors. They played with Toledo in the International League(then considered part of the majors) for a handful of games in 1884. There is currently research going on now that there might have been an even earlier player.

On the Rasmus rumors..the Cardinals need SP and I don't know if they can take on a big salary like Jackson and Thorton's. Plus, they are not letting Rasmus go for a rental. I'm surprised they wouldn't be interested in getting a dependable SS. Perception becomes reality. CPatt, Jacque Jones, Bradley, etc.. didn't learn that having a smile on your face as you walk back to the dugout after striking out for the 100th time with men on base, the fans are not going to like it. It does look like it didn't bother them and it's an attitude we're seeing far too often with players. To much is given, much is expected.

When a veteran-loaded team is at 21 games under .500 in the middle of July, he could call out a player a day.

Mickey Rivers, your table is waiting. Please explain how you possibly thought this made any sense. Are you really saying Soriano could play defense like Mickey Rivers if he just ran faster? Are you saying you never saw Mickey Rivers walk up to the plate, contrast that with the way he ran the bases and ran in the OF? Very telling.

Getting back to the topic at hand, was Quade right to go off on Barney and Castro? Two points. I wish he had done it behind closed doors and not announce it in front of everyone. Second, they could be some of the few players on the team who are actually paying attention and could be salvageable. If he had called out one of his veterans(like he should have done), most of the team would have probably laughed at him.

Mickey Rivers, your table is waiting.

Oscar Gamble

ARAM buys into this philosophy, it seems to fit others on the team.

Yikes. The Kool-Aid stand is open early this year.

He's a lazy player, who gets on these hot streaks. If only we could find a team that is close in their division and needs a bat at 3rd base. Some team that is close to Chicago, so ARAM could take care of his 'family situation'. Is 35th and the Ryan close enough? We get Edwin Jackson and peddle him.

I think there's a happy medium. Guys like Brennamen and Harrelson have a tendency to excessively whine and complain, almost even bash other teams. There could be a little bit of rose colored glasses here, but Len doesn't really go there. When I think "homer" I think of someone who calls the game based more on a rooting interested than what is actually going on. Of course there should be a slight bias, but not to the extent that some guys call a game. Why not? Their intended audience are fans of the team they work for. Because I want to hear a legitimate broadcast, not a cheer-leading squad. Guys like Harrelson and Brennaman, Harrelson being the absolute extreme can ruin an entire broadcast, even if you are on their side. Hawk and Brennaman are hacks and have plenty of examples of being "cheerleaders," but I'm still baffled as to why you're complaining when that happens when their team wins in walk-off fashion. It would be one thing if you were showing a clip of him calling a Reds home run like that yet they were still down by God knows how many runs and had no chance to win, but come on...complaining that they're being too excited or "homers" over a walk-off win is [expletive] ridiculous. Very true, N&G. I think the hiring of Dusty and Jocketty was an attitude change for the Reds organization. They clearly put a target on the Cardinals and they became 'enemy Number 1'. They were the team to be beat, in every aspect of the game. And the announcers picked up on it. While some complained that Harry Caray was a homer and yes, he was..he still criticized the Cubs when they deserved it. I think the fans want excitement but also want to hear the frustration and sometimes, disgust when they see it on the field. Harry would never say "we" like Hawk always does about the White Sox. Harry would ask "Do you have a mouse in your pocket?". Harry was the best.

I wonder if the KRod deal to Milwaukee will nudge the Cards into dealing Rasmus for Heath Bell? According to a base Cards fan, Rasmus has been in LaRussa's doghouse most of the year and the last few weeks he's been bad in the field and at the plate. This was a 5-tool guy who has let his father become his personal hitting coach and it hasn't help. He seems disinterested in the field and has misplayed singles into extra bases.

I have a signed Dick Stuart baseball. He hit 66 HR in one year in the minors and signed everything with his name and a big '66'. Granted he was not a great player and a terrible fielder, but he hit some long HR at Forbes Field. The 1960's Pirates team was a fun team and had talent.

This is not true. There is a difference between a 'sacrifice fly', a 'sacrifice bunt' and a 'sacrifice hit'. Two are outs and one is a hit. In 1926, the sacrifice fly rule was changed and in 1931, the individual sacrifice fly stat was wiped out until 1954. So a 'sacrifice hit' was a hit when 'The Babe and 'The Iron Horse' played.

Bunting is for people who can't hit. Sac bunting is. There's definite merit in bunting for a hit, for certain players. How true. All the great players know how to bunt. According to STATS, Babe Ruth had 113 sacrifice hits and Lou Gehrig had 106 sacrifice hits. They knew the fundamentals and when asked by their manager to lay one down, they did it.

http://bobbrenlyreallywisheshewasmanaginginsteadofannouncing.org Weird that you demand that I back up my reading between the lines when all you've done is decided out of thin air that Bob Brenly decided to not manage the Cubs because he decided he's too good for them. I'll take that as a 'No'. Not every team is a perfect fit for every manager.

Waiting for the right opportunity? I can't believe two people in this thread have said that Brenly chose to stay in the booth instead of taking a managing job. All of the reports in the offseason indicated that he was, yet again, trying his damndest to get hired as a manager, including with the Cubs, and came back emptyhanded. Maybe Brenly doesn't want to take ANY managerial job. It could be that once he gets into the negotiations, he sees how the franchise is run by the owners and says no thanks. There's plenty of reasons... He's got a good job in broadcasting and isn't desperate. If the right job opens up and he's interested then, he'll interview. Bunting is a fundamental of the game and EVERYONE needs to know how to do it. Like how to throw to the right base, etc.. Even slow-footed ARAM needs to know how to bunt. Ugh. You're an awful troll that's wrong about everything. Yeah, Brenly had zero clue how the Cubs were run despite being their color man for several years until he was pushing to manage them and only then did he willfully step aside because he was appalled by what he saw. Brilliant conclusion. Brenly would manage the Astros in a heartbeat if they asked him to. He's not turning down any managing offers. And you know this how? Do you know Bob Brenly personally? Please provide a link.

Waiting for the right opportunity? I can't believe two people in this thread have said that Brenly chose to stay in the booth instead of taking a managing job. All of the reports in the offseason indicated that he was, yet again, trying his damndest to get hired as a manager, including with the Cubs, and came back emptyhanded. Maybe Brenly doesn't want to take ANY managerial job. It could be that once he gets into the negotiations, he sees how the franchise is run by the owners and says no thanks. There's plenty of reasons... He's got a good job in broadcasting and isn't desperate. If the right job opens up and he's interested then, he'll interview. Bunting is a fundamental of the game and EVERYONE needs to know how to do it. Like how to throw to the right base, etc.. Even slow-footed ARAM needs to know how to bunt.