Aaron_Kennelly

Oh, Addi.

Dammit, Josie, I thought we were getting a Fred mention.

Yes!

Nice throw.

Hell ya, Zobrist.

I'll echo this, too. I really wasn't a fan last year. There was the whole thing about Miggy actually being good last year and him not. The Lester-can-only-pitch-to-Ross thing seemed kinda silly. But, Ross has been great this year. And he's been fun. And his teammates love him. It's just a great send-off for a great dude. Him actually helping us is the cherry on top. How has the guy we saw last year been this good at this age?

Also, I would like to show a little love for Jon Lester. I'm not his biggest fan. I'm not wowed by him like I am by Javy, or KB, or Arrieta last year. But, I've heard so much meatball nonsense about him from meatballs that I personally know that it's driven me in the other direction. Like, when I hear people complain about his W-L record last year it infuriates me because it's stupid. But, knowing that people don't like him for such a stupid reason makes me root for him more. And all the stupid crap about him not being able to throw to the bases... it annoys me, but it annoys me more that people care so much about it. So I'm just thrilled that he's put together such an awesome season, even if it's what he's done his whole career.

Man, this is too tough. I go back and forth on this. I've always loved Rizzo, and then Schwarber came along and quickly became my favorite. And then it was Russell. And Javy is so fun to watch that it's sometimes him. And how is it not Bryant? How do you not choose the guy with such an exceptional talent? It just shows how amazing this team is where Bryant, despite being the MVP, doesn't have to be the default answer. We are so blessed.

exactly how i feel. would hate losing to them most, but compared to having to face madbum or thor (granted they should only have to face them once), i'll take their guys. Yeah, it's just Cardinals fans trying to save face. Well, sure, they are 16 games better than us and have completely obliterated everyone in their path, ripping the division out of our hands, never to surrender it again. But, they don't want to play us in the post-season. Whatever helps you sleep at night.

I wonder if they will play scenes from their 2015 NL Division Championship season during our batting practice again?

Greetings from beautiful Knoxville, Illinois! Go CUBS !!

I also like how Leitch says that the Cards are the team the Cubs want to play the least. Well, he's kinda right. I don't want the Cards in the playoffs. I don't want there to be any chance of them beating us. But they really are the team I fear the least -- for all of the reasons he just said they were shitty.

My favorite part is when he whines about the injuries. Let's see what we have here: A starter who is so durable that his GM admitted that they probably can't rely on him to start in the future, a couple shitty relief pitchers, a couple 36-year-olds nearing the end of their baseball journeys, a guy who has been sent to the minors on numerous occasions this year. No, Will, injuries aren't the reason. You were right when you said that every team has them. There was no reason to go further. Nobody cares about Seth Maness being injured. Seriously, I had literally no idea he was even injured at any point this year.

uh, excuse me? making old jokes about fred was pretty much required. :lol: it was all good because we were good natured about it and so was he. I didn't mean like that. I think there was a Cardinals troll or something that tried trolling Fred and he was killed with the quickness. The trolling was fine, until he came at Fred.

Being a newcomer that started lurking in 2012, I don't know Fred anywhere near as well as you others. But, still, I could tell from the first day I stumbled across this board that Fred was one of the most respected posters on this site. Rule number one of the board quickly became apparent: Don't horsefeathers with Fred. From my brief time being acquainted with him and interacting with him on the board, he seemed like a genuinely kind person. This is a terrible loss for this community and I'm sure a very sad day for your family. Condolences to you all, CubmanPi. I'm so sad about the timing of this, too. I hate to think of this only in terms of baseball, but that's all I know Fred from. I'm sure there are so many happy stories that you have, CubmanPi, that have nothing to do with baseball. But, there is some strange link between the Cubs and family when it comes to our fandom. I became a Cub fan because of my father, who became a Cub fan because of his father. You hear all the national analysts and talking heads talk about our miserable streak and curses and it's hollow and fatuous. But our fandom is real. And my grandfather did live 91 years without seeing his beloved Cubbies win a title. I know it's silly for me to think of your loss in terms of baseball, but it reminds me of my grandfather. And it makes me sad.

3.32 in 10 starts since the All-Star break. You're right that 2015 Jake is not here, but the one that is isn't so bad. Yeah not bad at all. There was a time where I thought we had to have ace Jake to win it all but I'm far past that point. He can be a solid 2nd or 3rd starter and we have a great chance of winning his playoff starts With as good as this team has been with this version of Jake, I don't care too much. It sucks, sure. But, what is he, like 17-6? Of course W-L is a horrible stat, but, in this instance, I think it helps show that Jake's struggles don't really matter too much with how good the whole team is. Throw in the dominance we've seen from Lester and Hendricks and it matters even less. So you hope he does well, knowing it's not a given. And if God-mode Arrieta magically appears, then, well, good luck to every other team. It also helps show that you should appreciate when you see something like what Jake did last year. That kind of season is historic and it looks so easy that you take it for granted.

should do this every win the rest of the way home. RIP fred :cry: Ah hell, I hadn't seen that thread yet. Now I'm sad. Terrible news.

"Cubs offense fails to score in final 5 innings, could haunt them come playoffs" writes Rogers

I want to sweep them really badly.

Yeah, I mainly don't post in the minor league forum as much anymore, specifically because I'd rather not deal with Tom.

They only got him out because they were able to pitch against the Brewers earlier this week.

From reading their forum, Reds fans seem to have this sad, pitiful inferiority complex when it comes to the Cubs. I saw a bunch of complaining on there in the past about all of the Cubs fans in their park and cheering loudly. They echoed Thom's thoughts that it was indecent to cheer for your team in another team's stadium. Though, they were also so very angry with Thom for singing Kyle Schwarber's praises after he hit, like, 22 mammoth dongs against them last year.

Are you [expletive] me?

Dude... we're 40 games over .500. Enough. How can you continue to make these posts over and over again?

Because he just came back from injury and we lead the division by 132 games?