UMFan83

If we got Lincecum, I would die of happiness. That said, the Giants would be looking for sure bet hitting prospects, and unless Pie starts hitting in the bigs, the Cubs are lacking in that department.

Jim's main fault in this regard was Dusty, not the player selection. The 2003 and 2004 teams had several veterans with solid OBPs (not great) that underperformed in OBP under Dusty's command because of the philosophy enforced, and the loss of playing time for not hitting. Dusty had too much influence over player decisions in his last two years, and Hendry's worst decisions seemed to all occur during these years. Extremist thinking paints Hendry as a man obsessed with tools and lineup formulas (RH/LH, Speed at 1, etc) and nothing else, but there are numerous personnel decisions throughout his tenure that show more balanced thinking than that, including guys with plate patience and disciplined hitting (highlighted by Lee, Fukudome, Walker, Lofton, Kendall). I'd put him squarely in moderate old school, not on the extreme, with a willingness to flow with his scouting roots (which infers a willingness to embrace aspects of new school numbers). Hoops saw Hendry at a AA game during 2004 and he reportedly said "I don't pay much attention to on base percentage". I think that's still mostly true. He got Lee because he could hit for average and for power. He got ramirez because he was basically free in terms of player costs. Lofton already had a reputation as a good lead off man which Hendry clearly does not equate with OBP (see the Pierre trade and the Soriano signing for evidence) He got Fukudome because he wanted a LH hitter. That he gets on base is a bonus in Hendry's eyes. I used to think that a lot of Baker and Hendry's outrageous comments about OBP were in defense of players they already had. A year on BBTN for Baker proved I was wrong. I think your right to some extent, Hendry still won't place a great emphasis on OBP, but I think he has come around to it a bit. Hendry has never seemed like a stubborn guy when it comes to his philosophies. He changes it every year (chemisty guys, guys who can play multiple positions, left handers, guys who can catch the ball). The question is, are some of the guys he picked up out of luck (Johnson, Fukudome) or plan? Even if Hendry doesn't look at OBP, Lou certainly does. It's not his primary importance, but he cares about plate discipline. Wouldn't be surprised if he has influenced some of those moves.

Hope we don't see a lot of first pitch swinging by the Cubs today trying to hit the road before the weather gets bad.

=D>

Brewers and Cards scoreless in the 2nd. I'm still cheering for the Cardinals here...

That was Mark Kanges. I don't post there anymore, so I don't know if he does. I was counting on you to remember his name. He posted here for awhile too.

So almost 20 games into the season, how do you guys project Fuku's stat line to be? .315/.420/.430 15 HRs 20 2Bs I think that Fuk could hit more HRs if he sacrificed other parts of his game.

It is too good to be true. We aren't as good as our hot streak, and we won't be as bad as the inevitable cold streak. The important thing to recognize though is that the Cubs have made a monumental improvement in their plate discipline since the Dusty days, and even if we only have 2-3 hitters with an over .400 OBP vs. 8, the team is going to have better ABs all year, which leads to better counts, which leads to more walks and hits, which leads to more runs, which leads to wins.

I'm a huge pessimist, but I'm currently drinking Cubbie Kool Aid. The only place I would like to improve is getting a solid number 2 pitcher, or maybe SS. Sorry no proposals for you though, thats not my bag.

You know whats awesome? Watching Fukudome come up in the 8th with runners on first and second and no one out, looking for insurance and KNOWING without a doubt that at the very least you are going to get a good AB out of him. And he does it just about EVERY time.

This is amazing. Screw you Baltimore, we'll keep Marshall, Pie, Cedeno, Gallagher and the rest thank you very much!

I LOVE GERALD PERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PERRY >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SARGE

Hopefully only one more trip through the Reyes/Wright/Beltran part of the order tonight.

Z has no hit stuff tonight even though hes not no hitting them obviously.

Ugh...Wright up...

Guess that play didn't have any long term hurt for the Cubs as the run would have scored anyways

Jose Reyes had a horrible approach that AB. Soriano like.... 2-1

Turning point of the game...?

Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, Johnny Damon vs. Neifi Perez, Glendon Rusch, Jason Marquis, Jacque Jones hmmm....

This is the deal, I have a crapload of surplus in OF. I need SP. Should I trade for Verlander? My OF now is: Berkman Vlad Corey Hart Burrell Hamilton Dye Hall My SP is: Hamels Bedard Cueto Marcum Jered Weaver

I think you're mistaken. I watched it myself. It was abbreviated, but it was on.

I'm really excited for tonight. I love Cubs baseball all the time, but when you're playing the Reds and Pirates and you're up 8-0 by the third inning, the rest of the game tends to be very dull.

That 11 pitch at bat that started with an 0-2 count was a thing of beauty. I was really impressed with that AB in particular.

I want to treat 2004 the way Germany treats the 30's/40's. "NOTHING HAPPENED! WE WERE ON VACATION!" Family Guy reference aside, I can't believe that group of players didn't dominate the league. Sosa, Alou, Lee, Nomar, Ramirez, Barrett, Walker, Prior, Wood, Zambrano, Clement, Maddux. How does that happen? Dusty. 'nuff said. Low OBP, lack of plate discipline. Funny thing is Sosa, Lee, Nomar and Walker were all above average OBP guys in their hayday. Dusty just didn't want that.

I would have been so pissed off if the Cubs lost the division last year because they insisted on keeping Soto in AAA.