UMFan83

Wow, if this is true, horrible trade. But welcome back to the North side Steve. Don't do anything to remove my lasting image of your 98 wild card game performance.

Has any team ever made a trade specifically for one start (the Cards DH game)

Me too...sort of...Kids day care is closed today...I told the wife that if I "Had to" I'd stay home today... Mizzou...you gonna go watch Illinois whoop up on the tiggers tomorrow? Hah, yeah right. Like they stand a chance. I don't plan on going, but I might change my mind and head down to tailgate. Though after last night, I highly doubt it. You going? Just curious, but which team are you saying doesnt stand a chance? Illinois. I'm predicting a blowout. Mizzou is going to be solid this year. Want to put a wager on the game Mizzou? Premium up for grabs? Sure, I'm confident enough to bet on my team. What's the bet? Well the line is Mizzou by 4.5, and since you said you were expecting a blowout, how about this bet. Ill bet you U of I is within 10 points in the end. 6 months premium on the line? I'll bet 6 months worth of premium that we cover the spread. Well Ive found 2 different spreads Ive seen 4.5 and Ive seen 5.5. I just figured since you said you were expecting the blowout, you would feel safe giving me 10 points. Screw it, I'll take it. I'll wager 6 months of Premium that we beat you by at least 10 points. We're on. Alright deal. quote string!! Hey.... isn't gambling illegal ??? [/ feined innocence] Not if NSBB benefits.

Seriously, I understand how a pitcher can pitch better at home than on the road and vice versa, but I completely cannot understand how the hell his splits are that exteme. It boggles my mind.

Wow, going into Sunday, the Mets had a 7 game lead on the Phillies. 5 games later and its a 2 game lead. Just wild wild stuff considering the Cubs and Brewers have had a 2 game shift in the standings in the last month.

How so? Even if we lose tonight we're still going to be in 1st place. Symbolic more than anything. Solidify our place by winning a series against the second (soon to be third? ) place team. I know "must win" is a loose term, but I don't think a 'symbolic win' is a must win

If 3 people reach.

Man good thing we signed Soriano over Lee ;)

Bases loaded and 1 out for Carlos Lee

and he grounds out to the pitcher....onto the last of the 8th, still 2-1

Cards have 1st and 3rd, 2 outs for Molina

San Diego has won the first three games of its series with Arizona with the final game being played tonight. Those two teams are now tied for the NL West lead. The Angels also swept the Mariners in a 3 game set this week. And of course our series is the only one that won't end in a sweep (likely if the scores hold up and Chris Young on the mound for the Padres)

If these scores hold up the Yankees will sweep the Red Sox and the Phillies will sweep the Mets (4 games). Some serious chunks being taken off division leads.

And Berkman grounds out to the pitcher....grrr

I'd like a higher than .342 OBP out of my leadoff hitter. I'd like more than an .836 OPS coming out of a guy we gave $136 million to

Honestly, you can't really compare them. Most of the time when someone else batted leadoff Soriano was not in the lineup and you lose his production. Personal rule of thumb, which every team shoudl use. Never give out contracts for more than 5 years. It can only end bad. Usually. But I would've given Pujols an 8-9 year deal coming out of his rookie contract without hesitation. Same goes for ARod. His contract didn't turn bad because of the length, but more because the Rangers spent too much money on him to be able to afford to put a team around him. That's on them for allocating more payroll than they could afford to one player. And I'd do the same for Miguel Cabrera when he hits free agency, assuming he doesn't keep getting fatter and fatter. Yeah there is a difference between that and a player who has a career .830 OPS coming into this season, coming off a career year in his 7th season.

Cubs lose 9-2

Yeah he's pretty useless offensively these days with a .729 season OPS and a .654 OPS in August. Defensively, he's a huge loss.

Except for this year, the result of this inconsistency is a 4.06 ERA when in previous years it was 3.41, 3.26, 2.75, 3.11.

If Zambrano goes 9 innings and gives up 2 runs, I won't complain about him Thats the point we still would have lost. Theriot was at fault for that big inning tonight, and our offense is to blame for getting punked by a pitcher who hadnt started in over 7 weeks. We have alot bigger things to worry about than Z, who pitches 1 game out of every 5, yet our offense goes out there every game. Thats not the point. This thread is to complain about Z. He pitched really bad tonight (particularly the later half of his game). If you want to complain about the offense, go ahead and start another thread. But in this thread we are complaining about our $91 million pitcher who has a 7.38 ERA in August.

If they put Soriano on irrevokable waivers, he'd get even less interest than Manny

If Zambrano goes 9 innings and gives up 2 runs, I won't complain about him

I'm not touching this becuase I was against it from the start.

you're going to judge him on one night? every pitcher has a bad night. does webb suck because the padres scored 5 off of him last night? he must not be the diamondback's best pitcher by your logic. Zambrano hasn't been the best pitcher on the Cubs this season. Hill and Lilly have been better. who do you start game 1 in the playoffs (assuming they're all equally rested)? don't know about you...but i start big Z. Honestly, I wouldn't. I think he would be too jacked up for game 1 and be all over the place. Although, he might be jacked up any game of a playoff series that he starts. Kinda like 2003 when we gave him a 3-0 lead in game 1 of the NLCS and he preceded to give up 3 HRs in a span of 4 batters when he only gave up 9 HR all year. i was at that game in atlanta. he was what...21 yrs old then? not sure its still relevant to today. First of all I'm talking about the game in Chicago. Game 1 NLCS. And also, I wasn't using that to make a point. I probably shouldn't have added that because it sounds like I'm using that to support my argument. I am however having a hard time remembering any big game where Zambrano has pitched well. Here are instances of him not pitching well in big games: -2003 playoffs (save a pretty good Game 5 NLCS performance) -2004 last ditch effort to catch up to the Cards in the last meeting of the year, he pitches poorly and goes headcase and beans Edmonds intentionally. -2005 gets ejected on Opening day after 4 2/3 with a huge lead -2006 goes 4 2/3 on Opening day after getting a 5 run cushion to work with in the bottom of the first; starts April and May terribly as the Cubs fall behind and win 66 games -2007 Pitches poorly and loses on Opening day; pitches terribly in April and May again as the Cubs start out slowly; 8.59 ERA in 4 straight August starts as the Cubs are in a pennant race

you're going to judge him on one night? every pitcher has a bad night. does webb suck because the padres scored 5 off of him last night? he must not be the diamondback's best pitcher by your logic. Zambrano hasn't been the best pitcher on the Cubs this season. Hill and Lilly have been better. who do you start game 1 in the playoffs (assuming they're all equally rested)? don't know about you...but i start big Z. I'd start Hill. I'd start Lilly. I'd go Lilly, Zambrano, Hill, Marquis (I'm 99% positive that Lou would start Marquis over Marshall)