TheDude

I don't expect much more offense tonight from either club, so here is hoping the Cubs execute well.

Nothing that Dusty said in that quote is inaccurate.

Missed the point. It doesn't matter who looked bad against Lowe and who didn't throughout the game. Ramirez was the hitter in the situation to tie the game, and it was the only such situation of the game to that point. If there was nobody on base for that at bat, then you are correct, isolating him would be harsh. But it was Ramirez's fundamental approach to the situation that raised my brow. Nobody else was in that situation, so bringing up other hitters is irrelevant. From my perspective, the one-run pitchers' duels are the games the Cubs need to win if they want to make any noise this year. A team built on pitching and with good team speed should be suited to win these games. And the Cubs had the exact situation they wanted and prepared for in the offseason - the new leadoff hitter reaching and creating a run opportunity with speed so that the power in the lineup comes up with RBI opportunities in a close game situation. I know it's one game, one situation, so in the long run no big deal. I'm not in panic mode. But the approach to hitting shown in that situation is a hitting strategy issue that will continue to pop-up throughout the season, so it's a concern worth discussing. I would have much rather had Murton or Walker up in that situation than Ramirez (and in future such situations), because they know situational hitting and Ramirez apparently doesn't.

Zambrano hasn't had his best stuff yet this season. But it is encouraging that a guy who is struggling to find himself still has hitters at .226 BAA and a K per inning. Zambrano's bad starts are many other pitchers' good or average starts.

I'm not worried about Ramirez's eventual numbers. I'm sure they will approach his 3 year averages. What bothers me is his seeming lack of hitting knowledge. In a 1-0 game, Pierre did what he is supposed to do - use his speed to get into scoring position with less than 2 outs. He scores on any reasonable fly ball. So it's baffling to me that Ramirez would swing at 3 sinking pitches at his ankles that have zero chance in hell of being fly balls. That's more than aggression, that's lack of hitting knowledge.

There is no writing on the wall. Jones is the everyday RF.

I think it was sixth inning, when the Cubs were losing 1-0. Pierre was on 3rd, Lee on 1st with one out. Ramirez at the plate. The best opportunity all game to climb back into it. Lowe did not throw Ramirez a single pitch in the strike zone the entire at bat and Ramirez struck out. The situation dictated a fly ball to the outfield, because a ground ball was likely a double play to end the inning. Everything Lowe threw started at the knees and dove down and out of the zone before it got to plate - never mind the fact that none of the pitches were strikes, Ramirez wasn't going to hit a fly ball on any of those pitches. But he was swinging away anyway. I know he has always been an aggressive hitter, but I can't recall him ever completely diregarding the situation like that before. He had to know that making contact with any of those shoe-top sinkers was more likely to end the inning than score the run. He really needs to wake up.

The discussion is slightly curbed by the fact that "this generation" is being generously stretched. Pedro first real year as starting pitcher - 1994 Maddux first real year as starting pitcher - 1987 Clemens first real year as starting paitcher - 1984 Pedro is 10 years behind Clemens and 7 behind Maddux, so doesn't have the body of work to compare to others. To make the discussion closer to relevant, consider (with health assumptions) a projected Pedro 7 years from with 70-100 more wins and 1000 more K's. Does that change anyones order? The other thing to consider is that you stick Clemens and Maddux in with a mid-80's generation and Pedro with the mid-90's generation.

Lowe and Zambrano pitching on the mark should be a recipe for 30 ground ball outs through 7 innings.

Pedro Martinez: 200-84 That is a serious win percentage. I watched a bit of each of his starts this year, and he has turned into one hell of a crafty pitcher.

"Get your diplomas boys, everybody's graduating tonight!" Vin Scully last night, after Maddux struck out someone to end the eighth.

Why does usty get ridiculed for the "book" comment? It's a generally held conception all around baseball, in all organzations. When teams don't know you that well, they play defense straight up and use a non-specific pitching approach geared toward any hitter. When they pick up a player's patterns and tendencies, then they adjust. Why is this worth mocking?

Rusch wasn't borderline acceptable. Up until the inning with the homerun, he was downright masterful with his control. He's tough to figure out. He really pitched well yesterday.

Vlad disagress with you. But then, he defines the exception.

The biggest problem with this team, if you want to search for a problem with a 7-4 team, is inconsistent starting pitching. Pierre's slow start has not hurt the team overall. It should be noted that while Pierre has only been on base 14 times, he has scored 9 of those times, which projects to well over 100 Runs at this point. By the way, where are people crying about Ramirez's dreadful start? Why pick on just Pierre? (It's a rhetorical question, no need for responses).

The only thing that is wrong with Zambrano is what's between his ears. Zambrano gave up more runs than hits. He was a few pitches and one anger management issue away from giving up only 1 run.

Gammons isn't jumping on any wagons. He has stated more than once this offseason that the NL Central was a much tighter division than last year, and that the Cubs were a team to watch.

I didn't mind the fact that he was getting squeezed until the zone changed for Ponson, who got 2 bottom zone strikes called while Pierre was hitting. All players, managers, and fans want is consistency. The same two pitches to Pierre were strikes, but were balls to Pujols in the previous half of the inning. I thought Marshall was very impressive.

People are hard on Dusty because they are passionate. That allows them to overlook the fact that most other managers do the same things as Dusty. Bobby Cox uses Remlinger as a lefty specialist just the same as Dusty did, despite the splits. Cox will still be applauded as a better manager than Dusty and the similarities will be overlooked.

No.

I don't have the exact quote or wording but I believe DLee said something to the effect of " The money doesn't mean that much to me, I want to play for the Cubs." That's pretty close. And Gammons wasn't pitching the big markets to Lee. He asked a question that any reporter would ask a recent MVP candidate in a contract year.

I'm glad you pointed this out. I was mocked for calling Neifi's Friday start a spot start, but that was exactly the right word for it.

Neifi gets a spot start and it spawns a 7 page thread? There is some serious Neifi obsession on this board.

I'd be willing to entertain that idea if it weren't for the fact that 18 teams have a team ERA of 5.00 or higher right now. I'm pretty sure the overwhelming majority of those guys weren't in the WBC.

Most people outside of Chicago are familiar with Konerko. 40/100 numbers don't fly under the radar, especially in the post-steriod era. 40/100 will be the slugger's standard again.