Soul

I think people are just realizing that there's a strong chance that he may not regain the form we all hoped he would. I'd be absolutely thrilled if I'm wrong. Sorry----yeah, I'm referring to original Kerry. The one who threw a hook that broke 2 feet, and could blow a 98 MPH fastball by anyone any time he wanted. I feel pretty safe in saying we won't see that guy again.

I'm with you completely. I really wanted to see the old Kerry come back. He was a huge part of what really got me to my full Cubs obsession level that I'm at today. Kingman and Buckner sucked me in. Sandberg put the final nail in the coffin. Them sons a... Oh I've been a Cubs fan since I was old enought to understand baseball in the early 80's. But I was still a pretty casual fan up until the 97-98 area. The combination of Kerry, Sammy, and the wild card run meant I had no escape. The '84 season is what did it for me. I was a kid, and my Grandma took me to the double-header against the Mets. Fights broke out, the whole stadium was yelling "bull-sh**!!" and somewhere along the line, we took over first place and won the division. I was hooked. I will admit though, that '98 season, with the Kerry Wood masterpiece and the Sammy homerun circus, kicked it up a notch for me too. Now to see the end of Kerry.......it's really tough. But, it happens. This club must find a way to turn the page on players and move on while still maintaining success. The good teams do that.

For me it's hard to let go. Too much wasted potential. It's hard to accept. But there are certain patterns in life. One of those is, when the body starts to break down, there's very little chance that it will suddenly come back to where it was.

Just stuff him in the 8 hole and let him rot. This is a very simple situation.

Indeed, I believe his brother has something to do with pharmaceutics and may have been involved with supplying the "goods" to him. They are both in deep doo-doo His brother will lose whatever license or job he has... aside from that, they may get off light since apparently Jason has been squealing like a mouse. I don't blame him at all for quitting and I can't figure out why anyone would. He's disgraced....not only professionally but also with his colleagues. If the Diamondbacks were the mob, he'd soon be sleeping with the fishes in davy jones locker. I suppose. But I for one am sick of all the overt drug use in this sport and am glad that more cockroaches will see the light of day because he's ratting them out. Don't like it? Too damn bad. Shouldn't have used roids then. Meh.

We're not facing "tough" pitchers. We just suck.

He may be done as a Cub, but given Cub-luck he will go elsewhere, regain his health, and be lights-out for the next 8-10 years. If that did happen it would lay waste to this organization. Who could argue the overall ineptitude of the Cubs from top to bottom if your greatest pitcher since Maddux can't take the field under your banner, but someone else instantly gets All-Star quality pitching from him? It would make Lou Brock look good.

:( I think we've seen the end of the great Kerry Wood. Maybe he pitches a little more and maybe he doesn't. But the monster who struck out 20 in '98 and blew the Braves away in '03? Lost & gone forever.

You really think it's unusual for folks to assume the worst about a player who takes trips to the DL like we take trips to the grocery store? Wow. a player with 2-3 rehab starts in the minors and 4 starts after coming off the DL. i understand his history fully, but all i'm saying is give him some time to get back into the groove, that's all. I think people are giving him his due time. They're just not sure if the other shoe is going to drop, that's all. It's like being hit with a stick over & over. You start to cringe even before you get hit :)

You really think it's unusual for folks to assume the worst about a player who takes trips to the DL like we take trips to the grocery store? Wow.

Who has brought up getting rid of Lee or trading him for A-Rod? Everyone's brought up Aramis in that trade...in my case, packaged with Wood, Jones and a reliever. Aramis benefist NY because he's showing he needs to be behind or surrounded by big hitters to pound the ball. Bam, easily done in NY. He also replaces A-Rod at 3rd. They need a starter, they need the OF help, and they need the bullpen help, badly. I think A-Rod would thrive on a team like the Cubs, where there are very few superstar players compared to the Yankees. He's much more consistent than Aramis, would be able to carry on offensively if Lee gets hurt, and misses little time himself. I think you overestimate their needs. They are in first place. I didn't mention ARam because I don't think he rises to the kind of value that the Yanks would want for ARod. We're a team with many holes. Packing up several players to acquire one doesn't strike me as a terribly productive approach for a club that is missing quite a few pieces. This season and team are a wash. Aramis, IMO, is always going to be a bust unless he's paired or surrounded by big hitters he can draw the pitches he can hit off of. Wood is Wood...either he picks it up as a starter or they start showing him as a bullpen guy. Wood is the past, and the past stinks. He's not a solution to the starting rotation. Jones is Jones...trading him while he's hot for a proven player would be the greatest thing he's accomplishd baseball-wise. Is it really a big deal if grabbing a stud as a step in the right direction opens up or leaves a couple of holes unfixed? Last place instead of second to last? I'm sick of these stopgap "solutions" that accomplish diddly squat. Go for broke and get things done. I agree with everything except packing up a whole bunch of guys to pick up one player. ARod was a step in right direction for Texas too, right? He took up a ton of their payroll and they sat at the bottom of the division unable to put pieces around him. Look. ARod's not God. He's just one position player. He didn't save Texas. And frankly, he hasn't saved NY either. If you could find a way to acquire him with less of an impact, then I'd say go. But the players you mentioned-----I think we'd be better off selling them off for more than 1 piece of our ever-growing puzzle.

Cute. That's the first I've heard of this one.

This is the Cubs. We've caught lightning in a bottle exactly ONE time that I can remember. Glendon McFatty in 2004. Randall Simon, 2003. Oh yes. Big boy was slappin' homers from all angles! Then he returned to the Pirates and quietly disappeared.

Who has brought up getting rid of Lee or trading him for A-Rod? Everyone's brought up Aramis in that trade...in my case, packaged with Wood, Jones and a reliever. Aramis benefist NY because he's showing he needs to be behind or surrounded by big hitters to pound the ball. Bam, easily done in NY. He also replaces A-Rod at 3rd. They need a starter, they need the OF help, and they need the bullpen help, badly. I think A-Rod would thrive on a team like the Cubs, where there are very few superstar players compared to the Yankees. He's much more consistent than Aramis, would be able to carry on offensively if Lee gets hurt, and misses little time himself. I think you overestimate their needs. They are in first place. I didn't mention ARam because I don't think he rises to the kind of value that the Yanks would want for ARod. We're a team with many holes. Packing up several players to acquire one doesn't strike me as a terribly productive approach for a club that is missing quite a few pieces.

I still think we're in too big a hole, but it's definitely nice to see a few wins for a change. Losing every damn day, it starts to wear on me. The only danger is, if it keeps up Dusty will be extended----which of course means so will Clines & Sarge.

Agreed. It's the ESPN generation of sports. Group-think has become the law. Hypocrisy goes unnoticed by most.

That salami a couple days ago was pretty good too. Anything to hear a pin drop @ Busch is a good thing.

I guess I'm not seeing the fans who booed Jones and are now refusing to acknowledge he is playing better. Can you provide a few examples of posts where someone is saying Jones is still not contributing?

Agreed. When you sign on the dotted line to earn millions of dollars to play a game, you are expected to have your head in the game. Baserunning blunders like the ones that Jones displayed made it clearly obvious his head was not in the game. And, yes, he totally deserves to be booed when his head isn't in the game. I'll throw my hat into that ring as well. It wasn't just the hitting. It was the overall suckiness of his play. He deserved those boos, and he got them. And now, he's playing better. So he should be cheered. Pretty simple concept. .....oh, and if he sucks again he should be booed again 8)

Miller is 1000 times better than the dump they used to play in, that's for sure. I think they *DID* spend most of the money on the roof, though. The rest of the place is kind of bare. The club level is marginally cool. I like the Jake better. LOL----I went to a Twins game a couple weeks ago. It was fun. My God though; bring your exercise shoes if you have a seat down by the field.

To be honest I've completely ignored the Stros this season so far. It will be interesting to see what we come up against this game. I have no idea what kind of team they're fielding this year.

This is really sad. Alot of people struggle with their weight. Aside from surgery, I don't see a whole lot of success out there. Sure, people lose weight, sometimes alot. But the studies show, nearly all of the time they wind up gaining it back sooner or later. The population as a whole is gaining. That means alot more strokes, heart attacks, etc are on the horizon. I feel totally terrible that this happened to Gregg. It sounds like he tried to change himself, and it just didn't happen for him. Prayers go out to him and his family.

carpenter isn't going to be out so............ yeah. wasn't carpenter placed on the 15 day dl w/ a back injury? Yep, but he'll be returning shortly. CubfaninCA has been conditioned to think that all pitchers that go on the DL miss at least a month and a half, so I can hardly blame him. When you're a Cub fan even the slightest twinge means season over, so yeah I can totally understand. Cards players do that thing called "recovering." You know, where their injuries heal and they return to the lineup? Very strange idea, I know....

Lineup when Lee returns: 1) Womack 2) Walker 3) Lee 4) Lee 5) Lee 6) Ramirez 7) Barrett 8. Jones oh yea, P - Lee

This organization has also shown a willingness to employ the highest paid player in the game (Sandberg) and one of the top 3 (Sosa). They've also given longterm deals to Ramirez (guaranteed 4 years, could guarantee a 5th with an easy to achieve games played incentive), and Lee (guaranteed 5 years). ARod's deal runs through 2010 (same as Lee), and much of it is being paid by Texas. It is quite possible that the Yankees could pick up a further portion of the deal if New York does decide to trade Rodriguez. They wouldn't be taking on a 10 year $252 million deal, they'd be taking on a 4.5 year deal that would conceivably be split by 3 different teams (Texas, Yankees, Cubs). Yes, but who would we give to get such a player? The cuboard is bare, my friend. The lunchbox is empty. The well.......she's gone dry. ARod wouldn't make sense if you're giving up Lee. That's just trading one star for another. It doesn't really get you anywhere. Prior & Wood? Not anymore----maybe 2 years ago. Zambrano? Maybe, but he's the only solid starter left!!!