Soul

Yeah. That's revenge for all those ridiculous years put up by the likes of Womack and Vina

That, my fellow Cubbie fans, is what is known as a quality win. Man. How cool was that game? =D>

I knew we'd split with the Reds. Just knew it.

I can't believe some folks on this board were questioning his ability earlier in the year.

That's nothing. Braves fans can't cheer or boo anything until the scoreboard or the PA system tell 'em to !! did the Braves actually start the tomahawk chop, or did they steal that too? No tomahawk chops until the drums started beating. Pavlov would have been proud !! Braves stole it from the Seminoles. 'Noles have been doing it forever.

Yet Dusty dispatched Cox & his Braves in the playoffs rather handily... How do you figure? Both times they faced each other in the playoffs, Bakers squad won in the deciding game. So what are you arguing for? Isn't that what I just said?

Yet Dusty dispatched Cox & his Braves in the playoffs rather handily...

LMAO! Freakin' awesome!

Z makes me smile. Nice effort El Toro

Haha, that was one of the best Cub games I ever watched. Was that the game in which Ricky Gutierrez had an "interesting time on the basepaths, but eventually scored against the Rockies? I think so. That was the one where the final play was grounder with the bases loaded, the Rockies threw it all over the place, and Guttierez finally sprinted for home and just beat the throw to score the winning run. I wanna say Girardi hit the grounder. I believe so. Gads, that was a wild game :D

Worst home plate Umping since Angel Hernandez in the infamous "Mongo" game. Burnie HR ding dong!

I understand that the starting pitching pulls us up some. But hey man---are you 100% sure we're going to keep this rotation intact for the entire 2nd half? And if so, what makes you think that? It's been one injury after another with these guys. Maybe they just don't have what it takes to be consistent major-league starters. I'm glad they're all pitching at the same time again. But let's be realistic. The history shows one or more will go down again. Wow Soul. You are a negative nancy. I hope everyone around here isn't that way! No, many try to keep a positive outlook. However, all of us are required to refrain from statements that attack the person instead of the argument. I know it was in good fun, just giving you a heads up. Check out the Member Guidelines or contact a Moderator or Admin if you have any problems. Doh, I forgot the most important part, Welcome to the Forum! I don't mind being called a "negative nancy" because honestly, I *am* pretty negative about this ballclub right now. I didn't consider it a personal insult. I mean, I've seen much much worse in terms of talent. And we've all been through years where the All-Star break brings a ballclub 20 under .500 and woefully out of contention. This isn't *THAT* bad. We've got some talent. There are some positive aspects to the club. I don't see a real contender here, though. That doesn't mean I'm not rooting for them---'cuz I am, believe me.

dusty? is that you? i don't see how you can possibly say greenberg is being "thrown out there" on a regular basis - he had one PA and went to the DL! murton is the only one who's got anything resembling playing time, and that's only because we've been up against a bunch of lefties lately. as soon as the righties come back, it's hollandsworth all the time. LOL. Oh yeah WOW. Can't wait for Holly to come back and save us :roll: huh? do you think i'm happy that hollandsworth will be starting practically full-time or something? I kinda thought that's what you were getting at, yeah. Sorry :oops:

There's not real evidence to back up the idea of Raffy juicing. From 1988 - 1994, he slowly and annually ('92 his only real hiccup) raised his AB's, Walks, HR's, RBI's, OBP, and AVG and kept his K rate steady. He peaked when most players do, 5-7 years into the bigs. He simply learned how to play well and did it for over 15 years. His biggest weakness is his inability to find a winning team to play on. Raffy was improving before Jose was around, and continued long after he left. He never had a dramatic size shift, and his increases and decreases in production were right along where age and experience would have it. If he juiced, he's brilliant for perfectly timing it. :roll: Not really. The most Raffy ever hit was 26 before Jose arrived in Texas. And it was with 631 ABs. That's 1 HR every 24.25 ABs. Not exactly lightning, my dear Watson. Canseco arrives in 1992, during probably Raffy's worst season as a pro. 22 HRs in 608 ABs (.268 avg). That's 1 HR every 27.6 ABs. With his average dipping and the production falling off, Texas signed Jose as an insurance policy. It worked, but in ways they could not have imagined. In 1993, after an entire offseason having known Jose Canseco, Rafael Palmiero became a different ballplayer. He hit 37 HRs in 597 ABs. That's 1 HR every 16ABs. An unbelievable improvement that has never been seen in baseball outside Barry Bonds---who was totally clean, right? :roll: A brief hiccup in 1994 (1 HR every 18.9ABs during the strike season---still much better than before) and the rest is history. Au contraire---it's very good *anectodal* evidence that Raffy used steroids. Certainly not enough to go after the guy in any legal sense, of course. Certainly I wouldn't claim it to be proof in any way. But then again, we're not even going to uncover the total truth about admitted users like Jason Giambi, so fans are left to wonder about nearly all ballplayers. And the case against Raffy is, by comparison, stronger than most other ballplayers. Remember, not all steroid users develop into gorillas---it depends on how often you use and how you work out afterwards. And not all users develop facial acne, either. Sosa obviously did, but Canseco did not. It's a common side effect, but not universal.

The pre-game fare must consist of something Habenero: http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/us/en/product/949/1?SA=1113

He changed a few shirt sizes right around the time he joined the Texas Rangers. Who showed up at around the same time? You guessed it, Jose Canseco. This season he has obviously lost quite a bit of weight, right along with Sosa, Giambi, and others. But he never got caught, so it doesn't matter. His power numbers began when he met Canseco, and he did size up quite a bit. Like I said, he's in. Along with everyone else who didn't get caught.

I understand that the starting pitching pulls us up some. But hey man---are you 100% sure we're going to keep this rotation intact for the entire 2nd half? And if so, what makes you think that? It's been one injury after another with these guys. Maybe they just don't have what it takes to be consistent major-league starters. I'm glad they're all pitching at the same time again. But let's be realistic. The history shows one or more will go down again.

dusty? is that you? i don't see how you can possibly say greenberg is being "thrown out there" on a regular basis - he had one PA and went to the DL! murton is the only one who's got anything resembling playing time, and that's only because we've been up against a bunch of lefties lately. as soon as the righties come back, it's hollandsworth all the time. LOL. Oh yeah WOW. Can't wait for Holly to come back and save us :roll:

I'm sorry, but that's BS. We have a better team than most of teams ahead of us in the WC. Do we have a division winning team? probably not. But we have more than .500 talent. I simply disagree. One of the worst outfields in baseball, and a bullpen that's very, very shaky. It's a .500 ballclub, or thereabouts. We have a better roster than Atlanta, and look at them. We have a better roster than Houston, Philly and the Mets. The Cubs now have the best rotation talent-wise in the league and a lineup with 2 .350+ OBP guys at the top and 2 consitent thumpers following them. We have a good offensive catcher and a good RF. So what if the outfield isn't that good when you have one of the best offensive infields in the game? This team has the talent to win. Mismanagement and lack of execution are the problem, not the lack of talent. Yeah, but the Braves always overachieve in the regular season. You know that. Plus, they'll win the East. Nationals will fade. It's us, Florida, and the Nationals for the Wild Card. We're better than the Nationals but they've got the magic dust. Florida has a better roster than we do, they've been scuffling but watch out late. Houston better slow down or they'll finish better than us despite having a lesser roster. And I'm not totally convinced the *are* worse than us roster-wise I don't see us finishing better than 6 or 7 games over .500 It's not going to be enough at any rate. We will see----I just don't see it. We're throwing Cedeno, Murton, and Greenberg out there on a regular basis. Burnitz & Hairston are considered "solid starters" on this team. Neifi Perez is our "bench depth." Why are you convinced this team has an abundance of talent? We really don't.

Raffy's in.

What were the odds with Maddux pitching today against the Pirates? And how did it turn out? Williams + Maddux going against the Reds? I smell a split.

So if Z would have pitched today, we lose what? 1-0? What's the difference? The difference is, Z is going tomorrow. And that means they've got a good shot to win....again. And taking 3 of 4 from the Pirates is exactly what the Cubs could use. Asking for a sweep is not realistic. Three game sweeps rarely happen, let alone 4. Go out and take 3 of 4 from Pittsburgh, and then 3 of 4 from the Reds. If they do that, then they're headed in the right direction going into the Cards series. Of course, and we should beat those teams 3/4. But we have lots of games left against the Cards & Stros too. And I'm sorry, but we aren't as good a ballclub as the Cards---they will eat us alive. And the Stros? I hope they slow down, but who knows? We might be as good or a little better than them, I'm not sure yet.

are you sure it isn't a .520 team, or a .480 team? I find it hard to believe this team was destined to win just as many as it lost. Oh, OK Mr. picky :roll: It's *around* a .500 ballclub.

I'm sorry, but that's BS. We have a better team than most of teams ahead of us in the WC. Do we have a division winning team? probably not. But we have more than .500 talent. I simply disagree. One of the worst outfields in baseball, and a bullpen that's very, very shaky. It's a .500 ballclub, or thereabouts.

So if Z would have pitched today, we lose what? 1-0? What's the difference?