Soul

Meh. Let him go. I wouldn't be bothered by it if he wasn't back next year. He was a step above Dusty, but wasn't that great IMO. i could go either way on that. i thought Lou was fine (slightly better than I expected). it really just depends on who they would bring in to replace him. that's what i would be afraid of more than losing Lou. probably Girardi, which I wouldn't really be a fan of. Well, in Girardi's defense he had those youngsters playing better than they did this year. They couldn't wait to get rid of him -- for what, so they could post a 70-win season and sink to Expos-type-lows in attendance? I don't think Girardi's that bad. I find it more likely the Marlins are just a junky organization.

I heard Ditka say this morning that regardless of what happens Torre should say "screw you" to Steinbrenner and leave. I almost have a mind to agree with him. I have no idea why Torre would care to put up with George's ridiculous pressure tactics at this point in his career. But hey what do I know. I do know if Torre was fired he'd have job offers from every team with a managerial opening before his feet hit the pavement.

I'm not rooting for or against either sully. I think that this game is a perfect opportunity for Iowa to win, if they aren't already mailing in the season. It could just as easily be a 37-10 Illinois win. I didn't see the Wisconsin guys complain before when I wrote that Illinois could beat their team. You still arent answering how Sully was being over confident in his post. He laid it out how Iowa would have to play to beat the Illini this week, and then you come in saying "thats the over confidence you are counting on". Please show where the over confidence was, because your statement really made no sense. "Shoving the ball and wearing them out". If these things are not executed then they will have a problem. The over confidence part of it is thinking this way but if you fail to do as you as you are used too, you doubt yourself and that's when you were over confident and not truly ready. Sure, it could easily be a trap game for Illinois. Plus, I just have this feeling that these Big 10 teams are very, very similar -- all are flawed, they beat up on each other all year, none of them scream "national champs!" to me. I think it's quite possible Iowa could suprise the Illini. I don't think it should offend an Illini fan to say that. They need to be ready for the letdown, that's all.

No, LLF was right. No more of your CRAP!! From any of you!!

GEOVANY SOTO is offended. Soto did some good things, and he is clearly our catcher next year, but he batted .167 for the series with one hit. I know that hit was a home run, and he did look like our tallest midget, but let's not make his series out to be better than it was.... Arent we past the days using batting average as the know all be all stat? His OBP for the series was near .400, so lets not make batting average more meaningful than it really is... Ok, pal...how about these stats. He only had 2 RBI! I'm sure his CERA sucked, too! How many games did we win when he started? Zero! He obviously doesn't know how to win. He batted 7th, if he were any good at all don't you think Lou would have moved him up? This craze for Soto is out of control. Brad Ausmus will be a free agent this year. Hector Villenuava is an option too. ARam had 0 RBI. Dump him!!

Welcome to the site Rook. Man I thought I was just a "lurker" with my measly 100+ posts, but hell you been lurking for almost two years. As I'm sure you already know, this is the BEST website there is for Cubs talk and info. I really have learned more than I ever thought imaginable since I joined NSBB. LOL...yeah, I was pretty stubborn just reading and not responding. And your right...by far this is the best site for Cubs talk. There isn't another one that comes even close, and i've looked. Lurkers unite!! LOL, J/K. Welcome

LOL, let the clearance begin :) I'm gonna skip. I bought a bunch of 2003 champs gear, it sits in my dresser unused.

Too many other 1 loss teams should be ahead of them now. There's still plenty of adjustment that needs to be made before the first computer polls come out.

It's called, voters wanted to vote them down all year but couldn't find the excuse to do it because they kept winning, however ugly.

If "It" was a division championship, and a great comeback on the Brewers, then yeah. But I thought it was silly down 0-2 to the DBacks and your team showing no life whatsoever. Then we got down 3-0 in the game 3 and they're still showing the sign. At that point it was "OK buddy time to put the sign down. No, "it" is not gonna happen.

Renteria is a better fit and will be much cheaper. Marshall plus Cedeno/Theriot ought to get it done. How are Renteria and Tejada better fits than a player that is so much better than either of them? If someone wanted to argue that acquiring them is more realistic than acquiring A-Rod, that's one thing. One could even argue the fact that they're less expensive, giving the Cubs money to go out and improve the team in other areas. But to say either of them is a better fit than adding arguably the best player in the game just doesn't make sense. Plus the fact that the Cubs suck in the playoffs and so does ARod. How is that not a perfect fit? Looks like it's only been recently that ARod has been horrible, no? 1995 is basically a throwaway: Year Round Tm Opp WLser G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG SB CS SH SF HBP +------+-----+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+---+--+---+---+---+ 1995 ALDS SEA NYY W 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 ALCS SEA CLE L 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 1997 ALDS SEA BAL L 4 16 1 5 1 0 1 1 0 5 .313 .313 .563 0 0 0 0 0 2000 ALDS SEA CHW W 3 13 0 4 0 0 0 2 0 2 .308 .308 .308 0 1 1 0 0 ALCS SEA NYY L 6 22 4 9 2 0 2 5 3 8 .409 .480 .773 1 0 0 0 0 2004 ALDS NYY MIN W 4 19 3 8 3 0 1 3 2 1 .421 .476 .737 2 1 0 0 0 ALCS NYY BOS L 7 31 8 8 2 0 2 5 4 6 .258 .378 .516 0 0 0 0 2 2005 ALDS NYY LAA L 5 15 2 2 1 0 0 0 6 5 .133 .381 .200 1 1 2006 ALDS NYY DET L 4 14 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 .071 .071 .071 0 0 2007 ALDS NYY CLE 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 .000 .250 .000 0 0 0 0 0 +------+-----+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+---+--+---+---+---+ 7 Lg Div Series 3-3 23 84 7 20 5 0 2 6 10 20 .238 .319 .369 3 3 1 0 0 3 Lg Champ Series 0-3 14 54 12 17 4 0 4 10 7 15 .315 .413 .611 1 0 0 0 2 10 Postseason Series 3-6 37 138 19 37 9 0 6 16 17 35 .268 .357 .464 4 3 1 0 2 +--------------------+-----+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+---+--+---+---+---+ I think it's a NY pressure thing. Gotta love how the rest of the Yanks, who are also doing nothing, are more than willing to let ARod take all of the blame. It's like the "Rex Grossman effect." Let everyone crucify one guy so it covers your own incompetence.

Meh, they were an 85 win ballclub in the worst division in baseball. That says they weren't all that great a baseball team. I don't see how this was such a great surprise. The Cubs bats were prone to shut down like this all year long. What we just saw was a microcosm of what was happening at times in the previous 6 months.

And Prior (on the cheap). Agreed. Your av is funny. Glad you didn't slit your wrists last night 8-)

I'd say the season as a whole was a success. Lou spoke about changing the culture here. Well, they made the post season and I think that's a quality first step. Yes, they laid an egg once there but they have started the foundation and have a direction. It is absolutely key that they make the playoffs next season. I think that will go extremely far as to changing the culture. Maybe then the players can stop feeling content making an October appearance and grab for the bigger prize. The Cub pattern is clear, and has been unwavering since 1984: it says the year after we make the playoffs we will suffer a collapse and not return.

I'm convinced there's a God, and he enjoys watching us suffer.

Cashman had more to with that than Torre. Not surprised his job is on the line again though, if they get swept it would make it the 2nd year in a row they were outed in the first round. I heard this was a joint decision.

Keep Woody & Daryle. The others: buh-bye.

Nice. Yeah that DP was the last point at which we could have done something to at least win one game. I don't blame Mark. I know he blames himself but how many other times did we have RISP in this series and couldn't squeeze out a big hit? Just a bad series. It was frustrating to see our "experienced" guys play so tight and their "inexperienced" guys play so damn loose. It's like, if I ever hear another analyst bring up the "veteran" card in the playoffs again I think I will reach through the TV and choke the bastard. It means 100% nothing.

We'll see what happens to Soto once the league develops a good scouting report on him... Sorry to be a downer, but there hasn't been enough time to fully know if Soto will continue his hitting pace or not. I remember when guys like Ronny Cedeno were going to be solid hitters as well. Didn't work out that way.

LOL, Steinbrenner is a [expletive]. If it wasn't for Torre the Yanks wouldn't even be sniffing the playoffs this year. Look at what he did completely overhauling that pitching staff mid-stream.

I think ARod was much better in the post season with the Mariners, correct? I think it's just a rut he's in with NY. He'd be great with the Cubs in the postseason.

Well, the Expos/Nats haven't. Cling to that for your sanity, I guess.

Sorry, I just dont see it. They wont be able to compete for the big free agents. their bullpen is horrible. Their starting pitching is mediocre at best, and Sheets has proved he cant stay healthy. They will definitely provide some healthy competition, but 90 wins is stretching it. Bullpens are fickle, Gaurdaro is probably the future ace and Capuano will probably rebound. Also what free agents do they need? They could probably use a LFer since Mench is no good and Jenkins is probably leaving. The Brewers are a young team getting better. The Cubs are a older team whose star players are probably only going to decline in the future. The Brewers young hitting reminds me of the Cubs young pitching in 03. Sure, they are great and they will cause the team to be in contention by themselves for years (without injuries). The same thing is true for both teams though-how does the Brewers hitting get better? Many of their young hitters are already great, so are they really going to develop that much more? For example, Braun. He had a 1004 OPS this year. Do you see him consistently going over that? Gallardo for their pitching also had a #1-#2 like season already although only in 110 innings. Braun and Gallardo for a full year will help them, but I honestly don't see how their young players are going to get better because they already have broken out. Some of them might get better, but some of them also might have just had career years. The chances seem about equal both ways. Yeah, I don't see how anyone can simply conclude, in October of 2007, that guys like Braun and Hart are going to repeat their performances from last year. Nobody knows if they'll be able to assemble much of a bullpen next year either. Also nobody knows what role injuries will play, for either the Cubs or Brewers. There's no way the outcome of '08 can be predicted right now. At least wait until ST starts.

My God, what the hell is going on out there? UCLA is playing a third string, walk-on redshirt freshman QB with backup RBs. Still no reason to be losing. Ack I just saw the update. Horrible turnover. Should know the only way ND gets a win will be when a team hands it to them.

I forgive them. Hehe. I'll bet Vance doesn't.