XZero771679666304

wtf? isn't it 70 in most of nebraska? 75 on the interstate.

I got Copernicus, Smokey Robinson, Jeff Daniels, Seal, Benicio Del Toro

John Morrill. Old, old school.

I'd at least investigate how much of a discount he'd give to the Cubs. His performance over the past few years has been unpredictable enough that I doubt he'll get a ton of money, and I wouldn't count on him being a real staple. Having said that, he'd make a nice complement to Marshall if he pitches like he did for NY.

It's obvious now that the Cubs have hired Quade that either all the chatter about Girardi being the top choice was wrong or that he was the top choice but made it clear to the Cubs that he wasn't interested. Got it now? But why was the timing curious? It's been reported it could happen soon. Quade has made a ton of sense from the beginning and a lot of people more or less assumed he was getting the job. What was it about the timing that makes you think it's curious? It would be curious timing to name Joe Girardi manager right now. It's not curious to name Mike Quade manager right now. You must be from Oklahoma, so I will type slowly. There were a lot of indications in the media that Girardi was the top choice and that the Cubs wanted to wait to talk to him before going with Quade. Since the Yankees are still playing, it was curious timing to seemingly give up on Girardi before even having the chance to talk to him. now you've gone too far Don't take that [expletive] from a filthy Texan. I want to see a duel.

I'm actually thinking I read somewhere that close to 80 percent of pro athletes wind up broke within 5 years of being out of their sport. That seems high to me, but I guess it's possible. Considering the vast majority of pro athletes don't have a long career, it's not surprising. We remember the notable athletes, but the revolving door of (relatively) low paid filler is always in motion.

I'm of the opinion that every new sports stadium should have a retractable roof.

Sadly '03-'08 was as good a run as many Cubs fans have ever experienced. Best run in my lifetime, for sure. And I'm going to wait and see how this offseason plays out before I start to get perturbed about the future.

Stone wouldn't be ideal, but he's light years better than guys like Moreland, Otto and Hollandsworth. The thought of Otto in particular is really depressing. I wonder if there are any guys we could steal from another team's booth.

Yeah, I agree. Whenever the Cubs play the DBacks, I have to watch the AZ broadcast because the Chicago feed is blacked out here, and Grace isn't that bad. His shtick might get old over the course of a season, but I would much prefer him to any of the other names mentioned in this thread. Well, save Karros, maybe.

The mere fact disappointment comes into the equation is proof of how much worse things have been than this.

You must have a really short memory.

Oregon would put up at least 90 on Michigan's defense. I was going to say that I don't know how many total points there would be, but Oregon would have at least 75% of them.

I think at some point you have to give a NC shot to one of these mid-major powerhouses. Either that team will get murdered and quite people for a while, or they win and a stronger case is made for a playoff. Boise looks really strong. If they didn't shoot themselves in the foot all night, tonight's game would have been a blowout.

It's not scientific, but I think it's fairly obvious that guys who have a certain M.O. have poorer results when they deviate from it. It may be accepted that ground balls yield more hits than fly balls, but certain pitchers (like Webb, Zito, etc.) have built their success around inducing them. If these guys aren't inducing them, it probably means they aren't on their game. If they aren't on their game, their results are probably going to suffer, even if it means they give up more fly balls, which should ordinarily mean a lower babip. In Z's case his shifting gb/fb rate may well have had an effect on his babip, because it was an indication he was suffering from a loss of command. It may also mean that his breaking balls weren't breaking as well as in the past, and what may have been ground balls were becoming line drives. Or a combination of both. Z has not been a true ground ball pitcher for some time, but his gb rate dropped about .15 this year, and if some or all of that .15 translated into the higher LD%, it probably would have had an effect on the overall babip. These statistical rules of thumb may apply generally, but clearly they break down in certain scenarios. I think you sometimes have to look at these things in context. As far as location as it applies to inducing ground balls, I think just as often downward movement is the key. If you throw a pitch with good downward break, you're probably going to induce grounders, even if you throw it thigh high. A good low ball hitter will destroy balls down if they don't have movement. But like a slider pitcher working the outer half, a good sinkerballer is that much more effective if he pounds the lower half of the zone.

Z has been relatively consistent when it comes to babip, and consistently below the league average. This season sticks out like a sore thumb. A lot of babip is luck, but you have to factor in some observational stuff, like how often a pitcher is being squared up by hitters. You can expect a guy who gives up a lot of ropes to have a higher babip than one who gets hitters to beat the ball into the ground a lot. In August, when Z really turned it on, his LD% dropped precipitously, and his gb rate almost doubled. That's not all luck. This year Z has a career high babip, his highest LD% since 2002 and has by far had his most fb heavy gb/fb ratio. If I had to hazard a guess as to why most of this year has been sub-par for Z, I would say it is because he has missed up in the zone more than usual, combined with decreased velocity and a bit of bad luck.

Did anyone else read the article in the Trib site about Pie the other day? It basically details how Pie had a bad attitude problem, and his teammates disliked him in Baltimore. Apparently Luke Scott really read him the riot act one day last season regarding his attitude, and that was the beginning of his improvement. Here's the link.

I'd be curious as to what Z's LD% allowed was in the first half. Zambrano has always been at his best when he pitches to contact, and not all balls in play are equal. I haven't watched much of the second half, but in the first half he was getting hit pretty hard, but his second half babip is more in line with his career numbers. His first half babip was sky high, and I don't think that was just bad luck, and I don't think his recent success is just better luck. That's gross oversimplification.

Yeah, pretty much. But after the past couple years, I think he could be had for cheap. I envision him more as a seventh inning/mop up/occasional set up guy at this point. He's not any worse than some of the filler we've had in the pen, and with potentially good pen guys in the minors like Parker and Gray looking so poor this season, I don't see the harm in it at the right price.

Here's how I might do it: Sign Adam Dunn, or Carlos Pena as a stopgap. Sign Scott Downs and Kerry Wood. 1. Fukudome 2. Castro 3. ARam 4. Dunn/Pena 5. Byrd 6. Soriano 7. Soto 8. DeWitt Bench: Colvin, Castillo, Barney, Hoffpauir, Marquez Smith. Colvin gets a decent number of starts at all three OF positions. Rotation: Dempster, Gorzelanny, Zambrano, Wells, Silva Bullpen: Marmol, Marshall, Grabow, Wood, Cashner, Stevens, Downs. If Z or Silva is traded, Marshall or Cashner could be a starter.

Hawpe? Why? I'd just keep Kosuke if Hawpe is the alternative. Or take my chances with Colvin. Hawpe is a good hitter (helped by Coors a bit, but not to a huge degree), but he makes Soriano look like Roberto Clemente on defense.

Glad I'm not the only one thinking that. Oh, there was some definite drama queen-ery coming from the Marlins' side, but Morgan has been squarely in the middle of a lot of BS lately.

I don't think he'd need to add more. Sign Dunn and you could have an offense that looks like this: C: Soto 1B: Dunn 2B: DeWitt SS: Castro 3B: ARam LF: Soriano CF: Byrd/Colvin RF: Kosuke/Colvin Which I would line up like this: 1. Kosuke 2. Castro 3. Ramirez 4. Dunn 5. Byrd 6. Soto 7. Soriano 8. DeWitt That's not bad at all, assuming ARam doesn't repeat the first half of this year.

Unless someone just blows the Cubs away with an offer for him, he's obviously more valuable to the Cubs actually as a Cub and starting next year. Yeah, unless a team wants to take on all of his salary or give a really good return, I'd just as soon keep him. If he manages to reduce the length and severity of his inexplicable slumps, he's pretty valuable. When he's good, he's really good. It's too bad there isn't a RH platoon partner for him.