XZero771679666304

For right or wrong, I am going to hate Frank Caliendo (sp?) forever after this. It is an association that will never be broken.

If nothing else, I hope this pathetic egg-laying gets buys Hendry a ticket out of town.

Man, it's hard to say you're getting dominated when you have left so many runners on base. It would actually be far easier to stomach if the DBacks has just closed us down. To have so many opportunities wasted is just disgusting. How many baserunners have the Cubs stranded this series? It has to be over 30 now.

Agreed. Know this Arizona fans: You won because the Cubs laid down for you, not because you are better. Really? I don't know how you can say that if Arizona wins the series. They won 4 of six from us during the regular season. Seems to me they are better than the Cubs. Absolutely. It's just sour grapes to say they're not better. Clearly the D'Backs are the superior team. No, they're not. There's a reason everyone wondered how they got in. The sad thing is that I saw this coming.

Agreed. Know this Arizona fans: You won because the Cubs laid down for you, not because you are better.

And now Marmol starts giving up longballs for the first time all year.

This game has been a jumble of everything the Cubs do when they are at their worst: Pitchers get behind everyone, hitters swing at the crap and watch the meatballs go by, stranding runners, etc., etc., ETC.

IOT&*^&*^&*^&*^&*(%&*%&*(^&*(&*(&*(&*()&*(&(%^*(%^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&%^*(P&&*()&*(&(*&* THAT WAS BALL FOUR YOU MORON

Augie flippin' Ojeda

Someone needs to remove Dick Stockton's larynx.

Those were ball when Hill threw them. They resulted in one out. Those were balls to Soriano and Theriot as well.

Nope. Ump was calling those balls all inning up until that point.

Cedeno, plz.

If the Cubs don't score this inning, blame Theriot.

I am getting sick of Theriot.

Cubs, only because of who they're playing.

They may or may not start that low, but the only possible way they score "a lot more runs" is if they go out and get a stud somewhere. This lineup is what it is. I really don't understand how anybody could say they were "under productive". They weren't productive because they aren't productive, not because of some fluke. Lee, Soriano and Ramirez are all guys with track records, all guys who performed below expectation and past performance (in the power department) for the vast majority of the season. If someone showed you the team's 2007 power totals before the season, there's no way you would believe it. Sure, the OPS was good for the big three, but the run production wasn't very good due to the relative lack of power. If you can honestly say you think that Soriano and Lee combining for 8 homers and 42 RBI in the first 2 months of the season wasn't a fluke, then you're crazy. And that had a whole lot to do with the Cubs' poor start. Or Ramirez's power disappearing during june, july and august (which have historically been his best power months). No one expected these things to happen, and there's no rational reason to expect them to again.

Jason threatened to hold his breath until Lou agreed to start him.

I think Lou answered this question by starting Soto in the first two games. Barring Geo crapping the bed in ST, I think it's a lock. Soto/Blanco in 2008.

That Suppan contract is probably going to kill them because of this. In a vaccuum that's a nice contract, on a poor defensive team, it's trouble. The bad news is that Gallardo, Parra, and Villanueva all have nice K rates. Though Parra can't stop getting injured. Or Sheets. Parra may end up being like Angel Guzman. I really think they have to find some way to get Braun off the infield. He is just brutal. If I were them, I'd return Hall to 3B (though he'll probably not produce like a 3B ever again), put Braun in LF and shift Hart to center. Is Koskie still under contract?

I think Fielder and Braun will produce about the same next year as this. Where i differ with you is that I would bet that Hardy regresses, and would argue that Hart is not going to get much better at all. The mistake that a lot of people are making is looking at 2007 as a "growing pains" year. The reality is that you guys got about as much production out of your young corps as you are ever going to get. Fielder and Braun both produced at an exceptional level, and Hardy produced probably above his talent level (as evidenced by his second half regression, I have money that says J.J. is a .710-.720 OPS guy when all is said and done). And while it may be possible that Weeks will produce like he did at the end of the season, I think it would be an optimistic stretch to assume he will. Having that extra month of Braun will help in 2008, though I would bet he will end up closer to his .976 post-ASB OPS than his +1.000 blazing start. Your pitching will almost certainly be better, but I think Sheets has to regarded as injury-prone now, and can't be counted on for a full season. Also, don't forget how woefully under productive the Cubs lineup was pre-September, or what a bad start the Cubs got off to. The Cubs aren't going to start 22-31 again, and barring something totally weird, are going to score a lot more runs. The Brewers may be favorites next season, but you guys aren't going to run away with anything.

Exactly. That's the type of reaction you see in the Little League World Series from 10 year old, not a grown up MLB player. If a White Sox or Cards player threw his glove down like Lilly, this thread would be over 30 pages long and ripping the dude to shreds. uh yeah not really, i don't think anyone would give a crap. Nope. Not one iota of a damn.

Bullpucky. My argument does not require that Lilly had time to reflect. It requires only that Lilly have spent time training himself to control his reactions. actually, no. Testosterone + Nerves + Embarrassment + Hugely important situation + no self control = violent outburst What he did was no worse then someone breaking a bat over their knee or chucking their helmet in disgust after a strikeout. Ted was overhyped, and overthrew. I think he was acutely aware of what was at stake, and that there is no one on the team that cares more than he does. Without his ability to focus and bear down when the team needs him most, the Cubs are not even in the playoffs. I find the idea that he took some sort of mental vacation because he couldn't cope with the pressure to be patently ludicrous. The only thing Ted may be guilty of is caring too much. The guy just didn't have his control tonight.

Don't worry, this series will go to game 5 at least. We can't get out that easy.

What people don't want to recognize is how much of the game is sheer chance. Believe it or not, even the best hitters can't guide the ball wherever they want to. Good hitters are the ones who square the ball up more often. They don't always result in hits, but common sense dictates that someone who hits the ball hard more often will end up with more hits. The law of averages usually sees to this. But vector is more a function of chance than skill, unless the pitcher is feeding you meatballs. You can't go up to the plate and say "okay, I'm going to hit the ball right in the gap". You can try, but you probably won't succeed unless the pitcher puts it on a tee for you (or you're playing slow pitch softball), and even then it's iffy. Did the batter who hit a weak roller or bloop though the infield do a better job than the one who scalded a ball right at the outfielder? No. There is a lot of luck involved. Basically, you can try and pull the ball, or go with the pitch. That's about the extent of directional control. You go to the plate and try and hit the ball with as much authority as you can, and to do that you often have to hit the ball where it's pitched, which lessens greatly your control over the direction the ball travels. Hitting the ball hard is not an "A for effort" thing, it's and indicator of relative success.