XZero771679666304

Man, Cox kept Hudson in there way too long. It was clear after the Braun AB that he had very little left.

Pretty much. Yeah, except Baker ruined Wood and Prior while we had to sit and watch. I'd trade any single season to have those two be what they were again.

I am not sure if this is a rant, but I am sick to death of hearing this sort of stuff: Could people like this be any more clueless? I wonder. First off, the Brewers are marginally more talented than the Cubs, if at all. We won't mention all the bad breaks that the Cubs have gotten that people who don't watch the Cubs religiously wouldn't know about. (like that Norris Hopper robbed Ramirez in the same game he "missed" what would have been a spectacular catch in the 9th, or when Carlos Lee had an out of body experience and robbed Theriot of a game turning XBH in Houston with the catch of his career, check swing RBI hits by the Reds, etc., etc.) Or the good ones the Brewers have gotten (Oswalt and Williams missing starts and allowing the Crew to face three nobodies in the latest series, Pujols missing the upcoming series, etc., etc.) The Cubs really haven't had good overall fortune since June. In all the Cubs have had as many bad breaks as good ones. Or that nearly the entire Cubs lineup woefully underproduced the entire season up until about the past week. And we're talking about guys with track records like Soriano, Lee and Ramirez hitting 10-20 less home runs than in recent years. And Z having an awful season. Soriano never gets hurt and he got hurt. Barrett, normally a very good hitter, stank and was subsequently traded leaving a black hole in a lineup where a solid hitter was expected to be. Even Jones has underachieved, hitting over 20 fewer homers in 2007 than in 2006, and about 15 less than his career average. Then you have Crew. Fielder and Braun are incredibly talented, but are playing as well as they likely ever will. Hardy played way over his head in the first half. Hart has played at about the peak of his ability. Weeks hasn't had success, but he's actually on pace to set a career high in OPS. Bill Hall has had a year nearly in line with his career average. Jenkins is on pace to have his second best season out of the last four. Estrada is below his career averages, but barely. And you can't complain about Mench and Gross, because neither of them are below reasonable expectation, either. No one in the Milwaukee pen has been a major disappointment (unless you expected things that were entirely unlikely), and Cordero has been much better than expected. And Sheets can no longer be viewed an unlucky guy who has had really only one injury. He is officially injury prone, like it or not. Really, the only things that have gone against the Crew (aside from the bad hops/breaks that go against every team) is the performance of Capuano and Ned Yost. I don't bring this stuff up to say the Brewers are "lucky", because I don't believe that. I am bringing this stuff up because the notion that the reason that the Cubs are in first is because they have been smiled upon by the gods with good fortune is so patently and ridiculously stupid that it nearly defies articulation. Lucky? Fortunate? Give me a freaking break. No more or less than Milwaukee. If the Cubs win the division, it will be because the Brewers weren't as good in 2007, end of freaking story. Deal with it.

Gameday has gone [expletive].

Wow. LMAO

Agreed I don't know. His skills haven't diminished, he has just flat out missed some balls. Seems like a focus/concentration issue.

Lou probably wants the lefty pitcher in to pitch to all these lefties the Pirates have at the top of their order. I understand that, but Hart was effective and could have given another inning or two.

Neither do I.

Hey, at least the Cubs actually scored. There are a lot of days that would be too much to ask with the bases loaded and nobody out.

That's predictable.

I'm just glad it wasn't a DP.

GO DUKE! I was at that game, and it was AWESOME! If NU fans went into hiding after bad losses, they'd all be hermits.

And if the Cubs' big bats played to career norms the Cubs might have 90 wins right now. Apples and oranges, could've, should've, would've. No one has gotten more or less breaks, both teams have been pretty mediocre for a myriad of reasons. Let's not fool ourselves. But having Yost giving away games is good for us. The Brewers have had as many underachievers or more than the Cubs this season. Say what you will but Yost has cost this team its shot at the playoffs most likely. And the Brewers have guys like Hart and Hardy who have played above their talent level. And Fielder and Braun have been as good as they're likely to ever be. Lee and Soriano are key guys who have underperformed by a fair margin. Jones has over 20 less homers than last year. Over 20. Who has underperformed for the Crew? Weeks? Don't even say Hall because he's right at his career norms. Last year was the fluke for him. I can't think of any other everyday player who have done worse than could have been reasonably expected. Cap has underachieved quite a bit, I guess. But not enough to equal the team wide power outage from a team expected to hit a metric ton of homers like the Cubs have had. And our ace has had a pretty lousy year as well. And our Pythag says the Cubs lead should be even bigger. You can believe the Cubs have gotten all these breaks and that the Brewers should have a cushy lead, but it simply isn't true.

And if the Cubs' big bats played to career norms the Cubs might have 90 wins right now. Apples and oranges, could've, should've, would've. No one has gotten more or less breaks, both teams have been pretty mediocre for a myriad of reasons. Let's not fool ourselves. But having Yost giving away games is good for us.

Well, every team has it's "what ifs", but Yost has been horrible. You could almost understand if he was making these moves in April, but what he did in a game as crucial as tonight's was simply mind-boggling. You have Berkman, Lee and Pence coming up in a tie game on the road in extra innings and you bring in a reliever who is average overall and who has been terrible lately so you can "save" your closer? It is really just preposterously stupid.

I agree.

If the Cubs go 5-4, they probably win outright. If they go 6-3, even better. 7-2 and and it's nearly a lock.

Is this what it has come to? Players not making the catch of their career counts as a break for the Cubs? I'm not saying it counts as a break, I'm saying for how often such ridiculous catchees are made against this team, it's nice to see one fall that was techinically within their reach. That Lee catch was the worst. It was like he channeled someone else, because Carlos Lee is physically incapable of making that catch. It was like Jason Tyner having a 4 homer game.

No, the Cardinals will be in bad shape for at least another year. Let him keep impeding the Brewers.

That Carlos Lee catch was just [expletive]. And before we call Hopper's "missed" catch a break, let's remember how he robbed ARam earlier in the same game.

Please. He's too good for a modeling contract. He should be having Angelina Jolie's next baby any minute now. He'd have to, because Angelina wouldn't survive childbirth in her 70 pound state.

The Cubs are playing a team that torments them and Houston (and Oswalt's wife) practically lays out the red carpet for the Brewers, yet the Cubs get all the breaks. Gotta love it. Anyone who thinks the Cubs get all the breaks clearly hasn't been watching much Cubs baseball over the past couple months.

You don't take your best hitter out of the game. Yost is a fool.

Thank you for being an idiot, Ned. I love you. For those who didn't witness it, the latest example of Ned's genius was trotting out a series of lousy relievers against the Astros in extra innings while Cordero festered in the bullpen, almost certainly causing the Brewers the game. Ned may be the Cubs biggest ally down the stretch.