XZero771679666304

IIRC, Kurt Busch is a life long Cubs fan.

:lol: Mia's looking better than usual, too. I hope it's not too good, lest Nomar re-injure himself.

Nice to see Nomar get on the board.

Now there's something we can agree on.

If you don't understand a point, please ask for clarification. I can't believe we're discussing whether or not one should root for their favorite team to lose. I don't understand this cheering point you keep bringing up. If a Cub fan roots against the Cubs, what's the difference between that and being a Cardinal or White Sox fan who root against the Cubs for 162 games? Because getting Baker fired is in the best long term interests of the team? I could argue that a Cardinal or Sox fan would love to see the Cubs save Dusty's job. We're not going to win this year. I desperately want to win next year.

Are you kidding us? Let me guess, you'd trade a playoff appearance for a losing season just so Baker will get canned, right? Brilliant strategy. when will we be making the playoffs? we are 7 back....will we continue to play for the wild card when we are 15 out with 15 to play? I see absolutely no point in rooting against your team, period. And, there have been lots of teams who have come back from seven games out in August to win pennants or division titles. If the NL were stronger, than I'd be less optimistic. But it makes no sense to root against your team. Dusty's regime is hurting the team. We have no realistic shot at the postseason. Losing may be only way to get Baker out. I think the logic is clear. We have an awful bullpen. We have abysmal fundamentals. We have a hot and mostly-cold offense. Our key players are hobbled. Our manager can't seem to play the right players or manage the bullpen. Even if we had fundamentals, that would be something. Anything is possible as long as the mathematics allow for it, but you have to be realistic. You can review my posting history and see that I have always been optimistic, but this isn't a sleeping giant. This is a sinking ship. So, is it fair to say that using that logic an individual would also hope that Perez goes 0-4 if they don't like Perez? That Wood would get hurt or have a 7.00 ERA if they don't like him? See Patterson go 4-80 if they don't like him just to see these guys not play? And what happens if the Cubs go 60-102 this season and Baker is back? Did rooting for a collapse really make sense? If we went 60-102 we wouldn't have much more to show than with the best we can hope for at this point. If you don't make the playoffs, your record is irrelevant. And I would bet an internal organ or two that if the Cubs lose 102 games, Baker will most definitely be gone. And your Perez, Wood and Patterson analogy doesn't work. Baker is one of the roots of the problem, and Perez, Patterson, etc. are mostly byproducts of his mismanagement. If you have a manager who plays bad players, do you root against the players or the manager? The manager of course, as there will always been vertran role players for the manager to force into the lineup. When something is as rotten as this, you have to get to the core of it. It would be nice and PC to be able to assign equal parts of blame to every player/coach, but that just isn't reality. THere are clearly parties who deserve more blame than others, and Baker is at the top of the list. It is also obvious to anyone who has watched this team over the past couple years that the Cubs would be much better off without him. Since there is realistially nothing to lose at this point, why not get rid of him? Really? I don't enjoy seeing my team lose, but since this thing is halfway down the tubes, why not salvage next year?

The second one was definitely in the zone, and he watched the third.

Pretty positive, but there were some muffled boos after that K.

Are you kidding us? Let me guess, you'd trade a playoff appearance for a losing season just so Baker will get canned, right? Brilliant strategy. when will we be making the playoffs? we are 7 back....will we continue to play for the wild card when we are 15 out with 15 to play? I see absolutely no point in rooting against your team, period. And, there have been lots of teams who have come back from seven games out in August to win pennants or division titles. If the NL were stronger, than I'd be less optimistic. But it makes no sense to root against your team. Dusty's regime is hurting the team. We have no realistic shot at the postseason. Losing may be only way to get Baker out. I think the logic is clear. We have an awful bullpen. We have abysmal fundamentals. We have a hot and mostly-cold offense. Our key players are hobbled. Our manager can't seem to play the right players or manage the bullpen. Even if we had fundamentals, that would be something. Anything is possible as long as the mathematics allow for it, but you have to be realistic. You can review my posting history and see that I have always been optimistic, but this isn't a sleeping giant. This is a sinking ship.

Are you kidding us? Let me guess, you'd trade a playoff appearance for a losing season just so Baker will get canned, right? Brilliant strategy. We're not going to the playoffs this year, barring divine intervention. The worst thing that could possibly happen would be for the team play just well enough to linger on the periphery of the WC race and allow Dusty to keep his job. There is no playoff berth on the line anymore. The worst case scenario is Dusty comes back and we have to watch this garbage in 2006. With a team this streaky, they're never out of it until you are really out of it. By the same token, nothing is garaunteed unless it is mathematically impossible for anything else to happen. That is true, but there is something to be said for probability. Given the problems we have, personnel, management and fundamental, I just can't see the Cubs making the playoffs. This team needs to be overhauled, and I for one would not hesitate to trade what faint and fleeting hope we have of reaching the post season for the guarantee of a house cleaning in the offseason. I personally don't believe this team can win the WS under Dusty Baker. And since that is really the prime objective, we need to get him out with as much time remaining in our talent window as possible.

Are you kidding us? Let me guess, you'd trade a playoff appearance for a losing season just so Baker will get canned, right? Brilliant strategy. We're not going to the playoffs this year, barring divine intervention. The worst thing that could possibly happen would be for the team play just well enough to linger on the periphery of the WC race and allow Dusty to keep his job. There is no playoff berth on the line anymore. The worst case scenario is Dusty comes back and we have to watch this garbage in 2006.

Well, in a few recent AB's he has been noticeably wincing. He just looks totally different at the plate than he has all year. I expected him to come down, but there is more going on there, I'm sure of it.

I think the whole team is nearing implosion. It's Murphy's law out there. I dont' know if its Murphy's Law as much as simply the Law of Averages. Players are returning to their career norms. The level that some were playing above those norms, such as Neifi and Burnitz along with Lee, to an extent, have caused this exaggerated drop. I think it's more than that. Burnitz has actually been underacheiving this year by his standards. And Lee and Ramirez have been really bad the last week or so, far worse than their carrer norms. Plus it's all happening at once.

I wonder if his shoulder is right. But, then again, his strike zone is entirely different right now than when he was locked in. Remembering how he stopped hitting late last year, could his early (though extended) surge brought on an earlier season downfall? His strike zone may have changed because he is compensating for the injury. And he is surely pressing. I'd like to see him get a couple days off and see what he looks like afterwards. I believe everyone should be accountable for this mess. And it's ridiculous for Lee in one breath to say they have to win games while he can't see he's hurting the offense if he is indeed hurt. I'm beginning to think that's not the case since he said something prior to the All-Star break and sat. Why wouldn't he sit now? Also, I know we have our favorites on here, but it's not like Lee is a career .340 hitter. Maybe, like Perez, he's just getting back to his normal stats. Except that his career stats aren't as bad as he has been playing. And he, like Aramis, are probaly playing though injury because the team thinks they are still in it and know if they are going to get offense, it will probably be from those two. Straits were not as dire before the ASG.

Nah, not Prior. Wait for the pen, then start blasting.

I think the whole team is nearing implosion. It's Murphy's law out there.

I wonder if his shoulder is right. But, then again, his strike zone is entirely different right now than when he was locked in. Remembering how he stopped hitting late last year, could his early (though extended) surge brought on an earlier season downfall? His strike zone may have changed because he is compensating for the injury. And he is surely pressing. I'd like to see him get a couple days off and see what he looks like afterwards.

I'm nearing total indifference. If we lose a ton, it only serves to push Baker towards the door.

No, I think he's slumping because of an injury everyone knows about.

I'm waiting for Lee's left arm to fall off. I don't think that shoulder ever healed up.

Well, he said Dusty would try to kinda mix in the corner guys depending on the LH/RH matchups...which means Murton will probably just keep playing only against lefties. Thanks, didn't quite catch it all, just heard him mention Matt. Not to be the Devil's advocate, but I don't see Murton getting a lot of AB's with Lawton/CPatt/Burnitz around.

Stone's act is wearing thin in my world. For one thing, much too much is being made of Aramis' "laziness". He's frickin hurt. How smart would it be for him to run flat out hard to 1B on an easy groundout, when he could easily be lost completely with one tweak? In my world, that would be pretty dumb. And don't give me the argument of "if he's so hurt, why is he playing"? If you call out players like Wood and Prior for not playing through pain, you have no right to carp about Aramis trying to gut it out for the benefit of the team. It's sooooo easy to rip on guys for not hustling, but the fact of the matter is that if the team weren't tanking right now, no one would care. Aramis ran the same way when we were winning as he does now, so what's the difference? Does Stone need a scapegoat for his sour grapes? Second, so what if Boston traded him? They weren't projecting openings in the corner OF spots for a few years, so they had no need for him. SO just because the guy doesn't hit the ball 500 feet, he has no value? Does Stone not realize that command of the zone is more immprtant than raw power for a young playeR? Power comes with time; Murton has skills that aren't easily taught. Just ask Corey Patterson how easy it is to learn plate discipline. Another thing: Why on earth would you call up Pie this year? There's no point in it. Let him recover from his ankle, continue and finish his year up in AA. Why start his option clock now, when it's no benefit to either party? Pie has the same plate discipline issues Patterson has, so why call him up now before he's refined? Impatience? Will Baker even bother to play him? The only intelligent thing he said was that Wood should be shut down and get scoped now to be ready for 2006. But I'm sick to death of him being critical for the sake of it. His analysis lacks insight, and his snide remarks just smack of sour grapes. Strangely enough, another excerpt from today's Sun-Times:

If you want to talk about perfect windows of opportunity which are now closed there is Ronny Cedeno. He just sat and watched horrible journeyman Neifi play, and now with Nomar back on the team Ronny's opportunity is gone. True. Sad, another prime example, and from the same team. It really makes you love Dusty.

Speaking of Stone, I liked this bit from today's Sun-Times article:

Again, the problem here is that the Cubs brought him up to see if he could be an everyday player. I have no idea if he will or will not be, and don't have a feeling one way or the other. That is the problem. Up until Lawton was acquired, the Cubs current LF was so bad there was absolutely no reason not to play Murton. If there was ever in the history of the game a situation more appropriate for a guy to be battle tested, I am not aware of it. Dubois got a decent look in May, and showed he wasn't quite as good as many thought (although he was better than Holla). Considering the alternatives, I can't understand why Murton wasn't afforded the same opportunity. Of course with Lawton on the team and Patterson on his way up, the window of opportunity has probably passed. No we'll have to wait till next year to see if Murton can do the job.