Fred Hornkohl

Well then, it's imperative that the Astros win the next four so that we won't miss Clemens the second time around, no? "We" indeed. Does your girlfirend know you're plastering her image all over the internet ???

Who the hell cares about Joe Morgan ????

Well then, it's imperative that the Astros win the next four so that we won't miss Clemens the second time around, no?

BOTTOM OF THE THIRD INNING Rodriguez in to pitch for Houston Iguchi grounded out to second, 4-3 Dye walked Konerko blooped a single to right field C Everett struck out swinging Rowand grounded into a FC, 5-4, Konerko out at second 0 runs, 1 hits, 0 errors, 2 men left on base 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Houston 0 1 2 3 4 0 white sox 1 2 0 3 5 0 Home runs: white sox: Dye (1), Houston: Lamb (1) pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR HB PIT Clemens 2.0 4 3 3 0 1 1 0 54 Rodriguez 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 18 pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR HB PIT Contreras 3.0 4 3 3 0 1 1 1 43

TOP OF THE THIRD INNING Ausmus singled to right field A Everett grounded into a FC, 1-6, Ausmus out at second Biggio singled to center field, A Everett to second Taveras sacrificed, 1-3, A Everett to third, Biggio to second Berkman doubled down the right field line, A Everett & Biggio scored Ensberg grounded out to short, 6-3 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 men left on base 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Houston 0 1 2 3 4 0 white sox 1 2 3 4 0 Home runs: white sox: Dye (1), Houston: Lamb (1) pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR HB PIT Clemens 2.0 4 3 3 0 1 1 0 54 pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR HB PIT Contreras 3.0 4 3 3 0 1 1 1 43

BOTTOM OF THE SECOND INNING C Everett singled to center field Rowand singled to right field, C Everett to third Piersynski grounded into a FC, 3-6, Rowand out at second, C Everett scored Crede grounded out to third, 5-3, Pierzynski to second Uribe doubled to center field, Piersynski scored Podsednik struck out swinging 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 men left on base 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Houston 0 1 1 1 0 white sox 1 2 3 4 0 Home runs: white sox: Dye (1), Houston: Lamb (1) pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR HB PIT Clemens 2.0 4 3 3 0 1 1 0 54 pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR HB PIT Contreras 2.0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 21

New marketing idea for Smuckers & Co ???

They did when they were the Colt 45s. They played it on the Score this morning. Oh yeah.... I vaguely remember that one !!

TOP OF THE SECOND INNING Ensberg flied out to deep right field Lamb homered to center field Bagwell hit by pitch Lane grounded into a DP, 6-4-3, Bagwell out at second 1 runs, 1 hits, 0 errors, 1 men left on base 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Houston 0 1 1 1 0 white sox 1 1 1 0 Home runs: white sox: Dye (1), Houston: Lamb (1) pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR HB PIT Clemens 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 25 pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR HB PIT Contreras 2.0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 21

Do the Houston Astros have a fight song ??

BOTTOM OF THE FIRST INNING Podsednik grounded out to short, 6-3 Iguchi grounded out to third, 5-3 Dye homered to right field Konerko grounded out to short, 6-3 1 runs, 1 hits, 0 errors, 0 men left on base 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Houston 0 0 0 0 white sox 1 1 1 0 Home runs: white sox: Dye (1) pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR PIT Clemens 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 1 25 pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR PIT Contreras 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 15

Hell, I've been cursing the white sox for twice your lifetime !! :wink:

TOP OF THE FIRST INNING Biggio grounded out to third, 5-3 Taveras popped out to shortstop Berkman struck out (called) 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 men left on base 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Houston 0 0 0 0 white sox . 0 0 0 pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR PIT Contreras 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 15

I've been embarassed that the white sox are in Chicago for years now !!

Yes. Mexico City is at an altitude of over 6,000 ft. It would produce conditions more severe than Coors Field. Monterrey would be a much better choice.

Starting lineups....... Houston Biggio, 2b Taveras, cf Berkman, lf Ensberg, 3b Lamb, 1b Bagwell, dh Lane, rf Ausmus, c Everett, ss Clemens, p white sox Podsednik, cf Iguchi, 2b Dye, rf Konerko, 1b Everett, dh Rowand, cf Piersynski, c Crede, 3b Uribe, ss Contreras, p

I'm really starting to warm up to Fredi Gonzalez..... I mean, how could you not like somebody named Fred ??? :wink: I've always liked Joe Girardi, but I have my doubts as to whether the CUBS will ever consider him seriously for the job.

That game broke an agonizing losing streak in which the bullpen was completely shot. I saw that one as justifiable because, at the time, the Cubs needed a big shot in the arm and that CG win was absolutely huge. They needed to break that losing streak if they wanted any chance at actually competing for the WC/Division. Of course, that turned out to be a completely moot point. Everything looks completely obvious in hindsight, ya know? That said, there were plenty of other instances in which I was incredibly pissed off at Dusty for overworking the arms. I don't know. I was at that game, and I think you could have gone to Dempster in the 9th, when it was clear that Z was done after the 8th. Who knows, though. Z has been very durable so far *knocks on desk* I had Zambrano's pitch count for that day (08 May) at 136 (from ESPN) rather than 139. Not a big deal. Dempster was probably not available for relief duty on that particular day. He had just made his last start 4 days earlier (04 May), and didn't make his first appearance out of the pen (10 May) until 2 days after this game.

The manager of the Chicago CUBS is pretty much a dead end job. Take a look at this illustrious list of baseball expertise and make your own judgement.......... avg Maqnager From To W L pct fin Stan Hack 54 56 196 265 0.489 7.0 Bob Scheffing 57 59 208 254 0.450 6.7 Charlie Grimm 60 60 6 11 0.353 7.0 Lou Boudreau 60 60 54 83 0.394 7.0 Vedie Himsl 61 61 10 21 0.323 7.0 Harry Craft 61 61 7 9 0.438 7.0 El Tappe 61 62 46 70 0.397 8.0 Lou Klein 61 62 17 24 0.415 8.0 Charlie Metro 62 62 43 69 0.384 9.0 Bob Kennedy 63 65 182 198 0.479 7.7 Lou Klein 65 65 48 58 0.453 8.0 Leo Durocher 66 72 535 526 0.504 3.7 Whitey Lockman 72 74 157 162 0.492 4.3 Jim Marshall 74 76 175 218 0.445 5.3 Herman Franks 77 79 238 241 0.497 4.0 Joey Amalfitano 79 80 28 51 0.354 5.5 Preston Gomez 80 80 38 52 0.422 6.0 Joey Amalfitano 81 81 38 65 0.369 5.5 Lee Elia 82 83 127 158 0.446 5.0 Charley Fox 83 83 17 22 0.436 5.0 Jim Frey 84 86 196 182 0.519 3.3 John Vukovich 86 86 1 1 0.500 5.0 Gene Michael 86 87 114 124 0.479 5.5 Frank Lucchesi 87 87 8 17 0.320 6.0 Don Zimmer 88 91 265 258 0.507 3.5 Joe Altobelli 91 91 0 1 0.000 4.0 Jim Essian 91 91 59 63 0.484 4.0 Jim Lefebvre 92 93 162 162 0.500 4.0 Tom Trebelhorn 94 94 49 64 0.434 5.0 Jim Riggleman 95 99 374 419 0.472 4.0 Sixteen of the above skippers, more than half, took the CUBS field leadership position with no previous major league experience. Another six came to the CUBS with less than four years experience. Of the remaining managers with experience, you have...... Durocher 16 Boudreau 15 Grimm 14+ Zimmer 7+ Altobelli 5+ Trebelhorn 5 Fox 4+ Franks 4 Subsequent experience after leaving the CUBS is even more bleak. 21 of the 30 managers listed above, fully 70%, never managed in the major leagues again. Four more managed in the bigs again, but didn't last one full year. Another 3 lasted for one full year, but didn't make it to two years. Only Harry Craft (3) and Bob Scheffing (2+) had any significant time managing after the CUBS. My choice of time frame here (1954-1998) is not random. A wonderful comparison can be drawn here. While the CUBS were busy shuffling 30 managers in and out during this 45 year span.... consider the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. During that same 45 years, the Dodgers' managers were: Walter Alston Tommy Lasorda Bill Russell That's right. Three managers in 45 years, while the CUBS used 30. It might be argued that Russell might still be the Dodger's manager today were it not for a change in ownership of the franchise, but that's only speculation. Here's the real bottom line....... 1954 thru 1998 World Series team W L pct PA W L Los Angeles Dodgers 3866 3235 0.544 15 6 5 Cincinnati Reds 3777 3315 0.533 9 3 3 Atlanta Braves 3649 3438 0.515 11 2 4 San Francisco Giants 3653 3454 0.514 6 1 2 St. Louis Cardinals 3638 3451 0.513 8 3 3 Pittsburgh Pirates 3603 3484 0.508 10 3 0 Philadelphia Phillies 3412 3653 0.483 7 1 2 Chicago Cubs 3331 3753 0.470 3 0 0 ..... the CUBS may have 10 times as many managers, but the Dodgers have 5 times as many playoff appearanes, and 555 more regular season wins (12.3 per year) than the CUBS. Baseball is, indeed, a business. I wish the Tribune Co. would get with the program and put together the best management team available, down to the field manager level, and quit recycling second rate people who have to be replaced every few years. Hell, they don't run the newspaper this way !! Instead of talking about addition by subtraction, or trading Baker for a bucket of warm spit...... figure out who you'd want to see managing the team for the next 20-25 years ???

The Cubs don't need old school. They don't need a red-ass. They don't need yelling and screaming and bitching and moaning. They need somebody who will play the best players, employ sound strategy and not kill the pitchers. Not trying to be argumentative here, Goony, just curious. What is your definition of a red ass ?

When the CUBS finished up their season with that last series in Houston, I was out of town, so I caught the games on XM radio with Milo Hamilton and Alan Ashby. Nomar was starting at third base in the absence of Ramirez, if you recall. Hamilton and Ashby were so convinced of Nomar's inability to play shortstop anymore, that they made a point of commenting on it at least once in each of the games. I don't know where they got this from... maybe just their own opinion, so I share it here for what it's worth.

Without regard to runs allowed, here's a table that gives the performance based on innings pitched by the CUBS' starter..... Team record by starters' IP W L pct zero 0 0 0.000 1/3 0 0 0.000 2/3 0 0 0.000 1 inning 0 0 0.000 1-1/3 0 1 0.000 1-2/3 0 2 0.000 2 innings 0 1 0.000 2-1/3 0 0 0.000 2-2/3 0 0 0.000 3 innings 0 5 0.000 3-1/3 1 2 0.333 3-2/3 0 2 0.000 4 innings 0 2 0.000 4-1/3 0 2 0.000 4-2/3 1 6 0.143 5 innings 8 10 0.444 5-1/3 3 3 0.500 5-2/3 1 3 0.250 6 innings 20 17 0.541 6-1/3 0 3 0.000 6-2/3 6 3 0.667 7 innings 14 12 0.538 7-1/3 4 0 1.000 7-2/3 4 1 0.800 8 innings 9 5 0.643 8-1/3 1 0 1.000 8-2/3 1 0 1.000 9 innings 6 3 0.667 Totals 79 83 0.488

In 1945, when the population of the US was 140 million, we had 16 teams in MLB. There were no blacks in MLB then, no Asians, and few Hispanics. Today, with a population of approx. 280 million, there isn't a reason in the world why we couldn't support 32 good, competitve teams in MLB.

Having lived in Charlotte recently for a couple of years, I really believe this could be a viable market for MLB. I don't know why they are rarely even mentioned when the subject of franchise moves or expansion comes up. I also believe that the Metro NY market could support another team. Long Island or New Jersey. Just my 2 cents.

Well.... between you and my wife and my dog..... that makes 3 of you !! :wink: 4, i've documented my love for you on here many times...it saddens me that you don't acknowledge that :-( I stand corrected, and humbled. :wink: