Larry Horse

Not to pile on, but I heard that among Cubs with at least 400 AB's, Corey has the lowest average by a Cub in the last 65 years.

http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dssports/pro/291sd7.htm "When Baker was asked if Chicago was a tough town for managers, he talked about the intensifying pressure to win in many baseball cities across the country. "A lot of places are becoming tough, places that haven't been tough before," Baker said. "There is the need to win now. The cost of tickets, fantasy baseball, gambling. "People say, 'Aw, man. I wish you guys hadn't given up those last two runs — the over and under is messed up.' It's true. Gambling is big now. "When we were kids, we had to hide in the basement at one of my buddy's house and used match sticks to play poker," Baker added. "Now it's on TV like it's no big deal. Am I right? I think gambling has come more to the forefront and more accepted than anything in our country, whether it's the lottery or poker." When asked if it's right that baseball teams allow casinos to advertise in ballparks, Baker said, "Hey, man, don't ask me." The Cubs use casino advertising on their scoreboard." Why would gambling or fantasy baseball have any effect on the Cubs being able to win? And why would Baker be talking to people who are worried about the over/under of a Cub game? Could someone please explain this?

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/beatwriters.asp?column=miles Bruce does it again.....how about a Mike Kiley for Bruce Miles trade?

I think it's pretty much unanimous, then. Everyone wants to resign Nomar. Not me, unless he's comes CHEAP !! Then if that happens, put him at SS, wait for the inevitable DL trip, and stick Cedeno in there for the rest of the year.

Don, that is by far the best posting on the overall state of the Cubs. Great job. It still amazes me the number of Cub fans who accept "back to back" winning seasons as something to be proud of. It should be something to be embarrased about.

A winner? Really? How many World Series has he won? The only real winners right now are guys like LaRussa, Torre, Francona, and Scioscia. I don't see a lot of parallels between them and Rusty. We've got to expect more than "back to back" winning seasons. That's the same old trait I hate in many Cub fans: diminishing expectations. In 2003, Baker's team was 5 outs away from the WS In 2004, Baker's team collapsed in the last week of the season, losing crucial games to the fifth-place Reds. In 2005, Baker's team will finish with a losing record. Am I the only person that sees a regression here? I never have understood why Joe Torre constantly gets listed as a great manager. He's been handed all star team after all star team since he became manager of the Yankees. Isn't an all star team supposed to win the whole thing? Better yet, we're getting ready to see the Yankees NOT win a World Series for 5 straight years now, and Steinbrenner has gone out and gotten him a better team each year Torre fails to win it all for him. Torre pre-Yankee manager record: 894 wins 1003 losses He managed St. Louis, New York Mets and Atlanta during that time in his career, and managed only 1 first place finish and 2 second place finishes in 14 years. It's all about the rings. Period. That is the standard to judge managers. Let's see, who has had more success during their period of ownership, Steinbrenner or the Trib? Oh, that's right, the Yankees don't do it the right way because they try and "buy" titles. The Cubs have too much integrity to try and win that way. I'll take the Yanks success anyday of the week.

B/c this year's numbers are so far out of line of his past numbers. This year he got off to an incredible start and has faded toward the end. Normally he starts off poor and then heats up. Be that as it may, he is 30 and at his peak but for him to have another season like this year would be remarkable. As I originally stated, he still is a top 5 1st baseman even at his career norms. There is no guarantee that any of the young players would be superstars, but I don't reacall anyone stating that they would. Maybe I need to re-read the thread. And as I stated above, I don't think the D-backs would make the deal. Nevertheless, it is fun to talk about it. Again, this does not take into account that Lee has changed his swing and plate coverage. With those improvements, he is not the same hitter he was when he set those career averages. I think he could very well hit .310/40 HR/105-110 RBI for the next few years. The Cubs have a ton of money to spend and lots of spare parts (resign Walker and Rusch) to trade without talking about trading one of the building blocks of the team. With players like Walker, Patterson, Rusch/Williams, Mitre, Hall, Welly, plus prospects, the Cubs ought to be able to fill one OF position plus a pitcher (starter or reliever). Spend the big money on big-time free agent (Furcal, Giles, etc.). Plan on starting Murton and Cedeno (at 2B or SS). Don't mess with Lee, Ramirez, Prior, Zambrano, and Barrett. If a trade is on the table that would improve the Cubs, then no one is untouchable. How can a team that hasn't won a World Series in 97 years have any "untouchables"? But then again, I don't trust the people making the personnel decisions anyway.

THANK YOU MEAT !!!!!!

I still have no idea how the Cubs could possibly replace Sammy....... :roll:

Way too much money. I would offer him 2.5 to 4 mil with incentives. He has a lot to prove, and this brief stint from the DL doesn't do it for me. I will go on record as saying there's no way he signs that cheap. The only question about him is health. He's shown since he's come back from the DL that he can perform. Somebody, whether its the Cubs or not, will guarantee him five million. That I am sure of, and I'd probably put the figure closer to seven million. I think the Cubs have a better chance of getting him at five than any other team would. It's not a question of whether he still has the skills; it's a question of whether he can stay healthy. The history of FA signings indicate there's no way that Nomar signs for less than five. Look at the contracts that have been handed out to players over the years. No way Nomar signs for less than five. If the Cubs get him for five, fine. If somebody wants to guarantee him 7, God bless em. I hope it's not the Cubs. He still has yet to play a full season in a Cub uniform.

Way too much money. I would offer him 2.5 to 4 mil with incentives. He has a lot to prove, and this brief stint from the DL doesn't do it for me.

And after 10+ years as a major league manager I think he's successfully brought one more rookie to the majors than everyone on this board combined, too. The Cubs haven't given him much to work with. Rich Aurilia. There's his one position player from the Giants. In 10 years. I'm sure that was just due to a lack of personnel. Obviously, undue criticism.

And after 10+ years as a major league manager I think he's successfully brought one more rookie to the majors than everyone on this board combined, too. That's a scary thought, Tim.

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/cubs.asp “I’m getting more and more impressed and that’s why I used him the way I did early,” Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. “Get him some success. Success breeds confidence and confidence breeds more success.” Baker didn’t want Murton to get stuck in a slump right away. However, solidly-built redhead did shake off an 0-for-26 slide early in his first season of pro ball at Lowell, Mass. “I didn’t want to just throw him in there in the fire against guys when I didn’t like their repertoire of pitches,” Baker added. “We were bringing him along, bringing him along and now he’s playing every day against everybody.” Yea, that explains it.

Amen. I thought sanity might reign when Dusty came for the hook in the 9th - but, then he let Zambrano get the glory and top the 120 pitch mark, again. Unconscionable. What's even worse is that when he came out the crowd booed him because they thought he was taking Carlos out, and then when he left him in the crowd went nuts. I hate Cubs fans sometimes. Also, Cubs fans have definitely fallen into the "pay no attention unless Derrek Lee is batting" routine, just like they used to do with Sammy. Sadly, Wrigley is filled with people who don't know baseball. (Insert Dusty joke here.....)

I'd say KJ also. I don't know why I'm so stuck on the idea of going with LJ over KJ in my league.

Should I start: Larry Johnson at OAK or Kevin Jones at CHI Vick at SEA or Bledsoe vs WASH Thanks for the help guys.

There are many things the Cubs could do this off season that frighten me Vance. I agree with both you. This is going to be the offseason that really shows us what Hendry can do.

Who cares about the fans, I wish the players had this attitude. Point well taken.

It all comes from the culture of an organization from the top on down. I moved to St. Louis the same year that Anheuser-Busch sold the Cardinals to its current owners. I will never forget Mark Lamping's (Cardinals President) first press conference. He said, "Any season that we are not contending for the division title will be considered a disappointing season." I know that's a little different than what Pujols was saying, but after 11 years, I'm still trying to find a quote by MacPhail that is similar to the one Lamping made. I heard an interview with Andy on the Score and Ofman asked him what he was most proud of during his tenure, and his response was the attendance records.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/6C9E1B148C98E9C18625705F001272CF?OpenDocument "You don't play to win the division, you play to win the championship ring," first baseman Albert Pujols said. "We didn't get it last year. How many Central Division titles does this team have? We don't care about that. It doesn't matter what kind of record we have. Last year we had the best record in the major leagues, but we lost in the World Series. Nobody's talking about (the record). Everybody talks about the world champions. You concentrate on getting back there and winning." Thank you Albert. This is the attitude I wish all Cub fans had. Back-to-back winning seasons and being 5 outs from the World Series are not things to be celebrated. Pujols' first sentence of that quote says it all.

Prior sitting on about 33 pitches already.......

i'm no big fan of dusty's, but he actually complimented Murton. Interesting. I didn't read the whole quote, but I wonder if he feels this way then why isn't he playing every day? If I had a player who was playing "outstanding", I would not play him every couple of days.

I've never used this emoticon becuase frankly I hate it but this surely calls for it :roll: So Dusty, who is supposedly a players manager, won't "brag right away or jump on bandwagons" about Murton? Hmmm, I wonder why?

2003 is beginning to look more and more like the 13-3 Bears season a few years ago.