David

I don't want this to be limited to NSBB-related themes... - calling underrated or under-appreciated players "MVP's" - the other day Mike Murphy was talking some nonsense about DeRosa or Theriot being the Cubs' MVP, even though neither of those guys would be candidates for league MVP like, say, Soriano might (actually nobody on the Cubs would, but that's a separate argument)... the fact that they fly under the radar doesn't make them more valuable to the team. Nor does their versatility. valuable = valuable... overlooked = overlooked - referring to guys as "winners"... these players have happened to be on winning teams more often than not.. there is inevitably going to be a subset of role players who have just happened to be on a lot of good teams... craig counsell, steve kerr, whatever.... the real "winners" are the good players, period.

I'll start... I guess I'm going to take away a lot of the obvious ones, but here goes... - the pitcher W-L statistic - period - complaining about hitters striking out - complaining about hitting with RISP and other "clutch" nonsense - "chemistry" - that one is more of a sports thing in general - talking about how certain players do against certain teams - I call this one the Big Unit... Randy Johnson is 10000 - 0 against the Cubs - OK, well W-L doesn't matter, Randy Johnson isn't the same pitcher he was 5 years ago, much less 10 years ago, and the Cubs have a completely different team than they did 5 years ago, much less 10 years ago... this stat means nothing - "Cub killers" - Carlos Lee and Adam Dunn kill everybody...they're very good hitters... they've just happened to do a little better against us (or have they, I'm sure they're above their career averages, but I don't feel like looking)... we also happen to face them more often than most teams because they've been on teams in our division - complaining about first pitch swings on a team that leads the league in OBP - you can't take every single first pitch (this one is obviously a more recent phenomenon, as I used to get insanely upset when our hitters would swing early in past years) - this one was honestly a reach, I'm running out of steam :blush: I'm sure I could come up with more, but I'll stop and let you guys add...

The Marlins are even more of a non factor for the division. Yeah, Id rather face the Cards then the Brewers if it came down to it, but I cant see that happen. Wouldnt you rather they be far off in the rear view mirror than in a 3 way race? Who said anything about the Marlins? What do they even have to do with anything? We're not in a 3 way race. The Cardinals are dead (as far as the Cubs are concerned). Go ahead and quote me and ridicule me in two months if I'm wrong. I don't expect to be. The only locked up playoff spot belongs to the Los Angleas Angels of Annaheim. k thx for the update

Meh... I don't even really get caught up in rivalries... I don't even really have any hatred for the Packers... well, I sort of did when I was younger but that was because we just couldn't beat them. It wasn't really because of any rivalry. When I have reason to "hate" other teams, I guess I do... but it's usually got more to do with fans.... i.e. If I'm surrounded by Sox fans at a Cubs game, I want the Sox to lose extra bad. Or if I had a lot of friends that were, say, Cards fans giving me crap, I guess I would care, but most of my friends are Cubs fans. Otherwise, they're all just the other team to me. The Marlins are the team I come closest to hating for the sake of hating, but they don't even have the same roster that I hated anymore, so....

The Marlins are even more of a non factor for the division. Yeah, Id rather face the Cards then the Brewers if it came down to it, but I cant see that happen. Wouldnt you rather they be far off in the rear view mirror than in a 3 way race? Who said anything about the Marlins? What do they even have to do with anything? We're not in a 3 way race. The Cardinals are dead (as far as the Cubs are concerned). Go ahead and quote me and ridicule me in two months if I'm wrong. I don't expect to be. If you're wrong about this one it'll be pitchforks & torches :club: :mrgreen: Go ahead and hold me to that. :D

I know someone's with me... SSR?

Yup. Place would've been an absolute mad house.

The Marlins are even more of a non factor for the division. Yeah, Id rather face the Cards then the Brewers if it came down to it, but I cant see that happen. Wouldnt you rather they be far off in the rear view mirror than in a 3 way race? Who said anything about the Marlins? What do they even have to do with anything? We're not in a 3 way race. The Cardinals are dead (as far as the Cubs are concerned). Go ahead and quote me and ridicule me in two months if I'm wrong. I don't expect to be.

They've got a much better chance of catching the Crew than they do of catching us. I'll go ahead and hope for it.

Ugh... Pittsburgh in 2004 :banghead: We should've swept the St.L DH in 2003... that was the Moises bad foul call game... I was there. Everyone was calling home on their cellphones asking what the replay showed because they wouldn't show it at the park.

Harden goes in the night game.

Fact is, my rooting interest isn't changing any outcomes anyway. All I care about and hope for is that the Cardinals wind up with the best second place record in the NL. How/when it happens matters little to me, but they're a non-factor for the division.

Sorry, I'm not at all worried about that Cardinal team catching up to us. They aren't nearly as good. People need to stop with this irrational fear of the Cardinals. Especially with them already 8 back in the loss column. They've been the very definition of mediocre for most of this season (after a hot start). In fact, I'd be far more worried about having to face Milwaukee's starters in the NLCS than I would be of the Cardinals overtaking us for the division. There's a reason those playoff percentages are what they are.

Well, that was great timing... I don't quite care enough to muster up an UGH but I'm slightly annoyed. Rooting for the Cards tonight? Rooting for the Cards the rest of the year, except when they face us.

Well, that was great timing... I don't quite care enough to muster up an UGH but I'm slightly annoyed.

Go Cards

I guess it's 25% one team sweeps, 25% the other sweeps, and 50% it's split Duh

What's weird? The fact that double headers are swept like 49% of the time. The fact that it's so far from 50 percent, or so close? I think it's about where it should be. It shows that it's slightly harder to win a doubleheader than to win 2 in a row, but not as much as conventional wisdom would believe. Well, before any games are played (or coins are flipped) the odds of a 50/50 (which these games more or less are) going the same way twice in a row are 1/4 or 25%. ...and now that's causing me to confuse the hell out of myself trying to figure this out.

What's weird? The fact that double headers are swept like 49% of the time.

That's weird...

In any two given games, there's about a 25% chance (a little higher for the "better" team, a little lower for the "worse" team) that one team will sweep both, right? Nothing wrong with opening a whole separate can of worms in a rainout thread.

Is it really harder to sweep a double header than two win two in a row in general, or is that just another baseball myth?

AccuWeather is showing rain from 7-10pm... Would they delay it 3.5 hours?

No end in sight for that rain.

I think I paid around $50 face for NLDS tickets last year... they were upper deck reserved. NLCS is higher and World Series is still higher.. I think the prices are set by MLB for the playoffs...Could be wrong. If so, SRO face value for the World Series is around $60-70 (based on what I remember hearing they cost for Colorado last year).