soccer10k

13 innings without a run. 1 run in the last 26 innings. 3 runs in the past 45 innings. What an offense.

Tell one of your friends to call an ambulance. You could be drinking for a while.

MLB.TV is awesome. I just saw Anquan Boldin take batting practice.

one for every doughnut we put on the board. buzzed yet? If you want to get even more drunk you can take a shot for every inning the Cubs allow a run to score.

Welcome angry Bulls fan #1

106-88 Heat wiht 3 minutes to go. We should see more people joining the thread now that the Bulls are done.

You act as if being denied the ability to watch this train wreck is a bad thing. I almost want to thank EI for taking the pain away.... It's going to be MLB.TV for me also.

That's an excellent point. At least now he won't have to worry as much about the runners and can just pitch. If Barrett were catching the runners would be moving all night long. A .231 CS% isn't that bad considering he caught 5 of Maddux's 6 starts and all 5 of Marshall's starts. How many runners have attempted to steal on him? A person with a bad arm is going to throw people out at some point if players continue to run because they will get more and more aggressive.

Fixed what your post should read. Fixed it to what it does and should read. Obviously Wood has been injured a lot and I'm not saying that he's a horrible pitcher, I'm just saying that it seems to me that some people on this board consider him to be a god. Expecting Wood to have won a Cy Young or two by now isn't realistic. I said Cy Young caliber season. I never said and don't expect him to win 20-25 games and strike out 15+ per game. My point is that great pitchers find ways to win games and Kerry Wood hasn't done that over his career. In 2003 the Cubs won the division and 88 games and Wood only finished at 14-11 in 32 starts. In 2001 he went 12-6 in 28 starts and the Cubs won 88 games that year also. In 2002 he went 12-11 in 33 starts for a team that won just 67 games. Wouldn't you think that a guy that was supposed to be our ace in 2003 and at worst was our 2nd best pitcher would win 15 games. I don't think these expectations are high at all for a guy that is supposed to be great. People are accusing me of having too high of expectations for Wood yet half the people on this board can't wait for Wood to return because they think he, and Prior, are going to save the season. And I'm the one expecting too much out of him? Please. Give me a break. 23 players won 15 games in 2005 including Rodrigo Lopez and Jake Westbrook. 23 players won 15 games in 2004 including Shawn Estes and Brian Lawrence 26 players won 15 games in 2003 including Jeriome Robertson, Ramon Ortiz and Gil Meche 28 players won 15 games in 2002 including Paul Byrd who won 17 games for a KC team that won 62 games 29 players won 15 games in 2001 25 players won 15 games in 2000 And you say that Kerry Wood winning 15 games isn't a big deal? Look at the complete lists for yourself and look at the players that have won 15 games. There are even players that won 15 games with ERA's over 5.

That's an excellent point. At least now he won't have to worry as much about the runners and can just pitch. If Barrett were catching the runners would be moving all night long.

Juan Cruz is probably jumping up and down right now after seeing the Cubs lineup. Thank goodness the Lakers game is on tonight so I have another option.

Seconded. I'll be watching the Lakers-Suns Game 6. I'd rather watch a Devil Rays Vs. Royals game before I watch a Pro-Basketball game. I know a lot of people on this board will be watching the Bulls-Heat Game 6, as long as it's close, before the Cubs game.

i predict that Glendon Rusch, angry that he lost his rotation spot, will eat Rich Hill and force Dusty to start him today.

Seconded. I'll be watching the Lakers-Suns Game 6.

but that's not the real issue, the real issue is: why has kerry wood failed to have a 700 strikeout season? i mean honestly, he obviously sucks. The real issue is why haven't any of them won at least 15 games in a season. That's the true measuring stick. Maybe I was a bit harsh earlier, after reading Goony's post, I want Dusty hung up by his balls. I can't believe how badly the abuse of our pitchers looked when written out like that. I know Prior wants to be out, I just wish he'd stop getting flu's and stomach virus's. Prior won 18 in 2003. But you are right on Wood. You do know I was being sarcastic right? No I didn't, but I do think Wood not winning 15 games in a season is a big deal. I know that wins don't mean everything, and I have discussed this in another thread, but if Kerry Wood is so great, you would think he would have had a Cy Young caliber season already. But he hasn't.

"Beaning" used to mean hitting in the head which I would be opposed to also. But I am not opposed to pitchers throwing inside and hitting a batter if they lean over the plate or stand and admire the ball they hit out the next time they bat. That is the way baseball has been played as no one should have any unfair advantage or be shown up. A pitcher liking to throw inside and hitting a guy that is leaning over the plate is one thing. I could care less if that happened. But I'm talking about the intentional HBP where the guy turns and the ball hits him in the back. That would be classless. As for the standing and admiring their homeruns, I don't like it for just any home run. But if a guy hits a milestone homerun a la Bonds's 714/715 or a walk off homerun then that is different. But I don't like it when somebody admires a third inning solo shot that means nothing more than giving your team one run..

Too late.

Like I said, only if he's in the lineup against lefty's and is platooning with Jones.

Should we nickname that ball Ty Cobb?

I think just about anybody can hit lefty pitching better than Jones can.

I'm not tired of it. It's exactly what they should be doing. They have an obligation to their customers to be as forthright as possible, and to be open and honest about injuries. You hear every other team talking about timelines. Sometimes they are met, sometimes they are not. The Cubs, in their pathetic pansy way take offense when they are called out on it, so they hide in their little shell and pretend nothing is behind the green curtain. It's a sad yet perfect depiction of the all-around ineptness of this organization. Somebody refered earlier to the concept that the Cubs can do no right in this situation. I think that's exactly the point. They are a bunch of bumbling buffoons who can't figure out anything injury related. They can't figure out the one problem that has killed this team for years offensively. They can't figure out how to get pitchers to throw strikes. They can't figure out how to win ballgames. This front office has had a dozen years to get things right and they've failed miserably. They foolishly tried to become the next Braves, when they should have tried to be the next Marlins. If you put all your hopes on a couple arms, the odds are you will fail because arms are extremely unreliable. If they put an ounce of energy into the offense, and more than a minute of thought beyond the tools, it would be a lot easier to win games without absolutely perfect pitching. And I'm sure that would go over well with the board. I know that probably would have meant a World Series title or two, but how many people would honestly like it if the Cubs just traded ALL of their good players right after winning? How many people would want Hendry's head on a platter for doing that? Maybe not after the first World Series, but definately after the second. Remember, the Braves did win a World Series title during their run and I would much rather emulate them than the Marlins.

but that's not the real issue, the real issue is: why has kerry wood failed to have a 700 strikeout season? i mean honestly, he obviously sucks. The real issue is why haven't any of them won at least 15 games in a season. That's the true measuring stick. Maybe I was a bit harsh earlier, after reading Goony's post, I want Dusty hung up by his balls. I can't believe how badly the abuse of our pitchers looked when written out like that. I know Prior wants to be out, I just wish he'd stop getting flu's and stomach virus's. Prior won 18 in 2003. But you are right on Wood.

The Cards might not "regress to the mean." They are only on pace for 98 wins which they could easily end up with. However, the Reds and Astros are on pace for 110 and 108 wins respectively. They will drop of and I think the Reds will more than the Astros.

Ugh. I can see it already. Former Cubs player pitches well against Cubs just to spite them for not keeping him. Ugh.

I couldn't agree with you more. I've always thought that since athletes are EXTREMELY comptetative, not just within the sport they play professionally but outside of it as well, that they will try to at least return by the set date. If the team sets a certain date, an athlete will look at it as a challenge, and the fans will EXPECT the player to return by then. Anything short of that is considered to be a setback when in reality it might not be. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing when a player might be back. I don't want to know if Prior might make a start on a certain day. Wait a couple days and tell me the day before or day of that he's going to throw a simulated game. Tell me a couple days in advance, after his final simulated game, that he's going to make a minor league rehab start on a certain day. But I'm tired of hearing estimations on when a player will return a couple weeks in advance. I have no problems with estimating DLee being out 8-10 weeks, but don't set a specific date or couple dates for his return. As John said, have the Cubs made mistakes in the past? Absolutely. But I think they are handleing these injuries in the right way. It appears that nothing is good enough for Cubs fans. If they set an early return date for Wood and he doesn't make it, then it's a setback and Cubs fans are angry. But if they set a late return date, then Cubs fans wonder why that injury takes so long to recover from and then are angry. It appears that nothing will please anybody. Just let the injuries run their course. Prior and Wood will return at some point. But people. Just chill out. I apologize for the but I used it for emphasis.