soccer10k

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.

As long as Sammy realizes that he isn't the star anymore, isn't the focal point of the offense, and is content platooning with Jones, I wouldn't have a problem bringing him in. But if he expects to start everyday because he's Sammy Sosa the future HOFer then he can just stay home.

Relax, the point wasn't to insult, just to do something a little different. The point remains that it's impossible to find someone that's unquestionably clean. Maybe "unqeustionable clean" maybe TOO HIGH of a standard in today's baseball, but I still wouldn't take Giambi, who not only used steroids, but LIED about taking steroids. No thank you. A cheat is one thing, but a cheat and a LIAR, no way. Call it the Sammyitis. He didn't lie about taking steroids, did he? He came clean to the grand jury, but I don't remember any accusations that he denied before that. If you're talking about his nondenial denial at the beginning of last season, he was just doing all that was asked of him legally. That testimony was considered sealed and he didn't have to comment on it. But that is considered lying. He didn't tell the truth when the questions were asked.

That makes complete sense. How are you supposed to get better at hitting lefties when you don't see them that often? Please hire a lefty BP pitcher Jim Hendry.

I like that comparison. At least they didn't say Barry Zito.

Bump me up to 50 per day.

Excellent stats Pedro. Keep it up. Not a problem. Here's another: The Cubs are 1-0 on every day where they scored more runs than they allowed the other team to score. The Cubs are undefeated on days that a game isn't scheduled.

If he passes Ruth on the road he WILL get booed. There is no doubt about it. The only place he'll hear cheers is in San Francisco. Nobody else wants him to pass Ruth. I don't think whoever gives up the homeruns should bean Barry just because it's Barry. The Cubs pitchers didn't bean McGwire after he hit #62 against us in 1998. Even though I HATE Bonds and wish injury upon him every day, I think it would be classless to bean him.

Excellent stats Pedro. Keep it up. BTW, post 1500. Not important enough to go in the milestones thread, but important enough to be mentioned.

And that ends that discussion. It's an excellent point. The thought just popped into my head after Novoa made the error.

As long as they don't test for HGH we don't know who is clean and who isn't.

Wow.

I hope you're right.

I am. Italy's younger stars have looked very good of late (plus Totti looks like he'll be 100%), and the Czechs have Nedved. Sorry, allow me to rephrase that. I'm not worried about us playing WELL against Italy and Czech Republic. Whether we win or not is another thing. I am worried about how well we play vs Ghana.