neely crenshaw

is it at all possible to get out of the top of the first without trailing?

too far, he means he would put in lefties against lefties and righties against righties(see remingler,mike)

2 questions to ponder: 1. do you think the cubs will get a "real" right handed bat off the bench? we used to be really right handed now we are lefthanded. we have burnitz,lawton,holla,grieve,cpatt in the outfield. it certainly would be nice to not have to use blanco as your only right handed bat...i do not count macias or perez. 2. do you think that dusty really feels this is good lineup? this is a really badly constructed team.....

still rainin' dang now i am watching softball 360 for the 5th time this week!

is there any chance we don't play this game? not playing/losing this game could be the best thing that could happen. we don't see this lineup. lee and aram also get rests. we might be able to actually win a game or 2 in this series. this looks like a loss and will just continue the steamroll! a day off might do wonders....and we wouldn't lose

by page 13 we are usually down several runs already..... do you think anyone would notice if they turned on the sprinklers?

not to put words in his mouth but you could just tell he was like" why are you fliipin' interviewing me when i am not even in the flippin' lineup!" he just oozed 'pissed-offness' if i can coin a phrase! and it leads me to this...how pissed off would you be when neifi and macias continue to get at bats for you and corey who is struggling vs everyone continues to hit off(read that be in the lineup) of everyone?

they also shifted to a ryno interview pretty quickly..i think the director was digging todd's honesty

i'm guessing he won't be returning......

walker is a great interview! he was pissed for being taken out of his card game but he was really pissed he wasn't in the line up. he basically said when you look at the lineup and you are a sub, it makes you wonder if you even want to play that day. he also ripped management very subtlely. it was great. he said when you hear rumors about top tier players(mentioned shef and soriano) coming over in trade you get a jolt of energy but when you don't do anything it realy brings you down! he then said we didn't do anything this year and it was a let down.

No need to delay the inevitable. i don't want to skip the game just that lineup! Why? Let Dusty's idiocy be displayed for all to see. hasn't it already? walker's being interviewed and he is pissed...

No need to delay the inevitable. i don't want to skip the game just that lineup!

do you think hendry's in his office praying for a rain out so dusty can skip maddux' start? (maybe it's macphail)

this would have been a good day for a rain out? should have developed tarp problems! where is crash davis when you need him!

Draw your own conclusions why start disciplining now? how come no one sat when the couldn't cover first or barrett on his bonehead little league play? hell alouu and sammy did this for 3 years! not to mention all the baserunning crap...

i'm guessing dusty knows walker is hitting .377 with a .415 obp vs lefties, obviously that's why we go with perez. we don't have much to play for but this lineup makes no sense. why waste playing lee and aram if you are tanking it. at least it would do some good to rest them! macias has 3 walks this year, perez has 11(in 400 at bats) impossible!

i have decided that this is move to keep maddux from his option. obviously they will have to pinch for him in the 4th thus keeping his innings down.. i would not be pleased if i am greg maddux, who has thrown well in 4 of 5 starts but got no help. then i look and see that perez and macias are in the lineup for me.

exactly why did we pick up lawton? i'm sure he hit against lefties in pittsburgh... isn't amazing how many guys make it to the majors but the can't hit against a guy who throws the same hand as they bat....

there is a difference between trading hill for dunn and a garland for a loogie- and a poor one at that. dunn is a young, proven power hitter that we are sorely in need of. he is not expensive-yet. he is not over the hill. he has some drawbacks but he certainly fills a huge hole. i am one that never complains about willis. he would look nice as a lefty in our rotation but we lost our closer in spring traning and we needed one badly. we got the bets that we could...it did not work out but we also had clement. i will never complain about moves that make sense...whether they work or not. i will complain when you gamble and lose- like nomar. if we had gone after benetiz and he got hurt, no complaint. he does not have a history of this, he had been consistent. that would be bad luck. if got dunn and he faltered and hill was a 20 game winner it still make sense.

my biggest worry 2 years ago is that the cubs would blow this window of oppurtunity. they did. 2004 starting rotation-wood,prior,z,clement and maddux.....maddux was the most expensive. the total cost was around25 mil. cubs potential 2006 staff- prior,z,wood,maddux and williams...wood and maddux 22 mil in salary. we have a potentially great staff but lots and lots of questions and injury problems. they are now no longer cheap. we may pay 40+mil for 2.5 starters or worse. if wood is hurt, maddux falters...anyone else drops or goes to the pen we will pay that much for a re do on a staff with williams,hill and or mitre..so on. we had a window where we had arguably the best staff in baseball at one of the lowest costs in baseball. we had a lot of room to fix the bullpen and the lineup but didn't now we must cut pitching or go cheap on line up...neither looks good.

it wouldn't happen to be bat day, would it? and yes i love the cubs.....however there is a very fine line betwwen love and hate!

there are many,many choices! a lot will be decided by who is signed or can be signed. if get a furcal type for lead off then we probably need 2 hitters in the outfield. i like murton but you can not have 2 outfielders with little power at wrigley. especially if the guy you are counting on for power is corey(see:2005) i really reggie sanders, he is very consistent regardless of where he plays. he is always supposed to be a good teammate. he could be signed for 1 or possibly years not real expensive. last year was the 1st year he signed a two year deal. that would be a good time table for our young outfielders to develop. we definitely would know what corey had, and hopefully pie and murton would be ready. if we went with cedeno or furcal at short we would need another ofer. it could be huff or giles, trades are tough to guess on because you never know who is available. we must upgrade from burnitz. you can not be a playoff team iif he is your best offensive outfielder. i am torn on nomar. i like him. i want to be healthy. i might resign him to a cheap incentive laden contract. there really isn't much out there so that may mean you gamble. if he goes down again...i go with cedeno at at least until trading deadline. if nomar has an incentive deal you would have some cash to play with for a deal. if you sign nomar you must sign a lead off man at 2nd or of. i certainly hope everyone has seen that a lead off hitter is a necessity. corey can not do it and if they are even considering pie for it then he better do it the rest of the year and maybe next in the minors. one thought is a trade with washington. they have several options at 2nd. vidro has been hurt and is more expensive perhaps they would deal him. he is good offensive player and would have to be positive he could lead off, and i personally do not know enough about him to be sure. bullpen needs help. however, i think they are only an arm or two away from being solid. we have a closer in dempster. my next thought is put woody in that role the rest of the year. see if he can do it then that ups his trade value. at 12 mil a year he has to either be a healthy-good starter or a closer(or traded). it would be easier to swallow the 12 mil if he was a great closer, rather than a set up man. it would also keep dempster's value down a little for resigning. we should know if williamson can be the right handed set up guy, if so..all we need is a tough lefty set up man. we would need to spend a bit. you then habe ohman as a loogie, welmeyer,mitre and wuertz as possibly the bullpen. there should be a good battle for these spots. dare i say, it could actually be a strength? starters for the first time in resent history is a huge problem. you have 2 studs z-prior. what happens with wood/maddux means a lot. if either is not in the rotation, we must sign someone and someone preety good. burnett, schmidt, mulder...it has to be a top 3 kinda guy. we do not have the studs to think that any of our young guys can be a top 3. williams might be ok as an end of the rotation guy but not 3. same with rusch-although i think he is gone if he is not a starter. hill is not looking good but we might as well watch the rest of the season- we will have a good idea then. if wood and maddux are gone..there would be 21 mil to sign some help. if they are there, you can not afford to sign more help. so it's hoping that wood is healthy and maddux can hang on for 1 more decent year. then williams is probably your 5, maybe hill.

classless or not..you do not stab players in the back when they signed a backloaded contract to try to help the cubs win. now we owe him. if he doesn't get it on his own..fine but you can not screw him out of it. the best move would have been to try and move him before the break to a contender he would like to play for... we all have ideas to sign this guy or that guy and backload the contarct well if you screw greg maddux- no one is going to give the cubs a home team discount or help them with a deal. by the way...earlier when maddux was winning many people were saying he wasn't any good because his era was high. well boys, he has been steadily dropping his era(from 5.00 to 4.50) but hasn't got the support. so shouldn't we be happy with him...his era is dropping quickly! so which way is it?

add in phenominal defense....playing in wrigley i think he will always make a run at .300 and 30-35

this is not a good offensive team. you have 2 good hitters in aram and lee. barrett is good for his position. walker is a nice complimentary player everyone else is below or way below average.