frostwyrm

McGwire had a perfect chance to defend his career in a national forum and he didn't do it, so why should anyone else?

Gerut is a guy who had me wondering. His power disappeared after 2003. Roid withdrawal or injuries? I don't know, but everyone who has a sudden power drop is a suspect in my eyes.

Best game thread ever.

Good pickup. Let him lead off.

Okay, 13-2 now. Where is Cedeno?

The mods should go ahead and lock this now. We don't need no 9th inning.

Macias and Holla in. If Dusty wants to clear the bench, why no Ronny? :(

Looks like Hollandsworth has lost the starting LF job for the 2nd time. Praise be to God.

Actually, in this lineup I think Murton fits in well in front of the pitcher. Murton is more likely than Perez to turn over the lineup by getting on base thus allowing the pitcher to hit or sacrifice. Another benefit of Neifi batting 7th is if he can get on base Matt can potentially drive him in. Conversely, Neifi has the lowest OBP of all the regulars so there is a greater chance that the pitcher will leadoff more often. All things being equal, you don't want Neifi batting 8th. I've heard these theories before and I don't buy any of them. The advantages of dumping someone like Neifi in the 8 hole easily outweigh the disadvantages IMO. There is a big advantage to turning over the lineup and allowing our 3,4,5 hitters more opportunities to bat. Considering Neifi's sub 300 OBP there is an outstanding chance that the pitcher will always leadoff. Additionally, it's more advantageous to keep our pitchers off the base paths even though most of them are decent hitters. I contend that its better to have the pitcher come up in a sacrifice situation... I think you're a little too obsessed with turning over the lineup. Neifi at 7th gives us more stranded runners and killed rallies, and putting Murton at 8th makes it difficult for him to get good pitches to hit. Of course it would also make it tough for Neifi to get good pitches, but who cares? He's an offensive non-entity.

Actually, in this lineup I think Murton fits in well in front of the pitcher. Murton is more likely than Perez to turn over the lineup by getting on base thus allowing the pitcher to hit or sacrifice. Another benefit of Neifi batting 7th is if he can get on base Matt can potentially drive him in. Conversely, Neifi has the lowest OBP of all the regulars so there is a greater chance that the pitcher will leadoff more often. All things being equal, you don't want Neifi batting 8th. He's the worst hitter in the lineup. There's a much higher chance of Neifi stranding runners, which is more important than turning the lineup over, or getting on base for the 8 hitter. If Murton hits 7th, he's going to get more runners to drive in than in the 8 spot. Again, he's the worst hitter in the lineup(by far), he should be hitting in the lowest spot. The 7th slot is not considered an RBI position. The 8th slot is not considered an RBI position either, yet you specifically mentioned possible Murton RBI opportunities as a reason for putting Murton 8th. Be a little more consisitent.

Actually, in this lineup I think Murton fits in well in front of the pitcher. Murton is more likely than Perez to turn over the lineup by getting on base thus allowing the pitcher to hit or sacrifice. Another benefit of Neifi batting 7th is if he can get on base Matt can potentially drive him in. Conversely, Neifi has the lowest OBP of all the regulars so there is a greater chance that the pitcher will leadoff more often. All things being equal, you don't want Neifi batting 8th. I've heard these theories before and I don't buy any of them. The advantages of dumping someone like Neifi in the 8 hole easily outweigh the disadvantages IMO.

Dusty is trying to break up the L and R bats. It's still dumb. Murton is wasted at #8 because he is essentially batting between two pitchers.

Between Grieve/Gerut/Hollandworth someone has to go. These guys are way too similar. My preference is to move Holla because if Murton stumbles Dusty won't be able to resist giving Holla yet another chance. Also, with Nomar's return Neifi is expendable, which of course he always was anyway. Holla and Neifi have been a pair of concrete galoshes and their immediate disappearance would make the Cubs better overnight. I'd trade them both for a bag of air.

A straight L/R platoon would give Gerut the bulk of the time, which wouldn't be fair to Murton. Maybe it's due to his knee problems but Gerut has been lousy since 2003 and shouldn't automatically be given anything. Murton has done nothing but hit in both the minors and the majors so far this year and he deserves at least half the time in LF.

Dubois 3-5 tonight with a homer as the Indians left fielder.

Alright Murt! Time to stick the dagger in Holla's career as a starter.

Vazquez threw a really nasty pitch to get Lee.

Vazquez has been a Jekyll and Hyde type pitcher lately. Looks like we got Hyde today. Should be an easy win with Prior on the mound.

Neifi hasn't walked since July 3rd. Exactly the guy you want batting in front of Derek Lee

I've become a big fan of the guy at rotoworld who writes the little blurbs about the Cubs. I'd be curious to know how many times Holla has played himself out of a starter's job in his career.

Vazquez has had an interesting month. He's been either great or terrible in all his games.

Murton gets a start vs. a righty. Looks bad for Hollandsworth.

I remember plays where Alou would hit a grounder to SS or 3B and start jogging to first base. The defender would muff the ball pretty badly, Alou would then notice and try to accelerate, but still get thrown out at first. Not hustling is always bad, but you should at least run while you're waiting to see if the defender fields the ball cleanly.

There's a lot of truth in that. Good post. I agree with both of you. There is valid criticism of everyone, Dusty, the players and management. But everyday, even in wins, people feel the need to rip some decision that was made. The hate for Neifi is hard to believe. I remember when someone said he is the "worst hitter ever in baseball" and tried to justify it with some idiot's blog. Well, in 120 games with the Cubs, he's hit .280-21 doubles-10 HR's-45 rbi's and very good defense. Not bad for someone who is the backup shortstop forced into playing everyday. I remember the outrage over trading Hee Flop Choi and Bobby Hill. It is also apparent that anyone who disagrees with the consensus thinking, which often turns out wrong, is threatened with being banned. When everyone agrees or is told to, it seems to eliminate discussion. When I read the justification for the Hawkins incident, I find it embarrassing to be a Cubs fan and season ticketholder for over 20 years. I presume you are talking about me with the bolded remark. You missed my point. I believe dime's post merits a temporay banning because it is composed entirely of personal insults and attacks aimed at other members of this forum. It's not mildly insulting either, in fact it's probably the most insulting post I've ever seen here. If dime's post had argued the merits of the perceived "consenus thinking", or any other baseball ideas, then my attitude towards it would be different. Unfortunately the post contained only ad hominem attacks, which in my opinion is unacceptable.

If it were up to me you'd be temporarily banned for this post.