Guancous

Here's an article about the signings from Bleacher Nation (not the execrable Bleacher Report): http://www.bleachernation.com/2011/07/27/the-chicago-cubs-may-be-on-the-verge-of-adding-yet-another-top-high-school-draft-pick/

Thanks for the clarification. I should have made that distinction clearer.

Matt "Juan Pierre" Szczur is doing work. I always think about that quote when Szczur hits a HR. Just idiotic. Who is that quote attributed to? Keith Law, I assume. I obviously disagree with his assessment due to my biases. This was Szczur's first home run that left the park.

It would be optimal to add a fresh name before the trade deadline.

Billy Hamilton has 72 steals this year alone. DeVoss will be valuable with a .320 OBP. He'll be a household name if he can ever get to .400.

You need an Easterling avatar to stake claim as captain of the fan club.

Wait, the Cubs actually lost additional leverage in dealing Soriano?

An inside the parker, no less.

I was expecting Brennaman to say that it was for all the Tostitos.

Guancous: (After Stanton's 1st HR of the game) Stanton is a beast. Guancous's dad: Where's our beast?

I'm at this game. This is insane.

Who knew Ramon Ortiz had nothing left in the tank?

http://twitter.com/#!/CarrieMuskat/status/87213257709985792 If you told me that after the draft that Montanez would be batting 3rd in 2011, I would naturally assume that he was in the middle of a Hall of Fame career.

It could well be that Wilken and company were wholly justified in picking Simpson where they did. However, there probably will come a point in Simpson's struggles where I have to wonder whether he will ever get back to 100%. Simpson may never get back to that point. As I've said before, I'm willing to give him a pass on this season. He will have the entire offseason to work out, get back into playing shape, and prove himself next season. However, I am concerned. The going assumption has been that he lost all of his stuff because he lost all his strength with mono last year. Please say Simpson does not have a labrum issue because it sounds like a bad shoulder. If so, there's the thought that he will rebuild his strength and will regain his velocity. I guess I have a concern that he'll be able to regain his strength and size, but I wonder if he'll ever regain his velocity, and that their might be something other than mono at issue with his arm. By BA account he was throwing 94 or whatever in his first start in cold Peoria. A couple starts later he came out with a tight shoulder. Young pitchers have arm problems all the time, whether they had mono last year or not. I don't know anything, but I do admit I have a fear that it's an injured arm rather than mono that is killing him. I also admit that the session that sold Wilken on him last year, IIRC he pitched a winning game throwing in the mid/upper 90's on friday or Saturday, and then came back and did that in relief again on Monday. Not normal rest. It's possible that pitching short-rest and high-pitch-counts like that in the playoffs damaged his arm, and the mono has not so much to do with it. Hope it really is all the mono. In any case, by next season I don't think we'll be able to keep blaming it on mono anymore.

Great job conserving the bullpen after that gruesome doubleheader yesterday.

Who was the last Cubs pitcher with a shutout?

RBI single for Vitters.

Hey Men in Blue, it looks like you're new here. This community prefers having fewer threads with more content. There are no qualms about 50, 60, 100+ threads. Double-posting is especially frowned upon but it happens, especially if you're posting from a phone.

Catching Hell is a fine documentary. In true ESPN fashion, a full third of the movie is about Bill Buckner and the ball that went through his legs. Bartman is treated sympathetically and much more blame is given to Alex Gonzalez's error. Almost no mention is made of leaving Mark Prior in too long during the blowout in game 2. There's a solid discussion on the psychological impact of scapegoating and great videos that haven't been shown before. It has to hurt when 50,000 people are swearing at you in unison. Verdict? Baseball fans should watch it but it's not essential for Cubs fans. It's still an in-depth exploration of one of the worst days of our lives. It's visceral and takes you back to the gruesome end of the 2003 season. At times it feels more like a horror movie than a documentary.

Bour is such an enigma to me. I'm sure I overrate him my mind due to the lack of other 1Bs in the system.

I saw the ESPN documentary about Steve Bartman today. I consoled myself by realizing Castro won't peak until 2017 or so.

Good news: The Cubs were on base at least 4 times. Bad news: Wavin' Wendell Kim apparently came out of retirement. They deserve to lose tonight.

I'm going to the Bartman 30 By 30 premiere this afternoon. I'll post a review this weekend.

It would be ironic if Hendry gets fired the year Samardzija breaks through. He just needs better control to be a weapon. Of course, that describes every reliever.

Starlin Castro is the truth.