wiumike

Rewind and watch the close up of addys swing. In the background, willson does a bat flip in the on deck circle. Guess I won't be needing this.

[schwarber] hold my beer. With confidence I can say he will be the only player ever to be on the champion AFL and MLB roster of the same season.

Even if prime time head to head brought in more total viewers. The advertisers would never allow the viewer the option of flipping to the other game during the commercial. With them running back to back, they know they have exclusivity on baseball in that timeslot.

Am I missing something here, they aren't trying to slide him through waivers to trade him. He was DFA'ed. They have 10 days to trade him or else he can choose free agency or accept going down to their minor leagues.

Losing multiple first round picks and paying 100% extra is pretty significant - especially considering if we simply compensate by going overslot later in the draft again next year we lose multiple first round picks again. Also, if the plan is full rebuild for 2012 at least, that means we're forfeiting probably a top 5-10 pick. That hurts. I agree on losing that first pick would hurt. But considering the amount of overslotting we pulled of this year, would that have been worth parting with Baez. Especially with the fact even more talent may exist in the later picks as other teams will shy away from any signablity issue as they lose that money in the signing pool. Just trying to think outside the box of draft better...Everyone has that plan, what else could be out there. I see what you're saying, but the idea of surrendering a top 10 pick is pretty unpleasant. You might think about such a strategy for a strong class and if the following years draft looked particularly weak (or at least not top heavy), but I'm not sure it's a route I'd want to go. +1 and I think your team would have to be doing well enough in the standings, so as to be sure that you weren't going to lose a top pick. I could see the Yankees or the Phils doing that, but not the Cubs. Instead, if the cubs wanted to improve the system, they could just pick up a ton of IFAs between now and July (especially Soler). Sure the IFA market is not as efficient, but it is way more efficient than dropping $40 mil on a single draft. I get what you are saying. But we can still obtain some of the supplemental picks through trade. But that is a mid 30's pick. That takes it back it being a strategy once they picking in the 20-30 range.

Losing multiple first round picks and paying 100% extra is pretty significant - especially considering if we simply compensate by going overslot later in the draft again next year we lose multiple first round picks again. Also, if the plan is full rebuild for 2012 at least, that means we're forfeiting probably a top 5-10 pick. That hurts. I agree on losing that first pick would hurt. But considering the amount of overslotting we pulled of this year, would that have been worth parting with Baez. Especially with the fact even more talent may exist in the later picks as other teams will shy away from any signablity issue as they lose that money in the signing pool. Just trying to think outside the box of draft better...Everyone has that plan, what else could be out there.

CBA Question. Everything I have seen says the additional penalties will bring an end to over slotting. What if Theo's new plan is to shove the new rules up Selig's giggy and bring 40 million into the draft. They get all of their picks this year, and attempt to overslot every big money high reward player they can find. The penalty for this would be the loss 2 future first round picks and a 100% tax penalty. So what, I love unintended consequences, what if all this does is limit the number of teams to go overslot. Theo said the plan is to pay for future potential, not past performance and has always been on gaming the system. To me, this is the most logical way to go on the offensive. Especially considering other teams will probably have backed off going after overslotted players.

If Sori stays hot and they ride him into the playoffs, any chance at an MVP? That could give the Cubs a chance at rare MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the year triple crown. I can't imagine thats ever been done before, anyone know?

Everyone already knows dempster's home/away splits for his record. 9-0 at home, 0-2 on the road. But did you know he has better stats on the road? Home: ERA 2.71 Avg .207 Road: ERA 2.38 Avg .194 Hopefully he can keep it up!

The team splits are almost as dramatic as Kosuke's...... 03/31 - 06/15 AB R H 2b 3b HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS BABIP P/PA IsoD RBI% Home 125 31 47 9 1 4 20 26 23 0.376 0.483 0.560 1.043 0.439 4.32 0.107 0.235 Road 117 14 24 4 1 1 9 19 19 0.205 0.312 0.282 0.594 0.237 4.22 0.106 0.133 overall 242 45 71 13 2 5 29 45 42 0.293 0.401 0.426 0.827 0.338 4.27 0.108 0.188 03/31 - 06/15 AB R H 2b 3b HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS BABIP P/PA IsoD RBI% Home 1250 238 387 78 4 49 222 153 244 0.310 0.388 0.496 0.884 0.353 3.88 0.079 0.226 Road 1207 149 309 70 4 27 143 131 248 0.256 0.333 0.388 0.720 0.303 3.84 0.077 0.172 overall 2457 387 696 148 8 76 365 284 492 0.283 0.361 0.443 0.804 0.328 3.86 0.078 0.201 I'm going to go on a limb and say he is helping to fuel the home away split more than anyone else. Any chance you can pull his home/aways on a month to month? I would be curious if there is any trending going in that. I would expect him to have friends while at home in chicago, but going on the road right now is probably pretty difficult for him.

Anyone looking at his home/away splits? Home: .376 .483 .560 Away: .205 .316 .286 I could believe going on the road for him requires more of an adjustment period and he will improve on that over time.

Perfect world? No way. Gallagher isn't ready for a full season in the bigs. I'd rather take a risk on upside than go with guaranteed crap. Tommy: Let's think about this for a sec, Ted, why would somebody put a guarantee on a box? Hmmm, very interesting. Ted Nelson, Customer: Go on, I'm listening. Tommy: Here's the way I see it, Ted. Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box 'cause he wants you to fell all warm and toasty inside. Ted Nelson, Customer: Yeah, makes a man feel good. Tommy: 'Course it does. Why shouldn't it? Ya figure you put that little box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter, am I right, Ted? [chuckles until he sees that Ted is not laughing too] Ted Nelson, Customer: [impatiently] What's your point? Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Building model airplanes" says the little fairy; well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser, and your daughter's knocked up. I seen it a hundred times. Ted Nelson, Customer: But why do they put a guarantee on the box? Tommy: Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of [expletive]. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me.

I'm seeing a 66.8 rating, but great point. I hadn't realized he'd been that bad. rex's playoff's 2007 Sea 1TD 1Int Rating 76.9 2007 NO 1TD 0Int Rating 73.2 2006 Car 1TD 1Int Rating 54.1 So rexy has 3 TD's and 2 Ints and an average rating around the high 60's. Not great, but not nearly the trainrex everyone makes it out to be.

Why are the results of this raid surprising to anyone, don't all tanks have guns?

Was that umpire CB Buckner or Lovie Smith?

I dunno...individual teams can only appear on prime time 5 times during the season. The Bears will already have 4 (Seattle, Arizona, New York, and St Louis). NBC might want to save that potential 5th game for the last one of the season in case the Bears have a shot at 16-0 or (and probably more importantly in their eyes) Favre retires and it's his last game. I have never heard the 5 game limit thing before. You sure it's true? I've heard the limit is 5, but up to 2 teams can have a 6th game But there is also a rule where FOX and CBS get 5 or 6 veto games. Basically they get to call dibs on the game and NBC can't touch it. And I read the first game they claimed was the Bears/Pack. Meaning that game will play on fox as scheduled.

No on any trade involving Z. If Z goes to the yankees there is a reasonable chance we will see him 2 or 3 out of 7 games for that world series title. I don't care who your hitters are, I don't like the odds of the Cubs winning that series. Plus the thought of Zambrano getting a ring in a yankee jersey just made me puke in my cube.

I already miss watching the bears. :(

Anyone notice the hendry sucks sign directly behind homeplate?

My favorite part of Gould's game was watching his kick offs get down to the 2-3 yard line. Is it possible they will have a touch back this year?

I brought one on Sunday that said "America Hates the Packers" Everyone loves it.

This is true and I have proof! It is a strange planet called 'National'; here they are in their native garb watching the mother ship land: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/images/2006/07/10/mwF5xYhk.jpg To show how big zambrano is next to a mere mortal, it should be noted that Yadier Molina is standing in front of the 2.

I think anti-clutch definitely exists. Players are not robots, they react differently in different situations. It's human nature, some will tighten up and get stressed in clutch situations. However, that doesn't mean the opposite is true. Do some hitters actually focus better in big situations? If so, are they slacking the rest of the time? I don't think anti-clutch proves the existence of clutch, though. Anti-clutch existing proves the existence of clutch if you are assuming the definition of clutch is performing up to the statistical average/personal ability of the individual. I would use golf as an example of this. Let say you were a good golfer and were able to go to a driving range and hit it a driver straight at will and place the ball where you wanted. Would you consider that clutch if that person was able to take that ability onto the golf course and play a round by himself and be able to drive the ball well. Probably not. This is because there was no pressure. Now let’s say he was playing in some tournament and was able to continue to hit perfect drive after drive. You may now consider this guy clutch now that it is during a pressure situation and the guy continues to perform.

Clutch does exists. and what it means you are able to perform up to your personal ability. If you get nervous or shaky under pressure you will not be clutch and you will perform below your ability. If you are able to take the pressure and still perform as if it didn't matter then you are clutch. I beleive if someone has an uncanny ability to perform under pressure then they are more of a slacker. If they are focused and concentrating they can knock a hit at will when the pressure is on, then they should also do it with 2 outs in the top of the fourth inning in a meaningless game.

Thanks for the reality Mr. BuzzKill. Can't I enjoy the only reason to watch the cubs, Thank you Mr. Zambrano. A nice turn around by Z non-the less, if you rememer he started this season somewhere around 1-20 at the plate. Some other nice Z batting stats this year. Currently has more RBI's thant he following (all in fewer AB): Mabry Pagan Bynum Home runs (once again doing it with the fewest AB's) Z 4 Dlee 4 Blanco 4 Murton 4 Pagan 3 Cedeno 2 Perez 2 Mabry 2 Bynum 2 Pierre 1 More stolen bases than Barret, Walker, Mabry, Neifi, Pagan, Nevin, Blanco......COMBINED.