hawkeyecub

It was not a bad move for the many reasons. I don't see how it hurt our chances of winning that game. Marmol has been the better option for 1-2 innings, was fresh and there was only one more game before another off day. Keeping Z in for one more inning wasn't an opportunity to grab the win. The fact that he was going to be started on three days rest made it more logical.

YES!!! Finally. Z was cruising. But Marmol has been the better pitcher this year. He didn't take Z out for Dave Veres. It wasn't a bad move. Of course Marmol was going to be just as bad in the 8th as he was in the 7th and our offense probably doesn't score again if we play 12 innings.

Soriano's poor postseason numbers don't surprise me. With so much on the line, so much preparation, good pitching and good scouting reports, I understand it. It's much easier to exploit him. Lee surprises me more. Ramirez is pressing also, but he's at least driven some balls hard.

Same here. As long as Rich doesn't blow up like Ted did last night, I feel pretty good about our chances in Wrigley. Even though we have little chance of doing much against Webb, I want Lilly to get another shot. He's been so good this year and always stepped up to stop a streak. It would be nice if he had a chance to change his legacy for this year, which to many fans right now will be the guy who choked in game 2.

How do you figure? He would surely be starting in a possible NLCS and World Series and will likely be in the rotation the next two years. That's definitely part of it.

I think you almost have to have Marquis on the roster for this series if you're planning on using him in the NLCS. You can't completely shred his confidence and come back to him in a big game 1.5 weeks from now. I would think Soto will be the guy tomorrow based on how he answered that.

Great, bulletin board material already I don't think he meant it to come out that way. I think he meant that the Diamondbacks won 90 games for a reason and that they were a good ball team. Didn't quite come out right though. :lol: He could've said all that without "For some reason" and it would've sounded a whole lot better. Yeah except he doesn't speak the most fluent english around. He clearly meant it as "There's a reason they won 90 games, there's a reason they went to the playoffs."

Keith Law's analysis of the teams was pretty poor. The more I hear/read the guy, the less I like him.

How about the older lady who is caught on camera every single game singing along to Take Me out to the Ballgame?

So are they waiting until Tuesday to announce these? I hope not and it really shouldn't matter whether the Padres or Rockies win tomorrow night.

This should be pinned in the game thread. I won't be there but I know people will be freaking out when/if we aren't being patient in every AB.

Of course the playoffs are a crapshoot. We know that. But the better team still has a better chance of winning (albeit slightly). Could you really ask for better in terms of an opponent in the playoffs, though? Yes I like our chances at winning the series and I think we match up pretty well. To predict a sweep is just asking for frustration when we lose a game which will likely happen. Some people are acting like it would cause a meltdown for this series to go 5 games. They aren't a bad team and our offense and #1 starter are both inconsistent.

Talk about looking for the easy answer to a problem. It's nonsense like this that allows for people to accuse anyone and everyone of steroids. As jjgman21 pointed out earlier, there were some injuries to some of the games big HR hitters that most likely cost them quite a few HR. Sure, there was probably a small effect of the PED crackdown, but I really think it amounts to a fluke year more than anything else. If in 2 or 3 years the numbers are still this low...then we'll see. Small effect? Your head in the sand, naive attitude about the steroids issue is nonsensical. I think it's more nonsensical to paint PED issues in terms of offense. Pitchers look for the edge just as much as hitters. This is true. My point is more that a decent part of the reason the 40 HR seasons are down is that we aren't seeing the fluke power surges by guys at an older age and with little history to suggest it should happen. Pena was certainly unexpected but not a fluke in my opinion. Other than that you have three guys with massive raw power (who aren't sculpted like a bodybuilder) and the best player in the game.

Some of you are just setting yourself up for letdown in my opinion. It's a 3-5 game series. You have no idea what may happen. Their top two starters have fared well against us. Who knows what Z may give us in game 1, but I do like that their lineup is more RH. Our offense is inconsistent. Their closer is more reliable in a tight game. I would rather face them than the Phillies, but I'm not overly confident and would never predict a sweep. It's tough to sweep the Pirates, Reds, Marlins or Nationals in the regular season. The playoffs have proven to be a crapshoot.

How do you figure Look at the talent level and age of their offense. Young, Drew, Upton, Jackson and possibly Quentin will only get better. Hudson and Byrnes shouldn't regress much. Snyder and Reynolds shouln't regress much either and could get better. Webb isn't going anywhere and Owings and Davis will likely be a pretty solid 2/3. Maybe their bullpen won't be as good, but there are no major upgrades that need to be made. They just got to this level faster than anyone thought.

Talk about looking for the easy answer to a problem. It's nonsense like this that allows for people to accuse anyone and everyone of steroids. As jjgman21 pointed out earlier, there were some injuries to some of the games big HR hitters that most likely cost them quite a few HR. Sure, there was probably a small effect of the PED crackdown, but I really think it amounts to a fluke year more than anything else. If in 2 or 3 years the numbers are still this low...then we'll see. Small effect? Your head in the sand, naive attitude about the steroids issue is nonsensical.

i have much more confidence winning in Game 2 (Lilly vs. Davis) than Game 1 (Z vs. Webb) Same here. Davis makes me nervous, but I could see us jumping on him and I'm more confident in Ted to give us 6-7 good innings than Z. We just need to find a way to get a split.

Random thoughts from tonight: College football is as unpredictable as I can remember. Teams that don't look good the week or two before are pulling off major upsets. Even outside of the top 15-20 teams there seem to be a crazy amount of surprising scores. Tim Tebow will suffer from some type of organ failure before the season ends if they don't take some of the load off of him. Jake Locker is extremely fun to watch and when/if he develops a little more accuracy he'll be a total stud. That Russo kid may be the goat of the day on that punt return. Tyrone Willingham is a better coach than most thought and just wasn't a good fit for Notre Dame. Minnesota wore some of the ugliest uniforms I've ever seen.

I don't think he'll go and he shouldn't go. After this season USF will come up with the money to keep him there. He has it made there. He has the hottest new program in the country and couldn't be in a better place for recruiting. They've recently been giving him the resources and he's got that thing rolling. He's in a good but not great BCS conference. Plus he doesn't have to deal with super-high expectations. It's funny, five years back when Ferentz was really looking into the Jaguars job I was told that IF Kirk left, Jim Leavitt was a guy identified as a top target. I had no idea who he was at the time but he spent 10 years in Iowa and was a grad assistant under Hayden Fry. He's turned down some interest in the last couple of years and I think he would be crazy to go anywhere now. I agree with just about everything you say, but it's tough for anybody to say no when they're offered double or triple their current salary. If someone throws a $3M per year offer at Leavitt, will USF find more money to keep him there - say an extra million? I'm not sure. This is true. I just think they'll come up with some extra scratch to keep him there. Think of the revenue he's created for USF in the last couple of years. They know they need to keep him and he wants to stay.

I don't think he'll go and he shouldn't go. After this season USF will come up with the money to keep him there. He has it made there. He has the hottest new program in the country and couldn't be in a better place for recruiting. They've recently been giving him the resources and he's got that thing rolling. He's in a good but not great BCS conference. Plus he doesn't have to deal with super-high expectations. It's funny, five years back when Ferentz was really looking into the Jaguars job I was told that IF Kirk left, Jim Leavitt was a guy identified as a top target. I had no idea who he was at the time but he spent 10 years in Iowa and was a grad assistant under Hayden Fry. He's turned down some interest in the last couple of years and I think he would be crazy to go anywhere now. Isn't it amazing how many of today's big name coaches had a history under Fry and Bill Snyder? Yeah, Hayden sure had an eye for coaching talent and that wasn't lost on Snyder. As an Iowa homer, I don't think he gets enough credit for that. In regards to a coaching tree, he is to college football what Bill Walsh is to the NFL. I haven't seen any that compare to it. It's a double edged sword though and that led to Iowa's dropoff after the 80's, early 90's. It's impossible to keep replacing coaches of that quality. That and the fact that Hayden didn't really like to recruit near the end.

I don't think he'll go and he shouldn't go. After this season USF will come up with the money to keep him there. He has it made there. He has the hottest new program in the country and couldn't be in a better place for recruiting. They've recently been giving him the resources and he's got that thing rolling. He's in a good but not great BCS conference. Plus he doesn't have to deal with super-high expectations. It's funny, five years back when Ferentz was really looking into the Jaguars job I was told that IF Kirk left, Jim Leavitt was a guy identified as a top target. I had no idea who he was at the time but he spent 10 years in Iowa and was a grad assistant under Hayden Fry. He's turned down some interest in the last couple of years and I think he would be crazy to go anywhere now.

At least you have basketball to look forward to. I am looking forward to actually having a system with Lickliter and hopefully seeing the team live up to it's potential and not kill itself. Unfortunately the potential isn't very good this year. Iowa football is an absolute mess right now and there is nothing to indicate any changes in the future. Changes need to be made. It all happened so fast too. 3 straight top 10 finishes, then a New Year's Day bowl and we were 4-0 and ranked 12th heading into that primetime showdown with Ohio State last year. Since then we're 4-10 and 1-7 in the Big Ten. Incredible. Thank God for the Cubs.

Thank you good sir.

I demand this picture

Can someone re-post the picture of the scene at home plate after the walk-off? I had it and lost it somehow. Biggest version please.