CubmanPi

That sucks. Season's over too. Brewers are going to make up all three games tonight now.

Don't adjust your tv sets - the offense really WAS that bad the first inning.

Take a strike or two as well! Bad command pitchers shouldn't get through this quickly.

Here we go! Sounds like Cubs fans as expected will far outnumber Marlin fans. Do this, Cobs!!

So is Soto "THE" Catcher now...or just against lefties? I wouldn't be surprised if it were just against lefties. Lou seems to be driven to drastic measures when it comes to lefties, which also explains why he still knows how to spell Monroe.

At this point I'd rather see Jacque or Pie try to hit a lefty than Monroe, but like everyone said, he's due to go 12/12 with 41 RBI one of these days, so no time like the present. Otherwise a solid lineup. Looks like Lou has found what he wants to go with. I'm officially nervous and freaked out about this game. I might be sick. Win this soap dropping game, Cobs!

Judging by the pictures, there may or may not be at least one delay, but if the field has been covered all day and properly taken care of, hopefully they'll have no trouble getting through the game tonight. Regardless, I hope the Cubs offense and pitching prepares for a 5-inning game regardless. Non of this late-inning heroics crap. Winning in blowouts was way better.

Let's hope the air is heavy today. I wonder if you were sitting behind the plate if you could actually go get a ball that was hit in the CF bleachers? If my memory of that stadium is correct, a ball would have to travel a good 450 feet to reach the actual seats in CF. I know for a fact that no Cub is going to do that, so hopefully this idea doesn't get put to the test this week.

I wonder what ever happened to best record determining it. Sure, the AL would have it every year, but that way only the team that makes the WS can earn their HFA. Now, whoever makes the WS from the NL is screwed out of HFA because TLR couldn't bat the NL's best hitter.

I haven't seen anything, so this guess is pretty much fresh outta my donkey, but I don't imagine they'd try filling the current playoff game slots with specific teams until after the matchups are set in stone and everyone has played their 162nd (or 163rd) game.

I think this is closer to the right #...other than that, agreed :D That's probably true, but I was also trying to flaunt my location for that day :wink:

I'm hoping to be singing this in a 40K-member choir on 7 Oct.

Perhaps you are right, but I personally don't see how it matters because the only advantage Helton's team could gain from his testimony would be that Bradley is suspended...which doesn't matter because Bradley is out for the season already with his injury. The question isn't how the Padres respond to it. It's how the umpires respond. He sides with the umps, and maybe they get some preferential treatment. He sides against them, and they may attempt to find retribution. I hadn't thought about that angle, good point. I hadn't thought about that either, and I agree. I was just thinking from the standpoint of avoiding any possibility of Helton being made into the bad guy on this thing while emotions are no doubt running very very high, and the Rockies are still a stakeholder in the playoff race. This is all exactly why I think that MLB should do the entire investigation as quietly as possible, to the point where we never find out what Helton has to say. Of course, if the ump gets suspended or severely reprimanded in any way, it'll be apparent what Helton must have said, but I don't want the official version of the investigation to even mention that they contact Helton. Keep politics out of it as much as possible.

This 1984/2003 talk is killing me, people. The Marlins have had their fun, now let's run them over and leave Miami in the rearview.

Agreed - I don't like the idea of giving him 8 days rest either. Place him on a 70 or 80 pitch limit, but still give him his start.

Where's the option for yesterday? I think the Cubs already blew it, we just haven't been notified.

The most excited I've ever been as a Cubs fan. I'm definitely down for some recreation on their part.

To get back on topic, here's a little sidenote from this article about the Padres: Good to see there is an investigation. When it comes to how they call a game, I fully support the idea that whoever holds umpires accountable does it with no publicity, but if the claims against this ump and his baiting are true, I seriously hope they throw the book at him and make an example of him. Also, if it turns out Froemming knowingly covered for him, I'd like to see him get it too. I really hope mlb comes through on this one.

If we're going to relate this to our own lives, I think that it's also fitting to look at how much we care about baseball and when. We're all diehard fans here, but compare the size of gamethreads now to the size of gamethreads last september. This is completely natural.

It isn't. Bradley never mentioned it. He said the ump called him a POS - not a nice term but one that historically has been uttered to people of all races. The first base coach thought the ump's comments had "racial overtones" but he has never said specifically what was said or why he thought so. Whenever a black and white person are involved in any incident someone will eventually brings up racism whether it is warranted or not. Then I think the only question remaining is the most important one: Is there video footage anywhere of this injury??

Can someone summarize why exactly the race issue is relevant to what happened?

The Cubs control their own destiny now. Sure, technically they did two or three weeks ago when technically, winning out would have ensured at least a tie, but the Brewers and their performance was entirely relevant to the race. Now the Cubs control their own destiny in that they have entered a playoff-like situation where nothing in the world matters that isn't right in front of them. The Brewers going undefeated the rest of the season shouldn't matter anymore like it would have two weeks ago. If the Cubs can manage to go 2-4, their chances of backing in are still good, but their days of smiling when the Brewers' opponent posts a 4-spot have to be over now. I'm actually kind of glad that they're on the road now and will be away from the tension and readiness to panic that the fans and media will (justifiably) have this week.

Milton didn't but his first base coach said there were racial overtones: The reason it "smacked of racial overtones" is because the umpire escalated a dispute by calling Bradley an "effing piece of ," most likely in the most offensive and degrading tone he could muster, and calling him that in such a way is just as destructive and done with the exact same amount of douchebaggery as someone using a racial slur instead. It's only mildly less offensive than were he to use any particular trigger words, with the key difference being that the actual literal meaning of his words didn't cross over into ultra-taboo territory. I agree with the coach for saying it smacked of racial overtones in that the spirit and situation were indeed very similar, and I would also like to echo the point someone made earlier that neither Meacham nor Bradley made any remark or any mention of anything race-related whatsoever until they were put on the spot. I think the correct point to take from such a remark is to regard the coach's impression of the umpire's actions to be in the same mean spirit and flame-fanning ignorance that people who routinely spew racist remarks also employ, as name-calling in such a way is as counter-productive and infuriating as it could possibly be. Race should really not be an issue in this discussion. The unfortunate thing is, since the actual race line was not crossed, mlb will not feel pressured to investigate and properly discipline an umpire whose level of insulting unprofessionalism was equally as demeaning and insulting.

<---Watching the 2004 tribute right now to try and keep myself level-headed. any chance you could shoot us a link to the 2004 one? Here you go buddy. By the way, I suggest anyone uploading the 2007 video do the same things I did. Mislabel it, disable ratings, no discernible title. Wow. That did wonders for tempering my enthusiasm. No way the Cubs make the playoffs this year. Are you not able to upload the 07 version under similarly misleading title and tags?

Cubs have won 10 of 12, and Sori, Lee, and Ramirez have combined for 39 homeruns and 61 RBI in that stretch.