CubmanPi

Racist meatheads were booing the color of Marmol's skin after he was being brown on the mound for just two pitches.

nice.

wut? When Quade finally pulled Wood he barely got a smattering of boos, despite reloading the bases and giving up 2 more runs himself. There's a pretty clear distinction between who gets really booed at Wrigley and who doesn't. [expletive] white players rarely get anything close to what the non-white ones get when they [expletive] up. Marmol stunk, got booed. There were cheers as soon as the bullpen got up. Marmol departed to heavy booing after turning a near-certain win into a probable loss. Wood got cheered. When his control problems became evident, he got booed too. When Russell was on his way in, there were light cheers before Wood exited under light boos, after the probable loss became a near-certain loss. Marmol got the heavy reaction, because he was the one who was leaving when fans were getting it out of their system that they just had a win snatched out from in front of them. By the time Wood was done stinking it up, the seats were considerably more empty, accounting for the mere "smattering" of boos. The season-long apathy didn't take long to set in. Fans have been doing this all season. But you're right, it's racism. That stadium was jam packed full of meatball racists. I'm surprised no one was cheering when Marmol gave up those runs, because at least he has the courtesy to stink before the trade deadline and give all those meatballs the hope that one more brown guy can get out of town. Maybe we can package him together with Castro and pry Theriot away from the Cards. Maybe that will please those stupid racist meatheads whose expressions of disdain for the team doesn't remain constant regardless of the situation or context. Please.

Fukudome RF Castro SS Ramirez 3B Pena 1B Byrd CF Soriano LF Soto C Barney 2B Garza P

I feel like it's pretty rare for the Cubs to have a game on the Thursday after the all-star break. I was really hoping that would be the case this year. If the Cubs had today off, then it would guarantee the first time this season the Cubs have gone four days without losing. They won games on May 3rd and 4th, with an off day on the 5th. The ASB is the only other time they've gone three days without a loss.

This. Meh, being labeled an all star in 2011 might have gotten him a few extra $'s on his next contract. Getting labelled as an all star for the first time in your career is probably worth some money. But Ramirez is an established player and his market value is pretty well established as well. I don't think this would or would not make him any money. Agreed that this almost certainly has about zero bearing on future contracts, but does his current contract not have any incentives on it tied to ASG selection/appearance?

If someone is officially named to a team but ends up not going for whatever reason, do the ASG incentives in their contracts still vest? I definitely agree with the aforementioned suggestions requiring participation if this game is still going to count. Also, have there been any indications that either the fan voting or the WS HFA impact are going to go away? Because one of the two seriously need to go.

stones, glass houses, etc

The Cubs had a game against Washington within the last couple seasons in which Washington's starter and both relievers had ERAs below 1.00 late enough into the season that it was crazy for Washington to be able to do that. Livon Hernandez, Tyler Clippard, and I believe Matt Capps were the three pitchers. All three displayed major pwnage of the Cubs in a cruise control victory for the Nats. Clippard has made several appearances against the Cubs since then, all while wearing uniquely bulky glasses. He definitely has been a standout among the many relievers the Cubs have seen over the last few years.

Is Rodrigo Lopez any better of an option than James Russel or Casey Coleman? I'm calling two Juan Pierre homeruns today.

Gut vs instincts vs the eye test. Don't forget the eye test.

Others have pointed out that this isn't true, but when you're calling him lousy, who are you comparing him to? For me, it's the eye test. He just looks terrilble at the plate. That said, there is not a lot out there. All I am saying is if Geo gets you a fantastic haul, you'd have to consider it. I think Soto is pretty solid. That's not so much an eye test for me as it is a gut feeling, which I tend to trust more. If I were going off of instinct instead of gut feeling, I would still say Soto is solid, but I wouldn't trust my instincts as much as I trust my gut feeling. I tend to trust my gut over my instincts.

Humber (7-4, 2.89 ERA) http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/1965-humber-sceptre-mark-ii-2.jpg @ Garza (4-6, 4.07 ERA) http://images.askmen.com/galleries/actress/alana-de-la-garza/pictures/alana-de-la-garza-picture-1.jpg In the contest of whose last name turns up the better first GIS hit (safe search moderate [recommended]), Garza wins in a blowout. After the Cubs lost yesterday, bringing their record to 0-9 when attempting to extend the season win streak to three, Quade said, "I'll take 2 wins and a loss the entire year and live happily ever after." Also, after avoiding the sweep, the Sox have guaranteed their retention of the coveted BP cup, which is going to explode and spill oil into the Cell for the rest of the season. Go Cnbs.

Cubs holding off on activating Wood, while they decide whether or not to put Z on the DL.

Thanks for the new thread. When/where did he say this? Is there a link or other context? If Castro is not still a Cub at the end of the trade deadline, something about heroin and forehead and someone's doorstep.

His HR call is whatever comes to his brain. Give me that over the staged crap that Michael Kay, Hawk, Gary Thorne, the Mariners' announcers, et al. pull out of their mouths any day of the week. fyi, pat hughes has a home run call. harry kalas had one too. I don't think anyone is arguing that a homerun call is automatically a bad thing, just pointing out that having one doesn't necessarily make a broadcaster better. I wouldn't be surprised if Len stumbles onto one someday.

Why? HR calls are so stupid. An A-Bomb! From A-Rod! SEE YA!!! Yea, Len's lack of a homerun call is not a problem at all.

This is my new desktop at work. Unbridled awesome.

Fukudome RF Castro SS Ramirez DH Pena 1B Johnson CF Soriano LF DeWitt 2B Baker 3B Hill C (Davis P) Interesting way to move Pena up in the order.

He just had one last night. Still love Len. I can't believe I didn't notice. When was it?

I wonder if, once this team is fun to watch again, it means that his pubescent voice cracks will start showing up again too.

Link This is great news, and I hope he's in the Cubs booth for a long time. Congrats to Len and all his fans.

Not sure why you don't have DeWitt in there and hitting third, where he belongs.

Who's Mark Beuhrle?