vance_the_cubs_fan

Ronny with his third hit.

Nomar, despite how bad his average was when he was injured, has raised his average to 274. I wouldn't mind re-signing him if we can get him for five million or less.

Looked like Ronny was safe as the tag was on the back leg.

Barrett with a HR. 3-0.

AC036198's watching football. Easy choice. I'm trying to flip back and forth. 1-0 Cubs. (Who cares :shrug: )

Should I watch this game or keep it on the NFL?

The only way the Phillies get rid of Thome is if they either eat a huge chunk of that salary or if they take a really bad contract back in return. I really want no part of Thome. He's old and likely to continue to decline. I've always liked Thome, but I just believe his productive years are now behind him.

OK Just to straigten out all questions about my work (AC036198 sig and my sig), its as follows: AC036198's sig: Johnny Damon, Rafael Furcal, A.J. Burnett, Kyle Farnsworth, Julian Taveras Aramis Fan's sig: Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, Rafael Furcal, Brian Giles If you would like a custom made (by me) off season wishlist, plz PM me AND WITH THAT, I AM AN ALL-STAR AT 1000 POSTS!!! Can you make me one with Arod, Vlad, Santana, and Miguel Cabrera?

If he's so sabermetric, why did he write a piece promoting Jones for MVP? I suggest you email him and ask him.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Stark wrote a piece in favor of Clemens. The two baseball writers for ESPN that are the most sabermetric are Stark and Neyer. The sabermetric stats point clearly to Clemens as the best pitcher in the NL this year. It doesn't surprise me that Stark wrote what he wrote and I find it to be a nice article. What he is trying to accomplish with that article is to show what a rare feat Clemens has accomplished with his ERA this season. His comparing Clemens ERA to league average is to show how phenomenal it really is. While Gibson may have had a 1.12 ERA in 1968, that's not nearly as impressive as Clemens ERA this season because of the difference to league average. I think his mentioning those other pitchers is to draw out the points that wins are an over rated stat and should not be used in the equation. You may not agree with Stark, but those pitchers are illustrative of that point. If you take wins out of the equation, the Cy clearly belongs to Clemens. I'm quite aware that many aren't willing to do that, but that is what it boils down to.

I think he should be considered for the award based on his stats. But the fact that he's behind Clemens and Carp in almost everything puts him behind them at the moment. He is within striking distance though. I agree here. If I were ranking them, it would be 1. Clemens, 2. Carpenter, 3. Willis. Willis is close enough to put himself in there, but it's going to take some great performances and probably at least one bad performance out of Clemens and Carpenter.

I just had a couple of large balloons filled with dog crap waiting to pelt anyone who tried to enter my premises.

Everything looks fine. Around the Joe Horn is ready to kick some ass.

Thankfully, I'm still alive. I know IMB was still alive last night. Hopefully, he's still ok. :lol:

Around the Joe Horn selects Lawerence Tynes, K.

Let me guess...To Kill A Mockingbird? Or just a lesson on forshadowing in general? Good times english class. Actually, I was using a short story from the literature text called the "The Landlady." They've re-written the curriculum this year and it all follows genres. For this unit, we're in mystery stories. The one draw back is the textbook does not follow the new model curriculum, so I'm constantly looking for outside resources. With the current state of things in New Orleans and the daunting task of trying to enroll the evacuees in schools, it's been really hard to get any help from the state regarding this right now. Geez...that was long and off topic.

I think it is pretty clear that Patterson's days as a Cub are done. The Cubs now have to use him to get maximum value and deal with the issue of CF in 2006. What frightens me is that the Cubs will rush Pie up to take his place much in the same way they rushed Corey to the majors. Personally, I'd like to try to engineer a trade with the Braves using Patterson and prospects to net Andruw Jones. Jones is only signed through 2006, so that would easily open the door for Pie while giving him a whole season to develop in AAA. I would not be surprised to see the Cubs make a trade for Pierre from the Marlins and then throw Corey away to another team in need of a CF. I'd have to wonder if the Phillies might have some interest in Patterson. I'm not sure what kind of deal could be worked with them, but they'll need a CF. Patterson to the Yankees is interesting. They could afford to have his weak bat in the line-up considering the other boppers they have. Also, as a LH hitter, he might have a little more success in Yankee Stadium, assuming he can make contact. Once again, I wonder what we could pry from the Yankees that would be immediately useful for us. I will be utterly and completely shocked if Corey is still on the roster when the team heads north in 2006.

Thanks, Hoops. I had forgotten about the Hampton money. What if the Cubs could trade Patterson, Nolasco and Sing to the Braves for Jones. That would add 13 million to the payroll for 2006. We should still have the money left to sign Giles and pick up Walker's 2.5 million option. What about this line-up? Walker 2B Giles RF Lee 1B Ramirez 3B Jones CF Barrett C Murton LF Cedeno SS Would that be enough offense, or would another move be necessary?

Even with his play this year, would the Braves entertain the idea of trading Jones? He's due to make a chunk of change next season, and I have to wonder if the Braves might want that money to spend elsewhere. They definitely won't be in a position to have to trade him, especially since they'll likely let Furcal walk, but they might choose to trade him the right offer came along. He has one year remaining and might prove to be the perfect stop gap until Pie is ready in 2007. We could offer the Braves Patterson and likely a rule V potential casualty for him. Thoughts?

I wouldn't be surprised to see Hendry make a deal for Pierre and try to answer our lead-off question there. While I'm not enamored with Pierre, I wouldn't be surprised to see that move.

For those worried about losing the "heart and soul" of New Orleans, I suggest that you read this. And for details: While there is going to have to be a massive rebuilding of some of the downtown areas and more particularly the areas that had build up along Lake Ponctatrain, the area along the Mississippi River which was the original area settled by the French remains intact. This isn't surprising considering the early settlers would have first settled on the highest ground.

I don't mean to denigrate your sentimentality or nostalgia, but if the city is rebuilt I really think a lot of people like you will be disappointed with the finished product. It will have just as much of a phoney Disneyworld flavor as it will have of the old New Orleans. From most of the reports I'm getting, the French Quarter is pretty much unharmed as well as most of the area extending to the zoo area. There is some damage, and there will need to be some renovation, but much of Old New Orleans is still there and will be much like it always has been. Cafe Du Mond is still standing. Many of the old restaurants in the Quarter are still standing. Downtown New Orleans will need to be rebuilt. Many of the neighborhoods will need to be rebuilt. But much of the Vieux Carre is still there and will be just as we remembered it once the clean-up is complete.

And I don't think anyone diminishes his value because he's gotten run support. I regard run support in no way in determining who is the best pitcher. VORP, RA, ERA don't consider run support. Why do you think we diminish his value because he has gotten run support? His performances stand on their own merit. The metrics still point to Clemens having the better season when you use metrics independent of team accomplishments.

Once again, LACK OF RUN SUPPORT IN NO WAY DIMINISHES CLEMENS'S VALUE! ,just because his teammates failed to capitalize on that value not withstanding. Once again you've tried to derail the argument with analogies that have nothing to do with baseball. You did it once with your ridiculous Lambourghini/Grand Prix analaogy and now with a (expletive deleted) CD player/cassette analogy. It's stupid. The analogies are ignorant. They don't apply. Let me give you one. Assume I have an original painting by Monet. I don't have space to hang it up, so I just stash it in my attic. It's still in pristine condition, but it sits un-noticed in my attic. Is its value in any way diminsihed. Hell No! I'm just not utilizing in the best way its value. Think that analogy is pretty lame. No more than the one you've thrown out and it's what happens when you try to compare something to baseball in a qualitative way that has really nothing to do with it. It adds nothing to the discussion. By all the comprehensive metrics, Clemens has pitched the most effective this year and deserves the Cy Young. Now, I have to go teach a group of 8th graders about forshadowing. Good day.

I just don't fault a pitcher because his team is shut-out or only scores one run on a day he pitches. A pitcher's job in the "win" equation is to give up as few runs as he can over as many innings as he can. He has little, since he bats I won't say no, control over how many runs his team scores. Clemens value decreases none if his team is unable to win; his team just failed to take advantage of the value he brings. I quantify "value" with "importance". How "important" is it that he only gives up 1 run, if his team isn't going to score? He may as well have give up 6, and he would have been just as "important". That then still is valuing team performance. I see the Cy Young as an award for the "best" (as nebulous as that is) pitcher. How his team performs matters very little in that equation. Furthermore, if you want to look beyond the metrics, is some specifics in Clemens How many games has Clemens pitched and recieved a loss or a no decision when his team scored 1 or fewer runs? It's a ridiculous amount. I've looked it up before and right now can't look it up...but go to a game log and see. I can't fault Clemens for having that kind of "bad luck." When looking at the overall picture, Clemens still is my hands down winner. It's gotten closer for me over the last month or so, but still not close enough for me to discount what has been an amazing season that Clemens is producing.