vance_the_cubs_fan

Are you from Des Moines?

No it's not a joke. i don't know who you are or where you came from, but i would like to play fantasy baseball with you for large amounts of money. :lol:

Nah, I agree. The 2nd and 3rd weren't pretty, but he didn't allow any more runs and still ended up striking out 5. He kept the team in the game for the next two innings. I like Hill, but when a starter only goes three innings, there's nothing positive about that. I'm not going to go off on a Rich Hill sucks tangent, because that's ridiculous, nor will I question his desire or any overreaction like that. But, to try to put any positive spin on his start today is pretty silly. He was bad. Did he confine the damage to one inning? Yes. But he still pitched so poorly that he left trailing by a huge amount and forced the bullpen to be perfect. Had he given up five and then held the Brewers scoreless into the fifth or sixth, then more props could be given. But he got lit up, had another bad inning, and had to be lifted after only three innings. In no metric, no book, no where is that a good outing. Will he rebound? I surely hope so. But just because many of us like Hill, I think it's a bit ludicrous to try to say anything positive about this start. If Marquis lasted three innings while allowing five runs, I doubt anyone here would try to give him credit for throwing two scoreless innings after giving up five in the first. The simple truth: Hill sucked today. It happens to a lot of pitchers. Hopefully, Hill gets his act together over the next four days. I know he can do it, but he definitely wasn't a good pitcher today.

I've never met a Pirate fan that I didn't like though.

so bat sori third and problem solved And hit Lee where? Lead-off? Just leave things the way they are an either acquire a true number three or number five hitter and we'd be ok. I think it may be more important to insure the best hitters get the most at bats. In that case, Soriano at lead-off makes a lot of sense.

Leave Soriano where he is and tell Jim to go out and get better hitters for the middle of the order and we'll be fine. I think having no power from our number three hitter is a bigger problem than having too much power from our lead-off hitter.

Somehow, I have a feeling that Marquis and his 3/21 contract are going to be about as easy as Jocque's contract to move out of town, especially if eating all but the league minimum isn't really an option. I'm not holding out any hope that Marquis would be replaced, but I think he's going to be a drag on this team from this point forward.

Soto would be an upgrade. He just hit his 11th home run in Iowa tonight. Soto would be an upgrade. I still would like to get Salty.

Bonds just homered. Now only five away from Aaron.

Or a number two hitter... or 3, where he is and perfect He lacks the power that is usually preferred in a number three hitter.

We definitely could use an upgrade at catcher. I'm just not sure who would be available. I'd love to get Salty from the Braves, but that would be very expensive. It would cost us one of Hill or Marshall and maybe more, and I don't think our rotation can take that hit right now.

Rich was bad today. While he didn't allow any more damage after the first, he never really settled down. His second inning didn't yield any runs, but he threw a ton of pitches then and still allowed baserunners. Hopefully, this will just be a bump in the road for Hill and he'll right the ship. I think he will.

I'd still like to see us upgrade somewhere. That could be replacing Marquis with a more capable starter, getting a right-handed rightfielder, or an offensive upgrade at catcher or shortstop.

SportsCenter just gave Ramirez's walk-off the Call of the Day. They showed the highlight with Pat calling it.

Or a number two hitter...

My all time would be: Babe Ruth Ted Williams Willie Mays Roger Clemens Alex Rodriguez

http://www.david-strathairn.com/photos/images-film/marshall-poster2.jpg

Ok...we're back to .500. I can start believing in this team again.

I've watched the 9th inning 4 times already today.

Can I get a witness!

You might try stubhub or Ebay for your ticket as well.

McSkullet is going to win this in a landslide.

There will be on my TiVo. THought there was nothing to see with this game huh Vance? Hehe..Just kidding. Go Cubs As I said...this team surprises me. I left the game on and washed some dishes, folded some laundry, cleaned my daughter's room while watching closely. I saw the bullpen hold them, but had a disinterest in the game. I did sit down in front of the TV for the ninth to see what would happen.... and wow! I really didn't think our bullpen could hold them in check for six innings and thus I didn't think our offense would be able to make up the difference. I just hope this type of play can continue. As I said, I never thought the season was over....I did think the game was over the way Hill had pitched combined with his very early exit.

Just win, bitches.

There will be on my TiVo.