vance_the_cubs_fan

I find Kruk entertaining. As a baseball player, he was fun to watch. That being said though, he's not a great analysis. I'm sure he can bring a perspective that few of us have, but I wouldn't put much stock in his predictions or analysis of the game. If he wants to share stories of back in the day, I'd be happy to listen.

If college umps don't step in, they likely will have to turn to high school umpires and semi-pro umpires. The consistiency of that group will vary greatly across the spectrum.

Here's Bruce Miles' recap.

According to Mark O'Neal in an article by Bruce Miles, Hairston is ok. Link.

I saw this note at the end of one of Kiley's articles.

We have another chance to whip up on Haren. Yeah! :cheers:

I like my team...lots!

Maybe once a year, we could do like the Jews used to once a year when they set a codemned man free, and un-ban one poster voted on by the community. You'd probably have to re-ban them after a short period, but it could be fun.

Look for Graffanino to go to Florida.

There's also no truth to the rumor that Walker paid Correria fifty bucks to do it.

After returning home from the circus, I watched the game on TiVo. I haven't read through the thread...but I did catch Len's cameo! Awesome! Ok...I'm sure this was already touched on...but--> 1. Our pitching has looked phenomenal this year. Marshall impressed me and that third strike curve by Ryu...wow! 2. Pagan is fast. 3. Len and Bob are already in mid-season form. 4. I think Eyre is going to be good. Great control. 5. Dope and Sing look like they both can hit.

I just set the TiVo so I can watch when I get back from the circus. Go Cubs!

There's plenty of blame to go around here, that's certain. Soriano is not handling this in the proper way. There's no question his defense is poor at second. If he could move to left, play it well, and put up decent numbers, he might increase his value going toward his free agency year. As it is, he's making himself look very selfish and many teams could be wary about signing him to a long term deal. Even a team that signs him to play second could want him to move as he gets older. This is telling teams that if they sign him, they should expect a problem if they ever want to move him. Sori's value is plummetting. Bowden was an idiot for not checking with Soriano's representatives before making the deal. He should have gotten the Rangers' permission to speak with him about changing positions before making the deal. Considering the talent they gave up to get him, it's inexcusable that this wasn't done. Soriano has said for years he wouldn't switch positions. I don't see how this caught Bowden off guard. That's just it. Soriano's value plummets if he moves to the OF. Shaky OF D and ok offensive skills (for a LF) doesn't bring in the big FA money. But if he is able to play decent OF defense and put up a 30/30 season, he'd be more valuable than a 30/30 2b who can't field at all and refuses to move. Now if he can't play decent OF defense either, you have a point. Teams would still pay for a 30/30 OF.

There's plenty of blame to go around here, that's certain. Soriano is not handling this in the proper way. There's no question his defense is poor at second. If he could move to left, play it well, and put up decent numbers, he might increase his value going toward his free agency year. As it is, he's making himself look very selfish and many teams could be wary about signing him to a long term deal. Even a team that signs him to play second could want him to move as he gets older. This is telling teams that if they sign him, they should expect a problem if they ever want to move him. Sori's value is plummetting. Bowden was an idiot for not checking with Soriano's representatives before making the deal. He should have gotten the Rangers' permission to speak with him about changing positions before making the deal. Considering the talent they gave up to get him, it's inexcusable that this wasn't done. Soriano has said for years he wouldn't switch positions. I don't see how this caught Bowden off guard.

Maybe with Wood and maybe Prior's 2004 injury. I don't think Prior's current condition or his being hit by a line-drive had anything to do with the 2003 work load.

For those who like to read up on other teams' prospects, especially those of our rivals, here's one on Troy Patton.

Good call on auggiedoggie. I miss him. I would like to know what the brother of the friend of Dusty Baker's limo driver had to say this year. Also, with all the Walker trade talk going on...Auggie would have numerous opportunities to make up some more convoluted defensive stats.

I think Ponson's new nickname should be Chunk. http://www.sufudu.org/images/2005/player%20bios/chunk.jpg = http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/images/players/mugshot/ph_132260.jpg

Vidro played his first ST game without incident. He says he feels fine. Link. If Vidro looks completely healed over the next three weeks, the intrigue with Soriano will intensify.

My expectation is that Maddux will pitch well enough to keep us in ballgames and avoid having too many disaster starts. I would like to see Maddux average 6 IP per start, put up a 4.00 ERA and an ERA+ near 100. If he can do that he'll serve his role on the team.

Grienke is an interesting pitcher. In one season he was very good. In his most recent season, he was very bad. He's still very young. Some teams would love to have him, however. I'm not sure the Cubs have the margin of error to take the risk with him. Put him with Mazzone in Baltimore or Maddux in Milwaukee and he could return to being an elite pitcher.

Link. I found this quote by Maddux refreshing. Hopefully Maddux will have a rejuvenated year.

LA is better for non beach touristy things to do. San Diego is better for beach touristy things to do. In other words, if you are bringing her to play in the sand, San Diego is probably the better place. San Diego also features Legoland, Sea World and our world famous zoo. LA definitely has more things going on, but for small kids, IMO, San Diego is probably a better vacation destination. Disneyland isn't far from LA or San Diego, either. In fact, it's VERY close to Anaheim Stadium. Thanks. We're definitely looking at the SD zoo. She loves zoos and her b-day party this year is at our local zoo. I'm hoping to make a number of trips that way as I want to catch a baseball game in every park that way. If I plan a larger vacation around it, my wife is more amenable to the idea.

Link. Puckett's image has taken a hit in recent years, but may he have a speedy recovery.

Psh, I beat you to it already. And I spelled it correctly. :P You try typing with a 2-year old in your lap saying "I wanna look at animals."