Hairyducked Idiot

Soriano's hot streak was as brief as it was awesome.

Why isn't it just 1 - BABIP? Yep. It's percentages of balls in play the defense turns into outs. It couldn't be less complicated.

Dempster's ERA: 2.28.

One of the three stats baseball prospectus identified that projects a team to be better in the postseason than the regular season.

I forgive you for your earlier comment, Len, because you shouted out Defensive Efficiency! But then you said "it's a complicated stat," so you lose half the mojo you gained. It's not a complicated stat at all.

Can I be the first to post a "oh no, we are going to get shut down tonight!" post. It usually comes after two shutout innings, but I'd like to get in early.

You're joking, right? Not a bit. It seems pretty erratic to me. But then again, subjective analysis sucks. Based on what? He gets the ball in and out of his glove quickly and throws laserbeams to the infield. That was one of the worst throws i've ever seen him make and it wasn't that bad at all. Based on my memory of seeing him make a lot of bad throws. But my memory is probably just playing tricks on me.

You're joking, right? Not a bit. It seems pretty erratic to me. But then again, subjective analysis sucks.

It it just me, or does Fukudome's arm kind of suck for a RFer?

ROSE OR BEASLEY??? Rose.

NBA draft lottery is so rigged. But now i'm glad it's rigged.

Keep trying, NBA, but nobody cares about the WNBA.

They need that desperately. They have to escape NBA hell that is being a mediocre team with no star.

Just another routine 20-pitch inning for the Cubs offense. Love it.

Thanks Len, for pointing out that Edmonds "probably" can't catch 410-foot fly balls at Wrigley.

Hot streak + beating a division rival on the road + Dempster pitching + bad pitcher. Too much Cubs mojo flowing, gotta be a surprise loss.

Soriano is now officially slumping.

Because we have a low BABIP? Come on, the only hard hit ball was Fukudome's and maybe Aramis'. It still evens out. Must you always proclaim doom when we go two innings without scoring? :)

Because we have a low BABIP?

I'm not sure why a batting slump has to be caused by not having an off day, nor how an off day will solve it.

The difference is our team last year was chasing a .500 ball club. This Cubs team blows the 2007 Brewers out of the water, it's not the same thing. I am confident that this team will be well ahead of the pack at the end of 162. Winning the division by 10 games isn't an unrealistic prediction. Not to mention Pythagorean Wins consistently stated the Cubs were underachieving and would likely play better than their record for the remaining season.

The Cubs, as currently comprised, are the best team in the division and it isn't close. After that, I see a lot of parity. I'm cherry-picking a little, but here's why I don't fear each of the remaining teams: Cardinals: Playing way over their heads, as has been mentioned too many times to go over them all. You aren't going to get a whole season of a 197 OPS+ from Ryan Ludwick. And despite this massive overperformance, they have the run differential of a 24-22 team. They ran out to 10-4 and 16-10 and are just treading water since, and even that will eventually start to fall back. Astros: 11th in the league in OBP + 7th in SLG = 3rd in runs scored? Not forever it won't. As a team, they are OPSing 127 points better with men on base than with bases empty, and that kind of split won't last. Once it does, their offense will look very average and won't be able to carry a mediocre pitching staff. Reds: They were a dark horse in the sense that they were an average-ish team that could do very well if everything goes well, but it hasn't, so they won't. Volquez is a nice story, but he isn't this good yet. They have a lot of young talent, but none of it looks ready for stardom in the league just yet. They could replace average vets with average youngsters, but they won't suddenly become a 90-win team. And there's this: Team Defensive Efficiency 0.680, 30th in the majors. Their defense is really, really bad. Pittsburgh: Decent offensive outfield, a whole lot of mediocre-to-bad pitching. The only decent pitching they have is left-handed, which is death in this division. And...the Brewers. The Brewers are a lesson in how to build a good-OPS, bad-everything-else team. Their combined Pythagorean record this season and last is two games under .500. How do you have an awesome team-OPS and a decent rotation but still be a sub. 500 team? The Brewers go down almost perfectly through the checklist. Horrible bullpen? Check. Dumb manager? Check. Bad defense? Super-check. I don't think many people (especially Brewers fans and the Cubs fans who fear them) appreciate how awful the Brewers defense is. Last season, the Brewers were 25th in the majors in Defensive Efficiency while the Cubs were 3rd (first in the NL). That was the difference in the division. This season, the Cubs are 2nd (first in the NL) and the Brewers are tied for 21st. When the ball is in play, the Cubs are one of the best in baseball at turning it into an out, the Brewers are one of the worst. Corey Hart and J.J. Hardy are essentially the only two average defenders out of the regulars, the rest are bad or worse.

I would trade you this game for a Blackhawks conference championship in a heartbeat. Heck, I'd let you guys take 2-of-3 in the series. Sweep might be a bit much...

.305 .371 .452 .823 You won't take that as a lefty-masher line from half of a CF platoon? Id like to know where you are getting those numbers from because they arent Reed Johnsons against a lefty. .255 .375 .298!!!! for a .673 OPS is his numbers on the year. His OPS against a lefty is barely better than his OPS against a righty. I listed his career line. His line for this season is based on 56 PAs.

There have been a ton of warning-track flys by both teams in this series. Marquis totally got away with one there.