Bull

Thus ended the "Patient Cubbies Era". Signal the birth of "Neo-Dustianism" aka "being aggressive"

Somehow I don't think firing the man who taught the Cubs to be a patient team (and has taught patience everywhere he went) is anything resembling a solution. Hopefully Joshua doesn't bring a return of Dusty's aggressiveness.

last night. 22.1 inning 7 runs in June. and the starters have been even better.

maybe the coaches were wrong.

So does the game of baseball in general. I really don't see the point in flipping out over someone using a corked bat when most players are doing every little thing they can to gain an advantage. It's part of baseball. Keeping someone out of the hall for that would be like keeping out one of the best pitchers of an era because he got caught once with sandpaper. Like I said, he got caught for the bat and was suspended. That shouldn't keep him out. Like it or not, nothing and nobody has come even remotely close to busting him when it comes to steroids. That doesn't mean he didn't use them, but for now he should be judged based on his performance. The corked bat should have negligable impact in that regard since use of them over his career would have been detrimental to his numbers. I just meant that the cork incident is relevant in the speculation of him using drugs because it shows that he has cheated before I don't think I'd feel comfortable indicting him for PED use based on corking... They don't seem to be of the same severity. Corking/spit-balling, just don't "feel" like they rise to the level of willful misconduct that PED use does. I know, it's inexact at best, but that's how I feel about it. You guys are going to think I'm nuts, but I still believe cork-gate was an accident. When they x-rayed all his bats (some in his possesion, some in the hall of fame) none were found to have cork except the "batting practice" bat. So either - he chose that one bat that one day to cheat (it was a black bat as opposed to the wood colored bats he usually used) or someone handed him the wrong bat and he didn't take the time to say "no not this one, its loaded" which would have brought speculation. someone with some video of how many times he used the bat would answer this question for us.

The maddening part is that everyone saw it coming months ago. But he needed to prove his genius. Season isn't over yet. 4 games out and at .500. *roll*

Actually I think the "spin-o-rama", as you put it, is part of the plan. The Japanese coach talked about him using his momentum. The same momentum that results in power when there's contact, results in spinning when there isn't.

The fairly strong possibility that Aramis's career is threatened by this injury (at least, his career as a very good everyday player, one of the top 3 or 4 at his position) wouldn't make you hesitant to let go your top prospect, who happens to be damn good and a 3B, in order to pick up a SP (or whatever other piece you'd theoretically and realistically be adding) who you probably don't even need to get into the playoffs? tough call. I'm leaning towards keeping Vitters. same here. If carroll is right about this possibly recurring and/or if it effects him the way Lee's wrist injury may/may not be effecting him...I'm hesitant.

Latest from cubs.com says fukudome's former coach (from Japan) is helping with his swing. I guess I don't care why he's hitting, but is there any way for this guy to be hired as Fuk's assistant or in some unofficial capacity to keep him around. If he's helping him, I want him helping as much as possible.

I'm Scottish. Is that like robotish?

yes, I know. ;) For what it's worth, he has a .265 BABIP. I know you put a disclaimer on it, but I'm not a big fan of BABIP as an excuse. He could deserve that BABIP for rolling over easy grounders. I guess a low BABIP with a high LD% might catch my attention.

yes, I know. ;)

what is DeRosa hitting these days?

I'm all for giving Guzman the start. I think they should have stretched him out in relief of Zambrano instead of using Marmol. I know he's brittle, but its not like they'd be asking him to throw 200 innings. Just a couple starts.

then, for the love of all things good and holy, stop watching!!!!

?

Reyes now pitches for Cleveland. All indications suggests that Motte will turn into a very reliable bullpen arm. Different Reyes. finish him.

Calero must be filthy?

I wish Harry was around to announce his name. "You know Steve, Kiko spelled backwards is Ohk-eek"

It's going to be longer than that. Pedro missed 2 months last year with a strained left hamstring. Vernon Wells missed a month. Stephen Drew and Brenden Ryan are on the DL now with it. I'd be shocked if Z avoids the DL. depends how bad its strained. If it was bad enough for Z to pull himself could be bad. But if its not bad he could be day to day. Do you stretch Guzman to 3 innings here in case he needs to spot start for Z?

add me to the list of folks who instantly thought about cindy sandberg when seeing the title of this thread.

bunted down 3b line and pulled up lame crossing 1st. He wanted to stay in at first, and did but then they pulled him. Z pulled himself out of the game. That's how you know it's bad. which is it? please keep us updated

I thought the OP was referring to Mel Allen! I didn't get the comparison.

this seems to be the most likely, who made it? :)

What does this even mean? The "expectations" for Soto right now are generaly somewhere around "please don't be awful." I'm obviously not as avid a reader or poster as you so I'll defer to your assessment of the local public opinion. The vibe that I got all through the offseason and in these first 20 games was that Soto would rebound and be the monster he was last year, even "progressing in his development". To me this implied even better numbers than last year were expected, while I assumed the league would figure him out, he'd adjust, they'd adjust, etc. making it a long and difficult season of learning a great deal for Mr. Soto. I've been otherwise occupied with schoolwork this past week or so. Perhaps I've missed a major shift at NSBB? Perhaps my sporadic and haphazard reading here has led me to not view the full body of work. Again I'll defer to you. You're the expert. Nobody here is claiming to be an exprt on anything. I simply don't recall a large push by a number of posters here thinking that Soto was a lock to repeat his rookie season or surpass it. There was the obvious hyperbole, but that was just that: obvious hyperbole. When it gone down to realistic predictions, most hoped/thought that Soto would produce at the worst average offensive production from the catcher's spot while giving the team excellent defense. So far he's not even sniffed either. From the "Bold Predictions" thread Geovany Soto contributes a nearly identical line to his 2008 season and is only outmatched by Brian McCann as the best catcher in baseball. Soto has a better year than last year Steel cage match, Soto vs. Wieters. The world ends because this much awesomeness can't be in one place at the same time. geovany soto is the third or fourth most productive catcher in the national league. Most garing is that in 6 pages only 4 people mentioned him at all, implying no significant change from last year. I said: severe sophomore slump for Geovanny Soto. As in, he is bottom half of nl catchers in OPS. The only response:thats simply not realistic In the "What if Soto goes on the DL" thread Soto going on the DL would immediately make the Cardinals the best NL Central team. I don't think I'm out of school in saying this community expected great things from Soto this year, with plenty of exceptions, I'm sure. We are all individuals.