Sosa21MVP

I consider myself the unluckiest fan on the face of the Earth. Quoth Steve aka Sosa21MVP Fan of the abysmal trainwreck known as the Chicago National League Ballclub. Hey, it's like watching the Titanic sink over and over! :oops:

Not a bad approach at least from the personnel perspective. Find out who can help you win in 2007 and who can't. Weed 'em out.

Well I hoped to sweep the Marlins and that didn't work out so well either. We can all wish in one hand and....well you know how that saying goes. :wink: I understand the mentality of people who want to see the Cubs decisively move one direction or the other. It's not so much about wanting to see the Cubs fail but when they do their roller coaster routine, it gets your hope up and down and finally you just get sick to your stomach. As a team, I don't believe this group has much chemistry or heart at the moment. That doesn't mean individual guys lack heart; it's the team's pulse I'm concerned with. Confidence has to be about zero too. I think if Hendry or whoever would just come out and honestly address the state of this team and provide a vision for fixing it, people could live with that better. Instead you have the constant chatter about contract extensions and the thinking of "hey we could be the 2005 Astros!". Maybe, probably not. I guess 4 more losses and we can match that 18-32 mark of the '05 Astros and see how that works out. The season is more than likely lost. You get to ten games under .500 and what happens? Maybe they get hot and win 5 in a row. Okay, then you are still 5 games under .500. Then maybe you lose 2 or 3 and the momentum diminishes. The Cubs just are not a good team. Yes, I work in my spare time as Mr Obvious on a radio station near you! :wink:

I've grown up in Northeast Indiana and for me, every trip to Wrigley is like a trip to Mecca. And I don't go there to admire the bricks and vines, I go there to see the Cubs kick the other team in the teeth. :twisted: Wrigley Field is a great venue but if the Cubs are losing, I could give a poop about the stadium. I recall a game against Montreal during Ryno's final season. A big part of my attending that game was to see Ryno one last time. He did come up with a double. But at the end of the game, the Expos hit back-to-back-to-back home runs to win going away. The bleacher bums threw garbage on the field which delayed the game. So I left Wrigley feeling rather empty that day. Better times: my first ever trip to Wrigley was June 8th, 1987 which was my dad's birthday. Cubs vs Mets. Game was tied 3-3 heading into the 9th inning. Dave Martinez hit a 2 out single between 1st and 2nd. Then Manny Trillo hit a homerun to leftfield for a 5-3 win. Great game. Keith Hernandez got injured in that game BTW. More winning moments than losses. Driving the 3 hours to Chicago for a loss pretty much sucked.

Bingo!!!! Z needs to shut his piehole. Why because AJ was "showing him up?" Run the dang bases as a PROFESSIONAL (and not on your back, either) AJ. AJ....reminds me of Jack Parkman of Major League 2, in that he is BEYOND an pesk, and he bordering the level of John Rocker in terms of being hated in baseball. Well...AJ, I think has MOVED ahead of Rocker in terms of being hated in baseball. Who thinks....AJ will want to sit out the three games at Wrigley? Cause I am willing to bet...if Carlos is pitching....AJ has one in his ear coming. LOL. No AJ won't be sitting out 3 games at Wrigley. He's been pissing people off for years, why would you think he'd shy away now? I wouldn't mind AJ in a Cubs uniform.

Pujols sounds like a nice guy from the articles I've read, regardless of how old he really is. :wink:

Deserves ain't got nothing to do with it. I suppose in theory you could argue every fan of every team deserves to see their team win at least one title but obviously that isn't reality. I've never felt like I deserved anything. I'm just hopeful I live to see the day the Cubs win it all. I have had the privilege of seeing the Chicago Bears win the Super Bowl and Indiana Hoosiers win the NCAA basketball championship along with seeing the local Fort Wayne Komets capture the old IHL Turner Cup with an unprecedented 12-0 clean sweep in the postseason. So I've experienced that thrill before. Plus I've seen my Indiana Pacers make the NBA Finals which was quite a thrill even though they lost. The Red Sox and White Sox winning titles gives me faith that it can happen for the hapless Cubbies too. Even though I suspect 2003 was supposed to be our year which would have made for the most unlikely trifecta of World Series champions in sports history. :wink: I'm rambling now, so feel free to slap me. I'm laid off and I keep odd hours. Not sure what to do with myself, lol! But once thing about 2003, it doesn't haunt me. I was too young to remember 1984 and I always thought that would be so horrible to experience. Well I got to see it replayed in 2003 and while it sucked at the time, it was one hell of a ride. All I ask from my teams is that they be competitive, make the playoffs and at least have a shot at competing for a title most years. I don't think any fan can realistically ask for much more.

AJ did an interview on the Jim Rome show on Monday (maybe it's been talked about already) he pretty much said the same thing about the home run pointing, saying he had some personal issue. Also, I guess Barrett and AJ have known each other since childhood. Maybe a little "brother vs brother" type fight there? :lol: The funny part was AJ said before Barrett jacked him, Michael said "I didn't have the ball b****!" Kind of reminds of me of the Dave Chapelle skits on Rick James. What did the five fingers say to the face? 8) AJ is AJ. I've followed his career since he played single A ball here in Fort Wayne. Although I don't recall any incidents back then. He definitely falls into the love/hate category.

sure, but then you run the chance of him really tearing something up. Yeah, I know. I just don't care. Wood's age, salary and impending free agency all make me not give a crap what could possibly happen to him long term. Other teams do it with their pitchers all the time. It isn't inhuman. You can't be serious.... Uh.....yeah I am. I see other teams shooting their players up all the time to get them back out there. If the Cubs don't want to do that with their young players, I'm fine with that, but at some point they should graduate to being treated like most if not all other major league pitchers when it comes to this stuff. Wow. Pretty lousy attitude. I'm glad and/or hoping most fans don't think that way. :roll:

i thought len or hawk had said that, odd as it was, there were no pre-game warnings after z hit iguchi. Whoa, I completely missed something today. I took a little nap during the game, and have no clue that any of this happened. Details? basically aj hit a solo shot off of z, and he must have said something to carlos while rounding the bases because carlos started yelling in the direction of either aj/sox bench/joey cora @ 3rd while doing the whole two fingers in his eyes then two fingers towards his eyes like 'look at me' thing. then aj, after crossing the plate, kissed his hand and pointed to the sky ala carlos, and ozzie ran out to say something, who knows what. it was funny because for a second, carlos settled down after it quite well, it made me think that ozzie may have better control over the cubs than baker does. ha. Wow, thanks. I had no clue that happened. Anyone have a video link? AJ is a complete a**. I love AJ Pierzynski. He's the prototype of the guy you hate unless he is on your team. He played here in Fort Wayne for the Wizards. I'll always have nothing but love for his game. He is a hell of a ballplayer. And yeah, he knows EXACTLY how to get under the skin of the other team. Every sport has its characters. AJ is a character in MLB. Hey, all he does is bring it strong between the lines and talk some trash in the process. He doesn't roid up, get involved in off-field issues and whatnot. Having said that, seeing Barrett clock him was pretty cool. It will make great material for a future interview. :lol:

Easiest to hate? Not really. I never have hated the Cubs. Sometimes they suck, sometimes they are good. This team didn't have a chance to begin with. You start the season with Wood & Prior disabled, then DLee gets seriously injured. The Cubs were pretty much right in the race until Lee got hurt, and maintained for a few games before collapsing. Assign blame as you will, this team isn't very good right now and it lacks the personnel to be much better. Blame Hendry, blame Baker, blame players. They all can share the blame. But I don't see this team being much more despicable than the disasters of the past. I guess perhaps not having Sosa around to hit 60 home runs makes it less interesting. :wink:

More power to Ozzie. He called it like it is.

The first thing that this organization needs to figure out is whether to fish or cut bait with Wood/Prior. I almost feel like the Cubs have been held hostage to their ongoing healthy issues the past 3 seasons. You can't go into every season with your supposed #1 and #2 starters either on the DL or likely to be there soon. Wood I believe just cannot physically endure being a starter anymore. Either try him as a closer or let him go. Prior I still have some faith in b/c frankly most of his injuries seem a bit flukish in nature. But don't rush him back. Give him all the time and medical attention he needs to be 100% again. This season is lost, don't cut more years off his career by rushing him back. In the meantime, gotta pick up a couple quality starters. Zambrano & Maddux we can trust I think. Although Maddux might not have much left in the tank despite his hot start which has kind of fallen to the side recently. Marshall looks good so far. Guzman and Hill? Meh, not sure. In 2003, we had healthy Wood, Prior, Zambrano, Clement to carry us. Those guys were supposed to be our future for a while but only one has remained healthy and reliable. Outfield is a wreck outside of Murton. Yes, we need a new coaching staff. I know I've argued Hendry is just as much to blame, perhaps moreso but also I'm sick of Dusty. Bring in a coaching staff that will teach hitting the right way and won't burn out pitchers. This team is a such a wreck. I try to get excited. Today I went out and got a 6 pack of beer to settle in for the Cubs-Sox game. Tried to believe but it did not take long to see the SOS again. Oh well. 2003 was great, I got to see the Cubs win a playoff series for the first time since 1908 and getting within a game of the World Series was exciting as hell. I won't take back that experience no matter how much the final two games stunk. But as has happened far too often in Cubs history, my worst fear was again realized. The Cubs after having a successful season failed to build upon it. Just another mirage in the desert, a brief oasis. But hey, the Bears are looking good. 8)

Ozzie is right on the money. And in a Sports Illustrated interview not long ago, he pretty much said the same thing about the White Sox as to why they had not had more success in the past. He said in rather colorful terms they did not have the horses. Seems like a fundamental truth to me. How many World Series champions were tremendous overachievers who magically made it happen? Championship teams get there because they have the talent across the board. Then you have the 1987 Twins who will always prove to be a curious example. They did have the talent but lucked into getting to host both the ALCS and World Series against teams with superior records. And homefield advantage apparently meant the world to that team. :wink:

My bad, I even did try to see if had been posted already. Guess I missed it. 8) Feel free to lock and delete! :wink:

http://www.altoonacurve.com/news/?id=5227 :lol:

If you want to re-arrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, then sure why not. :)

Juan Pierre entered that AB with a .267 OBP. Gross. :x

Are you part-cyborg? Simply amazing! Being a long-time numbers junkie, I appreciate your stats! :) Boggles the mind what you can do with a good database program, no ?? I was always more of a spreadsheet specialist. :wink: I did used to track Cubs stats on my own spreadsheets, back in the days when I did not have Internet and could not easily access what I wanted. Well, sonny.... I used to track CUBS stats with stone tablets & chisels back when I was kid !! :wink: :lol:

Are you part-cyborg? Simply amazing! Being a long-time numbers junkie, I appreciate your stats! :) Boggles the mind what you can do with a good database program, no ?? I was always more of a spreadsheet specialist. :wink: I did used to track Cubs stats on my own spreadsheets, back in the days when I did not have Internet and could not easily access what I wanted.

Hahahaha, too bad I can't be there to wring their necks! :twisted:

Are you part-cyborg? Simply amazing! Being a long-time numbers junkie, I appreciate your stats! :)

Michael Barrett turned into pulsating yellow dot on the bases!!!! :shock: Hey way to waste a leadoff double! Great.

Gameday cracks me up, it showed an animation of ARam popping out to 2nd. Looked like RBI Baseball. :lol:

i have Dish and I get WCIU. Seems like last season I was able to get all of those games but this year I cannot. Or maybe it was 2 years ago....not sure if the replacement of FSN Chicago with Comcast had anything to do with it?