papabear58

I don't know where you're getting that impression. The people calling for Miller to be removed want Guzman in his stead, not Prior. It's more an overall impression since comming to this board. I've been suprised by some people calling for players to be removed or play this guy not that guy. I also remember a few posts about Prior and Miller from spring training and remember seeing frustration about Prior not making it again. I'm just wondering how much of this impatients stems from anger at Prior rather then anger at Miller. If there is anger at Miller for one bad start then I'm worried. If Miller came out with good stuff and got rocked around, I think some would be optimistic his command would improve and he'd be servicable. He didn't have either of them, and there isn't much reason to believe he'll ever recover his old form. I still don't know why Piniella picked him to be the fifth starter, Miller's recent history isn't impressive and I think its stupid to give away a spot based on spring training results. I don't think any of the "impatience" really has anything to do with Prior. Like TT said, we wanted Guzman to win the spot over Miller. If Guzman started and had a rough outing, he would still have the stuff and upside to bounce back. Does anyone really think Miller has become a finesse pitcher like some have made him out to be? I always thought that was a baseless argument. I like the idea of being able to protect a good young pitcher from the bullpen if at all possible. Protect his pitch counts, protect his mentality, and limit his visibility to oposing hitters. The only catch is that you have a get him enough innings regularly to allow him to still develop. Will Piniella do that? I don't know yet, but I think it shouldn't be too hard, especially if Miller doesn't recover as you believe he won't.

Because, I personally think, that if they do, they are at the point of releasing him. I saw the salary standoff this year as a symptom not a cause. I think there might be something forming here between Mark and the Cubs, and I think it might be Mark who's building it. Look at his frustrated comments and everything else. I'm not sure if they'd put him on the DL again, or just release him. Optioning him to AAA allows them to keep him and not rely on him. If he can handle it, he might end up better for it.

I don't know where you're getting that impression. The people calling for Miller to be removed want Guzman in his stead, not Prior. It's more an overall impression since comming to this board. I've been suprised by some people calling for players to be removed or play this guy not that guy. I also remember a few posts about Prior and Miller from spring training and remember seeing frustration about Prior not making it again. I'm just wondering how much of this impatients stems from anger at Prior rather then anger at Miller. If there is anger at Miller for one bad start then I'm worried.

WOW, is it just me or is this board viscious. One start and we are ready to push him out. I hate to tell you this, but Prior hasn't been above 88-89 and he's not hitting his breaking ball every time he goes out. I can't determine if this is angst against Miller because of his pitching, or because he replaced Prior and people are still pissed about Prior not living up to their expectations.

I'm not sure if describing the position of the majority of the people posting in the thread as "ludricous and assinine" is really "adding some sanity" Vance. As for hating it...yeah, MLB is the biggest culprit, no question...but your position is like saying you can't hate the yankees when they buy up every possible free agent...Actually, yes I could hate them...and its neither ludricous or assinine. And while it may somehow benefit their current subscribers...it hurts all those who aren't...so I can dislike them for that too if I so choose......now at the end of the day, the right thing happened and its available to both customer bases....that's all I care about....I could care less whether anyone has DirecTV, Cable, or an freakin coathanger antenna. You are right on the "If I so choose", but your logic is at best flawed. Companies exist to make money. The idea of Philanthropic companies is somewhat new, and definatly idealistc more then realistic. If I own a company and want to increase my customer base, I'll do whatever is in my power to do so. That doesn't make me evil, or wrong. In this case, others will be able to handle EI and I'm happy about that because it means that I will get access to it as well. But I wasn't ever angry at Direct TV for it. I was pissed as hell at MLB for even going there, but again, they did what they thought would raise more money for their company (the league). The only reason I'm pissed at them is that they are looking to do so at the expense of their fan base who supports them, whereas Direct TV is doing what is in the best interest of their subscribers. If MLB had been thinking like Direct TV this never would have come up in the first place as MLB would have been thinking of their entire fan base and not the bottom line of the deal. Again, neither is evil, just one good business descision (Direct TV), and one bad one (MLB).

O:) And the Hallelujah chorus sings with the posting of such wisdom O:)

Yeah, right now, we're even in the "junk heap pitchers inexplicably playing well" department, so we can't complain too much. Yet. Hey man, watch it with the ominus stuff here! :D

But the number of homeruns has not spiked to a huge account either. That means that both sides could be in equalibrilum here as well. I don't know if Sosa was juicing, but while I deplore that type of behavior, I can't say he shouldn't be in the HOF. Roids might increase your ability to put more drive into the ball, but you still have to have bat speed and vision, and many other things that Steroids can't effect. I'm totally mixed when it comes to an asterisk or not next to the record.... part of me says yes, and part of me says no.

And what makes you think that this will continue? What if Piniella is getting him some AB's to build confidence and get him to see pitches and things in a real game so that as he comes in as a pinch hitter, or as he plays second base when Derosa plays third, he's is comfortable and ready. It's only six games and it's only happended twice I think, maybe three times.

He is. I don't understand why some people are so up in arms over this situation. It's hardly a straight platoon. Murton has gotten four of the six starts so far in left field, and the Cubs have only faced a lefty in one of those games. How many times has he been yanked for Theriot as a "defensive replacement" in about the 7th inning? Not only should he get the majority of the starts, but he should finish the games. He's not terribly slow and Theriot isn't much better in LF (if at all). It's a move that's been made a few times and, imo, is just wasting our already thin bench. He's been put in as a pinch-runner for Floyd a couple times. I'm for that, because it will limit our exposure to a Floyd injury. I'm not sure how many times he's been put in as a defensive replacement for Murton -- that would be a poor decision since Murton's better defensively in the outfield. Wasn't Theriot playing RF yesterday? Could have sworn I saw him out there----struggling with a fly ball again. I don't remember which game, but I do distinctly remember him being insterted in the seventh inning as a pinch runner for Matt Murton to replace him defensivly.

He is. I don't understand why some people are so up in arms over this situation. It's hardly a straight platoon. Murton has gotten four of the six starts so far in left field, and the Cubs have only faced a lefty in one of those games. How many times has he been yanked for Theriot as a "defensive replacement" in about the 7th inning? Not only should he get the majority of the starts, but he should finish the games. He's not terribly slow and Theriot isn't much better in LF (if at all). It's a move that's been made a few times and, imo, is just wasting our already thin bench. I think right now Lou is trying to get his hitters some chances in "real" games. I think it will all play itself out over the next month as he begins to become more comfortable with his players and what they are doing/can do.

Murton is a good player who will continue to get better. I think my only problem is that Floyd is quite possibly going to continue to get worse (not nearly as drastic as soon people seem to predice) while Murton will most likely get better. I'd like to see Murton play more simply because he represents the future if he can get it all together. It's only six games, and the fact is that both he and Floyd are getting good playing time. That's fine for now because I think Lou is just getting a feel for things. Now if we're two/three months from now, and Murton is doing well and is still platooning, then I might have a problem. I also think the Theriot thing is done because of a winning attidude from Piniella that says, "I'm going to win this game." I don't have a problem with that attitude.... in fact it's a nice change.... I think it will work a lot better when he's comfortable with his players. I don't care what anybody says, you can't be 100% comfortable with your players until you have them playing in real baseball games and are watching them compete when it counts.

That's a very good point. Another reason why I don't want the Cubs to move: less day games. I understand all the incredibly valid arguments for more night games, but at the same time, it's baseball, a game that used to played in the sunshine exclusively until those darned Reds introduced lights at their ballpark. I value day games for many incredibly invalid reasons, such as more party time after the game, getting drunk in the sunshine, etc. But most of all, for a game that has changed so much but not really changed all that much, a day game at Wrigley Field is probably almost the exact same experience it was 50 years ago. That's pretty awesome. Day games also can be excluding to people who work at the time. Working in an office myself, I often wish that the Cubs played more night games or I enjoy when they are out of town so that I can watch a game rather then relying on a DVR and hoping that someone doesn't blab the score before I can get a chance to watch it. While it is nice to be able to fast forward through commercials, it's a pain in the butt to have to avoid anything and all things Cubs all day long for fear of hearing a score. I wish we could keep Wrigley and have more night games too.....

That would be the pitcher I was second most worried about who did very well today. :)

It strikes me that today's game is a wash, that there's not really much we can extrapolate from it. Lou made some bad calls pitching-wise, but I don't think we can realistically expect that to continue, nor should we expect our offense to be so flaccid. Hopefully that roof in Milwaukee is working properly and the Cubs can play some warm-weather baseball. Looking forward to Hill's start. Dude IS a beast. The question is how long until our order begins to contribute? I don't believe this pitching staff is going to be able to hold one run leads. Barrett is .000 and Jones is sub .080. I don't see us being able to hold leads this small. Well. Your answer is, how long do you expect Barrett to be .000? One can only sumise not for long, but by the same token, we need for the entire order to step up. So far (yeah, all of what, three games) it's been two people carrying the offense with others contributing to it. We need for the who offense to wake up and contribute. It's not the end of the world, but it's something that I again wonder how it will be addressed given Lou's, "We Sucked Today" attitude at times. Blunt, honest, and thruthful can be helpful.

And so did many other teams.

What does uppin a thread mean?

It strikes me that today's game is a wash, that there's not really much we can extrapolate from it. Lou made some bad calls pitching-wise, but I don't think we can realistically expect that to continue, nor should we expect our offense to be so flaccid. Hopefully that roof in Milwaukee is working properly and the Cubs can play some warm-weather baseball. Looking forward to Hill's start. Dude IS a beast. The question is how long until our order begins to contribute? I don't believe this pitching staff is going to be able to hold one run leads. Barrett is .000 and Jones is sub .080. I don't see us being able to hold leads this small.

#-o Well, the pitcher that I was second most worried about pitched well and did fine, but the bullpen that I thought was fairly good blew it. Talk about unexpected. Isturis did well, so did Ramirez, but most of the rest of the line-up didn't. I wonder what Piniella is going to say when his pitchers were throwing balls and walking people with the hitters getting nowhere by in large.

They talk about it incessently on every Chicago Sports venue I watch :( But hey, it won't be long till I get to go. As far as the snow, Buffalo gets more snow, but here in NE NY it's not nearly as bad. This year I think we got a total of 5 or 6 feet.

At least I have the boards :D

You know, here are some of the things that I hate about not living in Chicago: I don't get WGN on stupid Time-Warner cable. I don't get to watch my Cubs, Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks. I don't get to eat deep dish pizza and bratwurst all the time. I don't get to go to fan conventions. I have to travel to go to Wrigley, Soldier Field, and the other venues. The only intellegent Cubs fans I get to talk to are on the internet. I HATE HEARING ABOUT THE DAMN YANKEES ALL THE TIME!!! On the other hand, I don't have to deal with as much snow, so I guess it's not all bad. Just thought you might like to know how good you guys have it there :)

Yes. And I'd love it even more on the lakefront...but we've been down this road before. Just a question, but wouldn't that involve a higher degree of difficulty from the winds being that close to the lake?

i think it probably had more to do with being hit in the head by an errant fastball. or it could have something to do with him just getting old. This season will definatly test that theory. He could very well be aweful as some people surmise. Or he could rebound and do well as he's mentally fresh, ready to play, and happy to be playing baseball again. We'll see what happens there. BTW I did take him in the last round of my fantasy draft on the off chance that he does rebound. If not, it's no big loss. How will this season test anything relative to your point about Sosa succumbing to distractions in 2004? Most of those distractions are gone, or are old news. He seems upbeat, happy, and of positive mind. If he bounces back and has a good season it means that it wasn't nearly as much a physical thing as mental. Not necessarily. You're making assumptions left and right. There's not a causal relationship that you can point to. As I said earlier my entire argument is based on opinion and speculation. If you're looking for me to "convert" you to my opinion :) that is neither my intent or desire. I simply have a point of view that people under distraction do not perform their job to the best of their ability and in sports, can be beaten by teams who are focused on the task at hand. Not that talent is 100% irrelevent, but focus can be just a big of a factor IMHO.

i think it probably had more to do with being hit in the head by an errant fastball. or it could have something to do with him just getting old. This season will definatly test that theory. He could very well be aweful as some people surmise. Or he could rebound and do well as he's mentally fresh, ready to play, and happy to be playing baseball again. We'll see what happens there. BTW I did take him in the last round of my fantasy draft on the off chance that he does rebound. If not, it's no big loss. How will this season test anything relative to your point about Sosa succumbing to distractions in 2004? Most of those distractions are gone, or are old news. He seems upbeat, happy, and of positive mind. If he bounces back and has a good season it means that it wasn't nearly as much a physical thing as mental.