CuseCubFan69

Oh puh-leeze. You're comparing Bill Clinton to the man who invented the double play as we know it today? :) Ah yes...Morgan to Morgan to Morgan, I remember that story way back in the 70's!

How are they fortunate? Maybe if teams switched leagues all the time, and the Chicago teams routinely found themselves in the weakest one, you'd have a point. I just don't get it. Starting off your premise with a "Do you Chicago people realize" opening, and suggesting fans of Chicago teams are very lucky isn't a good way to try and make a point. Maybe I could have worded it better but I think you get the basic idea of what I'm trying to say and are just arguing semantics.

I'm curious, how many players from that team are in the Hall? Now, if it's close to what the Cubs have I wonder if it's possible they are a little annoyed that a crappy Cub team could possibly have as many guys in the Hall as they do. Let's see....Bench, Morgan, Perez while the Cubs have Jenkins and Williams, correct?

I think he's steps beyond himself, not the other pitchers. So you're not disputing the suggestion that you think he's quite a few steps behind the other pitchers? I certainly don't think that's the case and haven't seen a thing to suggest as much. I think that what Mark Prior expects of Mark Prior could be his worst enemy or his best friend. I don't know what the steps are that the pitchers are at and what stages they are. Mark has been working out for awhile now and he should be ahead of most of them. My question is is he going to go beyond that or is he going to flatten out.

I know I can't argue with your own subjective analysis of 2005 Prior, but stastically, Prior was a very good pitcher in 2005. About as good as he was for most of 2002-2003, outside of the two month stretch where he was flat out absurdly dominant. August and September of 03 gave us a glimpse of what he's capable of when he's really on, and also made his 2003 stats look as unreal as they did. 2005 Prior looked more or less like the Prior we saw from 2002 through July or so of 2003. Also, that year, before the Hawpe incident, Prior was about as dominant as he was in the 03 stretch run (admittedly, not a huge sample size). He wasn't quite the same afterwards but still pitched quite well. We'll soon see dav. Hey, I want to see him K guys on 9 pitches and I want him to succeed.

I think we all realize that but if they keep writing negative things about Santo is it possible that the veterans commitee could buy into that?

You specified that Chicago teams are lucky. The fact that other teams/cities are in the same boat would negate the point. You also didn't say a think about "right now". You statement was "do you Chicago people realize your teams play in the worst conferences", and that "overall Chicago teams are lucky". I fail to see the point. Don't you think they are fortunate to be in those conferences/leagues right now? I'm not saying they are the only ones but I was just commenting to a Chicago based fan board. Yeah, there are others that are just as fortunate, if the word lucky bothers you that much. Will those conferences/leagues be weak all the time, heck no. I was just making an observation. No, I don't think they are fortunate. I think it's kind of silly to even bring up. Lots and lots of teams play in relatively weak divisions or conferences. You also leave out the White Sox, who play in a really tough division. The notion that Chicago teams are particularly lucky about where they play just doesn't make any sense. The Cubs are in a weak division, okay. But the Bulls division isn't weak. And while the Bears isn't all that strong, it's no weaker than some others. The Sox might play in the toughest division, and the Blackhawks play in one of the tougher divisions. And again, this stuff changes year-in and year-out. So I'm failing to see where luck is involved. Why? I mentioned the Eastern Conference in basketball but you keep saying division for some reason. It's a Cubs board so I admit I had more of a Cub slant to that but again I mentioned LEAGUE not divison. The Bears, well isn't a fact the AFC has better for years? What is so hard to believe about that and that those teams are fortunate to be playing in them?

Welcome to the forum! That's a big pet peeve for me, how the writers like a guy or not. You would hope these guys would be professionals and be able to separate that but in many cases they are bitter little jealous men who hold grudges instead of doing their jobs as they are suppose to do, especially NY press guys. Are the writers even involved with Santo's chances anymore? I thought it was all veterans' committee at this point, ie. HOF players. They were the ones that stopped him in the first place....those are the guys I was talking about. You're probably right that most of them are gone. Even then, it's a bit of a stretch to blame NY writers. The voters are from all over the country. I agree it's not just the NY press that stopped him but they are the #1 pushers in making a mega story and if they have a hardon for somebodythey blast the living heck of them.

I like news like this! Keep that deep rotation competition going! Great news in regards to Gallagher, other reports from AZ had Gallagher as not looking too great. To be fair to those other reports, they were based on Gallagher's first day or two in the big league camp. I'm sure as he got his feet wet, he started doing his thing. He was probably nervous as heck. Let's hope he continues to progress like we hope he can.

At this point though, if he's actually pitching, it's hard to maintain the "there's something wrong" idea. There doesn't seem to be much of a secret going on. We're not hearing that he's being held out and we don't know why. He's not in an undisclosed location. His past history is troublesome, no doubt. But as long as he's pitching, I can't help but think that the "June at the earliest" timeframe is just not very likely. If he doesn't feel good after his first start, skips his next and gets some weird schedule, all bets are off. But Prior pitching at this point is completely different than past seasons. There's pitching and then there's pitching. Yes, it's early and I may be wrong but I don't think that I am. IMO you'll see a difference from what you expect from Mark Prior and he'll be a shell of what he once was and he won't have that extra umph he once had. The June is a target date so the Cubs will be able to decide on how to fix their rotation and the time they will give Prior to regain himself. Has Bruce commented on how he has thrown yet? Bruce has, so have Will Carroll and independent bloggers. All said he looked impressive. You can judge next Monday, Cuse. But I think your specific concern (not ready till June) isn't valid, because it assumes he's quite a few steps behind the other pitchers. I think he's steps beyond himself, not the other pitchers.

Actually, there's pitching and there's not pitching. In the past, Prior hasn't been pitching. Now he is. That's a big difference. If he pitches, and just gets rocked, then that's an issue. But by and large, when Prior has pitched, he's pitched well. He may never have his "best stuff" again. But until Prior goes out and looks like crap for a prolonged period of time, I don't see how anybody can say he'll be a shell of his former self. He wasn't a "shell" when he came back in 2005. Last year he was clearly not healthy enough to pitch, and when he tried to force a comeback, he didn't have anything. The fact that he's pitching now would seem to indicate, that at the very least, this year is not similar to last year. Then add not pitching to the 2 I wrote. When I saw Prior last pitch in 2005 I saw little movement and hop on his pitches. Something was missing along with the cockyness he had. I know that somethimes injuries sometimes take away that invinceable feeling you have before the injury but I think he won't get back to the stuff/velo he once had. We'll see who's right gooney and I really hope you are the one that is.

Welcome to the forum! That's a big pet peeve for me, how the writers like a guy or not. You would hope these guys would be professionals and be able to separate that but in many cases they are bitter little jealous men who hold grudges instead of doing their jobs as they are suppose to do, especially NY press guys. Are the writers even involved with Santo's chances anymore? I thought it was all veterans' committee at this point, ie. HOF players. They were the ones that stopped him in the first place....those are the guys I was talking about. You're probably right that most of them are gone.

You specified that Chicago teams are lucky. The fact that other teams/cities are in the same boat would negate the point. You also didn't say a think about "right now". You statement was "do you Chicago people realize your teams play in the worst conferences", and that "overall Chicago teams are lucky". I fail to see the point. Don't you think they are fortunate to be in those conferences/leagues right now? I'm not saying they are the only ones but I was just commenting to a Chicago based fan board. Yeah, there are others that are just as fortunate, if the word lucky bothers you that much. Will those conferences/leagues be weak all the time, heck no. I was just making an observation.

I don't know that he has...but we've already heard reports from Will Carrol's sources (who have a history of bringing forth negative Prior news) that he's throwing very well. We also have a couple of first hand accounts from fans there that say he looks like 2003 Prior. Admittedly, though, these are only fans...so we can't really know how credible they really are. dav I really hope he is and I'd love to see Prior throwing well! Ok...this is just my opinon but when I first saw Mark pitch I saw a cocky kid who didn't think anyone could hit off him and most of the time he was right. I saw him get injured a few times and imo he realized he is indeed normal and it effected his mental toughness. Is this true? It's my feeling it is and he has to get over that and relax go back to that mindset along with being able to throw pain free.

Welcome to the forum! That's a big pet peeve for me, how the writers like a guy or not. You would hope these guys would be professionals and be able to separate that but in many cases they are bitter little jealous men who hold grudges instead of doing their jobs as they are suppose to do, especially NY press guys. I didn't realize the little behind the doors story regarding Santo and his teammates. Rons seems to be a pretty emotional guy and I think it's possible he may have said things when he was in an emotional state.

At this point though, if he's actually pitching, it's hard to maintain the "there's something wrong" idea. There doesn't seem to be much of a secret going on. We're not hearing that he's being held out and we don't know why. He's not in an undisclosed location. His past history is troublesome, no doubt. But as long as he's pitching, I can't help but think that the "June at the earliest" timeframe is just not very likely. If he doesn't feel good after his first start, skips his next and gets some weird schedule, all bets are off. But Prior pitching at this point is completely different than past seasons. There's pitching and then there's pitching. Yes, it's early and I may be wrong but I don't think that I am. IMO you'll see a difference from what you expect from Mark Prior and he'll be a shell of what he once was and he won't have that extra umph he once had. The June is a target date so the Cubs will be able to decide on how to fix their rotation and the time they will give Prior to regain himself. Has Bruce commented on how he has thrown yet?

The Central Division is pretty good. Four of the five teams are over .500. It's the rest of the East that stinks. True but you have to admit overall the Chicago teams are a little lucky in this regard. I don't see your point. So would somebody who is a Knicks, Mets, Giants and Rangers fan. What about Philly fans? Furthermore, it's not like this is a hard and fast rule. The NFC used to reign, and will again. The NBA West wasn't always dominant. Neither was the AL. Well let me think....is this a Chicago Bull thread or a Met thread? I'm commenting on how weak those conferences are, I suppose I didn't realize I touched a nerve but just mentioned a fact. I never said that the East was always bad did I? No. I just mentioned that right now they are not as good as the other. Am I wrong?

I know you're just doing this to protect yourself from being let down, but what's the point? I'd say it's extremely likely that that won't be the case. Granted, something could come up, but you could say that about anybody. Given Prior's history, I can see how there's cause for concern, but nothing that has actually happened leading up to this spring and so far in camp could lead you to believe that. If I had to put money on Prior either starting on time, or not making his first start until June, based on what we know right now, I'd have to go with the former. I'm not criticizing you or anything. I just don't understand it. It reminds me of the guy on the Score (I think it's Offman) who refuses to put the Cubs anywhere above 3rd place in his predictions this year even though he openly concedes that the Cubs are probably a better team than the rest of the division. He just "can't" put them ahead of the Cardinals or Astros. Whatever. He claims they were too bad last year and that it's too hard to go from worst to first, which really makes no sense. Besides, where's the fun in setting yourself up for the worst case scenario? Sports would be absolutely no fun for me if I started out every season expecting my team to finish in last place. Half the fun is the preseason anticipation/optimism, for me, at least. I felt this way about Wood last year too and it has nothing to do with protecting myself in any way. I didn't like what I saw of Mark for the past 2 years and something is wrong IMO. I'm not trying to be a naysayer but the past history that Prior has shown bothers me. All this secret we don't know what's wrong thing just makes me wonder why they say this and I haven't heard what was wrong in the first place along with what he's hitting on the gun. I think the Cubs will have a good year with or without Prior but if he's even close to 2003 they will a very nice team indeed.

The Central Division is pretty good. Four of the five teams are over .500. It's the rest of the East that stinks. True but you have to admit overall the Chicago teams are a little lucky in this regard.

I'm hoping he does well. Heck, for 7 a year it's a pretty decent price, especially if Rothschild did find a flaw and fixed it.

We can't trade Marquis yet. If Marquis was told he was being put in the bullpen, I'm sure he'd ok a trade. I think that's the smallest part of the difficulty. Not only does he have to okay a trade, the big problem is getting the opposing team to okay the trade. Nobody would take him right now. There wasn't much of a market for him this offseason, and any team that may have been interested likely spent that money on other options. Basically, if Marquis was a free agent right now, it would be virtually impossible for him to get the same contract he got from the Cubs from any other team. So how can they trade him? The only way is for him to pitch relativley effectively for a considerable period of time. I could see the Mets being desperate enough for starting pitching to take him on, but it would have to be after he's shown something this season. There's no way they take the risk that his 2006 was an aberration right now. While I would agree that nobody would probably take him now, I don't know why you would say there wasn't much of a market for him-I'm not sure anybody has any idea what the market for Marquis was. If he pitches and has an ERA under 5 through the first month or two of the season, I could see a pitching-thin team trading for him-I just don't know if the Cubs would trade him. I think we should just let these guys battle it out and see who steps up. Hey, if Marquis is pitching well it's a win-win situation for the Cubs and if he isn't and you have 5 guys that are better throw him in the long relief pen. Plus if Marquis is doing ok somebody will come a callin especailly if the Cubs pay a little of the salary which I'm sure they would have to do unless the team is deparate.

The report didn't say it was lean muscle. Weightlifters can put on a lot of weight in a hurry by loading up on protein after workouts on a regular basis without much happening to cut that muscle down. It's probably a lot of bulk, but not very well cut, if you get the picture. Interesting, thanks. I understand the weight gain then if that's the case. I know that mcuscle weighs more than fat but you're losing fat and gaining muscle mass and I have to admit I'm a little worried about the quick fixes that are out there. God, I really that that I even think about this stuff but I have to watch kids around here with this stuff too and it's a constant pain in the butt. Don't get me wrong, we haven't had a case here yet but we still have to watch.

I like news like this! Keep that deep rotation competition going!

Welcome to the real world sully! I was pretty young when those guys were playing and Brooks had some defining moments in big games that helped his image along with having better players beside him. it's all perception vs. reality. because brooks made those high profile plays, he was perceived as being the best 3rd baseman of all time when he might not even crack the top 10. But guys that won the Championship have always got the benefit over other players that are comparable in all the Sports Hall of Fames. I don't think it's right but it always happens.

Welcome to the real world sully! I was pretty young when those guys were playing and Brooks had some defining moments in big games that helped his image along with having better players beside him.