ToupeeOnFire

Tie game! ...and still threatening.

Nice pitching by Maddux there after giving up the lead-off single. I'm just as shocked as Brenly that they didn't try to steal with Taveres.

...and if Maddux gets the bunt down, it's a tie game. ](*,)

Maddux is such a great bunter. :roll:

Eh. They have no one to blame but themselves. BTW... Did anybody happen to catch the pre-game show? I tuned in and they were talking to a sportswriter who I believe was Paul Sullivan (not sure though, because I didn't get the name). Anyhow, Len asked him if Cedeno and Murton had any chance of making the team as starters next year. The guy replied that while Cedeno had probably earned a chance, Murton was still questionable because he's hitting only .250 against righties and is questionable in the field. I could feel the bile rising in my throat when I heard that. I truly hope that this is just idle speculation on his part and is not the feeling he's getting from the orginization. While Murton may be only hitting .246 against righties, his OBP/SLG is a respectable .320/.477.

We've got Lidge's number. Second blown save for Lidge against the Cubs.

Am I the only person on this website that hates the Red Sox? Base hit for Burnie! im getting tired of hearing about them, but id rather it be the sox than the yankees. Well, I must be in the minority. I'd rather see the Yankees make it than the Red Sox. Barret~!

Am I the only person on this website that hates the Red Sox? Base hit for Burnie!

Z works out of a jam of his own making,

Pujols tonight thus far: 0-1

Carlos Zambrano OPS: .766 Jose Macias OPS: . .605 Advantage: Zambrano

Shock of shocks (or not)...Z gets the first Cub hit.

Mike [expletive] Lamb.

Nice first for Zambrano.

You are probably right. Taveras is a scrub, but he is a scrub with speed, thus enabling him to keep his batting average at respectable levels through pure fleet of foot. Pie, to me, seems a bit too much like Corey Patterson for my own liking -- too many strikeouts and not enough walks -- but if he can make enough contact (and that's a big if), there is no reason why he couldn't put up similar numbers to Taveras and, with enough power, be even better. That said, I am not too crazy about the Pie for center project in '06.

While I like the idea of getting a new pitching coach, I don't like the idea of going in-house with a guy like Kranitz. As I see it, the biggest problem with the Cub pitching staff, apart from allowing the home run ball, is the inability to throw strikes. The pitchers who have come up from AAA (Leicester, Wellemeyer, Van Buren, etc.) have been tremendous dissapointments in that regard. It's great that the Cubs have identified that Rothschild might be part of the problem, I just don't think it is a good idea to replace him with an unknown who may bear just as much responsibility for that problem.

As bad as this season has been, sweeping the Astros and knocking them out of the play-offs while improving our record to .500 would be one hell of a way to end it on a positive note.

:shock: What a finish!

You could really hear the disgust in Pat Hughes's voice describing that play on the radio broadcast.

Another solo shot for Lee! If you take Lee's post-All Star break numbers and double them (nearly approximating a full season), he would have 38 home runs and 68 RBI. And that, my friends, is why Dusty makes the big bucks.

I noticed you said "when" and not "if". How would you like to be a Philadelphia Phillie fan right now having to rely on a Dusty managed Cub team to keep your playoff hopes alive? Ha!

How’d the Cubs’ GM do? Jim Hendry (special to NSBB) http://chicago.comcastsportsnet.com/images/content/cubs/hendry22.jpg Fans often come up to me and ask how difficult is it to be general manager of the Chicago Cubs, particularly when you are under a constant microscope - what, with the vultures in the press breathing down your neck, ingrates on internet message boards questioning your every move, and that good for nothing Jay Mariotti being Jay Mariotti - but I like to think I can hang. Nobody likes to be criticized in their job. When the team is doing well most fans are supportive, but when the team is in stinksville you better batten down the hatches and run to the hills! One minute they want to have your babies, the next they want drag you out into a forest, strip you down to your Sunday's best, tie you up by your feet and hang you upside down to a tree limb, all the while pelting you with pine cones, hurling verbal taunts and reciting dirty limericks. That's not anybody's idea of fun, but I knew what I was getting into when I took this job. It helps that we have a great manager who captains this erstwhile ship and endures the slings and arrows so that I don't have to. Wait, scratch that last part. I’m not suggesting that I purposefully hired a rotten manager who’d make questionable moves in order to deflect the heat off of yours truly. That’d be absurd…ABSURD. I truly believe that Dusty Baker is the right manager for this team or my name isn’t James F. Hendry. Stop looking at me like that. [Can we remove this paragraph in the final edit?] Anyhoo, to make a long story short, the ad wizards at northsidebaseball.com asked me to write a self-assessment of my performance, and being the reticent, self-effacing individual that I am, I obliged. Trades: Sammy Sosa for Jerry Hairston Jr., Mike Fontenot and David Carouthers Hah! See, you all were criticizing me for trading roid boy for three non-descripts. Well, who got the last laugh buddy boy! So what that David Carouthers retired after the trade was made. You know what? I knew Carouthers was going to retire and I made the trade anyway! Hah…hah hah. I am crazy like that. Have you seen Sosa’s stats? Jerry Hairston has pretty much given us what we expected, even if he steals bases as if he were National League umpire Larry Poncino and has all the grace in center as a bagful of ferrets. The only unfortunate thing about this trade is the Amber Alert that we had to issue for Mike Fontenot late in the season. I blame Dusty. Kyle Farnsworth for Bo Flowers Look, you know as well as I did that as soon as we traded away that drunken sod Farnsworth away, he was going to turn into the modern reincarnation of Rob Dibble. You knew that, I knew that, the whole flippin’ world knew that. We just got tired of finding him passed out in a puddle of his own vomit and having to wake him up for bullpen sessions. We did get Roberto Novoa and some minor leaguer by the name of Dinty Moore or something. But the centerpiece of this trade was Bo Flowers. I’m telling you, that Flowers kid is ready to bloom in ’06. I know, I know. Mac Daddy (Cub president Andy MacPhail) doesn’t laugh at that joke either. Latroy Hawkins for Jerome Williams and David Aardsma Mea culpa. I screwed the pooch with Hawkins. Bigtime. Look, I’m not afraid to admit when I am wrong. Like that time I traded for that Andy Pratt guy. Everybody else saw a guy who had more wild pitches than strike outs, I saw a diamond in the rough. So I was wrong. What ya gonna do, sue me? The important thing is, I’m not afraid to take chances. That is why they call me the ‘gunslinger’, or at least my wife does, or at least I wish she did, because that would be a cool nickname to have. Jason Dubois for Jody Gerut for Matt Lawton for Justin Berg I would like to say that when I first traded Dubois for Jody Gerut that it was my intention all along for it to be the initial step in an elaborate chain of events that would eventually net us Justin Berg. I would like to say that, but I won’t, because I know I would never get away with it, even if it were true, which I’m not saying was, but I am not denying wasn’t. Lawton had a good clubhouse presence for the two and a half weeks he was here, but he stunk up the bathrooms and didn’t get along with Macias. Draft: Confession time: we general managers don’t know anymore than you do whether player so-and-so is going to be the next big thing or the next big bust, we go on instinct. Now let me assuage some fears. The Cub organization has made some doozy picks over the years (Earl Cunningham, Ty Griffin, Ben Christiansen, Luis Montanez, to name a few), but I can say with 100% truthfulness that I wasn’t responsible for any of them. So before you go off comparing our first round pick, Mark Pawelek, to Lance Dickson, realize who you are dealing with (they don’t call me the ‘gunslinger’ for nothin’). Anyways, we like this Pawelek kid. The scouting reports were pretty glowing about him. He’s got plus stuff: a plus fastball, a plus slider, a double plus curveball, and a plus change. Combine that with plus size and plus make-up and we think he is going to be a big plus for this organization. The only minus is that he was only a high schooler, so he lacks plus experience. But when the only minus about a pitcher is that he lacks experience, overall that’s a big plus. As for the rest of the draft, we like our haul. But between you and me – and let’s be honest here – by the time we get past the 10th round we stop paying attention. Hell, just for giggles, we let Darren Baker make all the picks starting with round 25. It was great fun and a good time was had by all. Next year, we’re thinking of letting team director of media relations Sharon Pannazzo make some of the picks. Wouldn’t that be a hoot.

Jose Contreras is by far the Sox's best starting pitcher right now. I can't believe the Phils beat the Reds. The Reds had a 4 run lead going into the top of the ninth and David Weathers blew the lead . Shades of Antonio Alfonseca. Shades of Danny Graves earlier this year. Huge win for the Phils. Cards fans have got to be concerned with the way "Cy" Carpenter has been pitching of late. Or maybe not. It seems like every year there is a player or two that ends the season in a whimper only to bounce back big in the play-offs. But since Carpenter has pitched so far above his career norms, regression to the mean has got to be in the back of their minds. That and the fact that Carpenter has already shattered his career high in IP.

Does anyone have his numbers out of the pen this year? Not counting today's game: 4-0, 1.99 ERA, 54.1 IP, 44 H, 1 HR, 24 BB, 47 K Gentlemen, we have found our closer. If we can re-sign him for a reasonable price, then I would be all for it. Much rather sign Dempster for half of what it would cost to sign an aging vet like Billy Wagner. BJ Ryan could be an intriguing possibility, but demand for him is likely to be high. The fact that Dempster's numbers as a starter helps make his overall stats look more pedestrian probably works to our favor.

Does anyone have his numbers out of the pen this year? Not counting today's game: 4-0, 1.99 ERA, 54.1 IP, 44 H, 1 HR, 24 BB, 47 K