ToupeeOnFire

Corey Hart kind of looks like Ryne Sandberg. http://mlb.mlb.com/images/players/mugshot/ph_430611.jpg Maybe it's just me.

RBI double by Lamb and 2 run homer by Berkman has the Astros back in the game, 6-4 in the top of the 6th. Reds down 4-2 in the bottom of the 5th. Washington up on Philly 4-3 in the top of the 7th. Dodgers, Rockies scoreless in the 2nd. Pads still up on the Cards 1-0 in the 3rd. Oh yeah, and Rich Hill is still lookin' good.

Both the Astros and the Reds are losing...by identical scores, 3-1.

Go figure.

Oh, I agree; but asking for specific criticisms of that sort is probably asking a little too much from Rogers. I am just glad that the front office is taking some well-deserved heat. Sure it's a false dichotomy, MacPhail attending to non-on the field things does not preclude him attending to the team. But while MacPhail is off doing whatever, this team festers and rots and it doesn't seem there is any urgency to do anything about it. Ultimately the buck stops with him, and if he is satisfied the way things have been run, then he is part of the problem. So while the specifics of some of Roger's criticisms are dubious, he is dead right on his target. But you are right, Rogers comes perilously close to calling for the head of Jim Hendry, only to stop short and ask, 'where was Andy?' That's BS.

Or 1977, when the team was in first place and 20 games above .500 at the beginning of August only to collapse and finish in 4th with an 81-81 record. Or 1985, the year after the team came to within a game of the World Series. On June 11th they were 35-19 and 4 games up in the division. They then proceeded to lose 13 games in a row. They bounced back a little after that, winning 6 of their next 8, but then the entire starting pitching staff seemingly got hurt and the Cubs eventually limped to a dissapointing 77-85 record. As a kid, it was like being punched in the stomach after recovering from a kick in the groin 8 months earlier. Welcome to the life of being a Cubs fan!

For all of the nonsense Phil Rogers writes, he occasionally pulls out a column like this one. Nicely done.

What you've said here doesn't make sense. we can all agree Paterson is an impatient hitter with a large strike zone. So what requires more change: - Dusty asking him to be his version of a leadoff hitter - Asking him to suddenly develop into a OBP count-working hitter. Clearly the second requires a lot more change than the first. what you're asking of him would be far more destructive to his progress than what Dusty asked of him, IMO. While I think the Cubs should always be putting an emphasis on working the count and getting on base, I wasn't suggesting they should have tried to make wholesale changes with Patterson. From 2003 to 2004, his walk rate had improved. I suppose what I was hoping for in 2005 was to continue to see incremental improvements in his game as he aged and gained experience. Putting such a point of emphasis on cutting down strike outs was only going to make him be more aggressive and, even worse, shorten up his swing. As it is, he is pretty much the same player now as he was in 2004 and I can't say I really miss him all that much.

Except that Dusty and his staff tried to turn him into something he was not: a leadoff hitter. Sure, Corey was fast, but he was brought up in the minors as a middle-of-the order, power-type player. Corey never wanted to be a leadoff hitter; Baker and his staff forced it on him, and that's why he "could not carry what he did in practice and instruction into the batter's box." His lack of plate discipline may have never allowed him to reach his full potential, but he could still have been a very valuable player. Basically, Baker's staff had a potential 30/30 player in CF, and instead of trying to teach him to be more patient to bring out his natural abilities(not necessarily take walks, just not swinging at the first pitch at every at bat), they tried to completely alter his style and make him Lou Brock. It was a disservice to him, the Cubs and the fans. Corey deserves some blame, but the coaching staff (and Hendry to an extent) deserve more. I agree. It wasn't so much moving Corey to lead-off that did him in, it was trying to change Corey into the Cubs' idea of a lead-off hitter. They've got it in their heads that plate discipline doesn't neccesarily mean being more patient and taking more walks, instead it means making contact and striking out less. By emphasizing contact, they basically told Corey to be even more aggresive. Instead of trying to take pitches and work counts, Corey swung away early to avoid deep counts.

It's official, Cards lose. Down to 1½ games. Frankly, I don't care if the Cardinals would most likely make a quick exit from the playoffs, if this holds up, it would be an historically monumental collapse.

Here I am paying attention to other games and the Cubs score a bunch of runs. Good to see Murton make a push towards .300. He must have heeded Dusty words to round off his numbers.

Padres just took the lead 6-5 in the bottom of the 7th against the Cardinals. Apparently, LaRussa is going to let Chris Carpenter die on the vine. Houston already won, so if this holds up, the Cardinal lead will fall to 1½ games. Phillies also lost. Dodgers are winning 6-1 in the top of the6th against Colorado.

I don't think there is going to be a whole lot of demand for Miller from other teams. That said, Hendry will probably bid against himself and give him multiple years.

Stop losing so much. It's not like sucking/not sucking can be turned on and off like a faucet, especially when the faucet is broken. The faucet needs to be replaced.

I hope, before his tenure is over, Dusty graces us with one last fishing metaphor.

Good to see that Scott Eyre was all grins and giggles after blowing the game. ''That's awesome,'' Eyre continued as he broke into a laugh. ''He's got boobs and he looks like he is pregnant.'' Yes it kind of annoys me, but the players are human too. How are they supposed to deal with yet another loss? Are they supposed to be chronically depressed? Even as passionate fans, we laugh at this team as they find ways to lose. I can hardly blame them for finding some solace in humor, how else can you maintain your sanity? The real problem is, the Cubs shouldn't be in this position. Yes, Dusty is like the babysitter you used to have who let you stay up late and do whatever you wanted; but it's the front office who's responsible for the sorry state of this franchise. This is what no accountability and rewarding mediocrity gets you.

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/story.asp?id=231539 “I just told them, ‘Try to round off your numbers,’æ” Baker said. “If you try to round off your numbers, that means you’re doing well. Usually you don’t preach individual stats and stuff, but when you’re in a position where we are, it can help us and it can help them.” :P I have to admit, I am going to miss Dusty's bizarre ramblings.

2½ games back now...6 games left. Stranger things have happened.

Seattle looking good early. Big game next Sunday night.

Great job by our local FOX affiliate. The Redskin/Texan finishes early, so what do they do? Switch to Packers/Lions. After that game finished, instead of going to the Bear game, they run commercials. :x Oh well. This win feels real nice. Tommie Harris is a beast.

Kick coverage has been fantastic all day...and then this.

D needs to nut up.

Redeem yourself Rex.

Yeahhh!!!! OGUNNNN!

Good thing Lovie used the challenge earlier and wasted the time-out. :roll: