ToupeeOnFire

Those stats really aren't all that amazing. They've become commonplace with this team. PS: I blame it all on Aramis Ramirez's lack of hustle.

It's a nice way of saying walks don't matter. There are much better ways to get that point across, and it's self evident anyways. If you listened to his comments as a whole that is not at all what he was saying. I realize that everyone wants Hendry to go, but at least view his comments as a whole and don't just pick one phrase and make it sound like that was all he said. He said generally players with high OBP are generally good hitters. I don't see anything wrong at all with that statement. Yeah, some people are mis-characterizing what he said, although he didn't give the answer I would have liked to hear. Basically, if you've heard one Hendry interview, you've heard them all. He said nothing that he hasn't said before or that hasn't been reported in the papers.

After the "you've got to be a good hitter to be able get on base as well" comment, he also stated that the lack of OBP wasn't due to lack of coaching and that Oneri Fleita was making great strides in that area. Good thing we have a Director of Player Development that is making strides in the area of OBP. I also liked his answer when asked about the mistakes he's made. He basically spent a couple of minutes talking about all of the injuries the Cubs have had, before finally admitting that he would have gotten a starting pitcher. If you were drinking along, you would have slammed the bottle on that answer alone. It's good to know though, in response to Aramis's lack of hustle (the #1 question from e-mailers -- way to have priorities), that Hendry demands 100%. I'm kind of dissapointed he didn't demand an extra 10 percentage points.

For those of you listening tonight... Jim Hendry on WGN Radio drinking game Take a drink: ...every reference Hendry makes to injuries (DLee, Wood, Prior, 'horses') ...every time Hendry leads a sentence with the word "Obviously..." ...every time Hendry talks about the improved play of Juan Pierre ...every time Hendry takes credit for one of his off-season acquisition (Pierre, Jacque, Howry, Eyre) ...every time Kaplan tries to deflect criticism from a negative caller before Hendry can respond to the question or comment ...every time Hendry responds to a negative question or comment with a completey unrelated non-sequitor ...every time Hendry mentions that Dusty deserves the benefit of the doubt because of who he is ...every time Hendry responds to a question about a young player with "We like what this kid brings to the table" or some variant thereof ...every time Hendry says "I'm not going to make excuses, but...." and then proceeds to make excuses Feel free to contribute to this list. And if you decide to play along tonight, make sure to call in sick to work tomorrow, because you are going to be hammered.

This just in: whale sighting off the New York Bay. http://www.whalecenter.org/sightings/images/harborhumpback.jpg

I recommend not listening to this. It is only going to raise your blood pressure and make you want to throw things.

I wouldn't say that. Ryan Wagner flat out sucks. I'm not sure I'd take him over Novoa.

Meltdown city! I expect much the same with this board when, after a 5 game win streak in late August, it is announced that Dusty has been given a 2-year extension.

Robbery. Felipe Lopez is very intriguing to me. He hit 23 home runs last year and has developed a lot of patience. His defense must be really horrible, but I would take him over Cedeno and hope that he improves with the glove as he ages. And Kearns, well...it's kind of funny that two of the outfielders that the Cubs have seemingly been after the last couple of years (Huff, Kearns) get traded in the span of a couple of days for not a whole lot. Why do I get the feeling that Jimbo is reluctant to part with any of his off-season acquistions (Howry, Eyre, Jacque) and still feels the Cubs can make a run in the second half? My guess is that he is banking on the hope that the Cubs play better baseball post-ASB so that he can (a) give Dusty an extension (you know he wants to) and (b) be able to tell the fans in the off-season that there is reason for optimism because the Cubs played better when they had most of their horses. I don't think Hendry wants to admit defeat. In his eyes, continued mediocrity is preferrable to a 100 loss season.

Did Ozzie Guillen order a hit on Carlos in retaliation for the AJ Pierzynski incident? foil hat mode> Nah, that would be absurd. Ozzie has too much class.

I think I am starting to believe in curses.

Not like it affects the Cubs any. Yeah, but Dusty has his horses back, well except for the one that had to be put out to pasture.

Go to hell, Trevor Hoffman. You just cost the NL the home field advantage in the World Series. Go to hell and DIE!

Thank you Phil Garner. Z needs the rest.

One of the reasons I am not despairing over Dusty right now is the same reason why my excitement will be muted when he is eventually fired. Despite my opinion of Baker, the upper management that hired him will still be in place. The fact that Dusty has hung around for so long is as bad indicator there is already, but what makes anyone think MacHendry will go out and hire the right kind of manager? I can't believe I semi-defended Hendry when he was given his extension. He has shown no clue that he has any idea of how to build a winning ballclub. Forget the ridiculously awful signings (Neifi, Rusch) or the fetish for injured pitchers (who cares about torn labrums? Paul Mainieri is a friend of mine and we're selecting Grant Roberts) or even that he apparently values "clutchiness" over plate discipline, the most disturbing thing to me has been the rapidly declining fortunes of the farm system. The other stuff is somewhat tolerable as long as talent is coming through the pipleline, but even that well has started to dry up. When you have an awful team and an awful farm system, what else is there? Tim Wilken is the only shred of hope that the Cubs might be able to turn this around, but I'm not crossing my fingers. No, I can't stand Dusty and will be glad when he is gone. He truly is a terrible manager who deserves every criticism that comes his way. It will make me sick that he will be turned into a martyr by some corners of the media when he is canned and be seen as the victim of the "curse". I'm sure he'll play the "woe is me" card and complain of bad luck and not having his horses and pitching injuries, despite being complicit in some of those injuires (overuse of Wood, Prior, etc.). But I won't be popping corks when he is fired either. The waiting game can be tough and frustrating, but when you accept that the new boss probably won't be that much better than the old boss, it's easier to take. Meanwhile, I'll just sit back and enjoy our quixotic quest to try and salvage what remains of the season and let the chips fall where they may.

Seriously, what got into the Cubs today? Oh well, it was fun. Enjoy the all-star break!

Tough game for DLee. :cry: Hopefully, he finds his stroke during the break.

Walk #9 for the Cubs. Dare we tempt fate and go for double digits? By the way, this game is example A why the Brewers won't contend for anything this season. You don't walk 9 Cubs in a game and call yourself a play-off team.

Angel Pagan walked!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: First of the year. He's off the schnide.

Neifi gets in on the action. Everything coming up roses for Dusty...give that man an extension!

On Hell Pay Gone! See, Dusty's a genius. Indeed, he is the master of the double switch.

June 28.

We need to swing a trade for this guy... http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/mil/images/y2005_fanforum/im_hotdog_80x100.jpg Just need to keep him away from Glendon.

The Hot Dog won the sausage race for the 3rd straight time. The Cubs are en route to winning their third game in a row. Coincidence? I think not.

Who is this team playing the Brewers, and what have they done with my Cubs?