Bruiser Chong

Why not? The team wasn't on fire offensively and Penny is certainly no slouch, himself. Even though he's not the sort of guy that the Boss would go after (his best days aren't behind him, after all) doesn't mean the Yanks should've whooped him. Besides, the Marlins could truly do no wrong from the All-Star break on last season.

I mentioned the Caray thing in the baseball thread for last week. And I think Sammy really dug himself into a hole there. Here the team is, supposedly trying to get all the high school drama behind them and he leaves before the game's even over (I actually heard reports of him leaving some 15 minutes after the first pitch). Sammy may like to think he's a warrior, but he's one of the most sensitive superstars of this era in baseball. He loves the attention and all that, but can't seem to take the slightest bit of criticism. I doubt they'll be able to unload him for 2005, but he won't be back after that. And can someone please elaborate on Harry Caray's announcing? I didn't start watching until 1994, so by that time, he was all but completely senile and would spend most of the games spelling players' names backwards and the like. This "heel" Harry sounds like my sort of announcer. Some examples of the sort of things he said would be much appreciated.

I don't think I could stand the idea of the Sox finally breaking their curse. I want the Angels, Twins, Braves and Dodgers to win. With my luck, none of them will make it past the first round.

Well, the DVDs can play on R1 players and are inexpensive, so I figured that's what you were looking for. I still don't see why you don't shell out a few more bucks to own a legit copy, but then again, that's just me.

Um, where are you paying $30 for a "plastic disc"? Maybe I shouldn't be so anti-piracy when it comes to DVDs, since I rarely buy CDs, but all things considered, I just don't think there's a valid reason to go through the hassle of burning DVDs, when they're so inexpensive as it is. Figure most catalog titles cost about $15 new and many TV box sets rarely break $30 or $40 (depending on number of discs) and most of the content you get on any given DVD, and I just don't see a point in burning them. But I know you weren't looking for a lecture on a matter you've already solidified your opinion on. Look around in this folder. There was a thread about some piece of shit site overseas selling the kind of crap you're looking for. That place was a paradise for people who were opposed to spending a reasonable amount of money on worthwhile discs, just like yourself.

Considering the screen name in question, I think this hacker did you a favor.

- Rashomon: The Criterion Collection - George Carlin: Complaints & Grievences

Beat it, you fairweather bandwagon fan.

There are a fair share of people who automatically write off movies that are: 1) In black & white 2) In another language and require English subtitles 3) Silent films

It's funny; I flipped over to the Giants game immediately after and they showed Bonds apathetically slapping hands with everyone in the dugout, grabbing his stuff and heading down to the clubhouse. To think, if Ransom gets that groundball, the Giants have a shot at winning; moreover, if the Giants' pen doesn't suck, they play a game 163. I swear to god, the Braves better win.

Caray's replacing Don Sutton. And the Rockies look to be just about finished here, so it's gonna be Astros and the Braves.

Even though a lot of speculation on Steve Stone's future with the Cubs has been the talk around town, Chip Caray is actually the one on his way out. He'll be parting with WGN after today and joining his father in the booth to do Braves games next year, according to an Atlanta paper. That'll be weird. I like Chip, but he's always come off more as a fan than as an announcer. The Braves commentators have always come off as pretty knowledgable in the past, so I don't know how Chip getting into the picture will figure out.

Hermanson has also thrown in five straight games (including a 30-plus pitching outing yesterday). It's all for moot, though, as Houston looks to be well on their way to securing the Wild Card, up 4-0 right now.

Wood's the sort of pitcher who has his troubles in the first inning more times than not, so being a closer would be a risk. I think it was MiB who suggested trading Wood a few months back in a different thread. The Cubs could get a few big bats and maybe another arm for Wood, so I don't think it's an entirely bad idea. A few years ago I would've said no way, but when you've got two guys who have number one starter stuff (Prior and Zambrano), Wood becomes a tad bit more expendable. But hey, I really like the guy, but Jack's right. He's never truly lived up to his potential. While the pen has blown things for him before, he's been injury-prone his whole career and has a Jekyll and Hyde persona to his outings. You never know which one you're going to get.

I just think it's dumb to have a guy pitch on three day's rest, even if it is Clemens. How's their postseason rotation going to look should they make the postseason? I'd assume Clemens would either be one or two, which would mean that he'll be pitching in three outings in a shade over a week.

That article MiB posted sums up Dusty nicely. This isn't a genius. It's a guy who fell assbackwards into a situation in his first managing gig where he couldn't really screw up. Except he eventually did. He hasn't had one really weak team he's ever had to manage. I'd like to see how he does with a subpar team, because so far, he's had nothing but quality squads with at least the potentional to get to the postseason. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Giants and more recently, the Cubs, have suffered some heartbreaking finishes to their seasons in the last decade. It's not all Dusty's fault, but he's had the illusion that he's a great manager when really, he's just lucked out with the teams he's had to manage. It's a shame that when the Cubs finally have a talented squad, they've got some jackass who doesn't really have a clue how to win games with strategy.

Ugh. Stupid Rockies. But like the Cubs, the Giants really aren't good enough to be in the postseason. If that ninth inning didn't reveal a great deal of the flaws that's held this team back all season, I don't know what did. And what's with firing Bowa now with TWO games left in the season? This couldn't wait until tomorrow night?

Considering all the Braves have done this season, I really wouldn't be too upset to see them win it all. Bobby Cox basically turned water into wine again; with less than he had to work with, as usual. No Javy, Sheffield or Maddux; not to mention the injuries they went through and the awful season Chipper Jones had been having until the last two months of the season. My hat's off to Cox. He deserves the Manager of the Year and I hope the Braves can dispose of their first round opponent, since I can't stand either one of them. And it's sorta ironic that the team that the Cubs knocked off last year is the going to be the same one that knocks them off this season. Crazy game.

If anything, this absolute implosion will force the team to make some changes during the off season. No need to tear it apart or anything, but something's just not right. I think a lot of the coaching staff needs to go; judging by the Cubs' hitting, Sarge Matthews is an absolutely terrible hitting coach. But then again, you didn't have to look much further than his own son to see that.

Not to knock Smoltz, but I wouldn't exactly be thrilled to see him come to town. Granted he's a talented closer, but I think his dominance, or rather, LaTroy's ineffectiveness is greatly exaggerated. It may seem like Smoltz is so much better, but look at the actual numbers: YEAR G GS IP H R HR BB SO K/9 W L Hld Sv BS BAA WHIP ERA 2004 76 0 81.0 71 27 10 14 68 7.56 5 4 4 24 9 .233 1.05 2.67 YEAR G GS IP H R HR BB SO K/9 W L Hld Sv BS BAA WHIP ERA 2004 72 0 80.1 75 25 8 12 82 9.19 0 1 0 43 5 .248 1.08 2.80 Care to guess who's who? Smoltz is only dominant in two categories: saves and strikeouts. Keep in mind that he's been closing the entire year, while LaTroy didn't come into the picture until June. Also keep in mind that Smoltz has been developing as a closer for a couple of years now, while the role is fairly foreign ground to Hawkins (I'm aware he closed in Minnesota for a pinch). Other than those two categories, both have virtually the same numbers in innings, hits, home runs and walks. You'll see LaTroy's actually given up fewer hits and has a better ERA than Smoltz. Hawkins has four more blown saves than Smoltz; many of those came from his set-up role time. I'm not debating that in this last week, Hawkins has really put the team in a corner, but so has the rest of the team. Even though he blew two crucial games, both were eventually in the hands of the Cubs to win and they still couldn't come through. Everyone who's jumping on Hawkins' case needs to remember that we got him as a set-up man. In that role, there are few better than him. When he signed, he knew there was a possibility that he may have to close, but he was primarily brought in to get the ball to Borowski in the ninth. So to expect him to be some dominant closer that he's never been billed as, is ridiculous. His closer days with the Twins weren't good at all, hence his move to the 8th inning role, where he flourished. I didn't hear anyone complain about him until he moved to the closer spot. That's probably because he was doing the job he was paid to do. If I remember correctly, he was the last guy in the Cubs' pen to give up a run at the beginning of the season. Certainly a new closer needs to be brought in, but I've seen some people saying we just need to get rid of Hawkins, which is insane. Get a closer and move Hawkins to the set-up role, where he was originally supposed to be. Personally, I don't think we need some over dominant closer; just a guy who's going to get the job done. Smoltz isn't the answer. He's a very good closer, but he's not that much better than LaTroy. The notion that Smoltz would suddenly be this huge upgrade is stupid.

Welp, the Astros and Giants win, which mean one more of those or one more Cubs lose and the Cubbies are finished. That'd basically confirm what we all figured once they lost the third game with the Reds, but it should be official tomorrow. I'll be pulling for the Giants to take it.

I don't think they suck. I just think most things that could go against them this season, did. They made the mistake of trying to rely on the homer all season, which bit them in the ass. This is just a team that never really got it together. Their longest winning streak was six; not exactly the sort of streak you'd expect a real contender to have. Even missing key pieces of their team throughout the year, they managed to hang in there. I just think playing everyday for the last month finally caught up to them. They're an old team and you can really tell from the way they've swung the bats as of late. In the end there aren't really any reasonable excuses. It's just gonna be wait till next year...again. While we're talking about them, I was telling Al earlier that last year's team wasn't exactly better, they were just lucky. The series with the Cards at the end (the five-game one) really put the Cards out and then Houston booting the final series of the season is the main reason the Cubs even won the division. They definitely made improvements this season. More changes need to be made in the offseason, but I'll be looking forward to next season.

The only positive of the Stros making the postseason would be their opportunity to make history.

I love how you still contest the Weaver is the reason they lost the World Series. I know my team blames it on a foul ball, but c'mon, that was ONE game Weaver cost the team. The Yanks' sluggish hitting and apathetic attitude during the series is what played the bigger role.

Well, at least they showed some life, but too little too late. Kinda sad when their bench can string together three hits and then the leadoff man and number two hitter can't get shit done. But then, that's the type of season it's been. If I grouped together Ben Grieve, Jose Macias and Todd Walker and then Sammy Sosa, Corey Patterson, and Derrek Lee, which group do you think would get three hits and which would make three outs in an inning? Ugh.