Bruiser Chong

I just noticed that it's Clemens vs. Suppan tomorrow. That's certainly not good news. The Rockies may have to saddle up and play spoiler, because if not, the Astros may very well shock everyone and come away with the final playoff spot.

The Astros win, meaning they're a half game back of the Cubs. If they get the sweep tomorrow, I think they've got a great chance to sneak in the back door and snag the WC. Everyone's talked about the Cubs and the Giants, basically ignoring the Stros who've remained in it. While the Cubs draw the Braves, the Giants will have to deal with the Dodgers. Who do the Stros get? The Rockies.

Cubs fall to the Reds 8-3. Maddux was awful and the Cubs haven't looked good since the beginning of the Mets series. Giants are also losing, so it looks like they may at least stay up in the WC for now.

A better question is why is Maddux so horrible against the Reds? An even better question is why can the Cubs score 12 runs one night and look incapable of scoring one the next? This isn't just a case of pitchers, either. They've messed up some good pitchers and had tough times against weaker ones in the next game.

This coming from a Yankees fan. Perish the thought of the Cubs making the postseason two years in a row. Man, that possibility makes the entire postseason so stagnant; good thing we'll have new teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Braves in the postseason to freshen things up.

You, regardless, the Rangers don't have anything to be ashamed off. This will be the first time in years they don't finish last and when was the last time they were in a pennant race the last week of September? This is a team everyone said would fade away because of no pitching. That'll be one of their undoings, but they never did fade away, as it looks like they'll just fall short in an otherwise impressive season.

Not the best time to completely choke.

Man, I got virtually none of the games that interested me today. And what the hell? Another pop-up with the bases loaded?

Damn. I was just gonna go back and edit it after I realized that I had mistaken the Dodgers with the Giants. Oh well. And the Rangers keep things interesting, getting out of a one-out bases loaded situation.

With the game 9-0, LaRussa pulled Pujols, only to watch his team tack on two runs and have the bases loaded with two outs for what would've been Pujols' spot had he not pulled him earlier in the game. I'm sure he couldn't care less, since they've got the division wrapped up, but a good Pujols at bat could've made it a game again. And at this rate, the Giants are going to have to win if they wanna stay just a half game back of the Cubs.

That's why you shell out the cash for MLB Extra Innings. I was skeptical at the beginning of the season because of the cost, but it was so worth it. I credit being able to see an average of 10 games a day as being what made me more interested in baseball. Until this season, it was rare that I watched a non-Cubs game on TV. I can't imagine going back to getting a handful of games on TV every week.

The man speaks the truth. I shunned the naysayers, but after nine months of having my Sprint phone and service, it does indeed suck. Whether it be calls getting dropped or not receiving calls at all (that's quite annoying to get no phone call, but then hear your voice mail ringtone go off), it's been quite the hassle. But then again, I don't put a whole lot of faith in any cell phone company, since they all seem to have their setbacks. As for ringtones, I use 3gupload.com. They request a small donation (something like five bucks), which opens up all the ringers you want for a year. No complaints so far.

I didn't say the Red Sox and Yanks haven't had some great games this season. However, their altercations not pertaining to the actual game have been more highlighted than anything else (except the 13-inning game). The majority of the games have been dull, too, with a great deal of them being too one-sided to really be interesting.

It's the plus playoffs thing that baffles me. One week is nothing, but he must've really fucked up if they're ready to bench of their biggest contributors, even in the postseason.

Yeah, what's up with that? That's a pretty big loss, so he must've done something real bad to warrant suspension for the rest of the season.

I seem to recall TWO incidents all season. And there's really no comparison here. I'll admit the Carlos Zambrano thing wasn't a shining moment in the rivalry, but this rivalry was built more on competition and great, back and forth games. The Yanks/Sox rivalry is more about the teams hating each other and trying to one-up the other one in the off season like immature kids. It doesn't matter who you are. When you put on that Yankees or Red Sox uniform, you're a part of it all. Doesn't matter if you're Derek Jeter or a third-string catcher. All the players are in the mindsight that the other team is out to get them.

Bonds kept the game alive by legging out an infield hit, but came up limping about halfway to first and was just taken out of the game. Looks like it may be a groin injury. If he misses any games, the Giants are done.

Throwing at him in the first place wasn't necessary. This all started because Lofton overreacted to something stupid he probably wouldn't have had the opposing team not been Boston. This all goes back to my point that these two teams have allowed themselves to get so caught up in the hype of their rivalry that they're using the littlest thing as a catylst to attempting to create another memory in the Boston vs. Yankees saga.

FUCK OFF. First of all, any fan of a team that employs Moises Alou has ZERO right to call anyone on earth childish. Secondly, and yes, theis will come as QUITE the shock to Cubs fans, but there are baseball teams that don't find losing to be cute or lovable. That tends to get teams that don't consider themselves "Lovable Losers" fired up. And when their are two teams that genuinely dislike eachother (and tend not to like losing) tensions flare. That's not being a kid, that's having some kind of passion for your job. And what, praytell, should the teams have done when the beanballs started? Oh no, I've upset the almighty AS. You know, man, you're not even worth the keystrokes, so I'll keep this short. There's nothing wrong with passion for your sport. But when you start this shit almost everytime you face each other, it gets old. If you really wanted to show how much better you were than the other team, wouldn't you just try to, oh, I don't know, win? This bench-clearing shit is a tired and cliche image with these guys. These two clubs believe their own hype. They've let this rivalry serve as an excuse to blow every minute thing completely out of proportion. That's not baseball. That's being a child. And once again, what does my favorite team have to do with any of this? Oh, I get it. Because I'm a Cubs fan, I can't possibly have the right to say anything negative about another team, let alone the Yankees or Red Sox. Get over yourself.

How ironic considering Alou and co. bitch about the announcers making fun of them. Do me a favor and point out any posts where I defended Alou or any of the other Cubs complainers. If anything, I've sided against them. And I love how anytime I point out the shortcomings of another team, someone sees fit to use the "OMG D00D BUT WUT ABOUT THE CUBS?@!" Because it's a boring game and these two seem desperate to make every meeting some memorable event. As an outsider looking in, I can say the last two series between these clubs have been some of the most uninteresting, lackluster baseball I've seen all season.

Well, shit. We never see the benches clear between these teams. Christ, what a bunch of kids.

If the Cubs don't win the Wild Card, they can look back at this series with the Mets, where they only salvage seven runs in the entire series, as the reason why they didn't make it. They've been three-hit today and have looked very lethargic all day. Worse yet, Kerry Wood's horrible first inning is going to be the deciding factor, as all the Mets' runs came there, two of which came from Mets getting hit or being walked with the bases loaded.

Those are more rare, but just because a tape isn't in print anymore and is an original with its original cover, doesn't make it rare.

Most of those can be found on eBay for well under 10 bucks. Not exactly rare.

Dude, Torre could have put Gordon in there if he felt like it, right after Quantrill. He was doing what T-Francona was doing, and saving his arms. They're so horrible, that they're in first place. Um, they're sure as hell not in first because of their pitching; starting or relief. That's for damn sure. If you wanna fool yourself into thinking you've got a real quality arm in that pen outside of Gordon and Rivera, shoot me a PM. I've got some magic beans I want to sell you.