Bruiser Chong

No one was referring to his glove. Everyone's referring to his bat and personally, I still think his glove is on par with Gonzo's. If it's not, then it's certainly worth the small downgrade for the huge upgrade offensively. I think you're wrong here. First off, they're not the offensive machines that a lot of people build them up to be. Sosa's borderline embarrassing and Alou's hitting has been shit for the most part since the beginning of June. Corey Patterson has the occassional good day, but not nearly enough to compensate for the fact that he's already struck out over 100 times this season. And he's our lead-off man, for god's sake. Grudzielanek has come back down to Earth after a great 2003 and while Barrett is definitely a surprise offensively this year, it's not so overwhelming, since the expectations of his hitting were on par with those of Paul Bako's. Not saying much. They need hitting; they don't need another home run hitter or a guy who thinks he's one, but rather, they need a guy who's going to make contact, put the ball in play and settle for single and doubles instead of trying to blast every ball out of the park. That's what Nomar does and he's already shown to be what the Cubs need in that two-spot in the week he's been with the team. I think their passion for the longball has hurt them this season, but I wouldn't say they're that much like the Red Sox. How often have you watched the Cubs play this year? Because I've watched damn near every game and aside from the occassional defensive blunder that just makes me shake my head, they've been amazing defensively the majority of the time. When they're pitchers are getting themselves into jams, the defense has backed them up with being able to turn double-plays, whether they're simple or difficult, most of the time. The Cubs' starters would have a lot higher ERAs and numbers in the Loss column were it not for the defense. Slow, yes, but that was a given coming in. Speed's overrated, I think. I'd like to see some more speed on the Cubs' team and maybe steal some more, but I don't think that's their downfall. If speed was that much of a difference maker, the Devil Rays would be in playoff contention, since they've got a ridiculous amount of speed on their roster. And some years, some teams are just unlucky when it comes to staying healthy. The Cubs have been very injury-prone this season, but I don't think that means that the individual players are. It's just bad luck. By the way, would it be asking too much if you'd learn to use they're / their / there and things like that correctly. Maybe I'm just uptight, but I find it very difficult to even take your points seriously when your posts are packed with grammatical nightmares.

The Cardinals finally made a move today, acquiring Larry Walker from the Rockies. Not sure who they got for him, but they were just discussing it during the Mets / Cards game. So he's on his way to St. Louis as I type this. Thoughts on the trade? I don't think it's really necessary, as I can see their pitching being what does them in if anything does. He'll make a nice replacement for Reggie Sanders, but he's been injury prone in recent years, so it could be a risky move. It's obviously a temporary one, though.

No kidding. The Marlins were the best team the second half last season. As much as I disliked them, I gave them their props for being the best during the second half and the postseason. But they're nowhere near the team they were last season. The absence of Pudge and Derrek Lee signaled right away that this was going to be a tough season for Florida, in terms of repeating as world champs. But outside of those two notable depatures, you've got a starting rotation that suddenly isn't what it was the second half of 2003. Beckett's been okay at best when he's actually on the active roster; Burnett has been a bust since his anticipated return; Redman is gone; Penny is now gone and Dontrelle is either great or terrible. Urbina's gone, too and while Armando has done a better job, the Marlins lacking a good bullpen meant overtime for his arm; something he clearly couldn't handle. Now you've got a bunch of schlubs in the pen and Mota in a role he wasn't brought in to do. If that's not enough, they've traded away Choi, a guy they shipped Derrek Lee off for. Lo Duca's a strong addition, but he can't do it all on his own. The one-two punch of Pierre and Castillo hasn't nearly been as dangerous as it was last season; Cabrerra and Lowell have cooled off considerably since the first two months of the season; Jeff Conine finally crashed back to Earth and what else is left after all of that? It's no wonder why the team has trouble scoring even a couple runs if the opposition isn't wearing jerseys that say "Phillies" across the front of them.

I can honestly say that the Cubs and Red Sox shouldn't be in the postseason, despite being in first of the WC. I like the idea of the WC, but these two teams were all hype going into 2004 and have underachieved for various reasons. Just let the teams that are actually worthy play in the postseason. I know that statement goes against my support of the WC, but the Cubs and Sox are two teams that I don't even think have played well enough during the season to warrant a spot in postseason play, regardless of how they got there.

Uh, you do remember that it was Gonzo's error that cost them Game 6, don't you?

My previous statement about Farnsworth being trash still stands.

Pimp juice makes you pop up shitty bunts?

Yeah, he left early to catch a flight so he could be with his wife while she undergoes some sort of surgery tomorrow.

I may agree with you, just in that the Cubs' team coming into this year was excellent looking on paper. They're still good, but have been underachieving all season. But as tired as it sounds, all of the injuries they had for the first three months of the season really did have a negative effect. It's tough to win when your two best starters, big bat and several role players are on the DL. There are no excuses now, since just about everyone is healthy. However, Sosa and Alou's brutal slumps have hurt the team a lot, since they're supposed to be the guys that get things going. As for some of your assessments... I think this is actually a misconception thanks to a lot of the shakey endings to many Cubs games this season. Farnsworth is incredibly shakey most of the time; Hawkins is iffy and Borowski was obviously a temporary solution to a long-term problem. Outside of that, though, their bullpen has been stellar the majority of the season. Jon Leichester, Glendon Rusch, Mike Remlinger and Kent Mercker have all been reliable more times than not when it came to holding a team down. When the starting pitching hasn't been as good as it should be at times during the season, the bullpen has stepped up and held down the fort. How's their defense brutal when they're third in fielding in the NL and fourth in all of baseball? They've had their stretches where they've made too many errors, but for the most part, they've been a surprisingly reliable defensive team. I think that's true, but some of that blame has to fall onto the shoulders of the first and third base coaches. They're the ones who are in charge of telling the runners when to stay, go or whatever. There've been several instances where their coaches (namely their third base coach) have made poor decisions that've cost the team. I don't see why they won't get it. I'm not saying it's a lock, but the Giants are really a lot of smoke and mirrors for the most part; the Padres have been skidding and the rest of the teams in the chase have a better shot at their own division (aka the NL East).

This isn't just a slump. He's been pretty terrible all season and this is just a few feet above rock bottom. I don't think anyone with a head on their shoulders will argue that Sammy Sosa isn't close to the player he used to be. He was never a great hitter or a very selective one, but he was definitely a threat whenever he came to the plate. The way he's been hitting as of late, it's almost like he's an automatic out. It's hard to watch, too, since I've been a huge Sammy fan since I started watching the Cubs 10 years ago. I've always supported him, through high times and low times. When he got caught with the corked bat last season, I played devil's advocate to anyone who called him a cheater. But now, it's like his heart just isn't in to it. I think the cork incident really sapped a lot of his energy from the game. Knowing that the fans could be that hard on him, even though it was more or less justified, was probably a harsh wake-up call to him. I can't envision Sammy in any uniform other than Cubbie blue, but even he's gotta start to come to grip with terms here. There's very little time left on the clock. Mark McGwire realized this pretty quickly and just mere years after breaking the home run record, he was retired. It's time for Sosa to consider doing the same.

Between Jon Miller going on about how certain guys should be one base further than they are and Joe Morgan complaining about the various players not using their sunglasses, I feel like I'm watching Grumpy Old Men. And maybe it's just my Cubs' fandom speaking here, but has the homeplate ump been inconsistent tonight or what? I can get used to seeing an odd strikezone used if it's used for bother teams, but Wood isn't getting nearly as many calls on close pitches as the Giants' starter is.

I had to check my TV and make sure I wasn't watching Rookie of the Year, after that pop-up to Ramirez.

I guess they thought that this series with the Yankees could be the turning point in the season that got them going towards a postseason run. Or it could just be another case of the manager playing the role of scapegoat, despite having next to nothing work with; injuries; little production from your two best players and having your Cy Young pitcher underachieve all season before being placed on the DL. Yep, but they would be in contention right now if they had a better manager.

Brad Penny left the game with an injured arm after 2/3 of an inning. This appears to be the same injury that he's been dealing with all season and one of the reasons I thought the trade the Dodgers made with the Marlins was stupid. Penny's great when healthy, but he left his last start with the Marlins because of the arm, so it's not like this is news or anything.

I still don't see why everyone thinks that just because the Yanks and Cards have such great records, they're locks for the WS. Haven't past postseason series taught us anything? It's not always about the best team over the span of five months. It's about the best team in the span of three weeks; whichever team can get hot at the right time. The Giants and Braves had great records last season and both made early exits to underdogs. I'm not saying we won't see New York and St. Louis in the WS, but I'd bet one of them won't make it there.

I've never heard Bill Walton say anything like that.

I was at the Tigers / Red Sox game last night (actually had great seats several rows behind home plate), which was actually my first visit to Comerica. Beautiful place and obviously much more comfortable and clean than Tiger Stadium. Pedro was basically amazing except for one inning where he struggled. My friend and I were just in awe of how foolish he was making the Tigers look all night, as struck out 11 and got them to ground out and pop out on many occassions. Not really news, but seeing him pitch in person (and actually up close) was a whole different experience. One thing that bugged me, though, were the notable off-days for Pudge and Manny. I mean, if Pedro isn't pitching, that game is basically a waste, since Manny and Pudge are arguably their respective team's biggest attractions. And congrats to Maddux. I was watching the beginning of the game on my little portable TV on the way to Detroit and figured his shot at 300 was going to have to come another day, since he didn't look to have good command. I wasn't able to see Farnsworth make it interesting, which is probably fine, since I got my fill of that during Maddux's last start. It's nice to see Alou starting to slide out of that slump, but Sosa has been horrid lately. To the point where the majority of the fans are going to completely turn on him. A slump's a slump, but he's striking out at least twice a game, if not three times. If I'm not mistaken, he struck out four times today. For a clean-up hitter to not put the ball in play four times in one game is inexcusable. I know the end is nearing for him, but it'd be nice to see him get some of his shit worked out.

So wait. A smelly crotchal region is supposed to be invigorating to the partner? Maybe she meant invigorating in the sense that you'll sprint out of the room after smacking a pine tree taxi cab air freshener on their crotch.

By the way, he's 16 for 67 in the clean-up spot this season. Yep, that Baker's a genius, all right. I didn't expect much to get done against Schmidt, but they've stranded seven guys in scoring position tonight. Doesn't help that Lee has obtained the golden sombraro tonight, either.

Yeah, that's what most people are saying. I don't think they're critical at all. It just comes off bad for the team, since those two are the team's leaders more or less and here they are being babies over something stupid like this. When two guys are slumping like they have been, there's nothing they should be doing other than being quiet and finding a way to break out of it.

Roy Oswalt throws a complete game shutout, throwing 133 pitches. People called for the head of Dusty Baker, what about Garner? They had a four-run lead over the Expos. No reason at all he needed to go the distance.

By the way; Adam Everett got hit on the hand earlier tonight and he'll be out probably until the last week or two of the season. Surgery is being considered, too. He wasn't much offensively, but that's a big defensive blow to the Stros.

Did anyone hear about how Alou and Sosa tried to get Cubs announcers Chip Caray and Steve Stone banned from the team's flights? It's been all over the Chicago media recently and apparently, the reason behind it is because the two feel the announcing duo's too tough on the team. Personally, I think that's an absolute load of shit, as Stone and Caray are probably one of the most supportive announcing duos for any team in baseball. Like them or not, I think most people would have to agree that even when the team's playing like shit, they're not down on them. But I guess that's what happens when your best days are behind you, you're slumping and you don't want to take the blame. You find stupid ways to take out your anger. On a related note, Nomar doubled with one out in the first and Alou and Sosa proceeded to strike out.

I mean they immediately do it. Some teams take a couple of innings to start the comeback, but the Cards do it the same inning. It was a pitching dual until the Mets scored two in the 6th. The Cards, who had looked anemic all night, start the 6th out with a lead-off double and wound up tying it. They've since gone ahead, thanks to an error by Matsui that allowed Matt freaking Morris to go to second. The Mets announcers are all over him.

Eh, I only wanted them to stick with Vazquez for fantasy baseball purposes, but I still don't see why they took him out. He was still quite a few pitches off from 100 and I think he could've shut the Jays down quicker than Nitkowski did. I understand that they wanna give the kid some work while the game's basically finished, but I would've stuck with Javier. And Kaz Matsui's diffensive shortcomings have cost the Mets their 2-0 lead. It was pretty funny listening to Keith Hernandez sound so disgusted by the play where he should've gotten a force out, but because he sucks, Edmonds was able to beat the throw. Is it just me or do the Cards start a comeback as soon as the other team finally breaks out on top?