Bruiser Chong

Saw it in a jam-packed theater. I wasn't expecting a lot and those expectations were met. Not great, but not bad. I couldn't get too into the whole NASCAR theme, so that probably hurt, but there were a lot of jokes that just didn't go over well. The kids were more irritating than funny. But there were still a lot of solid bits throughout the movie, even though I noticed certain audience members laughed hysterically at the oddest moments. Even in a packed house, the reaction was mellow, except for certain people, who reacted like the bits were comedic gold. At any rate, I'd toss it in the middle of the Ferrell pack. Better than Bewitched and maybe Kicking & Screaming, but not up to snuff with Old School and Anchorman.

D'oh. Good call, Bob. I just visit his site every week and saw the header for the movie with the star rating and figured he was back. Still the sort of movie he'd probably give a good rating to, since he did that with Anchorman.

My god, the Pirates are going to hand Zambrano his first loss in ages. The Ronny Cedeno at second experiment is not off to a good start, either. By the way, I think Izturis is Spanish for "groundout."

It depends on if Ronny Cedeno develops as a hitter. Izturis is a good enough fielder to punt defense, and if Izturis's bat is replacing Neifi's in the lineup, it's an upgrade. I think they should look into upgrading their bat at second. Is Mike Fontenot a possibility or does his high OBP and average speed disqualify him from a starting job?

This summer's been weak for comedies, but this one's looked like money the whole way. Some early reviews suggest it'll be much like Anchorman, which can only be a good thing. My take is if you're a fan of Ferrell, you'll dig this. I'm there tonight. P.S. I know Ebert's not liked around here (for some reason), but he stopped a half star short of giving this four stars.

Going by what Jim Hendry is saying, the appeal of Izturis is his defense. With him at short and presumably Ronny Cedeno moving over to second, a position he hasn't played much of, is the defense really that much improved it was worth inserting another poor OBP into the lineup, while removing one of the few good OBP guys? Or is it too early to tell?

Why on earth is Ken Griffey Jr. still batting third?

Game resumes and Joe Beimel, who replaced Maddux, gives up a hit to the first batter he faces.

Oh, you and your silly numbers.

You should probably calm down. It's August 3rd. At this rate, you'll be dead by the 21st. If the rain delay lasts too long, I doubt Maddux would be able to go back out. A combined no-no would be the best they could hope for. Of course, if the rain doesn't subside, perhaps they'll call it.

ESPN's got a hold of the story now, so it should be any batter Maddux gives up a hit.

I regret benching him. And I'll just jinx it now and point out Hamels and Maddux are both throwing no-hitters. Never mind, Hamels just gave up a single.

That was a nifty twin-killing.

Matt Murton with the four-double, five-RBI game. He'll sit tomorrow. Theriot actually got a start and did well in the two-spot, but naturally was lifted for Neifi later in the game. I didn't get to see Mateo pitch, but sounds like he did okay. One more walk than strikeouts isn't very encouraging, but looks like he limited the damage.

And the ironies of ironies is despite a six-run difference, Juan Cruz threw more pitches in as many innings as Marmol and is done for the day. If the Cubs could hit worth a damn with RISP, this would be a game. Seven men left on in the last three innings. Hilarious that Jim Hendry dismisses OBP and states hitting with RISP being the most important stat and then the team he put together has no clue how to do that.

Marmol just threw the ball to the backstop so wildly it bounced off the backstop and back to him.

Wood's got a team option at the end of the year, but there's no way even they'd pick it up. They may try and bring him back for a one-year, incentive-soaked contract. He'll probably make a great reliever, but the Cubs already have enough expensive arms in the pen. I'm watching the D-Backs' telecast, just because I like to hear Grace and Brenaman tell it like it is. They were just talking about how there are too many people in baseball with the decision-making responsibilities that don't want to make changes and would rather just complain about the problems. I wonder who they were referring to?

Oh and I guess the reason Angel Guzman wasn't considered to start Game 2, was because Iowa (the Cubs' AAA team) was in Vegas and thus, there wasn't enough time for him to get back to Chicago. Mind you, this was 48 hours ago when they knew they'd need someone to start. Apparently all Cubs minor league travel is done via pogo stick.

He's back in AAA and I guess doing better than Jerome Williams (remember HIM?). Anyway, Marmol's all over the damn place today and is getting beat down early. With this going on, a rookie making his debut in Game 2 and Gascan Glendon back to the DL, the Cubs are probably going to need Neifi to pitch at some point today. And while it's to no surprise, Kerry Wood's officially done for the season. That was 13 million bananas well spent. He stated yesterday he'll be a reliever when he returns in 2007.

Of course, him being mad has nothing to do with the Indians and everything to do with who they were playing.

The kid has good stuff, he just gets nervous and unravels. He's young and only bound to improve. The Indians have nothing to lose by letting the kids play the rest of the season.

Count it!

Ha, what a way to extend the streak. And I think Encarnacion just proved why it's not necessarily a bad thing to be perceived as a lazy fielder. With the uncertainty of whether that ball was going to be caught, I doubt Rollins scores from second if Encarnacion plays it on a bounce. Instead, the effort to make a highlight reel catch blows up in his face and possibly costs them a run, while allowing Victorino to move to third.

Or not. Can't believe he got out of that. Damn I question Girardi leaving the bunt on Ramirez with two strikes. At that point, I say let him swing away.

The last page and a half of this thread is like someone posed the challenge to cut down a good player by throwing objectivity out the window. And Aaron Rowand isn't Mr. Fantastic, so I don't know why you expected his arm to stretch that far for a ball that was quite a bit ways over a WALL. I guess if he'd broken his face on said wall, you'd be happy.