Bleed Cubbie Blue

CaughtInTheVines - October 1, 2008 reply

The ump wasn't the problem.

No ump should be expected to call strikes that go by the hitters’ eyes.

DaBard - October 1, 2008 reply

absolutely correct. his strike zone was identicla for Lowe

Demp has always had a tendency to be wild and was clearly over throwing and aiming tonight

LuisSalazar - October 1, 2008 reply

We need Z to be focused tomorrow

It’ll be a test for him – one I hope to see him ace.

blehhh

Walking 7 batters you shouldn’t win.

DeRosa = man crush

Soriano = ARod

FloridaCubsFan - October 1, 2008 reply

i'm sorry

but can you at least look at A Rod’s playoff stats before you spout this nonsense?

tal1286 - October 1, 2008 reply

correction

it should be ARod > Soriano

FloridaCubsFan - October 1, 2008 reply

Alfonso Soriano is the key

If he repeats his pathetic performance from the 2007 playoffs against Arizona then this offense and the Cubs are in trouble. Big trouble.

Don't give Ramirez '07 vs. Arizona a pass

Lee either really. 0 RBIs for those three.

Lee couldn't hit a HR in a phone booth these days, to paraphrase Harry--

—the guys is late on 88 MPH fast balls right down the middle—he’s either hurt or he’s totally toast.

Lee has yet to have a post season RBI for the CUBS

Didn't have an

opportunity tonight

What do you mean?

He had an opportunity for one every at bat.

TA

So exactly how many

homeruns do you expect him to hit tomorrow?

I expect him to hit zero...

…tomorrow. My point is that he has apparently lost his power, he might as well bat leadoff and le Soriano hit 3rd, at least Lee will work a walk.

I agree that he lost most of his power

but I was mostly commenting on the RBI comment. Really makes it tough to get RBIS when you have to hit solo shots to get em

ASk Ramierez and Martin bout that

Mr. 13 HR marrtin..

As do a lot of other Cubs..

That stat doesn’t mean squat.

It's more than his disappearing act...

…we still haven’t gotten much if anything from the top 5 in the lineup—and Dempster was terrible. Dempster’s lucky it wasn’t 8-0 by the third inning.

It’s very disappointing to see this kind of lousy play again.

The bottom line is that the Cubs need more better players. It would help if we had one great player.

Cubs puckered up tonight....

They MUST overcome choking when the limelight is on. And I’ll say it again….Alfonso Soriano must come out of his funk because it has been demonstrated time and time again that when he hits it has big domino effect on this lineup.

Agree....

If he’s hot he can carry the team on his back…

We've all noted,

you’ve jumped on to the thread when the Cubs are losing.

these annoucers on tbs are so lame.,....

Dick Stockton

is incompetent

MJMars - October 1, 2008 reply

They're terrible...

Not exactly breaking news though.

Yepsen - October 1, 2008 reply

Agreed!

TBS coverage absolutely blows. They should at least act like they give a hoot that they are covering the playoffs. Please put this back on on one of the major networks or even ESPN.

Even Joe Morgan might be an improvement..

then again, maybe not..

Ron Darling is fine.

Agreed on the others. And Harold Reynolds is the truth, too bad he’s assigned to other games.

Orval Overall - October 1, 2008 reply

Tony Gwynn isnt all bad. I like him

but his voice is annoying

I really like Reynolds too...

Last night was the first time I’ve heard him in awhile….what a breath of fresh air!

Turn down the volume on the TV and listen to MLB on the computer

Or really…is the sound that important?

Or santo on XM

that would be a waste of

surround sound

watch it...

He may not be smooth announcer, but he’s an icon as far as I’m concerned.

Actually Gwynn isn't bad...

do you know what his voice sounds like in

surround sound? Obviously not

Better than Stockton's....

Stocktons voice

isnt as annoying as the words that make it

Kinda remindds me of Walter

Walter who?

Payton? Jacobson? Cronkite?

#34

Sweetness ruled

Sure did...

Greatest all around back ever.

I put him and Emmitt Smith in the same category by themselves.

They would just as soon run over you as a tackler as try to run around you. Walter could do both; was better at moving around and Emmitt better at just taking the tackler out but the same mental intensity towards an impending collision between 250 pound men running at full speed.

Never saw him play...

but watching film, I’d put Jim Brown in that catagory too. But if you include blocking, receiving, even passing, (I think he threw about 10 TD passes) Walter stands alone.

I see what you mean...

Walter’s voice was a little higher pitched tho….Damn, I miss him!

AMEN

Such an athlete and gentleman

He was the kind of sports hero you want your kids to have as a role model instead of these folks now. When people talk about Chicago sports you always hear about Ernie Banks and Michael Jordan and Mike Ditka (and I like them as role modesl) but it seems like we’ve all forgotten Walter was the team for a quite a while. Yeah, I miss him too, in the same way we will miss Santo some day hopefully far far off in the future.

BEST EVER

Well said my friend!

I’m still a little pissed at Ditka for not giving Walter the ball near the goal line in the Super Bowl. And I sure hope Ronny gets in the HOF before he leaves us.

Tear wipe...tear wipe...

It's that time of the night when you're tired and upset about the outcome of tonights game and had a few drinks of choice to gain perspective

but I do wish #34 could have scored a touchdown that game. I wish I had had an opportunity to meet him. I do desperately wish Ron gets in the HOF this time. I hope he, and we, get to see that first Cubs WS flag but even if that never happens, he should be in the HOF. That’s just good old boy gamesmanship who don’t want certain people in their little club.

Going to go up to bed and watch the rest of the boring ALDS game in bed so I can just fall asleep. Better execution and intensity tomorrow night. Luck doesn’t have anything to do with it.

Agree with all that...

Good night and sweet Cubbie dreams!

Absolutely no sarcasm on my part...

Thanks for putting some of my feelings into words…

Yep..

Even Ditka, last I heard him speak of it, feels pretty crappy now about the way he handled it.

Thank you both for understanding

Some treat every topic on here as a light hearted joke opportunity but some of our experiences and emotions are a little more complicated and mature than a high school jock life. When you are experiencing significant stressfull times (such as this post season for us) its as stressful as getting married or having a baby or having a death in the family or buying a business. that just means you tend to start thinking about the things that are really important to you as a person. These sports relationships mimic personal ones and can be very satisfying or horrilbly disappointing.

I’m desinging what and who I want to be in my version of heaven to be and its going to be a nice little social group of my favorite Cubs and Bears and Denver Broncos. We’re going to play schoolyard versions of the sports, bet on horse races, and do the NCAA brackets. We’re going to drink scotch and gin and chanpagne constatntly and have personal nurses to give us an IV drip do we don’t get dehydrated.

We’re going to race fast cars against each other and go fishing everyday. But the main event will be like the scene in Field of Dreams where the players from different time periods get to play again and really play. And what makes it heaven for me is that I get to participate in those games with my heroes and hold my own. and then I’ll know what is so funny about the joke Demspter tells to the pitchers shagging flies at batting practice or what Lou thinks sorianao should concentrate on to stay of the low sliders in the dirt. What we want is to be on and in that social team of those guys rather than observers fans looking in. And that would be my heaven.

Louder?

Maddux for the bottom of the 9th?

cubs ftw - October 1, 2008 reply

Looks that way..

Which Lilly were starting ahead of game 4 with all those Dodger lefty hitters

Heres to a 5 run 9th

and Geo is gonna get the game tying 3 run HR

cubsfaninatl - October 1, 2008 reply

maddog pitching bottom of the 9th....that seems wrong somehow to have him

pitching for the other team

its game one but....

why do we do this to ourselves?

MJMars - October 1, 2008 reply

because we are Cub fans

Because the Cubs do this to us

for the past 100 years

Because we know what's going to happen.

We try to convince ourselves that things will be different, but in the end we keep getting smacked in the face.

And yet, for some reason, we still come back for more; hoping again that things will finally change.

That is why we are Cubs fans.

stop

reminding me…

airweino - October 1, 2008 reply

They are NOT bringing Maddox in. :(

I can’t take this.

slcathena - October 1, 2008 reply

salt on the wound.

:(

Yep.

I’m going to bed.

I’ll be back and chipper tomorrow, and ready to go. This is just mean.

slcathena - October 1, 2008 reply

seems very wrong to make me root against Greg

4 in a row

Lou is 0 and 4 in post game now.

CubFan69 - October 1, 2008 reply

Could be another sweep...

…at least we won’t lose the final game at home at this rate.

Just with the Cubs.

How'd he do with that 116 win Seattle team?

How'd he do with the '90 Reds?

against the unbeatable Oakland A’s..

Rijo....

Is Zambrano the next Rijo?

That would be sweet if he was!

That team was a ddog BTW

Lou can't pitch for Dempster or hit for the "superstars" in the lineup

Those “win one for the Gipper” speeches only go so far and mostly work just in the movies.

No...but he could use the regular seasson more as a marathon than a sprint

what started out as upsetting

is now actually quite funny. We had 97 wins. A 17 game winner for game one. And still nothing. All year long people have been saying how great this team is. All I can do is watch and realize the deer in the headlights look every Cub batter seems to have. This team needs a few drinks. A steroid of some type. Can Lee Elia come down and go off for a few minutes?

Correction

~~This team~~ We needs a few drinks.

LOL

On my 8th Leinie Red….with a few shots of Jaeger thrown down too.

Couldn't stand the tension...

went to walk the dog……come back and turn on the radio to hear “Marquis delivers the pitch”……I knew this couldn’t be a good thing.

OK bottom of the ninth, 5 runs needed

come on DeRo

A minor victory

Would be for the Cubs to force Maddux out after a couple of runs . . . at least we could burn him so he can’t be used tomorrow.

Cub therapy

One more loss and I will have to start Cub Therapy.

CubFan69 - October 1, 2008 reply

2 more losses and I will be your first patient

doubters are out in FULL force

ya think?

You ok Sue?

I had to go away for awhile…

I'll be ok.

May not be in here tomorrow night. Can’t take all the negative crap.

I know what you mean...

but I hope you’re here….you’re the voice of reason most nights.

Thanks.

Hopefully we are winning and the others will disappear. :D

My kingdom for that!

do you expect me to be chiiper and

happy at a time like this?? dont give me “its only game 1” either, this hurts

Keep the faith preacherman...

no one should know that better than you..:)

this definitely hurts

but if you just bitch about it its only gonna make it feel worse. you just have to shrug it off.

Well said Chanman.

you really shouldnt tell people how to feel,

this isnt argueing about who should play a certain position…and please point out to me where i was “bitching”

I don't think he

was calling you out. If you had been in the other threads you would know what he meant.

probably, i just think its stupid for someone to

tell someone how to “feel”

if you thought I was calling you out sorry, it was in general to all the people moaning a bunch

its cool man...

i understand

Don't think he was talking about you specifically.

More like he was talking about all the bitching in the previous theads.

+1

It's natural instinct

After 31 years of being a diehard I have a certain resignation about things. I’m sick and tired of talk of our superiority on paper all the time. This is a big payroll team that needs to step up at crunch time. What we have seen tonight is horrific rerun of the 3 game series against Arizona where, again, we were the vastly superior team on paper and managed to have the Augie Ojedas beat our brains in.

your 31?

wow. I would have guessed 14-15.

Since when is Manny Ramirez

Augie Ojeda?

Galvan316 - October 1, 2008 reply

Blake Dewitt

could be Augie Ojeda

I'm 45

eesh

seriously?

Yeah, but...

Being a fan that long, you more than most should realize what a crapshoot the playoffs are. Just getting here is a big hurdle. IMO, anything else is gravy and depends too much on luck for my taste.

That's a start

Come on Maddux.

Could you just give us one run to soothe our sadness?

The bright side

A game like this is less painful than a blown save, followed by an extra inning loss, having left 10 RISP.

sweetswinger - October 1, 2008 reply

Good call, Blue

And a tough one. . . easy to react for the automatic out, and he NEARLY did.

Theriot gets on there ya go!

OK Darryle put one on Sheffield buddy ! ! !

not this time

unfortunately

Would be a meaningless HR

sweetswinger - October 1, 2008 reply

Lou should pinch run Jim belushi

Sori

Is more cold-pressed than olive oil. Ugh.

There it is...

Tomorrow will be a winner.

Yepsen - October 1, 2008 reply

game over. it'll be different tomorrow when I'm in the stands.... yessirreee

Bring them luck...ok?

Good luck..

We’re all counting on you..:)

Over Macho Grande?

No, I don’t think I’ll ever be over Macho Grande.

hokie316 - October 1, 2008 reply

Well

that was disappointing………hope this doesn’t continue

We'll get them tomorrow

honest. This is the best team in the NL. Has been all season.

Have faith. It won't continue.

that was brutal man

well we weren't going to go 11-0

thats true

hopefully tomorrow we eliminate the chance to go 0-3 tomorrow

as John McClane said............

we just got &*@*@**@’d on national television

By the way, memo to the nay-sayers . . .

Cubs hits: 9
Dodgers hits: 8

The LA hits were just bigger hits, that’s all. 9 hits will win PLENTY of playoff games if you string them together.

you forgot that

the dodgers walked about 15 times tonight

I didn't

I just failed to mention it in that particular post . .. I was speaking to our offensive strength, which many people have been bashing all night. Those walks made the Dodgers look like Murderer’s Row tonight.

yeah that tends to happen

when you got a guy out there pitching scared. Our offense was alright for the first half, disappeared in the second half of the game

Offense didn't show up either...

just like the starting pitching.

You don't need a lot...

…of hits when every other hitter is walked.

Also, it’s hard to get hits, if the pitcher doesn’t throw the ball over the plate.

MPH73 - October 1, 2008 reply

stop rationalizing, people and get real.

We’re the best team in the national league. This is unacceptable, period. A sub par, under achieving performance of the highest order. what a joke.

And Z will pitch a much better game than Dempster

easy to say this now but

I didn’t really agree with Dempster starting the first game

+1

It’s easy to say now, but deep inside I wanted Harden. He can be so dominating and this 1st. win is f’ng huge to say the least.

if it weren't for one damn pitch by Dempster..

it was going to happen sooner or later

the way he was giving free passes out

the strikezone too was questionable tonight

Sure Dempster was erradic that one inning, but he was getting squeezed

True dat

but our hitters were swinging at some wild ass outside pitches there too

Not sure what soriano was doing

although he played well defensively

I dont think he was getting squeezed that badly

he obviously didnt have it, that showed when he walked the pitcher.

Exactly,

it wasn’t the home run that did Dempster in, it was all of the walks.

Why not say...

“If not for that damn foul tip before the Grand Slam”
or
“If not for the inconsistent strike zone”
or
“If not for the chalk on the foul line being 5 inches wider”
or even
"If not for the damn ‘five letter word that shall not be mentioned in these threads’ "

We lost, that’s it. If we get swept, loose in five, or win it all, that’s what it will be.

Besides, the Brewers lost, so we’ve got that to laugh at.

You can't walk 7 in 4 2/3rds and expect good outcome....

It wasn’t one damn pitch that did the Cubs in.

true...

but it sucked the momentum out of the building..

Seems like he probably felt he had to groove one or the ump would call it a ball.

Well, dempster shouldnt feel too bad.

Even without the Grand Slam, it would have been a 3-2 loss.

Assuming everything else played out as it did.

BrewCrew'sPrinceofDarkness - October 1, 2008 reply

That's horse crap

Marquis never see that game.

Getting out of a second bases loaded jam

May have given us more momentum. That just changed the game completely.

AndHart120 - October 1, 2008 reply

Well, that's over...

who is staying on here and watching the next game? Anyone? Anyone?

BrewCrew'sPrinceofDarkness - October 1, 2008 reply

According to history, we have 14% chance of winning this series.

Game one winners in a five game series has gone on to win 24 of 28 series.

Sweet

Of those 4

how many were by teams that lost Game 1 at home?

Stop saying this... we heard you the first time.

so your telling me

we have a chance? Sweet.

Just remember....

It took the red sox being the 1st team down 0-3 to break out of their “funk”

Well,

I’ve been sick for a week and this game didn’t help, I’m off to a good night’s rest.

Here’s to a healthy and victorious tomorrow!

Yepsen - October 1, 2008 reply

At least

we did not have to use Marmol or Wood…

airweino - October 1, 2008 reply

I wish we had the chance

Rhetorical Question: Isn't Maintaining a 2-run deficit as Important as Maintaing a 2-run lead if you expect to come back

Why not use Marmol instead of Shark??? 4-2 or 5-2 easier than 6-2 or 7-2.

Hope they aren't getting rusty

Would the Cubs win "America's Got Talent?" right now?

If

We can get back to LA 1-1, we’re still very much in it. Cubs have actually played better on the road lately than at Wrigley.

Tomorrow will be the big test.

sweetswinger - October 1, 2008 reply

Well the cubs played like

little bitches tonight. Hopefully that energizes them for tomorrow

Zambrano

I profess to being very worried about game 2. Zambrano is so damned hard to figure out and I’m not confident of his psyche or ability to step up in a must-win game. Just being honest.

Lou says Dempster overpitching & never established a rhythmn

To hell with Excuses

We lost….

It doesnt matter how or why or what we did wrong or right.

Galvan316 - October 1, 2008 reply

did a lot wrong

little right.

you think they're laughing at us over in Sox-land tonight?

could care less

they arent likely to do much in the playoffs

I'm with you MDBNIU

waynemessmer - October 1, 2008 reply

reply feature is your friend

im just surprised MDBNIU has a friend

(not a bash, i have no problem wih him)

a friend on here that is

I knew what you meant ;)

cant be confident in zambrano tomorrow, the whole season rides on it

Any changes to lineup, Lou?

“We’ll see tomorrow, we’ll see”

how about going back to what worked

Fukudome batting second didnt work the first time you tried it……

Zambrano vs. Billingsley

bring it!

You know Torre and the Dodgers are going to try and get into Zambrano's head

I don’t think it is overstatement to say that tomorrow’s game is the biggest start of Zambrano’s career.

No I'd agree with that statement

i think i obviously is the biggest start

Hope he brings his A game...

I’d much rather see your boy Harden out there tomorrow.

Actually, I'd really wish Ted Lilly could go given all those Dodger lefty hitters

I wouldn't be opposed to that either...

but Harden is the type that can totally dominate the opposition. Lilly lately though has been pretty damn good.

The Original Dave - October 1, 2008 reply

What a poor performance

seriously.

A couple questions

why was fukudome batting second?? and why does Soriano suck so much at the plate?

well we got our two best pitchers

up next….mix that with hopefully a re-energized offense. Nothing is out of grasp yet

I know one thing.

I really missed Len and Bob tonight.

agreed...

though Miller and Sutcliffe were a good radio combo

Oh that is the truth.

Len’s voice is the only comforting thing I have right now. I’m going to go watch a podcast.

TyCubsfan - October 1, 2008 reply

How are those?

Been meaning to check em out.

I was thinking the same thing during the game,

it’s such a bummer we get stuck with “national announcers” during the playoffs.

+1

Thank goodness I live close enough to get Pat and Ron, and Miller and Sutcliffe weren’t too bad on ESPN radio.

dick stockton is a freaking idiot

Only insight one of them had to offer the entire game was about the crowd…..not sure who it was. Had the volume low for obvious reasons

Yeah, I don't think

I can do another game with them announcing.

Camera shot of DeRosa's home run was taken from Saturn it was so far away....

TBS apparently doesn’t have ability to place cameras where WGN and Comcast do.

Those TBS announcers were excruciatingly bad

I watched almost the entire game without the sound on. At least the Red Sox-Angels game has Chip Caray

The Original Dave - October 1, 2008 reply

If the Cubs weren't equally as bad tonight,

you might not have even noticed how bad the announcers were.

+1

Glad Pat and Ron were on.

The crowd was dead tonight

Even in the beginning of the game and when the Cubs were up 2-0.

Everyone there was waiting for something bad to pop the air out of the balloon

PhillyCub - October 1, 2008 reply

yeah, it was a palpable feeling, wasn't it?

how can you blame them, we knew it was coming

different crowd tonight...

lots of older folks there who had “seen it all” and were there to finally see a winner. Not too many of the day-to-day fans from my section at least from what I can see. Lots of shirts and ties compared to normal. Just a function of playoff baseball I guess.

cubbot - October 1, 2008 reply

They got the momentum from Demp walking all those guys.

Of course it quieted the crowd.

Call it hangover effect of what happen against Arizona last fall...

The crowd has a right to be cautious until proven otherwise.

i did think, when deRo's hr stayed fair, that was a good sign

same here

didnt think that would be the only runs of the night for us

No need to remind everyone

about the last 4 post-season games at Wrigley.

Any surprise why the crowd was waiting for something bad to happen?

PhillyCub - October 1, 2008 reply

I just dont think they were too excited about

a 2 run lead in the 3rd inning. I know I wasn’t

Good point..

noticed that too.

This series is over...u cant rely on Zambrano thats for sure

um..in the words of Jim Rome: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNN!

boom

outta here

boom goes the dynomite

If you've already given up.

Then don’t come here tomorrow night, praising Zambrano if he has a great game.

no i havent given up but im very frustrated in no timely hitting and all the damn walks by dempster

There is a big difference between being frustrated and saying that the series is over...

after just ONE GAME.

yeah that may be true, but u saw that stat about winning game 1 on a five game series...not lookin good

well..

this Cubs team has defied history many a time in the regular season..

That's all it is... a stat. Just because they won ONE GAME,

doesn’t mean that they will win the series.

Good grief..

Get a grip man.

u cant argue with those numbers about winning game 1 in a series of 5 thank u

If you bring that up again... I will lose it.

aww I miss Frank Thomas on the announcing crew for TBS

He was like the Charles Barkley of Baseball. When they were talking I remember last year he randomly yelled “who won the georgia game?”

LOL

The Big Hurt was a Big mistake. That was funny tho…

The MOST IMPORTANT THING TOMORROW...Who is the HOME UMP?

How does he call things? What is his Zone?

That is what is so important with Z……..

mmancubfan - October 1, 2008 reply

Unfortunately, this is the kind of nuanced crap that gets inside the head of Zambrano

Screw who the umpire is and his strikezone for the game. Pitch to conditions and pitch to the Dodger lineup. Don’t get upset over what you can’t control. Unfortunately also Joe Torre and the Dodgers are going to try like hell to get Zambrano off his rhythm. Please let his horoscope say good things tomorrow morning.

You are very naive if you don't think that Z and Lou don't eval the ump

It isn’t nuanced crap or maleable ostentatious dog shit…………..

It is playing the game the way you can play it. As posted below. The strike zone tonight was small…sounds like tomorrow will be larger.

You on a consistant and mind numbing basis are a poster who is made fun of 90% of the time. I will refrain from adding on MDBNIU……………..how’s the Hoff pick you punk??????

mmancubfan - October 1, 2008 reply

Actually...

I think someone mentioned last night that the ump tonight had the smallest strike zone, and the one tomorrow has the widest….I’ll have to check their stats.

Dempster choked, plain and simple.

7 walks is the TOTAL amount he gave up in the month of September. Plus, they swung at several that were ball four. Not good for our so-called ace.

hes always been walk happy

but walking the fucking bases loaded? nothing bothers me more than that……well maybe walking the pticher

TWICE?

He was walkin guys because he didn't feel good about his stuff...

Beyond the walks he also gave up some very loud outs. It might be the case that Dempster was picking his poison. Either nibble and maybe walk guys or watch them smack the tar out of his less than good stuff.

This is the ultimate test.

Pick yourself up. Dust yourself off. And be a professional baseball player. Be a champion. It’s not going to be easy, The regular season is long gone. You earned it and you are better than this. Do i have to come down there myself and kick all your asses?

This is for vindication. For the naysayers. To kiss goats and black cats goodbye. To put Bartman in the rear view mirror. And never hear the word “curse” again. You can’t shake “loveable loser” until you f-ing win. So win.

This is funny but why is it here?

Manny....

what a dolt…telling the press it’s all about Joe having him cut his hair.

Well if some guys on the team we want to wwin....

would get some hhits to score runs…..Manny becomes irreleveant

+1

well I am out

hopefully tomorrow is better!

too many walks to a single hitter in furcal, that did us in

Facts of first game loss

teams that have won the first game in a series have won 24 out of 28 times

CubFan69 - October 1, 2008 reply

None of those teams

had Zambrano and Harden going game 2 and 3

I swear if anyone else parrots that stat. again, I'm going to go all ape-shit.

preach on!

i hear you brother!

I'm with you Jimmy...

Talk about beating a dead horse…my lord.

How about 1 Cub, just once, getting pissed

and not just accepting their ass-whuppin?? Excuses. We’ll bounce back tomorrow. Blah, blah, blah. A little erratic, Demp??? Come on just say you sucked.

i was pretty leary about so many people

talking about “what they cant wait to see in the WS, and who they’d like to face” and not worrying about the SERIES AT HAND

maybe the team had that kind of mentality. i bet they dont anymore!

So true, my friend.

Nothing is promised except the day at hand.

Did lou have a post-game conference?

and what’d he say?

RightFieldSucks - October 1, 2008 reply

Too many walks and the rest of the baseball cliches.

Not much else. Looked whupped, like all of us feel.

The 24 of 28 stat is bullshit

Why play the rest of the games if it is already decided? Why not save some time and just play a one-game series instead of five? Think of the 2004 Red Sox, and forget that stat. We just have to win some games

vonde6 - October 1, 2008 reply

+1

agreed

we win the next one (with Z pitching) and it’s 1-1. We win the first in LA (with Harden back pitching in california) and it’s 2-1. I was as miserable as anyone tonight, but i’m not ready to throw in the towel.

RightFieldSucks - October 1, 2008 reply

i agree with ya but u cant argue with that stat my friend

No one is freaking arguing with it.

well, no kidding dude!

but you are acting like it is an absolute to happen again bc of history

Why don't you just do a fanpost about your freaking stat man.

And leave the rest of us alone, ok?

while I am at it, I am not a fan of resting players at the end of the year

play it out

i thought the same thing.

everyone talked about how the rockies were gonna get swept bc they were sitting and waiting for a team to play, getting cold.

i thought, if that can happen to a whole team, why can’t it happen to individuals

Soriano is the most over payed player in MLB

*overpaid

if you’re gonna say the sky is falling, at least spell it right

RightFieldSucks - October 1, 2008 reply

Barry Zito would like to have a word with you

he is a little hot/cold for my preference but I think most of us knew that going in. You can hate on him all you want but I am going to just hope he gets hot.

Ok Im gonna jump in and defend Alfonso

First Barry Zito would like to talk to you.
Second Alfonso Soriano’s signing helped set the tone for this new Cub regime
Third Alfonso Soriano is the best player on our team not named Aramis Ramirez
Fourth Alfonso Soriano carries this team for streches, and while I blame him for setting an awful tone for tonights game, he could catch fire and carry us.

nji232 - October 1, 2008 reply

Hear hear...

Well said nji!

You've got to be freaking kidding me.

When MLB was considering contracting the Twins, the price to do it was 250 million dollars. That just so happened to be the size of the contract that Alex Rodriguez had just signed.

if MLB ever would have went through with that

I would have been done with baseball

at least Arod has the numbers...i admit he is paid a ridiculous amount

where are the Yankees this year?

and even when they did make the playoffs did you see his numbers in the postseason?

dude he played well in the regular season.

regular season doesnt mean shit...gotta do it the clutch in the postseason

yea, because you dont have to go thru the reg. season

to get to the postseason. thats teh dumbest overused statement ever

unfortunatley its true, players are remembered by their postseason numbers and their performances

but we wouldnt even be in the position we are in, if

it wasnt for him. theres gonna be at least 2 more games for him to prove himself

Hmmm

I guess that would be news to Ernie Banks…

Goodie1969 - October 1, 2008 reply

you just got burnt, lol

I like DLee a lot but...

tonight I would have preferred Ernie in that batting spot.

He's 77

Might have trouble with the high heat..:)

haha whoops my bad, overpaid mr. soriano he is

how does a major league caliber player constantly swing at sliders 2 feet off the plate?

Panic...

fear of becoming part of a 100 year legacy
fear of becoming another in a long line of what ifs

Where's our clutch???

Or more directly our post season clutch??? Does this team’s ass simply pucker up when the playoffs come….do they kinda secretly believe the curse crap….or do they wanna win so bad that they get to tight? All I know is we looked tight and Demps pitched nervous….and now we gotta rely on Mr. Mental Case tomorrow to right the ship…….I truly despise watching Manny Ramirez dance and frolic about…..why can’t karma come back and smack him in the teeth??? Series not over but I think we can all shut our traps about World Series for awhile….maybe until we actually get into one perhaps……..

razzpunk - October 1, 2008 reply

Amen. brother, amen.

I think we blew it.

anyone know a good shop in Wrigleyville?

what kind of shop?...

Walgreens has razor blades.

razor blades are for pussies

use a rope

Let's not talk that way.

Hate those rope burns tho...

It would be pills and booze for me…go out with a good buzz.

very admirable

This is not funny.

Wasn't meant to be...

I sure wouldn’t take anything like suicide lightly. I had a friend who unfortunately, due to a lot of bad breaks in life, chose to end his own life. I’m sorry it offended you in any way. Maybe it was in bad taste. On second reading, it was. I do apologize. Too many beers and shots for me tonight.

Thanks for the apolgy, Bump

My younger killed himself about 25 years ago when he was in college and that was a devastating event that affects my whole family every day even now. It literally killed my dad 10-15 years prematurely based on his health at the time and how it deteriorated thereafter. It definitely makes you look at your own life differently and hopefully concentrate on what’’s right with your life rather than all the things that are wrong. Off the sopabox for a soft landing. Good Night.

Razzy, you just answered your own question.

They were tight & pressing tonight at the start. DeRo’s homer loosened them up a little. I think that they got this tightness out of the way tonight. I don’t think the Dodgers can keep our offense down tomorrow night. When will karma smack the other team in the teeth? Tomorrow night at 9:00 is when. Stay tuned…

Big believer in karma here...

what goes around….

Second Amen ya

there is a thing called a reply button

who is our team leader?

who is going to give us the emotional lift we need? Every great team had one. Who is ours?

i would say that dero is the emotional leader of the team

Agree

I was thinking on that and, surprisingly, no one immediately came to mind. In some ways, Edmonds is but he is not “Cub” enough yet, if you know what I mean. It really should be DLee and I think Lou said today or yesterday that he did say a few words to the team. Whatever it was must not have been inspirational enough. By default, DeRo is just by how he plays the game and I think that’s who Lou would name if he were asked the question, but he would never answer it.

this is going to be a statement that might get me roasted, but...

i really kinda hope d-lee isnt on this team next year. i think he could be hindering this team leadership wise, everyone looks to him, and never delivers

Roast away

I have no problem with him being on the team

but I think he is better suited hitting #6

yeah he is def not a true number 3 hitter

i dont know why he is still in the #3 hole

That's a more direct way of saying what I was trying to say.

Thank you. I think he is good for the team but he isn’t the leader like a Banks and he is probably batting in the wrong spot in the order. He is very good defensively.

I like him on the team

but not in the 3 spot, he hit into another dp again tonight. I also would never, ever choose him to be a motivational speaker for any group I’m in charge of motivating.

TheRamZamDLEE - October 1, 2008 reply

Football is a game of emotion.

Baseball is not. Emotion actually works against you in baseball.

Do the Cubs have a captain?

Tonight?

Yes Captain Morgan…

TheRamZamDLEE - October 1, 2008 reply

+1

These next 24 hours

are going to be brutal.

kanderber - October 1, 2008 reply

Now it's a must win situation

No excuses, curses, or any of that crap. This is it. You didn’t bust ass for 6 months to aly down to a team you know you can beat. GET IT DONE!!

ah good old Craig Sager

how I missed you and your ugly suites

I didn't know he stayed in ugly hotel rooms

Ha...

rimshot…:)

DeRo on postgame..

WGN radio.

Goodnight all the haters, lovers & idiots out there.

Goodnight

goodnight,

but i think i fall under lover, and idiot, lol

Night

it seems like there should be more categories than that.

+1

Pessimists, optomists, overzealous?

W

tomorrow
:)

cvan84 - October 1, 2008 reply

Theriot...

telling Kaplan on WGN radio that the Dodgers did a great job of laying off Dempster’s pitches….you think?

Laying off 'em?

They were so far outside they couldn’t reach ’em

jaxinnabox - October 1, 2008 reply

Cubs could easily win this series 3-1

If Z dominates tomorrow – I like Harden and Lilly in games 3 and 4!

Cub Fan Mike - October 1, 2008 reply

+1

I like the way you think Mike and want to subscribe to your newsletter.

Someones had too much cubbie kool aid tonight

Zambrano coming anywhere close to dominance is a HUGE IF, id give it about a 5% chance of him pitching a good game tomorrow, his head is going to be so f’ed up it wont matter

Actually from the look on his face tonight in the dugout

I think he could come out tomorrow and just be in an untouchable zone. He sees this as his opportunity to show the world he is the pitcher he has been saying he is for a few years now in a clutch situation. If he doesn’t go out tonight and drown sorrows in swimming pools of alcohol or Red Bull and comes to work focused tomorrow he could just dominate. If anything Demp lulled the Dodgers into a nibbling kind of delivery: not overpowering and lots of ball so they just sat back and waited for something good to drive or take the BB. Z could get in front early emotionally, in the count and in the game score and never let them up off the mat. And, if he does, then Harden has incremental personal motivational reason to bring his A+ game next. Bottom line, within the first few pitches we will know the outcome of tomorrow’s game from our pitching perspective. Figuring out where the offense is going to raise its head finally is more tricky.

Being a STL fan, I hate saying this, but...

Big Z was nails in the playoffs last year: 6 innings, 2 earned runs…but picked up a loss. If he has another 6 innings, 2 runs (not earned runs) game, then he could pick up a W against the Dodgers.

stlfan - October 1, 2008 reply

You forgot about Derrek DP Lee

Problem is that Lee will kill any rally that they cubs have going. Can you remember the last clutch hit the man had? Wow Cub bats and Playoff games are so bi-polar. ’98, 89 and 84 – big burst but mostly silent no consistency. Remember how many times Dawson came up in ’89 needing only a hit and best we got was a Sac Fly. Deja vous all over again.

rmonday557 - October 2, 2008 reply

I've had a lot stronger than kool aid tonight...

However, I’d put that a little higher than 5%. I think the combination of extra rest, (remember, he had a lot of rest before the no-no) cool weather, wind blowing in, an ump with a wider strike zone, (which I believe will happen) should bode well for Big Z. I agree with you about his head tho. God knows where that will be. That’s the X factor I think.

Z should totally hire us to be his handlers and take care of him on days before he pitches like Matadors used to have.

We take him the gym to workout and the restaurant to eat and get him to the park on time and arrange for a discreet number of peronal meetings with his fans. and we work on his head to keep him LEVEL, FOCUSED and CALM. That would totally rock dude; anyone got his cell number?