Bleed Cubbie Blue

The answer to "Which one plays?"

Is "Whoever is hitting at the time."

If neither of them are, flip a coin.

Ha---

If whatever. Ignore the bases clearing double.

You know, throw out his home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs scored, and RBI....and Alex Rodriguez is a TERRIBLE player. Awful!

hart doesn't look half bad at the plate

certainly better than lilly

I agree

he doesn't look too bad up there at all

Looks like he can swing well

Who's hurt?

n/t

Catcher

Foul hit him square in the knee cap.

Pirates catcher. He's OK.

Thanks, I'm on gameday here

n/t

That had to hurt

RISP and you let Hart bat?

Should have let him bunt

Why

there was 1 out. Might as well let him swing

RISP and you let Soriano bat? ;-)

ballhawk - April 7, 2008 reply

LOL...

Up by 2

Lou must have some reservations about Lieber.

Pirate's catcher

took one right off the knee.

cmon fonzie

rbi here and all is forgiven

He doesn't speak for all of us

AC 00 00 00 - April 7, 2008 reply

Come on Soriano

jack on outta there.

"Soriano swung at 467 pitches outside the zone last year"

make that 468. popped out. AGAIN.

You're retroactively assigning pitches swung at outside the zone last year based on this year's performance? Interesting. In that case, let's assign all of D-Lee's production this year to 2005 so he can win the Triple Crown.

So much for SmallBall....

Now that's what I call "targeted advertising"

Budweiser sponsoring that little "This Day in History" factoid about Prohibition being repealed.

ballhawk - April 7, 2008 reply

Never FEAR

Rons got an email to read-----

Great oitch by Hart

Bay K's

NIUcubbie - April 7, 2008 reply

oitch?

an oitch...

is a pitch that is so awesome it can't be called a pitch.

Yeah, and because...

...it makes batters say, "Oitch, that hurts! I just struck out!"

I'd rather

have some Iron City beer

Cubs acquired Hart from the Orioles for

Freddy Bynum.

And worth every penny.

Fast Freddy

n/t

This is going

to be a long game.

That may be the reason Hart swung the bat

Cause he can pitch!

What's the score?

For those of us stuck in class?

VII to V

Thank you, santus magnus. Long live the empire!

(hoping for a Sosa Gladiator pic.......)

Correction...

Santos Nemorosus Crurs

7-5

thank you Sue

you're welcome

a well rounded education!

I guess that means the rest of us...

...have no class!

[obligatory "Back to School" Rodney Dangerfield reference...]

ballhawk - April 7, 2008 reply

Awesome movie.

"What's a bath without bubbles? Hey, Bubbles, get over here!"

A triple lundy anyone?

GREAT MOVIE

Can Pat Hughes STOP GETTING

excited about foul balls and ball near the track. My goodness I have never had an annoucner get me so jacked up for "a deep fly ball to left, foul" Im exhausted after listening to these games on the radio

no one was worse than Chip, the human fire alarm....as your signature reminds us...

Ha, thanks

If DLEEs ball was foul I would have lost it. I loved Chips homer call though

Chip was bad.

The only thing I don't like about Len is how his voice cracks or squeaks when he yells at big moments. like A-Ram's against the Brewers last year, or Kosuke. "CUBS WII-(squeak)-INNN!!! THEY WIN IT!!!!" Idk....I prefer better voice control out of my announcer. I can understand once or twice on a truly mind-blowing moment, but Len yells at a pitch too high for his voice pretty often, and it shows.

Yeah, I'm always embarassed for Len when his voice cracks.

Its funny

because that is precisly what my girllfriend loves about Len.

I like that

he shows so much emotion.

Don't get me wrong,

I like Len a lot. He's grown on me. But he could exhibit that emotion without squeaking...

'Course, whenever I start to get frustrated with him, I remember ....... he's not Hawk. And then I don't feel so bad.

Yeah, I

don't know if I could be a Cubs fan if we had Hawk.

Our new everyday centerfielder

just got another hit..

good enough to bumped over shannon stewart

This team is flat out better with Johnson in the lineup

As bob said, "this is a result orientated league"....or something like that.

wow... Reed can sure...

work the count, can't he?

derrek continues to pwn

pounded down the line

Nice AB by RJ!

Uh, and DLEE!

Lee is white hot....

whatever happened to "red hot"

... i miss the phrase "red hot." everything these days is "white hot."

SAFE

looked safe to me, under the tag

That Johnson is (wincing as I type this) scrappy.

nothing wrong with scrappy...

...he was scooby's cousin, and david eckstein's uncle.

Don't forget grit and go-get-'em-ness. If only Theriot and Johnson had punted in college, THAT's what we want.

Yeah...but wasn't scrappy...

the villian in the 1st Scooby Doo Movie

Kasey (who's daughter loves watching the Scooby Doo Movies)

kaseyi - April 7, 2008 reply

Yeah...

if scrappy = getting on base, running the bases well and scoring runs.

scrappy is another word for...

...white guy who gets his uniform dirty.

Definitely. It's just the overuse of the word that bothers me.

i prefer "gritty" or "slap singles hitter"

Which one of you was it

that came up with the hypothetical player "Gritty McHustle" a year or two ago to illustrate a point? I think the other, opposing point, was hypothetically named "Adam Dunn". Loved that.

Kegler - April 7, 2008 reply

Bye bye Pie

"This is not a developmental league" - Bob

yea, the way Reed is playing it would be hard to justify playing Pie right now..

...he is a "gamer" as they say and as we cringe at labels like that...

yeah I liked that too

This is premature, but I can see eventually the Cubs csending Pie down and getting some ab's and bringing Patterson up, who can play various positions and easier to find some ab's for.

He should have been out...

but the catcher didn't block the plate and Reed slid between his legs as the catcher applied the tag on Reed's shoulders.

Lee out at hoome

real nice play by bautista

Ronny would have thrown that one into the annoucers booth....

Leave ronny alone

hahahaha...I was just thinking the exact same thing!

LOL

you are the only one allowed to post images on this blog...

from now on.

just watched the video

ridiculous

If he were playing 3rd base.

CEDENO!

pretty much a perfect play

nice to see good defense

Come on though Lee

you're 6'5 run him over

Ya

That's all I want. My 1st baseman who's already been injured by collisions colliding with someone.

The critics would get their Hoffpauir though...

n/t

Can't Hoffpauir play SS?

I know he's lefthanded....but would he really hurt us that much defensively?

Defense schmefense...the man can rake!

Pretty sure Hoffapuir is hurt too

DL, yes...

Hoffpauie is already on the DL

cubswin - April 7, 2008 reply

I-Cubs have been starting Jake Fox at 1B

Derosa swings at one over his head

and ball 4.

Lieber throwing

in the pen

Bottom 6

8-5

ugh!

This being at work crap is interfering with me following my Cubs! I was going through BCB withdrawl and had to sneak on for a sec. What happened to our spectacular lead? Lilly stink it up again? I wonder what's going on with that guy.

Lilly wasn't great by any means

but his defense didn't do him any favors today.

I see.

lots of people left on base

Cedeno error scored a couple,

then the flood gates opened on Lilly, who didn't look right all day, but just paid for it all at once.

It was due, IMO.

don't forget the Ramirez error, too.

leave cedeno alone!

ah, yes.

Rammy didn't help.

That's 8 LOB...

Oy. Some things never change.

WE'VE SCORED 8 RUNS!

What are you talking about!? The problem here is not the offense, its the pitching/defense in the 4th inning.

Orval Overall - April 7, 2008 reply

Uh...

what are YOU talking about? I happen to agree with the poor pitching/defense. 8 LOB is a lot for the 6th inning though, no?

Historically, we have a problem with that.

Not when you've also plated 8!

That means half our baserunners have scored! Put it this way: if everyone on the team had a .350 OBP, and they scored half the time they were on base, the team would score... uh.... someone help me out, but a lot of damn runs that's for sure.

Orval Overall - April 7, 2008 reply

Jumpy crew on here today.

n/t

what! ME... JUMPY???

(insert serene thought of a cubs world series win here)

Ahh...

like waterfalls and puppies.

We have 8 runs!!!

By my count, the Cubs...

are hitting .400 (6-15) with RISP today (and a walk). Relax.

Uh, wasn't NOT relaxing.

I'm watching in a bar, it's the Pittsburgh feed, and they showed the LOB graphic. Made an observation.

Nice of folks to pile on though.

Is Hart still in?

Gameday has Hart still pitching--is that right?

That's corrects

full count to bautista

ball 4. could be gassed.

Yup

Yep, Pigniatello up in the pen.

Al...quick question...

Ever since Opening Day, the RSS feed for the original game thread posts has stopped showing up in my newsreader. The overflow post, the game recap, and the photos post are still showing up.

Are the first game thread posts on a different subscription feed, or is something just wacky with my newsreader. Thanks.

MillsChC - April 7, 2008 reply

Yeah, me too. I use Safari to view RSS feeds. The game threads don't appear, but the overview, recap, and photo ones do.

*overflow

I'll send this on to the tech people.

The game threads are NOT like regular posts, even though they look like them. There's probably an issue that they need to resolve. Thanks for letting me know.

While I have you here,

two other ideas to bounce off you, Al.

1. The Ticket Exchange Posts. When I'm on the mainpage, they're listed at the lower right. But since comments expire and you have to re-enable them, it doesn't give me the boldfaced "5 new" thing about the comments, so I was missing replies. Is there a way for them to build in a "long-term post" so a) you don't have to keep re-enabling it and b) it can restore the new comment count on the front?

2. Some way to mark your comments in the gamethread. When I've been wandering around other SB Nation sites, I sometimes don't know who the moderator/proprietor is, and it would be nice to have their comment, say, highlighted in the team/blog color so I know it carries a little more weight. Likewise, if somehow yours could be tinted blue, I think that would help newcomers as well as people who want to skim threads just to find your specific comment. I know it says "by Al" with your avatar, but when you're scrolling or skimming it doesn't visually stand out.

Reply...

... I've already sent idea #1 to the tech people. It's on their list.

About #2... well. why don't you send this along to the tech people yourself.

bugreport (at) sbnation (dot) com

Make sure you mention it's a feature request, not a bug.

Will do. Was wondering if you thought it'd be a valid request. Since you didn't say "that's a horrible idea", I'll send it on.... : )

I've commandeered one of the TVs in the studio.

YES.

lucky

some day we may have a tv in dispatch. the cable has been hanging out of the cieling for a couple months now. i may be forced to take some action and bring in my own tv

This is going to be Hart's last hitter

And it's a base hit.

Allow me: POOP!

In comes Piggy

Rothschild just got on the phone

And out comes Lou.

and here comes Piggy!

Here comes Lou.

IN: 63 Pignatiello (L)
OUT: 22 Hart (R)

Hart

looks like he's rushing...

Poor Ron

He sounds extra disgusted on the radio today

just today?

: )

lol

true. maybe I just havent had much of a chance to listen in yet this year.

As opposed to what?

The man speaks as if he is constipated and whines the whole game. I love Ron, but saying he is extra disgusted is like saying Bush has done and extra poor job as President.

Hey now.

No politics. Different folks have different standards for judging presidential performance.

cool

Heh

That's correct. And some have no standards at all.

Kegler - April 7, 2008 reply

Whatever.

EDDIEE!!!

BTW

His solo tour is underway . Checki it out. Just him and his acoustic guitar, ukelelee and harmonica

SWEET JESUS I HATE PEARL JAM

MAKE IT STOP.

Oh Piggy, pull it together.

Oh crap.

I like Carmen...

...but this is shades of Will Ohman.

Ron Santo

SHUT UP

Or contribute something worthy

nice job PIG

Piggy sucks

Maybe people will quit lining for him

He doesnt suck

WOW

I was afraid of this with Piggy. He never struck me as someone I could trust at this level.

I meant pining

Carmen knows he's supposed to get these guy out?

right?

or atleast the strike zone?

Pitcher's Best Friend

sounds about right here...

how can they not

put away a pathetic bunch like the Pirates

hard to get guys out when you never throw a strike

Ha, you are starting to amaze me

This is frustrating

Throw strikes... If we choke away a 7 run lead wow!!

We? Do you mean they?

Or are you in the bullpen right now warming up?

Might

not be a bad idea.

Trust yourself Carmen.

If we're looking for a lefty...

Neil Cotts has been looking awesome at Iowa.

He may be recalled soon if this keeps up.

n/t

9 straight balls by piggy

8

come on

throw a strike!!!!

KC in OK - April 7, 2008 reply

jesus f in christ!!!!!!!!!!!

don't let the door hit you in the ass Carmen on your way to Des Moines

And out come the haters.

theyre VULTURES

wow...

...maybe the kid's not ready, but this is harsh

I think you

are out of line.

Watch your language please.

Wheeeee!.....so much for this lead.

AAA pitcher

And you think the Pirates are

better than a AAA team?

Send Pie and Piggy down

for CPat at Neil Cotts?

No...

trade them both for Santana and Reyes.

And cash, you forgot cash.

n/t

Cotts/Patterson, yes

but keep Pie... send down Fonty.

Plenty of time to recover here...

...AND I'm told we're hitting well with RISP today!

Here we go boys, let's do work.

Chokin lefty!

Say hello to Murton in Des Moines, rummy!

Ohhh Piggy!

Cotts

may be coming back...get well soon scott eyre..

Did he really just throw

8 straight Balls?

Enjoy your bus trip back to Iowa

May you have to sit next to a baby with dirty diapers

Geez.

And only a week ago we were hailing him as earning the job.

But he sucked today.

Goodbye

So long Mr. Pignatiello. Take those thousand balls with you back to Des Moines and stay there where you belong.

krummy12 - April 7, 2008 reply

No Longer?

I had the poster of miss piggy

on a motorcycle and you can only see Kermit's legs sticking out behind her. Not sure which movie that was from, but I loved that stupid poster!

What's the opposite of clutch?

Cedeno?

PLENZ and the other haters

Do us a favor and tell us who you hate prior to their meltdown. LET US IN ON YOUR BRILLIANCE

This is coming from someone

who was ripping earlier on our radio personalities?

yes, thanks

I'll take him there personally

Time for Al to repost the Marshall v. Piggy poll

I think BCB is a bit more likely to get it right this time.

DGU - April 7, 2008 reply

Only it won't be Marshall....

... because he's being stretched out to start. It'll be Cotts.

(Please, no one say Les Walrond)

Les...Wal...

Oh sorry...

LES WALROND

As a coach...

oh god now its howry

wtf sweet jesus

Let's see how many hitters...

Howry walks here. I say < 2

cmon

if a guy wants to be a major league pitcher.....can't we expect strikes?

It's absolutely inexcusable

for major league pitchers to be incapable of throwing strikes. I am so over it. Lilly pissed away what should have been a cake win by trying to nibble (as usual), and now the relievers are following suit. If this was a basketball team, they'd have practice right after the game.

VolPowers - April 7, 2008 reply

Can't complain about trading runs for outs...

in this situation.

I would have put Lieber in...

better chance for a DP ball...

Ronny Cedeno is still good at baseball

Ha Ha Cedeno Haters

Matty G - April 7, 2008 reply

Nice catch Ronny!

MMM...

RONNY!

THis is pathetic

Great play by Ronny!!!!!!!

CEDENO

really.

WHY!

Didnt they bring in Wuertz? He's a master with bases loaded no outs.

Ron Santo is making me puke today

I am considering turning it off, who am I kidding

Onedec!!!!

ONEDEC ONEDEC ONEDEC!!!

ha ha ha ha..hilarious

Ha

Ronny!!

wow

whew!!

ONEDEC!!!!

lets get out of this with the lead

ONEDEC!

sorry...everyone already beat me to it!

There's only one .... DECEMBER!!! /Dane Cook

"I dont quite understand this"

qoute from Ron and the story of his life

why am i a hater

for expecting a mlb reliever to throw strikes?

Youre consistently a hater with negative things to say about this team

Find another team if you hate everyone so much

I think you may have had a negative

comment or two on here before.

LT - April 7, 2008 reply

all you do is

bitch about everything.

Isn't that his god given right to bitch about everything

if he so chooses? My advice is to let it go.

Sure, he can bitch. And we can bitch about him bitching.

DEAL!!!!

Down with, well.... negativity!!!

Down with down!!

It's just

too bad that some posters can't post anything when the team is doing well and only post when they are struggling. It gets old.

Because you seize on any and every opportunity...

...to insult Cubs players. Pignatiello had an awful outing. Granted. It doesn't take a genius to see that and you don't need to take it to the next level by saying the things you do.

Do you know now why youre a hater?

nope

bitching about 3 walks in an inning with a 3 run lead against one of the worst teams in baseball is not being a "hater"

really?

enlighten me, not quite sure what you're getting at with "story of his life." I would have thought story of his life would include 14 distinguished seasons playing for the cubs.

Orval Overall - April 7, 2008 reply

I am not surprised at Ronny great catch...

but I was expecting him to try and double off one of the runners and throw the ball into left field, allowing the tying run to score.

Just sayin'

hold on

to your butts

Hey Moe - April 7, 2008 reply

Howry isn't fooling anyone

and let's give Cedeno his due.

zevkalman - April 7, 2008 reply

holding breath

Intentional walk

throw strikes howry.bases loaded.

cedeno!

in tthe good way

Great job Ronny and Bobby!

Let's get some runs!

Good job Howry we

somehow get out of the inning

Whew....

out of it!

These pirates are a scrappy bunch

On opening day they came down from 7 runs too I believe against the Braves.

scrappy?

like 9 little david ecksteins...

There's that scrappy thing again.

n/t

7 little ecksteins

and 2 Theriot's

phew

holy crap

that was intense...

Lilly and Pig are DREADFUL today

yep

today they were.

Holy Cedeno!

Thank you Jeebus!

This game is ridiculously long.

Six innings have taken two hours and 45 minutes.

agreed

this is long and intense. Shouldn't be

Great Odin's Raven - April 7, 2008 reply

helps make even more of my work day interesting

snley - April 7, 2008 reply

thats right

this was 12:35 start central time zone.

wow

mjk83 - April 7, 2008 reply

Good

I'm leaving work now and can listen/watch the dramatic ending!

Thank you...

Good news for everyone

The Pirates are pitching worse than the Cubs today

Lets go Cubs

We have hit the ball too well to give this one up

a couple more insurance runs...

and Lilly still gets the W

he doesnt qualify

he didnt go 5

mjk83 - April 7, 2008 reply

oops, just looked at that

Actually - the official scorer doesn't have to give him the W...

Not enough innings.

Hart would get the W

I don't see why Wuertz wasn't warming up before Howry

He would have been better I think, but hey

Lou said...

he wanted to get Howry some work today.

Plenz!

Thought we were talking about working on that good karma/positivity thing!

C'mon buddy. I know you got it in ya. You're not a bad guy, just need to believe!

I'm sorry but this game has vintage cubs meltdown written all over it

I just hope we can make it to the 9th for marmol

CubsBall2202 - April 7, 2008 reply

We may need

an overflow to the overflow.

agreed

thirded

too bad

Lou didn't want to really use Marmol today either.

maryliz983 - April 7, 2008 reply

BWAHAHAHAAH

Did anyone else catch the Santo 'grey hair' comments?

Yes. Hilarious.

n/t

I almost fell out of my chair. Between that comment and his golf comment last week I've shot 2 different drinks out my nose!

did anyone catch...

yesterday's comments from Santo about big Z and Banannas?

"Zambrano's been eating lots of banannas so he won't cramp up today...you don't want to eat too many banannas, though... they'll plug you up!"

Someone clue in Soriano

It's called eye-black for a very important reason.

yea

I'm a little confused as to what he's trying to accomplish with that eyeblack. Someone said it was underarmour logos but it doesnt look like UA logos to me.

its his bat companies logo

ohhhhh yes that makes more sense.
thansk

Bob was ripping him the other day for that

n/t

Wood

is gonna have to pitch today and rest tommorrow
Marmol needs to come in and we can worry about resting them tommoorow. Bottom line is Lilly is to blame for this mess. It's embarrassing to lose a game like this to a last place type team

we havent lost

yeah

I was about to make the same comment.

good thing theyre are loing yet----HATER

We'll be fine

This is horrible

And yes, i am turning into a Soriano hater every day

nope

but we aren't

going to win without Marmol and Wood today

Maybe Dome can pitch.

He does everything else.

I would LOVE to see that.

Just because. Lou is just crazy enough to do it, too.

crazy like a fox!

(in seriousness, I doubt Lou is dumb enough to pitch Dome)

does anyone remember Doug Descenzo (sp)...

...coming in to pitch a game about 15 years ago?

Yup

Classic

no, but I remember Gary Gaetti in 1999

snley - April 7, 2008 reply

Yep

I think he may have done it twice. I loved those games

Grace pitched once

for the DBacks didn't he?

Hell, I was pulled in from left in Little League to give it a go in our final game once.

I sucked.

Dascenzo...

... pitched four different times in 1990 and 1991. He threw five innings and gave up zero runs.

It's not confirmed, but it is BELIEVED this may be the most innings ever thrown by ANYONE in a career who has an ERA of 0.00.

That is awesome!

In the modern era, perhaps...

Actually, Honus Wagner threw 8 1/3 with a 0.00 ERA. Sure he gave up 5 unearned runs, but them's the breaks :) (source: http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/historical/individual_stats_player.jsp?c_id=mlb&playerID=123784)

I'm not sure if that's the most, but it's the most I knew of off the top of my head.

MarchHare - April 7, 2008 reply

Then Dascenzo...

... probably has thrown the most innings without allowing an EARNED run.

I don't doubt it...

...I just happened to read a biography of Wagner last summer :)

MarchHare - April 7, 2008 reply

Luis Figueroa pitched for the I-Cubs the other day

Luis Figueroa, who had been playing at 3rd, pitched 1.2 innings for the Iowa Cubs the other day. Struck out 3, to boot!

Marmol will Play

how about now?

GOod chace for a hold in fantasy

Lets go Wuertz

damn... i dropped him from my league that uses holds...

if bautista doesn't score from 2nd

1 out

PirateDan - April 7, 2008 reply

His job just got harder...

But at least he's throwing strikes! At least go down throwing strikes!

agreed

Wuertz needs to keep the ball down

everything is up. Not good for any pitcher but especially not good for a Slider pitcher. Double.

just thinking that

good call

Got him early and he is helping em out a lot

same for Chad Qualls

I'm sorry

but we need Kerry out there today. Marmol in eighth, Wood in ninth if we want to win

absolutely

correct

and best wishes to your brother

Agreed.

Right now the more important thing is getting the lead back.

thanks

he's doing pretty good right now, but it was a long night

Marmol...

for a 2 inning save?

Is Bay hurt?

Why would you do a double switch with your best player?

PirateDan - April 7, 2008 reply

correct that...not a double switch

just replaced him with Yates

PirateDan - April 7, 2008 reply

poop

Sigh Dero

Defense...

n/t

damnit

this sucks

Well...there goes that 7 run lead

hard to find many potistives right now.

goddamn

we're just giving it away

What just happened?

another

critical derosa error
3 outs

~~Brian Roberts~~ oops, DeRo boots a grounder, tie game.

wtf

is wrong with derosa?

HORRIBLE!

Kicking the ball around= very bad

Really bad

BRIAN ROBERTS!

nah just kidding!

hiss

TPWSNBN....

would have had that and held the runner at 3rd.

TPWSNBN

also didn't have a short ST.

And saved 100 drowning puppies...

... and rescued 10 children from a fire, and cured cancer.

CS

good job ROnny and Geo

Patterson would actually be an ...

upgrade

I think I'm gonna

PUKE! this is disgusting.

2nd DeRo error leading to runs

nice throw by soto tho

Wow...just stunned here.

Defensive implosion.

then, redemption...

... it's been that way the whole game.

Yeah, the Cubs are still...

...well into the Bucs bullpen. It's safe to say this one will go down as a horribly sloppy game, but it's still winnable.

amazing how bad the IF defense has been

..this year..

They have singled handedly let the Bucs back into the game.

Jeez, wanna know the positive?

We're still tied. Holy cow, we scored as many runs as they did. If we did it second and they did it first, we'd be saying how amazing we were. The end result is still the same, we have a 2 inning game now. STOP JUMPING OFF BRIDGES HATERS

Hats

off.

Cheers

n/t

but it's fundamentals...

... it's not that we're getting outpitched or outhit or anything, but you're right to a degree.

Yeah, only problem is we did score first...

we've blown a seven run lead and looked terrible doing it.

Gee, good thing we didn't get that Roberts guy....

salparadise23 - April 7, 2008 reply

Let the bashing begin

3 errors today

all in the infield....not major league caliber ball

I will be truly amazed if we win this game

this is pathetic

CubsBall2202 - April 7, 2008 reply

Me too!

Kinky Reggae - April 7, 2008 reply

Lee will blast one

watch out

if you criticize you must be a hater

Correct you are a hater

Thank

Wrong.

You can criticize. Just try and be constructive. I know it's frustrating when a pitcher throws nine straight balls out of the strike zone. But it happens. To pitchers on every team. Doesn't mean they suck 100% of the time.

LSA.

Bitch about results. Don't castigate every Cubs player just because he doesn't live up to your perfect expectations.

LSA to you too!

n/t

Fukudome shoud just

play the whole right side of the field.

Win or lose, one thing's for certain...

Lou's gonna have an interesting press conference afterwards.

yep, i'm predicting fire and brimstone

If I were Alan Trammell...

... I think I'd lock Lou up for an hour after the game before I let him talk to any reporters.

why?

if they lose
he should blast them

with a bottle of Zantac sitting next to him

I'd peg Lou as a...

calm presser/get tossed within the week kind of guy.

They are who we thought they were.

Yea i agree

Could be an all time classic

Le Elia?

Oh, by the way

Another positive?

We've scored 8 runs against a starter who normally does pretty well against us.

If every "Cubs fan" could relax for even 1 bad play, it would be great.

love the optimism...

Yeah, so do I.

It's the 8th inning and the Cubs are not losing. This game is winnable.

But, you are all right. Blowing a 7-run lead is NEVER good.

Blowing 7 run leads to the Pirates

Is one of the more relaxing thing's ive ever experienced.

The only reason I can take it so calmly?

I'm not watching it live... just getting updates on CBS Sportsline game center.

i was relaxed for the first one

the next 7 were what got to me

Yeah...blowing these 7 run leads...

are pretty relaxing.

did you say "1 bad play"?

I think he meant one bad "day" or "game"...?

N/T

I can relax for one, two, three bad plays....

it's the eighth or ninth bad play that usually gets to me.

well...

this certainly does suck a bit.

We need

Brian Roberts at second and Cedeno at SS.

Rick B. - April 7, 2008 reply

Right, because errors in one game mean the player MUST be replaced.

And Roberts and Cedeno will NEVER screw up.

agreed

Roberts and Cedeno is in favor with the baseball gods.

It's more of a "want" thing for you folks.

Not a "need" thing.

I'll trust this team.

my ears can't handle such talk.

The Cubs Lead-off hitter is batting .097

How much is he making a year?

zevkalman - April 7, 2008 reply

Don't start that.

Sigh.

136 mil over 7 years so.....

19.4 mil a year..... to start the year 3 for 30

grathanial - April 7, 2008 reply

YOU'RE SUCH A GENIUS

thx

grathanial - April 7, 2008 reply

and 19.4 a year...

to end it 165 for 550

Placido Polanco is batting .087

Shane Victorino is batting .130
Jorge Posada is batting .143
Robinson Cano and Ivan Rodrigez are batting .174
Scott Hatteberg is batting .083

Obviously my point is that they're all terrible baseball players and should all be cut.

Wreckard - April 7, 2008 reply

Lee pops up to right center

mrtobby - April 7, 2008 reply

Not

the first screw up by DeRosa

Rick B. - April 7, 2008 reply

I'm calling an ARam HR...

mrtobby - April 7, 2008 reply

close

Just in on his hands a bit

Close.

almost right

close

Looks like the line was busy...

Zing!

close

JohnM - April 7, 2008 reply

Was that close... just wondering?

i'm not 100 percent sure

but it was kind of close..

And it's over for me today guys

I'm off the boards. Surprisingly, I like my team enough to figure that they can win games that are tied. And I'm trying to be constructive and show why we can win, and you're being destructive and show me why I should join you in the line to slit my wrists. I'll see ya on Wednesday, have a good game all.

don't trip and fall coming down from your ivory tower

Later non hater

Maybe we should establish a

"warm and fuzzy" section for the non-haters where, no matter what the Cubs do, they're always great and undeserving of any criticism.

wow sick

aramis misses the go ahead HR by about 4 feet

damnit

that would have been gone at Wrigley..

Almost...

DeRosa = Todd Walker

He's the first one running when the camera light goes on to do an interview. Don't forget who swung at ball 4 to end our rally against Arizona.

Rick B. - April 7, 2008 reply

Wow, we've even got DeRo haters today.

Impressive.

wow

that was such a well thought out statement

both of his crucial errors

he let the ball play him. He isn't as bad as Walker defensively though.

Absolute nonsense.

DeRosa's one of the nicest players on this team and a clubhouse leader -- kind of the ANTI-Todd Walker.

There's a reason Walker played for as many teams as he did and doesn't have a job now, and it has nothing to do with his baseball talent.

Need to get this fast man out..

DOnt want to see himon the abses

Himon the Abses

I think I prayed to him once...

LOL!

Heretic!

K

one down.. THat pitch was up... Wuertz is leaving too many things up

not a great shot of woody there

stretching with his legs spread open is not what I want to see

Speak for yourself sailor!

always a gentleman, swl...

Is he warming up?

getting loose

hasn't started throwing yet

2 down

4-3

These team is almost as bad

as the fair weather'ers over here, blowing up the thread, when they start losing or are tied.

Except that the team isn't bad but that the fair weather commenters here suck. A lot.

slightly agree

however DeRosa definately should be booed for making that error, he should have atleast done it in style unlike Todd Walker. Walker is a better 2b, hands down!

Good enough to not be in the league

he is too good

to be on any team.

Touche

he is Barry Bonds

he is the illegitimate child of

Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth...wait a second...

3-1

Lets get some runs!!!!!!

Nice hustle by Wertz...

Apparently

sloppy play, walks with a lead and blowing a 7-0 lead is ok in some cub fans minds. Let's just blindly accept the fact that it's ok to suck as long as that blue uniform is on you. By some accounts we shouldn't accept anything more.

Maybe I am too critical....but I want them to win more than anything and it drives me nuts when this shit happens.

NOW.....LET"S GET A DAMN RUN AND WIN THIS THING!

It drives us all nuts.

Is it OK? No, it's not OK. But we can be critical without simply bitching.

Right?

right

No one said it was OK.

Um...yeah...all that bad stuff is...well...bad.

But you sound like you want the entire 40 man roster DFA'ed because of it. Calm down. Alot of players haven't played very well today, sometimes that kind of stuff is contagious. Let Lou worry about it. Our job is to complain when it happens, and then cheer on the next guy. At least that's what I do.

Amen and VERY well said.

There's a difference between being critical and shrill

You're being a little of the former and a lot of the latter.

Wreckard - April 7, 2008 reply

LSA

n/t

Alright

Great job by Wuertz.
Dome
derosa ( who will atone for his error -
Soto

Let's get some runs!!!!

Whew - Now we got their bullpen ace...

Tyler Yates out of there!

Now, the bats can awaken!

OK, haters, can Michael Wuertz get some love?

no

that inning was too slow..

NEVER!

HE SUCKS! WORK FASTER!

He's a waste basically

Quick! Somebody make a bad pun using his last name!

From bad

to Wuertz.

Too easy.

Ah, yes. An oldie but a goodie.

And, in this case, going from bad to Wuertz was a good thing.

agreed

send him to Peoria

good opportunity

for get redemption

cubsmania - April 7, 2008 reply

for derosa to get redemption*

cubsmania - April 7, 2008 reply

We are Cubs fans.

We know this is how things go. No easy wins, no wind to their backs, usually their own worst enemy, that's just Cubs style. This year will be the same. Edge of seat nail biters is what I am prepared for no matter how easily they should win games. I think my blood pressure is still high from last season, so I am trying to be more of a realist and take some mercy on my nerves. I wish others could too.

Tangled Up In Blue - April 7, 2008 reply

Today's game.

As bad as some things have gone, the Cubs are still in position to win the game. Let's escape with a win and spend the off day figuring out how to fix what went wrong.

Fooks!

Fukudome

Just like Cedeno and Pie, is good at baseball

fukudome = OBP machine

yes indeed

basehit Dome!

Base hit Koskue

one on no out!!!

$12 Million bargain so far.

He's exactly what they need. (Well one of their needs anyway.)

Kornchex - April 7, 2008 reply

please mark

no dp

We should really consider...

trading Fukudome while his value is high.

Thoughts?

good joke

For Roberts?

JK!!!

CubsBullsBears - April 7, 2008 reply

Yes

You are delightfully loopy as usual.

you should be arrested

for inciting a riot! lol

Only if he could incite a fire...

under the-riot

for what..life time supply of budlight for all of us cub fans to drink away in the bleachers

some one has to play real 'baseball'

I don't think that's allowed by his contract; i.e. the fee was paid so he could choose the Cubs specifically.

Jerry Mumphrey - April 7, 2008 reply

Derosa is bunting...

Please get it down

i was starting to worry...

... dome was approaching the "Dome Line"... threatening to fall below .400

bunt plz

no dice on the hit and run

Whiff

One down

Derosa not only couldn't get a bunt down

but K'd.

atleast he didn't hit into another DP.

Trade him.

Kill him

Out. Of. Line.

even if you are joking...

No

Don't be silly

Alright these sarcastic comments about

anyone even remotely critcizing a player, is getting extremely annoying.

I blame you

roberts plz

See, this is what I mean.

DeRosa makes ONE out and you're ready to dump him? You can't be remaking the entire roster after one game of screwups!

Al, you might not be aware of this...

...but Brian Roberts has NEVER struck out.

Of course.

How could I have been so foolish?

Agreed...

I've been a proponent of getting Roberts. But that's based on factors other than DeRosa's current play. Requesting Roberts based on DeRosa's play so far this year is, well, REALLY silly.

SouthernCub - April 7, 2008 reply

dome SB!

F the sac bunt

Stolen Base Koskue

jsut helping my fantasy

boo!!

fukudome went the wrong way! He should have stolen home instead of second!

Murton would have stolen home,

and all the hearts of the women from the greater Pittsburgh area.

stolen base dome!

Here's to Dome

being a lifelong Cub.

Seconded, hoping for good health and continued production. *knock on Wood* There are no certainties in baseball, but I'm a big fan already.

9

2 out

too many popups today

add another one to the pile

Please, Ronnie, let me type your name backwards.

YnnoR?

The other one.

sdrawkcab eman ruoy

This might be a poetic ending...

Cedeno at bat...2 outs...go ahead run on 2nd.

we want poetry!

I want a Win

n/t

if cedeno gets a hit here i'll remove my sig

I'll change my avatar back to britney.

Weirdly enough...

I laughed every time at the pic Brit avatar.

Your sig is safe, sadly enough.

3-2

here we go baby

rrmalik - April 7, 2008 reply

this is so

Cub

8

In comes Lieber... The ball jsut hung up there too long

Ronny's balls always hang too long.

And I'm out of line

Jesus

LMAO

3 out

We need to do a bunch of drastic stuff!!

rabble... rabble... rabble!

DTJchris - April 7, 2008 reply

This thread is slowing down.

I'm going to post another overflow thread.

Sick. Lousy defense. Far too many walks.

Bad day.

buckmulligan - April 7, 2008 reply

Is it a double switch?

with the pitchers spot up next.. ..should put in Theriot to start the next inning

mrtobby - April 7, 2008 reply

almost certainly will be

SouthernCub - April 7, 2008 reply

Have a bad feeling

I'm scared.

Double switch yea

666 comments...

Yikes...THAT'S not a good sign...

Shawon O Meter - April 7, 2008 reply

Lieber??????????????

why ?
Marmol threw 1 inning yesterday right?

We cannot play defense.

This is pathetic.

buckmulligan - April 7, 2008 reply

Why isn't Pie in

As a defensive replacement?

Kornchex - April 7, 2008 reply

Cuz the Cubs didn't have the lead

Bring in Marmol now

need some K's here

I bet they get a bunt down.

buckmulligan - April 7, 2008 reply

Ballgame

Leadoff double.

Gift wrap

Are we going to put a big gold and black bow on this gift to the Bucs?!

why

would he put a career starter in in this game in the 9th inning tied up?

Exactly!

He's not a reliever.

Bracing for the worst here.

its....not....over

it just feels that way

Am in absolute disgust

Lieber is a GOOD PRESSURE PITCHER

Works fast, gets the job done

walk him here set up the DP

This is a good move

Despite what many of you think

This is horrible...

CubsBullsBears - April 7, 2008 reply

Load the bases?

why play for tommoorow when

Marmol might not be needed? Plus........its a day off!

Why not bring in Marmol here?

So he can be ready for Game 4.

sorry

When the Cubs get the lead, Marmol will come in.

How's that for optimism?

I like it ALOT!

Anyone else have the feeling that

even if Liever induces a dp ground ball, teh Cubs will find a way to mess it up the way the'yve played today?

I know I'm a hater

What's the sitch?

Bases loaded, nobody out?

1st and 3rd, one out

Wow

Missed sign?

Possible squeeze, runner held. 2 outs.

holy shit!!

That was the weirdest play ever....

Someone missed a sign

Suicide was on

noone told dude on 3rd

now THAT

was cublike!

YEAH

IT AINT OVER

To the 10th..

WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EXTRA INNINGS

Move to the new thread please

we go to the 10th!

really?

xene - April 7, 2008 reply

WOOOOO

xene - April 7, 2008 reply

dodging a bullet

like right below the testes

Here's an ingenious comment

CUB spelled backward is BUC ..

that's why they missed the sign.

zevkalman - April 7, 2008 reply

and racecar spelled backwards is

racec......damnit....

I think Pie catches that double leading off the inning

Just my opinion

And I dont think Pie gets on base as much as RJ

to score runs. so...

can't look at games that way

You might be correct

but in a late game you need defense

this game is the epitomy of...

hindsight is always 20/20

BB for Riot

boo

can't he get a hit

Yeah BB

nice battling back from 0-2

Gritty!

vtcub - April 7, 2008 reply

time for

reverse psychology 101

Soriano will fly out

Come on Sori...

we need it NOW!

Lou should make Sori bunt

Though that chances of that are probably as good as me hitting leadoff next game

He waqs out by a mile

Lucky call for us

wheels baby...

wheels!

once again

these runners are going the wrong way. They should steal home instead of second!

K

onedown

Ward up

Yeah!

I'll take it

there ya go!

fukudome please

wait nvm

why is lee out?

nvm

wow I am way off on this

you show em lee

that was a shitty call!

Umm...who would go to 1st

if Lee had been ejected

MillsChC - April 7, 2008 reply

good question

glad he didn't get ejected

Ward

Could fill in I think

"bat"

An elongated wooden to that one SWINGS in an attempt to hit a fraking baseball. Look it up, guys.

correction

"wooden tool" not "to"

Not watching

is anyone warming up for us?

Palmdale24 - April 7, 2008 reply

damn

wasted..

time to redeeem yourself

DeRo. Dome should be running to avoid a DP situation

This should have been over an hour ago

with a Cubs win. They never can get it done easily.....

OMG

The Riot scores