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Bleed Cubbie Blue

First Pitch Thread: Cubs vs. Marlins, Friday 7/25, 1:20 CT

Let's go Dempster!

0 recs  |  397 comments

Comments

I want to Simardzeejashark out there
Man, that joke was horrible.

You suck.

Aren't you telling yourself you suck?
Sometimes I need to teach myself a lesson
Hey, break it up you two!
If I ever see in face-to-face

I’m going to break your clavicle.

Nittany is having

another episode. Whack him, so he’ll skip.

Lets get to this bum pitcher early and often today
Ooooooo, close up of Geo!!!!
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

wait. I’m at work, listening on the radio.

you dropped Hank White like a bad habit. :-)
I'm a fan of Hank's

but not like I’m a fan of Geo’s. ;-)

Aren't his tattoos awesome?
Yes

They are fantastic. Ronny Cedeno has some good ones as well.

Not really.
Tattoos BAD

HULK SMASH!

Hahaha

Well I think they’re pretty awesome. I guess people here don’t like sleeves.

I like em

Think they are cool, and I agree that Hanks are probably some of the better ones I have seen on a ballplayer. I just think its funny…you’d think you had suggested Cuban for new team owner or signing Bonds as a pinch hitter.

Soto has tats?????
Hank
I was going to be surprised
I've never seen

any on Geo but he may have some where we can’t see them. :D

*** stops for a second to imagine that***

back to the game.

CHICAGO CUBS BASEBALL

is ON THE AIR!

there are days when I think

Santo doesn’t get into the studio till the third inning…

Id like to see a Soriano Homer today

A belated Birthday Present?

Hey Galvan!

How’ve you been?

Been

pretty good…

Thanks for asking :)

I hope that DeRo is just getting a day off

and that he didn’t bruise his knee on that catch. He sure landed hard.

DeRo is a big boy

He cant get hurt

HAH!

LEAPING CATCH BY SORIANO!

Well, Sori's legs work!
Nice Catch

SORI!

Soriano

back in LF, making me nervous, but making the catch.

Friday Fish Fry

Let’s get em Cubs!

Radio is way behind again
K!

two outs!

or not.

foul-tip. mutter.

Of course Soriano makes a nice play the one time Im at work for a game
Gonzales doubles

1 out.

Is anyone else hoping that Dempster pitches a CG?
That would be nice if he did.
Dempster

is on my fantasy team. It would help me out a great deal if he pitches a complete game!

Same here

Lol

lol, I see.
that would be real nice
two outs

fly out to RF

Isn't that three outs?
Strikeout was not actually a strikeout

Gonzo hit it off the plate. He went on to double.

Ah, OK.

Phew…thought I was losing my mind for a second there.

you might be.....

but not in the specific reason “giggle”

Entirely possible!
Gonzales ended up doubling

his “third strike” was a foul-tip.

the K was not a K

it was a foul ball

Go Sori!

great catch! =)

Jacobs

grounds out to third. three outs.

Now, that's 3 outs.
Nice Inning

good job demp!

Score first and score often!!!!
I'm thinkin' a lead off HR Fonzie style. Ayyyyyy!
I'd love that.
Heckuva job

by Dempster

Good start to the game Dempster

Time for some Soriano magic

agreed
I'd be very happy to see Vinny's beverage depot donate money to whoever they do

for a lead off hit :)

We just saw Soriano magic on defense
WGN Feed

Is anyone else having trouble with WGN being choppy? Its annoying the hell out of me

I'm cool

But I’m using an over-the-air antenna at work.

radio, tv or internet?
tv

n/t

wgn on comcast

here in Indiana looks ok

(for once)

OT: Does anyone else run on Linux Ubuntu?

I gotsa problem with somethang

whats the problem?
My mlb.tv is atrocious

I’m using mplayerplug-in at home, and it’s very choppy and skips over itself(an echo will happen with the voice), or the audio will get too far in front of the visual. Everything else works fine on it; wmv(unrelated to mlb.tv), flash, etc. What should I do?

I had this problem watching mlb tv on a mac with quicktime.

have you looked at the plugin settings?

Yeah

It was actually REALLY bad, where I wouldn’t get any audio at all. I’m at work, so I’m not looking at it directly, but I’m pretty sure it’s on vo=x11 and ao=alsa. Ubuntu is pretty awesome except for this thing, which actually makes it horrible.

You know, Soriano hasn't had a leadoff homerun since he returned...
I also think

We’ll see some sneaky Power from Fontenot today

theriot is kind of like fontenot

isn’t he?

pls dont go there so early in the game :(
eh?

was just a joke since theriot got a hot as I was reading that

No, Theriot is a lot bigger.
Riot

singles to right.

are you kidding?

Soriano is still batting on MLB.COM radio

nice hit

Riot

Ah,

that pesky Theriot. He just keeps getting hits.

TheRiot doing what he does best.
yeah

getting thrown out stealing.

I knew you'd say that.
because it's true!!!!
no, hitting

but an awesome throw by the catcher

And what he does worst. Dammit!!!
getting picked off trying to steal?
anyone else having a problem

where the site stops showing the new messages?

DAMMIT THERIOT! DON’T FRAKING STEAL!!!!

Theriot thrown out trying to swipe 2nd.
Is he getting the sign to steal

or is this something he is repeatly doing on his own badly?

No clue

And this one wasn’t even really close. Bad jump.

Well if someone is telling

him to do that then they should be slapped up the side of their head.

That is my EXACT thought Sue

If he’s not, someone should say to him. Pls for the love of all that is good and decent STOP

we should start a petition ;-)
Yes dammit we should. :D
Theriot was decent at stealing last year

What the hell happened to him?

godammit Theriot DO NOT STEAL
He does something good

and the screws that up. He really pisses me off sometimes.

I thought Theriot had been banished from stealing

We have already gone thru this enough, he cant steal bases so don’t even try

Stop trying to steal bases, Theriot.

You can’t do it and it’s getting stale watching you get thrown out.

Take the green light off for Theriot!!!!

Please! He sucks at stealing bases.

yeah...

except for the fact he leads the team with 15 over kosuke at 8… aside from that you’re 100% correct

10 CS

thats not a very good percentage

well just remember

you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take ;-)

15 is nothing

stop getting thrown out, and keep hitting, Riot!

Not A Great 1st Inning

Soriano with an awkward K, Theriot with an ill-advised steal, and Derrek flailing at pitches he has no business swinging at. Need to do better.

In defense of Theriot

That was a perfect throw by the catcher

That's it. I now side with the Theriot bashers
Just don't let him try and steal bases

Healthy Soriano is the only one who should be allowed to try.

Demp hits Uggla to lead off 2nd.
Well, he can't hit a home run that way.
That was for the ASG

Uggla = Errors

The ASG was Uggla for the NL?
Don't understand the question.
JMO

Riot is fast - that is, he is faster than the average ML player. But, he is not fast - like Michael Bourn or Carl Crawford. He was able to steal last year because of the “surprise” factor - no scouting reports - but he can’t steal when teams are expecting it unless it’s a changeup or something.

It’s a tough situation for him. Without speed, he isn’t a ML player because he has zero power. But he isn’t fast enough to play the pure speed game. At least, he needs to learn to get better jumps and pick his spots better. He and Bob Dernier have some work to do.

Theriot 8th, DeRo 2nd

Problem solved?

At least DeRo knows how to pick his spots when stealing bases.

(He’s 3-3).

Of course, that only applies when DeRo plays.

BTW, Riot might be due for a day off. He’s 1 for his last 9, and they have 20 games in a row. I’d hate to see Ronny sit for a week after having a good game last night.

Theriot should be stealing there

DPLee up it makes sense, it was a great throw by a bad catcher. It happens.

over and over and over and over again
not given his history.
+1

i’d like him to run on this catcher again, see if he repeats that bullet he just threw. i guarantee the scouting report on him says “RUN”

Theriot has gotten thrown out too much this season to justify him trying to steal bases
Agreed

But it was the right call to send him there even though he has been thrown up too much this year.

that makes no sense.

He’s TERRIBLE at stealing. Stop doing it.

No Justice, No Peace!
well said, sir
"thrown up too much this year"

Your Freudian slip is showing.

It makes more sense to hit-and-run.

Theriot just isn’t a good base stealer, and Lee is a good contact hitter.

crud.

Uggla scores.

A Run In

that was ugly ;/

Well, Demp.

Hold the line at 1 run for them this inning, no more.

Not Good Fielding, Guys

(Johnson and Fontenot)

Run would have scored anyway...
Yup
Still Not Good Fielding

Should have been a much sharper relay throw.

1 out

Ross bounces back to Demp

Bouncer back to Demp

1 out. Runner holds at 2nd.

Geez that was "Uggla"

Im done

Suds have homered

in 20 straight games. What’s gonna happen when they slump?

I was just thinking the same thing.
Ned Will Start Overmanaging

which will compound the problem, much to the Cubs’ benefit.

Johnson

chopps back to the mound. 3 outs. 1-0 Marlins.

Let’s LIGHT THEM UP!

'Nother bouncer back to the mound

3 down. Nice job, Ryan.

Alright,

let’’s get some runs. Preferably multiple runs. I gotta do some work now, but I’ll chime in when I can.

"Those aren't pillows".

Great movie.

A Thanksgiving Tradition

around my house.

OT: Over/Under on the "new" 90210 lasting more then one season?
And No More Hitting Batters, Demps!
Lets get some runs!

!!

OT: My damn cat ran off with an expensive earring

he’s been jonesing for it ever since he laid kitty cat eyes on it. Now I won’t find it until I move ;(

First your phone antenna

and now your earring. Naughty kitty!!!

he's a rascal, that one

sometimes more endearing than others. Right now, not.

My little kitty Callie

loves to steal my pencils and pens, I’m always having to buy new ones!

I'd love to have

a cat but with family memebers with allergies I can’t.

a lot cheaper than that &^%# earring
Get A Dog

Dog > Cats =)

too much work. too needy.
"God Spelled Backwards...."

I’m not sayin, I’m just sayin.

Yep. I'd

much rather have a cat than a dog.

I'd much rather

save $60K over the lifespan of a pet.

Let's not got into this.

It could get worse than the Theriot debates.

(Ahem, cats rule, dogs drool.)

As long as my dog drools on your cat....

j/k

Crappy Swing for Strike 3

Hey, how about a little poise at the plate, guys?

I guess we just like those come from behind wins... So let's get going here and

get some hits and some runs…

Dome goes down on a check swing strike out.
Enough With The Ks!

Start making contact!!!

That would be a start.
Soto goes yard!!!!
SOTO OUR MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SOTO!

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!

GEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1-1
SOTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 -1

GONE

END THE SLUMP

GEORIFFIC!!!
HAHAHA I KNEW HE WOULD!
HR SOTO..... woohoo...
Prediction

Back to back jacks with Lil’ Babe Ruth!

Lil Babe Ruth!

!!

Fonty heats up too
Scrappy Scrappington Singles!

Now don’t steal! LOL

Can't say enough how this home cookin'

has mad such a difference. Let’s get some more!

Sneaky power deposits one into center

RJ up with 2 out, one on.

The bottom of the order show?

back to back days?

Young one's hitting this JOHNSON

Theriot, Soto, Fonty….

BTW with Fonty hitting so well I really think DeRo in the moving starter role is a big deal, he could keep the Cubs fresh through August

argh

this interface is driving me insane today. The threads don’t update!

Yes, I’ve emailed bugreport.

RJ

Bring back the stache!

eewww

but…. give him time

He looks much

better without the stache.

at least he got rid of the goat beard

anything but that

isn't the goat beard the small patch under the lip and down the chin?

he still has the patch

Nah, he's doing better without it.

(And it creeps me out.)

Anyone catch the pregame

interview with Reed yesterday (WGN radio)? Good stuff about hitting.

Bring Em In Dempster
HIT N RUN!!
No It Wasn't (says Brenly)
Base hit to RF by RJ

Fonty advances to 3rd

Johnson singles

Fonty to third! Cmon, Demp!

RUN & HIT!

now the batting order flips….come on Demp get a walk!

Squeeze Here?
2 out ....can't squeeze
Not Even Suicide?
The umps would never call it.
are you being serious?

cause if you are….I am not taking the time

Um...I Was...

Why can’t you suicide squeeze with 2 out and a runner on 3rd?

because the bunter would be thrown out at 1st

no different than the tapper to SS, a suicide is done with less than 2 outs….

And even if the runner going home...

...managed to get home a little bit before the out at first, the umps would never call it.

a 3rd out force out negatates any score
But Bases Weren't Loaded
any force, including 1st base
* negates
Saying "Uncle"

Next time I’ll tell you about when I tried calling “time out” before getting tagged out at second…saw Willie Stargell try it once…had Dave Cash cracking up.

I'd Still Try It

but then again I’m the same guy that dumps hot fudge on rainbow sherbet.

That's just wrong
blah.

nothing works. I’m dropping off folks. See you tonight & tomorrow.

Let’s go Cubs!

Take care drew
Sorry Drew.
No there are two out all they have to do is throw to 1st
remember, "reply" is your friend
Tapper To Short

but at least we’re tied!

Dempster bounces out to SS

On to the 3rd. 1-1.

Lovin all the nice

shots of Geo today.

Dempster on the mound

Geo behind the plate…it’s a beautiful day

Just want to say

you people are a godsend while I’m at work.

Me heart y’all.

I'm right there witcha.
Hanley = PWNED
Dome!!

Makes a terrific catch at the wall. 1 down!

WOW Dome! Just. WOW. What a catch!!!
OMG!!!!

What a catch by Kouske.

Kosuke!

great catch!

Is it very un-politically correct

to call that a kamikaze catch?

even literally incorrect.....no one died in the effort

stop this kind of stupidity

Heard of alliteration?
pair that one with RJs famous catch
Great Dome catch

But I think Reed’s is a tier above.

Reed's catch

is in a class of it’s own.

agree, but both highlight reel
Johnson is the measuring stick.

Wait…

And I might slot Jimmy's Houston grab in between

Reed’s and Dome’s for best Cub plays that I’ve witnessed this year.

Demps A Little Too Wild For My Liking

Gonzo on at 1st with the BB.

Let's hope Cantu cannot.
Cantu Sounds Like a Jedi Name
Northern Mexico name, really
Strike out, I think you will.
Pat Hughes stole your line daver...
I know. I'm filing papers right now.
Pat Hughes just plagiarized
Dempster is going to have to grind one today to the 6th inning

We might see Samardzija, he does not have command and his balls are up…..

twss
That's a double, actually.

The old grind and balls.

I'm not doin' it
Looked away

Cantu go down swinging??

Jacobs goes down swinging

Heading into bottom of 3.

Guess what time it is?

Time for some more Cub runs….....

Yes please!
My Wife Sez Your Her Favorite Vintage

LOL

my husband agrees!

;)

Good thing you answered

b/c I don’t have a watch

Like a Fonzie dinger, ayyyyy!!
Mr. Soriano, Your HR Is Waiting

i hope i hope i hope i hope

c'mon, Sori, show us your stuff
Broken Bat Pop Out

poop, as our Sue says

Soriano flies out.
he should lay off the Red Bull
Goddamn maple.
I Prefer Blueberry Syrup As Well

:-p

nothing like REAL MAPLE SYRUP.....from the northwoods

but few actually know this pleasure…

I went to Northwood Jr High.

Not the same, but…

I do! I do!

I was raised in Northern New York on the Canadian border. One of my favorite childhood memories is going into the forest to the maple syrup shack and syrup on snow. yum yum

Gwate Stuff

Only time I’ve been to NY was the Lake Champlain area on the way back to Boston from Montreal. Gorgeous scenery and, yes, the syrup was top shelf.

we harvested maple syrup from my parent's vacation home in WI

took the sap to a farmer who made the syrup…..Dad would get a tin in return…..he cherished it like gold….better than any store bought stuff

Show me the saddle
Show me the stirrup
And then we’ll help your daddy
When he goes out for maple syrup

I've had it several times.

Probably more have had some than you think.

Soriano not seeing the ball well off the bat and possibly in the field

It will take this weekend.

Drew's Favorite Cub Ks

2 down.

His average drops to a lowly .322
And this is exactly why batting average is a bad stat.

Any stat that says that Ryan Theriot is the best hitter on your team has some flaws.

But A High AVG Doesn't Suck!
A high average doesn't suck or not suck.

It simply is. It’s hits divided by at-bats. Once you figure that the concept of hits and at bats in this fashion are related more to the run scoring process in cricket than baseball, it becomes clear that batting average isn’t a good measure of hitting ability.

Try Smiling Once In A While, Eh?
So what is a measure of

good hitting ability?

OPS or OPS+ is probably the best commonly used measure.

Personally I love just about all varieties of linear weights (Baseball Prospectus has EqA, and Baseball Reference has Batting Runs.)

Then why do

professional baseball players and their agents use batting average as a negotiating tool?

I Dig What Cwyers Is Saying

and my retort was a little snarky. But you can’t summarily toss out AVG. Maybe it’s not the primary yardstick to use but to dismiss it outright is being disingenuous.

My point is that in baseball

you’ve got different types of hitters, not all of them hit for power.

Why can't I summarily toss out AVG?

What useful information is contained in a player’s batting average that isn’t captured in OBP or SLG?

AVG Is Part of OBP

Look, I’m not as well-versed in numbers as you. But am I not correct in deducing that batting average is a part of on-base percentage? Isn’t getting a hit the same as not making an out, which is the definition of on base percentage?

You may or may not be saying that AVG is completely irrelevant. Without the benefit of nuance in this type of Web-based communication, I can’t tell. But I tell you what – if a guy like Carew or Gwynn is fated to hit for a high AVG and use that as the means to score a high OBP, I ain’t gonna devalue him.

Tradition, I guess.

But I’m absolutely serious when I say that batting average is a cricket stat; Henry Chadwick, the inventor of the box score, was a cricket player, and so he adapted the cricket box score to baseball. Cricket has no walks and only has the one base besides home plate, so you can imagine how it would lose some of its relevance in a baseball context.

When C's Right, C's Right

It did come from cricket.

Man...

Lee grounds to 2nd on what looked like a pitch he coulda parked into the bleachers.

OT: Multitasking... decided to make yummy creamy cucumber soup tonight :-D
With Fresh Biscuits?

/drool/

great idea! I'll do that too
Are we all invited?
most of you ;-}
amendment

everybody in this thread is invited. Not everybody in BCB writ large :D

thanks for the idea.....I just said to my loving spouse I would recreate a WI fish fry tonight

no fresh perch but will get some COD and make cole slaw…..potato salad….

great meal!
Wow, you

are just a little Suzie Home maker. We just picked fresh cucumbers out of the garden today.

Suzie "Home Based Director Of Operations"

gotta be PC these days, ya know…

eh
i thought it was funny...

can’t wins em all

It's ok. Sorry

Sometimes the PC stuff on here gets to be too much. IMO.

A is a given...

hands down. Lee and Zambrano in last, and DeRosa a distant 2nd

Based on need, the Bears most need DeRo...

But they can’t have him! :-)

We just need an O-line...

...and we can play a scrimmage against the Bears. DeRosa to Samardzija, over and over again…

I'm sure DeRo was happy that Shark was called up.

He hasn’t had a decent receiver since Chipper Jones! :-)

Bloody Stupid Base On Balls

Get it over, Demps!!

Geo guns down Willingham!
SOTO!

Guns ‘em down!

Geo doin' it all!!!
in a studly manner, too
He can't do it any other way.
Demp K's Hoover to end the inning!
thank you, Demp
he really is sloppy good today.....

It will be something to see him in the 7th

Go Cubs Go (remix)

Im sure most of you have prolly heard this but its a nice twist to the original

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18GUVp8QOkY&feature=related

Hilarious but...

its really weird that they mention Jaque Jones at the end

Lets put the bat on the ball

cmon cubbies, we are making this pitcher look like an ACE

Looks Like Their Pitcher

Likes to work fast, so let’s try slowing him down a little and extending our at bats.

Lay Off Them Low Ones, ARam
Rammy goes down swinging at the high heat

1 down.

Needs To Settle Down And Make Contact

the hits will land in there if he eases off the mighty cuts and has good swings.

Aramis getting blown away today

straight cheese.

Riot flies out to Center

2 down.

That was his partner in crime
And down goes Soto to end the inning

7 K’s for that guy? Sheesh.

Let's hope he tires out.

Anyone have his pitch count handy?

57
Thanks.

That doesn’t make me feel much better, though.

Johnson

Looking nasty with that changeup/breaking ball

He's a

thoroughbred that’s for sure.

I've got to run some errands.

Can y’all get the Cubs some runs for me?

Yeah, I'll do it

You owe me though

2 down

Hanley Ramirez grounds out to Riot.

note on pitch count....Dempter is at 75 now with 49 strikes and 26 balls

I will get Johnson’s when the inning changes

85 pitches with 2-out.....will be surprised he gets through the 6th

need a one-pitch ground out

Johnson is 59 with 41 strikes
and Demp is now at 96 pitches 57 strikes....very sloppy

Will they debut Samardzija in the 6th or 7th?

Smarj up, i wouldn't call 1 run in 5 innings sloppy...he didnt have his A stuff

but got the job done….time for the offense and bullpen to get their job done.

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