Bleed Cubbie Blue

Congratulations.

Over-under on number of posts about the lineup switch tonight: 138.

Ill

Take the over, but won’t be around to count

You can bet someone else will.

IM

far more interested in a picture of Lou playing frisbee in the outfield

Here you go.

Oh, wait. You said frisbee, right? Sorry.

Thats

Good enough for a laugh..Ill take it. BTW love the blog keep up the good work Al

I'm so glad

“highlights” aren’t in anymore

tony412 - April 24, 2009 reply

I'll bet Lou is, too.

Here ya go...

Oh. Wait….

It's a simple game.

You throw the frisbee, you chase the frisbee, you catch the frisbee.

Lol

and that is why frisbee golf is great exercise…And the only sport im truly qualified to play

over

TWHS

I was waiting

For that to happen…

TWSS

Meh.

Not too sure about this one. Wainwright is a good pitcher and Dempster hasn’t been all that good this year. I do think the lineup shuffle could spark some “caring” into the team—the last two games have looked wholly absent of any positive emotional charge, and for someone that likes statistics over caring, caring does mean quite a bit. The identity of this team seems a bit hidden thus far.

Few items of note from the Cardinals:

They are hot off a 3 game sweep of the Mets (who suck, which makes me happy), average a MLB-best 6.3 runs a game (even after 2 more games played than the Cubs, so it’s not just small sample size), are 8-2 at home, and Pujols already has 18 R/6 HR/21 RBI. Luckily we face Boggs (??) and Wellemeyer after tonight, neither of which are very good.

Oh, and the SBN site Viva El Birdos is my favorite non-BCB site.

Dan

The Cardinals won't average 6.3 runs a game all year.

Time for them to go into a slump. Starting tonight.

Well, we've scored 3 runs in our last 3 games...

Not Bruce Froemming - April 24, 2009 reply

More like eight

Not great, but at least get it right.

Good thing I’m not minoring in statistical analysis. Thanks.

I tweeted this earlier...

…but, if I’m reading baseball-reference correctly, the Cards lead the Natonal League in runs scored right now. They’ve scored exactly 100. Let’s keep that number right where it is.

I think they lead all of baseball in runs/game.

Yes, that is correct.

OMG NEW LINEUP!!!!

Really Lou is just making us talk about something else. Soriano will be leading off again pretty quickly. This is just to make us forget about Milton.

Hopefully we do something on offense tonight, but Dempster hasn’t looked good this season so it might not matter.

Where's Maclin gonna go tomorrow?

Is Chase gonna get drafted?

Chase won't get drafted, Maclin will go either 7th, 8th or 17th

Jets promised him at 17 I think. I can hold out hope for the Packers to take him.

Chase is a whole different thing. His twitter has been funny lately bc he is clearly worried and the last ESPN full mock didn’t have Chase getting picked.

LOL.

What a fall for a guy that was a pre-season Heisman favorite. I think he’s smart enough and has enough velocity on his arm that he will end up somewhere. Hell, if my Badger alums Jim Sorgi and Brooks Bollinger can make it in the NFL, Chase Daniel sure as hell can.

A team will take a flyer on him

He just isn’t a pro QB.

"Make It" meaning "holding clipboards"....lol

Is that media policy new?

Because I seem to remember Steve Carlton and George Hendrick not speaking to the media for years.

Or am I just dating myself?

Josh Timmers - April 24, 2009 reply

Must be lonely...

..then again, fewer arguments...

Don't do something like that!

But yes, I suspect the media policy is fairly new, and since it’s in the CBA, I think it would be a good idea for everyone to follow it.

to a point..

but although i think bradley was a bit harsh he’s frustrated with how the season is going so far. I can’t blame him for saying to just let him be essentially. It’ll be fine. I’d rather him be hurt and not able to play in april then sept/oct

mkcubs21 - April 24, 2009 reply

so let him say it...

… let him say “ya, I’m annoyed, I came here to hit, I came here to win, I came here to lead the team to the World Series. this injury sucks and if the fans are frustrated, well know that I’m 10X as frustrated”. When it comes to questions about his past history, no problem with him saying “I’m not answering questions about my past, I’ve done that already.” But Bradley is creating a situation where he’s insulating himself, alienating the fans, and the fact is that both he and the fans share the exact same frustrations.

dmlichte - April 24, 2009 reply

agreed..

i’m not saying he is handling it right just that the media is never innocent in situations like these either.. thats all.

mkcubs21 - April 24, 2009 reply

It seems as if he is trying NOT to fit in...

…based on the posting earlier from tville and the comments made by whats-her-name-spain-something

not sure I agree with that.

his team mates already talk about him being a good guy. When he gets into a funk, he may separate himself. Lots of people do it.

I guess you're right...

I should lay off the guy and give him a chance for gods sakes

FWIW...Viva Los Birdos (or whatever it's called)...

…does not have a pre-game post up yet.

slackers.

Now how do they expect to win this game with a work ethic like that?

They don't have the King of Multi-tasking...

…named Al.

Al probably banged out that pre-game post on his Blackberry while driving one-handed down I55 headed into STL for the game tonight.

A man made of steel, I tell ya.

Wow, I only wish I could do that.

I’m still in my house in Chicago.

C'mon Al...

We all know you are sitting in Busch being blinded by all the red seats!

Gamethreads normally don't go up until 10 minutes before the game

I think

that the importance and tone of this game will not be lost on Dempster. I think that he will come out strong knowing that its really up to him to break the cubs out of this mini losing streak.

Also Im interested to see how Sorianno does with runners on base. So far he has come up with fewer people on first and second and more people on third than most of the team. So far he manages to drive in 10% of the runners on base in front of him. Whereas Aramis has driven in about 30% and DLee is closer to 15%. Fewer than half of Sorianno’s RBI are from others on base. (4 of 9).

I realize sample sizes are small, I just look forward to seeing what happens when he does have folks on base in front of him.

BTW

all those stats are here. don’t take my word for it, check it out.

Lineup means one thing:

Riot with the leadoff homer, not Fonzie. :)

you mean

it’s been the spot in the lineup all along? :P

Cardinals will replace Lohse

with Vizcaino who Duncan will turn into a great starter who wins 15 games after he agrees ( like all of Duncan’s other pitchers) to sign a small contract with Lucifer and I don’t mean John Mozeliak ( Cardinals GM) I mean the man himself. Nothing else explains how Duncan does it.

Doggie Stalker - April 24, 2009 reply

That's entirely plausible Jessica...

Any bets on who signs Pedro?

I dunno why the Mets aren’t interested, their staff is pretty bad lately.

Danny...

Will a #4 be needed this evening? (Let’s do a pre-game thread roll call).

I'll do one right @ 7...it's still 90 minutes til first pitch!

I AM hungry. #1 and #4.

I had

a #11 today, myself.

this line up will lead to five fanposts tomorrow

about why Theriot should not lead off. even if he goes 12-12 12 HRS 45 RBis

If he hits 12 HR

then he should be moved to the middle of the order where he will get more RBI opportunities.

Just getting a head start. :)

Goodie1969 - April 24, 2009 reply

You sly dawg you...

Goodie,

Did Lou e-mail you the line-up for tonight?

Not the lineup

but he did send me something that I was supposed to forward to at least five other people or something bad would would happen to Kyle Lohse. I blew it off, though. That stuff is just superstition.

Goodie1969 - April 24, 2009 reply

LOL!

The curse of the chain letter strikes again…

Wow that's be a whole Ryan Theriot season right there.

12 home runs?

That’s a whole Ryan Theriot career.

@ cst_cubs So it's Theriot, Dome, Soriano, Aramis, DLee, Fontentot, Soto, Johnson, Demp? #cubs

That was just my guess.

But if Lou goes that route, I’ll take full credit.

I think you nailed it

LOL

I can neither confirm nor deny

that there’s something in the fanshot section…

lineup

I just heard about it from my cousin, so I guess we’re good.

danimal15 - April 24, 2009 reply

just the three threads about it

but they could be wrong

Timmy!

Jimmy!

How's my shark jersey coming?

discount after yesterday’s performance?

No discount will be given...

First game back jitters… he’ll be fine.

to customize from my supplier

i would need to place an order of 100 jerseys

really? I bet you could sell 100 here...

…just have to be careful how you go about doing it (check with Al first)

In fact, maybe Al could whip up a design for a BCB patch

that would also go on the Jersey. It would be this year’s version of the BCB shirt.

I like this idea.

100 jerseys that all said Shark?

I dunno.

Maybe we should organize it all here, and have posts about the progresss of the order, and when they’re going to be mailed out.

I have a friend that could take care of the shipping!

santoswoodenlegs - April 24, 2009 reply

does he visit the post office a lot?

cause that’s important, so that the delivery guys know who he is.

Theriot
Dome
Fonzie
Rami
DLee

In that order

Five players.

Now that’s what I call Cubbie Swagger.

That's just until the Cards pitcher gets pulled...

THAT was funny!

We're the Chicago Cubs...

We don’t need nine players!

Which one of them is pitching?

katie casey - April 24, 2009 reply

Cards will forfeit after our 19 run first inning...therefore, no pitcher needed.

D. Lee will be pitching and playing first base simultaneoulsy...

Hmm...

Did MLB sanction ghost runners?

WittyUserName - April 24, 2009 reply

one game experiment

I wonder what Soriano's numbers with GRISP will look like.

WittyUserName - April 24, 2009 reply

We better watch out for the technical balk tonight...

or that fourth out run scoring rule thing

PTI was just talking about Milton…“The sun rising can tick him off”. I laughed.

The bird-brains STILL dont have a pre-game thread up yet

We're having all the fun...

Game Threads normally don't go up till 10 mins before the game

pre-game

BradB311 - April 24, 2009 reply

Most of people are in the

Morning Thread. The writer normally scheduled for today didn’t really write much do to the end of college crashing upon him.

gotcha

BradB311 - April 24, 2009 reply

Good luck tonight...

…you will either see a really bad Cub performance or a really good one. Your guess is as good as ours is.

If Dempster is not on we will put some runs up

What impresses me the most so far with the Cardinals this season is their patience at the plate. They are walking at a rate of 11.8 % and King only at clip of15.4 %. Good for a ratio of 0.87 which is tops in baseball. (Cubs are 6th best with a ratio of 0.68)

Sheesh...good stat.

is there ANY stat you guys aren’t leading at this point?

Offensively No... But

Our Bullpen is shady and HR prone.

I figured out the problem for Cotts

if he were to fulfill his potential, that would cut into his sitting around doing nothing time

tim - make sure you check my comments above on the jerseys

Kyle Lohse does not expect to miss a start in the wake of a right knee injury he sustained during his start on Thursday against the Mets.

I know all you Cub fans were worried but...

Ugh.

Apparently I forgot to join VEB when SBN updated to 2.0

Now I can’t even post there until the series is pretty much over. Stupid.

I can tell you that this Cub fan was worried

I personally have no problem with a guy pitching on a hurt knee.

I'm perfectly happy

to beat him when he’s 100%.

Baseball-reference.com game previews....

… have been missing until now; last year I put them in the preview post. I’ll start doing that tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s the one for tonight’s game.

Thanks for the Kind Words about us VEBers

Have always liked your site...

… and the posters from VEB who come to BCB with good info about the Cardinals.

I enjoy the rivalry. Never have a nasty word to say, just want to beat them every single time we play. But you guys love baseball and your team and that makes for a great rivalry, unlike the Red Sox/Yankees, where they really seem to hate each other.

Well, except for Horace Tarbox

Oh yeah, he's a douche.

he never did come back

after those two come from behind wins. :D

Not sure who he is

But he isn’t a regular commenter for sure over at VEB

GO CUBS GO!!

I’m heading out to dinner.. I should be back here for the game unless the Old Style calls my name to the bar! GO CUBS GO!!! beat those darn birds!!

KC in OK - April 24, 2009 reply

is this what you would call an "uncomfortable silence"?

sitting in an interview room with BM and MB...

Now that would be an uncomfortable silence…

ballhawk - April 24, 2009 reply

I seriously doubt that silence would happen.

santoswoodenlegs - April 24, 2009 reply

My first born for a series sweep

That seems reasonable.

santoswoodenlegs - April 24, 2009 reply

So we get

Dave Otto with Len tonight?

sue369 - April 24, 2009 reply

I hope not!

I believe so

Let's get this party STARTED!

Wainwright! LIGHT ’IM UP!

I'm sure LaRussa has knocked back a few already.

LAcarl519 - April 24, 2009 reply

that reminds me

I need a beer.

willie mays hayes' gloves - April 24, 2009 reply

Get me one while you're at it.

stella?

See in Saint Louis we do it differently

Its not I need a beer it is I need a Franklin. We name our drinking habits off who gives them to us.

Beer cooler full

Ready for some Cubs baseball

Why is the infield

pink?

awful quiet in here....

Where's the game thread

chalk this one up as a loss...

we got no shot

jeff021690 - April 24, 2009 reply

I feel the same way

no chance of winning

TimG58 - April 24, 2009 reply

do you need

the url for the sarcams sign?

Not Bruce Froemming - April 24, 2009 reply

A little pregame sarcasm

is never a bad thing.

Oh man that lineup is amazing

Stuck in MO listening to the Cards announcers...

Man I hate these guys!

goodstuff96 - April 24, 2009 reply

They are idiots

This is going to be painful

Soriano finally in the 3 hole

I’m very very excited. I hope theriot and dome get on base tons

that's a funny

Jimmy John’s commerical. Jimmy, is that your doing?

game predictions:

Theriot- 2 errors
Soriano- 0-4 with 3 K’s
Fukudome- 1-4 Fielders Choice
Lee- 0-4 with 2 inning ending double plays.

GO CUBS GO

jeff021690 - April 24, 2009 reply

Thats some serious negativity!

goodstuff96 - April 24, 2009 reply

are you trying

some kind of opposite day thing?

Rami 4/4

three jacks, one triple

Are you a fuckin Cubs fan?