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Bleed Cubbie Blue

Carrying On Without Aramis: Cubs vs. Brewers, Saturday 5/9, 6:05 CT

Here's the official press release regarding Aramis Ramirez going on the DL. (They need to fix the spelling of "Aramis", incidentally.) Ryan Freel will be activated for today's game and wear uniform #4.

Rather than continuing to speculate on how long A-Ram is going to be out, I thought I'd take a look at how other recent teams have done without a player of his significance. We are going to see another example of this in 2009, as the Dodgers will be playing 50 games without Manny Ramirez (so far, they're 0-2, including blowing a 6-0, sixth-inning lead to the worst team in baseball, the Nationals).

We need go back only a year to find an example with the Cubs: in 2008, Alfonso Soriano missed 53 games. The Cubs were 69-38 with Soriano in the starting lineup; 28-26 without him. Though Soriano wasn't the primary reason the Cubs won 97 games in 2008, we all remember how he got hot right after he came back in July and so did the team.

Another example from recent Cub history was the loss of Derrek Lee early in the 2006 season. Now, I'm not saying that the 2006 Cubs would have contended had D-Lee not been injured -- that was a desperately flawed team -- but they almost certainly would have won more than 66 games had Lee been in the lineup. In 2005, the Cubs lost Nomar Garciaparra for most of the season. That's when Nomar still could have made a difference. The '05 Cubs finished 10 games out of the wild card. I think having a healthy Nomar at SS, rather than "Neifi saved us" (the goofy Dusty Baker quote -- saved the Cubs from what, exactly?), might have gotten the Cubs closer to contention, though it's impossible to argue that he alone could have made a 10-game difference.

Nomar does figure into one team's failure: the 2001 Red Sox. He got hit in the hand early in the year and played only 21 games, one year after he hit .372 with a 1.033 OPS. That year's Red Sox won only 82 games and fired their manager. The next year, with a healthy Nomar hitting .310 with 120 RBI, the Red Sox won 93 games.

In 2003, Derek Jeter suffered an almost identical injury to what happened to A-Ram yesterday, on Opening Day in Toronto, when Blue Jays catcher Ken Huckaby tried to block a slide Jeter was making into 3B. Jeter's shoulder hit Huckaby's shin guard and was dislocated. He missed 36 games, but when he came back, he actually had better numbers than he had in 2002, which was one of his worst seasons. The Yankees didn't seem to miss him at all; they were 25-11 in his absence.

Now, the Cubs aren't likely to do that with Ramirez out; but if Derrek Lee, Geovany Soto and Milton Bradley, whose offensive contributions thus far have been near zero, can step up to their expected performance levels, the Cubs should be OK even if Ramirez has to miss six weeks.

Today's Starting Pitchers
Ryan Dempster
Ryan Dempster
Cubs
vs. Yovani Gallardo
Yovani Gallardo
Brewers
2-1 W-L 3-1
4.86 ERA 3.02
32 SO 39
16 BB 12
4 HR 4
vs. Mil -- vs. Cubs

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2009 - Ryan Dempster 2-1 6 6 0 0 0 0 37.0 34 20 20 4 16 32 4.86 1.35


W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2009 - Yovani Gallardo 3-1 6 6 1 0 0 0 41.2 28 14 14 4 12 39 3.02 .96

Yovani Gallardo has no decisions in two career starts vs. the Cubs; that includes the game on May 1, 2008 at Wrigley Field in which he suffered a horrifying knee injury running the bases that put him out most of the year. Both Ryan Theriot and Kosuke Fukudome are 3-for-3 against him. Interesting Gallardo fact: on April 29 against the Pirates, he hit a solo HR, struck out 11 and won 1-0, becoming only the third pitcher in baseball history that has accomplished that feat:

The other two are Hall of Famers - Red Ruffing for the Yankees against the Washington Senators, April 13, 1932, and Early Wynn for the White Sox against the Red Sox, May 1, 1959.

Gallardo's good, but it's way too early in his career to say he should be in that company. That homer was his second of the season and fourth of his career in only 64 at-bats, so at the very least, the Cubs should pitch carefully to him.

Good news about Ryan Dempster: he has gone at least six innings in all six of his starts so far this year. Bad news about Ryan Dempster: he's gotten hit pretty hard in most of them, except his last outing vs. the Giants. He has already pitched in Miller Park this year, on April 12, a game the Cubs won largely because of Reed Johnson's grand-slam saving catch on Prince Fielder's long fly to right. Inexplicably, Jason Kendall is the Brewer who hits him best: 16-for-40 with 5 walks.

Today's game is on cable in Chicago and Milwaukee, and on EI (probably again, with just the Brewers feed). For more games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Overflow comment threads will post today at 7 pm, 8 pm and 8:45 pm CDT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

0 recs  |  311 comments

Comments

First one to post!!!

Go Cubs…but missing ramirez is gonna hurt pretty bad I think. thoughts?

Good stuff AL.

We might not really know about Aram until next week. Even after the MRI comes back they will probably not know for a few days.

Yeah true, I just hope its not gonna be season ending
The more important thing right now is that the offense needs to get going, soto, bradley, lee, etc.
Saturday

Saturday sports radio in Chicago is really really really really bad.

Only Saturday?

I heard more stupid stuff today than ever

That's saying something.

And no more sports central so no Dave Kaplan today who would have anything on Ramirez before anyone else.

Its the way back machine

It was way back but I remember when Kerry’s news came out about the elbow I had the Score on waiting for news because WGN had Kathy and Judy on and I usually have them on and they had it with Kaplan before the Score by 8 minutes.

it was atrocious today!

I don’t listen to it often, because Levine is an idiot, but I tuned in today. Turned it off very quickly after some caller suggested we bring up “that Jason Vitters guy.” Not only is that a truly dumb idea, he couldn’t even get the name right. And the guy from USA Today mentioned we could bring in a guy like Adrian Beltre…yeah…he’s an idiot

Neifi saved Dusty from the embarassment of clogged bases & bunting sparingly.
random comment of the day?
Yes.

Except that I was responding to Al’s reference above, as provided below:

…I think having a healthy Nomar at SS, rather than “Neifi saved us” (the goofy Dusty Baker quote — saved the Cubs from what, exactly?), might have gotten the Cubs closer to contention, though it’s impossible to argue that he alone could have made a 10-game difference….

OT -- Speaking of Star Trek

Saw the new movie this morning. Felt I needed a break from thinking about the game last night. It is truly amazing.

The casting is inspired, the story is great, and the action is intense. Best since “Wrath Of Khan” by a mile. Karl Urban as Bones is especially choice casting (channels DeForest Kelley without being obvious). Highly recommended!

Thanks for the mini review.

Very much looking forward to seeing this.

I think you'll really enjoy it.

It helps sometimes to revisit a classic through new eyes.

Sounds good!
That's pretty spot on

I enjoyed it quite a bit too. I never watched the show, just some of the movies, and JJ Abrams managed to make Trek seem very fun, almost original trilogy Star Wars fun. There were some parts that were overly cute, but it was a pretty good flick.

I saw it Thursday night

And I went again last night and saw it again, and that will probably not be the last time. I’m a pretty avid fan, and I could NOT be happier with with JJ did with the movie… the cast was perfect (Bana was channeling Ledger’s Joker a LITTLE too much, but that’s ok) and the guy playing Chekov laid the accent on a little heavy, but that’s also ok. The new ship is absolutely gorgeous on the big screen (most noteably when it rises out of the gas cloud above Saturn’s moon, Titan… unreal). The set design was incredible… Pine as Kirk was perfect… Urban as McCoy was even better… Quinto was a good Spock, but I think he was enjoying the part way too much a times. Overall it was an extremely entertaining ride, and an extremely effective reboot of the franchise that will surely pull at least $70 million this week, almost doubling Nemesis’ full 25 week box office run. This is a great movie to see even if you’re not a “trekker” or if you have no knowledge of the series at all. Plus it’s sitting at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes which is absolutely incredible. The only people to really not like it are some idiot from an Indie Chicago rag and Roger Ebert… who actually said it’s a really good movie, just not true to the series – which is the whole idea!

I don't know if you saw "Alpha Dog"

but I’m pretty sure the guy who played Chekov was the kid they kidnapped in that movie. And yeah, I might as well just say ditto to everything else you said. Couldn’t agree more.

I try and avoid movies that star Justin Timberlake...

But I think he needs to dial it back JUST a bit for the next movie… it’s my understanding that’s pretty close to his natural accent though… all though him trying to enter his access code did get a pretty big laugh from everyone in the theater… as did him saying “Wulcan.”

Although the killer both night was when McCoy pulled the “I’m a doctor, not a physicist” like and Simon Pegg pretty much all the time… he was perfect in the role… especially at the very end w/ his “trademark” line… perfect delivery… not gonna give away too much though :-)

I also liked that we finally get Uhura's name.

Just glad it wasn’t “Cosmo.”

I think they've said it within canon before

In novels and stuff… and I think Roddenberry has expressed that as her name but just never used it in TOS or the movies. That was a great running bit though, I really enjoyed it.

He's also playing Kyle Reese

in Terminator Salvation

taking the boy

to see it tomorrow. His first real exposure to Star Trek. I saw the first movie when I was ten. :D

I remember even as a kid

being disappointed by the first ST movie. Then, of course, Ricardo Montalban almost single-handedly rescued the franchise.

This movie is a good intro to the ST universe in exactly the way that “The Phantom Menace” wasn’t. It’s true to the spirit of the original, and also fresh, but in a very non-CW Network kind of way. It’s not NCC-90210. And the humor is not forced, it comes from the truth of the characters.

+100

Loved it, might go see it again.

Twitter is firing on all cylanders about A-Ram:

From Will Carroll, bout an hour or two ago:

@injuryexpert Cubs had trouble reducing the disloc for Ramirez. Won’t know damage until later today but the 4-6 is a minimum.

And just a minute ago:

Dislocation and separation are not the same thing. Wish press would get this right. Hearing bad things about Ramirez. Reduction needed Dr.
Will Carroll has been wrong before.

When is Prior having tommy John surgery he kept telling us was imminent?

I know.

I’m just broadcasting what I’ve been reading online lately.

I think it’s all speculation.

Including one report that made a big deal out of him having to have a reduction which is always done in dislocations whether it be minor or major.

As far as I know reduction is always needed with dislocation.

not always

depends on the shoulder/patient.

It's done

It’s done enough of a time that having to do it doesn’t necessarily mean anything bad or good.

anyone know what reduction means here? or reducing the disloc?
"Popping" it back into place
oh boy, the news is getting worse 8 weeks minimum

Where was this? Again anything official or will carrol.

Let's Go Cubs!!

Geo, Lee, and Milton need to step up!!

Yes they do...
Having had shoulder dislocations

and surgery…. 6 weeks might be possible if he really responds to PT/rehab.

But its gonna be really tough.

True, but Ramirez seems to baby his injuries so it may be longer
ugh

yes because not being a fast healer makes you a baby.

i really hate when fans talk like that, sorry

My pet peeve

My pet peeve is when people say “I went to work with such and such”

Well maybe whatever they went to work with has nothing to do with their job.

I went to work a few days after major knee surgery. I work at a desk and rarely have to get up (coworkers helped me too). But if I was a major league baseball player I would have been out for 6 months.

my pet peeve is repetitive posting...
well explain to me then how football players dislocate their shoulder and are back in 1-2 weeks
Different way of using your arms

Ever had a dislocated shoulder? Lifting your arm above your head is impossible. Theres no way I could field 3rd base without full range of motion on my glove arm. None.

Also

Also depends on the position. I can see a QB missing 2 months or a WR or anyone involved with catching or throwing missing a lot more time than a lineman.

valid point but football players also are hit at full speed, but I will drop the subject now
I had a buddy who was a football player, and dislocated his shoulder 4 times

he was never back in 1-2 weeks, and it actually ended up ending his career

well

ramirez has a reputation in baseball circles for not being as, what’s the best way to put this, diligent, as he could be when it comes to rehab, and for that matter, hard work of any kind.

Care to actually cite this?
why?

making up things is so much easier!

no

and disregard my comment if you wish, and you will, and that’s fine, but ramirez will take his sweet time, and ramirez will not be back on the field this season.

Based on what?

Based on what?

The local media has said it but they lie all the time if they have a grudge against a player and Ramirez doesn’t kiss their patooties.

lololol

So you’re just making stuff up as you go?

+1, Love the guy too
I think saying he wont be on the field again this season is blowing this waaaaaay out of proportion.
I hear he doesn't like to eat a well balanced breakfast each day, either.

And he doesn’t call his mom every Sunday.

Agree, dont get me wrong I love the guy
agree, dont get me wrong I love the guy
i love him too

as a hitter. but he doesn’t, what’s the best way to put this, care, about things the same way we fans or some players do.

Wow....do you work for TMZ?
really?

so you know him personally and have been inside his head?

is this freel were talking about??:)
he borrowed Freel's guy while Freel was on the DL
Based on what...

You keep making these bold, yet baseless statements.

Hey

He’s his own source, so if he says it, it must be true.

you really like the use of the comma, dont you.
fine fine

i’ve said all i have to say on that subject and that’s fine with you, and i respect that. i wish i could delve further into my reasons for saying that but i can’t, and i won’t. no offense intended to the collective integrity of this thread.

What?!

“i wish i could delve further into my reasons for saying that but i can’t, and i won’t.”

This is truly the most awesome comment I’ve ever seen here.

He'd tell us...

But then he’d have to kill us.

obviously this would give away his "source"

I always like when people on the interwebs say that crap. I know more than you, but I can’t explain how, because my “source” would be outed

I think your full of shit, personally
I heard that!
so you'll come

make horrible comments about Rami… and then disappear and refuse to answer why?

Seriously?

HBCG....I think I've got your grumpy all of a sudden...

…and here I was actually going to sit through a game thread…pshhhh

Sorry

the grumpy is catching.

and, oh, btw, I just figured out you were actually HBCG..lol

the other day, I thought you were someone else entirely. Weird.

yeah.

um. i was trying to keep that under wraps.

whoa whoa, people, this is getting heated now
as it should be...
did you change your user name if I may ask? former HBCG?
What's the best way to put this...

You’re sounding more and more full of it as you post.

I wish I could de-recommend this.
if i give this a +1

would the irony weigh the thread down?

I think the proper term is "wreckommend"
I've emailed SBN about this twice now.
over at WCG

we use “wreck” to say +1.

i’m so confused!

Remember

Remember until it comes from the Cubs all this timetable is speculation and guessing on reporters parts. They guess and if they are right they say they had inside info but if theyr’e wrong they make up a reason.

A request

And I’m as guilty as anyone of doing this.

If you hear something say where it’s from.

Lineup:

Soriano
Riot
Fukudome
Bradley
Hoff
Soto
Fonty (2b)
Freel Cubs debut at third
Demp

No mention of Farney the imaginary friend?
Not yet. Stay tuned.
he's first off the bench
Farney's

on the DH, of course.

I thought...

Lee was supposed to be good to go today?

No DLee again? Ugh.
what a suprise
Sigh.

I’d like to see Scales get a shot at starting.

as would I, he has a lot of heart and he def has talent
I'd like to see more of Scales

see if he can really play.

Gordo tweet:
Late-arriving lineup: sori, riot, fuky, milt, hoff, soto, font (2b), FREEL (3B), demp.
Any tweet

Anything on Ramirez. While Gordon tweeting is appropro since he is a twit it would be from the ballpark.

Yes, please keep us posted

Real time updates are key.

Ace

Ace are you the same guy from the old ITI forums?

Try that again with a full sentence? Confused.

Ha I see you asking Gordo on Twitter, but I don't think he'll ever respond to a tweet like that.

I figure when he gets news, he’ll tweet it.

Worth a try.
I enjoyed this froom Twittermeyer...
Freel in the house. Told clubhouse guy to burn his Orioles equipment bag. Told reporters ‘I don’t want any birds around my locker.’
I saw that too. I laughed at the fact that Freel had the need to burn his Orioles bag.

Hope he doesn’t burn his Cubs bag in a few months. :-)

I actually forsee Ryan sticking around for a while

He’s a solid player that certainly has a lot of usefulness to this team right now. If he can channel even 33% of the passion he played with on the Reds, I think we’ll all be pleasantly surprised. I’m really looking forward to him complementing the already scrappiness of this team. We could actually be in position for a nice small ball team for a few weeks here, which I’m excited to see from this team. Let’s all hope the pitching holds up.

Good, maybe he'll be a Cardinal killer this summer....

‘I don’t want any birds around my locker.’

What does that MEAN, anyway?

i have a feeling

that trying to figure out what Freel means by anything will prolly make your head explode. He seems like the type so far.

Suds lineup....from evil BCB

2B Rickie Weeks
3B Craig Counsell
LF Ryan Braun
1B Prince Fielder
SS JJ Hardy
RF Corey Hart
CF Chris Duffy
C Jason Kendall
RHP Yovani Gallardo

I think it's funny both sides call each other "Evil BCB".
Does evil BCB have a goatee?

That’s the most important sign something is the “evil” version of itself… :-)

They have an upside down mustache

like Wario

Hate to be the Debbie Downer about Ramirez....

But even if he comes back in 6 weeks, I don’t know if his shoulder will be as strong as it needs to be. Sometime those things are chronic, and stay with the person for a very long time, if not forever. Having played lots of sports, I still feel some of the injuries come back now and then (knees, ankles, shoulders, etc.).

Hopefully, I’m too pessimistic and Ramirez will come back 100% healthy in six weeks.

Remember, it's not his throwing hand.

That may help him come back sooner.

it is, however, his dominant arm for hitting

…extending on or following thru on a swing is gonna hurt like hell i would have to imagine

True enough.
Exactly what I'm afraid of.
There is very little chance he will 100% at all in 2009....

…we all just hope that 75% of A Ram is better than replacement.

My birthday

I predict Aram returns on my birthday. Bad news. My birthday is July 7th.

As long as it’s not my brothers birthday October 2nd. Or my moms birthday next April.

If he comes back Oct 2

And it’s for a playoff run and he’s 100%… that’s fine with me.

you're so random
I think I can pretty confidently bet he'll be recovered before your mom's birthday
Another thing

Good thing Hendry made the Freel trade before the injury. MacPhail is probably wishing he had waited a few hours. Might have gotten a prospect.

While you're at it, what's your favorite color?

How do you like your steak cooked?

In her defense, at least this is baseball related.

The crap about birthdays makes no sense.

Was just using that as a reference point for when I think he’ll come back.

didn't really seem that hard a code to crack to me

Blue and medium rare with blue cheese.

Andy Rooney is in the house...
cubz24 = aramis ?
too soon?
nah

he hasn’t gone there yet.

He's not.
good to know
I figured

amory blaine might be, tho.

what does that mean?
Don't worry about it.

Someone thought you were a new user name for an old user who was disruptive. I know you’re not.

Longoria now has 43 RBI already, good grief!
what?

that doesn’t even seem possible.

Its the truth!
oh i believe you

but dayum.

He was about a foot away from that 2 run double being a grand slam, too.

The kid is absolutely raking. But IIRC Hamilton had like 80 RBI or something absurd at the all-star break last year. It’s just too hard to maintain that pace all season.

didnt he miss the first few games too?
drug test that man! ha
Should hear

Should hear something soon. Gametime coming up.

We already know...

He’s out for the season… amory blane said so.

he's also apparently

a wimp who hates baseball.

And breakfast.

And his mom.

How should I put this, LOL!
Tough decision

Through a friend with Fox I will have a copy of next Thursday’s Bones episode my favorite show. That or the game. Or game on radio and show on TV.

Huh?
apparently

this is her twitter page.

Hahaha, I actually got a laugh out of that.

It’s like every random thought that pops into her head has to be a post here.

There's no "like" about it.....it's the truth, methinks
Actually

Im switching around so much that was supposed to be in an IM. Oops.

I have a freind who works for Fox that is going to drop off next Thursdays episode at about 600 tonight.

What the hell is going on here?
I dont know, but im enjoying the hell out of it!
No way.

It’s not possible to confuse an IM and a post box on a blog. I refuse to believe that.

When you have 3 IMs and 3 boards up and your email box up things happen.

my you're popular!

The best IM screw up I ever had was I was discussing Jim hendry with a fellow Cub fan in one IM and a character named Jim in a book with a fellow fan of that book in another one and I wrote “Everyone always seems to think Jim is really hot” but sent it to the Cubs fan.

Jim Hendry is not hot.

I feel like I'm high reading these.
Ok good, im not the only one.
I'll feel like I'm talking to Grandma when she forget her meds again...
I'm sorry, but you'll need to cite your source

for saying Jim Hendry is not hot ;)

I see him often as he lives in my town. The women don’t exactly swoon.

I love the Internet
Wait, you mean we're not the only ones being subjected to this?
600 would be tomorrow
so you explain your confusion and you apologize...

…and then you repeat the same dang observation??? What part of ‘Oops’ don’t you understand?

sorry folks – I’ve got a bad case of “car-wreck rubber-neck” syndrome going here…

Can your friend divulge any information regarding the health of Jack Bauer?
speaking of that

reminds me: dan, you were right. that was the most boring episode of 24 ever.

3 weeks behind

I’m 3 weeks behind on 24. 2 weeks on House.

Im guessing your friend who works at Fox wont be happy to hear this.
probably not thrilled that she's broadcasting that she gets the episodes early on a very public medium either

It’s already online somewhere. And what happens is out of the bag.

Also this is the only time I’ve gotten an episode like this. Any fan of the show knows what everyone wants to know about the episode

No, but I can.

He signed on for season 8, so I think he’ll be okay.

It's getting a little anti-climactic at this point isn't it?
Aramis to the Rescueeeeeeeeee

sorry, I was just day dreaming

32 minutes

32 minutes til the pregame.

Can we get a minute by minute countdown?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks Big Ben
Could you guys be a little bitchier?
hello kettle, I'm black
please, you all attack what other people say

WAAAAAAAAAY more than I do

I simply complain about poor play

attack? um, no.
I like to call it having fun with what people say rather than attacking it.

at least thats what I do.

oh no!

3 people agree. we’re a gang with a lock step outlook! ohnoes!

Allie killed a guy!
She better lay low for a while...
movie quote?
Anchorman, come on...
i couldn't see the picture clearly

enough to tell for sure.

its called sarcasm

you might want to read about it.

its really quite fun.

it's called the usual gang mentality
uh no actually

this is called JOKING with KOW.

if we’d offended her, she’d say something. she knows that we’re being kinda silly.

Oh come on. We're having fun.

Find something with substance in any of her posts and I’ll back off.

32 minutes to pregame? Seriously?

Im actually on the edge of my seat here.....
...which reminds me of a story.....
...that has nothing to do with baseball...
your grandma forgot her pills again?

I know everyone is dying of suspense to know what I decide to do. Going to watch the episode after the Blackhawks unless the Cubs is a blowout,

LOL.....I KNEW IT!!!!
good plan!
Seriously tho, cubtoseriesby100, this is cracking me up.

Keep going.

I think we need a little levity that’s why I didn’t delete it.

Kudos for the levity...cubsto....
and we did
i wrote "thanks!"

but it didn’t show up.

I don’t know why. But really. Thanks we did need some levity. Thanks for letting us blow some steam off at your expense.

This is easily my favorite pre-game thread ever.

My face actually hurts from laughing. Yes, thank you!

Cubstoseries is hands down the MVP today.

Nice work.

Question for my fellow cub fans: Lets say aramis misses 40 games what will the cubs record be in those games?
I'm not riding no time machine, sucka
sucka free sundays
0-40...

The sky has fallen and the season is over. And Aramis is lazy and doesn’t work hard… ever.

And the ivy is going to rise up and kill all the players.

I remember the killer ivy issue back in spring of 73. It wasnt pretty.
The way Fonzie plays the OF

He must think the ivy is poisoned…than again, if he hits like he can I don’t care what he does in the field.

I'm not sure

I even know the schedule for the next 40 games, but SOME of them are against the Pirates, so you gotta figure those are gimmies…

wow, so much negativity
This coming from the guy flaming Aramis about nursing injuries for too long...
are u new here, Cubz?
Join Date: May 04, 2009
hey, I wasnt going on and on about it like they other guy, i made my point and left it at that, and yeah kinda, i was here last year under a diff name
the reply button is your friend
Word of advice:

Use the reply button to respond to previous posts instead of just typing in the post box at the bottom of the screen. People will have an easier time replying to your posts.

There. Good job, Schwa.

And who says we don’t welcome people with open arms? Huh?

ok thanks
I hope you were trying to be funny here...
2006 vs 2009

I was thinking of the 06 Cubs without Lee compared to this year’s team without Ramirez

The rest of the team is better in all areas. Ironically we needed Aram to step up without Lee and now we need Lee to step up without Aram..

I agree

although if Aramis could have channeled Ted Williams and that team would have been bad…the 2006 Cubs were in the running for worst Cubs team of the past 20 years.

I've tricked my mind into thinking that 2007 came after 2005.

Nothing worth remembering about that season.

The only even close to good part

was Ryan O’Malley’s start against the Astros and sweeping the Cards twice(!)

The O'Malley start was awesome, I won't argue that.

The rest of the season… not so much.

Actually they did channel Ted, Joe Dimaggio, Lou Gehrig etc. Unfortunately they are all dead.

i did hit the reply button a few times but it would send me to the bottom of the post i was replying to
Um, thats the idea.
LOL

it just keeps getting better and better

This has been

the silliest thread in a while.

Ha ha, yeah yeah ill get it down eventually

I still screw it up sometimes

Yeah but you more than make up for it.
Oh crap, its contagious!!!!
Torture

White Sox weekly is torture.

Thanks

My day was brightened reading this thread. Hilarious!!

um oh yeah.

GO CUBS

Time to get up off the deck

and take it to the Brew Crew. GO CUBS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the record...

…all my Brewers’ friends—and there are a lot of ’em, since I graduated from UW—have text or called me about Aramis and said a few words about the loss. Stand up of them to do so.

I haven't gotten much heat about it here in Madison.

Yet. We’ll see what happens.

Even Sox fans

Got emails from 2 Sox fan friends who enjoy watching him play.

This is my 1000th BCB post (which I guess isn't that much since I've been a member since '05).

I only have one thing to say: win tonight and finish off the series tomorrow!

Tell me I’m not the only one nervous as heck as the pregame starts.

Why does the pregame make you nervous?

A. Because one of these days I’m going to shoot my radio listening to Judd Sirrott.

B. News on Aram.

i'm glad i won't have it on tv

i really hope the guys can pick up the slack and that demps can manage to not walk the ballpark.

Well

Well it’s not as bad as it could be but Ron said 4 weeks no baseball activity. Says looks like 6 weeks total.

Yeah thats not too bad, thats what the first reports said

Rate

If 1 was best news 10 worst I’d say this is somewhere in the middle.

Freel sratched.

Scales in. No word why, per Gordo.

That's not very scrappy of him.
perhaps

Farney is still getting used to the time change.

YAY!!!!

Make the most of it Bobby.

twittermeyer

reports — Freel is sitting, and Scales is starting. No word why.

I think he forgot his baseball glove was in the equipment bag when he told the guy to burn it...
Freel has the swine flu
Just Kidding!!!
wow.

you’re funny.

Is that sarcastic now

I was just trying to lighten up the mood

Is what sarcastic?

see what happens when one does not use the reply function?

Dude, please

use the reply feature under the person’s post you are rsponding to.

okay, sorry everyone better?
yes, thank you
Freel

with a tight left hamstring.

Doing WHAT?

beating out a bunt?
what

on the plane?

In his head.
no idea

but apparently beating out bunts = bad hammy.

or something.

further compounded when trying to field it

Gotta love gallows humor…

Yeah dude, use the reply function.

:)

there is something in the water in Chicago, so many injuries this so far
*this delete
Pay your last respects to Joey Gathright

and honor him by

to the first pitch thread

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