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Bleed Cubbie Blue

First Pitch Thread: Cubs vs. Brewers, Saturday 7/4, 12:05 CT

Milwaukee Brewers at Chicago Cubs, Jul 4, 2009 12:05 PM CDT


One more like the last one, Rich!

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Comments

Let's Go Cubs!

Make America Proud!

GO CUBS GO!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Just win!
I thought you were going to beat balls?
Alright!

HERE WE GO!

I want to see that spilled

can of Miller about 3 hours from now

Howdy folks

Trivia question: Do they have the 4th of July in England?

Yes...they have that day on the calender in every country.

but not all of them celebrate it.

Can't get anything past you
Since the Umps

are wearing the special caps today… do we call them “red” instead of “blue”?

Commie umps?
In soviet Chicago

Umps steal on YOU!

are they really?

I’d find that very distracting as a pitcher.

Home Plate Ump

wearing black cap. He’s special.

Counsell to the plate

0-2

Lines one to right

in for a single. 1 on, no outs.

and MB did not give it a forearm!
huh?
yester day on the dropped fly ball...

it hit his forearm.

oh

I thought it hit up by the shoulder.

the last ball he (didn't) play bounced off his forearm in the 9th
Hardy to the plate

0-9 on the season. Shows bunt, shoves it foul.

What idiots! YOU DON'T PLAY FOR 1 RUN IN THE FIRST INNING!
Bet they would've liked to have that one run yesterday
BUT YOU ONLY SHOULD BUNT IN THE LATER INNINGS!
COMMON KNOWLEDGE!
GET OUT

YOUR RED NOSES AND BIG FLOPPY SHOES.

called Strike three!

Braun to the plate.

0-2

o.O-2?
the eyes...

the big staring eyes…

Braun Doubles.

that's hideous
you should see

his clothes.

Interesting Braun Fact

Just bought a foreclosed $4.5M home in Malibu, CA.

A DP would be nice
got the first part

right

in the air to right

off the wall over Bradley’s head. Counsell to third, Braun doubles.

IBB to the side of beef?
Here comes

Fielder. They’re walking him intentionally.

So, bases loaded, one out. McGeehee to bat.

Let's hope McGeehee isn't as good as Bradley.
better

2 RBI’s

Not the start I was hoping for!
McGeehee to the plate

grounder up the middle. Two runs score.

and harden

continues to suck

He did have a nice strikeout for out #1

But a 1 out : 2 run ratio isn’t sustainable…

Shhhh

BLou will hear you

You know which 2nd baseman makes that play?

Ryan Theriot.

Cameron to the plate

Harden’s ERA at wrigley — 6.31.

Wonder if Blanco makes that play...
Doubt it, it took a nasty hop of the bag
Now come on...

That ball hit the bag and hopped up, I doubt anyone would’ve anticipated it.

Ball three

on Cameron. Harden throwing off target.

I doubt any other 2B does

it hit the base and bounced over him.

Drilled to deep left center.

home run. 5-0 Brewers.

Cameron 3 Run HR.
Yikes

that ball was crushed….

Uhm...

Not Harden’s best day.

these have been more of the norm

for him lately. Him and Fontenot have been the biggest disappointments of the year so far. Yes more than Bradley

I don't know if Fontenot has been a bigger disappointment than Bradley

but then I expected next to nothing from Fontenot.

Harden’s badness has been a shock.

All right

Think I’ll go back to bed

this half inning might last all day!
And the bullpen is called upon for 8 and 2/3 innings...
oy veh

Harden’s pitches sure look flat so far

Hart swings and misses

1-1 count.

bunted to third

Fox barehands it and throws to first, and it’s late.

This comeback is going to be so sweet.
Don't worry...

Bradley will no doubt drive in some runs to put us back in the game.

in what universe does this make sense!?

but I hope he does

Well THIS is fun

Raining like hell here downstate. Can’t get in the pool. 5-0 loss.

Happy Fricking Birthday America.

i miss 2008 harden

so does

Harden.

Ya, what happened to this guy?
I miss

Road Harden.

trade him for a bat
Fly ball to left center

Soriano makes the catch. Two outs.

IBB

In the first inning is a big mistake by Lou. That, and an 1-2 FB to Braun when a change is on the table.

so you pitch to fielder?

and does Lou call the game from the dugout?

you think Soto called the IBB?
no

but I think Soto called the 1-2 fastball.

Sorry

No, I meant mistake by Soto or Harden for calling or accepting that pitch.

anyone think

that Marshall might be better off in the rotation for awhile?

Looper to the plate.

3-0.

Walk the pitcher????
We always do that
Nice job stepping up in a big game Rich

what a bum!

pray pray pray for tons o rain………….it is getting closer

Len: Hardin isn't used to falling behind like this early in a game

… That’s because he’s used to being on the DL, Len.

Bouncer to short

Riot bobbles the ball, makes a long throw, and Lee digs it out. Three outs. 5-0 Suds.

I think that was a triple-clutch with a half turn.
Not a sow cow?

I score it a 7.5, but the landing was sloppy.

The Russian judge gave it a 6.9

but they are always tough on the Americans

Not a long throw

Well, for Theriot, maybe…

I recall a game that started like this a couple years ago

And we won…

The Geovany Soto game?
The A-Ram Walkoff Game (2007)

Rich Hill gave up 5 in the first.

don't tell Worf.

he has already booked it as a 5-0 loss

I like to call it

June 29, 2007…the day everything changed.

Rich Hill was horrible that day and got down 5-0 early. Cubs chipped away and were down 5-3 going into the 9th. After a run off of Cordero, Aramis Ramirez jacked a hanging slider for the walkoff 6-5 win.

That game got the Cubs back in it in 2007.

Thank God for Derrek Lee

I spit on those who wish to get rid of him! PTOOEY!

Theriot didn't make that look very easy
that's because he's not a very good shortstop
radar

http://www.accuweather.com/enhanced-radar.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0

don't pray for rain

they’re gonna play. Too many delayed games as it is. We’ll get back in this.

I'll take another makeup game over this loss anyday
there's no room

left in the schedule, and it’s the first freakin’ inning. Can we at least get to the third before we decide it’s a loss?

Cripes.

we've got about a 1/10 shot.
well, the cubs are going to need to be patient.

the easiest way to get back into this game is to walk a ton.

Theriot would lead the league.............

in errors if it wasn’t for Lee

well lets see if

this lineup can do anything

Typical

That the first game televised in awhile and they give up 5 in the 1st.

i cant remember the last time

I saw them win.

The WGN curse strikes AGAIN!

lets see what big fukudome can do in the 1 hole

Dome leading off and Soriano back in the order

awesome

How long untill

McGeHee falls off?

Right after the Cubs series...
hes clearly not

a .300 #5 hitter. Although I dont think Jake Fox is either

Dome to the plate!
High fly ball

deep right center. Hart makes the catch 10 feet shy of the track. One out.

I don't have a problrm with Dome leading off
Well he has a high obp...
Dome

It’s crazy he has a .380 OBP and a sub-.260 average.

Its called taking pitches

and drawing walks, something Soriano doesnt do.

Riot to the plate.
4th of July, shining sun, cloudless sky, Cubs on tube

life doesn’t get better than this

Just don't look at the score for a few innings
ouch. just tuned in... you're right

conveniently overlooked that little fact

what sun are you talking about?
you guys in the lower 48 sure have had a lousey go of it so far this summer
Does Sam Fuld

pitch?

Broken bat

grounder to third. Two outs.

With so few pitchers on the market

you have to figure Harden could fetch a decent return, even with his struggles. I bet someone would overpay for him. Marshall can fill in in the rotation adequately.

better off keeping him

and hope he can figure it out

Oh look

At least it’s sunny when Bradley drops the ball!

Lee

deep fly ball to hart, HART DROPS THE BALL! E-9, Lee safe at second.

Hahahaha

Hart dropped!

HE DROPPED THE BALL!

bwahahahaha!

Hart tries to do his best

Milton Bradley impression there

Thanks Corey!
Lee should be on 3rd
What I thought too.
If he hadn't been watching that deep fly, he would be. Totally agree
most mlb players would be on second just like lee is right now....

that doesn’t make it right, but I wouldn’t put this on lee…that catch gets made 99% of the time

Ok, I'm going to the driving range to beat up some little white balls.

You guys just make sure the Cubs are back in it when I get back

Nice

good time for a two out rally

To Corey Hart

Are you Milton Bradley in disguise?

I wear my sunglasses at night Corey Hart with the error

big buster bradley

another high & inside pitch by looper
MB 17 rbi. Ouch.
Bradley to the plate.

he walks on four straight pitches. Fox to the plate.

Pitching around MB

to get to Fox. Make him pay Jake

Bradley walks...

OK, more RBIs for Fox then…

Maybe Fox can get hold of one

i hope so, we know whos next

The K-machine?
Walk Fox for a Six-Hole Sori AB
Out of Town Scoreboard

STL 1
CIN 1
END 1st

come on Soriano
Ugh...

too bad he couldn’t get at least one in.

please do something fonzie

Lined to left

base hit! Lee stops at third.

Soriano to the plate!

This is why Soriano should be batting this low

Possibility of his 1st inning HR being huge

unfortunately, I'd rather have quite a few guys up in this situation instead of him

he’s going to press

Here we go...
Well maybe if Lee

was PAYING ATTENTION

Bad baserunning by Lee

did he not understand there are two out?

If he was hustling

he makes it pretty easy at home.

I think it was an alright decision

He understands you don’t wanna make a third out at home, esp when you can have the bases juiced with sori coming up

Terrible decision

cause Sori was up next.

Soriano please do something
Soriano please do something
What was Lee doing there

with 2 outs? He has to run on anything. Not sure if he could have scored but that didn’t look so good…

Lee.............

watch your coach please

Lee

Had absolutely no intent to try and score. He dogged it the entire time. He dogged it out the box on the error as well. Had he even tried running halfheartedly out of the box, he would have been standing at third.

Clogged Again!

dribbled to third

McGheehee charges, and makes the throw. 3 LOB. 5-0 Suds.

Great

Just great

that was a bad AB for soriano
Is there any other kind

these days?

you could really just copy and paste this from almost any atbat he's had for the past two months
Not by his standards tho
The best Soriano ABs

are the ones where he’s watching from the bench

When

was Soriano’s last good at bat? How long has it been seen we have really seen hit some balls with authority?

Sori= rally killer
Great job Sori
Soriano

Is worthless…he is awful

And the boos rain down on alfie...:(
now that's gonna get in his head and he's gonna slump another 20 games
i forgot to mention that he's gonna complain about how he's more comfortable in the leadoff spot
he's never complained

that he’s more comforatble in the leadoff spot.

+1

Read the article espn did about him…he’s stand up about it

If he can't take it

then needs to not be playing!

they should be, he sucks!!!!!!

Two terrible baserunning plays by Lee costs us a run

unacceptable from you leader.

I'm wondering if he didn't pull up a bit lame there

why else was he only on 2nd on the error, and standing at third on an obvious two out hit

Could be

but didnt look like it though. Really tough inning there.

it's called non-hustle
Lee really should have scored there
thats a squandered opportunity!!!!!!
Soriano

continues to steal from the team.

Should have had

one there. Bad baserunning and bad at-bat by Sori.

Alfonso Soriano

there’s just no where to hide that complete garbage in a lineup

#9 spot

with Zambrano pitching?

Clause in his contract

If he gets below the Mendoza his contract is cut in half.

I'm going to cut Derrek some slack

because he practically won the first game by himself. Sori gets none, however.

+1

plus…….that piece of shit in the 6 hole needs to do something

I don't buy that

If it’s fundamental baseball, there’s no excuses.

I'm sure Lee wouldn't make excuses for himself

but it’s hard for me to be upset with him over that.

not helping sori case to stay in the lineup or on the team.....

that has to be one of the worst contacts ever signed

THE worst player in MLB right now
well, he's given us to pretty solid years.

they might not be superstar years or quite worth the money, but still he’s been pretty good. for the last two months or so, he’s completely vanished.

mr problem with him is

that he has performed under his contract during those 2 halfway decent seasons……..he’s abysmal this year and what in the hell happens over the next 5?

IMO……3 years from now he is completely out of baseball

Soriano

was exactly the kind of player Cubs fans were screaming for. Without him, we don’t contend in 2007 or 2008.

Yea he is plain terrible now tho..I sure hope he is not the next Andrew Jones
For Looper

21 pitches, just 9 strikes. I don’t even want to see how many harden threw

But the sooner he's out, the sooner we get to see Patton...
I hope they let him throw two or three innings. Lou always wastes the pen with his one-inning relief stints.
How difficult would it have been to put Fuld in CF hitting lead-off and Fukudome in RF for Bradley?

Or Fuld in LF for Soriano?

Look, Lou has all the confidence in the world in Soriano. What can he do?

LOL

soriano is getting paid too much money to not be put in the lineup when healthy
What's worse

Paying Soriano to suck and lose games?
Paying Soriano to sit on a bench and potentially win games?

The money argument gets old after a while.

That makes sense in theory

but when you’re trying to win ballgames, keep above .500, knock a division rival down a peg, and advance closer to first place, you manage to win, not placate your superstars.

Soriano gets his money regardless, and I have no doubt he’ll eventually help us win games again with his bat. But he has been really really bad as of late, the team did great with Fuld leading off, Fuld’s a far superior defender, and was getting on base.

It’s a no-brainer, Fuld should be in the starting lineup today. Period.

except

benching Soriano doesn’t help him hit, if, in fact, he is healthy.

You can make that argument

You can also make the argument that his knee is still bothering him.

Or the argument that letting him play when he’s in this prolonged of a slump may hurt his mental state more than giving him a few days off to sit on the bench and clear his head. I’m not sure what the answer is…but in the mean time, I’d rather be winning.

as I've said before

I have to believe that he’s healthy, or Lou wouldn’t be playing him.

He had a few days off to sit the bench. He has to play to hit.

Disagree

Lou was playing him after the reports came out of his knee hurting, we could see him limping while rounding bases and in the field. So that debunks—for me—the thought of Lout not playing him if he had some nagging injury, however mild it might be.

He sat for two days, came back, looked poor, and is playing again. Maybe it’s not enough time on the bench, or something to that effect. Either way, losing isn’t going to help team morale, or his morale, unless he’s a selfish player. By all accounts, he’s not selfish.

It won’t happen; I’d just prefer Lou to have played the “hot hand” in Fuld.

does it really matter you can pretty much find anyone in the league

to play lf and bat .225. and play marginal left field

True

Which is why I’d rather get a look at one of our better ML-ready OF prospects…especially when he was doing his job

Counsell

flies out to Dome. Hardy to the plate.

well its gonna be one of those games

it's VERY early yet
nope

its over

Can't wait for Drew to spin another Soriano failure

He loves Soriano. That’s what happens when a guy is going bad – the big AB just find you. If I were Hendry and Pinella I think its time to cut losses with Harden and stick Marshall in his spot. It’s basically the all star break and Harden’s ERA is over 5. That won’t cut it.

there is absolutely NO defense for Soriano right now
coming from the guy...

…that said “game over” in the 6th inning y’day.

dood.

there’s nothing to spin. He’s not hitting well now. He’s not going to get any better by sitting.

but could get worse playing
Hardy

HR to left. 6-0.

Harden really looking sharp
damnit

how many more runs before lou pulls harden?

This is exactly like

Hardens game against the Indians..

this is exactly like a lot of Harden's games

Of course the game was sunk when Pinella trotted out that ridiculous lineup.

Harden has lost it this year

Time to get him out of rotation and put in someone that can actually not destroy our bullpen every time. Calling Sean Marshall.

ugly.

what’s the deal with harden, injured?

Healthy,

unfortunately

Braun

grounds out to Lee. two outs.

Here's what'll happen

They’ll throw Patten… then he’ll get “hurt” and have to go on the DL for two months, thus solving one of the major problems with the roster.

Pattons aproblem?

maybe……..but isn’t having a bum in LF for 5………..countem……..5 more years a HUGE long term roster problem??

Yes, well...

… nothing can be done about that now. The Cubs are stuck with him and need to make the best of it.

Patton...

last 9 innings, 2 earned runs. Yeah, he’s the problem.

A problem

not THE problem

Send down Kevin Hart, problem solved
Fielder grounds out.

three outs.

whew!
Only ONE run that inning
It was so nice of Harden to provide the fireworks for todays game.
Question

Do you burn out the bullpen, or let Harden just take one for the team regardless of score?

it's already a blowout.

you let him pitch.

Unless

the Cubs start scoring runs

Harden is almost at 50 pitches

At that rate, he’ll get pulled in the 4th as it is, so this one is on the bullpen no matter what.

What's sad is that there is nothing particularly impressive about the Brewers

Other than Fielder. The Cardinals are far more formidable. Losing this division to the Brewers would be a joke

by cardinals you mean pujols and 24 other guys right

braun?
the cardinals have a very good rotation

and best manager in baseball

Best pitching coach as well
Cardinals are good

but the brewers have some impressive individuals – fielder, braun, gallardo and good complementary offensive players. and their bullpen, for once, doesn’t suck

Hoffman?
hoffman is good

but he is like 90.

i disagree.

the brewers’ lineup is much better than the cardinals. this might be the best lineup in the league. the cardinals have pujols, rasmus, and then a bunch of mediocre players. cards have a better staff, but it seems really rickety as well.

best lineup in the league?

Counsell, McGahee, Cameron, Kendall. Are you for real. The lineup is terrible

You know

I was thinking about this the other day. Let’s say you combined the Cards and the Brewers into one team. We’ll call them the “St. Louis Suds”. You’d pretty much have the perfect team. Consider:

OF: Braun, Cameron, Colby Rasums
3B: Pujols (he has to move, and I think he’s more athletic than Fielder)
SS: Hardy
2B: Schumaker
1B: Fielder
C: Molina

SP: Gallardo, Carpenter, Lohse, Wainwright, Bush
RP: Hoffman, Franklin, Motte, Coffee….

And that doesn't even touch on the bench you'd have

w/ Ludwick, Ankiel, McGehee, Counsell, Gamel…

good news about bottom of 2nd:

Soriano bats 9th

Let’s score some runs!!

Soto

flies out to center.

Just getting under them
Game is not over yet

need to chip away soon though. Lots of balls to the warning track.

pinch hitter for harden?
I think so

guy n base. Hitting Looper fairly hard.

Fonty

lines one to center for a single. One out. Harden bats.

Warning track power today

Just one of those days. It’s a shame when the pitcher doesn’t give you a chance to start with. Yes, you can come back. But it’s tough.

Harden reaches on the bunt

GO DOME

Harden

makes a good bunt. McGeehee’s throw is NOT IN TIME! Fonty and Harden both safe.

Macha comes out to argue the call, but it doesn’t matter.

Dome to the plate.

Nice hustle

by Harden. Some of the other players on the squad should take note.

I like that hustle form harden
but we don't like it from Z?
Yeah...

…you could hurt yourself hustling, y’know.

hey

pitchers aren’t supposed to run. They have a guy with a bicycle cart to take em out to the mound.

Wow

Harden was really motoring there. Nice hustle

Like his attitude, even he seems to have forgotten how to pitch
harden was out there....ump gave him the call for that hustle of his
Probably out, but close.
i'd like to see about 8 walks in a row.
How about 1st to 3rd, 1st to 3rd, 1st to 3rd for five or six batters. Just like last year
C'mon Dome drive them in
Is this groundhog day?
Dome

lines one to center. Bases are clogged again!

dome singles to center

come on riot dont swing for the fences

that's like asking him not to steal
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is when Theriot started seeing his batting average drop. I’ll take a single for 2 RBI. Let the big bats drive in the runs.

Thanks

He listened to you, he swung for a 6-4-3. At least if he swung for the fences and got to the warning track it’d be 6-1 with two outs.

Station to station baseball...
makes us look like the White Sox, only with better uniforms
Riot

to the plate, and takes a strike.

Keep it going Theriot!
This game has a potential 14-12 vibe about it... if the Cubs can take advantage.
We don't score 12 runs in a week

let alone one game.

One thing about it

Looper is throwing a lot of pitches

Grounder to short

GIDP. Three outs.

another rally killed ffs

we can't score from second a base hit?
no because we wouldn't want to "risk"

scoring a run. When we can have utter fail

Because our 3rd base coach is a moron!!

We should have 2 runs by now if he had the guys running.

Lee held up all on his own. Quade was actually waving him
Good call by Quade

I think Cameron nails him. He charged the ball and has a good arm. Plus, you don’t expect your #2 hitter to hit into a DP do you? Gee, thanks Riot!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least Lee shoulda score in the 1st.
that was on Lee

Quade was trying to wave him in

I'd take that chance everytime

If Lee’s hustling he’s at third by the time Cameron gets the ball….very unlikely he gets him at home.

Double poop

DP Riot

Damn

6 LOB in two innings???

5. DP
Oh yeah

Both innings ended when a batter came up with bases loaded. But yeah, 5 LOB because of the DP.

FAIL

5 lob in two.

Looper

not exactly setting the world on fire today, either. I’m not conceding this game just yet.

6 LOB for us, 6 runs for them

Time to turn this around.

6 men on base in two innings--nothing to show for it :-(
That's why you take a chance and send him

Cause the Cubs RISP suck donkey balls.

more squandered opportunity :(
how about we run the bases

a little more aggressively

Exactly

I don’t that crap we’re have to wait for the big inning. No, they have to chip away at a huge lead.

"buy that crap"
5 LOB

the DP erases one of them. Small consolation though…

damn

we fucking suck

that is the worst song ever written.
over under on runs this inning is 2.5
good luck guys

I’m not wasting my time watching this atrocity any more – different day, same song. The last two pitchers yesterday and today for the Brewers are horrible and we’ve got 2 runs in 12 innings. Absolutely pathetic. Quade should be fired for that hold, he knows this team can’t hit for crap with RISP

didn't we win yesterday?

bye now.

Drew

We scored 2 runs yesterday. Get a clue and read my post.

I read your post.

we WON THE FREAKIN’ GAME.

Get over yourself.

if he sent lee and fontenot youd be whining that he did send him

The Lee hold was fine

the second one was not

We'll miss your ray of sunshine...
right carmen

so many positive comments from everyone on this thread

You stick out....
like a stream of gold

when all around is dark.

McGeehee

lines one to the wall. Bradley jumps against the wall and misses. McGeehee triples.

why they booing?

that was a great effort, F u fans

Think they might not booing the team in general?
+1

I think that booing was more for the blasts Harden is giving up than Bradley’s play

sure they're not saying

Boo-urns???

what about now?
Absolutely

Boo Soriano. Do not boo Bradley

OF course not

Bradley only makes $30 Million over three years and hasn’t produce anything worth that salary.

that one you can boo
Sam Fuld would have caught that
yep, Soriano misjudged it

he’s a giant piece of fail these days

Actually I wrote that in response to MB's miss at the vines

but applies to Soriano’s misjudged ball too.

ted lilly would have caught that and then thrown out all the runs from the first inning
Thanks dcg - first smile i've had today
Is the wind just not freaking blowing out

When WE’RE up???

boo THAT man

FUUU

SDKJLFJKLSDFJKLSDFJKLJKLSDFJKLSDJKL

PLEASE FRIGGEN SIT SORIANO FOR A WEEK

sit him??

his death is the best way out of that horrible contract…..sorry to say it but thr truth hurts

shame on you.

and flagged

yes, kill him because he's hurting a baseball team

classy stuff

Best LF in the national league right there....
Cameron

lines one towards left, against the wall, over Soriano’s head. Cameron doubles, McGeehee scores. 7-0.

Let’s be clear, guys. Harden is the one giving up these hits and HRs.

Soriano screwed that one up, drew

Your case for him is a lot stronger if you admit reality once in a while

actually

I don’t know if it was catchable or not. Was it? It’s still Harden giving up the hits.

God damn Harden

for not striking everyone out and forcing his outfielders to MAKE A PLAY!

Hard to catch balls flying out to the bleachers
That was a catchable ball.

Period.

which saves

1 run of 7. Just saying.

If he had read the ball correctly

and gone back instead of coming in I think he catches it.

ok

then, like I said, that’s 1 on Soriano.

Of course it

was catchable. He missed it by a foot, but was tripping over his feet and misjudging it the whole way. 95% of left fielders get that one (Sori and Manny being the exceptions)

I don't watch

many games on TV. I’m asking because I don’t know.

No wonder
no wonder WHAT?

he misplayed the ball. I recognize that. He’s playing like crap know. I recognize that too. But we NEED HIM to PLAY so that he can GET BETTER.

Cripes.

that you have no clue how bad he is
ridiculous.
seeing is BELIEVING
I've seen soriano play enough

to know that he’s a good left-fielder, and when he’s on, he can carry this team. No one is suggesting that he’s playing to potential.

He is absolutely horrible
I don't even think Drew can defend him any longer
That was easily catchable

Soriano is a joke.

ok.

then Soriano screwed up. that’s 1 run on him. the other six?

he had an RBI chance and failed.

it could be 5-2 right now if he had caught that ball and successfully driven in those two runners

does he get any credit

for leaving the bases loaded?

actually, considering his total fail at the plate with runners on

he’s playing a pretty big role in this loss

put that total fail

on Riot too, then.

I'm fine with that

except that Riot hasn’t been failing at near the pace Soriano has

Soriano

is horrible in every phase of the game.

sori really should have caught that ball.....
Our corner OFers are a joke
Patton up in the pen

Harden coming out.

And we would have caught that one too

The corner outfield D is brutal this inning.

We = he

as in Sam Fuld.

Is batting practice over yet?
Soriano sucks so bad it's rediculous!

He looked like an amateur softball player in left.

Today is the Soriano highlight reel
Adios Richie
great no-show today

is there a team BBQ?

Has to be Harden's worse outing as a Cub...
Thanks for the great effort, Richie!
Anyone know what his ERA is up to now?

well lets go for the series win tomorrow!

Bradley

made a nice attempt on a ball at the wall. He didn’t come up with it, but it would have been a highlight reel catch if he did. Soriano just looked ridiculous.

Soriano will

out of baseball in 2-3 years

I hope and pray that is true
Dream on

Nobody will ever eat that contract with 3-4 years left on it by then.

Not even at the halfway point on his contract.
hw will become SO bad

that he will be DFA’s at some point and the Cubs will pay him to sit in the Dominican republic and laugh all the way to the bank

ridiculous.
he's already close to that bad.....why is that ridiculous
because it's a lot of money.

miles will be out of baseball in short order; soriano will be what we call an albatross.

An albatross with an elephant on its back
yeah right,

he’ll be killing us long after that.

The Cubs are spitting on the flag!

by playing this way on July 4

That's what we get for starting a Canadian today...

Harden should have started on July 1, Canada day. Today’s starter obviously should have been all-American boy Ted Lilly.

his defense makes up for...

check that.

can you imagine how the crowd will greet Fonzi next time up? the man is in a total funk.

Drew, you seem awfully quiet about Soriano

You’ve done nothing but sunshine pump his arse for a month.

He's blaming Harden

obviously, it’s the pitchers fault that Soriano can’t bunny-hop on every catch

Thought you were leaving?
I thought

you were leaving?

Soriano missed the play. I’ve said it three or four times now. that’s ONE run. Harden gave up HOME RUNS. You gonna blame Soriano for not catching a ball up in the bleachers?

you either don't understand, or refuse to admit

that the anger is at the PATTERN of suckitude that is Soriano. People are obviously mad at Harden, but Soriano is an absolute mess right now. Just freaking admit it.

I've said

several times he’s not playing to potential.

Bottom Line

Today was a chance to really make a statement and set up a potential sweep.

The team is playing to form. .500.

well, we're just about done.
Cameron

out at third on a ball hit in front of him.

Dumb play

by Cameron. Never go to third on a ball hit like that.

with a 7 run lead, why not?
Because you can have an 8-run lead.

Watching enough games at Wrigley, no lead is safe. Never take your foot off the gas.

Wow, so we aren't the only team that makes horribly stupid baserunning plays like that?

Cameron out 6-5

Well

we can still take 3 out of 4. And Soriano has looked ridiculous enough that maybe he’ll sit for another couple days or go on a short DL stint.

Over? Nothing is over until we decide it is.

Was it over when the Germans bombed Rich Harden?

some heads up defense + bone head running = moJo changing

I’m looking for anything

Hopefully Looper continues to look shaky
Runner goes

tapper back to the mound. Two outs, Hart safe at second.

Grounder up the middle

three outs. 7-0 Suds, 1 LOB.

Patton and Theriot pick up the pieces
Sigh

Why do I have to be in Wisconsin while watching this? I feel dirty.

Can we continue to afford running

Rich Harden out there?

How is it that a guy who has dominated when healthy suddenly comes to us and it takes less than 20 starts fo him to suck thoroughly and completly.

he dominated his last start

so yes

Cause the Cubs are truly cursed
Post of the Year
I know it's lame but no other explanation
Harden

has to be out there……this team has way more problems than him

He's like 24...right?

I wouldn’t call him a veteran

ask milton bradley.
i will say this,

if harden continues to suck this bad, his free agent price has to go way down. i wonder if we sign him.

going back to last inning (bottom 2nd) I'd really like to see a squeeze

and/or double steal attempt once in a while, in such games, just to make opposing teams
guess once in a while and besides it couldnt turn out much worse than it does now w/RISP, could it?

let's hope the first three guys get on again so Fonzi can

come up with the bases loaded again.

even before his slump he had horrible production in that situation in his career

And David Patton makes them look like little leaguers...

3 very quick grounders…

you dont mess with the general

maybe it was meant to get Patton a win on July 4th
Let's strand 3 more!
Is Erik Estrada...

going to try to sell us all timeshares on Monday night?

I believe it is swampland zoned for timeshares
Rain?????????

Oh please. How about a monsoon? The game is not official yet.

Lee

cracks a base-hit to center. Leadoff single.

This is a key inning

Looper can be hit…If the team can put up 2+ in this inning, I’ll be confident that they have a chance. If not, not so much

lead off single

we are hitting Looper just cant get the job done…again.

There are no outs.

What do you mean “again”?

Let's go Milton
three more singles and we score
Provided no one hits into a double play first.
How about a walk to Bradley

and HR for Fox

Time for some clutch hitting

Looper can be had

MB

must have heard me

drives one

HOME RUN MILTON BRADLEY! CLUTCH HITTING RIGHT THERE, BABY!

GAMEBOARD!
Nice Bradley!

It’s only been like two months.

Seriously??

Cheer him…he just hit a hr…

Gomer

Gomer?

I did, but until his numbers reach a decent level, he’s glutton for punishment.

I feel sorry for the guy...

He’s actually trying…he wants to do good

I like him too

but he needs to continue to do what he just did and not worry about what’s out of his control. I.e. umps, fans, etc.

WOO from the left side!
MB puts us ON THE BOARD
MB!!!!!

HR!!!!

As a lefty no less…

only took bradley a month and then some for a home run

woooo

That Soriano guy

has been sitting on 14hrs for god knows how long hah

CHEERS FOR MILTY!!!!!!!!
closing in on 20 RBIs!

I predict he will do it by the end of

a) this series
b) this homestand
c) this month
d) this season

i wouldn't call that clutch

I’d call it, “ABOUT TIME”

Crushed that one....
Fox

to the plate. pops it up left side, Fielder can’t make the play.

foul ball

by the way. :D

Bradley

is the best player on the Cubs. Keep him in the cleanup spot

huh?
makes about as much sense as the

get rid of MB posts huh

except that the get rid of MB posts

are based on two+ months of bad baseball, while you’re basing yours on one at-bat

actually

I am basing mine on his whole career. My sample size is bigger than yours.

MB to his doubters:

Suck on that!

Less than 20 RBIs on July 4th

suck on that!

I'll check back in at season's end for his totals.

In the meantime, he just plated two runs and you’re complaining about him. At least he’s not an automatic out like our LF.

Agreed

I’m just poking a little fun at him. We’re allowed to do that as fans, right?

Now if Soriano can get one everything will be sunshine and puppies
and rainbows & butterflies.
one homerun won't change my opinion
no, of course not.
why would it?

you are one of the guys who screams “small sample size” more than anyone else.

so reaching on an error won't do it?
Fielder Running

makes me laugh

Cut him some slack

He just got back from the hotdog eating contest on Coney Island

Well,

That’s some progress

Fox

bounces it to short. One out.

Soriano

to the plate.

We need to put at least 1 more on the board

not gonna happen that way. fox out 6-3

lol: Len & Bob "The gatorade machine resting comfortably in Maui...

serving pina coladas and margaritas.

He was

Traded for two jugs and a stack of cups. Tsk tsk. I think they could have gotten more. Maybe a cooler?

not one of Hendry's better deals.
Bob: "he's a free swinger who'll occasionally swing as some bad pitches"

Oh Bob, so politically correct…

I believe that is called

“sugar-coating”

Pat noted after 1st inning that the "good thing"

About being down so much early, is that you have lots of time to get back in the game. :P

Soriano

grounds to third. The throw is high off the glove of Fielder! Soriano is safe!

Soriano's biggest contribution in about 10 days, sadly

soriano grounds to 3rd but fielder cant make the catch

Oh darn..

McGehee made an error…

McGeeeeeehheeeee with another error
Fielder

really makes you appreciate Derek Lee at first. Rule #1 for a firstbasemen, catch the ball.

another GIDP
why was theriot in

with first base open?

question about patton

why are the cubs sacrificing so much to keep this guy? not being snarky, i just don’t know. is he such a good prospect that they will essentially play with a 24 man roster all eyar in win-now mode just to keep him.

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