2007 Cubs

[stpitner]

J Jones was all but traded to Florida until Selig put the kabosh on the deal because he didn't want the new owners to incur any more debt when the Cubs are sold at the end of the season.  So the Cubs are kinda stuck with Jones... at least he has been hitting ok the past couple games he has played.  But Pie was only hitting .220... his numbers had really dropped.  I think he'll be back by August 1st... I don't expect to still see Jacque Jones and Cesar Izturis still around though, not with Cedeno hitting something like .390 in AAA right now.

I was at the game on Friday, I removed my cap.

Agreed, Houston was making some of the dumbest defensive plays I have ever seen.  The two errors on the same groundball against Soto on Friday were HILARIOUS.

weak division overall?  Probably.  Weak division in the top two teams?  Not really.  Milwaukee is tied for the 2nd best record in the NL.  I can't exactly call that weak. Cubs are 6th best.

I just love that they are above .500 overall as well as when playing at home.  I'm 4-0 for games attended this year (3 home, 1 away)   I don't have tickets for any more games this season, maybe I should start asking people to give me some!

[Dan Michler]

yes, sox fans are known for the amount of respect they give to everybody else around them.  (i.e.  shirtless dudes with mullets beating the tar out of a 60 yr old umpire).

[pearso66]

Ahh yes, something that happened 6 years ago.  Still being brought up.  Isn't it great that nothing like that ever happens at Wrigley?

Oh wait, once this year a guy went after Howry, there was the Chad Krueter incident when a fan stole his helmet, and there was a brawl in the stands with the Dodgers, The guy that went after Randy Meyers.  If I thought long enough, I'm sure I can think of more.

As for Sox fans removing their hats, when I'm at the game, I notice most do.  I don't think I've seen one person in the past 50 games I've gone to not remove their hat.  During God Bless America, that's another story, although that isn't the National Anthem.  I'm not saying that every person removes their hat, I'm just saying that personally, I havn't seen it

[Chainmeister]

yes, sox fans are known for the amount of respect they give to everybody else around them.  (i.e.  shirtless dudes with mullets beating the tar out of a 60 yr old umpire).

For every one of that guy at US Cellular there are about 100 overserved frat boys  who think they are cool at Wrigley.  Fools abound in the stands in ball parks across the land.  My team's fans watch the game, know the rules and care who wins.  Your team's fans are thrilled to be at Wrigley for the experience of getting hammered in the friendly confines.

What really matters?  Your team is playing good ball and my team cannot be described without violating the rules of this message board.   Cheers to Lou for getting his boys to play.  Oops, said, "cheers", a few more fans just fell over.

I'd much rather watch a ball game with Sox fans. However... The Cubs are a much more interesting team to watch these days.

[tacimala]

Just got back from the game. I counted 4 people that didn't remove their hats - 2 men, 2 women, 1 of which was a worker there.

[Working Stiff]

Ben Sheets is out 4-6 weeks...tore a muscle in his finger or something.  All that is left to start games for the Brew Crew is a bunch of guys trying to keep their ERA's out of the 5.00's.

Cubs fans, can you say "opening?"

[Dan Michler]

are there alot of fans drunk at Cubs games?  YES!!!  i've sure as hell been one of them more than once that coudlnt' have told you who was playing cuz i was so far gone.  i've been to 16 major league parks, and there have been alot of drunk people at all of them..........not sure wat ur point is dave.  i can point out a thousand cubs fans and a thousand sox fans or any other fans at any game that have no knowledge of the game.  if u think sox fans are 'more knowledgable' then ur just being ridiculous.  there are a ton of 'knowledgable' cubs fans that i talk to everyday.

every ballpark has idiots, atleast the idiot cubs fans support their team by filling the park every night and getting f*&ked up in the process.

[Chainmeister]

Seeing a cheap shot against Sox fans, I started to reply in kind.  Half way through I realized there are jerks everywhere.  I just got a little pumped up about the cheap shot.  The reality is that the Cubs are playing good ball and the Sox are playing bad ball. That is the only thing that really matters.  We always think the fans of the other team suck. 

[airspuds]

Lets go Phillies !!!

[SIUFrolf]

Let's Go ROYALS!! you're only one game away from passing the sox as the worst in the AL!!!

[damonshort]

NL Central 2007 - the Am IV of Major League Baseball... 

[CEValkyrie]

Holy Cow!

Cliff Floyd dbl off a lefty with another clutch hit back to back nights.
Henry Blanco executing a squeeze.
1st xtra inning win on the road.

WTF?

[Dan Michler]

St. Lou still just 3 back though.  We need Soriano back and healthy really really bad.

[stpitner]

Pinella on the Cubs pregame yesterday was hinting that Soriano might be ready Tuesday vs. Milwaukee.  will be interesting to see.  I just wish they could help him keep his strikeouts down especially in the lead off spot.  Soriano definitely has more pop than Murton though.

[Mike Clark]

I was looking at the Cubs stats today and was wondering if the following has ever happened in modern baseball.

The Cubs have a chance at winning this division with 82 or so wins which is what they will have if they keep playing at the pace the have been playing.

But look at the offensive numbers. They have a chance to have no one with 100 RBI or 20 home runs, 25 is more is more than likely the number, or 100 runs scored, heck no one may even score 90. The starting pitching is pretty good but wow those numbers look bad. I don't know how you go .500 with those numbers much less win 80+ games. And if the bullpen didn't suck for the first 2 months of the year they would be  running away with this division. I saw that the bullpen pick up its 24 loss of the year the other night. Sad!

Has anyone ever won a division this way?

[stpitner]

Well, St. Louis just last year only won 83 ball games and then won the world series...

The key thing overall to look at is the # of runs allowed by the pitching staff.  Cubs are #2 in runs allowed in the NL (behind San Diego).  That means that while the bullpen may have a lot of losses, overall the team isn't allowing that many runs to be scored on them.  The bullpen is doing just fine right now.  The Cubs are winning 1-run games now.  That's a big factor.  They are finally getting clutch hits!  I know a lot of people were hesitant about Jason Kendall at first (and still are unhappy with not being able to throw out baserunners), but he's one of those guys where if you need a slap hit in the clutch to just stick it to the other team... he's the dude.

Aramis has had 34 RBI's in the last 39 games, so he has a good shot at breaking 100.  I do have to agree though with the home run numbers.  I can't believe how low those are this year.

There are a couple things that all these numbers mean to me:
1) There has been a bunch of injuries that they had to bring in a fill-in to do the job.
2) Players are platooning (Floyd, Jones, Murton, etc)
3) Everybody is contributing.  If everyone contributes, the numbers get spread around.  You're not relying on just one guy to get the RBI's.

Not giving up a lot of runs... getting clutch hits... distributing the hits & RBI's around... sounds like a great winning combination to me!

[stpitner]

The one stat that does scare me?

Derrek Lee.  No, not the homers, not even the RBI's.

Walks: 61 (good), Strikeouts: 97.  EEP!

[Dan Michler]

I've been saying all year that Lee is done as a middle of the order hitter.  He hits for average and has doubles power.  That is all you will ever see from him for the rest of his career.  Unfortunately the Cubs pay him to hit 40 HR and drive in 100, not be Mark Grace with more strikeouts.

[Mike Clark]

I am hoping that D.Lee has not fully recovered from his wrist injury and that his power numbers will return. That probably will not happen this year. But hopefully next if not he might be done as a power hitter. But 4-5 years ago I thought we were going to have the best starting pitching in baseball for 5 years+.

The Cardinals had a really good offensive team last year and also didn't have any compeition in the division last year. Just like the 2005 White Sox. Getting off to a great start of the season does that to alot of teams. I wish I could get paid millions to get bored have way thru the work year.

[Working Stiff]

Soriano is back tonight.  Ben Sheets is supposed to start for Milwaukee tomorrow.  The pennant race is always better when the good players are healthy.