2010 Chicago Cubs

[Dan Michler]

Another not-so-memorable season in the books.  The only play I'll remember is the one where Soto had a base stealer dead to rights at second base, but for some reason Castro pulled his glove up well before the runner arrived.  As I was commenting on the strangeness of the play, my wife went into labor.

My personal picks for the awards if I had a vote (which I clearly should due to my vast wealth of baseball knowledge).

AL MVP - Miguel Cabrera.

He slugged .622 with 38 HR in one of the worst hitters parks.  Hamilton a close second.  Hamilton slugged .633 with 30 HR in a great hitters park on a great hitting team.  He only played 130 games to Cabrera's 150.  Neither is gold glove material.  Cabrera's team went nowhere and Hamilton's won the division.  Very close call, but to me Cabrera's season was too monstrous to ignore.  Had he played for a winner, it would be no contest.  He certainly did his part.

NL MVP - Albert Pujols

This is another really close race.  Votto slugged .600 to Pujols .596.  Votto plays in the better hitter's park.  Pujols played 159 games to Votto's 150.  Pujols with 42 HR to Votto's 37.  Votto 16 SB, Pujols 14.  Votto .424 on base to Pujols .414.  Pujols led the NL in RBI.  Votto's team ultimately defeated Pujols' team.  Both play a solid 1st base.  To me, Pujols is still the most valuable player.  Without him, the Cards go from 2nd place to 5th place.

AL CY - Felix Hernandez

To me this shouldn't even be close.  By far the best pitcher in the AL.  League leading 2.27 ERA, league leading 232 K's.  249 IP.  Just 70 walks.  Absolutely dominant.  Record was 13-12, but he had the College of Lake County girls volleyball team hitting behind him.

NL CY - Roy Halladay

2.44 ERA.  21 Wins.  250 IP.  219 K's.  Just 30 Walks!  9 complete games and 4 shutouts, including a perfect game.  His 3rd straight season of 9 complete games. Unbelievable.  Too bad for Wainwright who probably should have won the award last year, but some of his votes were siphoned over to Carpenter and Lincecum walked away with the award.  Wainwright with 20 wins 2.42 ERA.  213 K's.  56 Walks.  230 IP.  5 CG and 2 shutouts.  Another awesome year, but he should unanimously be voted just the 2nd best pitcher in the NL.

[Dan Michler]

Mike Quade is the new Cubs manager.

I'm sure many were pulling for Ryno, but this was probably the best decision.  Quade spent more time managing in the minors than Sandberg and got 3 years of experience under Piniella on the big league level.  Sandberg sounds like he's dejected and ready to move on to another organization, but hopefully he'll stick with it and be the best man for the job the next time around.

After going with more high profile managers with previous success the last 3 times (Baylor, Baker, Piniella), I'm happy the Cubs have gone with someone looking to succeed on the major league level for the first time.  Hopefully Quade brings an energy to the clubhouse that has been lacking for quite some time.

[stpitner]

hopefully Sandberg would be willing to do a bench coach role or something for a little while to continue to prepare instead of moving on to a different team.  I would not have said Quade before, but he did a great job to finish out the season.  The way they were playing I didn't expect the Cubs to come even close to 70 wins, much less the 75 or whatever they had at the end.

[pdga#7648]

Mike Quade is the new Cubs manager.

I'm sure many were pulling for Ryno, but this was probably the best decision.  Quade spent more time managing in the minors than Sandberg and got 3 years of experience under Piniella on the big league level.  Sandberg sounds like he's dejected and ready to move on to another organization, but hopefully he'll stick with it and be the best man for the job the next time around.

After going with more high profile managers with previous success the last 3 times (Baylor, Baker, Piniella), I'm happy the Cubs have gone with someone looking to succeed on the major league level for the first time.  Hopefully Quade brings an energy to the clubhouse that has been lacking for quite some time.

sorry to be THAT GUY again, but you said it yourself about Baylor, Baker, and Lou. 3 very good managers, that knew how to win. It's not the managers fault( again, you said it yourself a few pages back, about players slumping not Lou's fault) but the GM is the one who needs to go. Until then, the Cubbies will continue to be the Loveable Losers they have been your entire life!

But good luck to Quade. But Ryno deserved it.

[pdga#7648]

same for the Cards. GM is a el douche. Letting Jocketty go was a HUGE mistake for St. Louis. He only need 2 seasons to get a poor Cincy team to win that division. Something the Reds hadn't come close to doing in 15 years.

[CEValkyrie]

TheRiot ends up with the Cards as their starting SS.

[pdga#7648]

if he hits better than .212 then he will be a + for us. Ryan's defense was probably better, but Theriot can put up solid offensive numbers.
Hawksworth didn't do crap for us.

[Dan Michler]

I saw that go by on the ESPN ticker last night and laughed.  I am so glad I don't have to watch Theriot play another season in Chicago. 

Not sure why anybody would put this guy in their starting lineup at the major league level.  Below average range, well below average arm, basically zero power at the plate (just 19 of his 158 hits last year went for extra bases!), and he refuses to take a walk (pedestrian .320 OnBase% last year).  Have fun St. Louis!

[pdga#7648]

I seem to recall Lou Brock was a Cub that struggled, but when he got to St. Louis what happened?  Oh yeah, only became the all time steals leader(until Ricky broke it)  Everyone dreams of playing in front of the best fans in baseball. Theriot will have his best year ever as a Cardinal!

[pdga#7648]

and if I really wanted to, I'm sure I could go back to all Dan's Cub Threads, and find some  talk about how good Theriot is.
Just a Hater being a Hater since Ryan will now be playing on the team that is his favorite teams nemisis> Hilarious

[Dan Michler]

and if I really wanted to, I'm sure I could go back to all Dan's Cub Threads, and find some  talk about how good Theriot is.
Just a Hater being a Hater since Ryan will now be playing on the team that is his favorite teams nemisis> Hilarious

I've bitched about Theriot constantly for 2 solid years, my wife can confirm this.  Nobody wanted Castro to come up quicker than I did.