2011 Cubs

[The Bogey Man]

Pirates( I would go coach this team for $100,000 and Steelers season tickets) bet I could finish last place like they always do.

Hahahahaha. Best line of the day.

[Dan Michler]

Only 9 games in, but:

I like what I've seen from Aramis.  He's historically a very slow starter, so its good to see him swinging it so well in the first 2 weeks.  Hopefully a sign that he's in for a big year.

I'm slightly concerned with Colvin.  He didn't end last year on the highest of notes, and is having the same troubles to start this year.  Hopefully he gets things turned around.

I'm not concerned about Dempster and Garza.  They've had decent control, the balls have just been finding holes.  They'll both be okay.

I'd like to see Quade start the runners once in a while.  We have 0 SB through 9 games.  We don't have a lot of team speed, but we've had plenty of opportunties to hit-and-run.  Castro could certainly swipe a few if given the signal to do so.

[CEValkyrie]

It looks like all those innings over his career are starting to catch up with Big Z. WTF is Quade doing leaving the big fella in the so long the last 2 game? It's clear his velocity is down and he doesn't have what he did at one time.

Marmol is a freaking beast on the mound. The south side could use a guy like him.

[Tom McManus]

It looks like all those innings over his career are starting to catch up with Big Z. WTF is Quade doing leaving the big fella in the so long the last 2 game? It's clear his velocity is down and he doesn't have what he did at one time.

Marmol is a freaking beast on the mound. The south side could use a guy like him.

The southside needs something.  Three losses with leads in the ninth is BRUTAL.

[Dan Michler]

It looks like all those innings over his career are starting to catch up with Big Z. WTF is Quade doing leaving the big fella in the so long the last 2 game? It's clear his velocity is down and he doesn't have what he did at one time.

Marmol is a freaking beast on the mound. The south side could use a guy like him.

Velocity isn't what it was when he was 23, but he's still very effective.  10-0 in his last 10 decisions.  That 6th inning last night was freakish.  He had been cruising through 5 scoreless.  A pop-up that didn't get caught, a dribbler down the line than hit a dirt patch and stayed fair, nobody really hit a ball hard until that homerun.  I thought Z showed he's turned over a bit of a new leaf after that.  Normally he would have dropped an H Bomb on the clubhouse after an inning like that, but they showed him walking around shaking hands in a calm manner.  I'll give Quade a little bit of slack before I start ripping him, but I agree he's been very unconventional in his handling of the starters.

[CEValkyrie]

Solid extra inning win last night. Crazy start to the season. Win one Lose one pattern. .500 could end up winning this pathetic division. Dempster is looking like a Dumpster right now. Glad I picked Marmol on my fantasy team. 8.2 IP with 13 strikouts.

[stpitner]

it would certainly be nice for the weather to get a little stinking warmer, it's so difficult to tell what this team's going to do when it's just downright sucky weather.  I also need it to improve so that I can have an enjoyable day at the game this Saturday

[Bruce Brakel]

I'm thinking of spending Saturday in Burlington, KY.  Don't hog all the good weather.   

[pdga#7648]

Garcia has letdown written all over him this year.  He had elbow surgery in 2009, had a combined minor league record of 12-15 in '07-08, and then came out of nowhere last year to put up a sub 3.00 ERA.  He wore down and missed his last 2 starts last year.  Be prepared for a sophomore slump. 

3-0 with a 1.44 ERA, 7 BB's to 24 K's.  Cards fans will take that slump anytime! 

I think Lohse is 2-1 with 2.88 ERA   2 BB's to 16 K's
McClellan is 2-0 with 1.89 ERA   5 BB's to 13 K's


It's Carpenter and Westbrook that balloons the starters ERA to like 3.67 

[Dan Michler]

Congratulations Cardinals fans for striking gold again with Lance Berkman.  I saw this one coming as soon as the Cards acquired him.  I made sure to draft him in fantasy and have shredded my league as a result of his MVP caliber start.

The Cards somehow have a knack for picking up aging injury prone players and bringing themback to life better than ever.

McGwire had played 27, 47, 104, 130 games in the seasons leading up to his arrival in St.Louis.  He then played 155 and 153 games and had the best 2 seasons of his career at ages 34-35.

Jim Edmonds same thing.  Couldn't stay healthy for the Angels.  Comes to St.Lou at age 30 and has 5 consecutive monster seasons, far beyond anything he did for the Angels during his 20's.

Matt Holliday.  Traded to Oakland, hits .286 with 11 HR.  Everybody thinks his career was skewed by Coors Field.  Finishes out the final 60 games of the season in St.Lou after getting traded and hits .353  13 HR.  Then signs a big contract, hits .312  28 HR  103 RBI and gets ripped by Cardinal fans for underperforming (take notice Pujols, this is what awaits you if you have the audacity to hit .305 after you resign for big bucks this offseason).

If the Cards had signed Soriano, he would have hit .290 40 HR last season.

I know the Cardinal fans think this all happens because they are "special".  But consider for a moment that maybe you've just been extremely fortunate in recent history.  Eventually this ride has got to end.

[pdga#7648]

Danny Danny Danny, when you going to learn??
You forgot about Will Clark, and Larry Walker.  It's not that the fans are special like you say, but the fact that Cardinals fans welcome players onto that team, not looking at what they did in the past, but what they can do now for the team. But I do think the coaching staff makes those players comfortable from the start, and puts no pressure on them to produce instantly. Thats why they succeed once they put on the Birds on The Bat uniform. And hardly ever do you hear Redbird fans BOO their own team. Chicago fans wish they were as classy. they always boo their own players.

Duncan can make a so so pitcher an All Star within 3 years. he has proven that for years. He did it in Oakland with Dave Stewart and Bob Welch, hell even Ryan Franklin made an All Star team. I really think the coaches turn players careers around alot in St. Louis. It's part of being a winning franchise! I know you wouldn't know about that being a Cubs fan. But hey, ther'es always next year!  

[Dan Michler]

And hardly ever do you hear Redbird fans BOO their own team. Chicago fans wish they were as classy. they always boo their own players.

I'll grant you that Cardinals fans boo less.  But, so do Tampa Bay fans and Houston fans and Arizona fans.  So what?

New York fans boo the loudest.  Somehow the Yankees have eeked out 27 titles.  Big cities with a blue collar mindset are going to boo louder.  That is reality.  I like St.Louis as a city.  Wouldn't mind moving there one day.  Midwestern, relaxed atmosphere with people who don't get hostile nearly as easily as in a big city like New York or Chicago.  They don't boo the Rams when they go 1-15 either.  I don't think less boos correlates to more wins, but hey, I could be wrong!

[Tom McManus]

I would think steroids had a big part of why the productivity went up for a number of the players that were mentioned.

[pdga#7648]

if that's true Tom, I'm sure they were using before they got to St. Louis. dont try to say St. Louis players use PED's, cause Pujols was tested and passed 14 times last year, Holiday had 9. Admit that some coaches can actually teach some things. Even Chicago has had some good coaches.

McGwire was using way before he ever became a Cardinal. Don't let 1 bad apple spoil the bunch.

[Dan Michler]

I would think steroids had a big part of why the productivity went up for a number of the players that were mentioned.

Whoa Tom!  You are saying some of these players may have been using PEDs to lengthen their careers after injuries and age had started to set in?  Give me 1 example of that ever happening!

[pdga#7648]

and if the real truth were told, probably 30% of ball players have used, if not more?  that's just what us real fans have to live with. MLB will be tarnished forever.

[Dan Michler]

List of players that have tested positive for steroids or been named in the Mitchell Report, and played under Tony LaRussa:

Mark McGwire
Jose Canseco
Fernando Vina
Ryan Franklin
Jason Giambi
Rick Ankiel
Troy Glaus

I'd call that more than 1 bad apple Doug.  But seriously, I think it goes on in every clubhouse, so I'm not suggesting the Cardinals are more guilty than any other team.  The list of players under Dusty Baker is even worse, although a lot of that may have been due to Bonds and his trainer.  It would be naive for us to assume anybody is innocent.

[stpitner]

I miss the days when Cubs fans didn't boo their own players.  I've seen it get progressively nastier at the games.  I don't remember hearing that many boos during the 90's.  I remember stuff like in early September 2004 (they hadn't even completely blown it for their season yet) where they lost to the Expos 6-0, and the amount of swearing and yelling at Remlinger after giving up a 3-run homer was the last thing I wanted my wife to experience while at her first Cubs game.  My all time favorite game was Sept 13th, 1998 when Sosa hit #61 and #62.  We were way up in the upper deck maybe 2 rows from the back fence and in a couple sections on the first base side of the press box.  It was the furthest point away in the stadium from the direction Sosa hit the ball, but the noise was absolutely deafening.

[CEValkyrie]

I agree to a certain extent. There are a couple of factors and I think the Cubs deserve all they get in terms of boos right now.


#1--We got a taste of what it should be like here. We should be winning games. We have the money to do so.

#2--How long are they going to allow Hendry to fail this organization?  When you sign guys like Pena & Bradley i'm going to boo like crazy when they don't perform. You can go down the list. Garciaparra, Jones,  Burnitz, Ward, Floyd, etc...

#3--There are only a few people on this team that I like. It's hard to root for guys like Z, Soriano, Fukudome, Pena, etc...

#4--If you are going to raise ticket prices i'm going to demand more on the field.

#5--This season is worthless due to all these horrible contracts on the book. We were limited in who we could sign. It's sad because the central division is absolutely terrible. It's frustrating as hell.

Once again it's wait until next year.

[pdga#7648]

Once again it's wait until next year.

like this is anything new