OH… NO! I feel like crying right now. Jim Edmonds is directly behind Tony LaRussa as my most hated baseballer of all time. I can’t even look at his face without getting angry. Seriously. When he comes up to bat I put my hand over his face while I watch or else my eyeballs would melt like the guy at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Usually I also do the “I crush your head” thing with my thumb and finger. The Cubs CAN’T sign him!!! I CAN’T live in a world where I have to wish Jim Edmonds well. It will cause some sort of a vortex and the universe will explode. AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! Please, somebody discredit this rumor. I just pictured him in a Cubs uniform. His evil was burning through it like in Raiders of the Lost Ark when the Ark burned the Nazi symbol off the box it was in. (That’s not a perfect analogy because in that instance the good was burning through the evil, but the visual is right.) (Also, I’ve accomplished my life-long goal of putting two Raiders of the Lost Ark references into the first paragraph of a blog entry.)
This is something that I can’t possibly be expected to come to terms with. This, right here, is why all this player movement is bad for the game. I’m getting serious now. In the old days players would stick with a team at least for the majority of their career. It’s been said many times before that all this movement is bad for baseball because kids don’t get a chance to have a Ryne Sandberg any more. They don’t get to cheer for a guy for years and really love him. But, I really think the opposite is just as destructive. It’s fun to villanize the players on your rival’s team. It’s almost half of the fun of rooting for a team that has a strong rival. I’m SUPPOSED to hate the players on the Cardinals. It’s my job as a Cub fan to wish them ill fortune on the diamond. Not injuries, obviously, but all around poor play for sure. I am truly a guy who’s favorite team is the Cubs and whoever is playing the Cardinals. I LIKE to despise Jim Edmonds.
But, with players moving all over the place I can’t do that any more. I have to hold back, because you never know when he’ll be wearing Cubbie blue. I really think it’s not good for the game in the same way that it’s not good that Pirates fans can live and die with every Jason Kendall at bat and then watch him bounce around the league like a pinball.
I NEED to be able to hate Jim Edmonds. And soon I may have to CHEER for him. It’s not right. IT’S NOT RIGHT, I TELL YOU! I’m getting a little dizzy. I think I’ll go lie down.
May 13th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
We need more John Starks in the world. Remember him refusing to play for the Bulls when he came over in a trade? That’s is villiany at it’s best!
May 13th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
That’s what I’m talking about. I will actually gain some respect for Edmonds if he refuses to play when Zambrano is pitching. Remember when Z hit him twice in the same game in the exact same spot? Z hit him in his first at bat. Then Edmonds homered in his next at bat. Then Z hit him in the exact same spot on his right thigh in his next at bat. That was awesome. I bet Edmonds hasn’t forgotten about that.
May 13th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
You cubs fan may want to know that it would hurt us loyal cardinals fans just as much to see jimmy in cubs blue.
May 13th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
You just mirrored by exact sentiments. I have always had LaRussa and Edmonds as my dreaded 1/2 combination. For years I have said that I would stop following the Cubs if LaRussa came over as a manager or if Edmonds was acquired to play for them. This is a dark freaking day.
I have my first child due in the next few months, and I can’t envision bringing him or her into a world in which Jim Edmonds is a Chicago Cub.
On the bright side, I guess I’ll get more done during the day because I sure as hell will NOT be watching or listening to Cubs’ game during Edmonds’ tenure here.
I have turned to prayer, hoping this waiver claim will not come to pass.
May 13th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I hate the Cards and every one of their players and personnel as much as just about anyone. LaRussa is definitely on the top of the list, but Matt Morris has to be ahead of Edmonds in my mind. He ran his mouth more than any of the other players. Perhaps he and Edmonds can get together and tour the nation rooting against the Cubs when Edmonds joins him into forced retirement in a couple days. I guess Edmonds’ frosted tips could arguably pull him even with Morris.
By the way, I assume we’d only sign him if he clears waivers and is released, right? We would never make a waiver claim and take on his salary. Who is to say Edmonds even wants to play for the Cubs.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I’m a Cardinals fan, I also follow the Cubs and wish them well when they’re not playing the Cards. Jim Edmonds is a fine outfielder, but I wasn’t sorry to see him go. When he’s healthy, he is as good as there is in Center Field, but his best days are behind him. He will not be without his flashes of leather brilliance if he plays in Chicago, the natural turf will be good for his legs. The Cards have always had the reputation for getting rid of someone a year too late, finally we pull the trigger, or do not pull the trigger on a contract offer, and it seems to work out. But, I do not feel that Jimmy is completely done.
Who ever he joins, will be helped by his presence if not by his bat.
May 13th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Come on, Jim doesn’t want to play for the Cubs. What a joke!! The Cubs…they’re going nowhere. Besides, if he did, he would instantly be the best outfielder the Cubs have ever seen. They would retire his number the day he was signed…HA! The Cubs, you guys suck. Go Cardinals, 10 World Series Championships!!!
May 13th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
^ I’m guessing Jim will go where they’ll pay him. It’s not like he was a Card his entire career. Give me a break.
Obviously things are slow in St. Louis, if you’re signing up for Cubs blogs. 
I’m actually would not be upset if they signed him.
May 14th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
To the 15 year-old: Jimmy will go anywhere they pay him to go. He’s a classless, arrogant wash-up, potentially toxic to the clubhouse. Everything he touches sucks lately, be that glove or bat. The Cardinals know it. The Padres know it. And Cubs fans - people who know good baseball (and good beer, I might add) - know it, too.
I’ll be upset if they sign him. You can stick the guy in a Cubs uniform, but he’ll never truly BE a Cub.
May 14th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
^ If Cubs fans truly knew good beer, they wouldn’t be drinking Budweiser and Old Style.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Hey, What is the loss here? He comes in plays well or not, Cubs hold on to him or release him. Johnson has filled in well, Pie gets some playing time at AAA. Upside is that Edmonds plays well, Pie gets another year at AAA, or has a good stay in the minors and we us him as trade bait for the stretch run.
Looks like Cubs management might be putting everything into the 2008 season, and for many of them, this could be their last season also.
Only other thought is that we all get into a time capsule and go back into to the moment the CUBS selected Josh Hamilton in the rule 5 draft and keep him. Jumbo Jim, you are such a bone head.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
His contract is guaranteed (all MLB contracts are guaranteed) so, he’ll get his money no matter who picks him up … or, even if nobody does. The only difference is how much the Padres have to pay him. Once he clears waivers, any team that signs him is only responsible for the pro-rated portion of the major league minimum salary for the rest of the season; anything else on his 2008 contract must be paid by the Padres.
So, first of all, screw the Padres — let him clear waivers so they can eat his contract.
Second of all, I read that Edmonds is pissed off that the Cards dumped him for a couple nobody minor leaguers over the winter, and that he would like some revenge. To me, that just sounds like rumors to help him fit in Chicago — probably spread by his agent. Clearly, he’s at the end of his career, whether it ends today or at the end of October. Why carry a grudge against the one team that doesn’t hate you?
I say, don’t sign Edmonds, but get Pie some regular playing time to help him develop at the major league level. Johnson is already fading, and is only a .280 hitter with no base stealing ability, anyway. Play Pie. Now.