Filed under General
Cubs 6, Padres 4 The Godfather ipod
- Ryan Theriot hit two homers, giving him five on the year. The knock on him has been that he’s a singles hitter. If working with Von Joshua really has given him that extra base power (not just HR) then he becomes an above average shortstop for this team. I really hope this success proves to be legit. Hopefully he’s not taking female meds like another slugger.
- Another nice outing by Guzman and his ERA is slowly declining, while my confidence is rising.
- Marmol picked up his third save, though that probably wasn’t the plan when Lou brought him in in the 8th.
- Nice to see Geo get on the board with his first HR. Some things come in bunches. Hopefully this will be one of them.
I wish I had more, but I wasn’t feeling well last night and only made it through three innings of play. Did I miss something? Oh yeah, Derrek Lee sucks…..still.
I’ve got the confidence survey results, and I’ll be posting them tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Anyone else notice that three way tie for first place in the NL central. With the Cubs only a half-game back. Too bad Milwaukee plays before the Cubs this afternoon, making it less likely we’ll have a tidy 4 way tie for first.
Yep. And yet everyone’s running around like the sky is falling.
Hell… if he continues to hit like this, he becomes better than above average offensively, he becomes very good. I have no idea where it is coming from, but I like it.
I really like Guzman – he has always had some pretty nasty stuff, but has never been healthy, and has at times struggled to throw strikes. But I can see him being a very key component to this bullpen.
Two games, after sitting for a week. He did hit a couple of balls hard last night though.
I still think that Lee can be a productive player for this team, and I actually think that Hoffpauir and Lee would put up very similar numbers over a full season. But I do wish that Lee would just go on the DL, and take two weeks off and rest his back. Oh well…
I have to agree with ALL of the above comments. As banged up as we have been, to be tied in the loss column is more than respectable. DLee would benefit from a DL stint, and we have a capable backup in Hoffpauir. The bull pen lately is not automatically making me lose bowel continence at every turn. (But why is Neal Cotts still here?)
There is reason for optimism.
And hopefully your steroid reference was nothing but an attempt to be humerous.
In this day and age, I don’t see why anyone should think differently. He hasn’t hit a homer in years, and now he has five.
Things that make you go, hmmmmmmm.
TheRiot has changed his approach, he is looking to pull the ball instead of go to right field which his batting average will show. Since his power surge TheRiot’s avg is 257 vs his normal 300. His production is certainly up with the lower avg.
I did hear TheRiot was hoping to get pregnant.
Ryans HR’s have hardly been moonshots. The wind last night was blowing out hard enough to have the club remove most of the flags from the Scoreboard. So If Theriot has any HCG on board, it’s merely to stimulate ovulation. (this is an attempt at humor, for those who are humerically disadvantaged).
I’m offended. I’m ovulating right now.
I was thinking the same thing about the wind last night. The wind has helped more than a few balls get out of there in Wrigley. While Theriot hit the ball well, I think the wind gets some credit for turning it into a homer.
Yes, I am sure the wind helped.
It is nice to see the young kids doing well, Scales is doing well, Hoffa is doing well and Wells had a good first outing, I am pleased.
Offended at times but pleased.
Scales is, by no means, a young kid. He is 31. And Hoffpauir isn’t much younger, at 29.
Newer Comments » “Young kids” as defined by major league service time, as in rookies in the big leagues. Not their actual age. Next time I will try and be more literal for you Dave since you are so obtuse.
Sure… I guess we should all assume that young doesn’t mean… young?
And I actually think that the distinction between young and rookie is quite important.
I thought you were refering to their age as well. Not Rookie status.
Then you obviously must be quite obtuse.
Are you calling me fat?
I would much rather be acute than obtuse any day of the week.
Young is relative. What’s young to me may not be young to you. To me 31 is young. If you disagree with that, then you have to agree with Raker that youth is determined by service time.
Beyond that, why are we nitpicking semantics instead of talking baaseball?
By the by, I have mastered the gray box. No offense, hopefully, at the use of the word box.
We are talking baseball here, not the real world. 31 is simply not young by any standard in baseball terms.
And again… the distinction between young and rookie isn’t semantics, in my mind. A 31 year-old rookie is very different than a 21 year-old rookie, and can and should be viewed differently.
At age 30 I made my return to baseball. I was a rookie, and the youngest guy on our 28+ League team.
I felt old, but to everyone else I was young. At 34, I’m still one of the youngins.
Once again, we see that you try to take a joke too far. Comedy is not your strong suit.
It is hard for me to believe that you would last more than 30 seconds in a dugout with any player that competed past high school JV’s, as thin skinned as you seem to be. I am 38, and have played in a similar league for 10 years, and the dugout is not a place where guys that don’t understand humor, can’t take a joke, and are so easily offended can be comfortable.
There’s a difference between a dugout and a blog.
There’s a time and place for everything. I can dish out the foul mouth talk with the best of them, and it’s fun, and I enjoy it. On the field or in the dugout.
Discussing baseball, while being foul mouthed, on an open forum where kids and women visit, is a totally different situation.
Look, in the four years I’ve been posting or commenting here, we’ve always had heated arguments (see Jose vs. Matt), but nothing has ever been drawn out to name calling, potty mouth, and swearing. It’s been a complete turnaround this year, which is straying from what drew a lot of us that have been here for awhile to VFTB all this time. If I wanted to read that crap, I’d go over to The Cub Reporter.
Hey! We aren’t that bad over there…
But yea… it does seem that the comments have changed a bit around these here parts.
I’m, of course, saying that in jest, Dave. I read a few Cubs blogs, and enjoy them all. I just found VFTB to be the most level headed of them all when back in the day. Which is what got me commenting in the first place.
I’m not saying anyone of them is better or worse, I’m just saying what drew me to this particular one, and why I’m a bit bummed at what it’s turned into this year.
I’m the one who called cap’n out on the language, so feel free to start directing the flipping jabs about “being offended” at me people. Heaven forbid I politely ask someone not to use a sexually derogatory term on a board with a set of rules that, until recently, most of its readers have obliged to easily. But no–it’s more fun to spam/troll the board and make little comments about it for the next two days.
I’ve played baseball, softball, basketball, and Ultimate Frisbee (most of those co-ed) and run in countless races. I can spit and swear with the best of them, but I don’t understand the assumption that crude language is necessary for any sport.
Silly me–I always thought dugouts were for doing things like storing equipment and hanging out with your teammates. But I’m not a guy, so maybe I don’t belong in a dugout that “is not a place where guys that don’t understand humor, can’t take a joke, and are so easily offended can be comfortable.” I’ll keep that in mind the next time I’m in a dugout and will try to be very manly–swear up a storm and use some derogatory terms while I’m at it. That will make me a better athlete, right?
It’s totally off topic, but you brought it up. I’m fairly certain I’ve made more money at comedy than you make in your job. I’ve written it, performed it and sold it for about half your life — so just because you don’t always like it, doesn’t mean that some others do not, or that it’s “not my strong suit.”
In fact, all you have to go on is far too small a sample size (Dave might even agree with me on that!)to judge my talents (or lack thereof.)
Sherm
for the record, I apologized for the sexually derogatory term, which, also for the record, was not used in a sexually derogatory context. In my experience, baseball dugouts are places where crudeness exists…I’m not saying its right or wrong, its just a fact. If you are thin skinned and can’t take a joke, you either learn to deal with it or find another team. It won’t make you a better athlete, but again, in my experience, it might make you better suited to participate at higher levels to have a thick skin.
Yes, Cap’n, you did apologize, and it is appreciated. However, a number of people (and at least one disguised as many people) have continued to make jabs about it.
And how is that appropriate? How thick-skinned will you be next time one of your jokes bombs on stage and I start hurling personal insults at you. Come on.
After three years of reading and enjoying VFTB, I cannot believe how fired-up I have gotten in a month of posting. Seriously–this is getting to be an incredibly stupid way to spend my time and energy, and I’m really sad to say that.
I call Scales a young man, he’s young enough to be my son
Age is all relative, so is maturity. Sometimes older people do immature things, I sure know that I have!
I may be biased but this blog peaked in 2005/06. We had our moments but overall I believe the discourse was more civil. Maybe that was partly due to to the fact there was a chaplain on duty then, I may be wrong.. Just saying…
And AGAIN, if this were a dugout, I’d have no problem with it. It’s a blog. Why is this so hard to comprehend?????
Wow. That’s the best you can come up with? What is this third grade? Yeah. You’re not funny.
You’re one of the worst instigators this year……
Kris… its probably my fault… as I agreed with you. And some people on this blog right now feel the need to attack me and anything that I agree with.
cap’n obvious … thanks the for the apology, but the point is that using a sexually derogatory term is in turn going to be interpreted as being used in a sexually derogatory context. It is kind of like using a racial slur but saying that you were not using it in a racial context.
This may be true, but as others and I have continually pointed out, this isn’t a dugout. This is a blog. They are very different things.
I do really appreciate your apology though. I wish others would respond in the same way, instead of mocking the fact that it was and is an offensive and derogatory term.
It’s not appropriate, which is why I started that comment with the words “it’s totally off topic” –
Couple of responses however:
1. You want to heckle me, fine. Heckle me. Typically, though, in an on stage situation? The heckler loses. You ever see the comic get upset and go away? I haven’t. It’s a preparedness issue and it’s part of the job.
2. I’ve had jokes bomb. Sometimes it’s not the joke, it’s the delivery or the material before that didn’t lead to it well. I may tell it again, differently, if I think that will make a difference (in a different show, of course) or just discard it. You never know if something will work until you try it. You try it and find out and then make a decision. You have to be willing to bomb to learn. Every once and a while? It’s the audience who doesn’t get it and the next audience does. You just never know. I like that part of it.
3. Some of what I write here on this blog is meant to be light and funny. Not all. Some. I think that some commenters are either humor challenged or perhaps just a little too serious.
4. I agree that profane commentary is wrong — we might disagree on some of what is or is not profane.
5. I think it’s ironic that people who don’t really know me judge me on a “small sample size” and then criticize me for judging Milton Bradley on the same. You want to debate? Fine — let’s have some serious debates. Not nitpicking — that’s not debating. The nitpicking infuriates me more than anything else on this blog. If you are going to point out the one thing wrong with someone’s post or comment — without commenting on the body of their work…to me that’s nitpicking. It’d be like going to a comedy show and hearing a great comic with two hours of great material…and only remembering the one joke that didn’t work. Or something like that. What do I know?
Sherm
Pretty sure that I am the main person criticizing you on the Bradley/sample size issues. I am also pretty sure that I have not judged you on your writing.
But hey… don’t let facts get in the way.
Well… we are working on that, but I do find it pretty funny that you very rarely deal with the any serious content, and when people challenge your content (not your writing), you respond with jokes rather than anything resembling serious discussion.
ouch