The All-Star Break-Up

This is when it has to happen, when Dusty has to get fired.

ESPN.com is reporting that Hendry is planning on using the break to reflect and assess the mockery that this franchis has become. (He may not have used those exact words.

Phil Rogers has an interesting cross-town solution to the problem.

Paul Sullivan was also less than complimentary.

Mike Kiley at the Sun Times is also counting it down.

The fact is that Dusty’s regime is a failure. He has not won since the regular season collapse in late ‘04. The team has been in flat spin since then. And someone has to die in a flat spin. In Top Gun it was Goose. In the next few days it will be Dusty and his comedic collection of coaches.

Now that the end is near. I really hope that Hendry hires the right manager. That’s his job. Regular fans can be critical of lineups and player personnel moves. But hiring a manager involves behind-the-scenes interviews that we are not privvy to.

With this next hiring, Hendry’s ass is on the line. If he misfires, he’ll be fired.

In the Phil Rogers column, he offers up White Sox AAA manager Razor Shines and makes a compelling argument. Personally, I like the fire and brimstone of a Lou Pinella. I kinda like Bob Brenly, but I still feel he lucked out into a world series ring, being totally out-managed. (Ozzie may be a worse manager, but pressed all the right buttons last October.) I do feel the cubs need a) a teacher, b) a hardass (no player’s managers please) and c) a proven winner.

The potential this team still has is huge. Murton and Cedeno could still develop into great/very good players. A well-coached Jones could be very good. Marmol, Pie, Hill, Guzman, Marshall, etc. all have a chance to become quality major leaguers, maybe even a few could become stars.

Let’s wait and see. Cross your fingers.

sorry

I have been out of town the last few days and did not report on…

a) Dusty being still employed

b) Kicking the Sox’s ass on Sunday

c) Losing to Clemens on Monday

d) The Cubs being within only a few games on KC and PIT for the worst record in baseball.

I will be back with new news by Wednesday

Happy Birthday… America

Cub Fans Unite

And throw garbage on the field. I figure after seeing what Dumpter did, they thought the field was a trash can.

I like the fans taking a “we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it any more!” stance. We need more of that.

As long as Wrigley keeps selling out, ownership isn’t going to sweat bad results too much. But bad PR and unruly fans will make them take notice, one would think.

If they lose today (sunday) Dusty has to get canned, right? right?

(sigh)

Kiss and Make Up

Barrett apologizes. Cubs lose.

This team has rolled over and played dead. And if they haven’t quit, then the Tribune has spent 100m dollars for a team of horrible players.

Pierre is in serious decline, and he’s useless as an OF with an arm that makes Johnny Damon’s look like Andre Dawson’s. D-
Walker is a good #8 hitter in the AL. He’ll hit .300, but it’s an awfully quiet .300. And the power is gone. But at least he is a defensive liability, right? C

Lee is great. His 2005 may have been an abberation, but he’s still a very good 1B. The injury destroyed the team because Dusty/Hendry/the players couldn’t figure out a way to tread water (see Walker at 1B, Neifi starting, etc.). A

A-Ram is off to a slow start, but he’ll finish the season at .275 / 30 / 100, which is all that should be expected from him. And his defense has improved. B-

Jones is hitting well, he’s not a good baserunner and a spotty defender. He’s not hurting this team though. B

Murton has not delivered. Some can be blamed on coaching (or lack thereof) or lack of practice, but some of the blame is on him, a lot of it. D-

Barrett is a decent major league catcher. Mediocre defensively and average batting. He is prone to being an idiot, which is not a good sign for a catcher. B-

Cedeno has been a lot like Walker, hitting well, but very quietly. When was the last time anyone talked about Ronnie’s clutch hit. Decent defense. B-

Niefi under no circumstances should be on this roster. F-

Pagan got hurt, so the jury is still out… but I never heard of this guy before opening day. ?
Bynum has no business being on the roster. D-
Mabry has no business being on the roster. D-

Nevin is in a bad situation, he’s a 1B, behind Lee. He’s not an OF and he joined the cubs 30 days after he was needed… he’s screwed. B-

Blanco is a fan favorite and had a nice hot streak. Not much is asked of him besides good D once or twice a week, and he delivers that. B-

The roster all in all compares favorably to other teams, except for a very weak bench. This team just isn’t getting it done. I’m too frustrated to rate the pitchers, maybe another day.

Regardless of the rhetoric you hear from the PR machine, this club has quit on Dusty.

We’re talking about PRACTICE!

Interesting tidbit I picked up from a post on Desipio. This is a recap of a radio show discussing the cubs’ practice habits. It is well known that the cubs don’t practice that much (let their W-L record speak for that). They blame home day games on that.

The rest of the free world goes to work @ 9am… so that they can’t practice hitting the cut-off man or running bases around 11:30 a few times a week is LAME…

Anyway, here is the clip as posted on Desipio. (which by the way, is my cubs message board of choice.)

“Mike Murphy on the Score had David Schuester on, a baseball reporter who covers the Cubs. They were talking about Dusty’s comments in recent days that Dusty is happy with how he prepares his players before games, he’s just not happy with the results.

So Murph gets Schuester on and asks what time he, as a reporter, shows up for a night game at Wrigley. Schuester says he’s normally there by 3pm for a 7pm start, yesterday he was there at 2:15.

Murph says that they asked Schuester on today because the Cubs had played back to back home night games and couldn’t use the day game after night game excuse. Murph then asks what Schuester sees the Cubs practicing that early in the day, and Schuester says that the players are not on the field, they are getting taped, going over scouting reports, etc. Murph says that there has to be some guys taking fielding practice or working on hitting the cutoff man, etc. Schuester says, no.

Then Murph plays a clip of a Chris Speier interview from yesterday afternoon, where Speier backs up what Sonny Jackson said last year, that the team does not have time before home day games to practice. And Speier says, remember this was from yesterday, that the Brewers had asked for the field from 2-3pm to practice, and that the Cubs couldn’t go out there now because a “clinic” was going on. Murph asked Schuester what Speier meant by a clinic. Schuester said, and this is amazing that it hasn’t been talked about before this, that the Cubs run what they call a clinic before home night games, but they are just fantasy camps. “Bankers” and other well-off adults pay to come out of the field for a clinic before home night games and the Cubs coaches are required to hit them fungo’s, flyballs, pitch to them, etc. Murph played the clip from Speier again and this time you could really tell Speier was not happy about the clinics, from the way he said, “we can’t go out there right now, there is a clinic going on.”

So Murph says to Schuester, do they practice at all before a game? And Schuester said something Speier had, that Tony Womack was a rare player who liked to take infield practice before a game, but other than that very few Cubs ever come out to work on anything.

Murph at this point goes nuts. He says that the Cubs coaches have now said that the team does not have time to practice before day games and now Speier reveals that they cannot practice, if they wanted to, before home night games because the Cubs are busy selling out fantasty camps during the season. Murph then dug into his vault to play part of his interview with Jim Hendry from May 18th of this year. Murph asked Hendry if the team practices anything before games, because Sonny Jackson had said they do not have time. Hendry went off on Murph and basically said that was a stupid question and of course they practice and they work on this and that. So the clip ends and Murph says, “I’ve been a backer of Jim Hendry since he took over, a big backer of him, and he lied to me. He came on this show and had the gall to get offended when I asked if they practice, and he assured me they did, and now his coaches confirm that he is a liar!” Murph then reached a boiling point and said he would not talk about the Cubs again, they do not deserve it and he wouldn’t talk about them for the rest of this season unless they made some changes.”

Interesting? yes. Enraging? of course. Suprising? no.

June 29 vs Brewers – Running Diary

In honor of the Cubs amazing comeback yesterday, it’s time for another running diary! (all times pacific) (via Gameday)

10:40am Prior’s starting again. He needs a good start today. The Brewers are throwing out some dude named Geremi Gonzalez and his 6.08 era. It would be really nice just to have a confidence building 12-2 win today. As much happiness a Dusty loss gives me, all the Cubs losses are hurting too much. Go Cubs!

11:12 Interesting to note, that with a 100m budget, there isn’t even one cub in the top 5 at any position in the all-star voting… were all the cub fans voting for other teams in a show of irony but I didn’t get the memo? The Pirates have a player in the top-5 at every position but catcher.

11:26 Weeks leads off with a hit. I’m not a major league coach, but Prior seems to be throwing a lot of 0-2, 1-2 pitches in hittable areas. I’m not saying he should be bouncing them in there, make ‘em chase!

11:31 Carlos Lee owns the Cubs. The Cubs are Carlos Lee’s little plaything. It’s humilating. 1-0 Brewers. Also, Weeks stole 2nd on a foul tip strikeout. Didn’t know you could advance on a foul ball without tagging. But I don’t know everything. On the bright side, Prior did K the side, he just gave up 2 hits, 1 SB and 1 Run. Kudos!

11:34 There is no Neifi in the lineup today… with the exception of Nevin in for Murton, it’s a pretty sane lineup… could be a boring diary.

11:37 After some thought, Murton hits like a girl. Neifi drives in more runs per AB than Murton. Ride some pine and reflect there, Red.

11:45 Aside from Derrek Lee working a nice AB into a BB, not much else. So it might be a good time to bring up the fact that Carlos Zambrano has more HR & RBI than John Mabry. And CZ has a better walk rate than Neifi. (CZ has 1 walk in 33 PAs, just to give you an idea of how much a “Dusty Guy” Neifi is.)

11:49 DIIIIING! Corey Koskie homers. 2-0 Brews. On the plus side, Prior has 5 Ks thru 2 innings. On the minus side, he has given up 3 hits, 2 runs, 1 HR and 1 SB.

11:53 Wait a minute! This is the same Geremi (Jeremi) Gonzalez who pitched for the Cubs in the late ninties. I have nothing to add beyond that. Nevin broke up his no-hitter after 1 1/3 innings.

12:09 Slow goings, until a 2 out single by walker and a walk by Lee, then A-Ram flew out and I’m drowsy. Top of the 4th, 2-0 MIL. But here comes Carlos Lee!

12:18 C-Lee did single… but D-Lee turned a double play. Then Koskie walked (excuse me, Mark, this is KOREY KOSKIE!!!!) and then stole 2nd. Now Damian Miller is fouling off balls like… a guy who fouls off a lot of balls. When a guy fould off 4-6 balls in an AB, bad things happen, like a double and its now 3-0 Brewers.

12:22 It breaks my heart to think we could’ve gotten Miggy Tejada for Prior. It breaks my heart even more that I would wish Prior was gone. I WANTED TO LOVE YOU! YOU MANEATER! You broke my heart, it’s broken, you vagina!

12:27 G-Gonz is DEALING! Reality got lost, will he make it to the park in time? Or will Geremi be doing his Cy Young impression for nine innings?

12:37 Prior is getting his Ks. 7 thru 5 innings. If he can put together 2 more scoreless innings this could be a decent start. Too bad Gonzalez is making the Cubs look like the Cubs today.

12:44 I know Juan Pierre hit a home yesterday, but why on earth is he still hitting leadoff when he’s so inept at getting on base? Why do I have to keep asking this question? Why do I care?

12:49 They walked D-Lee again. With A-Ram hitting like Matt Murton in a dress, why not? (I am now hoping A-Ram makes them pay!)

12:53 A-Ram walked and Jones made them pay with a 2-run single. 3-2 Brewers. Why are so many message boarders and bloggers down on Jones? He’s been one of the few bright spots on this team. Viva La Jacque!

1:03 Cub Master Carlos Lee walks, unnerving MarkyMark enough to give up back to back singles, to Cecil’s kid Prince and to arch-nemesis Korey Koskie. Bases loaded, nobody out…

1:06 Has Prior ever really recovered from the game 6 8th inning 2003 playoffs… the Bartman/Gonzalez inning? I don’t think so. He’s never seemed totally the same fearless dominating pitcher. Now he’s scared of injury and not intimidating. Though he did just K Damian Miller to get the first out. He needs to get out of this inning.

1:10 Now he K’d Clark… one more. Bear down.

1:13 Prior of 2003 would’ve gotten Gabe Gross to make an out and have gotten out of the inning with no damage. Mark Prior of 2006, allows Gabe Gross (I can not emphasize this enough, not Carlos Lee, not Prince Fielder, Gabe Gross) to knock a two run single. And here comes Roberto Oh-No-voa. Final line for Prior: 5.2 innings 5 runs 8 hits 4 BB 1 HR 2 SB. There’s the Franchise.

1:22 Well, Ron Ce took one for the team and Blanco followed up with a single. It’s time for Matty Murton to step up.

1:26 By step up I did not mean ground into a double play. (At least he got the run in) Take a seat, Red. There is plenty of room on the Murton bandwagon, because people are jumping off it like crazy.

1:35 What a shocker, Carlos Lee with another base hit! He becomes Babe Ruth when he sees a Cub pitcher looking back at him. Then he steals a base! There is no comparison for the C-Lee domination.

1:40 Derrek Lee steps up as the tying run after a Walker single. Let’s see if they give him a pitch to hit…

1:46 Lee grounded into a force, but A-Ram singled and now something is brewing with Jacque Jones stepping into the box. First & Second, One Out. 5-3 Brewers. You can cut the tension with a… BASE HIT! The Cubs cut it to one!

1:48 Ugh, with A-Ram at 3rd, Nevin grounds to third. GET THE TYING RUN HOME! Poke it the other way. FUNDAMENTALS! F**k You Dusty Baker. I blame you!

1:52 Ron Ce flies out. I need a smoke. BRB.

1:59 Nice quick inning by Williamson (who is going to be traded in the next few weeks, you heard it here 10th) Blanco walks and Neifi bunts him over. (Well done Neifi!)

2:04 2 on, 2 out for Derrek Lee. (Both runners in scoring position.) And here comes Turnbow!

2:11 The whiff. I’m just glad Jones is gonna get a chance in the bottom of the ninth.

2:13 Unless Howry implodes. Lead-off walk to teen-idol Corey Hart.

2:17 Teed-idol Corey Hart is gunned down in a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play. Then Howry blows Bill Hall away and it comes down to the last 3 outs.

2:24 Two quick pop-ups and the game rests on the shoulders of Phil Nevin. Considering he was the slapnut who couldn’t get A-Ram home from 3rd with 1 out in the 7th, it makes sense that it comes to this… redemption, or total failure.

2:28 A walk. Ok. I’ll take it. Well done Nevin.

2:30 Wild pitch, Nevin, the tying run is on 2nd., 3-1 count on Ron Ce.

2:31 Marmol pinch runs for Nevin! Full count!

2:32 Cedeno whiffs. Game over. In other news, Pittsburgh won, so the Cubs inch closer to dead last.

2:34 Meh.

BREAKING NEWS

Juan Pierre homered! I don’t know what this means, but it happened. We now return to the Dusty Baker show, already in progress.

***This just in… Mark Prior is a tender vag?***

Fabulous article! I’m working on harnessing my rage into such brilliance. In other news, the Cubs blew another lead.

New and Exciting Ways to Lose

Last night… wow… WOW… El Toro carries the team upon his back, Walker comes up big in the clutch and it looked like the Cubs were gonna snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, only to hand it over the the Brewers on a silver platter. I don’t need to rehash specifics, but this team is an embarrassment. Where’s the professional pride?
Derrek Lee has seen enough! However, I’ve been seeing enough since last season. I don’t know if Lee is one of “Dusty’s guys” but someone needs to stand up and demand changes and it just might have to be MVLee.

Dusty isn’t learning! And it’s not just cub fans who are noticing! When others are pointing out your shortcomings, again and again and again and again… and your GM is giving you ANOTHER vote of confidence after a humiliating loss, just RESIGN.

Get well Peter Gammons.

Dusty Baker, the method

I just realized it, walking home, ready to write another “how can Dusty be so stupid” rant after another weird lineup and 0 runs. (eight losses in a row).  There has been no spark since Wood returned and left, Prior returned and Lee returned.

Here is why Dusty does what he does. In SF he had Bonds, his first 2 successful seasons in Chi he has Sosa. He even said as much. To paraphrase, “give me the horses, and have them healthy, and I’ll win”.

So, he won when he had 2 of the best (tho tainted) sluggers of the last 30 years. But when he has to teach the game, or use less than HOF hitters, he SUCKS.

This team, with injuries, still has: Zambrano, Maddux, Howry, Eyre, Dempster, Walker, Ramierez, Jones, Nevin, Pierre and Barrett.

These are good to very good major leaguers. This team still has talent. But, it can’t/won’t take a walk and lacks the baserunning and defensive fundamentals required of a major league ballclub. Dusty is responsible for this.

When your team lacks the pop that Lee brings, fundamentals become that much more important. You can make up for a lot of errors when you have a Bonds or a Sosa.

Last season (and now this one) Baker insists on batting low OBP guys in front of Derrek Lee, costing runs. This manager does not give his team the best chance to win.

He is a poor manager in wins & losses and in “moneyball” statistics.  He is a guy his players like who’s shoddy managerial skills have been hidden behind HOF players.

What I don’t understand now (and didn’t in May, or even last season) is that now, in June 2006, when it is so painfully obvious he is not the right manager for this team. This is a manager who could manage in St. Louis, where he has Pujols and a good supporting cast and a forgiving fan base.

He can’t teach, he can’t manage. He can supervise a good team decently.

HE ran Sosa out of town, HE couldn’t get through to Patterson, the Prior and Wood fiascos have happened or worsened under HIS watch. The glorious farm system hasn’t resulted in anything above a sub-average major leaguer under HIS watch. (Hendry can be lumped into this)

What do you think Guzman, Murton, Hill, etc. etc. etc. do under Bobby Cox?

This is a mismanaged Club, from the top down. It’s just a shame now. It’s pathetic and embarrassing.

Cub fans deserve better.

Sox town

It has happened. Chicago is a Sox town now. I hope the Tribune Company is happy. Apparently winning, passion and panache counts for something. The Sox are following the '85 Bears model. And it works! They're relevent. They're in the news.

People are tired of reporting on Wood's labia labrum, Prior's phantom injuries and Dusty's extension. The Cubs have made nothing happen and fans are jumping on the south side bandwagon. And honestly, I can't blame them. They put on a better show, win more, have better personnel, don't blame the fans, have a competent (if crazy) manager and a crazy-like-a-fox general manager.

Sure, when Lee comes back, there will be a bit of a lift, but this season is over for the Cubs and in full swing for the south siders.

by the way, Ozzie, Mariotti is not a "fag"… but he is…

**UPDATE**

Excellent article on the hoped-for firing of Dusty Baker by Mike Kiley of the Sun Times. I think his calm and cool reasoning explains it better than my crazed ranting.