MLB 2008

[papsrus]

They were saying that unlike in other ballparks, it was a badge of honor for Cubs fans to stay at Wrigley until the end of a game no matter what the score, and as they were saying this the camera showed chunks of empty seats in the background. Although to be fair, most did stay until way past the point of there being any doubt about the outcome. That was one suffering crowd.

Hate to use the "choke" word, but ... they are chocking, aren't they?

For the sake of Cubs fans, here's hoping they take two in LA and set themselves up for a storybook run!

Edited October 3, 2008 by papsrus

[Chalupa]

Curse Busters...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...mp;sportCat=mlb

[BERIGAN]

I recall the Pirates that, in was it "78 or '79?, at least one World Series game they didn't sell out. I lived in Pittsburgh at the time, and I remember thinking that I could just drive right down and buy a ticket to the World Series! However, it was snowing lightly, so I didn't bother.

AND Three Rivers Stadium held, what, 72K?

Not quite.

Capacity 38,496 (2001)

Although, ballparks.com has it at 47,971 (baseball).

Those numbers seem low to me. Wiki says

The stadium originally seated 58,729 for baseball.[15] In the early 1990s, the Pirates placed tarps on most of the upper deck to create a better baseball atmosphere, reducing capacity to 47,687.

Three Rivers closed in 2000, so the 2001 figure is for the new park.

Lets go with 58. Whichever number you take, none of 'em are 72K.

Yeah, most of the donut shaped stadiums held 55 K+ Busch, Riverfront, Three Rivers.

[papsrus]

Hell Yeah! ... Up 2-0 heading to Chicago.

[zen archer]

J.D. DREW !!!!!!!!!!!

[Dan Gould]

A very tense game but I had a feeling we could get to K-Rod before they would get to Papelbon, because it seems to me like K-Rod has lost a little (didn't he throw mid-90s, plus having the nasty curve and change? Plus I knew his WHIP was a little high this season). I still don't buy the experience or the "getting in their heads" argument, these are just two positive results in a row; if anything we were due to beat them after playing so poorly during the regular season against them.

[zen archer]

A very tense game but I had a feeling we could get to K-Rod before they would get to Papelbon, because it seems to me like K-Rod has lost a little (didn't he throw mid-90s, plus having the nasty curve and change? Plus I knew his WHIP was a little high this season). I still don't buy the experience or the "getting in their heads" argument, these are just two positive results in a row; if anything we were due to beat them after playing so poorly during the regular season against them.

Maybe K-Rod is spent ?....62 saves out of what 69 chances ?

See thats why the Sox are careful with Papelbon .

[BERIGAN]

A very tense game but I had a feeling we could get to K-Rod before they would get to Papelbon, because it seems to me like K-Rod has lost a little (didn't he throw mid-90s, plus having the nasty curve and change? Plus I knew his WHIP was a little high this season). I still don't buy the experience or the "getting in their heads" argument, these are just two positive results in a row; if anything we were due to beat them after playing so poorly during the regular season against them.

Maybe K-Rod is spent ?....62 saves out of what 69 chances ?

See thats why the Sox are careful with Papelbon .

I heard a few weeks back that K-Rod never went more than 1 inning the whole year, their way of protecting him.

[Dan Gould]

A very tense game but I had a feeling we could get to K-Rod before they would get to Papelbon, because it seems to me like K-Rod has lost a little (didn't he throw mid-90s, plus having the nasty curve and change? Plus I knew his WHIP was a little high this season). I still don't buy the experience or the "getting in their heads" argument, these are just two positive results in a row; if anything we were due to beat them after playing so poorly during the regular season against them.

Maybe K-Rod is spent ?....62 saves out of what 69 chances ?

See thats why the Sox are careful with Papelbon .

K-Rod never pitched multiple innings like Papelbon did, but their stats are similar:

K-Rod: 68 1/3 IP, 1170 pitches

Paps: 69 1/3 IP, 1051 pitches

So K-Rod was less efficient than Papelbon over the same number of innings. What's amazing is that he had 69 save attempts and thew less than 69 innings! How does that happen? Was the manager so intent on getting him the save record that he didn't even make him start the ninth inning of a save situation? That's ridiculous, and proves that K-Rod shouldn't get any MVP votes.

[Quincy]

K-Rod never pitched multiple innings like Papelbon did, but their stats are similar:

K-Rod: 68 1/3 IP, 1170 pitches

Paps: 69 1/3 IP, 1051 pitches

What's amazing is that he had 69 save attempts and thew less than 69 innings! How does that happen?

That is something. He had some 1 out saves, but the less than 1 inning outings also reflect blown saves and losses.

Francisco "I hate his nickname" Rodriguez's game log

[zen archer]

A very tense game but I had a feeling we could get to K-Rod before they would get to Papelbon, because it seems to me like K-Rod has lost a little (didn't he throw mid-90s, plus having the nasty curve and change? Plus I knew his WHIP was a little high this season). I still don't buy the experience or the "getting in their heads" argument, these are just two positive results in a row; if anything we were due to beat them after playing so poorly during the regular season against them.

Maybe K-Rod is spent ?....62 saves out of what 69 chances ?

See thats why the Sox are careful with Papelbon .

K-Rod never pitched multiple innings like Papelbon did, but their stats are similar:

K-Rod: 68 1/3 IP, 1170 pitches

Paps: 69 1/3 IP, 1051 pitches

So K-Rod was less efficient than Papelbon over the same number of innings. What's amazing is that he had 69 save attempts and thew less than 69 innings! How does that happen? Was the manager so intent on getting him the save record that he didn't even make him start the ninth inning of a save situation? That's ridiculous, and proves that K-Rod shouldn't get any MVP votes.

Those are amazing stats , i didn't know that .

[tkeith]

Lets go with 58. Whichever number you take, none of 'em are 72K.

Fair enough. It's merely a colossal number for a baseball stadium instead of a ginormous one. My point was, Pittsburgh has a population of 360K and a baseball park that was actually a football stadium. As such, it's no surprise they had empty seats. For the home opener against the Dodgers in 1997, they were sold out (post after they'd added the tarps); my seats were so far back it was hard to tell Mike Piazza from Pedro Astacio (slight exaggeration).

[Tom 1960]

DODGERS!!!!!!!

[Big Al]

Cubs still look good.

My wife won't even let me talk about the Cubs, since she thinks I'll jinx them. They do look good though.

Damnit man! You just jinxed them!!!

(or is that only if your wife hears you talking about them?)

Dunno. I could ask her, but then she'd know I was talking about the Cubs.

Guess I'll try to keep shtum from now on.

I already jinxed 'em on Saturday when I was talking to my cousin who's Dad lives in St. Pete but is originally from Chicago. "I wonder," I mused in that annoying way that Nat Hentoff uses when he's writing liner notes, "how cool it would be for your Dad," I said to my cousin (stop it, you're no Nat Hentoff), "if the Cubs and the Rays were in the World Series this year? Seems like it's their year, since the Red Sox and the White Sox have broken their curses."

So, when the Cubs inevitably collapse, you'll know who to blame. Sorry in advance.

Having said that, though: GO CUBS!!!!

As of right now, I am keeping my big fat mouth SHUT on anything Cubs-related until they get that ring on their finger. Which means that, very likely, this will be my last post EVER about the Cubs.

What a fucking choke job. This team lost the "lovable" from "lovable losers" years ago and seem to have replaced it with "loathsome."

Harry & Brickhouse have probably spun their graves all the way thru to the other side of the globe by now....

Edited October 5, 2008 by Big Al

[catesta]

Thank you to the Cubs for another exciting postseason appearance.

[MartyJazz]

Lou Piniella couldn't hide the disgust he felt in the postgame clubhouse interview. He kept mentioning that 6 runs offense in a three game series just won't get it done. I'm happy for Torre but I certainly could understand the frustration Cub fans must feel. I think the Dodgers could get past the Brewers, but the Phillies are the best in the NL at this point.

[Dan Gould]

What are you guys talking about? A freak line of showers inundated Dodger Stadium and canceled last night's game. The Cubs are still in this thing ...

[Chalupa]

((((Cubs fans))))

[BERIGAN]

What are you guys talking about? A freak line of showers inundated Dodger Stadium and canceled last night's game. The Cubs are still in this thing ...

I thought it was a thunder snowstorm that cancelled the game????

Man, I was just slightly cool on the cubs because I thought they were almost a team put together with no consideration to cost, we need it, get it. But, if that's what it took to finally get into a series, and win it, then do it...Well, it just goes to show you how the best team in a league isn't the best team for a short series. And damn, I know it's been brought up before, but someone please do away with 5 game series!!! You lose the first two, and it's basically over. Heck, lose game one, and to win 3 out of next 4 sounds damn near impossible.

Any guesses as to what was wrong with this team??? Too much pressure?? 3 starting pitchers picking a really lousy time to suck? Harden's velocity is way down, I think only someone on ESPN mentioned it-well, heard it at the very beginning of the game that he was slower early in the last few starts-but 90-91 MPH ain't gonna cut it without a ton of movement.

Soriano was huge in Yankee playoff games, it can't be a pressure issue with him. He just was stone cold down the stretch. The TBS post game group looked down after the fact. It's funny, Ekersley said something to start the playoff coverage about how he had been on teams that were the best team that year, and getting knocked out early...

The Dodgers have to be given some credit though, timely hitting, and pitchers who throw hard and almost nothing straight.

I was happy for the Japanese pitcher who never was in the playoffs after something like 12 years in Japan, and for Casey Blake, after the tough time Cleveland had last year...Gotta find something to be positive about.

[Dan Gould]

Don't forget, Conrad - for a long while in the Division era, a five game series decided who won the pennant! I think though that three 7-game rounds would require an earlier start, which means knocking games off the regular season, and no one in baseball wants to do that.

In fact next year is going to be crazy. I think the season starts late because of the WBC or for some other reason, and Game 7 of the Series is scheduled for like November 5! Hope that game is in a dome or on the west coast or in south Florida.

[Soulstation1]

IMO

The Cubs ain't gonna win the world series

I hate to tell ya, I told ya so..................

[papsrus]

I recall Piniella making a comment after the Cubs clinched a playoff spot to the effect that, "Everybody will think this team is a failure if they don't win it all. That's not true." ... Meaning, they were already a success just by their performance in the regular season and making the playoffs. I figured at the time he was just trying to take any pressure off the players for the post season and he knew damn well they had to win it all to live up to the expectations. At the same time, it wasn't exactly a "rah-rah, lets go get 'em in the playoffs" kind of attitude, and I thought that was a little odd.

Not to over-analyze things too much, but I wonder if that comment by Lou and the sort of passive or apprehensive attitude it reveals offer a glimpse into the mindset of the Cubs -- playing down expectations, and then performing exactly to those lowered expectations, rather than having a more aggressive attitude of some other teams (Rays, Dodgers, BoSox ...).

I think until fans and players ditch the whole lovable losers/curse thing, the Cubs will always try to tip-toe into a championship without knocking anything over along the way, rather than risk everything in a balls-to-the-wall charge to take one aggressively.

IMHO

Edited October 5, 2008 by papsrus

[zen archer]

I recall Piniella making a comment after the Cubs clinched a playoff spot to the effect that, "Everybody will think this team is a failure if they don't win it all. That's not true." ... Meaning, they were already a success just by their performance in the regular season and making the playoffs. I figured at the time he was just trying to take any pressure off the players for the post season and he knew damn well they had to win it all to live up to the expectations. At the same time, it wasn't exactly a "rah-rah, lets go get 'em in the playoffs" kind of attitude, and I thought that was a little odd.

Not to over-analyze things too much, but I wonder if that comment by Lou and the sort of passive or apprehensive attitude it reveals offer a glimpse into the mindset of the Cubs -- playing down expectations, and then performing exactly to those lowered expectations, rather than having a more aggressive attitude of some other teams (Rays, Dodgers, BoSox ...).

I think until fans and players ditch the whole lovable losers/curse thing, the Cubs will always try to tip-toe into a championship without knocking anything over along the way, rather than risk everything in a balls-to-the-wall charge to take one aggressively.

IMHO

First off Piniella sucks , did he ever win a WS title as skipper for the yanks ?...He really is overrated .

The other thing did Cubs fans really think this was the year ?......with guys like Soriano ( overrated , even the yanks got rid of him !)), Fukudome ( what the ?) and

a 100 year old Jim Edmonds ?

When the Red Sox broke the curse ( whatever ) look who they had

Manny Ramirez

David Ortiz

Pedro Martinez

Curt Schilling

Thats at least 2 future Hall of Famers maybe 3 .

I mean The Cubs need MANNY on their team not Soriano .....puhleaze !

The Rays would have killed the Cubs....( in fact The Rays may go all the way ................)

[zen archer]

Cubs fans ,trust me on this ...Sweet Lou will go down in history as the guy who kicks Baseball Caps and throws dirt on bases and screams at umpires , loses his cool , speaks bad spanish .........NOT THE GUY WHO MANAGED THE CUBS TO THEIR FIRST WS TITLE IN 100 YEARS!!!!!!

He is not the guy !

[Soulstation1]

OK

My MLB Joke of the Year

Who is Fred G Sanford's Fav Cubs Player?

Drumroll Please...........................................

Fukudumme