...to the questions…

From his comments in the paper he refers to himself as maybe being slightly slower afoot and to have misread the ball somewhat on that catch…

That being said, does it matter? Does anyone think that normal body that is not roided up keeps the same speed and quickness into mid-late 30s and beyond? Well, maybe Bonds and Clemens believe it, but seriously there is no shame in admitting that you are slower and less reactive as you age—it’s part of life.

Edmonds indicated that his experience playing at that park contributed to him making that catch. I liked that, there is also a benefit to being older.

Edmonds can still play a decent CF if he doesn’t get hurt. I think the real question will be can he provide any pop at all with the bat. If he’s as bad as Pie at the plate thenwhat’s the benefit? Time will tell and I like Edmonds and hope that he has something left and he gives it to the Cubs.

and I may have even been won over in one play however…

Pie doesn’t make that play the way Edmonds did because he gets there in time to make the catch facing frontward.

Not to take away from the beauty of that play though. I am okay with him for now.

I know he was worried!

Seriously?

The interviewers asked Sandberg about accusations that he only made the routine play, never the spectacular play and never “got his uniform dirty.” Sandberg curtly replied that if you position yourself correctly before each batter steps in and read the ball correctly off the bat, you won’t need to make spectacular plays; you’ll be there when the ball gets there.

Jim Edmonds has made a career out of playing out of position and making bad breaks on balls. He took a bad route to that ball last night. Sure, it was a great catch—but it shouldn’t have had to be a great catch. I don’t know if Pie catches that ball, and I think those sort of what if scenarios are irrelevant anyway. Edmonds has lost a step and he still insists on playing shallow. It got him a Web Gem last night; I pray it doesn’t cost the Cubs a run or two in the future. And how in holy hell do you project 18-20 HR from one nice catch? This diary is the paradigm example of Cub fans getting out over their skis over one nice play.

Don’t get me wrong here: I am rooting for Edmonds and I was just as excited as anyone else when Is aw that catch, but let’s not get all up in arms over one catch.

and I shouted “nice catch edmonds!” and then I just stopped for a second cause I realized that I had just gotten legitimately excited over something edmonds did good. That was a strange moment.

He looked slow-footed in the field most of the game, appeared to have mis-played that ball in the 4th inning completely over the wrong shoulder, and as pointed out earlier, most fleet-footed CFs would have been camped out under it; and certainly not needed to make some crazy basket grab.

me most about the catch was that Edmonds turned his back to the ball and started running as “fast” as he could to the point where he thought the ball would arrive. Not many outfielders are capable of doing that or are comfortable doing that. Granted he was a little wrong about where the ball was going to come down.

To me, despite the fact that he got a bad jump on the ball and turned the wrong way initially, that is what makes Edmonds a good outfielder. With his experience he knows how a batted ball will travel and can run to the spot without keeping his eye on the ball and then find the ball in time to make the catch.

....and Barry Bonds in the AS game a few years back--the ball was smoked. Ted Lilly knew it was smoked and hopped up and down on the mound—Hunter Pence put his hands to his head in disbelief and he plays CF in that park.

Some of you refuse to give ANY credit and some of us (me) are living on a prayer that somehow a broken down Edmonds can return to his 2005 form. In the middle lies the truth. We all want to be right about signing/not signing Edmonds and sending Pie down--but we all should try to be objective-including me.

That ball was hit like a bullet and was caught about 410’ from the plate. To say that he deliberately turned the wrong way or was out of position or slowed down, etc..is probably not being fair. Come on fellas.

if Pie makes that play. Edmonds plays so far forward, Pie probably makes that play moving backwards, not running to make a showy over the shoulder catch.

I don’t see the worth, I certainly don’t see improvement. Edmonds was hired for his bat, not his D, and his bat is doing nothing.

Give Edmonds credit for making a great catch. I hope that’s not the last thing on his career highlight reel. If he can’t still hit, maybe he can still give us more defense like that. The guy is 38 years old, so he’s not as fast as he was. If he proves he can play good defense on a consistent basis, the Cubs might consider having Edmonds in CF and Johnson in LF for defensive purposes late in games. Can he play good defense on a consistent basis? I don’t know, but that was still a great catch last night.

Pie would have made that catch and made it look much easier. Edmonds plays too shallow. Pie would have made that look routine.

shouldn’t come up when a spectacular play is made (all 3 of our CFs have made amazing plays). It should come up when a ball lands for a hit that is just a bit out of the range of the fielder. Last night, e.g. we got to see the limitations of the left side of Houston’s infield as both Tejada and Wigginton missed balls right under their gloves. It seemed to me that an average fielder at that position makes both of those plays. Sometimes it’s obvious that someone’s range is sub-par, but other times it’s a guess unless you have video and/or charts showing whether or not the player you want to compare gets to similar balls in play.

It’s possible that Edmonds’ range is never going to be an obvious issue, especially given Wrigley’s dimensions.

TTTSNBN is old and busted. Official apology posts / gloating posts are the new hotness.

in one game. He’s paid to catch the ball. Pie easily makes that catch.

Jim Edmonds still has something left in the tank. He is going to stuff it in the face of his detractors in this town and Cardinal Nation.

I hope he hits .300 with 20 homeruns.

One thing that I’ve learned from this thread, though—if he does fail, those of us that expect him to are better off being silent than reminding those who ripped on us for thinking that. Because otherwise, we’ll be labelled as haters who are happy about the failure.