and his base running has to be up there somewhere.

The day Larry Walker caught a ball in RF, thought it was the third out and flipped it into the stands—except it wasn’t the third out and a run scored.

But one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a ballgame was my son trying to run the bases backwards after his first hit in t-ball.

sticking with the current times i gotta say putting edmonds in a beloved cub uniform.

Manny Ramirez . . .

forgot to add – Manny Ramirez . . . in left field

Overunning 2nd last year ON A WALK with NOBODY out in the 9th. With a 3-2 count
Ronnie was off with the pitch which was ball 4. He overan 2nd and that little troll
Eckstein who was clearly waiting for a moment like this tags him out. I never knew before
that you could be out on a walk. Instead of runners on 1st & 2nd with NO outs the Cubs
had a runner on first with one out and where I believe only down by one run.

I am growing fonder of Ronnie but I will NEVER forget that play

CUBS 5, ROCKIES 4: Ricky Gutierrez scored the winning run on a botched rundown by Colorado to lead Chicago over the visiting Rockies.

With runners on first and second and one out, pinch-hitter Joe Girardi singled to left field. Gutierrez fell coming around third base and quickly retreated.

But Girardi was caught between first and second. Catcher Sal Fasano threw to shortstop Juan Uribe, who got Girardi in a rundown. Uribe threw to first baseman Todd Helton, who took a few steps toward home to make sure Gutierrez did not try to score.

Helton threw to pitcher Gabe White, who was covering first, to get Girardi for the second out. Gutierrez then sprinted home and slid in safely ahead of White’s throw.

I saved this story from the 4/11/01 Tribune because it frustrated me so much.

Cubs Management

1. Once the Cubs place Farnsworth on the disabled list, they are likely to promote one of their relievers from Triple-A Iowa. They have several choices, including Carlos Zambrano, Scott Chiasson, Courtney Duncan and Alan Benes.

One source within the organization said Zambrano is the Cubs’ first choice but that Iowa officials were having trouble locating him. They apparently were unsure where Zambrano lives and didn’t have a phone number for him.

The Ligues on the southside or lunkhead Chad Krueter on the northside have to make the list.

but on the list of dumb managerial moves, I’ll never forget his decision to pitch to Mike Lowell over Lenny Harris in the ‘03 playoffs because he liked the “match-up” better.

And i’m not sure if this qualifies, but on the list of dumb administrative moves, I’d nominate William Wrigley’s refusing to agree to the contract Bob Kennedy was about to sign Bruce Sutter to in 1980 because Wrigley didn’t want to defer any money. Wrigley apparently didn’t get that deferring money was beneficial to him because he could collect interest before it was paid out.

... I was sitting maybe 20 rows from third base, looked across the diamond towards 1st base and see two guys jump onto the field and attack KC Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa.

DmL

I remember a game in the 1980’s, when Dick Ruthven was on second. No one was on first. On a full count, Ruthven broke for third. The batter walked on the pitch. Ruthven just jogged down to third. Ruthven was so surprised when the catcher threw down to third, and Ruthven was tagged out

The slow pitch softball field we played on had a horrible 5 foot fence that was one of those cheap little elementary school fences where the wire triangled over the bar. Anyway, after a fly ball was hit deep to left, the LFer (who had probably had too many beers, judging by his round and round approach to tracking the ball) dove to catch the ball (which cleared the fence) and his face landed right at the top of the fence. Apparently his lip was still hanging on the fence when the ambulance arrived. It was funny to see him dive into the fence and crunch himself, until we learned just how bad it ended up.

In your post you say why is he bunting with two on and one out. Why not bunt——it actually says there are NO outs…......?

leadoff.

I coach baseball for the junior high I work at, and a few years ago we had a new kid that no one knew trying out. He’d moved into town over the summer (junior high baseball is in the fall) and hadn’t played little league ball in town because of the move. However, I was told that every chance he got, he talked up his baseball skills, telling the other town kids they’d be lucky to have him on their team. Going on about his hitting skills, his throwing arm, and his incredible speed.
When I finally met him at tryouts, I’d already heard what a superstar he was supposed to be. The arrogant little punk (yes, I’m calling a kid a name) actually introduced himself to me as “your superstar switch-hitting leadoff man.” When he stepped into the box to take bp during the tryouts, he actually hit ok right handed – meaning he made contact a few times, all weak grounders. I’d already figured out that the kid was all talk, but I wanted to to see what he could do from the other side of the plate, thinking maybe he’s better left-handed. I asked him to take a few hacks lefty and it became pretty obvious that he wasn’t really a switch-hitter, because he stayed in the right handed batter’s box, but turned the bat upside-down to hit.
I normally wouldn’t make fun of a kid who, even with an extreme lack of talent, shows up at tryouts and gives it his best, but this boy was actually taunting the other players in the days leading up to tryouts. I probably would have cut him anyway, just for the “me” attitude, but when he swore at one of the assistant coaches who tried to show him how to actually bat lefty, he was done.

Three words:

Disco Demolition Night.

The dumbest thing I have ever seen in a ball game was when Robin Ventura went out to the mound to fight Nolan Ryan in the early nineties. Ryan hit him with a fastball, and I have no idea if he did it on purpose. It was the fad to charge the mound at the time and that was what Ventura did. Haha… Ryan put Robin in a headlock and punched him in the head with what seemed like several hundred times! haha… The third baseman was half his age, and though Ventura was a decent/good ball player, he is always going to be remembered for this.

when Steve Lyons slid into first, stood up to brush himself off and dropped his pants.

That was pretty damn funny.

1. A famous blunder, Lonnie Smith getting duped by the Twins DP combo (Knoblauch and Gagne?) in game 7 of the ‘91 World Series. I’m sure lots of you remember that play…

...Lonnie Smith was such a comical player, this thread would be full of stories about him if he’d ever played for the Cubs.

2. I also thought of a Sammy Sosa blunder against the Marlins in ‘99. The Cubs were leading the Marlins by a run, with two out in the 9th, and men on first and second. Kevin Millar hit a deep drive to right field, Sosa leaped for it falling back into the “well”. The ball hit off Sammy’s glove, then he inadvertantly kicked it into the corner…but he had no idea where it went. Does he look at his CF or infielders for help?...no. He immediately raises his arms to indicate that he’s lost the ball in the ivy and by the time he realizes that the ball is not in the ivy, Millar had a three-run inside-the-park homer that ultimately won the game.

That was right about the time that the wheels fell off that ‘99 team.

Hunter lost it and it landed about 50 feet behind him. Big Boy Prince got an inside the park home-run.

Lefty Larry Walker turning his helmet backwards and batting right-handed against wicked 6’10” LHP Randy Johnson.

Brewers had the bases loaded, one out. Jason Kendall grounded to 3B Jose Bautista who threw to 2B Freddy Sanchez. Sanchez caught the throw and started jogging to the dugout as Corey Hart crossed the plate, oblivious to the fact that he was supposed to turn the DP to get out of the inning.

Oops.

(The replay is available on Gameday.)

He lasted one game before the commissioner yanked him out of the clubhouse.

being called safe at the plate in the 1 game playoff vs. the Padres last season. (Not necessarily dumb call, it was close but he was out!).

Reverse angle shot:

Also, there was a game and it slips my mind which game but it was the 9th inning IIRC and Holliday had misread the ball off a bat and as it got over his head he turned to look for it. As he’s looking for the ball the camera shows the shot of the ball directly between his legs….. He was still looking for it as the winning run crossed the plate. DUMB!

Hie yourself to Minnesota this Sunday because it’s the St. Paul Saints Larry Craig Bobblefoot Day! According to The Smoking Gun:

Capitalizing on Senator Larry Craig’s restroom bust, a Minnesota minor league baseball team this Sunday is giving away a promotional item celebrating the Republican politician’s arrest last year at the Minneapolis-St.Paul airport. Dubbed a “bobblefoot” (as opposed to a bobblehead doll), the polyresin giveaway depicts an occupied bathroom stall (the inhabitant’s pants and shoes can be seen below the stall’s panels).

That almost beats out the Fukudome bobblehead the Cubs are giving out on Tuesday. Almost.