Lou had him released during spring training of 1993, his first year there. Schooler pitched one year with the Rangers and was done after that.

honestly, what more is there? obviously you need to care for the players and help them be as successful as possible, but isn’t that a part of winning baseball? win and everybody (who cares about the team more than themselves) is happy :)

I am beginning to calm down now with respect to Lou’s managing…I posted many times here when Dusty was manager that without Roidzilla, Dusty was a one season wonder with SFG. He was a lousy manager before he came to the Cubs and he’s still a lousy manager. I underestimated his connections and his ability to sell himself for a new job, but I think Leyland doing so well with Detroit and having Morgan in his corner really helped him. I am glad that he got another opportunity to prove his poor managing to all…Don’t worry reds fan, by September 1, Dusty will have decided that he’s given Corey a long enough look at leadoff, say hello to Juan Pierre, LOL!

how did you suffer in the 4 years dusty was here? he took us the closest we’ve been to a world series in years like it or not. he went into his next years with argueably the best 1-2 starting combo on paper in baseball. they both stayed on the DL for years to come. d. lee broke his wrist,cpat tore his hammy,aram was hurt etc etc etc. dusty isnt to blame for all of the losing. cant we get on with the whole dusty baker bashing. he’s long gone and we got a manager that might be in the top 3 in all of baseball.

Dusty was just going through the motions. I give him credit for 03, but when he sat on his ass in the dugout after the B—man foul ball, instead of going out to talk to an obviously flustered Prior, things began to go out of control.

With Lou, for the first time in many years, I’m confident our guy is smarter (in a baseball sense) than the guy in the other dugout.

One thing Lou understands is the intangible psychology of baseball. Brewers are now caught between a rock and hard place….their pitching is not going to hold up unless they trade an important offensive cog in their machine. Gallardo is out, possibly until mid next season knowing ACL recoveries. Sheets is a brittle as Woody and we know Woody’s story. Worse their bullpen is weak so by putting distance between Milwaukee and the Cubs now is important. OTOH the Cardinals are a good team and will get stronger so getting a jump or at least holding onto them now is important.

Lou also knows that 85 wins is not going to do it this year.

Sending Hill down was a huge signal to the team. Hill will go down to AAA and work on two things; mechanically he is a mess, pitching up hill {ironically), not following through and also mentally pitching to avoid the bats.

I can see Lou giving Lieber his earned opportunity where if John still has gas in the tank can take us to July 1st or so.

The other thing is riding Theriot with Cedeno’s finally found bat trying to get into the lineup. For fantasy heads the insertion of the 5’7” toy cannon the ‘Full Fonty’ allowing DeRosa to be the floating starter. Cubs really don’t have to fear a small injury because of DeRosa, where with DeRosa, Lou can rest and motivate even long term contracted power players.

One other thing… Lou is all for protecting “his” players, but if they really screw something up, he let’s them have it. Lou reminds me of a good parent. If the kid does something right, he lets them know it. If they do something wrong, he lets them know it. With Dusty, whom I do not hate, it always seemed like, if you do something right, he lets them know it, if they do something wrong, ignore it and hope it goes away. Honestly, there were several times during the last year of “Dusty in Chicago,” that I could hear the theme of the Andy Griffith show when Dusty walked back and forth from the pitchers mound, or after a game.

No offense, but I think players… especially players today, need a verbally kick in the pants every now and then. Nobody likes to hear something negative thrown their way, but athletes today are somewhat spoiled by their large contracts, and sometimes, they need somebody to light a fire up under them. I think Lou does that. Sure, some players don’t like Lous fire, but they are the players whose drifted over into the darkside of wussy-ville…. and we don’t need ‘em here in Chicago.

that as a sportsfan and obnoxious armchair manager, I reserve the right to disagree with even the perfect manager. It’s part of the fun.

like comparing Soriano to Bobby Bonds to justify keeping the guy in an ineffective spot in the lineup, I have concluded that Lou is more obstinate than the famous goat. Oops!

Do you have a In “Dusty We Trust”t-shirt..lol