Gotta tip your cap

by Jerry Mumphrey on May 22, 2009 12:02 AM CDT

What happened to the Cubs offense? I provide two options for the community to vote on. Now, to fill the minimum word requirement I shall add a technical support question: Is there a way for me to make this poll without doing a fanshot? Oh Jeez, still not enough words. Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF

Poll

The Cubs just scored 2 runs over an entire 3-game set in St. Louis. Do the Cubs have a slumping contagion? Or is Cardinal pitching simply the best they've seen?

It's on the Cubs players and coaches.

19 votes

Gotta tip your cap.

5 votes

24 votes | Poll has closed

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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Comments

Patience, you must learn patience

Pineiro did well. Carp was an unknown. But we saw their (wretched) bullpen more than once. The current approach is not going to win any games. Just stop:

Starting Fontenot. Dude’s tired.
Starting Bradley. Dude can’t buy a hit.
Obsessing over L-R-L: Put together a line-up that matches up well against LH SP and one that matches up well against RH SP. Try that for a couple of weeks.

"Who ever heard of the Cubs losing a game they had to have?" -Frank Chance
"If [Ruth] had [called his shot], I would have knocked him down with the next pitch." -Charlie Root

by Clutch16 on May 22, 2009 12:14 AM CDT reply actions

The pitching wasn’t that great. Pineiro, Carp, and Wellmeyer just threw strikes and the Cubs hit right to the defense. There were plenty of pitches the Cubs should have killed for extra bases, but simply didn’t. All week the Cubs just looked like they didn’t care at the plate. I don’t recall seeing any emotion from anyone…

by Mike Martin on May 22, 2009 12:31 AM CDT reply actions

wellemeyer didn't pitch

But YES this was all on the Cubs, the Cardinals actually suck right now but the sad thing is we played worse than they are playing.

by jeff_pico on May 22, 2009 12:55 AM CDT up reply actions

Gah, Wainwright. Stupid W names…
Wellmeyer was just wishful thinking I guess.

by Mike Martin on May 22, 2009 1:51 AM CDT up reply actions

Derrek Lee looked visibly frustrated.

Milton Bradley, too.

That said, I’d really love if someone could describe for me a player that “looks like he cares” at the plate.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on May 22, 2009 10:15 AM CDT up reply actions

Refuses to hit and cuddles kittens.

if this was still new to me, i wouldn't understand

by N Oakley on May 22, 2009 10:42 AM CDT up reply actions

Tipping your cap

Interesting that his was the title of your post. I mentioned in the Game Thead last night that if I read even one quote from a player or coach saying you have to give the other team credit, or tip your cap to a good pitching performance, I was gonna puke.

I haven’t read the morning recaps yet, so I’ll wait and see.

Crediting the opposition once in a while is okay. Doing it all the time is something losers do.

From “The Rock”:

Losers whine about their best…winners go home and f#$K the prom queen!"

I have nothing funny or creative to write.

by Canadian Cubs Fan on May 22, 2009 6:52 AM CDT reply actions

LOL

I wondered whether you’d say something about this when I saw the title… heh.

Also, Jerry, your poll’s closed. Makes it kinda hard to vote. :P

Judd Sirott is responsible for EVERYONE'S injury. And all the current slumps.
Bradley watch -- out 10 games of 39

by znohitter on May 22, 2009 8:16 AM CDT up reply actions

I hate when the

announcers say “you gotta tip your cap” to the other team when it was clearly a case of the Cubs bats being asleep, and not dominant pitching from the Cards. If one pitcher shuts down an otherwise good offense, tip your cap. When 3 starters and a whole bullpen shut you down, find out what the heck is wrong with your hitters.

DEJESUS!!!

by tomas21 on May 22, 2009 8:02 AM CDT reply actions

So it's completely out of the question that the Cards just pitched really well throughout the series?

I’m not saying the Cubs offense doesn’t deserve some criticism – the patience was lacking and some baserunning gaffes did occur. But it’s not like a pitching staff dominating a series is unheard of.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on May 22, 2009 10:21 AM CDT up reply actions

I think it's the fact that the Cards lost 10 of 7 and weren't really playing that well.

The Cubs had a successful home stand. To get swept was surprising. To see the approach at the plate and lack of discipline was even more surprising. This is a side of the Cubs we haven’t seen since Dusty. You face good pitching every day. These are all professionals… It’s just odd that with the players the Cubs have, to get shutdown like they did, I put that on the hitters… So did Lou.

"Every player should be accorded the privilege of at least one season with the Chicago Cubs. That's baseball as it should be played - in God's own sunshine. And that's really living." - Alvin Dark

by Fishbone2 on May 22, 2009 10:28 AM CDT up reply actions

I'd agree that it is surprising...

…when any decent team gets swept. And the hitters definitely need to redeem themselves. But I still give the Cards pitching staff pretty high marks for this series – all of them threw a lot of strikes and made good pitches when they needed to. Padres pitchers didn’t do that at Wrigley.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on May 22, 2009 10:52 AM CDT up reply actions

I can buy that...

You and I usually agree on quite a bit but I still put more of it on the hitters. Theroit, Kosuke, Bradley… Guys who usually work a count did some very uncharacteristic things. Like last night, a 2 run lead in the 9th, You need base runners. So, What does Riot do? swings at the first pitch and flies out to right. I think they are all pressing right now. Trying to do too much which gets them out of their game. You can’t hit 3 run homers with no one on base… I just don’t like the excuse of, “we faced a great pitcher, tip of the cap, nothing they could have done…” They face another good one tonight but they have to bear down and find a way to get some offense going.

"Every player should be accorded the privilege of at least one season with the Chicago Cubs. That's baseball as it should be played - in God's own sunshine. And that's really living." - Alvin Dark

by Fishbone2 on May 22, 2009 11:11 AM CDT up reply actions

It seems like Theriot has been swinging at a lot more first pitches.

This may be the downside to his power surge. He seems to have lost the kind of laser focus he used to have about working counts, shooting the ball to the right side and getting on base. I think he’s still trying to “drive the ball,” as Lou suggested. But, at some point, he probably should’ve taken a step back and gone back to being Mr. OBP. He should definitely do that in pitcher-friendly Petco.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on May 22, 2009 11:15 AM CDT up reply actions

I was worried he was going to do that too...

Especially away from Wrigley. He should only look to do it on specific counts 2-1, 3-1 and with guys on base. He needs to be the one getting on base so others can hit him in… Otherwise he is hurting his approach to the plate and the team by constantly flying out.

"Every player should be accorded the privilege of at least one season with the Chicago Cubs. That's baseball as it should be played - in God's own sunshine. And that's really living." - Alvin Dark

by Fishbone2 on May 22, 2009 11:20 AM CDT up reply actions

I said this after Game 1 and got blasted in the recap thread...

I stated that I usually give the pitcher the benefit of the doubt but when I saw the Cubs be impatient and have a poor approach at the plate, that I wouldn’t credit the pitchers effort as much as I would put it on the hitters as bad at bats.

I think the Cubs made there pitching look A LOT better than what it really was.

"Every player should be accorded the privilege of at least one season with the Chicago Cubs. That's baseball as it should be played - in God's own sunshine. And that's really living." - Alvin Dark

by Fishbone2 on May 22, 2009 10:22 AM CDT up reply actions

We discussed the problems with Pineiro.

He was pounding the zone and hitters didn’t want to go down 0-2. Sometimes when a sinkerballer is on, there’s not much you can do with him. That has nothing to do with “patience”.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on May 22, 2009 11:20 AM CDT up reply actions

But when you swing at the first pitch it's registered as a strike.

Even if it was a ball. There weren’t deep counts, guys weren’t going down 0-2 because they were making outs by swinging at the first pitch. All I ask is that you make the pitcher work. The more pitches you see or take the more chance there is for said pitcher to make a mistake. Obviously their approach to being aggressive and swing at the first pitch wasn’t working. They should have made an adjustment and took a few. Try something different, get something going. I’m not sure Pinero was “on” early in the game. The Cubs never gave us a chance to see if he was… As the game went on, he got more confidence and made it look easy while the Cubs continued to look bad by making quick outs.

"Every player should be accorded the privilege of at least one season with the Chicago Cubs. That's baseball as it should be played - in God's own sunshine. And that's really living." - Alvin Dark

by Fishbone2 on May 22, 2009 11:25 AM CDT up reply actions

The biggest problem with that game...

… was the pickoff of Soriano. They might have scored a run or two in the first and had the lead, instead of having to come from behind.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on May 22, 2009 11:34 AM CDT up reply actions

I agree...

Which could have changed the outcome of the entire series. Maybe get a little confidence, maybe push the Cards deeper into the slump they were already in… Who knows.

As I’m sure it is for you, it’s tough to see these guys play as bad as they are right now. Wasting good efforts by the starters. I think I love this team too much and need to take some breaks from them but that never happens. Tonight, would be the perfect night, but I’m intrigued by Z and want to watch his comeback.

"Every player should be accorded the privilege of at least one season with the Chicago Cubs. That's baseball as it should be played - in God's own sunshine. And that's really living." - Alvin Dark

by Fishbone2 on May 22, 2009 11:39 AM CDT up reply actions

Cardinals Were Better For These 3 Games

I’m not happy with the way the Cubs swung the bats or some of the baserunning, but the Cards outplayed the Cubs the past 3 nights. Even, after that, I believe the Cubs will end up with more wins than St. Louis. I’ll give the Cardinals credit for outstanding pitching in this series.

"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray

by memphiscub on May 22, 2009 8:24 AM CDT reply actions

Exactly how I feel.

(And that doesn’t mean I’m not concerned.)

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on May 22, 2009 10:22 AM CDT up reply actions