Class Is Now In Session

and then baker is still on the premises, just so hendry can "order" him to play theriot? does not seem terribly likely to play out like that, does it?

it is far too soon for hendry to admit he "might" have erred by singing jones to a 3 year deal, but 3.25 years of baker out of 4 ought to be enough, don't you think? or is hendry merely treating baker as the firewall- as long as baker is still around, the clock is not ticking on hendry's exit? which would mean the tribune would have to fess up to a premature extension of hendry? man o man some fridays just seem like mondays...

how many people lived their lives thinking, "oh they'll win soon, definately in my lifetime." and all they do is show incompetence.  At least the Bulls rebuilt, and can compete.  I really do not think this ownership is interested in gettting any better than a full park.  And in any other realm of life it would be disgusting to support that mindset, but for some reason here its romanticized.  "For every winter there's a spring time ahead."  Unfortunately Cubs Winters seem to run as long as Chicago winters.

No wholesale firing, but fire Larry Rothschild, Gene Clines, Gary Matthews and Sonny Jackson.

I guess halfsale changes are in order.

I shaved my goatee the night before the losing streak started.
I'll grow it back, starting tonight. Mark my words: The Cubs will start winning, as of tomorrow.
My bad.

  Changes must be made and made soon, I agree..  But comeon look at our rotation... On the radio I heard someone describe it best "A 40 year old 3 rookies and a mental case"  And no D-Lee is huge.. huge..  It's only May 12 but things aren't looking good right at the moment.  Rant start here:   I'm losing patience with Dusty and that entire crack-head staff of his quickly this season.  I'm tired of the same mistakes every season and lack of discipline at the plate. Dusty doesn't need to kick over table which might help but he needs to show some... some.. fire, damit, for lack of betters words.  Call out some people who are screwing up every now and then.  They're men and can handle it.  No, you have to be that "players manager" and defend your players no matter what bone-head things they do on the field everyday.  Yes, clean house of the bums around Dusty and then if that doesn't work out then Dusty himself.  There's a ton a games remaining and we aren't buried yet thankfully so let's get it together..  Go Cubs!

And, maybe when the score is 8-2 and it's raining pretty hard, the umpires should just call it a day.

Yeah, that about sums it up.

I'm not saying fire anybody.  I'm not saying anything specific.  But I think...and is there anyone who disagrees with the following statement?

Something dramatic needs to be done.

Again, I don't know what that is, but I think the worst strategy would be to let this continue.  I know it's a marathon, but even a marathon runner can make adjustments mid-race and still win.

"I think we should take off and nuke the place from orbit.  It's the only way to be sure."

he could be the next Leo Durocher. we need an ass-kickin manager. no more mister nice guy crap

This team is really struggling right now especially with the lineup being juggled every day. But I've watched Dusty Baker manage the Giants through the years and he has been very lucky during his career. (Just the fact he has a job managing making millions a season speaks for itself.)

In 2002, the year the Giants went to the WS, they looked hopeless in July. They traded for Lofton at the ASB and he seemed to give the club a big lift late in the season and they got hot at the right time. The same same thing happened to the Cubs when they got him.

Baseball is a game of inches and peaks and valleys, and as long as they aren't over 10 games out at the ASB, there is still hope. Stranger things have happened!

I didn't get to listen to the game today.

I've been lucky to listen to most of the games this year.

There were times when there was a lot of spark in this team. Some individuals on the team have shown some good stuff at times.

I don't know the stats and numbers of historic teams that have come back from this kind of deficit. I don't know the specific ins an outs of coming back from 8 or 9 or 10 games back. I don't know how many wins a team needs in a season to get to the playoffs.

But really, those statistics are just that.

I do know that the Cubs swept the Cards. They did that very well. That was a great series.

For me though, it comes down to the game of baseball.

I really like baseball. A lot. Recently, more than I ever have before.

I want the Cubs to go all the way. I want my dad, who used to hop trains to see Iowa Cubs games in Des Moines when he was 10 years old, to see the Cubs win the series before he dies, which could very well be soon. But maybe he won't.

My dad's not going to hate Dusty Baker on his death bed if the Cubs haven't won a World Series.

That's not the point.

Baseball is what it is, win or lose. The team you pick as your favorite team is just that, the team you pick.

Yes, it would be great -- wonderful, even-- if the Cubs won the series.

You know what though, it's baseball.

Going to a game in Wrigley is a wonderful experience. If I could live in Chicago, I would be at that park weekly.

I hope to get there again this summer. I hope to get my dad tickets there, too. He's never been to Wrigley. I doubt he would be too hurt if they lost the game.

If they lose, I'm not going to get too upset about it. Neither is my dad. We like baseball. I listen to the games on the internet radio because I like the sound of baseball. When I can watch the games, I watch them because I like the look of baseball.

When my little league team got creamed week after week, it didn't matter. I got to play baseball. My dad got to watch. It was fun.

This is, after all, a game.

It's more fun to watch (or listen to) than any other game that I can think of. (I will probably follow the World Cup, though).

There is still a chance that the Cubs will make it to the playoffs. There is even still a chance that they could win the series. Odds are they won't. But really, one team will win the Series, all the other fans of teams that didn't win it all will be upset about this.

I'm rambling...

I apologize.

phat

There is just no way the Cubs are going to do anything this year.  Although Wood pitched ok tonight there is no guarantee he can stay healthy once he comes back.  There is no word on when Pryor will even pitch a couple of rehab assignments.  Zambrano pitched a nice game, but I think we have to see a few more good starts from him.  Maddux is Maddux and will probably pitch more games like his last two starts.  They still play bad fundamental baseball.  They still don't get on base. While it hurt to lose Lee, how much better would they possibly be with him?  A couple of games better?

It is always easy to blame the manager, but I am not sure with the talent that is there right now, how much better any one else could do.

While Baker is not a great handler of pitching there isn't much he can do with what he has right now.  He certainly can't hit for his players.

While Hendry had made some decent trades and pick ups, he has not done enough.  The farm system has to be one of the worst in baseball.  Discounting pitching, is there anyone playing on any major leage team that has actually started in the Cub system.  I will give you Cedno and Patterson, although Patterson is barely playing.  

Face this theam is just not very well constructed.

As long as it looks like the players are going out there and busting their butts every day, I am not going to indict any of them.  They may all suck individually and collectively, but I'm not going to advocate booing them unless they aren't giving their all, and I don't see any signs of that right now.  As soon as any players start to slack off, then they can be held responsible, but I think that if they suck, why should we boo them if they're giving 100%?  They're playing the best that they can; if they can't produce with their best effort, that's more of a reflection of the management that put the team together.

So I guess I'm saying that it's fine to be pissed of at Cubs management, but don't hold it against the players until the start acting like they don't care.  If that happens, then I'm sure there will be some sort of Cub fan mutiny.  I don't see it yet.  Right now they just suck.  They're not losing because they're not trying, however.  Maybe getting rid of Dusty and the entire coaching staff will solve the problem; it certainly couldn't hurt.  But I'm not going to agree with anyone who says that guys like Maddux, Barrett, Zambrano, Walker, and Dempster are not out there trying to win, because they are.  They have too much pride to do anything less.  If you're unhappy with the way the team is constituted, write letters to the Tribune, but don't boo the players unless they stop giving maximum effort.  We as fans may not like what has been put on the field, but as Coach Norman Dale said to the Hickory fans in Hoosiers, "this is your team."  They may suck, but they're still wearing the Cub uniform, and, at least for me, that makes them deserving of my support.

Cub fans get to pay the second highest ticket prices in the majors. I loved Dusty's explanation on why when Barret got into with the Padres and they all came out of the dugout and the Cubs stayed in their dugout because they could not hear what Barret was yelling. The umpires obviously noticed this lack of support for Barret and stepped in to save him from a 1 on 25 fight. Just when you think it can not go any lower it does. Sad so very sad.

that at least this team still looks like they're trying (albeit TOO hard at times.)

Felipe Alou got hit with that one last night (can you guess which player didn't run out the popup which was actually dropped?)

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Aknf.CQSCXeMiYiWLkd5Iq0RvLYF?slug=jp-barrybonds051206&prov =yhoo&type=lgns

...asking this question?

"why is it that the pitchers just absolutely, positively refused to throw strikes"?