But to hear some of the comments out of your mouthes just trashing a guy like Ryan Theriot is to the point of absurdness.
I could see if the guy was an all-about-me character and an on or off-the-field problem but he is not. He is about as humble as they come.

To really see the signicants of what "The Riot" brings you actually need to watch every game to see what the guy is capable of.

To the poster who said no more "David Eckstein type" or "scrappy" comparisons, if it really bothers you that bad then I won't write it but some of you find anyway to start controversy.
I thought we were all for the same team last time I checked.

Also people dont see how I am a Cubs fan because I don't wear off the usual ignorance of most Cubs fans.

If I really am going to get so much negative feedback I might as well not post any more diaries.

Thank you all who had atleast something nice to say.

Last but not least, Sweep those Cardinals, Cubs!

If we recall his season slump, remember it occurred with his shift to the #8 hole. His numbers there were  .118/.211/.329. That's horrible. It's worse than horrible. However in the #2 spot, where he appears to be solidly placed the numbers are much more revealing. .328/.397/.846.

How about clutch? Some claim there is no such thing but if we are to accept stats as proof of everything, then let's see what Theriot's numbers there are. RISP .344/.433/.866. Those numbers aren't too shabby. How does he do late in the game? Innings 7-9 .310/.395/.825.

Some miscellaneous stats. He's 5th in the NL in the fewest % of pitches missed 8.8%. He's scored 44% of the times he reached base. That's 10th in the NL. He has struck out every 9.5 AB, good for 8th and has 17SB, good for 10th.

In summary, I am convinced that fair credit for the team's turnaround can be credited to Lou's insertion of Theriot in the #2 hole. The stats would seem to provide proof of that to the most skeptical observer. Aside from that, he's what most of us call a gamer.  

I just like the catchy phase of Gator Bait. It was intended to be G8trBaitH8tr but it didnt go though so I was stuck with that.

Anyway I am in the St Petersburg region and I am really hoping the Cubs can make the postseason because I got tickets.

Hope to hear from you soon there, Cribbs463!

Which would be Michael Barrett.

I understand where your coming from though with the comparsions though.

I do believe that athletes carry with them a certain set of intangibles; I believe leadership, desire, and effort can be quite infectious and generally support a team, but at some point things boil down to statistics.

Has Theriot made us a better team this year? Yes. But what were the alternatives? Izturis? Of course Theriot has proved valuable this year, but his impact might be minimal if we had another suitable alternative.

You do need a functional clubhouse to succeed in most sports, but I believe that this is least applicable to baseball, where the game is always broken down to individual performances. I loathe the numerous Kendall comments I read that say: "I like him. He calls a good game. He provides leadership."

How the hell would we know who's scoring the edge in intangibles? How do you measure the team's leaders? How do you measure effort? By an opinion that Theriot 'just seems to hustle a lot'? By the same argument, I would then assume that A-Ram numbers aren't quite as good as they suggest, simply because it 'doesn't always look like he's trying.'

I loved rlpete's point above that says something along the lines of this: "Everybody hated Eckstein when he was winning with the Cards and thought the term scrappy was the dumbest adjective in baseball. Now, the tides have turned and Theriot is scrappy and sweating intangibles."

He's been good for the team people, but he ain't that great.

I think many of us project a little of ourselves into a person like Theriot and we are naturally drawn to his play because inevitably it has produced results that are both observed AND measureable.  I don't know if there would be this same kind of love from the fan base if he was hitting .230/.290/.320 though?  I tend to think that it would be doubtful for all this fan love if he wasn't at least doing a decent job. (And he is doing a decent job by the way.)

On the other hand, Theriot's success added to his work ethic might make for some good team chemistry which I am willing to buy into by the way.  Sandberg observed Dawson and how "hard he worked every day" and inevitably Sandberg raised his game to an all new level after Dawson's arrival.  Does Theriot's work ethic rub off on others?  I don't know but it is quite possible.  Does make Cliff Floyd want to chug, chug, chug all the way home or hustle to beat out a base hit?  Does it make Jacque Jones want to elevate his game now that he's been handed the every day CF job by DEFAULT?  I hope so.  I do know that a good work ethic rubs off on people and high productivity is the result at least in my field of manufacturing - especially when a manager figuratively punches an underachieving/talented worker in the gut with productivity facts.  So, I would guess that this would be something that translates into the baseball world as well.

On my third hand, I agree that there are probably 18-20 MLB shortstops right now that are statistically better than Theriot as well.  My stance on Theriot is simply this though - there are more pressing needs to address on this team than whether or not Theriot is a good fit as the every day SS - short or long term.  (How about the situation where our millionaire RF who currently plays CF against RH pitching only and is hitting no better than Theriot in all aspects of the game?)

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that Jacque is helping the Cub win ball games lately but I'm not going to be lulled into thinking that this will last the rest of the season.  Jones has serious swing flaws and any pitcher with good command can easily get him out high and tight (ground ball to the right side) or low and away (strike three) on any given day.  He's had a couple of good raps to the LF alley on pitchers' mistakes and he's had a couple of ground balls find holes too but let's not lull ourselves into thinking that this short run of success is sustainable.

The iron for trading Jones by the deadline is finally glowing a little bit brighter lately and the time to execute this trade is right now.  I do not want to see the Cubs on the hook for another year of Jones in CF or even RF for that matter.  That's what really needs to change between now and July 31st and I hope that it happens.  I root for Pie in CF and trade for an upgrade in the pen or a RH bat RF.