Three The Hard Way

Its time to change that TODAY!

Anything and everything I need to know came from this fantastic movie

time to remove head from arse gentleman and go grab a win this afternoon.

Go Padres!

If you do read the thread from last nights game you will notice several ledge jumpers in there. I hope they all made it though the night. :)

Here is an article that says Hart and Soto may be considered for the playoff team. It also says Hendry refuses to talk to Lou about the playoff team until they clinch a postseason berth.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/577077,CST-SPT-cubnt27.article

DeRosa looked so crest-fallen in the post game interview...yet all the while he has been so terrific this season.

The Baseball Gods smiled on us, so I hope the guys can dig down and pick each other up and get this done!!!

Go Cubs Go !!!

Dan

As I mentioned earlier in the game thread yesterday, however, there could be no Cardinals win last night. If they won the game, they'd only be helping the Cubs -- hardly a victory for them. And if they lost, well, they lost.

But they didn't lose. They won. And they made Yost and the Boo Hoo Crew look like a bunch of whiny babies in the process. Thank you, Deadbirds!

p.s.  Mike, love the socks...

Despite all the positive feelings we are sending them from this site, they look horrible right now. They had to figure that the Brewers would win last night and they still couldn't get it done. We all are very lucky today the leads not down to 1. Now we are counting on Trachsel? If the bats don't get it done today, we are in trouble.

Also, to all the posters who speculated on the cardinals tanking, I hope you watched the game last night. Pujols played when he's hurt and the Cardinals really took it to the Brewers. Remember the unexpected help we got from the Brewers in '03?

Today is not a MUST win either for the club. Certainly for their confidence they need to win, but as far as the standings we could very well lose this game and take 2 in Cincy and be fine.

The Padres will be fighting and HAVE to compete today and tomorrow no matter what happens to the other teams.

Remember we're looking down, not up in the situation. Good pitching will get us through the last four. All the little breaks went Florida's way last night, those breaks should come back our way and hopefully before we get to Cincy.

As Al said, KEEP THE FAITH!

The Cubs only need to worry about themselves.  Even a 2-2 record from here should get them in the playoffs.  If they can't manage that on the road, they don't deserve the playoffs.    

I caught much of that game on satellite simultaneously with the Cubs game. The Bird/Beerboys game had so much tension (violent tension) that it could be cut with a knife. Physical assertiveness can be used in my first sport, hockey (if done properly), but it usually doesn't work in baseball.

LaRussa - you know the guy most of us love to hate - drew in Yost like a bug light does to a skeeter. After the Pujols plunk, Yost and the Brewers got zapped and I knew the Birds would win the game.

The Cubs have to play fundamental ball. No backhand throws De-Ro. Fonzie, can you catch a 7-iron to left? They play solid ball today, they'll win and by the time they get to Cincy they could have clinched a tie.

"You boys appear to be pressing, just come back tomorrow and have fun and enjoy this." That was all, but DeRosa, the player with two consecutive defensive gaffe's stated it was the perfect thing to say at the perfect moment.

Later it was reported that a few players watched the end of the Brewers-Cardinals game and lifted their heavy shoulders.

Listen, this is why one of the reasons they are playing Piniella the big bucks, he knows how to tactically play the game, he knows how to motivate individuals and create a team environment but he also knows when to take the pressure off a team pressing and give them confidence.

Sports even professional has to be fun. Last night I had three nervous nellie calls, all thinking the sky was falling, heck NYMETS don't have a bullpen and lost again to the Nationals, Arizona has lost to Pittsburgh again....Colorado and Philadelphia are closing in on both the division and WC....

Today Cubs will find a way to win, possibly big....go to Cincinnati with either the magic number dangerously at 2 or 1, either way it is the real magic number for it can be elimination day either way.  

On the other hand, the Brewers need to win more games than the Cubs do and didn't do anything to help themselves last night. The reports this morning look as if the Brewers players feel they are letting the division slip away.

So, the Cubs lost two games and yet they are closer to the goal, as their magic number is smaller than when they left the Windy City. Considering how they played, I see that as a positive development.

As Lou, said, the team used two of their three mulligans in Miami. If the Brewers lose again, the Cubs may have more than three mulligans this weekend to use. I hope they don't have to use them.

Is his outfield defense always going to suck but his arm will keep bailing him out?  Or can he learn how to play defense and become an even better player than he is now?  Or [perish the thought] is he getting an Edmonds-like "I'll slow down so I can dive and make a spectacular catch and be on the web gem list" complex by unnecessarily putting himself in position to show off his cannon?

I've virtually stopped going to the official cubs message board where ever 13 year old on the planet posts "OH MY GAWD!!!!!111!!! PANIC TIME!!!!1@!!!!!!"

Hoping for a win today. It would remove most pressure and would mean the Cubs only really need to win one in Cinci. Go Trachsel!