The easiest way to understand why Joey Gathright is on the Cubs and why the Ryan Theriot of 2007 was still the shortstop at the beginning of ’08–and to gain an insight into various other personnel issues that are mysteries to many fans–is to articulate the following as Lou Piniella’s first rule for getting oneself [...]
Does anybody know what Lou means when he says that one of the team’s goals in the offseason is to get “more athletic”? He has said this in many interviews, most recently on XM radio yesterday. Lou often speaks cryptically but there’s usually a way to decode the message, and a meaning behind it. Apart [...]
I’ve written everything that I think needs to be said about Larry Rothschild and the Wuertz-ification of the Cubs’ staff, except to offer some historical perspective: when Rothschild coached the Marlin staff in ’97 and they won the Series, Cleveland scored 44 runs in 7 games, or 6.3 per game. I’d rather turn my attention [...]
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Posted 05 October 2008
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coaching § Hendry § pie § trade
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Also tagged: derrek lee, felix pie, gerald perry, kosuke fukudome, larry rothschild, mark derosa, micah hoffpauir, michael wuertz, mike fontenot, reed johnson, von joshua
I thought Lou was not classy in the postgame on TBS. He blamed the players, and talked about twelve runs scored in six postseason games on his watch. He said you can’t win with this many runs unless your pitchers throw shutouts. I don’t think he should have been praising his hitters but in the [...]
Five weeks ago I wrote a post suggesting that Mike Fontenot might begin to squeeze Mark DeRosa at second base. Fontenot’s numbers have improved since then, but DeRosa has responded in kind and will probably crack the fifteen home-run barrier for the first time in his career this season. DeRosa’s RBI and OBP numbers are [...]
The argument for voting Ron Santo into Cooperstown was never that the Hall should honor gold gloves. Rather, it was that a non-pitcher should be judged as a hitter, but particularly among his peers at the same defensive position. After all, you should be able to take a group from Cooperstown and form a baseball [...]
Edmonds gives the Cubs three things they need: a centerfielder who can catch and hit; a short-term solution to the centerfield riddle, which is what they wanted; and a lefty power bat for the 5, 6 or 7 hole. He’s perfect! As far as his being a former enemy, I consider that the Cubs’ fault. [...]