Gotta tell ya, I was rolling on the floor for a good ten minutes when I first read that.
It still makes me giggle.
*Body Blow
Body Blow
Uppercut
Great Job … You’re an up and coming fighter.*
Ahhh, the memories.
And as to the Cubs, it really is refreshing to see people who go to Cub games and actually know who the players are, have intelligent opinions about the coach, and who follow the games. Keep up the good work and maybe Wrigley won’t just be the world’s largest outdoor bar, and the Cubs will be more than just a sideshow.
The goat curse expired eons ago.
The Cubs are currently cursed by going against God’s plan by dropping Rick Reuschel from the 1984
playoff roster.
If you doubt me-just look what happened in 1989 to Candlestick Park when God looked down during game 3 of the World Series & noticed Reuschel in the
wrong uniform & remembered how pissed he was at the '84 Cubs.
It’s all Baylor, remember that.
Allow me to introduce the concept of ‘replacement level player’. At any one time there are players out there, just below average players, who can be had for the minimum wage. Using these players allows a team to better use its resources.
On the other hand…signing replacement level players for MORE than the minimum wage hurts a team.
Girardi - below replacement level
Deshields - replacement level
Lewis - below replacement level
Borowski - replacement level
Mueller - replacement level
Machado - replacement level
Stynes - replacement level
Gonzalez - replacement level
Ohlman - replacement level
Osborne - replacement level
Ojeda - below replacement level
God help us that’s 44% of the roster that’s replacement level or below. There are some players for which their true level of ability is not yet known:
Rosey Brown
Corey Patterson
Mark Bellhorn
Carlos Zambrano
Jesus Sanchez
Matt Clement
So more than 50% of the roster falls to the ‘unknown’ category of replacement level.
And they managed to turn the strongest bullpen in the game into a liability in the off season. I can’t believe that.
Baylor must go. His ‘get tough’ and ‘small ball’ crap is hurting the team.
I’d kill to get a manager who could understand the Baseball Prospectus. I think I would.
Anyone who thinks the Cubs’ problems begin & end with Don Baylor should read
The Million-To-One-Team:Why the Chicago Cubs Haven’t Won a Pennant Since 1945 by George Castle.
I’d offer to share my copy, but the library insisted they only ‘loaned’ it to me.
A couple points: you forgot our OTHER catcher (y’know, the third one on the major-league roster? and don’t you HATE that?) as being replacement-level. Hundley’s the only one that really has a hope of being BETTER than replacement level, of course, but…
I think Ohman and Ojeda, at least, are still making major-league minimum, so they’re paying exactly what they should be for replacement-level talent in those cases.
Deshields, I hate. But, I don’t really see a better option until Hill is ready. Oh, wait, Hill is ready.
You also forgot McGriff. I’m not sure if he has a history of slow starts, or has finally turned old on us, though. Choi better be ready soon.
Alfonseca’s another good example of replacement-level talent.
I would also quibble with some of your “unknown” designations. Brown’s a decent 4th outfielder. Clement’s a decent 4th starter, as is. If he actually learns how to pitch, he’s a #2.
And we already know Bellhorn’s better than Stynes. Of course, Mueller would probably be better than Stynes with BOTH knees broken.
Jesus Sanchez will probably end up in the Felix Heredia “You only get to pitch to lefties role”. Hopefully, he’s better-suited to it than Felix was.
And, lastly, I have hopes for Gonzalez, although I admit that there’s not really any good reason to.
In closing: Bring back Oscar!
Hey guys! The Cubs won yesterday!
Two wins over the weekend at what expense? Todd Hundley’s thumb falling off.
Yay.
I dream of a Red Sox - Cubs World Series. THEN we’d see whose curse was boss!
I think we’d also get to witness the apocalypse, which is always a conversation piece
I think they’d just fight to a draw. Game 7 would go to about 40 innings, at which point the commissioner would say “eh. fuck it. tie game.”
Or a tragic peanut vendor accident would claim the lives of both teams just as the seventh game were about to start…
There are some things man was not meant to know. Two of those are “Will the Red Sox ever win again” and “Will the Cubs ever win again”.
At this point, the Cubs’ curse is that they can’t even get to the Series.
So whenever the Red Sox finally make it back, there’ll still be nothing to prevent them from the traditional losing-in-7.
And a tip of the hat to Jonathan Chance for bringing replacement-level players into the thread. Someday we need to have a Bill James appreciation thread here.