Go with Manny. If we’d spent the money we wasted on Jones and Schmidt on him in the first place, we wouldn’t be worried about the post-season. Do whatever it takes to keep Manny a Dodger next year. We got him for free this year, so it’s time to pony up some bucks. Give him Kent’s $7.7 million, hire someone to off Jones to free up those dollars, and start rolling the coins in the ashtray. Pitching we have. What we’ve been lacking is a power hitter. Manny delivers in spades.
Well, I certainly didn’t like how the game ended, and I feel like the questions I had about Saito were well-founded, but if we can keep scoring 7+ runs per game, it probably doesn’t matter.
I’ll be in the stands on Saturday night hoping for the sweep. Although in what has to be the weirdest thing an Angeleno has ever heard, there is a 40% chance of showers during the game.
Well, the Cubs are again having trouble in the playoffs. This is not the way the team has played the rest of the season; as a rule they gave up relatively few runs and they sure as hell scored a lot more.
Cubs should win Game 3 (Harden is a beast), but I’m really nervous about Lilly in Game 4. He’s a bit hit or miss, and the Cubs cannot afford miss right now.
Wish the Cubs hadn’t scored those runs on Saito. Meaningless runs, and it will make it that much harder to get past him next time, I fear.
The Cubs are really disappointing so far. It looks almost like many of the players feel the weight of those 100 years on their shoulders. That was an ugly game by all reports.
I just got four tickets to the ALCS so I hope the White Sox can get their crap together and beat the Rays. I also just found out that I have a chance to get tickets to the NLCS so hopefully* the Cubs can find the testicular fortitude to beat the Dodgers.
- I say hopefully because my wife is a Cubs fan. As a lifelong Cardinals fan I would like nothing more than to see the Cubs get swept and sent home early.
I don’t know your wife, so I’m going to have to side with you. We’ll do our best to make that sweep happen.
Let’s check back on your premise again after this evening’s game?
BTW, I checked the Chicago Sun-Times site for their POV of the game last night, and the White Sox were almost an after thought to the Cubs. What’s the deal with that?
Welcome to the world of Chicago baseball.
Except when he doesn’t want to, when “Manny is being Manny”. He’s a good hitter for sure, but totally not worth putting up with all the crap he dishes out, tantrums and fake injury baloney included. He burned his bridges here and I’m glad he’s out of Boston.
Yeah…there. Until he pulls stunts like that on the Dodgers, he’s golden. Maybe he just hates the East Coast. I know I do. 
As frustrating as the Manny being Manny thing can be, tell me; how did he hurt the Red Sox? They won two more World Series (one of which he was the MVP of) during his tenure than they had during the careers of Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, and Jim Rice combined. Before that he played for Cleveland, and they actually made the playoffs year after year, something that prior to his arrival was a pure fantasy to Cleveland fans. Now he joins the Dodgers and holy shit, they start winning.
Now, I recognize he didn’t singlehandedly cause his teams to win all those games, but you can’t deny that wherever he goes, his teams win ballgames. If he’s an asshole that’s one thing, but if he’s an asshole that causes his team to lose that would be another. But there’s not a shred of evidence that’s true. Maybe he’s a colossal dink but it does not seem to have a negative effect on the W-L column.
Silenus-the East Coast is the place to be!!! Especially here in New England–it’s beautiful here.
I’d never live on the West Coast. 
RickJay-much of your praise for him is deserved. What really turned it bad for me is his manipulation to get his way. The stunts he was pulling toward the end were uncalled for and unprofessional, especially claiming to be injured to avoid playing. He may not be the only person in the history of sports to pull crap like this but it was a despicable ploy to pull on a team that had put up with more than enough antics from him. If the Dodgers want him, well, more power to them. Rest assured though, that he’ll no doubt pull more of the “Manny being Manny” wherever he ends up. That’s not good sportsmanship.
By missing most of August to phantom injuries. By not taking the bat off his shoulder in a big game. By watching his long fly ball hit the wall instead of carry so he gets a single rather then a double.
I agree he’s a great hitter, perhaps the best right handed hitter playing today. But he did cost the Sox in many ways. Now, you can argue that his benefits outweigh the disadvantages, and I’m not sure I’d argue that. But it was just going to get worse this time, and he didn’t want to be here anymore.
My vote too. If my Padres aren’t there, then the next closest team.
I’m not liking your odds right now. As of this morning, every series is 2-0, an historically deep hole. Will any of the four teams come back?
I’m honestly trying not to be a dick here, but what August was it he mostly missed to phantom injuries (it wasn’t this year) and how do you know they were phantom?
It wasn’t “most of August”, but it was several games due to a claimed “bad knee”. The club called his bluff and sent him to the MRI facility (I believe in Toronto, even), and nothing showed up on either side. The problem magically disappeared in LA - must be the warm weather.
Other ways he hurt the team were largely off the field and well-publicized - assaulting the clubhouse guy for not finding enough freebie tickets for a game, assaulting Youkilis in the dugout, who knows what else happened in the clubhouse and how often (Schilling says there were multiple Manny incidents there every day) … as soon as his production dropped, he wasn’t worth keeping around any longer.
Can I retract my predictions about the Chicago teams advancing easily?
I’m disgusted. This is pathetic and the Cubs don’t look like they even deserved to be in the playoffs to begin with. A total inability to capitalize on what should have been at least 2 sure runs. How the fuck do you not score a run with a leadoff double???
Even if we manage to turn around this game tonight we will lose tomorrow. The only way we had any chance of making a 3 game run here was if we demoralized the Dodgers tonight by crushing the life out of them at home. If we limp into a victory, which is unlikely this late in the game, we will still be fighting uphill tomorrow night.
What a total let down this has been and I would hate to be a Cub back in Chicago tomorrow after being swept two years in a row in the post season.
The thing that makes it so painful is that the season seems so long when you are at the top all the way throughout so it stopped being exciting towards mid August and started to drag while I waited for what was pretty much the inevitable appearance in the post season. I don’t know if I have another season of waiting around left in me at this point.
Congrats Dodgers!!!
From your loyal D-backs fan.