Thread in which I pit my beloved Chicago Cubs

[Mullinator]

5.95, 5.71, 5.48, 5.53, 5.70, 5.89, 6.00, 5.74, 5.51, 5.38, 5.4, 5.8, 5.2, 5.13, 5.67, 5.73.

What are those numbers, you may ask? Those are the individual game ERAs for every game Shawn Estes has pitched since May 25th. 16 straight games with an ERA above 5 when the worst pitching team in the NL doesn’t have that poor of an average. 16 straight games giving up 5+ runs when the Cubs average only 4.35 per game. 16 straight games for a team in playoff contention.

Trade/cut/demote/sit this pathetic excuse for a major league pitcher. A pretty obvious freaking trend has developed in which the Cubs know they need an outstanding offensive day just to hang close. The Cubs need wins and they keep trotting out the baseball equivalent of Caddyshack II.

I’d feel more comfortable seeing Augie Ojeda go to the mound.

[Tars_Tarkas]

they’re currently up 3-2 over the cards in the second inning. At least the Cubs are waiting until Septermber to break my heart this year.

[Gundy]

God, even if they lost every game for the rest of the season I would be happy if they’d just bench him and go to a four-man rotation. I don’t know why Dusty keeps putting him in. He just hemorrhages runs.

They’re killing me this season. I’ve normally given up by mid-August, but now, I have hope where there was no hope before. Each game is excruciating…so I just don’t watch. Or at least, I try not to.

[LordVor]

Just wait until my mighty Brewers sweep them this weekend.

-lv

[Hamlet]

You know, I almost feel bad for you Cub fans. You’re like a pathetic urchin child who still thinks Santa Claus is real and that he will come to the orphanage to bring you treats and take you away from your miserable lives to go live with your real Mommy and Daddy, who happen to be a wise and patient king and a beautiful, regal queen. They will dote on you, buy you a pony, and you’ll never, ever, have to go hungry again.

And then you wake up on a flea-ridden pile of straw and remember that reality is back.

Almost brings a tear to my eye. Almost.

[brianjedi]

Just waiting until LordVor’s mighty Brewers sweep them this weekend.

See, I’m a Cardinals fan.

[LordVor]

Yeah, brianjedi, your Cardinals are next.

[ElvisL1ves]

Here’s your daily Moment of Zen:

From Lee Elia, Chicago Cubs, Manager, in April, 1983 (before Wrigley Field had lights for night baseball), following a home loss to the Dodgers and in front of writers and microphones:

Fck those fckin’ fans who come out here and say they’re Cub fans that are supposed to be behind you, rippin’ every fckin’ thing you do. I’ll tell you one fckin’ thing, I hope we get fckin’ hotter than sht, just to stuff it up them 3,000 fckin’ people that show up every fckin’ day, because if they’re the real Chicago fckin’ fans, they can kiss my fckin’ ass right downtown and PRINT IT.

They’re really, really behind you around here…my fckin’ ass. What the fck am I supposed to do, go out there and let my fckin’ players get destroyed every day and be quiet about it? For the fckin’ nickel-dime people who turn up? The motherfckers don’t even work. That’s why they’re out at the fckin’ game. They oughta go out and get a fckin’ job and find out what it’s like to go out and earn a fckin’ living. Eighty-five percent of the fckin’ world is working. The other fifteen percent come out here. A fckin’ playground for the cocksckers. Rip them motherfckers. Rip them fckin’ cocksckers like the fckin’ players. We got guys bustin’ their fckin’ ass, and them fckin’ people boo. And that’s the Cubs? My fckin’ ass. They talk about the great fckin’ support the players get around here. I haven’t see it this fckin’ year. Everybody associated with this organization have been winners their whole f*ckin’ life. Everybody. And the credit is not given in that respect.

Alright, they don’t show because we’re 5 and 14…and unfortunately, that’s the criteria of them dumb fifteen motherfckin’ percent that come out to day baseball. The other eighty-five percent are earning a living. I tell you, it’ll take more than a 5 and 12 or 5 and 14 to destroy the makeup of this club. I guarantee you that. There’s some fckin’ pros out there that wanna win. But you’re stuck in a fckin’ stigma of the fckin’ Dodgers and the Phillies and the Cardinals an all that cheap sht. It’s unbelievable. It really is. It’s a disheartening fckin’ situation that we’re in right now. Anybody who was associated with the Cub organization four or five years ago that came back and sees the multitude of progress that’s been made will understand that if they’re baseball people, that 5 and 14 doesn’t negate all that work. We got 143 f*ckin’ games left.

What I’m tryin’ to say is don’t rip them fckin’ guys out there. Rip me. If you wanna rip somebody, rip my fckin’ ass. But don’t rip them f*ckin’ guys ‘cause they’re givin’ everything they can give. And right now they’re tryin’ to do more than God gave 'em, and that’s why we make the simple mistakes. That’s exactly why.

Truly a thing of beauty there.

[Gundy]

Hamlet, you’re dead to me now. DEAD.

[Wilson]

Actually, Mullinator, the figures you are quoting are the changes to his cumulative season ERA after each of his starts. His individual game ERAs are actually all over the place - 22.50 in his last start before today, 54.00(!) in his start against the ChiSox on 6/20 are the ugliest ones. He actually had a “game” ERA of 0.00 against the Brewers on 6/25 - although the cubs still lost that game.

Don’t get me wrong - he does suck. He’s just Exhibit #197 in why Dusty Baker is not a good manager, IMO - he loves those Proven Veterans.
I hate the stat, but if you look at Quality Starts (at least 6 IP, no more than 3 ER), Estes has had 4 quality starts in his last 16 starts. That’s ugly. By comparison, Jeremy Bonderman has 7 quality starts in his last 16 starts.

FTR, he gave up 5 runs in 5 innings today - another stellar effort.

But hey - as I type this, the Cubs are up 7-6 going into the top of the 9th…

[Troy_McClure_SF]

“Mighty Brewers.”

What kinda fucked-up phrase is that?

San Francisco   85-53   .616