TCR Friday Notes and Introducing a New Bears Blog

Well that little fling the Cubs had with the playoffs was fun, but I'm back to not giving a damn. One of our readers suggested a poll on what was the reasons for the Cubs demise in 2009. You never want to jump the gun too soon on something like that, but I think by the end of the weekend, it'll be safe to post.

- BP looks at the some of minor leaguers around the NL that took a big stride in their prospectdom. Kyler Burke and pitcher "Cub" Carpenter(so as not be confused with the Cardinals Chris Carpenter) get mentioned.

- A nice article on where and how the Cubs make their money and where new owner Tom Ricketts will try to boost profits.

-  Fun day at the ballpark yesterday....Cubs lose again and Randy Wells looks cooked. Milton got on-base finally, but complained of a knee injury and was removed from the game. This sent the press corp into some sort of odd frenzy, which of course Bradley fed with a terse post-game press conference around his locker followed by Lou sort of dressing Bradley down for his actions. This after Lou just decided he wasn't going to hold a press conference of his own. Oh yee double standard, how I love you so...

The writing is getting pretty clear on the wall that Lou and Bradley just aren't going to get along. I imagine Hendry will be working the phones for some overpriced relievers to try and swap bad contracts this offseason. Then he can cut the reliever and flush $23M down the drain.

- Speaking of Bradley, there's been some odd debate between the on-field merits of Alfonso Soriano vs. Bradley this year in the comments. Seems pretty cut and dried to me, but I did try to look at it objectively in this comment. I reposted the analysis after the jump as well.

- And I'd like to welcome all of you Bears fans, to The Bear Truth. A little Bears blog I'm going to start up. Right now, it's just yours truly, but hopefully I can blackmail a few more writers into joining the venture (drop me a note if you're interested, qualifications are the English language and not being an over-opinionated douchebag). If anything, it will hopefully keep the Bears talk off here. I'm sure it'll one day grow into something just as kick-ass as TCR, but for the time being, it'll be just a good place to gather and chat about the Bears, including Parachat on gamedays. I also plan on using it as my testing ground for improvements to TCR as the two sites run on the same platform. Stop on by... 

Bradley vs. Soriano in 2009 (with a few minor additions from the original comment)

to be an effective baseball player, there's basically 4 things I look at...

you get on-base, you drive in runs, you hit for power, you can play
defense...if you want to add a 5th, you can add baserunning and speed,
but it's very much the 5th wheel...

1. you get on-base

it's pretty easy, look at OBP

.376 vs .303 (Bradley vs. Soriano)

.371 vs. .326 for their careers

Major Advantage Bradley

2. you drive in runs

yeah, there's RBI's, they don't tell a good story. They don't tell
you about the RBI opportunities. I've preached this for a long time but
BP and the game logs of individual players on Baseball Reference carry the information. 

Bradley: 288 Runners have been on-base (ROB) when he's come up, he's driven in 28 of them for a woeful 9.7%

Soriano: 276 ROB, 35 driven in (this excludes driving themselves in on a home run) for an also woeful 12.7% 

Generally about 15-16% is considered average and only Ramirez and
Lee are above that this year for the Cubs. The only thing about driving
in runs and hitting with runners on, is that is has shown to fluctuate
greatly from season to season.

Bradley's ROB% from 2008 in descending order (2007, then 2006 and so forth): 15.6, 16, 14, 12.9, 12.8, 17.6, 12

Soriano's ROB%:  16.4, 13, 13.9, 16, 16.2, 14.1, 17.7

Slight Advantage Soriano

3. you hit for power

Bradley: 12 HR's, 30 XBH's in 2009 (terrible)

Soriano: 20 HR's, 46 XBH's in 2009 (about the only decent thing from him all season)

Soriano obviously has the career advantage as well...

Major Advantage Soriano

4: you play defense

I think Soriano has been a disaster this season and certainly taken
a step back from some decent years he had before that, mostly thanks to
his arm. Left field tends to be the place you sacrifice defense so
comparing him to his peers versus Bradley's right field and center
field peers is hardly ideal. Nonetheless...

Soriano BP rate2 (100 is average): 114 for his career in LF, 102 in 2009 (that's a tough one to swallow)

Bradley BP rate2: 104 for his career in RF, 107 in 2009

Soriano UZR/150: 5.4 for his career in LF, -13.1 in 2009, 5.2 in 2008, 22.4 in 2007

Bradley UZR/150: 7.8 for his career in RF, 6.6 in CF, - 2.3 in 2009, 14.2 in 2006

Slight to Substantial Advantage Bradley 

There's some decent cumulative stats that try to sum up a player...WAR(via BP) and WARP(via Fangraphs) are the most prominent.

Bradley: 1.3 WAR in 2009, 2.4 WARP

Soriano: -0.8 WAR in 2009,  0.8 WARP

Salary: $16M for Soriano this year, $7M for Bradley

It's like comparing turds in a punch bowl, but Bradley for the win in 2009.

Tags: 
Friday Notes
The Bear Truth
Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 09/17/2009 - 11:29pm
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Comments

Submitted by Ryno
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:37am

My wish list for Cubs I would like to see moved this off season:

Milton Bradley
Aaron Miles
Mike Fontenot
Kevin Gregg
Aaron Heilman
Rich Harden

Submitted by John Beasley
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 9:56am

Jeter closing in on another record:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/derek_jeter_h...

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 12:03pm

Funny, but ironic in the fact that the guy is doing the same thing the media is by not recognizing Baines as a pretty damned good hitter. The guy slugged .533 with over 100 RBI's and walked more often than he K'd in his age 40 season.

I realize why they picked Baines, but had he been playing for Boston all those years, he may have been a HoF'r.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:21am

http://www.baseball-reference.com/about/sharing.shtml

BR lets you share info automatically and pick your columns... I'm going to have to tweak some things to let you guys be able to post stuff, but I'll be do that tonight.

Split G GS PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB BAbip
April/March 14 10 45 5 4 0 0 2 2 9 10 .118 .333 .294 .627 10 .091
May 24 22 92 14 22 3 1 3 12 9 15 .268 .348 .439 .787 36 .297
June 22 17 77 5 18 5 0 0 3 10 17 .273 .377 .348 .725 23 .367
July 24 21 94 14 19 1 0 3 9 23 17 .275 .457 .420 .878 29 .320
August 26 24 112 18 28 7 0 3 10 15 21 .308 .427 .484 .911 44 .373
Sept/Oct 14 14 53 5 10 1 0 1 4 0 15 .196 .226 .275 .501 14 .257
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/18/2009.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:27am

nevermind, did it now, those are Bradley's splits btw...

 

Split G GS PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB BAbip
April/March 14 10 45 5 4 0 0 2 2 9 10 .118 .333 .294 .627 10 .091
May 24 22 92 14 22 3 1 3 12 9 15 .268 .348 .439 .787 36 .297
June 22 17 77 5 18 5 0 0 3 10 17 .273 .377 .348 .725 23 .367
July 24 21 94 14 19 1 0 3 9 23 17 .275 .457 .420 .878 29 .320
August 26 24 112 18 28 7 0 3 10 15 21 .308 .427 .484 .911 44 .373
Sept/Oct 14 14 53 5 10 1 0 1 4 0 15 .196 .226 .275 .501 14 .257
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/18/2009.

Submitted by Ryno
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 12:36pm

"Share or grab table as..."

Which option?

Submitted by Ryno
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 12:37pm

Report from Baseball-reference.com

Submitted by navigator
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:11pm

Didn't work for me either.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 4:51pm

Click Share and then delete the columns you don't want (please keep them at a reasonable size 20-25 columns), hit html table and then copy and paste the code...

you can also click "pre-formatted text" and just copy and pase that

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:52pm

try it again, seems to strip away some of the styling, but it lines up, 20 columns should be the max, maybe less, although I can't really enforce it.

Year Tm Lg G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO OPS OPS+
2007 CHC NL 135 617 97 173 42 5 33 70 19 31 130 .897 123
2008 CHC NL 109 503 76 127 27 0 29 75 19 43 103 .876 121
2009 CHC NL 117 522 64 115 25 1 20 55 9 40 118 .726 85
CHC (3 yrs) 361 1642 237 415 94 6 82 200 47 114 351 .837 110
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original TableGenerated 9/18/2009.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:59pm

test of inline styles off...

Year Tm Lg G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO OPS OPS+
2007 CHC NL 135 617 97 173 42 5 33 70 19 31 130 .897 123
2008 CHC NL 109 503 76 127 27 0 29 75 19 43 103 .876 121
2009 CHC NL 117 522 64 115 25 1 20 55 9 40 118 .726 85
CHC (3 yrs) 361 1642 237 415 94 6 82 200 47 114 351 .837 110
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original TableGenerated 9/18/2009.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 8:00pm

test using pre tag 

                                                                   
Year     Tm   Lg   G   PA   R   H 2B 3B HR RBI SB  BB  SO  OPS OPS+
2007    CHC   NL 135  617  97 173 42  5 33  70 19  31 130 .897  123
2008    CHC   NL 109  503  76 127 27  0 29  75 19  43 103 .876  121
2009    CHC   NL 117  522  64 115 25  1 20  55  9  40 118 .726   85
CHC (3 yrs)      361 1642 237 415 94  6 82 200 47 114 351 .837  110

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original TableGenerated 9/18/2009.

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 8:49pm 
011  738˙ 153 411 74 002 28 6  49 514 732 2461 163      (sɹʎ 3) ɔɥɔ
58   627˙ 811 04  9  55  02 1  52 511 46  225  711 ןu   ɔɥɔ    9002
121  678˙ 301 34  91 57  92 0  72 721 67  305  901 ןu   ɔɥɔ    8002
321  798˙ 031 13  91 07  33 5  24 371 79  716  531 ןu   ɔɥɔ    7002
+sdo sdo  os  qq  qs ıqɹ ɹɥ q3 q2 ɥ   ɹ   ɐd   ƃ   ƃן   ɯʇ     ɹɐǝʎ

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:54am

http://huggingharoldreynolds.blogspot.com/2009/09/...

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 12:35pm

I don't get it. Why does she turn down a marriage proposal from a guy she likes sleeping with who happens to be making $4 million a year again?

Submitted by Newport
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 12:43pm

Man Whore + Prenup= Not a great idea

Submitted by dcf
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 3:03pm

I'm touched. This is amazingly classy.

Submitted by dc60124
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 11:43am

last i heard the white sox were cutting ties with jermaine dye. possible destination for bradley? and what could hendry reasonably ask for?

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 12:29pm

I think the Mets are still the best fit for Bradley - though after the year they've had they may be gun shy about getting guys who have had injury problems.

Submitted by dc60124
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 4:38pm

milton bradley + new york media = marriage made in heaven.

would love to swap bradley for carlos beltran but i'm sure the scales would need a little balancing.

Submitted by navigator
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 5:54pm

We already have Scales.

Submitted by MikeC
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 12:01pm

They have new salaries of Rios and Peavy, and are going the more defensive/athletic route.

Submitted by Ryno
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 12:21pm

Just from an outsider point of view... they would be well-served to focus on defense this off season.

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 3:16pm

At the general managers' meetings in Naples, Fla., a handful of teams had serious, active interest in making Soriano wealthy beyond his wildest dreams.

And the Phillies were one of them.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20090...
---
Apparently the non-signing of Soriano was the best thing since sliced bread as far as the Phils go. Same logic applies to signing Ibanez before the Hendry/Lou blinked. Hard to imagine Bradley in a Phils uniform and what their boo-birds would do with his antics.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 4:17pm

I didn't realize this til just now - Ibanez is getting half a million more per year than Bradley. They're not going to be too happy paying Howard $20 million two years from now, but probably happier than the Cubs paying Soriano.

On page two of that article there is this on Zambrano:

"Big Z said he doesn't care about the speculation, adding, "If the Cubs want to trade me, it's because they don't like me anymore."

This from a guy who skipped a team charter on his birthday, was suspended six games for "inappropriate and violent actions" and spent time on the disabled list with a chronic back condition that he acknowledged was a result of being lazy ... and then was spotted playing softball while still on the DL.

Gee, what's not to like?"

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 5:12pm

Witty tweets...
cst_cubs: No Milty today. What else they got: riot, fuky, lee, rami, hoff (rf), soto, baker, scales, lilly.
---
Milty gets ak amp to get rid of his severe knee pain, prosthetic fitting with carbon alloy, able to jump tall buildings soon. What a trooper, all for the love of the cubs.

Milty asks if he can wear #22, a number steeped in cub history, gorzelanny says pleeze take it...he'll take #5 since it's not being used

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 6:04pm

scales?

did jake fox piss off soriano and zambrano...i mean, lou...i mean, all 3? =p

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 6:45pm

There's an ad network malware that is attacking sites (including this one).

If you get a window saying your system is infected, and it shows a realistic windows screen with an animated "scan", DO NOT click on it. Instead, hit control/alt/delete to get to Windows Task Manager, then click on the processes tab and kill your browser process (either Firefox.exe or iexplore.exe). It's the only way to kill the window. Don't worry about the warning saying doing it can cause undesired results.

On a Mac, just do a force quit.

This is not something that Rob can fix -- it comes from one of his ad networks and is a known bug. I would think that the network that is distributing this thing would have resolved it by now. It's at least 2 days old.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:03pm

well great and thanks for the catch. I'll email the appropriate parties, there's only 4 ad networks running here anyway and 2 are just text-based.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:09pm

Sorry I don't know which one. As you know, the ads are rotated of course so it may be i was the only one who was nailed.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:16pm

No, I've gotten it a couple or three times. What's the important information to know, the advertisers on the page at the time?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:27pm

it might help, if you do notice it...

the 2 ads I would most suspect are on the right sidebar below the score and the left CBS siderbar. I also have some text-link and Google ads, but those are unlikely (I think).

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:36pm

The security alerts out there are saying it's display ads and unfortunately I remember reading which network it was but it could have spread anyway. I'd dig through my browser history but it would be like trying to find the darkest bean in a coffee roaster.

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:57pm

there was a huge outbreak in 07 from a huge ad provider, doubleclick i believe. adsense got hit shortly after...etc etc...

it just happens. url content is trusted and they jam your socket connection with a ton of url bounce-around trash to "needle in a haystack" hide where they're pulling their code and images from.

it's a problem that's not going to fully go away without changes to how the ad feeding industry works. it's just filtered when it's brought to an adserver's attention. meh.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 9:44pm

http://consumerist.com/5362663/microsoft-goes-afte...

sounds like it might be this...

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:13pm

Fox Sports Midwest feed opening their game with a montage about why the cubs suck using history and noting the cubs are full of failure this year.

This was a 3+ minute piece using all cubs footage and included goats, bartmans, and everything.

They totally buried Milton "he's been a disappointment at the plate and even worse in the field."

Big rundown of all the Cubs injuries this year...fun stuff.

Nothing to do with the Cards mentioned...and then to another commercial break.

Way to go Fox Midwest...thanks.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:17pm

Even Worse in the field, eh? Did Soto, Fountainout and Soriano's bats get mentioned?

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:26pm

Looks like double trouble for Smoltz in the first. Would have been a lot cooler had we won one of the last two games, but at least the Cubs have a chance to say 'FU' to the Cardinals and their fans over the weekend.

Smoltz 3.27 ERA...Holliday 1.057 OPS - Fire Hendry!

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 9:05pm

I knew the beer at Wrigley seemed to be overpriced at $6.50 this year...at least it's setting things up for Tom Ricketts first important move this offseason to lower beer prices
---
The Wall Street Journal reports that beer prices rise along with a big-league team's winning percentage. The Journal found that a team with a .600 winning percentage will charge, on average, $1.30 more for a 16-ounce cup of beer than will a team with a mark of .400 or lower. Thus, the Boston Red Sox charge $7.25 for 12-ounce cup of suds while the Pittsburgh Pirates charge just $4.75 for 21 ounces.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240529702034...

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 9:53pm

fwiw, this is a pretty kickass game.

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:09pm

this is no longer a kickass game.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 9:57pm

http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?post=44829...

Harden dresses Sullivan down...

"No, I guess that was just one person who decided to run with that," Harden said. "They're not shutting me down and I am still feeling good and looking forward to getting back out there."

gonna miss one start, possibly two

http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?post=44829...

Bradley told trainer his knee was hurting before the at-bat and they removed him after he reached base knowing he couldn't run.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:06pm

Ryan Theriot really is a lousy base runner.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:08pm

nice work theriot

getting almost picked off wasn't good enough for you, you had to make sure the Cards got the call the 2nd time

ump has a strange zone where the ball can be outside and below the knees for a strike

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 11:45pm

Did Theriot really get picked off? Was watching the Cardinals' broadcast and they had one shitty angle they showed twice.

I've never seen a strike zone like that guy was calling tonight. Strike one to Soto from McClellan was a good 8 inches off the plate.

Lou was talking about having an injury - it's becoming clear that he's got a muscle pull somewhere between the left and right ear. Splits are great and all, but bunting Miles for Hoffpauir was just stupid.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:09pm

Holliday walk-off HR of Heilman

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:13pm

Heilman takes off his mask and voila'...he's really Bobby Howry...all is revealed.

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:16pm

actually Kevin Gregg gave up a two run HR to Pujols in the 8th after Lou took out Lilly with two outs...Comcast just broadcast the fake GO 6-3 so we'd have to watch one more ugly inning.

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:18pm

this is no longer a kickass game.
---
this went from an kickass game to an asskick game

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:33pm

Smokies tied in Tennessee, 4-4, bottom 9th

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:43pm

Smokies win, 5-4 on an rbi single by Starlin Castro driving in Brandon Guyer who had a pinch hit single and stolen 2nd.

Guyer was player of the game.

Series 2-1 Jax with game 4 Sat night

game ends with a rendition of Go Cubs Go on the stadium PA and an interview with Guyer...who bloodied his nose sliding into home head first.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:47pm

way to go lil' Cubbies.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 11:48pm

OK, this is going to be obvious to everyone but me, I am sure - but how does a single and stolen base make you player of the game?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 1:55am

key play of the game? plus he bloodied himself?

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:46pm

Marcus Mateo got the win with 3 IP of scoreless relief

they said that they would have interviewed Starlin Castro as well but he doesn't speak enough English yet to do a radio interview

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:52pm

Tonight was Ryne Sandberg's 50th birthday (BD 9-18-59)
=====
Sandberg interview just before the playoffs:

“I think I’m somewhat of an aggressive manager,” Sandberg said. “I like action on the field; I like energy. I really enjoy the National League style of play, using guys on the bench and having some strategy in trying to win a game.”

http://southern.league.milb.com/documents/2009/09/...

“It worked out perfectly to be doing this with the Chicago organization,” Sandberg said. “To be doing it with the Cubs makes it much more special and I feel like I’m gaining experience and I hope to one day do this at the major league level, wherever that opportunity may come.”

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:58pm

judging by some game recaps I've perused, he sure likes the sac bunt...

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 11:55pm

2nd in the league in sac hits and not very good SB/CS numbers. Hopefully he doesn't carry that through to the Bigs, unless he gets a gig with another NL team.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/league.cg...

Only issued 12 IBB's, though.

In something unrelated - the Cubs are 33 K's behind the Giants for the league lead.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 6:16am

They got the winning run on two singles. How do you do that without a stolen base or a bunt? At Daytona, Guyer was 23-2 on SB attempts. Are the odds of getting a third hit better than Guyer's odds of stealing second?

For most of the season, Sandberg didn't have much in the way of baserunners. Castro was a late addition, Guyer very late. Adduci was 35-12, not a great percentage, and Tony Thomas 13-13. But this is the minor leagues, you learn by doing.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 9:12am

"They got the winning run on two singles. How do you do that without a stolen base or a bunt?"

Single, first to third on another single, sac fly(wild pitch, balk, passed ball, K on a wild pitch, error, GIDP etc).

OK, what do I win?

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 10:59am

You had just criticized Sandberg for bunting and stealing too often, when I spoke up. I guess you're saying that Guyer had other ways to score without stealing. He could have stayed at first, then gone to third on Castro's single, and waited for a sac fly or a gift, a "wild pitch, balk, passed ball, K on a wild pitch, error, GIDP etc."

In other words, play the game like the grown-up Cubs do--assuming their runner wouldn't have stopped at second on Castro's hit, which drove in the winning run in Sandberg's scenario.

Is it really a stain on Sandberg's record that he lets Adduci (35 of 47 SBs) and Thomas (13 of 26) run so much? It depends what you think his job is. Both Adduci and Thomas have to be base stealers to have a chance to make the majors.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 11:31am

I didn't criticize Sandberg for stealing too often. If all his players could steal bases as well as he did in his younger days that would be great. 13/26 is awful though. Some of those may be hit and runs, who knows? But it's awful.

I also said "if" he manages like that in the majors. If he brings that level of sacrificing (and keep in mind in the SL they often have designated hitters) and stolen base success ratio to the majors, he's going to be a pretty shitty in-game manager.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 12:27am

By the highly technical calculations I performed last week, the 2009 Cubs are now all out of losses if they want to have any hope of making the playoffs.

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 8:39am

They got the winning run on two singles.
---
I can't wait for the day the big league club wins a game that way.

Does anyone remember the last game the big team won with a 1B-SB-1B?

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 9:37am

OK, what do I win?
---
you win this link:

http://autographwarehouse.com/images/view.aspx?pro...

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 9:46am

Shocked I tell ya.

DeRosa interviewed by GW: If the Cubs are interested this winter, ''I would definitely listen,'' said DeRosa, who was shocked and saddened by his trade to Cleveland on New Year's Eve, six months before the Indians traded him to St. Louis.
---
also Guzman done for the year, Colvin sighting next week?

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/17791...

Submitted by The E-Man
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 11:16am

Thanks Cubster.

Yep.

Guzman and DL

is Like Pizza and Cheese.

I was pretty shocked seeing he made it to August for the first time in the MAjors with "little" injury issues.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 11:38am

Maybe we should go vegan?

Submitted by The E-Man
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 2:51pm

Haha!

Yes. Indeed, RN!

BTW - you may have caught this, but NPR Morning Edition did a week-long "study" of Houston and post-Katrina growth.

Pretty interesting.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 10:47am

Sometimes when you watch a game, you bitch about the umpiring but think deep down inside "well, I am just being a homer". With the McClellan strike 1 pitch to Soto, it was pretty hard to not think, Soto at least, was not getting screwed. According to pitch FX, it wasn't just Soto:

Long link - head to Brooks Baseball to look.

If that link works...

Throwing out the ones that were barely high/low, because that would change for each hitter:

Cubs bad strike calls:7
Cards bad strike calls:3

Cubs free ball calls:0
Cards free ball calls:3

Seven more missed calls that went against the Cubs than were missed against the Cards - I've argued before the accuracy of the Pitch/FX stuff, so I am not going to say it's the be-all-end-all conclusive evidence, but it sure as hell was pissing me off last night.

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 11:20am

My impression is this cub team rarely goes first to third, rarely scores from second on a single, etc...where do Iook it up to quantify this?

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 11:37am

Baseball prospectus does baserunning analysis focused on players ability or inability to take an extra base:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sorta...

The Cubs are pretty bad. When did we have Wave 'em in Wendall? 2004 and 2005? We were pretty bad then too.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 1:43pm

doesn't the ability to take an extra base depend on where the ball lands and who hit that ball to advance the runner? defender quality and arm?

how the hell do you track that without a bunch of tape?

-edit- i just read how they get a chunk of the stats on that page and more than a few are worthless curiosities. they fulfill the definitions, but are pretty flakey in substance.

the don't take account any situations beyond the basic...though for some reason they park adjust some stats.

i know you have to start somewhere to hash out a stat, but baserunning stats on this level seem as useless and young in hashing-out as defensive stats were/are.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 1:58pm

awesome...Fox East is actually showing the STL/CHC game rather than their usual NYY/NYM/BOS game-of-the-week.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 3:07pm

bradley back in RF...scales (seriously, what the fuck) in LF again

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 3:10pm

bradley late scratch...hoffpower RF

Submitted by Charlie
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 3:12pm

Scales and Hoffpauir at the corners in the outfield, Fox to spend the day nailing Lou's female relatives.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 5:23pm

Two games in a row where Scales's defense in left has given up extra bases to the Cards.

Hey Lou, tell us some more about how you didn't want more left handed balance to the lineup, I think a few of us here at TCR are still even buying it.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 4:00pm

ugg..the CF camera in busch isn't broadcasting correctly...it's dropping frames or something causing a barely noticalbe, but annoying flutter in the picture.

hell on the eyes...

Submitted by Charlie
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 4:28pm

Lou gives Scales the opportunity to make the highlight reels late in the season. Too bad it will be for turning a Brendan Ryan double into a homerun. Good effort, tough break. Jake Fox plays it off the wall.

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 4:29pm

Bobby Scales doing his best Soriano impression of Kingman in LF

at least he knew he kicked it over the fence, I don't think sori would have noticed

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 4:30pm

Jake Fox catches it with his teeth

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 4:34pm

bobby scales...keep fucking that chicken.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 5:02pm

Q- How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A- Bobby Scales.

Submitted by navigator
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 5:41pm

Note to Hendry: Better shop for a closer this winter.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 5:42pm

this game was dildos.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 6:06pm

"Not really," he said. "It's just not a positive environment. I need a stable, healthy, enjoyable environment. There's too many people everywhere in your face with a microphone asking the same questions repeatedly. Everything is just bashing you. You got out there and you play harder than anybody on the field and never get credit for it. It's just negativity.

"And you understand why they haven't won in 100 years here, because it's negative. It's what it is."

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=322741

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 6:20pm

On one hand - just shut up, but on the other hand... what was the point of the interview, other than to hope Bradley gives some exciting quotes?

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 6:33pm

now if he'd just keep from falling for it...heheh...

that said...seems like he just signed his sell-low ticket out of chicago. meh. we're about to jettison a good hitter/defender (when healthy) because he's got the attitude of gary sheffield. whatever...hope something good comes of it somehow.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 6:45pm

If Hendry was smart (a dubious proposition, I know) he would come out tomorrow and say "We're not trading Bradley and we're not trading Zambrano. They're going to shut up and play out their contracts." Then proceed to listen to offers for them during the off-season.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 7:03pm

milton's going out of his way at this point to get himself traded, it seems.

it's one thing to say you're not happy and call it as you see it...it's another to bring up that "100 years" thing, call the entire organization negative, and add more fuel to the fans vs. milton fire all in 1 soundbite.

i wouldn't mind having milton back next year, myself...especially given his current value.

Submitted by Charlie
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 7:14pm

Who does Bradley have to blame for his position at this point but himself? He chose to sign in Chicago. If he didn't know it was a big media town, he and his agent achieved an epic fail as far as research goes.

If Hendry allows Bradley to force him into a trade, then he's not doing his job. What's to keep the team from coming out and saying, "We don't agree with Mr. Bradley's criticisms of the Chicago media. The opinions expressed in any Milton Bradley interview do not represent the opinions of the organization. We offer him as much support and help in constructing his own image and interacting with the press as he likes--it is up to him to take advantage of that offer." What, that would make Bradley even angrier? What's he gonna do, play like shit intentionally? Put himself on the DL? I guess it's possible--I'm not sure at this point that Bradley is above cutting off his nose to spite his face.

I like his stats. I think he's an above average player and I do not want to see Hendry sell low on him. Get more creative in how to manage the situation, Lou and Hendry.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 7:23pm

Bradley's probably got a pretty good point about the 100 year thing.

I just don't want Hendry to do another Sosa and ruin his image so that he's forced to trade him and cash for nothing.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 11:26pm

"Who does Bradley have to blame for his position at this point but himself? He chose to sign in Chicago. If he didn't know it was a big media town, he and his agent achieved an epic fail as far as research goes."

Agreed.

Ideally, agents and players should do serious due diligence that playing for the Cubs means you're "Not in Kansas anymore, Toto."

Along with New York and Boston, it is one of the three pressure places. The Cubs' unfortunately, is due to the 100+ year failure coupled with our expectations in the "$140MM Era".

Fuck the players if they take the money knowing this, and then come here and suck.

And, fuck Hendry for not doing his due dilligence as well.

Submitted by MikeC
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 8:19pm

Ruin Bradleys image Real Neal? I think it was pretty much shot before he came to Chicago.

Submitted by Jim Hickmans Bat
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 8:28pm

If MB is on the Cubs again in 2010 I think I'm done with this team, seriously. This jackass has made the season unpleasant since Mesa in March. I hate this fucker. Just. Get. Out.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 9:54pm

Remind me, what did he do in Mesa?

Submitted by MikeC
on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 1:00am

Get injured

Submitted by navigator
on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 9:42am

I looked it up. Ironically, he took himself out of the first inning of his first game as a Cub and blamed it on his left leg.

What a symmetrical season...

By Paul Sullivan
MESA, Ariz.- Milton Bradley's Cubs debut on Thursday was brief and interesting, to say the least.
Bradley drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the first inning of the Cactus League game against Milwaukee, before being removed for a pinch-runner with mild tightness of the left quad.
So what happened?
"I had a tight quad," he replied.
How did it happen?
"When you work out hard, you get tight," he said.
Asked if it happened during the game, Bradley finally smiled and said: "I didn't do too much in the game. I felt it before, warming up. So I just let them know it felt tighter than it should've been. We've got a quarter-season worth of games in spring training, so I thought the best course of action was to let them know right now."
Bradley's history of injuries is well-chronicled, but he's not concerned that this one will turn into anything major. He worked out after leaving the game and expects to be back in the lineup in a couple days. Bradley is not going to take any unneccessary precautions.
Spring is spring," he said. "I had like five at-bats last spring and hit .320 (during the season). "Spring is overrated... I'm gonna hit. That's not a concern."

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 10:30am

Yeah, this ruined the season for me too.

Submitted by MikeC
on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 10:17am

Bradley makes a habit of taking himself out of alot of games.

He doesn't wait for trainers or makes any attempt to stay in the game. He just picks up and goes into the dugout. And people think he doesn't fake shit to not play. That video of the last time he did it the entire team had the "I don't give a crap" look. No one even bothered to talk to Bradley.

I have no doubt that if he is traded Bradley will come out with similar comments as he did in Texas. He is already commented on how he doesn't feel safe playing 9 innings, he didn't feel like playing for a team that didn't commit to him, now that a team has committed to him its on to another excuse. This time it will be the fans of Chicago who are ungrateful for not recognizing the hardest worker on the team.

Now if Texas wasn't going to give him a multi-year deal and he was faking injuries to not play for them, what do you think Milton would do if he thinks the fans of a team don't properly respect him? If he is petty enough to fake injuries over a contract, you know damn well he will do it over people not respecting him.

Either way he has 30 million in his pocket....or does he? The Daily Herald has an additional detail of the Bradley contract that i have never heard of before....

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=322768&src=152

Bradley is in the first season of a three-year, $30 million contract. The third year can become a club option if Bradley is on the disabled list at the end of this season and not ready to play by next April 15 because of a specific injury, widely believed to be the knee.

That would be hard to pull off.

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 8:47pm

Just get a friggin hit with men in scoring position, ol' mr 39 rbi

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 9:05pm

Smokies lead 3-1, Cashner pitching in 4th

Wright solo hr, Tony Thomas 2 run double

http://tennessee.smokies.milb.com/milb/stats/stats...

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 9:11pm

Ugh, 4-3 Jax

Cashner gives up 3 run HR

Submitted by Cubster
on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 10:17am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUXdtbHo2qA

Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love!
What more in the name of love?
---
Ryan Dempster said the Cubs are at least showing they have their pride with the way they have played lately, despite being on the verge of the Cardinals eliminating them in the NL Central.

"The biggest thing we stress with each other is we're not in the position we wish we were in, so you just play for pride," he said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs...

Submitted by Cubster
on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 10:28am

After the failed attempt at B.J. Ryan...

Considering the source (Phil Rogers), it's probably bad info...
---
The Rays are sold on outfielder Desmond Jennings, which means they will look to trade B.J. Upton or Carl Crawford.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-090919-ph...

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