BrandoFan

It's true that Cubs didn't achive take-off velocity until they make those brilliant acquisitions (productive AND cost Bobby Hill) acquisitions. They lost their 1st game after the ASB and dropped to 1 game over .500. BUT.... Remember, they had Prior and Zambrano pitching out their freaking mind (ERA of under 2.00) for 2 months from mid-July through mid-September. Clement was a 3.50 ERA pitcher in the 2nd half. Wood is Wood. Borowski had a Keith Foulke-esqe run. Plus what they got from Ramirez, Sosa, Lofton, Alou Simon. In short, Cubs were a World Series-caliber team in the second half of 2003. Get Glavine/Garcia and Urbina (for cheap) and you'll the kind of explosive effect it will have on the team.

Did you really expect Show to out-duel Sabathia? He is a good #5 starter, remember? As soon as Blake hit that ball, Sox were done. Konerko's and Uribe's defense didn't help. This team was totally demoralized by Koch in Oakland and Seattle, just killed the momentum dead. 2003 all over again. Except Twins were a (slightly) above average team in 2003 whereas now they are hopelessly mediocre. When the f*** is Glavine or Garcia coming I wonder? Does Sox management realize that the team is going stagnant without an ace and simply refuses to do anything abuot it, or are they seriously incompetent? My 92 win prediction still stands, but after Cubs inevitably drop us under .500 (with or without Magglio), I am not sure how Sox can reach that number. If I am Allan Baird and I see this crap, I am not sure I sell off.

Rauch is getting his 2nd and probably last chance. Diaz got it and fauked miserably. Let's see how Bigger Unit handles it. Go rauch.

Oh yeah - she's got move star's bone structure that will help her look better as she matures, while the vacuous cum dumpster Britbot already looks 40 without thick layers of paint-rolled on make-up....Christina Applegate-style. :puke Plus fake boobiage and general Stepfordwifery are a huge turn-off. YMMV.

It all goes back to The Jerry and his group. 2002. 2003. And possibly 2004 (hopefully not).

You don't mean that, abo. As long as he brings his pre-injury arm speed and range o' motion with him on Thursday, I am willing to overlook his personal flaws.

The thing that worries me about Borchard is his lack of "eye". Adam Dunn K's a lot but he also draws a TON of walks in addition to hitting for big power. Why oh why can't Borchard be like that? Is his bat that slow?

I know....what a f***ing maron. Right out of Eric Benet and BBT book of downgrading from Halle and Angelina. Or better yet, picking ManFace Duff over Le Lohan.

The thing about Podsednik is that he will steal 60+ bases with less than 10 caught stealing - which is better than, say, Alex Sanchez stealing 50 and getting caught 25 times. Another huge intangible is that Podsedink drives pitches nuts. I saw a Brew Crew game last year where he drew 10 or 12 pick off throws in one inning - in addition to the physical energy expended by the pitcher, it also distrupts his rhythm and negatively affects the quality of the pitches since most pitchers don't do as well out of the stretch. As far as giving up on the prospects too early......Check out Melvyn Mora's numbers before and after turning 30.

I think games aganst Prior and Zambrano should be forfeited. Sox hitters try that pulling-middle-away-heater s*** they've been so fond of since 2001 with those two, and they are f***ing DEAD. I am talking about 2-hitter shut-out. Then again, those two must lose sometimes, Sox I'll be happy with a split, so hopefully Loaiza can out-duel Maddux.

They simply did not look like a team with playoff aspirations (to say nothing of the 86-year World Series drought, lol) should in Oakland, Seattle, Florida and Montreal. But still better than either 2002 or 2003 teams would, so, um, that's something. I guess.

That's what I told WS30682 - AA hitters would have killed him as well if he had pitched like that. The problem is that there is no guarantee that Munoz will be "Munoz of old" in his 2nd start, so it would be wise to leave him in AAA for the rest of the year. For his own sake.

That's not an indictment on Ramirez (him and Alou carried the Cubs when they should have by all rights fallen behind the Astros by 8-10 games), but a testament to how f***ing studly Rolen has been so far. Rolen, Ramirez, Beltre, Chavez, Glaus....that's what 3B position is all about. Big arms and bigger bats.

Juan Pierre?? Very average D, too many caught stealing and OBP that is dropping fast lately. Grissom started out hot in April, but since then has pretty much sucked. Bonds should start and either Edmonds or Drew in CF in the 3rd spot.. Lee? No way. Lawton, Matsui, Crawford, Guillen and a few others have been better overall. Frank should be over Hattenberg even if he will only have 10-12 games at 1B. Melvyn Mora is coming back to earth and A-Rod is yet to get on a roll. Since A-Rod is much superio defensively and on the pads, all he needs to do is to come close to Mora offensively, and he should be the starting 3B. C. Guillen and Uribe are great picks, though. And oyth

Edgar used to play 3B.

In DJ's first couple of years, Hawk was PO'd at DJ and it was hilarious in a train-wreck kinda a way.

McLemore can't come up with a routine groundeball with 2 outs and Cubs score 2 runs. Dye can't bother to wear shades and "loses" a pop up in the sun, leading to another run. Cubs win 5-3. 9 games over .500 and they beat up on the Angels, A's and Astros in the recent stretch. Once they get Kerry Wood back in about 2 weeks, I have no idea how teams plan on beating them on consistent basis. Cardinals will put up fight, but in the long run, if both teams are healthy, I just don't see it.

83?? I hope it's a typo - I thought he was 89-91, with a possibility of reaching 93-95 once he "grows into his body". Another overhyped Sox farmhand? I hope his knuckle curve isn't as "great" as Arnie hammer.

Actually, yes. Or did you think Glavine and Urbina are heading our way?

Look on the bright side, at least he didn't issue perhaps the dreaded-est walk of all - one with a game-winning run at 2nd and 1st base open to set up a DP. Hawk must be thrilled.

While we're at it, maybe we should take Josh Fogg back, too. What's wrong with getting Tom Glavine as a #1 and sliding Shcoenweiss into #5? Oh, I forgot - Glavine is owed 6+ Mill this year that will have to come from Jerry's pocket. Hell, even if Sox send a good prospect package and Mets pick up part of the salary, Jerry is still going to have to pay something - and we can't have unplanned expenditures like that!

There isn't much to say other than to reiterate that this is a miserable 2nd rate organization run by cheap and short-sighted people. Sox would be gunning for their 5th straight divisional title right now if they didn't have a greedy liar at the helm; that spirit of unqualified failure can't help but trickles down - it even reaches the minor league personel. How many people were screaming for a 5th starter in April of 2003? Many, myself included, knew Wright was f***ed up and Stewart and later Porzio were pretty worthless. Division was lost if only because JR didn't want to spend measly 2-3 Mill (on top of his already huge payroll of 52 Mill....and that was an All-Star Game year, thanks Jerr) on a quality 5th starter....... Was the hard lesson learned in 2004? Not only has Reiny robbed the team of at least 3 wins so far, but he shot Diaz, Munoz and Rauch's trade value to hell. Might not seem like a big deal, but when you're pursuing Glavine/Garcia/Batista/Finley/etc, it will undoubtedly hurt you. But whatever.

Only an idiot would dispute that today's start was simply pathetic. BUT.... We knew Munoz was 87-90 mph with his fastball, so his lack of ML fastball didn't suprise anyone. We knew he'd have to Barry Zito his way to success - I hope you didn't expect a Billy Wagner, did you? No, he was all about changing speeds, eye level and location with fastball and change - his curveball did the rest. His REAL problem is that he, like so many Sox headcases before him, had TERRIBLE mechanics - release points, follow-through, tipping his pitches....what a f***ing mess. Both his fastball and change-up had to be PINPOINT....and he was missing strike-zone by FEET - Danny Wright was never this wild. So of course once he had to throw a strike, he put it on a T - tipping pitches off on hitter's counts with middle of the plate location? Horrible combo. But his terrible mechanics and control manifested themselves when he had to throw the equalizer curve. His arm speed sucked ass. Usually, once he gets you 0-2, 1-2, he gets you with a change and the pretty much unhittable curveball.........Unfortunately tonight, his curve was more erratic than Rauch's at his worst. He definately has major league stuff - his curve is first class when he gets it going, and he did manage to throw a coupe of change-ups that completely food the hitters. Unfortunately, his motion (and location went to hell along with it) were SO BAD for the most part, that he had NO chance. We'll see how he rebounds. This wasn't Munoz that held AA hitters to .80 WHIP - if he had pitched like he did today in AA, he'd get absolutely crushed, too.

I love the ever unprofessional DJ saying "suck" on the air. He just did it again and Hawk pretended he didn't hear it.