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2012 Cubs thread


southsider2k5

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QUOTE (fathom @ May 8, 2012 -> 09:44 PM)
One thing I'll credit the Cubs coaching under Sveum is that they put on some extreme shifts. From the games I've watched, they've really benefited from this.

 

The shift saved them the game on Monday. Freeman crushed a line drive up the middle vs Marmol, but Castro happened to be standing right there.

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http://www.csnchicago.com/baseball-chicago...&feedID=661

 

Kerry Wood loses his cool in loss to Braves

 

patrick mooney

 

Kerry Wood walked off the mound and squeezed his glove before throwing it into the stands. He tossed his hat to the fans before disappearing into the dugout.

 

It was like a scene out of Little League. One pressbox wag wondered what the reaction would have been if Carlos Zambrano had done something like that.

 

The boos were muted, barely audible, during Tuesday night’s meltdown, because it’s Wood. Cubs fans have a soft spot for the kid they watched grow up at Wrigley Field.

 

But it all unraveled for the 34-year-old reliever during the eighth inning of a 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves. His postgame media session lasted 45 seconds. He cut it off after a reporter mentioned the glove.

 

“Irrelevant, dude, and why the (bleep) would you even bring that up?” Wood said. “You guys have a good night.”

 

With that, Wood stormed away from his locker. He hadn’t really spoken publicly since leaving the team in the middle of April, flying from Miami to Chicago for a cortisone shot the team hoped would strengthen his right shoulder.

 

There were more questions about Wood’s health after he faced six Braves and walked two and gave up two hits. By the time Dan Uggla’s two-run single landed in left-center field, parts of the announced crowd of 38,523 began heading toward the exits.

 

“That’s the frustrating thing,” Wood said. “I bounced back from the injection and the shoulder feels great. It still feels fine. I actually threw some good curveballs tonight for the first time in a month. But it’s all about results.”

 

Manager Dale Sveum: “He said he feels fine.”

 

The Cubs (12-18) wasted another strong start from Ryan Dempster, who limited a powerful Braves lineup to one run across seven innings, but hasn’t had his luck change.

 

Dempster still doesn’t have a win yet, even with a 1.02 ERA through five quality starts. He probably knows Wood as well as anyone in the Cubs clubhouse.

 

“I know he’s feeling good,” Dempster said. “Coming off the DL, he’s had a couple rough outings. But he’s a professional, as professional as anybody I’ve ever played with and things will turn around real soon.”

 

Before the game, Cubs president Theo Epstein told reporters how the upcoming draft is “probably the most important thing that we’re doing right now, to be honest.”

 

“It’s a year-long process,” Epstein said. “Right now, we’re right in the sweet spot of finishing up evaluations, going back, getting final looks and then we’ll get together and dissect all the information.”

 

That’s where the Cubs are at as an organization, looking at around 10 players for the sixth overall pick.

 

While it would be nice to win this year, it’s not the No. 1 priority. It’s all building toward the future, which seems to make a $3 million setup guy something of a luxury item.

 

Wood can do a lot for that clubhouse, and may still strengthen this bullpen, but right now he has a 14.54 ERA. Something is clearly gnawing at him.

 

“It’s frustrating. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or a veteran guy,” Sveum said. “When you give up a couple runs and you walk a couple guys, it’s frustrating. It doesn’t matter who you are, how many years you have in the big leagues. It’s frustrating to do that in a tie ballgame.”

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QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ May 9, 2012 -> 08:20 PM)
In the bottom of the 7th none the less. Real dumb move.

 

The cubs starters are amazing right now.

 

Especially if you project Zambrano in the rotation instead of Volstad. Any idea who the Sox will face next weekend?

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That's like saying the Big 10 reporters didn't have a right to ask Bobby Knight why he threw a chair onto the floor...maybe LESS of a right since the player or coach's action in this case didn't affect the course of action in the game, but

 

Maybe the better analogy is someone like Tiger Woods who is constantly being brought to task for cursing or throwing clubs. You can guarantee he is ALWAYS asked those questions after a round and usually has a similar response to Wood. Doesn't mean the reporters aren't going to mention it. And there's definitely something of a double standard at play, compared to someone like Zambrano or Milton Bradley.

 

And then sometimes, there are players like Bradley that the media knows are more emotionally fragile and that asking a question like that can be enough to create a meltdown/emotional scene and lead to headlines...where the reporter is intentionally baiting the athlete and trying to create a story. It's definitely a fine line between reporting the story and making/being the story, see Mariotti or Cowley, for example.

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QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 9, 2012 -> 03:37 PM)
What happened to that vaunted Braves' offense?

 

Guess good pitching always wins out over hitting that has feasted mostly on average pitching so far this year.

 

Their hitting coach's teachings apparently don't work in the city of Chicago.

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QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 9, 2012 -> 03:42 PM)
That's like saying the Big 10 reporters didn't have a right to ask Bobby Knight why he threw a chair onto the floor...maybe LESS of a right since the player or coach's action in this case didn't affect the course of action in the game, but

 

Maybe the better analogy is someone like Tiger Woods who is constantly being brought to task for cursing or throwing clubs. You can guarantee he is ALWAYS asked those questions after a round and usually has a similar response to Wood. Doesn't mean the reporters aren't going to mention it. And there's definitely something of a double standard at play, compared to someone like Zambrano or Milton Bradley.

 

And then sometimes, there are players like Bradley that the media knows are more emotionally fragile and that asking a question like that can be enough to create a meltdown/emotional scene and lead to headlines...where the reporter is intentionally baiting the athlete and trying to create a story. It's definitely a fine line between reporting the story and making/being the story, see Mariotti or Cowley, for example.

 

I never once said they don't have the right to ask, I just said if you ask that question what kind of response are you expecting. The guy was clearly pissed off and bringing it up isn't going to make him happy and want to talk to you about it especially just following the incident. Now, if a reporter asked the Cubs manager about Kerry Wood's temper tantrum and he got upset about it would be a different story.

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