Here's the set up. Baserunners on first and second, two outs in the sixth. Soriano hits a hot liner to Middlebrooks playing third. He drops it, bobbles it, goes to pick up the ball, drops it again. Soriano doesn't leave the batters box. He just put his head down, didn't make hardly a single move to get down the line. He was easily thrown out.

I'm used to Soriano half assing his game and giving shit effort. What I don't appreciate is his influence on the rookies and younguns. Maybe the reason Castro is turning into a bum in the field is because of the influence of this asswipe. But that's not why I called... it's this:


If anyone on this team should know that hitting it to a player doesn't equal a guaranteed out, it's this asshole. NOT FAIR to boo? Dude fuck you. These folks watch you make $130 million and not run hard and pose your silly ass after flyouts that don't make it to the wall, and drop easy popups and play shitty defense. They knew they'd pay their $45 minimum for tickets this year to see a shitty team, and you say the booing isn't "fair"? What's not fair is you playing like a jerk.

And a secondary "fuck you, douchebag" to Dale Sveum for this bullshit:

OMFG, really? You want your young players to go ahead and learn the culture of not running out popups and liners to infielders? Sounds like you do, because you're ready to say that since 100% of players in HISTORY of baseball wouldn't run those out. You think Paulie wouldn't run those out? You think Ripken wouldn't run them out? That's BULLSHIT and no way to try to lead young players, which really is all the Cubs really have going for them in the short term (next couple years).

Garbage. I expect this garbage from Soriano, but it is completely INEXCUSABLE for Sveum to A) Defend it and B) say that he more or less expects this behavior from every member of the Cubs.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

The fat that he did that didn't surprise me.

The fact that Sveum backed him up disappoints me.

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Maybe it was an edict from Theo to not criticize players.

Kind of odd that it was the "last straw" for Castro, but Sori gets a pass.

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This is an odd pattern from Theo. Don't like it. I believe he squashed the criticism/benching of Castro after his no pay attention goof on the 2 out deal and if he's in the lacka criticism of Soriano (presumably to preserve trade value??) it's bullshit. Everyone saw it. Everyone knows he's been constantly showing a lack of effort and a display of unwarranted showmanship.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

I can't believe Sveum truly believes what he said...he must have been told to not criticize players, especially those the Cubs are desperately trying to unload.

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Soriano is a fucking lazy ass bum, Sveum is pathetic and I will be happy when this turd gets flushed 15 months...Did not like the Sveum hire and still don't..another guy who is afraid of locking horns with the highest paid player on the team...no team is taking Soriano..none..not gonna happen, so that makes no sense to try to boost has value..he has none..should be benched for a couple games.

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He's penciled in for 4th tonight. Bullshit fucking example, says I.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Another pussy like quade, go after the young guys and ignore the 19 million dollar mess in left...Soriano has more job security than anybody on that team and this clown knows it.

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This is what I have to pin it on. They're looking for a colossal sucker to try to off-load him to. Best to make excuses for him until that happens...

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NO such sucker exists...only a dummy would think that there is even a possibility of finding such a sucker.

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While you see players hit liners and stop running, they have at least taken a step or 2 out of the batters box. I agree Darkside, Sveum is the idiot here. Fans have a right to boo bad plays and players, and Soriano should be no strangers to that. Sveum should have said, "You run until you are called out."

100% of players would not have just stood there.

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Oh they'll find someone. They'll just have to pick up his entire contract to make it happen.

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all spin control
agree with the try and keep his value high (snicker) and try to get some dope to unload him on
that's all this is, move on
and svuem doesn't matter for shit, he won't be around when they're allegedly contending in 2016

well if they eat the whole deal then it does not matter if Sveum calls him a dog and benches his lazy ass now or not.

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Both will be long gone when this team is ready to contend in 15 years.



Really both will be gone after next year

When's Theo bringing in Ortiz and Manny.

Exactly. The Cubs will lose 100 games a season for 15 seasons and then the rose will bloom.

Butt steak dinner boom.

Although I don't condone it, many stars do this shit. Pujols is notorious for it. It's just how the modern game is when these guys have huge contracts.

As to Svuem, I am totally unimpressed with how he handles a pitching staff. And this guy has been in the game for 30+ years? Wow.

I do believe the will find someome to take 5-10% of Soriano's remaining contract. For 2M a year, he's a good value at DH and spot starting when a team is desperate enough to need a LF.

At the end of the day...you are who you are. Sorianno is a POS ballplayer.... And sveum is a guy just trying to keep a piece of shit team together instead of stepping out...stepping up and benching stupidity ( see Castro, see sorianno ) so...he losing all credibility for me. Be a man. Be 40. The bs he is letting these guys get a way with Is bs and undermines everything else he MIGhT have to offer.

Fuck everything cubs! Sold all my tickets. Good riddance.

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

This really isn't that big of a deal. You run out ground balls in case the fielder doesn't cleanly field it and too also try and rush him and you run out fly balls in case they drop. When you smoke a line drive to 3rd its almost always caught and there is no rushing the throw to first as he is supposed to catch it...even if he drops it the ball is hit so hard he has all day to throw it. That situation probably happens once in every batters career if at all.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

That was one of the most despicable things I have ever seen on the ball-field. I almost swallowed my tongue when I saw him standing there. Sveum should have pulled him right then and there. All the good feelings I was getting from Fonzie performance in the past week or so is gone.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

dude, it was a saturday night.... soriano didn't want to pull a muscle before he goes to the club. sveum knows he's cool even if he loses 100 games, so he honestly doesn't give a fuck. it's no biggie, tupac...

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I'm not reading any of this, and I know the correct answer.

Unfortunately laziness is all too common in baseball, Ortiz on Saturday half assed it around the bases and should have scored easily on a double, instead was called out at home (a more grievous mistake than what Soriano did).

I remember a few times last year Rios loafing in centerfield, allowing runners to take extra bases.....Aramis Ramirez anyone.

Fuck pitchers can't run hard down the line on any batted ball, don't want to tire themselves out .

I will give Zambrano credit for this, he ran hard 95% of the time...Dunston was another guy who busted his ass down the line all the time.

Baseball as a whole seems to accept loafing.

"It's cool. At least we're popular."

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WAY too much obsession over this play.

If he would have sprinted out of the box immediately, he would have made it approximately 6-8 more feet down the line than he actually did. He still would have been out by..........40 feet.


Sveum is wrong when he says 100%, obviously, but the majority of baseball players hesitate/stop/etc when they snap a line drive right at an infielder. It's a natural reaction. Plus he has bad knees. Soriano has been a pretty hot hitter over the last 3-4 weeks. I don't have a huge problem with this.

Way, way too much hand wringing over this.

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That was directed at the 3 or 4 Sox fans that spend more time pointing out the Cubs shortcomings and starting topics about the Cubs than discussing their own team...not you. They will probably start 5 topics about the Cubs this week alone.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

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After reading Darksides rant to open this thread,I thought if I wrote the samething I would get a few of these . Actually,DS description of what happened on that play differs greatly from what I read in the papers. There were actually multiple bobbles? I didn't see the play,so I really can't be too critical. A line drive takes 1 second to get to a 3rd basemen. I was going to give "Sori" a little slack. BUT if any of you remember Sveums original press conference,I think he was singing a different tune about being tough on guys who don't run them out. He's just another manager drone. Right now the only difference between him and Quade are eyebrows and tattoos.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."