I took a gander at the Cubs schedule tonight. They have a fairly easy April and May with lots of dates against Az, Pitt, and Hou. There may actually be thoughts this team can contend. Then June rolls along.

3 @ STL
3 @ Cincy
4 @ Philly (Doc, Lee, Hamels Ozzy)
4 vs Mil
3 vs NY Yankees
3 @ White Sox
3 @ KC
3 vs San Fran
3 vs White Sox (first series in July)

Hendry should be working the phones hard about this time hoping to dump as much salary as possible and maybe bring in some young talent in preperation for year 3.

Keyzer must be Ozzie!

Because nobody else besides Ranger tries to tell me the Royals are good!

Yes, they are actually loaded in the farm system with young players, as they have picked top 5 for about 15 years now and the reason they have picked top 5 for 15 years? because they are always one of the worst 5 teams in Baseball. At some point, even Jim Hendry can usually get a star (Grienke, but he gone)

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Keyzer, I forgot where I heard this but it's already been said that the Cubs will be selling if they're out of it.

Also, here's a free marketing idea for the Cubbies: New ball girl, a la Marla Collins, named "June Swoon"

That is one of the only series on that list that they might be likely to win, and of course you pick that while ignoring everything else

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WSOX in full effect

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Keyser and Frank are really close to making me actively root against the Sox for the first time in my life other than when playing the Cubs.


Let's look at that schedule ignoring the fact that it's February and we have no concept of what teams will be playing like/health status come June:

StL? Jake Westbrook and Lance Berkman don't scare me. We've improved more this offseason than they have
Cincy? Their offense is obviously quite good, I don't trust their staff for another year especially with arm killer Dusty still there
Philly should be good and favored against any team in baseball
Milwaukee? Who's pitching?
Yankees? Who's pitching
Sox? Series are almost always close regardless of talent levels
KC? Shouldn't scare anyone
SF? Defending champs, see Philly
Sox? same as above.


They totally should just forfeit the month amirite? Save on travel expenses and get a nice budget boost for year 3.

It's a Sox town though after all. Aren't we about due for another drunk redneck storming the field and attacking an ump/coach again?

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Team Cutler.

Keyser seems to be bored, must have too much time on his hands now that he finished reading his book "1001 excuses for why the Sox cannot beat the Twins"

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Why did drinky storm the field?

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Not pictured. Physical assault.

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Team Cutler.

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/29/sports/baseball-fan-tussles-with-myers-on-field.html

A 27-year-old bond trader ran on the field and attacked Randy Myers of the Chicago Cubs, moments after the reliever gave up a home run today that could have cost his team a chance at the National League wild-card spot.

The incident happened after pinch-hitter James Mouton hit a two-run homer that put the Houston Astros ahead by 9-7 in the eighth inning. Then a man jumped from the Wrigley Field stands, crossed the first-base line and ran toward the 6-foot-1-inch, 230-pound pitcher.

Myers saw the fan coming, dropped his glove and knocked him down with his forearm. The two were rolling on the ground near the pitcher's mound, and Myers had the man pinned when several Cubs players broke up the fight.

"His hands started reaching for what I thought was a weapon," said Myers, skilled in martial arts. "I made sure his hands didn't go into his waistband and pull out a knife or a gun."

The fan, John Murray of suburban Riverside, Ill., was removed by Wrigley Field security officers and taken to Town Hall police lockup, about five blocks from the ball park. The police said Murray, 6-1 and 185 pounds, was not armed.

A man identified by the police as Murray's brother said he was at the game when Myers was brought in to relieve. "If he throws another home run, I'm going to run out there and give him what for," the man, who did not give his name, quoted his brother as saying.

Murray was charged with assault and disorderly conduct. He was released on $75 bond, and a court date was set for Oct. 24.

Murray's wife, Lucy, said her husband is a lifelong Cubs fan and attends about 15 games a season. She said he works at the Chicago Board of Trade as a broker in bond options. The couple was married in May and is expecting a child.

Myers, a member of the Nasty Boys in the Cincinnati bullpen in 1990 and known as a tough guy who collects military memorabilia, remained in the game. Shortly after the incident, the Cubs came back to tie the game and force extra innings, winning by 12-11 in the 11th.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Bullshit. The only thing that guy was skilled in was eating doughnuts.

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Get over yourself

Is this a joke or are you really that dense?


Excellent job on meatballing up the thread.

Get over myself for calling out a thread that calls for a month that causes us to become sellers when facing mostly beatable competition. got it.


Milwaukee pitching. Call me not a believer in Greinke. His numbers were way up last year and he's now in a situation where there is more pressure to win. Gallardo/Macrum are solid, but certainly not unbeatable. Randy Wolf and whoever else they are throwing out are just guys. I'm not saying it's a bad staff by any means, but it's a series you can win if you want to contend.

Yankees? There's CC, then who? Phil Hughes? AJ Burnett and his +5 era last year? Then a combo of Garcia/Colon and whoever. There's a reason they were/are actively trying to improve their SP. It's the weakest part of their team by far.

Proudly went meatball clearly in jest.

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Team Cutler.

Mostly beatable competition?

You're not a believer because Greinkes numbers went up after he had one of the most dominate pitching seasons in baseball history?? They had no where to go but up. Last year was in line with his other non-2009 seasons and he's still only 27 years old.

CC and Hughes are more than enough to win any series and that offense will bludgeon its way to many series sweeps against inferior teams.

True. But not up to a 4.17 era. Walks were up, strikeouts were down, earned runs almost doubled and teams hit .262 against him. Put him in a situation (albeit Milwaukee) where they are in a win now situation and I see a season more like 2010 from him and not 2009.

Mostly beatable, yes. We have 9 series. I could see us winning @Cin, 1 of the Sox, Mil, @KC and SF.

It's almost impossible to be predicting any of this right now though. Silly exercises considering no one thought teams like SD or Cincinnati were going to be as good as they were last year.

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Team Cutler.

Try not to drown in all that kool-aid.

I see you winning 1-2 series and going 11-18.

Greinke in the AL Central < Greinke in the NL Central

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Is it considered a swoon when you go into the year expecting them to be bad?

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It's still funny the way Cub fans blame their team's failures on ex-Cubs. It's the only constant.

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entr ... 2/27493695

Thinking Dusty is bad at managing a pitching staff isn't unique to Chicago

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Team Cutler.

Can we blame him for Cincy sucking in the playoffs?

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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

Wait. So your saying the Reds will be "beatable" on June 3rd because Dusty will have killed the staff's arms (Arroyo, Volquez, Cueto, Leake, Wood, Bailey, Chapman, etc.)? Just sounds like another corn starch between the ears Cub fan comment.

No, blame the Phillies. Look, I understand it's difficult to see Dusty win the Central and stand poised to repeat for the foreseeble future, but I truly believe that Quade gives the Cubs a chance to remain competitive, particularly considering the other teams in the division.

If you think the Cubs are going to be competitive, I would like to have a wager with you on that, assuming we can define "competitive" in quantitative terms.

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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

Beatable in sense that I don't think any NL Central team is without big flaws and you could make a case for 1 of 4 teams winning. Whether it's his fault or not, Dusty's pitching staffs have suffered some pretty significant injuries. Maybe it's February hope, but I wouldn't be shocked to see the Cubs around .500 against the Reds this year.


If I had to pick the final standings today I'd go with:

Reds
Cards
Cubs
Brewers
Astros
Pirates

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Team Cutler.

IIRC, injured/overworked pitchers were not the reason the Cubs choked in 2004. It was because the players were pussies and were more concerned with what was being said in the broadcast booth than getting themselves back into the playoffs.


And Dan, I'm not saying the Brewers are going to win 90 games, but you're nuts if you think they will be in 4th place in the division.

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Insanity.

Brew
Cardinals
Reds
Astro
Cub
Pie Rats.

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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 think both the Brewers and Cubs will be hovering around .500 at the end of the year. So that spot is interchangeable, just liked seeing the Cubs in the top half

Reds and Cards will be around 10-12 games ahead.

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Team Cutler.

I cant wait to bump this thread July first as the ULTRA-GLORIOUS Cubs are sitting in first place... I love grape flavor-aid.

edited with respect to SR86

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