Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Easily the most frustrating thing about this year's Cubs team--which is dead to me, by the way--is how unlikable it has been. Let's go around the diamond to investigate our cast of heroes:
P. Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Matt Clement, Carlos Zambrano, Greg Maddux. The starters are easily the most likable group on the team, but where's the leadership? Wood and Zambrano have been suspended for childish outbursts, and Big Z has at times seemed completely insane. Things fall off rapidly, sanity-wise, in the pen, where resident head-cases LaTroy Hawkins and Kyle "Tightpants" Farnsworth reside. Additionally, you have a guy who was pissed because he started sucking again (JoBo), a guy who sucked so bad he could have thrown better with his glove hand (Andy Pratt), and a cast of players who started strong and faded fast: Michael Wuertz, John Leicester, and apparently Ryan Dempster. It's not their fault that they are bad, but they have a collective inability to throw strikes that drives me nuts. Last night, Kent Mercker lost career .150 hitter Trent Durrington, walking him with a full count. In essence, our pitchers comprise a group that has no discernible leader or stand-up guy, and most of whose members have had disappointing seasons or infuriating habits.
C. Michael Barrett has been a big surprise, and is possibly the most fan-friendly, nice guy on the team. He is exempt from my wrath, in large part. Paul Bako is one of the shittiest players on earth, though, and that's tough to take every fifth game.
1B. Derrek Lee is one of the most inconsistent hitters I've seen this year. When he's hot, he's ON FIRE, hitting everything in sight. He never stays hot for long, though, and he strikes out a lot in big situations, it seems. Remember my theory: inconsistent hitting is the most frustrating thing for a fan to watch. Derrek has been a prime example of this theory in action.
2B. Grudz is OK, but he PLAYS ALL THE TIME. You can trace a lot of my angst about this broken year back to Dusty, actually. Grudz is a decent player, but Walker has been one of the best 2nd basemen in the league this year--when he gets to play, which is almost never. Why? No reason, really--Just Trust Dusty!! Well, I don't: therefore, seeing Grudz in the lineup pisses me off.
SS. You know my thoughts on Alex Gonzalez, and Nomar was recently traded for far less than equal value because he was a bad clubhouse guy. He was a breath of fresh air initially, but he's not currently leading the team anywhere, by example or by word. Just another underachiever, at this point.
3B. Aramis has been great, but does he even speak English? And he's hurt all the time now. Hard for me to really like a guy I can't understand, and who has to take big games off. Again, the injury is obviously not his fault, but frustrates me as a fan nonetheless.
LF. Alou has been among the league's biggest whiners this year, allegedly telling fans that they were too negative and actually reacting to negative commentary by Chip and Stoney. I mean, what a fucking baby! Play the game and don't worry about what the announcers are saying. How does he even KNOW what they're saying? Does he TiVo the games and watch them afterward? Why would he do this? Why would he tell somebody he pees on his hands? Why did he get himself tossed from Sunday's Dodgers game in the 7th inning? What a jerk.
CF. Corey has been another Captain of the Inconsistent Brigade, and he basically tells everybody who'll listen that even when he's going really bad, he's not going to change his approach. Maybe this isn't even a bad thing to do, but it seems arrogant, just like a lot of the Cubs have seemed arrogant this year. He's going good right now though, and really has had a pretty damn good year--after he decided to just shut up and play. Perhaps this is an example some of the other Cubs can follow.
RF. The Prima Donna has been no less than an engine of glee for his detractors this year. Not only have his numbers fallen off, but he was out due to a highly questionable sneezing injury, and has recently said, allegedly, that he won't take well to hitting lower than cleanup.
I'm exhausted. I'll talk more about Sammy and Dusty later. I've wasted so much time on this season already, though.
P. Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Matt Clement, Carlos Zambrano, Greg Maddux. The starters are easily the most likable group on the team, but where's the leadership? Wood and Zambrano have been suspended for childish outbursts, and Big Z has at times seemed completely insane. Things fall off rapidly, sanity-wise, in the pen, where resident head-cases LaTroy Hawkins and Kyle "Tightpants" Farnsworth reside. Additionally, you have a guy who was pissed because he started sucking again (JoBo), a guy who sucked so bad he could have thrown better with his glove hand (Andy Pratt), and a cast of players who started strong and faded fast: Michael Wuertz, John Leicester, and apparently Ryan Dempster. It's not their fault that they are bad, but they have a collective inability to throw strikes that drives me nuts. Last night, Kent Mercker lost career .150 hitter Trent Durrington, walking him with a full count. In essence, our pitchers comprise a group that has no discernible leader or stand-up guy, and most of whose members have had disappointing seasons or infuriating habits.
C. Michael Barrett has been a big surprise, and is possibly the most fan-friendly, nice guy on the team. He is exempt from my wrath, in large part. Paul Bako is one of the shittiest players on earth, though, and that's tough to take every fifth game.
1B. Derrek Lee is one of the most inconsistent hitters I've seen this year. When he's hot, he's ON FIRE, hitting everything in sight. He never stays hot for long, though, and he strikes out a lot in big situations, it seems. Remember my theory: inconsistent hitting is the most frustrating thing for a fan to watch. Derrek has been a prime example of this theory in action.
2B. Grudz is OK, but he PLAYS ALL THE TIME. You can trace a lot of my angst about this broken year back to Dusty, actually. Grudz is a decent player, but Walker has been one of the best 2nd basemen in the league this year--when he gets to play, which is almost never. Why? No reason, really--Just Trust Dusty!! Well, I don't: therefore, seeing Grudz in the lineup pisses me off.
SS. You know my thoughts on Alex Gonzalez, and Nomar was recently traded for far less than equal value because he was a bad clubhouse guy. He was a breath of fresh air initially, but he's not currently leading the team anywhere, by example or by word. Just another underachiever, at this point.
3B. Aramis has been great, but does he even speak English? And he's hurt all the time now. Hard for me to really like a guy I can't understand, and who has to take big games off. Again, the injury is obviously not his fault, but frustrates me as a fan nonetheless.
LF. Alou has been among the league's biggest whiners this year, allegedly telling fans that they were too negative and actually reacting to negative commentary by Chip and Stoney. I mean, what a fucking baby! Play the game and don't worry about what the announcers are saying. How does he even KNOW what they're saying? Does he TiVo the games and watch them afterward? Why would he do this? Why would he tell somebody he pees on his hands? Why did he get himself tossed from Sunday's Dodgers game in the 7th inning? What a jerk.
CF. Corey has been another Captain of the Inconsistent Brigade, and he basically tells everybody who'll listen that even when he's going really bad, he's not going to change his approach. Maybe this isn't even a bad thing to do, but it seems arrogant, just like a lot of the Cubs have seemed arrogant this year. He's going good right now though, and really has had a pretty damn good year--after he decided to just shut up and play. Perhaps this is an example some of the other Cubs can follow.
RF. The Prima Donna has been no less than an engine of glee for his detractors this year. Not only have his numbers fallen off, but he was out due to a highly questionable sneezing injury, and has recently said, allegedly, that he won't take well to hitting lower than cleanup.
I'm exhausted. I'll talk more about Sammy and Dusty later. I've wasted so much time on this season already, though.
