Anger Level: Still Red

I think that this year’s playoffs should be higher than they are. Maybe above severe… Whatever that may be…. “Cursed” maybe.

Sometimes Soriano is hot and sometimes he’s not. I know and accept it. But DLee, Ramz & Soto should’ve had 3 RBI’s each. 3rd basemen & Catchers are hard to come by. DLee really needs to step up his game. Run faster,hit for more power do some sprints and lift weights this offseason. He’s needs to hit .320 if he doesn’t knock in 30 HRs. DLee had one Albert P year. DLee is no longer one of top 4 first basemen in the NL. I think the Cubs need Manny Ramz. Fukudome needs to go back to Japan!!It doesn’t matter now but I think the Cubs might have won a game if Hoffpauir 5-5 with 2HR & % RBIs against NY would have been on the roster KEVIN (we don’t need the bats we have 6 players with almost 20HRs) Hoffpauir was the hottest hitter the Cubs had that final week of the season and he was cut. Intead we had Cedeno & Howry two players that were not used & were useless.At least Howry’s contract has expired. In hindsight clinching early wasn’t good except for the bullpen because it was used thoroughly. The bullpen we were supposed to be worried about was our brightest spot in the NLDS. There is a fine line between rest & too much rest. The starting line up had too much rest at the end of the year. Use it or lose it. A classic example is the 2006 Tigers. The 8 days off killed their fundamentals. They pitchers couldn’t throw the ball to 1st & their bats were cold. With the exception of the 2006 Cardinals, usually the team that plays the best September ball goes to the WS. I don’t really care much about baseball for the rest of this 2008 postseason but I hope the Dodgers win it all so at least the Cubs will have got knocked out by the champs.

yah I fucked up intead=instead & they bats=their bats

Originally Posted By Irish Yeti
I think that this year’s playoffs should be higher than they are. Maybe above severe… Whatever that may be…. “Cursed” maybe.

I was thinking of putting them ahead of the 1984 team, but there’s no way they should be above the 2003 team. That was monumental.

What can you say, really? You can makes excuses and pick apart the series all you want, and that doesn’t change what happened. The Cubs blew it. Again. They truly are the lovable losers.

Kerm, your anger system is probably right on. 03 and 84 have to be higher because those teams teased Cub fans with a nice series lead. That is always worse than a quick death.

@Slak - I’m just hoping no one asks me how it’s possible for the 2008 NLDS to not be ranked at the 2008 NLDS level.

How is it possible for the 2008 NLDS to not be ranked at the 2008 NLDS level?

Huh? You think Hufflepuff would have started a game had he been included on the roster? Huh? He went 5-5 in one game and that somehow translates to him going 5-5 against LA? I was all for having Hufflepuff on the roster over Ward. You know what, it wouldn’t have mattered, as Ward got like 2AB all series, and there is no way Hufflepuff starts over DRo in RF, or even Fuku, because Hufflepuff has huge holes in his swing and fields like a moose wearing mittens.

Although I do agree with you re: Lee. The man is a #2 hitter. I firmly believe he hits 3rd because he is tall and looks goofy in the 2-hole. If he can’t give us ~25-30/100-110, with our lineup, he needs to hit .330, which he just doesn’t. He also isn’t stealing bases anymore. While his D is above average (FYI, the Gold Glove is the most worthless “award” given out), it’s not making up for his lack of production.

I mean our lineup was just sick, and he should have given us more production from that 3 hole.

@Kevin - I think I would rather have seen Dempster PH for Fukudome in game 2 in the 8th inning.

I’m naturally a cynic, and thus, I was expecting the worst going into Saturday night’s game.

Nevertheless, my cynicism wasn’t able to overcome that realization-moment of anger at the end of the game. I sent both TV remotes flying, and needed all my will power to avoid setting all my Cubs’ gear ablaze on top of the gas range in my kitchen (okay, will power plus a healthy respect for arson laws).

I woke up yesterday morning swearing off baseball for the rest of my life. This shit ain’t worth it anymore. I’m tired of being kicked in the balls year after year after year.

I’ve climbed down from that limb slightly since then, but I still am waiting for a good reason why I should bother with this team anymore. This is coming from a guy who has loved the Cubs dearly since the first time he watched a grainy WGN telecast during the 1977 season.

Maybe by the end of the week, I’ll have calmed down and will be able to discuss roster moves and the like. But I’m too damn disgusted right now.

(That said, I agree that this is nowhere as bad as ‘03 or ‘84… those were sucker-punches… this was more like a root canal. It sucked, but once you saw Loney’s HR the other night and our craptastic offense, you knew it was coming. Those other playoff losses were marked by sadness… this one is pure anger.)

@Bad Kermit - I think the think that skews my feelings towards this team is probably how fresh the sick taste feels… and then also, in 2003 there were decent expectations. I don’t remember them being the overwhelming favorite as they were this year. 2003 was definitely monumental. Fucking Bartman… <—- Kidding. Fucking Gonzalez

thing* Fuck!

@Frasier Crane - Except that Soriano is NEVER hot in the playoffs…a career .219 BA in the playoffs tells you he is just not the right type of guy to be leading off a playoff series…

The thing that is absolutely killing me is I have no idea what the team can possibly do in the off-season. They’re going to have the exact same team next year. Too many position players had career years, so I don’t really see the team improving. I guess you have to hope they make it back next year, and hopefully they don’t crap the bed again.

One other thing about the playoffs that drove me crazy. This was the worst baseball coverage I’ve ever heard in my life. I was craving Joe Morgan by the end. I can’t believe how much pole riding these guys were doing for Man-Ram. Stockton, Gwynn, and Darling were so useless. They barely mentioned how Martin and Loney who were the ones who tore the Cubs a new one, while saying “Ramirez will be up (1st - 9th) this inning”… Followed by Gwynn saying, “You really want to face Ramirez with no one on.” Super Tony, thanks for the insight… While Darling piping in for the 15th time, “Since Ramirez arrived in LA… yadda yadda yadda!” Fox sports, I miss you!

@JayBandit - Soriano is a .282 career hitter but never consistantly hits in the 280’s which means he will eventually be hot in the playoffs. I wasn’t counting on Soriano. However he does have a ring with the Yankees.But DLee, Ramz & Soto were disappointments because at least Soto & Ramz were consistant all year. I just don’t understand why the Cubs cut their hottest hitter at seasons end for 2 guys (Cedeno & Howry) the didn’t need nor use. Or start Lilly after throwing 2 or 3 no/1 hitters in September. Lilly sucked in April and lost 50% of the Cubs first 6 losses but he had the hottest hand in September. Dempster was balanced throughout the year. In the playoffs it’s all about what have you done for me lately. If Fukudome or Cedeno had game winning RBIs in October everyone would forget about their shitty seasons. Lou played the “hot hand” all year but had senior moments after the clinching

Next year forget history and play the hot hand

Don’t let the rage consume you, Kermit. Before you know it, you’ll be breathing funny, walking around stiffly, cutting off your child’s hand and screaming “Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

Nobody wants to see that.

My dad the 50-year Cubs fan claims he’s done with the team after this. I don’t believe that will last. I mean, here’s my perspective: baseball is my favorite sport. I’m not going to start rooting for another team, and I’m not going to stop following baseball, so that doesn’t exactly leave me much choice.

Yankee fans down through the years have had intra-family and inter-generational quarrels about which World Series team was the best in the teams history.

We are reduced to having fights about which Cubs playoff team cratered the worst. It is beyond sad. It is a condition in need of psychiatric intervention.

I want to throttle that turtleneck-and-headphone-wearing doucherocket now more than ever.

And Mark Derosa. That guy has now shit the bed in one singular play in back-to-back postseasons now. One where he he hit into a DP on a pitch that would have been an RBI Ball 4 had he not swung and the other when he failed to make a DP on a ball hit right at him that would have ended the inning but instead opened the floodgates. That guy’s a one man, motherfucking car wreck when the stakes are high.

@Mike D. - On the other hand, DeRosa had 67% of their RBIs during the series. Daryle Ward and Jim Edmonds combined for the other 33%.

GOD DAMNIT.

@Bad Kermit -

I’m only counting Derosa’s first 2 RBI. His other 2 were garbage time in a 10-1 game.

OTOH, when game 3 was still only 2-0 and Geo led off with a double and moved to third on Edmonds’ groundout to the right side, Mr. Microphone hit one right to the third baseman, stranding Soto. Nice job, fuckbag.

BTW, I know George Castle is persona non grata on most non-Yellonized Cubs blogs, but he had a nice column today in the NW Indiana Times essentially telling D. Lee to STFU with his “the fans shouldn’t take it so hard” comment…

I know it’s hard to say, “what could they do better next season” especially with how dominant they were this season. The truth is there is a lot of room for improvement. Here is the Cubs shopping list:

-Power-hitting first baseman
-Speedy center fielder with a high OBP
-A right fielder who isn’t afraid of the ball
-More left-handed bats
-A little more depth in the bullpen
-better playoff management

Of course I can’t explain why the Cubs completely disintegrated this year. That was a train wreck and an embarrassment to the fans and the city.

I would probably rank the 1989 NLCS higher than 2007 NLDS in the Cubs Playoff Advisory System - and after some time, I may even rank 1989 higher than 2008. It was before divisional play, so they were one step closer, and they won one game in that series so that it was actually even after 2 games. Nothing compares to 2003, but I remember being more much more upset in 1984 and 1989 than I am today.

Gee, the cubs need a power hitting 1b?

In all seriousness: ever since his injury, D Lee has turned into a poor man’s Mark Grace. A borderline great glover, a little more power, but not as consistent and strikes out a hell of a lot more.