The Cubs beat the Pirates 12-2 for the irony alone, a day after declaring a five-run lead "piling on." But we've probably beat that dead horse enough.
Play of the Day
Brett "Ghost of Reed Johnson" Jackson didn't adjust his competitive settings to autopilot just because the Cubs had a ridiculous lead (die, dead horse, die more!). He went after this ball with a little extra furious desire due to the fact that he had allowed the Pirates' only other hit in the game (at the time) to slip past his glove in an attempt at a leaping catch at the wall. Take 2 was a bit more difficult, dangerous, and fantastic.
Is Brett Jackson ok?
Yes.
Playoff Race Update
The Cubs are 4.5 games out of the 11th wild card spot. Doesn't look promising.
Is the Site Broke?
No.
Comments
It’s like ten thousand Koyies when all you need is Jason Kendall.
But isn’t that ironic?
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Phew.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
Ten thousand Koyies, zero thumbs.
AndCountingQuote Reply
@ AndCounting:
So it IS ironic, see? Jason Kendall has two thumbs!
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Just started listening to WTF.
mb21Quote Reply
AC was not happy. (dying laughing)
mb21Quote Reply
The Cubs bullpen is hard to please.
GBTSQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
I sincerely hope he never does that at Wrigley.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Brandon McCarthy tweeted.
GBTSQuote Reply
Strasburg ——–> shut down
Aisle424Quote Reply
Josh–Does that centipede bite humans?
SVBQuote Reply
@ SVB:
Some can, if they are big enough. They don’t as a matter of course, though. It’s roughly equivalent to a wasp sting, pain and local swelling, but no long-term damage. They prefer to flee rather than fight, though. That one was in my son’s room and I’m not worried in the slightest. They’re no more worrisome than an orb weaver spider, really. They do a lot of good and avoid human contact as much as possible (they’re nocturnal).
joshQuote Reply
@ mb21:
It was fun. I don’t know what came over me.
AndCountingQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
I noticed that last night. Remember when Reed made his diving catch in basically the same spot and Kerry Wood was in there going apeshit? Those guys were only dimly aware that there was even a play in front of them.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
Good thing Jackkks didn’t get his fingers caught in the fence.
SVBQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
@ Aisle424:
Which is partly why KidK is an icon and Marmol and Cabrera (is that who is in the clip?) aren’t.
SVBQuote Reply
The 2013 Cubs.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
SVBQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
Nah, we’ll probably sign Edwin Jackson or Colby Lewis to be Number 1.
Really AC? “Parabola?” Who taught your Internet radio class?
SVBQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat wrote:
In that case, shudder to think what the rest of that rotation will look like.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
I like how Gordo notes the “some dude” is taking F7’s spot. It’s that type of legwork that makes the Cubs beat corps the envy of their peers.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
That could very well be snark. He’s being replaced by a guy the Orioles released.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
It seems like he was making a poor joke. Unless you paid attention to the O’s you probably had no idea who that guy was either (dying laughing) So it’s not a totally inaccurate tweet.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I do not read every word.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube wrote:
I’m watching you.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
I don’t doubt it’s a joke, but I don’t want humor from a beat guy; I want info. Gordo and Sully suffer from a common malady: they want to be irreverent Cubs bloggers, but they suck at it, which in turn make thems doubly suck at their actual job.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
That’s always been my biggest problem. If they want to do the irreverent thing make it a separate piece. They work for supposedly serious news organizations, so the news should be serious. If they want to add their wacky brand of opinion, have a separate column where its clear that’s an opinion and not the source of news. But that battle is over and it is the way it is.
Aisle424Quote Reply
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
Aisle424Quote Reply
Bears have terminated Lorenzo Booker’s contract due to lingering concussion issues.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Samardzija batting 8th. Campana 9th.
Aisle424Quote Reply
So someone just pointed it out to me, but I totally forgot the 2007 Reds had this year’s AL home run leaders in Dunn, Encarnacion and Hamilton and were just bad. Could you imagine if one team had all those guys this year? Jesus.
akabariQuote Reply
Clevenger —————> 1-game suspension, fine, gets to live with being a stupidass
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
No punishment for Shouty Quirk.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
It occurs to me that the unwritten rules Clevenger believes in are actually in effect in the minor leagues. Isn’t it true that in AAA competition is second to development, health, and maybe even little league-style “sportsmanship”?
Is Quirk also a minor league guy?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
0-2. Let’s keep this train rolling.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
If they’re in a Cubs uniform, chances are slim they are MLB guys.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Is the fine for not bothering to make a move toward the ball, thus making it completely obvious that they were throwing it at Harper? The team should suspend him for 3 weeks just for that.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
(dying laughing) It’s for throwing a punch.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ SVB:
Sally Struthers.
AndCountingQuote Reply
Steve Clevenger is doubling down on the stupid:
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
My daughter sent me this link: http://forlackofabettercomic.com/?id=35
Suburban kidQuote Reply
THoyer just shitcanned a bunch of folks from the player development staff.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Enjoy the B1G title, Sparty. UW’s oline looks like utter shit
BerseliusQuote Reply
Apparently, the Pirates just had to be warned by an umpire after deliberately plunking Rizzo. Oh, this is just too good.
Jed Jam BandQuote Reply
Samardzija’s last start of the year > Strasburg’s last start of the year
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
That’s now my favorite comic.
joshQuote Reply
Yu Darvish ———-> not human:
No, there is not a frame missing at the end.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
F7 may still get a win.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Are you calling him a robot? That’s racist.
WaLiQuote Reply
1st Complete game for Samardzija.
WaLiQuote Reply
First complete game for the Cubs all season. No joke.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
I’m calling him a superhuman being from Slider Planet who throws the Platonic Form of slider
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Can’t login for some reason. Anyway, it’s nice to see Samardzija’s season bookended by 2 great starts. He’s been one of the very few pleasant surprises this year.
RtRQuote Reply
Motherfucker.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Castro hit on wrist, off for x-rays.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Castro is now 55 and 30 in stolen base attempts. Not. Good.
RtRQuote Reply
RtR wrote:
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
He’s so fast he steals 2 bases in one attempt about 83% of the time.
SVBQuote Reply
@ SVB:
That’s almost as fast as Billy Hamilton.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Go Sparty. Also, note that former Sparty coach John L Smith is up to his old tricks in Arkansas.
SVBQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I think he means 55 SB, 30 CS for his career.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
So 55 for 85.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Si. That’s… 64.7%, which is bad.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Is the mobile version of the site still broken/gone?
PerkinsQuote Reply
@ Perkins:
http://www.isthemobileversionofovbrokenorgone.co.uk
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Holy shit. Mike Trout has been worth 8.3 fWAR this year. When the Angels don’t make the postseason, they will NOT be able to blame Trout.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
They can blame Salmon, because his career didn’t last long enough. Or Bass because he only allowed them to score 2 on May 20, and the Angels lost 2-3.
SVBQuote Reply
@ josh:
They’ll just have to blame Pujols, then.
RtRQuote Reply
@ SVB:
Something about your post smells fishy.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
F7’s start:
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=24610853&c_id=mlb
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Go to 1:00.
@ Rice Cube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QuaojjCV1Tk#t=60s
SVBQuote Reply
Samardzija was worth 3.1 fWAR this season. I think that’s better than most of us expected.
joshQuote Reply
josh wrote:
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
THIS
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Apparently Joe Girardi and a reporter had to be separated tonight.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
It’s a damn shame Girardi never got the Cubs job.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I wouldn’t wish this job upon anyone
WaLiQuote Reply
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_id=mlb&content_id=24617691&topic_id=11493214
Seriously, robots.
GBTSQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
Maybe the ump just called him out to spite Teix for sliding into 1b headfirst
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
I have no idea why players continue to slide into 1st
WaLiQuote Reply
Perkins wrote:
It will be back soon. I wish I could say when, but I just don’t know. Sometime within a week.
mb21Quote Reply
Texieria was so safe it wasn’t even funny. It’s not a close play. And supposedly Texieria went for the slide because he has a bad calf and didn’t want to take chance of landing on the bag with leg while running hard.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
Well, if you dive such that you hit the bag still in the air before the slide slows you down, I think it gets you there slightly faster, right.
I don’t know. It probably at least feels like it gets you there faster. Of course without that foot-hit-the-bag sound, the ump is using vision alone, which is bad on a close play.
joshQuote Reply
I think Texieria is a cool name.
joshQuote Reply
It doesn’t get you there faster. Generally, breaking into a slide into first base breaks the momentum you’ve built up from running. I don’t care if you’re Dan HitsHomeRunsOffBuses Vogelback, you’ll definitely get there faster by continuing to maintain your velocity (yes, sliding also breaks direction).
Jed Jam BandQuote Reply
Per ace Cubs beat reporter, Nick Cafardo:
Aisle424Quote Reply
Full link: http://bostonglobe.com/sports/2012/09/08/offseason-red-sox-will-look-fix-their-pitching/6OyR4HW3G8Bpecn8LfC1fK/story.html
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Jed Jam Band:
True, but from the runner’s perspective, the bag comes closer to your eyes, so it feels like you’re getting there faster.
joshQuote Reply
@ Aisle424: Well, if I remember correctly, the Tigers tried to make a deal just before the deadline and San Fran definitely wanted him (although, Soriano was smart to veto that one). My guess is that several other teams definitely gave him a look, especially from the AL, where he could DH, but….it didn’t work out. At this point, I trust THoyer to do this thing. If it didn’t work, it was for a reason. Plus, we somehow unloaded Jeff Baker to the Tigers. Try to figure that one out.
Jed Jam BandQuote Reply
Is there any reason I don’t see the login thing on the right side of the page?
RtRQuote Reply
At the end of that article, dude says he’d pick Miggy Cabrera of Mike Trout as MVP. Trout is on top of bWAR and fWAR and it isn’t even close.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh: Yeah, I read that and had myself a good, hearty laugh about it too.
Jed Jam BandQuote Reply
josh wrote:
I like Teixeira better.
RtRQuote Reply
@ RtR:
BURN IN HELL!
joshQuote Reply
@ RtR:
It’s back. I must have accidentally deleted it yesterday morning.
mb21Quote Reply
The sacked farm overseers include a handful of shitty ex-Cubs players
/gord
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ mb21:
Yay!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
A slightly different take on Theo Epstein in Boston, maybe even a fair one…
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1061158952&srvc=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bostonherald%2Fsports%2Fbaseball+%28Red+Sox+%26+MLB+-+BostonHerald.com%29
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Albert Almora heard about Jackson’s run in with the wall and apparently topped him. Out today with rib injury, possible concussion.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
Oh come on, that’s obviously an out.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
That’s the umpiring equivalent of Sullivan’s baseball writing.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ josh:
He has a huge lead in BaPro’s WARP, as well: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/sortable/index.php?cid=1103858
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
So the Bears are gonna win today, right?
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Looks like a pic of a cheap insurance salesman to me.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
At least one Wisconsin football team is going to be worth a damn this year
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
I never take anything for granted with as shitty as the OL and secondary are…anything can happen. On paper, though, they should win this game. Not a blowout, but they should win.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Oooh, the Packers are hosting the 49ers. This should be tons of fun.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/09/jeff-samardzija-ends-his-season-on-a-high-note/#comments
First comment
(dies laughing)
won’t somebody think of the setup men?
BerseliusQuote Reply
Cashner’s last start was decent but he was obviously on a pitch count after being out for two months…
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=cashnan01&t=p&year=2012
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
State Farm ain’t that cheap
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
But that’s the fault of some politician, but you’ll have to ask the other politician to find out why.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
That’s not a very good start for Da Bears.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Per Gordo, Garza completely shut down, not even light throwing. That elbow is fucked.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Worst. Possible. Start.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
So I can’t watch the game because the kids are playing video games…but I assume the Bears aren’t doing very well at the moment.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I see Forte is making some money today.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Was he even throwing?
mb21Quote Reply
@ mb21:
Probably not. Since the front office is so hush-hush we don’t know for sure, Garza is like Schroedinger’s cat…you don’t know if his arm is alive or dead.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ mb21:
He was supposed to start a throwing program on Monday. Cubs are just delaying the inevitable here.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Can they even afford a non-tender if Garza turns out to be injured? How much can they try to save if they offer arbitration? I feel like you don’t just give up on Garza but if he has to have Tommy John that’s an expensive year-long DL stint.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I can’t see or hear the game at this moment. Is Cutler sucking as bad as the numbers show or are the receivers dropping good throws?
frysredjacketQuote Reply
@ frysredjacket:
Both. Marshall and Jeffery both have drops, but Cutler’s accuracy and timing are off. Bears only ran 34 pass plays with first string O in preseason games, and it shows.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
McCutchen > some dude
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Ah. Thanks M.O.
frysredjacketQuote Reply
Oh it’s Rusin, not the waiver dude.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
I think Cutler figured something out.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
“Some Dude” goes next Friday in Samardzija’s spot methinks.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Cutler looking much more in sync on that drive, ad-libbed with Marshall and Forte on two big plays.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
I’ve already updated my diary.
WAY TO GO SAPPELT
nice basehit
Suburban kidQuote Reply
RG3 is going to be a special player
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I gotta be honest. I got chills watching that second TD drive. I thought they looked good.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
Not having to have Webb try and block Freeney is helping with that.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Sullivan just left early.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
The better question is why was he ever scheduled to start a throwing program at this point? My guess is the Cubs just realized how stupid that was and put a stop to it. I don’t think this says anything about the severity of the injury. I just assumed he was already shut down for good so it’s no surprise to me.
mb21Quote Reply
Suburban kid wrote:
fixed
mb21Quote Reply
I think yesterday’s game may be the last Cubs game I watch in its (near) entirety. Sadly, Samardzija has been by far one of the most interesting things about the Cubs this year.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ mb21:
this.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ mb21:
I think he’s destined for surgery on that elbow and the Cubs are just snowing everyone with these “setbacks.”
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ mb21:
Shut you right up.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Soriano could end up with 100 RBI on a shitty team. 94 on the season for him.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Bears.
Aisle424Quote Reply
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
That was worth two posts. (dying laughing)
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
That was fucking beautiful. I’m not used to seeing the Bears play good O. I know the Colts are rebuilding, but that felt pretty damn good. I’m worried how their defense will hold up against a better O, but I liked what I was seeing on the offensive side.
joshQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
It was the NFL equivalent of Ryan Dempster serving up grand slams.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
The Bears are going to be OK. The offense won’t always be that good, but they have some legit weapons now if they can keep Cutler on his feet. The defense is still good, but it’s old and they’ll get eaten alive by a team with a good o-line.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I probably need to post a post about posting gifs in a post.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
Maybe you should post a post about posting gifs in a post.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
Yeah, they’re going to rely on the offense a lot more, which feels weird. We’ve never really seen that in the Lovie era.
joshQuote Reply
Who the the heck is Anthony Recker?
joshQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Make sure the instructions are in gif form
BerseliusQuote Reply
I see that he’s a catcher. Are they carrying three, or did I miss a transaction?
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
Some dude.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ josh:
It’s September call-ups so they might as well call up an extra catcher eh.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
This is what Some Dude can do:
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=24625901&c_id=mlb
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
That could be, but why wouldn’t the Cubs just go ahead with the surgery so he’d be ready by May rather than August or not at all? If the Cubs are just lying to us just to lie to us, then they are without a doubt the dumbest front office in the history of professional sports. That couldn’t even be denied.
Garza may very well end up having to have surgery, but I’d be shocked to learn that the Cubs knew the extent of the injury when they shut him down and waited several months for him to undergo surgery. If that happens, that’s the day we can all start hoping Thoyer is fired immediately because it would easily be the dumbest thing this team has ever done.
it’s just more likely he’s been shut down because there was no point in pitching. It’s also likely the injury is more severe than we’ve been told, but not severe enough that surgery was the first or even second option. Teams always make injuries sound less important than they are so there’s very good reason to believe the same is true here, but I don’t see any reason to believe the Cubs are just sitting back and waiting for months to go by before they have Garza undergo surgery. I’m sure Garza himself would not be happy about this since it would force him to miss next year and be worth next to nothing in free agency. He has millions of dollars on the line here to get healthy as soon as possible.
mb21Quote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
Yeah, saw that. The hit was what prompted the question. Never heard of him.
joshQuote Reply
@ mb21:
Yeah, if it was TJS worthy, they’d get him on the table ASAP so he could come back ASAP. No point in waiting. It’s not like any team is going to be fooled into trading for him with a bum elbow at this point.
joshQuote Reply
I came from Oakland. I can’t remember how it happened. I’ve been on the Cubs since the last week of August.
My Name is RECKERQuote Reply
@ mb21:
I don’t know, but it’s obvious from the start they haven’t been forthcoming about the injury, because he was only supposed to be gone for two weeks. Remember, he was supposed to pitch a week after the deadline with this exact same injury, only then it was being called tricep soreness. In August, that turned into an elbow fracture, and now he’s totally shut down. They’ve been bullshitting about this injury from the get-go and I don’t know why, so I can’t answer your questions.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
josh wrote:
Aisle424Quote Reply
josh wrote:
They traded Lalli to Oakland for him. Basically shit for shit.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I was about to say the same thing (dying laughing)
Very happy with the bears today (post 2nd drive) They looked good.
WaLiQuote Reply
This is kinda what it feels like to be a Cubs fan most days.
http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/229/files/2012/09/daviscrossbar.gif?cd73fb
Jed Jam BandQuote Reply
This is kinda what it feels like to be a Cubs fan most days:
Jed Jam BandQuote Reply
And the packers are losing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKUOB8MN4Kc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
WaLiQuote Reply
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
I said at the time the injury happened that it was more than likely going to keep him out the rest of the season. They initially said he wouldn’t throw for a couple weeks at which point it would take another couple to get back into game shape. We’re into September if there aren’t any setbacks and I didn’t see the Cubs messing with that. Even if this was a typical injury that keeps him from throwing for 2 weeks, he wasn’t going to pitch the rest of this season.
mb21Quote Reply
So these replacement refs basically have to forfeit any chance they have of ever working in the NFL again, right? I mean once they’ve crossed the picket line they’re barred from the ref union forever. That’s gotta be kind of tough, knowing you’re only going to get one season, at most to ref in the NFL for the rest of your life.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
The refs work 16 days a year and get paid $75,000+ just starting out. They also have the best seats in the house. They are also a hated position (i.e. fans hate them) so not even taking sides, I don’t really see how they have a leg to stand on. The replacement refs are working fine. Yeah they might miss a call, but so will the real refs.
Not if the union is busted like the NFL wants (not sure how much of a possibility that is though).
WaLiQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
Are the replacements getting paid that much, too? I’d have thought they were getting paid less.
No, I doubt the union goes. Who knows, but it seems unlikely. It’s always amusing to me that they let a few of the replacement MLB players play after the strike, but they barred them from selling their likeness, so a few players would never show up on baseball video games.
joshQuote Reply
Speaking of videogames, you ever notice how in some MLB games, the minor leagues will be filled with guys who just have a random combination of a first name and a last name of two different known players? That was a feature of the last MLB-based game I played. Is it just me or is that system more or less accurate?
joshQuote Reply
new shit: http://obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/alfonso-soriano-is-overpaid.html
mb21Quote Reply