The Cubs and Royals square off in the rubber match of their series today. The winner will feel good about themselves for the day until they lose their next game, which for these teams probably means tomorrow. The loser will own sole possession of the #2 draft pick in the 2012 amateur draft.
That is probably more valuable than a meaningless win in a novelty interleague game.
I resurrected my Draft Standings from the old blog just to see how things are shaping up this year:
| Pick | Team | L | W | Loss Pct. | GB | Streak | Last 10 L-W |
| 1 | Houston | 50 | 28 | 0.641 | – | Lost 2 | 7-3 |
| 2 | Cubs | 45 | 31 | 0.592 | 4.0 | Lost 1 | 6-4 |
| 3 | Kansas City | 45 | 32 | 0.584 | 4.5 | Won 1 | 8-2 |
| 4 | San Diego | 45 | 33 | 0.577 | 5.0 | Lost 1 | 7-3 |
| 5 | Minnesota | 43 | 32 | 0.573 | 5.5 | Lost 4 | 4-6 |
| 6 | LA Dodgers | 44 | 34 | 0.564 | 6.0 | Lost 3 | 7-3 |
| 7 | Florida | 43 | 34 | 0.558 | 6.5 | Won1 | 8-2 |
| 8 | Oakland | 43 | 35 | 0.551 | 7.0 | Won 1 | 3-7 |
| 9 | Baltimore | 40 | 34 | 0.541 | 8.0 | Lost 1 | 6-4 |
| 10 | Chicago White Sox | 40 | 38 | 0.513 | 10.0 | Won 1 | 5-5 |
| As of conclusion of 6-25-11 games | |||||||
For those who didn’t see it last year, I tried to make this a positive thing by reversing the Wins and Losses column, and changing the win percentage to a loss percentage.
You’ll notice that the middle of these standings are separated by one half game from each other for a total of 3 games difference between the second pick and the eighth. That is pretty tight!
So we’ll check back in on this from time to time. I know Marlon Byrd and Darwin Barney are almost healthy, so I’m sure we’ll be rocketing up the normal standings and off of these consolation standings in no time, but for now, this is our silver lining.
I’d like the Cubs to prove me wrong and win the Central, but I’d rather they lose as much as possible so they stop with the “wait-and-see” and just sell everything.
Most of that talk is probably PR fluff though.
[quote name=Aisle424]No. I was in a hurry and didn’t think to clearly compare the list of failed position prospects vs. the ones who have made decent contributions.
My point, which was lost, was that there are no Jay Buhners, Fred McGriffs, Al Leiters, Willie McGees or anyone like that “that got away.”
Hendry has pretty much kept the best his system has churned out and that’s pretty damn sad.[/quote]
I got your point. If the Cubs had kept all the “talent” they had drafted under Hendry, then this team would stick suck as much or worse then they do now. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt of not having the draft budget to work with because ownership(s) wanted the money to be put into the product on the field right then and there or in their pockets. I want to give him credit for raping the Pirates as often as he did during that time. This off-season was the first one I feel that I can assign all or at least a majority of the blame on Jim Hendry and he did extremely poorly.
Len:
“He has 18 hits in the last nine games, that’s about 2 per game.”
That reminds me of Eric Karros in my video game:
“He hasn’t given up a hit yet, in fact, he has faced the minimum number of batters. You can’t get much better than that.”
[quote name=Suburban kid]Len:
“He has 18 hits in the last nine games, that’s about 2 per game.”[/quote]
Jesus H. Tap-dancing Christ!
(dying laughing) @ Randy Wells
(dying laughing) at Cubs giving up.
[quote name=Suburban kid]Len:
“He has 18 hits in the last nine games, that’s about 2 per game.”[/quote]Quality analysis. Great story. Compelling, and rich.
this pretty much sums up the 2011 cubs
Wellsy is not pitching so swellsy
What actually happened?
[quote name=Berselius]this pretty much sums up the 2011 cubs[/quote](dying laughing)
ESPN Gamecast says double to CF
[quote name=Berselius]What actually happened?[/quote]
According to Gameday it bounced off Castro’s glove.
Not that tight of a contest.
[quote name=Rice Cube]According to Gameday it bounced off Castro’s glove.[/quote]
Then it rolled about 20 feet away but Castro just sat there and Reedz had to run in from Omaha to pick it up.
[quote name=Berselius]What actually happened?[/quote]
Castro dove and almost caught Gordon’s tailing soft line drive, but just tipped it. It slowed it down a bunch and Reed Johnson had to change directions and charge after it in very shallow center field.
[quote name=Suburban kid]Then it rolled about 20 feet away but Castro just sat there and Reedz had to run in from Omaha to pick it up.[/quote]
Was he lazy, or did he just have the wind knocked out of him?
Doh!
[quote name=Rice Cube]Was he lazy, or did he just have the wind knocked out of him?[/quote]Does his last name end in ‘o”?
(dying laughing)
He might have been winded, or he might have thought it was going to roll a lot farther than it did. But if he just got up and tracked it down, I doubt it would have been a double.
The Royals pulled a Cubs there.
[quote name=Suburban kid]Does his last name end in ‘o”?
(dying laughing)[/quote]
Not when Cuey talks about him.
Frenchy is reliable like that
Hochevar hasn’t even broken a sweat yet.
“Soriano chased a breaking ball.”
“Sun came up in the East.”
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/26/kerry-wood-not-close-to-returning-from-blister-on-index-finger/
Blisterin’ barnacles.
Soto!
I like our #8 hitter.
Kosuke’s OBA=SLG
NIce!
I don’t think he touched the plate. He didn’t argue and the on deck hitter who was standing right there didn’t argue.
Len and Bob: shut up.
[quote name=ACT]Soto![/quote]X2
Best #8 hitter ever.
#9 hitter, not so much.
[quote name=ACT]X2[/quote]
Single and Triple short of the cycle!
This is not Randy Wells’ day.
Remember that one good year Wells had? What the hell happened to that guy?
He was fine last year. He was a little lucky in 2009, and a little unlucky in 2010. This year, his performance has probably been affected by his injury.
Kosuke OBP > SLG again.
Sori walks twice.
[quote name=ACT]Sori walks twice.[/quote]
Dividing by zero!
[quote name=ACT]Sori walks twice.[/quote]
“Sun comes up in West.”
Bases loaded, no runs…even with two outs, that makes one sad.
[quote name=Xoomwaffle]“Sun comes up in West.”[/quote]“Man bites dog.”
The Astros are winning!
Sorry, Raysfags.
[quote name=Rice Cube]The Astros are winning!
Sorry, Raysfags.[/quote]
Just kidding, now tied.
Soto’s been gunning down a lot of people lately.
Hey, Cubsfags, guess who Mike Quade affectionately calls “Quade”????
[quote name=Suburban kid]Hey, Cubsfags, guess who Mike Quade affectionately calls “Quade”????[/quote]
His dog?
Adam Dunn has been brutal the last week or two. He has K’d 15 times in the last 6 games.
[quote name=Rice Cube]His dog?[/quote]Stephen Hawking.
[quote name=Suburban kid]Stephen Hawking.[/quote]
I can’t tell if you’re being snarky or not.
[quote name=Xoomwaffle]Adam Dunn has been brutal the last week or two. He has K’d 15 times in the last 6 games.[/quote]At last he gets a nice sombrero.
[quote name=Rice Cube]I can’t tell if you’re being snarky or not.[/quote]Too subtle?
Soto needs a triple for the cycle now (dying laughing)
[quote name=Xoomwaffle]Single and Triple short of the cycle![/quote]Just needs a triple now.
dammit.
[quote name=ACT]dammit.[/quote]
Let’s hope they bat around (dying laughing)
Or get into extras.
Astros winning again!
Good AB, bad results.
[quote name=Rice Cube]Royals winning again![/quote].
When Soto got on I thought that would’ve been a good time to try Campana as a pinch-runner. Oh well.
I’ve never been all that big on Barney, but DJ has me really anxious for his return.
Guess this year’s April lasted almost until July.
[quote name=Rice Cube]When Soto got on I thought that would’ve been a good time to try Campana as a pinch-runner. Oh well.[/quote]I don’t. If he were the tying or go-ahead run, it would be different, but down 3, it doesn’t matter at all.
[quote name=ACT]I don’t. If he were the tying or go-ahead run, it would be different, but down 3, it doesn’t matter at all.[/quote]
Part of the reason is because of the day game tomorrow at Wrigley for the wussout-makeup against the Rockies. Just give Soto a breather because the odds are he doesn’t have to play the bottom of the 9th anyway.
Shit, this probably means on Tuesday afternoon for the wussout-makeup against the Giants, I have to see Doug Davis AND Koyie Hill.
Astros no longer winning.
[quote name=ACT]I’ve never been all that big on Barney, but DJ has me really anxious for his return.[/quote]
It sounds like Barney is going to come back sometime this week, and will only miss the minimum number of DL days. So much for that Grade 3 strain report.
Wade Davis pinch-hit and got a leadoff single. Evan Longoria is very good at baseball. Astros not helping the Cubs in the reverse standings here (dying laughing)
Here’s how you get public money for a stadium: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/26/free-tickets-helped-cardinals-build-relationships-with-arizona-legislators/ (dying laughing)
[quote name=Rice Cube]Wade Davis pinch-hit and got a leadoff single. Evan Longoria is very good at baseball. Astros not helping the Cubs in the reverse standings here (dying laughing)[/quote]I love Evan. I’m happy to see him turning things around.
new shit