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.
It’s like ten thousand Koyies when all you need is Jason Kendall.
But isn’t that ironic?
Phew.
@ Rice Cube:
Ten thousand Koyies, zero thumbs.
@ AndCounting:
So it IS ironic, see? Jason Kendall has two thumbs!
Just started listening to WTF.
AC was not happy. (dying laughing)
The Cubs bullpen is hard to please.
@ GBTS:
I sincerely hope he never does that at Wrigley.
Brandon McCarthy tweeted.
Strasburg ——–> shut down
Josh–Does that centipede bite humans?
@ 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).
@ mb21:
It was fun. I don’t know what came over me.
@ 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.
@ Aisle424:
Good thing Jackkks didn’t get his fingers caught in the fence.
@ GBTS:
@ Aisle424:
Which is partly why KidK is an icon and Marmol and Cabrera (is that who is in the clip?) aren’t.
The 2013 Cubs.
@ 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?
Rizzo the Rat wrote:
In that case, shudder to think what the rest of that rotation will look like.
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 Outfielder:
That could very well be snark. He’s being replaced by a guy the Orioles released.
@ 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.
@ Aisle424:
I do not read every word.
Rice Cube wrote:
I’m watching you.
@ 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 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.
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
Bears have terminated Lorenzo Booker’s contract due to lingering concussion issues.
Samardzija batting 8th. Campana 9th.
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.
Clevenger —————> 1-game suspension, fine, gets to live with being a stupidass
No punishment for Shouty Quirk.
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?
0-2. Let’s keep this train rolling.
@ Suburban kid:
If they’re in a Cubs uniform, chances are slim they are MLB guys.
@ 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.
@ josh:
(dying laughing) It’s for throwing a punch.
@ SVB:
Sally Struthers.
Steve Clevenger is doubling down on the stupid:
My daughter sent me this link: http://forlackofabettercomic.com/?id=35
THoyer just shitcanned a bunch of folks from the player development staff.
Enjoy the B1G title, Sparty. UW’s oline looks like utter shit
Apparently, the Pirates just had to be warned by an umpire after deliberately plunking Rizzo. Oh, this is just too good.
Samardzija’s last start of the year > Strasburg’s last start of the year
@ Suburban kid:
That’s now my favorite comic.
Yu Darvish ———-> not human:
No, there is not a frame missing at the end.
F7 may still get a win.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Are you calling him a robot? That’s racist.
1st Complete game for Samardzija.
First complete game for the Cubs all season. No joke.
@ WaLi:
I’m calling him a superhuman being from Slider Planet who throws the Platonic Form of slider
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.
Motherfucker.
Castro hit on wrist, off for x-rays.
Castro is now 55 and 30 in stolen base attempts. Not. Good.
RtR wrote:
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
He’s so fast he steals 2 bases in one attempt about 83% of the time.
@ SVB:
That’s almost as fast as Billy Hamilton.
@ Berselius:
Go Sparty. Also, note that former Sparty coach John L Smith is up to his old tricks in Arkansas.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I think he means 55 SB, 30 CS for his career.
@ Rice Cube:
So 55 for 85.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Si. That’s… 64.7%, which is bad.
Is the mobile version of the site still broken/gone?
@ Perkins:
http://www.isthemobileversionofovbrokenorgone.co.uk
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.
@ 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.
@ josh:
They’ll just have to blame Pujols, then.
@ SVB:
Something about your post smells fishy.
F7′s start:
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=24610853&c_id=mlb
Go to 1:00.
@ Rice Cube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QuaojjCV1Tk#t=60s
Samardzija was worth 3.1 fWAR this season. I think that’s better than most of us expected.
josh wrote:
@ Aisle424:
THIS
Apparently Joe Girardi and a reporter had to be separated tonight.
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
It’s a damn shame Girardi never got the Cubs job.
@ Aisle424:
I wouldn’t wish this job upon anyone
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_id=mlb&content_id=24617691&topic_id=11493214
Seriously, robots.
@ GBTS:
Maybe the ump just called him out to spite Teix for sliding into 1b headfirst
@ Berselius:
I have no idea why players continue to slide into 1st
Perkins wrote:
It will be back soon. I wish I could say when, but I just don’t know. Sometime within a week.
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.
@ 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.
I think Texieria is a cool name.
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).
Per ace Cubs beat reporter, Nick Cafardo:
Full link: http://bostonglobe.com/sports/2012/09/08/offseason-red-sox-will-look-fix-their-pitching/6OyR4HW3G8Bpecn8LfC1fK/story.html
@ 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.
@ 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.
Is there any reason I don’t see the login thing on the right side of the page?
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.
@ josh: Yeah, I read that and had myself a good, hearty laugh about it too.
josh wrote:
I like Teixeira better.
@ RtR:
BURN IN HELL!
@ RtR:
It’s back. I must have accidentally deleted it yesterday morning.
The sacked farm overseers include a handful of shitty ex-Cubs players
/gord
@ mb21:
Yay!
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
Albert Almora heard about Jackson’s run in with the wall and apparently topped him. Out today with rib injury, possible concussion.
@ GBTS:
Oh come on, that’s obviously an out.
@ Rice Cube:
That’s the umpiring equivalent of Sullivan’s baseball writing.
@ josh:
He has a huge lead in BaPro’s WARP, as well: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/sortable/index.php?cid=1103858
So the Bears are gonna win today, right?
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
@ Berselius:
Looks like a pic of a cheap insurance salesman to me.
At least one Wisconsin football team is going to be worth a damn this year
@ 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 Outfielder:
Oooh, the Packers are hosting the 49ers. This should be tons of fun.
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?
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
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
State Farm ain’t that cheap
@ Berselius:
But that’s the fault of some politician, but you’ll have to ask the other politician to find out why.
That’s not a very good start for Da Bears.
Per Gordo, Garza completely shut down, not even light throwing. That elbow is fucked.
Worst. Possible. Start.
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.
I see Forte is making some money today.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Was he even throwing?
@ 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.
@ mb21:
He was supposed to start a throwing program on Monday. Cubs are just delaying the inevitable here.
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.
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?
@ 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.
McCutchen > some dude
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Ah. Thanks M.O.
Oh it’s Rusin, not the waiver dude.
I think Cutler figured something out.
@ Suburban kid:
“Some Dude” goes next Friday in Samardzija’s spot methinks.
Cutler looking much more in sync on that drive, ad-libbed with Marshall and Forte on two big plays.
@ Rice Cube:
I’ve already updated my diary.
WAY TO GO SAPPELT
nice basehit
RG3 is going to be a special player
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I gotta be honest. I got chills watching that second TD drive. I thought they looked good.
@ josh:
Not having to have Webb try and block Freeney is helping with that.
Sullivan just left early.
@ 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.
Suburban kid wrote:
fixed
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.
@ mb21:
this.
@ mb21:
I think he’s destined for surgery on that elbow and the Cubs are just snowing everyone with these “setbacks.”
@ mb21:
Shut you right up.
Soriano could end up with 100 RBI on a shitty team. 94 on the season for him.
Bears.
That was worth two posts. (dying laughing)
@ 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.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
It was the NFL equivalent of Ryan Dempster serving up grand slams.
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.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I probably need to post a post about posting gifs in a post.
@ Aisle424:
Maybe you should post a post about posting gifs in a post.
@ 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.
Who the the heck is Anthony Recker?
@ Aisle424:
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Make sure the instructions are in gif form
I see that he’s a catcher. Are they carrying three, or did I miss a transaction?
@ josh:
Some dude.
@ josh:
It’s September call-ups so they might as well call up an extra catcher eh.
This is what Some Dude can do:
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=24625901&c_id=mlb
@ 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.
@ Rice Cube:
Yeah, saw that. The hit was what prompted the question. Never heard of him.
@ 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.
I came from Oakland. I can’t remember how it happened. I’ve been on the Cubs since the last week of August.
@ 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.
josh wrote:
josh wrote:
They traded Lalli to Oakland for him. Basically shit for shit.
@ Aisle424:
I was about to say the same thing (dying laughing)
Very happy with the bears today (post 2nd drive) They looked good.
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
This is kinda what it feels like to be a Cubs fan most days:
And the packers are losing.
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.
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.
@ 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).
@ 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.
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?
new shit: http://www.obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/alfonso-soriano-is-overpaid.html