Daily Facepalm 9.8.2012

In Facepalm, News And Rumors by andcounting175 Comments

Obstructed View Daily Facepalm

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. 

Share this Post

Comments

  12. josh

    @ 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).

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  14. Aisle424

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  20. Mercurial Outfielder

    Rizzo the Rat wrote:

    Samardzija in line to be No. 1 or 2 in #Cubs rotation next year— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) September 7, 2012

    The 2013 Cubs.

    In that case, shudder to think what the rest of that rotation will look like.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  21. Mercurial Outfielder

    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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  26. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  27. Aisle424

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  28. Aisle424

    (dying laughing)
    (dying laughing)

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  31. akabari

    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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  34. Suburban kid

    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?

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  44. Jed Jam Band

    Apparently, the Pirates just had to be warned by an umpire after deliberately plunking Rizzo. Oh, this is just too good.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  53. RtR

    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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  67. SVB

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  82. Mercurial Outfielder

    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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  83. josh

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  85. Jed Jam Band

    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).

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  86. Aisle424

    Per ace Cubs beat reporter, Nick Cafardo:

    3. Alfonso Soriano, OF, Cubs — One veteran talent evaluator thinks many teams have missed the boat on acquiring Soriano. Sure, Soriano vetoed a deal to San Francisco, figuring the weather wouldn’t be good for his knees, but he has been a fairly consistent player throughout his career and the Cubs are willing to eat much of the $42 million remaining on his deal. While he’s not the centerpiece of any lineup, is he not a good left field option for a team seeking a righthanded middle-of-the-order bat?

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  89. Jed Jam Band

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  96. Suburban kid

    The sacked farm overseers include a handful of shitty ex-Cubs players

    The Cubs made another round of firings within the organization this week, including Class AAA Iowa manager Dave Bialas, who had been with the organization for 18 years.

    Also fired were Class A Peoria manager Casey Kopitzke, Peoria hitting coach Barbaro Garbey, Class A Daytona pitching coach Marty Marson, rookie-A Mesa hitting coach Jason Dubois and Mesa pitching coach Frank Castillo (the former Cubs pitcher).

    /gord

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  108. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  123. Rice Cube

    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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  124. frysredjacket

    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?

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  125. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  131. Mercurial Outfielder

    Cutler looking much more in sync on that drive, ad-libbed with Marshall and Forte on two big plays.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  137. mb21

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  139. Rizzo the Rat

    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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  141. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:
    I think he’s destined for surgery on that elbow and the Cubs are just snowing everyone with these “setbacks.”

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  147. josh

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  149. Aisle424

    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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  159. mb21

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  161. josh

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  162. My Name is RECKER

    I came from Oakland. I can’t remember how it happened. I’ve been on the Cubs since the last week of August.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  163. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  170. mb21

    Mercurial Outfielder wrote:

    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.

    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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  171. josh

    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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  172. WaLi

    @ 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.

    I mean once they’ve crossed the picket line they’re barred from the ref union forever

    Not if the union is busted like the NFL wants (not sure how much of a possibility that is though).

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  173. josh

    @ 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.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  174. josh

    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?

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0

Leave a Comment