Fair enough Aaron. Let's leave it at ease and agree to disagree.

Agustin,

Usually I agree with most of what you say...However, this has gotten ridiculous. Great, everyone obviously knows you're a Sammy fan, and I can now see that's your soft spot, otherwise you probably wouldn't have made those comments about what I said before.

Everyone on here thinks out loud...that's what a forum is for. It's for going back and forth, sifting through ideas, thoughts, etc., and forming your own conclusion. It's true, I changed my opinion----I guess that makes me a bad person. LOL, c'mon man, don't be ridiculous, just chill out!

I also must take issue with your comment, assuming I only was interested in baseball after Sosa and McGwire. I think I actually speak for must of us on here, that that simply is not the case.

1) I've played ball ever since I could walk

2) I've been a Cubs fan, equally as long, when my parents got me a Cubs "one-sie" (those baby unitards that they always put on you)

3) I've played competively my whole life

4) I loved baseball even through the strike, as my friends and I still played in the sand lots or fields, or competively

5) Despite everything how frustrated I am, I AM a Cubs fan, care deeply about the team, and genuinely want a good product on the team

6) Notice, I said "Cubs" fan...not Sammy fan, not Sandberg fan, not Grace fan----pure, and simple---Cubs fan.

7) I loved the way the Cubs played before, back when Grace, Sandberg, Dunston, and Dawson were with the team, and you'd be hard pressed to ever find one of them boast, or refer to themselves in the third person, or blow kisses into the cameras when the team is down 10-1, and they just hit a home run with 2 outs in the 9th.

8) Did I mention I was a Cubs TEAM fan?

Yes, you might've noticed I was upset yesterday as I think anyone would be with our play. I'm tired of mental errors, botched double plays, and pitchers that have break downs on the mound. I'm tired of mediocrity, and I'm tired of losing. If you're not either, then you're probably not watching the garbage that we throw on the field. If you don't think 8 games back and equally as much under .500 for a high $100 millions payroll, after the team just gifted away well over $200 million during the offseason----is an embarrassment----then I don't know what is.

I call it like I see it. I give credit and props when due. I also call out people in the front office and team when they're not doing their job. I admit when I'm wrong---which I've noted about Lugo, Drew, and the Barrett situation, but I NEVER imply that I'm bigger than anyone, so don't pull that crap, alright?

Anyway, sorry for the rant for those of you who didn't say anything, I just took issue with that.

I had a teammate that threw out his back after a game becasue he had a huge sneeze. It lifted him almost offf the round and after he was reaching for his back.

Big Mac and Sammy Sosa were using a substance called androstein. Banned now because it acts just like roids. But when they were cranking them out baseball was ok with it along with roids. Please don't tell me different. Baseball has known about this for years and now they want to know who was using. What about in 98 when Sammy and BigMAc finally started to bring fans back to the parks after the horrific year in 94 when the spoiled players went on stike and they didn;t have a WORLD SERIES. Yes Sammy was a awful teammate and yes he waled out on the cubs but most likely he walked out on Dusty and his team. But he is still the greatest cub to ever pick up a baseball bat. His #'s don;t lie. Sammy actually weighs more now than he did in 98, 99 or even 2000. He may look smaller becasue he is almost 40.

Why is it that fans in Chicago are so easy to villianize a player because he left town and moved on? When Derrek Lee moves on will we talk about the great player or the guy who got into fight with a Padre. Some of you need to get over it.

Aaron this won’t take long because I’m tired of reading your eternally changing postures and contradictory posts. Obviously you know more about being a GM than even the great Billy Beane. The good part is that you just discovered your problem and said it out loud…you are always “simply thinking out loud”. Maybe if you could take a second to think before posting people could see your value instead of making frustrated people more frustrated and blocking good thoughts with imprudence.

As for Sammy I’m glad he got his 600th and I’M SORRY WE LOST. Also

our team is in big trouble. [This is where you go... I told you so, because you know everything] If I remember well you are 25 and people this age [from all around the world] got interest in baseball, in part, because of the two sluggers that nobody wants to see anymore Mark and Sammy. The game is blooming once again. Even after all the steroid talk. You can call Sammy a cheater, which is true at some degree and you can say any bad thing about him that you want. But know this my young Jedi Padawan…Sammy was probably the only good thing Cub fans had for a long time, but you wouldn’t know. It was his team and home run after home run we loved to cheer. He is not what he used to be…that is for sure, but beside his average/strike outs he has solid numbers even today. [Better than most of the league including allstars] If you ever get to read about baseball history you will learn that Mr. Sosa was one of the two who brought this game back to life after those black early 90’s. It is once again the American pastime after fights/strikes and shortened seasons. Say all you want Aaron, but you watch because of that guy you hate.

Steroids and the commissioner is a whole different story that we could discuss some other time if you wish.

I think its too early to tell how much of an impact or non impact Barrett's leaving will have after just one game. I'm interested to see what happens when Bowen starts playing and has time to learn the staff.

Sosa..self centered, steroid user. Yes, I cheered every time he hopped. But now I feel cheated that he was on roids. Yes, there were a lot of guys on it at that time, but still doesn't change the fact he was cheating.

Lastly, this team IS underachieving and that is very, very frustrating. I'm not sure why the Rangers are interested in JJ, but by all means ship him off.

Austin - I kind of like the guy too, but Sammy did use steroids. But so did most baseball players. Now they are simply using all of the stuff that is just barely legal so as to remain clean when tested. And let's not forget that Sammy blew his back out when he sneezed. And the corked bat was in 2003, when his numbers were declining, so that is why he was using it.

Sosa didn't use steroids. It just doesn't make sense. He always hit homeruns, then peaked in the late 90's around the age of thirty: his prime. He has a few good years, then began to slow down, as his HR totals and slugging % dropped each year starting in '03/'04...Not like Bonds, who continued to get better as he got older, much older than Sosa. Also, with Bond's knees, thats suspicious, Sosa never really had injury problems like that. Lastly, if he cheated using steroids, why would he cork his bat?

I wonder what the opinion is on guys like Todd Helton, Sean Green etc.. these 2 both had consistent ~45-50 HR years right around 99-01. Suddenly even though Helton continues to hit for a high average, both have been struggling to cross 20HR. Because they both seem like quiet and humble fellows, people tend to ignore them.. But the huge spike in their power numbers those few years is pretty suspicious too

well said Steve......

also to others about my Barrett comments, I was simply talking out loud....I was merely saying that I could've been wrong the other day when I said it was him. I blamed him for Marquis, and Hill, and Lilly with their regressions, and his terrible pitch calling (or so it seemed), but maybe all these guys really have come back to earth, and I feel that's extremely saddening.

Guys, Sosa was an awful teammate----walked out on our team, and was an OBVIOUS cheater----okay, no evidence steroid-wise, so we don't know for sure there, though it is pretty obvious.........BUT, he IS a cheater---corked bat ring a bell. In fact, ESPN radio was mocking him for being a self-centered guy, who only came back for 600, hit meaningless home runs throughout his career for the Cubs, and walked out on his teammates at the end of the year in '04.

So, yeah, let's cheer him on.....C'mon guys, wake up! Sure, I cheered him on when he was with the Cubs----I wanted him to hit a home run----but only cared if he hit one when we won....just as I do with any of our players. Think I was excited that Soriano hit a bomb last night? No, I couldn't give a crap----we lost.

Sosa lied to the media and fans, and front office about walking out on them, he cheated before our eyes, and became the incredible hulk, and he was caught cheating on national t.v., and had an excuse for that----remember guys, it was only for our entertainment in batting practice.....

I hope him and McGwire, and Bonds, are banished from the game for their cheating...The saddest thing of all too, is that Sosa would've reached at least 500 without using steroids, as he was hitting close to 40 every year when he wasn't the incredible hulk..

As Steve said....Good riddance!!

Just read the Rangers are interested in Jones, could they be oh so nice to take him off our hands. Lets get the series tonight, gotta win all of these series up to the break.

I'm not going to get sentimental now that "The Incredible Shrinking Man" hit 600. I still don't like the guy and think he's a bum. All Sammy ever cared about was and is himself. The only reason he is playing this year was to hit more homeruns (for himself) so he can be in the record books.

In true Sosa fashion #600 was a solo shot that didn't mean a thing. If the Rangers were down by 2 with a runner on, Sosa would've struck out. 95% of his 600 homeruns came when the Cubs were up or down by a large margin and didn't make a difference in the game what-so-ever. Anytime he came to the plate with a tying or go-ahead run on base he would K. Why? Because he was swinging for the fences when all we needed was a base hit. Sammy couldn't care less if his team wins or looses. All he cares about is if he hit a homer.

I'm not going to sit here and say I wasn't cheering when he did one out of the park. I sure was, but it was because a Cub hit a homer. I certainly wasn't cheering when we'd be down by 8 and he's blowing kisses into the camera because he hit a solo shot. I said it before and I'll say it again, Good Riddance.