What a pathetic game Thursday was. After 164 games we still have key hitters (hello Soriano, Lee, Ramirez)that can't tell a ball from a strike. It's so tiring to see these guys swing at balls in the dirt (certainly the D'backs don't). I would just tell Soriano to just stand at the plate, because certainly the other team feels that he'll get himself out (which he's done).

Yesterday was also another example of the team getting an early lead, only to have our starter immediately give it back (and more). Has this rotation ever pitched a 1-2-3 inning after a lead. My gosh!

How this team has lost it's energy in a playoff situation is beyond me. It seems like they're just going thru the motions. For the Game 3 finale, I would put Theriot at lead-off, DeRosa second, and have in-the-dirt Soriano in the 5th or 6th hole.

Who would have thought that guys like Soto (the guys a star in the making), Theriot and DeRosa would be the keys. So much for veteran leadership.

One more thought for this day...where is the manager and coaching staff to mentally get this team ready to play? I've never seen a team so flat with so much on the line. But "Lou's great" because he's been there before. Everyone living in past history that happened over a decade ago. Send him out to pasture and bring in Girardi, Brenly or Sandburg. If not, we'll be looking at another Baker era...just watch.

A few thoughts.....

* Lee, Ramirez and Soriano should be ashamed of themselves for the way they have played.

* lets face it, Arizona is this better team and teams with better records had our number all year.

sigggghhh.

I was at the Friday night game when the Cubs played the Reds we were sitting in left field right behind the wall, you could tell just by watching the players loosen up that they were going to win that game. They all had smiles on there faces laughing jumping around, hell Wuertz was kicking Soto's glove like he was kicking a field goal, while Wood and Soto made field goal post with there arms.
They had energy, life in their steps and CONFIDENCE.

Now they look lifeless, like they are just going through the motions.

I don't know hopefully getting back to Wrigley, getting back to the faithful who are going to cheer at every pitch will inject some much needed energy into this team.

Though it seems impossible right now, there is still a chance. The great thing about baseball is anything is possible, until the last out is made, it is not over.

What do ya say Cubs, how about we go back to Wrigley and start playing like we did in the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Series!! Time to turn it around!

That was extremely painful to watch last night. I don't know. I can't even put my thoughts into words right now. Let's take these two at Wrigley and then anything can happen in game 5. We've seen it all year long. They'll look awful for a couple games and then look amazing for a few games. Hopefully they've got some more that "amazing" left in them. Keep the faith Cubs Nation, it ain't over yet!!!

Go Cubbies!!!

Quote from Doug Davis

"They're an aggressive swinging team," Davis said, "and they swung at a lot of pitches that would have been balls."

Considering that only 1 member on this team hit more than 26HR, why, oh why are they "aggresive" swinging.. Are the hitting coaches just chompin sunflower seeds over there....

We used to complain about Dusty's dumb advice to swing "aggresively" aka -- swing at every pitch. Nothing has really changed about that....

I get to watch the AL East a lot in beantown.... Outside of SUPERSTARS like Manny and A-Rod, very few of the hitters on either side hack away at the first pitch, and on each subsequent pitch.... They make them work, work, work.... we're talking about Dice-K, Pettite, Clemens, Mussina type pitchers

Lets see what they do against Livan Hernandez who has given up 10 hits in each of his last 2 outings......

If they cough it up, I would seriously consider trading D.Lee and A-Ram this offseason. They have had 4 seasons and 2 managers -- it really hasn't worked too well... Cubs fans are like the thirsty guy in the Desert... An Oasis mirage is enough to get us drooling ... but the bar gets hugely lowered as a result.

I would consider the scoring of less than 6 runs off Livan a monumental offensive failure...

No WAY you trade D-Lee and Ramirez, I am sorry but come on. We were in LAST PLACE last year with 96 losses!!! And this year we WON the NL Central (i don't buy the crap about being the worst division either, we were on only five games behind the D-Backs) And now because we are down 0-2 in the payoffs, everyone wants to get rid of everybody and start over, in last nights post someone said we need to get rid of Soriano this off season, come on. Take away one of these guys and we wouldn't even be in the post season.

Let's not forget, there has only been three teams to come from three down, and one of those managers form one of those teams is coaching us right now.

Rich Hill pitches a gem on Saturday with the Faithfull pumping energy into our bats as we send a message to the (baby-backs) we aren't done yet. That's my prediction and I am sticking to it!

Go Cubs!!

Fact is this team was doing quite well with Theriot in the lead off spot. I don't care if Phons hits the occasional HR, IMO he is the wrong solution at lead off. Put D-Ro in the 2 hole followed by Lee, Rami, and Soriano. Bottom line is, if the big guys aren't leading, let those that are producing have a chance at jump starting us.

Rich Hill is going to grow up on Saturday. Let's all hope it's for the positive.

We WERE the worst division. There's no denying that at all. We had just one team over 500. And that's not to mention that the other teams in our division struggled against almost every team in the other divisions. Heck, there were about three non-AL teams not in our division we actually had winning records against.

Also, Rick, it's too late to do any of that manager switching. If we want to switch managers, we're going to have to wait until Lou's contract is up, because that's when guys like Marquis, Floyd, Jones, Lilly, and DeRosa (as much as I like some of them) have their contracts up too. The only way Girardi or Sandberg would be of use to us is if we went into a rebuilding year with our prospects starting as much as they could and our established guys (Ramirez, Lee, Zambrano, and, well yeah, Soriano) serving as the veterans. And at this point in time, Girardi's chances with the Cubs are slim to none, since the Yankees have him on retainer and the other option, Sandberg, will have worked with most of the guys with whom we need to rebuild.

They gambled on the "Win Now" attitude, it almost didn't pay off, and now it's not only showing a lot of the flaws in the team and what the coaching staff taught, but it's really close to being a failure. I honestly think Lou should've gotten himself tossed last night to get the team going.

Anyone catch this on DeRosa's blog:

"This team has faced adversity many times throughout the course of the year. Our fans have stuck by us, and our team has stuck together and believed in each other and we're more than capable of getting this done.

We don't need a pep talk. This isn't high school football where you need a rah-rah pep talk. Baseball is one of those games where it's a game of failure and mentally frustrating at times. You've just got to find a way to get it done. Statistics go out the window, ERA's go out the window.

It's just about waving that white flag with the blue "W" and finding a way to get it done. It's nice to go back to Wrigley Field. I wish we could go back on better terms, but it is what it is."

Boseph I agree I was really hoping for Lou to errupt. Does anyone know the ruling about the base line. An record wise you are right the Central doesn't look that great, I guess I was just trying to say was we were only five wins behind the best record in the NL, but you are right the league did not have a strong showing.

Anyway lets hope we use the same bats we used in the Pittsburgh series.

OK. Now that Im a bit more calm.
I can understand getting beat by a better team. Arizona seems to have been that the past two nights.
However, WE DONT HAVE TO HELP THEM BEAT US!
It seems to me Fonz's batting behaviors have been doing this exact thing lately.
Mr. Soriano: Please, please, dont feel the need to swing at the game's first pitch. You can still hit one out later in the count, AND, you and all of your teammates get to watch the pitcher throw a few.
AND.....If you do strike out, RUN TO FIRST. If youre going to strike out on pitches in the dirt, odds are the catcher will have a difficult time picking the ball up. And with your speed, you can make it to first before he throws it there. Dont just stand there and wait to get tagged. Trust me on this. Good luck tomorrow night now.

Lou has lost both games for this team.Takes Big Z to early and leaves Lilly in to long.

Ah, the eternal optimism of us Cubs faithful. It would be one thing if the team was losing with a fight. But this group is just rolling over. The fundamental flaws are staggering. Take a look at any of the other series contenders, and you certainly won't find a group swinging from the heels and "getting themselves out" on such obvious poor pitches.

I'd like to see this team come to both the plate and the mound with a look of purpose and focus. So far we've seen neither. The city and the fans deserve a better representation than we've seen thus far. It's been embarrassing.

Lou has not lost us anything steve, that's ridiculous. The team has looked bad, especially our big men. Arizona does look like the better team. The Cubs look lost at the plate so far, and it has nothing to do with the manager.

Jeff -- I agree with you about the batting order. I understand the logic that a lead-off HR does huge things to the opposing pitcher's confidence AND helps OUR confidence (unless Sori strikes out or flies out!)...but IMO it would benefit the team more to have Soriano batting further down...how about the logic of getting a couple guys on base and THEN if/when Sori slams one out of the park in the 1st inning we're maximizing it...rattle their pitcher, our pitcher would feel more supported, and the team as a whole gets a great motivational jump-start. I've heard that Sori's confidence gets rattled if he can't lead-off. To that, all I can say is there's no need to feel rejected when he's removed from lead-off position, if anything it's quite a compliment to be put in a clean-up position. He needs to look at it THAT way, his 1st inning homer would do more for us with a baserunner or two. If he deep-flies out, maybe there'll be a runner on third who can score on it. Just makes more sense to me.

Just my thoughts, I sure don't have any answers. I'm just feeling stunned and a little numbed by these past two games.

And last night, that guy was way out of the base line. How far out can a runner go???

We know how well this team can play when they're on their game...it's not like they didn't have the talent to make something happen during the past 2 games. I caught portions of the Rockies/Phillies game and the Cleveland/Yankees game. I wish we played with just a portion of the confidence, competitiveness, and perseverence that I saw in those games... a little "eye of the tiger" mentality. There seems to be a serious lack of it with our guys. Who's fault is that? I don't know. If there's more of it among the younger, fresher players...for God's sake let's let more of them play.

Though Lou would never think of tinkering with the fragile vet psyche in game 165, he should send a clear message with a 1 thru 4 order of Theriot, DeRosa, Murton and Soto...and then juggle the rest (it doesn't matter the way they're swinging). Put Soriano in the 7 or 8 hole, and send him a clear message. We shouldn't need to pamper the egos of these multi-million dollar non-producers.

Has anyone read Mike Bauman's piece yet? He talks about the curses and superstitions and says, "At the first sign of difficulty, people start asking the players: 'You understand that you're supposed to lose, don't you?'" WHO ARE these people asking the players that?! Good grief. It's our destiny, is it? I mean, do we need to find a witch to make some voodoo dolls representative of the D'Backs, get some pins ... ugh! Enough already. We just need to be smart batters and compete in the game, create our own good luck and some of that "positive energy."

Hey Soriano....

See Lofton take pitches, see Lofton take a walk, see Lofton go 4 for 4 with RISP, see Lofton play within himself.

Big mistake we let him go before!

We have to face reality, sure it's nice to make the playoffs, but we BARELY made it. Milwaukee choked at the end, hell, we couldn't even win 1 at Florida and we were in 1st. Arizona won 90+ games for a reason. EVERY time we face a top notch pitcher, we lose. Time and time again, it's lights out. We only scored 1 run off Webb, and yesterday our ROOKIE hit the homer to get us on the board. Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Jones all sucked and are having a horrible series hitting. We just can't compete, maybe next year. And that idiot who said "good riddance" last night, let me tell you something.....99 freakin without going to a world series years is really pissing me off. Sure it's nice to be optimistic, but it's the same shit EVERY F-ING YEAR. It's becoming typical Chicago Cubs and we all get excited and root for the Cubs, but I'm getting sick, pissed and it' making me sick because I am too proud to be laughed at each year. We are getting embarrassed out there. The 2 teams I HATE (White Sox and Cardinals) won their world series in the past 2 years, when is it our turn damn it? I have tickets for Sunday's game, but I am a realist and I don't think we'll be playing Sunday.

Damn it, STOP ALL THE WHINING! Yes, we have lost 2 games, but the series is not over! I think this team is capable of beating the Diamondbacks and will start by winning on Saturday. Lou is one of the few managers that have brought a team back from a 0-2 deficit in the playoffs. Keep the faith people!!!! GO CUBBIES!!!

sorry to take the kool-aid straw away from you Gramps, but only 1 team has ever come back from 0-2 down in the wild-card era -- the 2001 yankees..

which is not to see it won't happen here.... Livan Hernandez has a 5.19 ERA and a .309 batting average against on the road.... Those numbers call for bash-fest from us... We need to rock this guy silly... anything less, and I trade everyone but the kiddies.

in the division series, ie.

has anyone else noticed all 4 series are 2-0 in favor of one team.....There are 4 teams on the brink of elimination the next game they play.

The Yanks imploded like we have, pitched and didn't hit, hit and didn't pitch. The Phillies might be in that same category as well. If you look at the teams that are left in the driver's seat though---the Red Sox, Indians, Rockies, and D'Backs---they all of something in common----they're well balanced. They don't have an all or nothing sort of team mentality.

When the Yanks are down, and when most of these high paid teams are down----especially the Cubs, you see this sort of awful body language----body language that seems to evoke a sense of entitlement, like, "well, we're supposed to be here because we spent a lot of money." If you look at a lot of our player's quotes throughout the year, what is the first thing that comes out of their mouth----Piniella included? It's all about the benjamins...."we went out and spent $200 million in the offseason on upgrading the team, and got Soriano, Lilly, Marquis, DeRosa, re-signed ARAM, blah blah blah".......and when they get out of games, you see them almost pouting.......is that a true "veteran" team? or perhaps it's just a bunch of overpaid whiny pansies who don't know what the concept of a team is all about.

Consider this, the Rockies, D'Backs, and Indians are all in the driver's seat with bottom of the barrel team salaries, whereas the Cubs, Yankees, and Phillies are all but out of it, and at the top of the salary food chain. Now what does that tell you? You must build from within nowadays, and get guys up through your system that root for each other, and play as a team, and pick each other up----most of us on here of played team sports and understand the importance of that... Am I off base in anyway?

I truly think you must blow up this roster if you want to have a chance at a championship if we don't win this year.

Aaron...I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. Rather in baseball can you "buy" a pennant. It is about team chemistry, and doing all the little fundamental things right. It's also about realizing that every game, from April on, counts. So even though it's a long summer journey, you have to have that "win mentality" right out of the shoot, and play each game like it's game 162. That's why you have love guys like Grady Sizemore, Theriot, John Smoltz, etc. They tend to view each opportunity as their time to shine and make positive things happen.

That's what makes this Cubs team so disappointing. They've shown signs of the puzzle all coming together, but you could just sense that the chemistry just quite wasn't (and isn't) there. For me, I'll could suffer another 20 years without a world series, but show me quality baseball with a team that plays with heart and purpose.

Aaron:

Next to the Yankees, I think that the Cubs have the most guys under contract with no trade provisions:

Ramirez
Lee
Soriano
Zambrano
Lilly

Aaron,

Rarely do teams that "build from within", actually win the WS. Make the playoffs yes, but not the series. They use their own guys for a reason, because they can't afford to do it any other way. And maybe I'm reading your post wrong, but are you actually suggesting that because we're losing this series, that we should dump Lee, Aram, Soriano and Lilly, etc? If that is what you are saying thats INSANE! What possible logic could justify that? I'm not picking on just you, because others have suggested this also. I mean honestly if had a chance to get Arod next year, would we not go after him because he's had a couple of crappy postseasons?

Winning a World Series, with a purely built from within roster does not work. Look at the last 4 WS champions Cards, White Sox, Red Sox and Marlin. None of those teams had a purely "from within" team. Were there some of their own former farm hands there. Yes. But not the whole roster. You cannot build a championship team soley from famrhands. I think you need a mix of free-agent veterans and farm hands.

One other point and I'll shut up. If the Cubs went out and traded away all their talent. Then they ran Lou out because he didn't get it done this year. What kind of message does that send to any other prospective free-agents or top notch managers? It says if you don't get it done right now your out of here. Do that and nobody will want to play in Chicago again.

Lou brought back the Mariners in the ALDS of 1995 against the Yankees. All this talk of trading everybody is silly. We have pleaded for years to bring in players and after they go and spend money, we want them to trade everybody? Sounds insane to me. What it sounds to me is that too many people are giving up after going down 0-2. And I am not talking about the players on the team, I am talking about the fans. I see a great future with the Cubs. We have a nice blend of young players to go along with a group of very good veterans. GO CUBS!!

FUNNY! We have been hearing from people that this team is done since the first day of play in the regular season. Yet we won the division and here we are in the play offs.
I have to accept it’s a tough hole that we have dough and it will be tough...but it can only be done if we win today. Don't write your team off just yet. One game at a time!

Scientifically; it actually improves our chances the fact that 3 teams are 0-2 instead of 1 or just 2, because the percentage rise up. It is like the lottery…the more you play the stronger the odds go to your favor. [Believe].
We in the CCO can do our job…which is to root for the greatest comeback in cubbie history! That is what a true fan should do in the hard times. I am burning, hysterical, desperate and dying… for a win tonight and a shot at tomorrow! [I Believe]
Let’s root hard… very, very hard for our team today, together, and with a win we get to test the D-Backs composure in a game 4....
Let’s do the same again in game 4 [which we will have] and with a win the odds will shift back on our side against the less experienced and soon to be trembling club…. And then, maybe then….the odds work the way they should. [Championship…Believers cheer hard today]

It is not that difficult…it is JUST ONE GAME we have to win!!!.......today.

BTW Rich Hill??? I believe in you! Shut them out!!!

The team is a good team that needs maybe a couple more pieces ADDED to it, not completely blown up. I actually think they have decent chemistry now. It took them a little while to mesh at the beginning and that's why there was such a bad start. But after that, I think these players form together pretty well. Next year I'm expecting big things from Soto behind the plate, which we didn't have consistently all year. He can throw them out and hit as well. Soriano's leg will be healed up, so he will add some stolen bases to his other numbers.

You still have DLee, (whose power numbers dipped this year but I expect to get back on track), ARAM, and I think Ryan Theriot has proven he should be the everyday starter without a doubt.

DeRosa has been phenomenal because he can play many positions all fairly well and has hit well also.

Z, Lily, and Hill, are a solid front 3, and I'm not ready to give up on Marshall. The Kerry Woods of next year (meaning can't count on them but they'd be a nice bonus if healthy), are Mark Prior and Angel Guzman. Marquis did a serviceable job as a number 5 starter, you probably have to stick with him again unless in house options such as Veal, Gallagher, etc. develop into that role.
The bullpen looks better than it started the year, Marmol is lights out, Howry, Wood are also great. Throw in this Kevin Hart kid who has been really good lately along with a resurgent Eyre and the bullpen looks fairly solid as well.

Jacques Jones is what I find interesting. I'll admit I was on the bashing campaign when this guy was struggling mightily the first half of the season. He was killing the team with his low. 200's batting average. Then he went on a tear and has really helped this team the second half of the year. So what should the Cubs do with him? Bring him back and hope he is more consistent? Or try to trade him while he actually has value? The Cubs are going to go with Pie at some point; I'd be interested to see what JJ would bring in a trade now.

Anyway, that was a lot of words to say that this team is actually pretty solid, should have won a lot more games than they did, and I think will win a lot more games next year. Add a couple more pieces and the Cubs are going to be great for quite a few years.

I know JJ isn't a fan favorite, but I like him. He seems to put his heart into it. He always seems upbeat, like he's actually enjoying playing baseball everyday. I think that's huge. He puts a lot of effort into his defense (remember some of those AWESOME catches out there in centerfield). Offensively, he's improved significantly, and he always hustles to 1st out of the batters box. I'd rather see Monroe go than JJ.

I agree with Ryan and Gramps.

You don't win with farm system teams.
You use the farm system to, hopefully, plug a hole here and there, help keep overall payroll down (freeing up the big bucks for the good free agents), and to use as assets in trades.

This team lost 96 games last year playing these guys that we either drafted, or had in the minors the year before: Marmol (13 starts), Hill (16 starts), Marshall (24 starts), Cedeno (550 at-bats), Murton (450 at-bats), Theriot, Pagan, Mateo (10 starts), Aardsma, O'Malley, Ryu, Walrond, Guzman, Prior, Wood, and Novoa.

Did anyone think 2006 was a huge success with all of our farm talent getting a lot of playing time?

No.

We went and got the following veterans, in free agency or trade, and immediately won a division title a year later: Soriano, Lilly, Marquis, Kendall, DeRosa, and Floyd.

Which did you like better: 2006 or 2007?

Our current team has the following farm talent: Theriot, Hill, Soto, Marshall, Cedeno, Wood, Marmol, Wuertz, Murton, Zambrano, Fontenot, and Hart. When you throw in Prior into the mix next year, that makes 13 of your likely 25 roster spots came from the farm.

Factor in that Pie and/or Patterson could/should make the jump to the bigs as well, and I think we have MORE than enough farm talent.

Let's stop with the silly "blow up the team" theories...having Soriano, Ramirez, and Lee is a positive...ask any GM in baseball.