Can we give some Roids to Fukudome and Bradley --- get some power into them ...

You got to hit the ball square before you can hit it with power. Miles' full of 'roids would still hit dribblers to the mound . . .

Speaking of ugly secondbasemen, and speaking of management who do not play people based upon merit, the Cubs are not the only messed up management in MLB. Here's the Giants--longtime cellar dwellers . . . .

Just three years ago, Burriss was the 33rd pick in the amateur draft. He played well in rookie ball that summer, and he played well again in Class A the next spring and summer. But he struggled terribly that same summer after being promoted to the fast California League. Neverthless, last spring the Giants skipped him past Double-A to Triple-A, and after just 14 games there -- in which he struggled, again -- they promoted him to the big club ... for which he thrived.

Relatively speaking, anyway. For a guy who really hadn't done anything since leaving the South Atlantic League, Burriss's .283/.357/.329 line was pretty impressive. Burriss is fast, and his defense at second base was good (though his defense at shortstop was not). On the strength of last season -- which, it should be said, included only 274 plate appearances -- the Giants awarded Burriss the every-day job at second base this spring.

And now we're where we are, and nobody should be terribly surprised. The Giants want Burriss to learn to bunt, and use the whole field, etc? What he needs to learn is how to %@#&$ hit, you know? Because he's never done that, even as the Giants just kept moving him up the ladder.

At its best, baseball is a fairly efficient meritocracy. But sometimes the system breaks down, and that's how you wind up with an every-day player who simply has no business in the major leagues.

See, Matt....I've already forgotten how to spell McGwire's name.

YUP, a "CHEATER" and what the hell is MLB going to do about it???? NOTHING! Manny Ramirez? NOTHING....just a little vacation. MLB won't and probably can't do shit about hundreds of the damn "CHEATERS". Sosa, Bonds, Ramirez, Palmeiro, McGwire, Clemens, Canseco.....to start.....NOTHING'S going to be done! That's a f-ing shame! I want my $ back. I went to hundreds of Cubs games and bought many beers, dogs, etc.

One good thing about old age, Matt, is that the careers of Sandburg, Grace and Woodie will loom larger and the Sosa disappointment will fade. If I think of another good thing about old age, I'll let you know.

P.S. None of us will ever forget the Sosa--McGuire moments in St. Louis.

There is NO WAY Sammmeee gets into HOF now.

I think he was borderline before b/c some guys wouldn't keep him out on suspicion alone.

But now ?? He GONE !!!

Look at McGuire. He has been getting about 20% of the vote each year. There are utility infielders getting that.

None of these guys will get in - AROD, Bonds, Clemens, Palmerio, Sammee, McGuire, Manny. And rightfully so. They are cheaters.

Sorry, but you get what you deserve.

No-one can be surprised by this.

Between his body bulking and corked bats the only word to describe Sammy is "CHEATER".

Hopefully this will secure his spot in oblivion, and seal his denial to the HOF.

It just occurred to me.

You know this is just a hunch, but I bet you that gosh darn Bonds was juicing too !!! I don't know for sure, but I want to go out on a limb right now.

damn it !!! I was duped again !!!

LOL

Sammy tested positive for Roids ???

No Way !!!!!

Gee, who could have seen that coming ????

LOL

WHAT A SHOCKER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha

He was an important part of Cubdom.

You're not bummed in the least?

Being 21 years old, Sammy was one of the reasons I became a diehard.

This crushes a little part of me that's still a kid..

I'll agree with you Matt...if I was younger, I'd feel the same way. In the mid-to-late 90's (except when Sandberg came back), Sosa was my favorite player, then it was Grace after that. I always had a soft spot for him, even though in '98, I knew he was doing steroids. I knew this, because our strength and conditioning coach in high school was talking all about it when someone suggested it was just creatine. He laughed his ass off, and showed us pictures, comparing Sosa and McGwire to earlier years. He said that McGwire had been linked to steroids since his days with the A's when he and Canseco formed the Smash Brothers tandem. McGwire started filling out in the neck, especially, and you'd see increased acne. The same happened to Sosa, and he said that was a dead giveaway. He said some people can mask the acne by doing hormone therapy, but that did not appear to be the case with those two. Now, to McGwire's credit, everything was pretty much out in the open with him. Reporters AND baseball finally took notice when one reporter questioned the big Andro canister in McGwire's locker, asking him if that was the reason for his break out year.

But if you look at the league leaders in home runs in the mid-to-late 90's and early 2000's, you saw some video game-like numbers. Guys that would normally hit about 15 home runs, were mashing 50, and guys that would get about 90 RBI max, were getting like 130-140. It was insane...and we all bought into it to some degree. Honestly, I questioned it, but at the same time, I didn't....Does that make sense? Like, I knew something was going on once our strength coach showed us, and it was blatantly obvious to begin with...but baseball was suffering so badly that I wanted to believe it was possible, and our country did too.

I think most Cubs fans questioned Sosa's legitimacy well before the corked bat episode, and knew it'd eventually come out that he was cheating all along.

As a baseball purist, the thing that upsets me the most, is the likes of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, etc., have all been past by cheaters, and that's something we can never get back.

Look at AROD, Manny, McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, Palmeiro, Sheffield...they've all tainted the game so badly that the legitimate guys like Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, and Ken Griffey Jr. aren't even recognized much for their incredible accomplishments. It must've killed Griffey, seeing Bonds do 'roids and talk about doing them right in front of his face...and then knowing that he was one of a few playing the game the right way all along.

Griffey's body started breaking down in his mid 30's, just as Thomas' did, and just as Thome's did. Fact is, all of the other guys were seeing performance INCREASES during this time, which, from history, we know simply cannot be through legitimate means....a player's body just simply breaks down, his reflexes aren't as quick, and they exhibit muscle attrition at that age.

I think it's high time that the baseball world recognizes the significant accomplishments of the real players like Thomas, Thome, and Griffey Jr. They deserve it.

Matt, My sympathy.

As our impassioned pastime, baseball should be beyond dark questionmarks...

But as surely as the Babe was a womanizer and the BlackSox threw the World Series for cash...in response to a cheap owner...baseball only reflects the world around us.

Matt,

Trust me. I understand how you feel. You are much younger than I. But when you get to my age (mid 40's), you start to realize that things aren't always what they seem, unfortunately. And that is very sad. So you become much more cynical as you get older. When I was your age, I used to feel the same way about things. You are much more trustworthy, because you just assume everything is on the up and up.

So I do understand what you are saying.

I'm a cynical as it gets.

And I am so towards every OTHER player in baseball.

It's just that Sammy is the reason I'm on this forum right now.

Like I said earlier. I'm overly rational about a huge part of the game. I've matured about the inner aspects of the game.

But Sammy is still the one thing that stayed romanticized as I grew older..

And the ironic thing is that deep down inside I knew it was true. But you cling on to things, to hope, you know?

Man...

I hear ya, my man.

It's a shame. It really is.

I wish all their accomplishments were real, too.

But there's an old saying - if something looks too good to be true, it usually is.

sigh.

I am well past the point of being bummed. I am angry becuase anyone who doesn't realize at this point, that all these guys were cheating from around 1996 through 2003 has their head in the sand. And there are still guys cheating. They don't test for HGH. Don't kid yourself.

When Sammy was hitting all the HR's, I enjoyed him as much as anyone else becuase that's all we had with the teams being so bad and at the time you didn't realize what was going on.

But now looking back I have come to really dislike guys like Sammy, Bonds, Palmerio, McGuire, Arod, Manny, Clemens Etc. Becuase now we know the truth and that most their accomplshments are a fraud and sham. And they have all lied over and over and over again. And of course, shame on baseball (owners and union) for allowing it to happen as they all cashed in. Lots of blame to go around. But at the end of the day, the players are the ones that end up with millions and millions that they stole, IMO. Case in point: If Manny wasn't putting up huge numbers in the twilight of his career would the Dodgers have paid him 25M a year ? Please. It makes me ill.

Palmeiro lost the right to respect when he played around with Sandberg's first wife...Cindy....It almost ruined Sandberg.

When the Cubs traded Palmeiro to Texas...he was strictly a singles and line drive hitter...(which is why the Cubs traded him...In time, all comes out in the wash.

Fairly breaking news.

Sosa tested positive for something in 2003..

I had held out hope that he'd be found clear of all that stuff.

Damn..

Sammy...

Matt, I saw Sammy as a skinny, wiry, speedster with the Sox.

You can improve yourself working out over time...but what Sammy ended up with...body-wise...just seems naturally

impossible.

I'll give him this though...he was a hard worker...with or without roids,

I know.

But when you're a 8 year old baseball kid, you think you're favorite player could hit a HR with a toothpick.

That irrational part of you never goes away even as the rest of you grows up and rationalizes.

Sun Times says its Waddell.

Tommy Waddle ??? The Bears reciever ?

LOL

:-)

My guess is that they called him up to DH during the run of interleague play.

Which means that it doesn't have to be anybody that he would be playing their position, that got hurt.

There's no DH when the games are at NL park.

The cubs play in a grandtotal of 6 games where a DH is in play (Sox / Det.

My guess: Lou forgot the 10 day rule just like he didn't know how Fox was doing as a pinch-hitter for him and just like how he called up Bobby Scales hours after he sent him down for an injury that could've been dealt with without all the headaches.

Well, Fox's position is pinch hitter.

We can therefore get rid of ANYONE

>/sarcasm

I hears it was a relief pitcher;

i hear its either waddell, Patton, or Guzman (he has a tender arm, according to a source of mine.)

Injury at SAME position?

Bradley. Lee., Soriano?

Sori might go to the DL because they can send anyone down.

I wish they would just play Fox in LF until Soriano is healthy.

It is less than 10 days since being sent down, does that mean someone went to the DL?

you're right...that's what it has to mean....furthermore, the way I understand it, is you cannot come back up within the 10 day window unless it's due to injury at the same position. Right now, the Cubs have:

Z, Dempster, Lilly, Harden, Marshall, Wells

Waddell, Patton, Ascanio, Heilman, Guzman, Marmol, Gregg

With 13 pitchers, the logical thing to do is option a pitcher out, like Waddell, but that can't happen in this case.

It'll be interesting to see how they handle this. Perhaps Miles goes back on the DL....we should all be so lucky...LOL

My guess is they sent Blanco back down because Miles is back and can play shortstop.