Phillies at Cubs IGT

[Rice Cube]

Nope the Cubs are still without a 3 game winning streak. I know that the 97 Cubs had a 3 game winning streak before the All-Star Break, and that all the Pirates teams from the last 19 years have had a 3 game winning streak as well. Really curious what the last team to not win 3 in a row was.(Cleveland Spiders?)

I'm sure they'll tell us at the end of the season when the Cubs start running out of time to put together a 3-win streak :lol:

It's too bad the Ricketts didn't fire Hendry after 2010 and hire Sandy Alderson, but no use crying over it now.

 

[dabynsky]

I'm sure they'll tell us at the end of the season when the Cubs start running out of time to put together a 3-win streak :lol:

It's too bad the Ricketts didn't fire Hendry after 2010 and hire Sandy Alderson, but no use crying over it now.

So true about the bolded part. Oh well, I would be fine with a consolation prize of Friedman.

 

[Rice Cube]

Remember when Ricketts said something about emulating the Red Sox?

Red Sox (prior to tonight's battle royale against the Rays): 20 games over .500 in the toughest division in baseball, in first place

Cubs (after today's contest): 20 games under .500 in one of the worst divisions in baseball, in next-to-last place because the Astros suck more.

Emulation fail.

 

[dabynsky]

Remember when Ricketts said something about emulating the Red Sox?

Red Sox (prior to tonight's battle royale against the Rays): 20 games over .500 in the toughest division in baseball, in first place

Cubs (after today's contest): 20 games under .500 in one of the worst divisions in baseball, in next-to-last place because the Astros suck more.

Emulation fail.

That's not a fair comparison and you know it. The Red Sox are in year 9 of this ownership group versus year 2 of this group. I wish that Ricketts had been more decisive and replace Kenney/Hendry after last season, but to say that it is failure because this organization is still dsyfunctional after 2 seasons is a bit much.

 

[cubsneedmiracle]

Rice was pulling a funny one there slightly

 

[Popinski Soda]

The Cubs haven't won 3 games in a row yet. There's a big difference.

What's the difference?


J

 

[Rice Cube]

That's not a fair comparison and you know it. The Red Sox are in year 9 of this ownership group versus year 2 of this group. I wish that Ricketts had been more decisive and replace Kenney/Hendry after last season, but to say that it is failure because this organization is still dsyfunctional after 2 seasons is a bit much.

I dunno man...

John Henry bought the Red Sox in 2002. In 2001 the Sox finished 82-79. In 2002, they won 93 games but finished in second place. They reached the ALCS in 2003 and won it all in 2004. Before that, they also had a winning season in 2000 and reached the ALCS in 1999.

Tom Ricketts inherited a team that had won two consecutive division titles and had three straight winning seasons. I guess you could say it was a case of bad timing, bad luck, bad farm, whatever, but take a look at Ricketts' "turnaround" after a good stretch of success. Meh.

I don't think it's completely unfair.

 

[Rice Cube]

Rice was pulling a funny one there slightly

It has a sad hint of truth to it

dabynsky is right that I'm being slightly unfair, but at the same time, it's kind of glaring, isn't it?

 

[waldo7239117]

What's the difference?


J

There isn't.

 

[dabynsky]

I dunno man...

John Henry bought the Red Sox in 2002. In 2001 the Sox finished 82-79. In 2002, they won 93 games but finished in second place. They reached the ALCS in 2003 and won it all in 2004. Before that, they also had a winning season in 2000 and reached the ALCS in 1999.

Tom Ricketts inherited a team that had won two consecutive division titles and had three straight winning seasons. I guess you could say it was a case of bad timing, bad luck, bad farm, whatever, but take a look at Ricketts' "turnaround" after a good stretch of success. Meh.

I don't think it's completely unfair.

I will quible a little bit with the line he inherited a team that won a team that won 2 division titles. Ricketts didn't officially take over as owner til after 2009 when the team had slipt down to a record of 83-79.

John Henry took over the club and was able to promote Theo Epstein from within the organization to the position of GM within a season of taking over the club. Do you see a Theo Epstein in the Cubs organization right now?

And to compare the 2010 Cubs to the 2002 Red Sox is ridiculous. I mean the 2002 Red Sox had 2 pitchers post a 170+ ERA+ that were already on the roster prior to Henry taking over the club (Lowe 177 Martinez 202). The best Cubs ERA+ in 2010 was Carlos Zambrano with 128. The 2002 Red Sox had a much better base to build with than the 2010 Cubs, and to suggest that the Cubs emulating the Red Sox is a failure based upon 2 years is silly.

 

[EnjoyYourTiger]

Quade can't be let go because there's no one to replace him within the organization.

So, we'd have to call Sweet Lou up and get his ass back here.

 

[Rice Cube]

I will quible a little bit with the line he inherited a team that won a team that won 2 division titles. Ricketts didn't officially take over as owner til after 2009 when the team had slipt down to a record of 83-79.

John Henry took over the club and was able to promote Theo Epstein from within the organization to the position of GM within a season of taking over the club. Do you see a Theo Epstein in the Cubs organization right now?

And to compare the 2010 Cubs to the 2002 Red Sox is ridiculous. I mean the 2002 Red Sox had 2 pitchers post a 170+ ERA+ that were already on the roster prior to Henry taking over the club (Lowe 177 Martinez 202). The best Cubs ERA+ in 2010 was Carlos Zambrano with 128. The 2002 Red Sox had a much better base to build with than the 2010 Cubs, and to suggest that the Cubs emulating the Red Sox is a failure based upon 2 years is silly.

Okay. We'll see what happens after 3 years instead. This is, of course, after the Ricketts allowed Hendry to torpedo the farm, sign Hayden Simpson with a first-round pick, and build a half-ass contender instead of rebuilding. But life goes on

They're not going to re-hire Lou (I assume that was in jest) and I think even if they tried, Lou would justifiably tell them to go to hell, especially for giving Tony fucking Campana his number 41.

 

[Rice Cube]

By the way, dabynsky made very good points in his post about why the Cubs and Red Sox aren't directly comparable, but the incredible backwards turn the franchise took post-Ricketts takeover isn't something that's easily ignored.

 

[nickofypres]

I usually try to be positive with the Cubs, but with Philly?


:/

 

[Rice Cube]

I usually try to be positive with the Cubs, but with Philly?


:/

Excellent pitching, but their offense stagnates every now and then. If the Cubs get lucky they might sneak a victory in.

 

[dabynsky]

Okay. We'll see what happens after 3 years instead. This is, of course, after the Ricketts allowed Hendry to torpedo the farm, sign Hayden Simpson with a first-round pick, and build a half-ass contender instead of rebuilding. But life goes on

They're not going to re-hire Lou (I assume that was in jest) and I think even if they tried, Lou would justifiably tell them to go to hell, especially for giving Tony fucking Campana his number 41.

By the way, dabynsky made very good points in his post about why the Cubs and Red Sox aren't directly comparable, but the incredible backwards turn the franchise took post-Ricketts takeover isn't something that's easily ignored.

I am not defending the results of the Ricketts' administration. They speak for themselves. I just think it is silly to compare it to a vastly different situation in the Boston Red Sox who had 3 legitimate 3 superstars in Manny Ramirez, Pedro Maritnez and Derek Lowe to the team that was in place in Chicago's northside in 2010 which didn't have a player with OPS+ within 50 points of Manny or a pitcher within 45 points of the second best pitcher of the Red Sox by ERA+. Add into the fact that Red Sox have more revenue than the Cubs which allowed them to acquire another pitcher that was beyond anything on the Cubs in 2010 or now.

Tom Ricketts is not without faults. I have specifically stated that I don't know why Crane Kenney has been allowed to remain the number 2 man within the organization. John Henry brought in Larry Lucchino as the President of team right away when he took over the team. Lucchino brought Theo Epstein as an assistant, so he was in place to take over when they fired their GM midseason in 2002. However, lets not pretend like Lucchino was some great baseball mind. He had top jobs with the Orioles and Padres who had a combined 0 championships while he was the Presidents of the team. Epstein, while I would certainly prefer him to Hendry, didn't win the 04 World Series without a fair bit of luck. Being able to get David Ortiz for nothing and have him turn into a premier middle of the order bat. Getting above average years from Kevin Millar, Mark Bellhorn and Jason Varitek while past their peaks didn't hurt either.

The Cubs are an organization in free fall right now. Ricketts is not without blame for that, but to say that he deserves the majority of that blame is flat out wrong. And to compare it to the Red Sox because Ricketts said we should emulate them, which is a good thing by the way, is also wrong because the Red Sox prior to Henry taking over where in much better shape than the club Ricketts inherited. The one thing that I think we can fault Ricketts for is not making a change at the top sooner. Having said that I don't think having someone else as president or even president and GM would have made this season any less painful.

 

[Rice Cube]

Nah, this season was pretty much going to suck. I'm aware that the situations were different, and it will be interesting to see how well the Ricketts do to make the "emulate Red Sox" plan come to fruition going forward. The draft this year gave me a bit of hope. I just like getting a rise out of ya

Here's something about replay and today's game:

Chicago Cubs' Mike Quade, Kerry Wood question umps after loss - ESPN Chicago

Replay expansion, please.

 

[dabynsky]

Nah, this season was pretty much going to suck. I'm aware that the situations were different, and it will be interesting to see how well the Ricketts do to make the "emulate Red Sox" plan come to fruition going forward. The draft this year gave me a bit of hope. I just like getting a rise out of ya
Here's something about replay and today's game:

Chicago Cubs' Mike Quade, Kerry Wood question umps after loss - ESPN Chicago

Replay expansion, please.

Mission accomplished, and thanks for making me feel dirty having to defend a billionaire. This year's draft and international free agency period is why I really have hope for the future. Heard an inteview between Kaplan and Oneri Fleita, in charge of the minors and international scouting for those who don't know, and he discussed how the Cubs were breaking ground on a new 50 acre development facility in the Dominican Republic. The Cubs are really going out and buying premium talent and developing premium facilities to train that talent right now. Having a pipeline of talent coming from overseas is key to maintain a successful team in baseball since that talent is outside the draft. We might start seeing the fruit of that increased presence in Asia finally, though you could argue we see it to a degree with Matt Garza being a Cub right now, with Ha hitting well in AA. Fun to think about a homegrown OF of Ha, Jackson, and Sczcur. The range of that group would be beyond amazing. I digress but can you blame me for thinking about happier things than the 2011 version of the Cubs?

 

[Rice Cube]

Can't blame you for anything. Hell, I'm rooting for the #1 draft pick :lol:

 

[Dan0mite]

I am not defending the results of the Ricketts' administration. They speak for themselves. I just think it is silly to compare it to a vastly different situation in the Boston Red Sox who had 3 legitimate 3 superstars in Manny Ramirez, Pedro Maritnez and Derek Lowe to the team that was in place in Chicago's northside in 2010 which didn't have a player with OPS+ within 50 points of Manny or a pitcher within 45 points of the second best pitcher of the Red Sox by ERA+. Add into the fact that Red Sox have more revenue than the Cubs which allowed them to acquire another pitcher that was beyond anything on the Cubs in 2010 or now.

Tom Ricketts is not without faults. I have specifically stated that I don't know why Crane Kenney has been allowed to remain the number 2 man within the organization. John Henry brought in Larry Lucchino as the President of team right away when he took over the team. Lucchino brought Theo Epstein as an assistant, so he was in place to take over when they fired their GM midseason in 2002. However, lets not pretend like Lucchino was some great baseball mind. He had top jobs with the Orioles and Padres who had a combined 0 championships while he was the Presidents of the team. Epstein, while I would certainly prefer him to Hendry, didn't win the 04 World Series without a fair bit of luck. Being able to get David Ortiz for nothing and have him turn into a premier middle of the order bat. Getting above average years from Kevin Millar, Mark Bellhorn and Jason Varitek while past their peaks didn't hurt either.

I would also like to point out that John Henry had a bit of MLB experience, primarily in minor league ownership. Ricketts bought a team and while a fan, doesn't have any MLB experience. I should also point put that all this info simply came from Wikipedia and not my own knowledge. I just think it is too early to bag on Ricketts. He (they) are young owners buying a floundering company. We need to give him more than two seasons to start getting mad.