@ChiTribRogers: Still Brain-Dead

Lunkhead @ChiTribRogers still thinks W-L record for starting pitchers is more important than ERA, WHIP, IP, K's etc.

Price: Mel Antonen, USA Today; Tony Fabrizio, Tampa Tribune; Phil Rogers, Chicago Tribune; Chris Assenheimer. Elyria (OH) Chronicle.

This just in: Cubs-shillin' Drool Cup Phil is also for the Ricketts' plan to fleece the state, which is already bankrupt and shit.

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worrying that this didn't generate a good LoC rant yet

"Let’s get this straight from the start: When it comes to my Hall of Fame ballot, I believe in giving the benefit of the doubt. I don’t want to be a curmudgeon with a ridiculously high standard — not when the standard for election is 75 percent.

So, by design, I have decided that if I can make a good case for a player, I am going to vote for him.

Sometimes I surprise even myself. I did it this year, checking eight names the first day I considered the ballot and going back to add a ninth just before putting it in the mail. That would be Mark Grace, the guy who sometimes seemed as much a politician as a player during his 13 seasons as the Cubs’ first baseman.

He didn’t hit for power, which is the first thing most people look for in a first baseman. But otherwise he was terrific: .303 career average, more than 11/2 walks for every strikeout, elite fielding skills, leadership in the clubhouse. He led the majors in hits in the 1990s, with 180-plus in seven of those seasons."

If by 'wry' they mean Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz, then yes...

And his replacement...Moroniotti??

Mike Downey departs Chicago Tribune

Mike Downey, who returned home to Chicago in 2003 as a Tribune sports columnist, is leaving the paper.

"The Tribune was generous enough to make me one of the best-paid sportswriters in the history of this business, so I certainly can't fault the paper for doing this now that times are hard," Downey said Thursday.

Tribune Associate Managing Editor for Sports Dan McGrath informed his staff "with profound sadness" in a note hailing Downey, who was a must-read at the Chicago Daily News and Sun-Times before becoming a columnist for the Detroit Free Press and Los Angeles Times, as a "wise, wry, sane voice of reason."

Da comments are fun, such as: "There isn't a single writer for the Trib that makes it worth the resources it takes to recycle the paper it's written on." Did Corms write dis?
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Bruce Bochy: is oxygen getting to his brain?

Tim Lincecum's first career complete game was a 138-pitch shutout of the Padres on Saturday. Lincecum is an incredible pitcher. We're really hoping that's still the case in a few years, but we're becoming more skeptical every time Bruce Bochy sends him back out for that one extra inning. Does anyone really think the NL's ERA leader needs a confidence boost at this point? Why on earth send him back out to pitch the ninth in a 7-0 game when he's already thrown 118 pitches? He just threw 127 pitches on Monday. He had an 132-pitch outing on Aug. 27 (and followed it up with one of his worst starts of the year). Lincecum gave up two hits in the ninth tonight, bringing the Padres' total for the night up to four. He ended up striking out 12. It was an outstanding performance. However, it wouldn't have been any less impressive had he left after eight.
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With each player move, Asstros GM Ed Wade solidifies his status as the most idiotic GM in baseball (non-Brian Sabean Division)

Astros signed RHP Brian Moehler to a one-year, $2.3 million contract extension with a mutual option for 2010.
Moehler has been the Astros' biggest surprise this year, somehow managing to maintain an ERA under 4.00 two years after amassing a 6.57 ERA as a starter for the Marlins. That he's turning 37 in December and has an abysmal strikeout rate doesn't bode well for his chances of keeping it up in 2009. He'll probably be penciled into the rotation, but it'd be no surprise to see him off the roster by Memorial Day.

Astros signed outfielder Darin Erstad to a one-year, $1.75 million contract extension for 2009.
The Astros remain very much content with mediocrity. Because he's a left-handed hitter backing up a left-handed hitter, Erstad wasn't a great fit for the Astros in the first place. He's actually done a pretty good job, posting a .293/.325/.384 line in 263 at-bats. However, he's no longer a basestealer, he's lost a little something on defense and there's little chance his power is coming back.
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I dunno, he's seems trustworthy to me...also, folksy! I would like to have a beer with the man...

Ok, ok, the guy needs a feeding tube...

PLEASE don't get rid of Drool Cup

Tribune to redesign papers, job cuts possible

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tribune Co plans to redesign its financially struggling newspapers in the next few months to save money while making them more appealing to readers, a move that could lead to more job cuts. (Skilly?! ed...)
.....

Cutting jobs could follow, including in the newsroom, where Tribune has been reviewing the productivity of each reporter.

"When you get into the individuals, you find you can eliminate a fair number of people, while not eliminating very much content," Michaels said. (Yeah, reporters? Who needs 'em... certainly not a newspaper... ed.)

the more things stay the same, the more things stay the same

State probes donation to Blagojevich

• State police investigate campaign donation
• Investigators: Politics plagued state fraud probe

Amid 'dysfunction,' Daley to attend CTA summit

• CTA's other crisis: Rehab needs billions
• Subway service changes scheduled for weekend

Firm seeking Cook work has tie to U.S. task force

World Toilet Association builds house

Mmmmmmmm: Fizzy, bottled ham

Phil Rogers: White Sox, Cubs coming up short

Bud Lite: Still an Idiot

Let's see if i've got this straight. There are 3 games today, with the Phillies game starting at noon on the west coast, and the Cubs starting after 10pm on the east coast. Hey kids, want to watch the playoffs? Sorry, you can't. What did you expect, you're not getting health care, either. And why aren't they playing two games today and two games tomorrow? Meanwhile, the Red Sox & Angels are OFF tomorrow, with ANOTHER off day on Saturday. Now that's just plain drool cup stoooopid.

Oh yeah, the TBS announcers? HATE. Always have, always will...

somebody get Hendry a drool cup

Steve (Baltimore, MD): Nate Silver today called the Steve Trachsel trade "one of the worst in the past several seasons." Is he being overly harsh, or did the O's pull of a steal?
Christina Kahrl: The O's pulled off a steal. I wrote about that a bit in the edition of TA that will be up within 24 hours, but yes, it's a genuinely great move. It would have been a solid pickup if they'd only gotten Cherry, and that's even if Cherry only wound up being a useful situational right-hander. Cherry might be better than that, but Moore can be the lefty side of a quality platoon at third base.

whose bulb is dimmest?

My money is still on Sullivan.

Drool Cup!

Phil Rogers: Trust scouts: Kendall will work

In related news...

Cubs acquire Jason Kendall for Rob Bowen/minor league pitcher. Good?

90.6%
Yes, Kendall is a smart vet (4098 responses)

9.4%
No, Cubs gave away too much (425 responses)

4523 total responses
(Poll is brain dead)

AWFUL.

Cubs acquired catcher Jason Kendall and cash from the Athletics for catcher Rob Bowen and LHP Jerry Blevins.
The cash will cover a portion of his $13 million salary, which had been being paid by both the A's ($8 million) and the Pirates ($5 million). With a .226/.261/.281 line this year, Kendall is no sure upgrade...unless he were to replace a dead guy.

Stark Drinking the Kool-Aid

People in Chicago would be amazed how many scouts following the NL Central report that they either think (a) the Cubs are a better, more talented team than the Brewers, or (b) the Cubs will end up winning the division. “I know they’ve played spotty, to say the least,” one scout said of the Cubs. “But I think they have a chance to rip off about 14 [wins] out of 15 one of these days.” The scout’s theory is that the Cubs have played tight, in great part because they haven’t adjusted to Lou Piniella’s personality and he hasn’t adjusted to them. “I think they’re at a real turning point,” the scout said. “If Lou can use that [suspension] time to watch from afar for a few days and then come back and make some adjustments, I think that team could take off. And knowing Lou, I think he can and he will.”

k-mad scours da Trib headlines so you don't have to

Cicadas on the march
Chicago Gardener: They're here!
My phokkkking @@sss... I hear nuttin, I see nuttin...

Vote: Which Sox reliever scares you?
How many votes do I get?

Dikka's retort: Gene Upshaw a fraud
Iz dat da teacup calling da teakettle a tea receptacle, or what?

Acting weird? That's so Piniella
Is Smiff writing dese?

Phil Rogers: Baseball's other black eye
Drool Cup? A hack maybe, but a black eye on baseball? Well, maybe...

Vote: Which Cubs reliever scares you?
How many votes do Sarge and Corms get?

Clemens' return may come at Cell
Road trip? 'Boo til ya Spew' Nite at da Cell?

Worker dies at Tribune facility
Police say the man was caught in a conveyor. Video
Dey show video of dere own workers being eaten by dere machines? How Monty Burns can you get?

Flooding, lightning hit suburbs
Strong storms lead to two fires and flooding.
My phokkking @@@ssss... I saw nuttin, I heard nuttin...

Baseball & Chicago

God, some (most) Cubs fans are phokkin morons. I especially like the part where he says, "We cannot even beat the Padres right now for Gods sake." Yeah because they suck right? Moron.