Dysfunctional

This is why our team is dysfunctional.

August 23rd when Ryan Theriot tried to steal 3rd base and got caught...

"That shocked us all," said Cubs manager Dusty Baker, whose team fell to 53-72. "Maybe he was overplaying. That wasn’t a good play. That was a bad play, especially with 3-4-5 coming up there. I guess he was trying to be aggressive."

"That was a young, a very young, mistake right there."

Theriot took the heat.

"Obviously, looking at it now, it wasn’t a very good play in that situation," he said. "I was trying to make something happen right there and get everything going a little bit, but looking back on it, it wasn’t the best move."

Juan Pierre gets caught stealing last night in an identical situation, via Bruce Miles...

Baker carried on for two days criticizing rookie Ryan Theriot about a similar play Aug. 22. However, he seemed to defend the veteran Pierre.

"Well, I mean, Juan is on his own," Baker offered. "He has a pretty good idea when to run. He didn’t get a real good jump on that ball. On that one he usually gets an outstanding jump. Just a tough night."

But it doesn't end there as Derrek Lee hops on the defend Pierre band wagon while Theriot got thrown under the bus...

"I want him running right there every time," Lee said. "I thought it was the right play. The way we're swinging the bats and struggling to score runs, he's trying to make it easier for the hitters, especially with Aramis out. I thought it was a great play. He just got thrown out."

Can't the same be said about Theriot? Or does the situation only change based off service time and the color of your skin?

If your gonna throw the rookie under the bus for the play, fine. But if your veteran does the same thing, you better light his ass up in the papers also. You can't imagine the message that sends to every young player through your organization when rookie players are held to much higher standards than the veterans.

And to finish all of this off, the Pirates go out and try to get better while the Cubs sit on their ass...

Hours before their game against the Cubs, the Pirates commandeered Wrigley Field to take extra batting, infield and outfield practice, something the home team has done precious little of this season.

We didn't get to last place by accident. We earned it.

The Circle of Life

After tonight it is complete. The Cubs are back to being one of the worst teams in baseball.

So yeah, tonights little milestone has driven me back to blogging. I stopped writing back on April 23rd, 2005. I was growing more an more disgusted with the direction of the franchise and blogging just wasn't doing it for me anymore. I latched onto Desipio.com so I could vent my frustration in smaller more incoherrent ramblings. And that has worked like a charm ever since.

You kind of saw the writing on the wall last season. Hendry fell asleep at the wheel again in free agency and refused to spend money on quality players but handed out long term extensions and deals to some questionable talent. If you can figure out why Neifi, Rusch, and Dempster deserved multi-year expensive deals with no track record of success I am all ears. You might want to also pass that info along to Hendry.

This is what I said about Rusch when he was re-upped the first time back in 11/20/2004...

I am not happy about Glendon Rusch being sign for around $2 million a season. Far too much money being handed to him for being decent for a half season as a starter.

This is what I hate about Cubs fans and the Cubs franchise. The Cubs bring in lousy players like Rusch. Then get lucky that he does something good for a small amount of time and totally disregard his past. To reward him the franchise turns around and lobs a ton of money at him.

Don't come crying to me when Rusch is sporting a 5.00+ ERA and giving up hits by the bucket loads. This very rarely works out. The Cubs should be happy with what they got out of him and send him on his merry way. Whatever magic Rusch used in 2004, wont be around in 2005 and beyond.

Add Todd Hollandsworth into that as well. A few games of big hits and people are ready to hand him a starting job. Get attached to lousy players, expect to be let down. Look at the Cubs history over the last 10 years of signing questionable talent who had a good part of a season. How often did that player remain productive? How many times did the Cubs have to suffer watching that player stink up the joint?

Does this sound familiar about Neifi, Rusch, Hollandsworth, Dempster? Granted it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure the rate of failure is pretty high with these guys. It's like shooting fish in a barrell. But jesus, you figure a MLB GM would be able to figure out they suck and not throw money at them to bring them back.

Anyways, I just bounced between Desipio and The Cub Reporter doing my little thing. Bitching about how Hendry and Baker were terrible at their jobs before it became fashionable. So yeah I will slap my back a little on those. Took alot of heat over the years for holding that line. But I am Irish, stubborn, and drink alot. I can't help it, I hold grudges against constant stupidity and in-action by the front office.

So tonight I celebrate the Cubs with a Heineken and stomach full of disgust. I may be back blogging, I may not. Depends how much this team keeps pissing me off.

Geezzzz!

Where to begin about the Cubs 4-3 loss to the Pirates today. Well hell lets start with Dusty Baker and his stupid decisions. Pinch hitting a 2-3 Jason Dubois for the anemic Jose Macias! The whole point of pinch hitting is to replace your hitter with a BETTER hitter. Obviously Baker has brain damage at this point and can not even understand this simple concept. Naturally Macias swings on the first pitch and grounds out. Way to go Macias your now hitting around .070. Dubois is hitting .333.

Not all the credit goes to Baker for the loss as our boy Hawkins pooped his pants with another 1 run lead by serving up a HR to Jason Bay to tie the game. He is sure becoming a fan favorite. Sadly it gets even worse. Hawkins is eventually taken out of the game when get this...Bobby Hill steps to the plate! We can't even trust Hawkins to get out a solid but weak hitting little 3rd baseman/utility INF? HE IS OUR CLOSER FOR CHRIST SAKES! If the Cubs and Baker are yanking him against Bobby Hill then this should probably end Hawkins experiment as the closer and let a guy like Weurtz test out the job. I do not know how the Cubs can say he is the closer after this game.

But Baker doesn't even counter with Weurtz or one of our better bullpen arms. Out trots Glendon Rusch. Just in time to serve up the game winning hit. When the Pirates countered with Felix Sanchex, Remlinger should of been brought in because of his crazy reverse splits. Every fan in the ballpark, and even the announcers know what should of been done, but again apparently due to brain damage this concept is lost on Dusty.

One way to salavage the season is to get rid of Dusty Baker and bring in a manager who will play Jason Dubois, maybe try out Michael Weurtz or Guzman as closer, and if Perez stops hitting trying out Cedeno or Fontenot. The entire team needs a shake up. Old and crusty is turning into old and losing. Old and lets blow late inning leads. The current makeup and philosophy of the Cubs is a disaster. The only thing the Cubs did last season was grow another year older and actually got less talented. They improved in no area on the team. And we as fans are shocked they are struggling.

Fire Dusty to save the season.