Ahem……Part 2

In the same blog I mentioned yesterday, I said this:

Like I said before, while this does make the Brewers a threat, it, in no way, guarantees them the Division crown.  CC can’t pitch a complete game every time out.  It’s gotta be handed over to the bullpen sometime.  And that Brewers ‘pen is suspect at best.

Surely enough, last night, Ben Sheets gave the Brewers a chance to win, exiting in the 6th inning trailing by only one run.  The bullpen allowed the Rockies to blow it wide open, though.  This is from the MLB.com article recapping the game.

Sheets was very good on Wednesday, according to Brewers manager Ned Yost, despite taking his second loss in three starts after beginning the year 9-1.

So good that when the first postgame question was about slumping Brewers reliever Guillermo Mota, who surrendered four runs and let the game get away in the eighth inning, Yost eventually answered like this:

“Benny Sheets pitched a great game tonight,” Yost said, ignoring the question. “He was on top of his game. Eleven strikeouts. His ’stuff’ was tremendous.”

Wow…..just wow!  When your manager is blatantly ignoring the glaring issues with the bullpen, you have some serious issues.  The Brewers better do something fast, or they won’t even pass the Cardinals for the Wild Card, even though Mark Mulder is most likely done.

Just because I don’t get to do it that often….

This is for Solly. It’s in reference to a comment Moose made in this thread.

And this is from today’s NY Daily News:

Hey Solly!  Maybe they can get a cutout of Wilpon’s wife!

Rounding the Bases – The Cubs Haters Edition

One of the things I do often is scour other MLB teams’ message boards. I don’t troll. I just like to see what other fans’ opinions are of their team as well as other teams. Some of the things I come across are so funny, pathetic, or sometimes brilliant that they need to be shared with everyone. I’m hoping to make “Rounding the Bases” a semi-regular feature here at 3 Men and a Blind Guy.

It’s really amazing how many people hate the Cubs. I mean really hate the Cubs. But it’s really funny how that blind hatred can lead to so many dumb and uninformed statements, especially when they are doing well.

A poster at the Cardinals board wanted to help the Cubs come up with a nickname for for the 2008 squad (how nice of them). A poster by the name of “cubsrjoke” came up with this gem:

Biggest waste of money

That’s funny. That “waste of money” is currently sitting atop the Major Leagues with the best record in baseball.

The same poster decided to spout some of his infinite wisdom in a thread about the All-Star voting and how many of the Cubs were near the top.

Oh my God what a joke. De Rosa is a bench player, Theiot is a nobody, Aramiss is a fat, lazy slob, Soriano can’t even catch the ball, Fukudome is as overrated as they come, Soto is a flash in the pan who has put up good numbers for barely 2 months. Wow what deserving players they have. LOL

Now, I’ve already said my peace about the All-Star voting. I don’t agree with a lot of it, but the things this guy is saying are just flat out false. DeRosa may have been a bench player, but he has been one of the better signings by Jim Hendry and has come through for the Cubs on many occasions. Theriot is a nobody, but that nobody has above average numbers in almost all categories except power numbers. Aramis “is a fat, lazy slob”? Where do I even begin with that one? That may have been true in the past, but the last few years, he has been solid both with the glove and at the plate. He has matured as a player and is even running out ground balls now. He’s even on pace to take 100 walks this season – double his career best. Soriano – I’ll give you that he’s a horrible defender. But he has won more games with his bat than he has lost with the glove. I’ll take that anyday. Fukudome could be considered overrated with all the hype he received, but he still has above average numbers. Soto has only put up good numbers the past 2 months? I guess “cubsrjoke” wasn’t watching the last 2 months of last season. He put up spectacular numbers then, and is continuing it now. That’s the furthest thing from “flash in the pan”.

It seems to me that “cubsrjoke” is a little jealous, because he continues on in another post:

It takes more than 2 months of a season to be considered a starting all star. Russell Martin, Yadier Molina and Brian McCann are all better choices. Offense is not everything at catcher. This kid needs to pay his dues for a few years before he is on an all star team. That way everyone will know if he is a flash in the pan or legit. My bet is flash in the pan

Get this guy a MENSA application stat! Yadier frickin’ Molina? And they say Cardinal fans are the smartest in baseball? Soto has better offensive and defensive stats than Molina. WTF?

Soto seems to be getting a lot of press on the Cardinals board. This is from a poster named “fkuchi”

Soto is a fluke. By August he’ll be barely above .200

No. He’ll be running away with the Rookie of the Year Award.

The Cubs hate is rampant at the Cards board. This is from “bottlenect”:

I agree that is a joke that the Cubs might have so many going to the all star game. If history is any indicator, they will find a way to choke at that game too. They might have some good talent this year and be the favorite to win the division and actually look better than us at most positions, but they are still a joke. Even if they do win the season series again. We’ll still come out on top.

I love it! “They have some good talent. And they look better than us at most positions. But they’re still a joke, and we’ll still beat them.” Hell, with logic like that, how can I argue? Once again, smartest fans in baseball?

Looking back, all the entries are from Cardinal fans. The irrational hatred is amazing. Look, I hate the Cardinals, too, but I respect the talent on that team enough that I’m not going to call them a joke, and I know they are going to be a thorn in the Cubs’ side all season long.

Like I said at the top, I want to make these a semi-regular part of the blog. If anyone has any suggestions for themes/ideas for “Rounding the Bases”, please pass them along.