I GUARANTEE WITH JOE MADDEN...

[Rex Racer]

Cubs will play in the World Series within 3 years. BOOK IT!!!!!!!!!!


Madden made the WS with the Rays whose payroll is one of the lowest in the MLB so I am pretty sure he will make it with the Cubs.

I guarantee you been drinkin!

 

[calsnowskier]

Then how come we only won 1 WS during the 90s when we had the best Top 3 in a rotation of all time.

That is just an oddity of sports. I am not THAT familiar with the minute details of those teams to really offer an explanation. They had good bullys, didn't they? The offence was at least passable for most of the years.

Maybe I am touching a third-rail, but is it possible that Cox was simply the most over-rated manager of all time?

 

[Robotech]

Then how come we only won 1 WS during the 90s when we had the best Top 3 in a rotation of all time.

I still scratch my head over the Braves. They made the playoffs every single year from 1991 to 2005 except for the strike year. With their pitching and all the playoff opportunities, you figure that they would've won more than just one World Series.

 

[Nosferatu]

That is just an oddity of sports. I am not THAT familiar with the minute details of those teams to really offer an explanation. They had good bullys, didn't they? The offence was at least passable for most of the years.

Maybe I am touching a third-rail, but is it possible that Cox was simply the most over-rated manager of all time?

 

[Chewbaccer]

That is just an oddity of sports. I am not THAT familiar with the minute details of those teams to really offer an explanation. They had good bullys, didn't they? The offence was at least passable for most of the years.

Maybe I am touching a third-rail, but is it possible that Cox was simply the most over-rated manager of all time?

I love Bobby Cox. Nobody would have knew there was a franchise in Atlanta between Aaron breaking the home run record and Bobby Cox's arrival if not for Dale Murphy.

But I do have to agree that while Bobby wasn't a bad manager and is rightfully in the HOF, I do think he is overrated in all time ranks. I almost wish they would have waited until next season to induct Bobby. Torre and LaRussa outshined him too much for him to be on in the same first ballot class as them IMO.

Really, I think you have to give John Shuerholtz most of the credit for the Braves success in the 90's and even the early 2000's. Bobby played an important roll, but we did have the benefit of one of the best GMs of all time and only 1 WS to show for it.

 

[Mistaken4193]

We should have at least won it in 96. We had that comeback against the Cardinals in the LCS and then we went into Yankee Stadium and just dominated the Yankees and won both games. There is no excuse to losing a series in which you have a 2-0 lead and play the next 3 games at home and lose all 3. We should have finished it off but we just choked.

 

[Chewbaccer]

It's just one of those things I guess. While Smoltz was by far the best we had in the postseason, it's not like Maddux or Glavine imploded in the postseason. For Maddux at least, his numbers were better in the regular season, but with the Braves, still pretty good in the post season.

Really, I think the season we had no excuse for was 2003. We still had one of the better pitching staffs, but lead the league in basically every offensive category. Javy Lopez, Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones and Gary Sheffield all had over 100 RBI's and Marcus Giles hit .316. But we choked in the division series to the Cubs.

But at least that lead to the Bartman incident where we got to see Moises Alou flip out on a fan who reached for a ball that was not in the field of play like anyone else in that position would do and all those sitting around him was doing as well. Chances Alou makes the catch without any interference are pretty slim, but him flipping out ruined a young man's life.

 

[navamind]

Im tellin yall it will happen. Cubs have one of the best Minor League farm systems in Baseball. Rizzo is a future star.

He already is.

 

[navamind]

And we all know guarantee threads never come back to haunt anyone. Nope. Not at all.

 

[broncosmitty]

Wait a second you fools... In Back to The Future part 2 when Marty Mcfly went to 2015 it clearly stated the Cubs were gonna win the WS in 2015. So there you go Maddon will have the Cubs as WS winners next year.

They're supposed to beat Miami in the 2015 series, according to BTTFII, right?

That'll be tough.

 

[navamind]

They're supposed to beat Miami in the 2015 series, according to BTTFII, right?

That'll be tough.

Hah.

 

[broncosmitty]

This year's Giants were an oddity, to be sure, but it isn't like the playoffs this years were awash with Aces. Only the Tigers and Dodgers had multiple Aces, but neither of those teams had bullys, to the rotation was wasted (see Kershaw, Clayton).

In general, offense gets you to the dance. Pitching gets you to the hotel room.

Nationals have/had several "Aces" also.

 

[navamind]

Nationals have/had several "Aces" also.

And I wouldn't even call any of those guys aces, except maybe Zimmermann. Strasburg obviously has the talent, but his stuff hasn't quite translated to results just yet. His walk and strikeout rates are excellent. I think he'll be fine, barring health concerns. Gio was real good for a few years, but his last two years have been rather meh, his walk rate's always been kinda high, and he's never really pitched that deep into games.

 

[broncosmitty]

And I wouldn't even call any of those guys aces, except maybe Zimmermann. Strasburg obviously has the talent, but his stuff hasn't quite translated to results just yet. His walk and strikeout rates are excellent. I think he'll be fine, barring health concerns. Gio was real good for a few years, but his last two years have been rather meh, his walk rate's always been kinda high, and he's never really pitched that deep into games.

Gio drives me nuts, wastes too many pitches and nibbles. And then there's the walks.

But Id say JZ and SS both qualify as #1's/Aces. The hype was too big for Stras,(it always is) but he was 14th in all of baseball in innings. And strikes people out like crazy. To me, innings and Ks are what Aces are judged upon more than anything. (Which forces me to say Oakland also had multiples. Ugh....)

Im also prolly giving credit to Washingtons staff as a whole. Possibly the best 1-4 there is.

 

[navamind]

Gio drives me nuts, wastes too many pitches and nibbles. And then there's the walks.

But Id say JZ and SS both qualify as #1's/Aces. The hype was too big for Stras,(it always is) but he was 14th in all of baseball in innings. And strikes people out like crazy. To me, innings and Ks are what Aces are judged upon more than anything. (Which forces me to say Oakland also had multiples. Ugh....)

Im also prolly giving credit to Washingtons staff as a whole. Possibly the best 1-4 there is.

Yup. A lot of people act like he's Rich Harden, but it really isn't the case. Harden had one season north of 150 innings. One!

A shame too about Harden. Easily one of the most talented pitchers I've ever watched.

 

[calsnowskier]

Nationals have/had several "Aces" also.

Sorry, my bad. In my mind, not all 1's are Aces. Aces are superstars that tend to own games they pitch. Det, LA and maybe Oakland were the only teams in this year's playoffs with multiple Aces and SF and StL were the only teams in the LCSs with an Ace.

IMHO, neither Zimm nor Stras are currently Aces. Solid 1's, yes, and may very well be Aces next year, but are not Aces right now.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

I don't think Rizzo is a "star" yet. Very good talent and put up good numbers but star?

I may just have higher standards.

 

[wood20ks]

It is just a King Kong of a monkey on their backs. Look at the Bartman incident. If Alou does not blow a gasket, the Cubs likely win that game and move on to the Series. As it was, he threw a temper tantrum and EVERYONE knew the game was lost at that point.

That comes from the weight of the history of the moment. The "curse" is self-fulfilling at that point.

Oh it was not Alou"s fault......There is no way.If the fans were not reaching for that ball,Alou had the catch.....He also right in bitching about it.
As for Gonzalez,if Alou makes that catch,I'm highly doubting Gonzalez does not muff that play.
He didn't have to hurry the play if that out before was made....


There is no way anyone will ever tell me different.

 

[podsox]

Chicago prospects, for the most part, are usually busts. that is why I never trust them.


Sox-Borchard, Fields, Owens, Sweeney, Anderson, Beckham, etc


Cubs- Felix Pie, Corey Patterson, Jake Fox, Angel Guzman,

 

[navamind]

I don't think Rizzo is a "star" yet. Very good talent and put up good numbers but star?

I may just have higher standards.

He was 3rd in the NL in OPS+, 4th in OBP, 4th in SLG%, and 2nd in home runs. He's also a pretty solid defensive 1B.

Maybe star isn't the right word, but he's establishing himself as one of the 1B and hitters in the league IMO.