At least the Cubs won’t lose today.
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Fire Ryan Poles | Fire Ben Johnson 
September 4, 2008 at 11:58 am
day off, but I AM STILL FUCKING PISSED AT THIS TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 4, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Zambrano has right rotator cuff tendinitis. Received a shot for it and hope to pitch in the series at Houston September 12-14
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5idj5Osxazlo6DK_wFgCyGlwbW8JAD93035F00
September 4, 2008 at 2:55 pm
He got a shot for that million dollar shoulder but nothing for that two-cent brain. …
September 4, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I heard the Cubs have an exhibition with a Cincinnati-area Pony League team. Soriano will swing at every first pitch and keep flying out … or just strike out with runners on base. (He’s like Sosa … king of the majestic SOLO home run). Theriot will hit a single, and Derrek Theriot, I mean Lee, will hit into a double play.
The Cubs will keep it close until Bob Howry gives up three straight homers to 12-year-old batters just hitting their growth spurts, but that’s okay because there’s always giving Lou his daily backrub in the morning.
September 4, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Ok, on August 3, Zambrano was surprisingly taken out after only 5 innings with a 5-2 lead. He had only thrown 82 pitches and allowed only 3 hits and a walk. I seem to remember at the time that Piniella claimed it was to make up for his previous high pitch counts of 118 and 125. In my non-medical opinion, the injury started there-August 3.
Now, in August, Zambrano was 1-1 in 5 starts with an ERA of 7.43.
Here’s my problem-If Zambrano was hurt on August 3 or before, he should have been to the doctor and started treatment and rehab a MONTH ago. Instead, he pitched shitty for a whole month when he could have been healing AND he’s out now. We could have thrown almost anyone else out there and got 1-1, 7.43-Samardzija, Marshall, someone from AAA, someone from AA. Then, presumably (if they are telling the truth about the injury) we would have Zambrano back and healed NOW for the stretch. Basically, he’s been injured twice. Of course the seriousness and duration of his injury may be magnified due to the fact of Zambrano pitching while hurt. I am skeptical how effective the shot will be and how long will it last. I am assuming it was cortisone, but the article did not say.
Obviously, this is all fucking bullshit and it does not surprise me coming from the Cubs. I am STILL FUCKING PISSED and now I am EVEN MORE FUCKING PISSED!!!
Waiting for the other shoe to drop on Harden’s injury. WHICH WILL MAKE ME EVEN MORE PISSED!!!!!!
September 4, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Yeah he will be back by the Houston series. Cubs management has never ever lied about an injury before. I believe in 2004 Mark Prior would be out 5-10 days with an achilles injury (during spring training possibly first week of) and he didn’t pitch until almost the all-star break. Harden has NEVER pitched 8 starts in a row so lets go ahead and call him…DONE!! I can’t believe that with this offense they couldn’t score against Randy Wolf. I am not so sure if Lou isn’t losing the clubhouse. He snaps at any little question like the only people he can control is the media. I could be completely wrong but he doesn’t look real well right now. Are we having a few sleepless nights Lou? If this team blows the wild card lead, I don’t believe they will win the Central, this will be a meltdown of historic porportion. I don’t think the collapse of ’04 will have anything on this one.
September 4, 2008 at 4:25 pm
“I am not so sure if Lou isn’t losing the clubhouse. He snaps at any little question like the only people he can control is the media.”
I said this the other day,
“It will take a manager with enormous leadership abilities (and I’m just not convinced Piniella has it), and a group of players that can focus on the goal at hand without letting the past infect their play.”
Lou is starting to sound a lot like Dusty the past few days…”What can you do?” etc.
This is the problem with this team that is totally different than any other team – 100 years of futility, and 3 very very very bad chokes in 39 years. You cannot tell me that doesn’t enter into these guys minds. Personally, I think the kind of manager that could overcome that kind of pressure is a Tony LaRussa, Terry Francona, Ozzie Guillen, or a Jim Layman. What those guys all have in common is tough leadership and smart baseball sense. Lou has more of that than Dusty did, but I don’t believe he has enough to pull this team through this kind of pressure. In Cincinnati he had a lot of talented tough players (“nasty boys,” Barry Larkin, Paul O’Neil, etc.) to fall back on, but he doesn’t have that here.
Still far from over, but it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
September 4, 2008 at 5:18 pm
ernie, you make some great points again with your last post.
I do agree with your list of managers that could overcome “the pressure” (you meant Leland, not “Layman”, right?). I hope you are wrong about Lou…and that he is able to rise to the occasion and do whatever is possible to “manage” the team to a WS title. It’s a very tall order for sure and I wouldn’t bet the farm on it, especially with how they are playing lately.
As for Zambrano: I can tell you from personal experience that “cortisone” is a slippery slope. I injured my left hand years ago. Being a musician, I wish I had taken time off to let it heal, instead of getting cortisone. To be fair, the doctor who administered the shot warned me that it was a temporary fix, not something I could do regularly. I was able to resume guitar within a day or two and my finger felt amazing. For about a month. Then the pain resurfaced, only worse. The doctor agreed to administer one more shot…it didn’t help much. Was forced to take time off and have been living with chronic pain and slightly reduced range of motion ever since. Fortunately, it wasn’t career ending.
I hope Zambrano took an MRI (did he?). Isn’t this something the Cubs could demand, to “protect their investment”? All kidding aside, I hope Z visits with a head doctor soon, too…it couldn’t hurt.
September 4, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Ok, just checked the link Nemo provided..he did have an MRI.
When is his appointment with Dr. Phil?
September 4, 2008 at 5:28 pm
“Hopefully he will be just missing this one start,” Hendry said. “I think it’s a relief that Z doesn’t have anything more significant than what we thought.”
Zambrano was on the disabled list in June with a sore shoulder.
“Obviously Dr. Gryzlo has been right on with all his evaluations,” Hendry said. “He felt this was not going to be a significant problem, not a situation where he had to put on the DL.”
*************************************************************
What? I wish Jim Hendry would SHUT THE FUCK UP. This is the GM who presided over and enabled the reign of Dusty Baker!
If the Cubs DON’T win a WS this year–BUT Hendry IS FIRED–I’ll consider the season a success.
September 4, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Genre
Yes he did have his MRI today and it revealed the tendinitis and inflammation of his right rotator cuff. I don’t believe the steroid injection is going to help that much, temporary fix best case scenario like you stated. The only way that I see him pitching this year is if they give him the entire month of September off and hopefully the club will make the playoffs. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on tv that is just my two cents on the matter.
September 4, 2008 at 5:37 pm
AR. You are NOT a MD…but do you stay at Holiday Inn Express?
HA HA HA HA HA
Even without Zambrano, it would be an epic choke for the Cubs to miss the playoffs. I am fine with resting him beyond what they are planning at this time.
September 4, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Genre,
I too have heard that the cortisone shot really does not induce healing, it only takes away the pain for a few days. They used to shoot up football players with it in the old days so they could finish a game. Later, the pain would be so bad that they could barely move. A close friend of mine played in the Braves organization back in 1972-1974 (played for the big club in 1973) and had to finally retire because of the same type of injury Zambrano is facing now. They also shot him up with cortisone to get him back to playing sooner, but it did not help with the healing. So, if all they are doing is trying to get Z back in the lineup, rather than dealing with the need for healing, then they are headed for disaster.
I’m no doctor, so that’s all speculation on my part, but we all know how this organization has handled pitchers (cf. Prior and Wood) so I don’t trust their judgment, nor their word.
Also, I lived through the 1969 collapse (I was 19 at the time), and I can tell you there are similarities with this team – excepting the Brewers are not as hot as the Mets were that year. This team is starting to slump at almost precisely the same time the 69 team started it’s slide, around Sept. 3. That team lost 8 in a row starting Sept. 3. We now have lost 5 in a row, and if it continues to 8, then you can bet the local media is going to start bringing up 1969 on a daily basis. And if you think Lou is edgy now, wait till that happens. He’ll be crawling the walls.
September 4, 2008 at 9:12 pm
It sounds like Zambrano should be shutdown for the rest of the season. I don’t see where the investment the franchise has made in him is better served by bringing him back too soon. That’s what they did up till now and the results….
I heard some talk on the radio about what it would take to keep the Cubs out of postseason. After 5 straight losses you wonder when they are going to win again, but the probabilty favors at least a somersault into postseason. If the Cubs can manage .500 ball the rest of the way (11-11) then they’ll be 96-66. Then to tie the Cubs these teams would have contain games lost to no more than Brewers 7, Mets 5, Phillies 2, Cardinals 1 and Astros 0. So, how hard will it be to win 11 more games?
September 4, 2008 at 9:48 pm
We shall see.
I hope they have a plan for “no Zambrano”…that may be the best scenario, short and long-term…it is unfortunate.
What is the word on Harden?
September 4, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Looking at the standings, I see other teams struggling too. The Rays have lost some games, so have the Angels. This is only the longest losing streak of the season, and only the third time the Cubs have been swept this year. Those three times credited to the Astros, White Sox, and Orioles.
Looking at the big picture, the top teams in the MLB are the Rays, Angels, and Cubs. All three have 85 wins, but the Cubs are behind in the loss column, albeit only by two. Angels and Rays are 6-4 in their last 10. The Cubs are now 5-5. My point is, all three big dogs in MLB are going through some doldrums at the moment. This is why I refuse to panic. I’m seeing the facts and looking at the big picture here, and it just doesn’t look scary yet.
And hey, the Brewers lost again today. I’m not worried yet. It’s a 7 game tear, followed by a 5 game skid. And that is all it is for now.
September 4, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Sean Estes kicked ass for the Padres? Thank you.
I wish the Cubs would shut Zambrano down until the final week of the season where he can start a couple games and go about five innings so maybe he can be ready if the Cubs go to the playoffs. If not, then they should just save him completely.
I have always been behind Zambrano. He is my favorite Cub and has been since he came up in 2001. Too bad he is a headcase.
September 4, 2008 at 11:06 pm
thank you Smuckers!
September 5, 2008 at 12:47 am
“If the Cubs can manage .500 ball the rest of the way (11-11) then they’ll be 96-66. Then to tie the Cubs these teams would have contain games lost to no more than Brewers 7, Mets 5, Phillies 2, Cardinals 1 and Astros 0. So, how hard will it be to win 11 more games?”
Try this on for size: The 1964 Phillies held a 6 game lead with just 8 games to play. You gotta figure they can win just one of those games, right? Nope, they lost 7 in a row – won the last one – and finished a game back of the eventual champion Cardinals. All the Brewers have to do is go on, oh, say a 7 game winning streak, while the Cubs lose 7 or 8 in a row and you have the Cubs trailing the Brewers by 3 in a little over a week. And if the Phillies or Cardinals get hot, they could knock the Cubs out of the wild card in the last week of Sept.
All it takes is for one team to go cold (losing x amount of games in a row), and one team to get hot (winning x amount of games in a row), the rest (going 11-11 for example) is meaningless. That’s why Colorado went to the Series last year. And that’s why the Phillies made the playoffs, and the Mets stayed home.
The Cubs need to play as if they were the team down 4.5 games. They need to play with the focus and intensity of playoff baseball NOW. Otherwise, they will look up and it will be too late. Thinking that all they need to do is “run out the clock” will mean staying home watching the playoffs.
The Astros swept them because they are playing playoff baseball now. They know they have to in order to have a chance. Lou better start telling these guys that Oct baseball starts Sept. 5!
September 5, 2008 at 9:20 am
Well, we all know Zambrano won’t be pitching for awhile…too bad he can’t play 1st base, we could use his bat.
HA HA HA HA HA
September 5, 2008 at 11:10 am
ernie, If the Cubs play badly enough they can sit home in Oct. And if they can’t play as well or better with a 5-game lead as they would with a 5-game deficit, then screw this team and wait till next year. What more can you say. I would never endorse somersaulting into anything and my last post might have sounded like it.
More teams get into postseason now. Including the 69′ team with that dismal finish, all of Durocher’s teams (67′-72) would have made it to postseason with their actual record under today’s rules.
September 5, 2008 at 12:14 pm
All I can say at this point is they had better pull their heads out of their asses and start playing like real contenders. We have 3 in Cincinnati starting tonight. Time to make Dusty and his crew our bitches again. If they can’t sweep this shit-hole of a team then forget it, it’s over. At the very least, 2 out of 3. NOTHING LESS!!!!!!!!!!