5/30/05 Maddux vs. Alvarez

[realmofotalk]

4-2 Cubs. Alvarez has given up 2 homers in 4 innings.

[realmofotalk]

Dodgers scored 2 on Saenz's double.

[realmofotalk]

Top 5th: Cubs 5-2
Aramis homered to deep left. Alvarez has given up 3 homers. He'll probably give another one up right after this post.

[Steak]

realmofo: You think Dusty Baker has done a good job in Chicago?

[realmofotalk]

I will begin with this:

Cubs fans blame him for everything including the Chicago Fire. Wood and Prior's injuries were somehow his fault and so is everything else. Only thing Baker should be blamed for is Game 6 in the 2003 NLCS.

To the dismay of LA fans, Dusty Baker did a great job during his run with the Giants. Baker got blamed for taking Russ Ortiz out of Game 6, but the Angels took advantage of a Felix Rodriguez meltdown. I'm not familiar with the job he's done in Chicago, though a lot of Cubs fans seem to want him fired for overworking Prior and Wood. It could be the case that Prior and Wood are just fragile. Prior got hurt during his first season with Don Baylor as the manager and Wood gets injured at some point every season. Dusty didn't seem to have that problem with his pitchers in San Francisco. Livan Hernandez, Russ Ortiz, and Kirk Rueter are a few of the durable arms around, and Jason Schmidt went from an injury-prone pitcher in Pittsburgh to an ace in SF.

You can put Bobby Cox, Joe Torre, Felipe Alou, Jack McKeon, Terry Francona, or Tony La Russa in Dusty's place and they probably still won't win the World Series. Cox and Torre haven't won the World Series in recent years. Alou, Baker, and Torre all lost to the same championship Marlins team. Cards fans have their own grievances with La Russa. Francona will be a Red Sox legend for winning the World Series, but that certainly wasn't the case during his run with the Phillies.

Maybe Jack McKeon should be the next Cubs manager, but even if Jim Hendry trades for the entire 2003 Marlins team, Cubs fans can't help but feel that AJ Burnett and Josh Beckett will get injured like Prior and Wood when they put on a Cubs uniform, the other Alex Gonzalez will commit 2 errors in a playoff game, Mike Lowell's .203 BA and Juan Pierre's .266 BA will get them kicked out of the early rounds of the Cubs version of "Survivor," and Dontrelle fading in the 2nd half will piss off more Cubs fans than Marlins fans. Miguel Cabrera can be the next Ernie Banks of the Cubs, but like Banks, Miguel won't win it all by himself.

[realmofotalk]

Dodgers lose 5-3. Saenz drove in the 3 runs.