Benches clear at Wrigley

[Brian the Automator]

Don't bring a face to a fistfight.

[Fike85]

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What is it with this Cubs team and their respective tempers?

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I blame Pinella. If you were acting like a jackass and someone like Lou Pinella told you to cut it out would you listen? Would you be more or less inclined to exercise self-control if Lou Pinella was your manager?

 

Pinella is a disgrace to professional sports.

[Brian the Automator]

Oh, but he's "fiery" and all of those other adjectives that are supposed to invigorate the team.

[hawing]

How long do you think it'll be before some Cub misses time due to injury caused by brawl, in-team fistfight, or other similar activity?

[berniebrewer4life]

Just saw the replay for the first time. I noticed Lee backed out of there pretty quickly when he realized that Young was gonna swing back. He was also pretty quick to run behind his teammates. What a wimp. If you are gonna start it, don't run like a child.

[Time for a Miller]

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Seriously, is there a single player on the Cubs that you'd want on the Brewers right now? Maybe Soriano?

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This guy is a turd as well. I could not believe his smile and backwards jog after he hit his 11 HR of the year yesterday. It might be funny if he did that after his next strikeout which will be his 55th of the season. I suppose after winning 3 games in a row to climb within 4 games of .500 his jerky celebration was warranted.

 

Soriano always has alwaysstruck me as a selfish-player. I won't move to the outfield, I strikeout a lot, but hit homeruns, I steal a lot of bases, but have a less then average success rate. I'll make more money as a crappy 2nd baseman then a crappy defensive outfielder. Me-me-me.

[mothershipconnection]

Sorry to get in so late, but Branyan is the dreamiest man alive.

[logan82]

I have to say that I prefer my managers to be vanilla. By that I mean calm and level headed. Not blowing up at the drop of a hat like Pinella. Not saying boneheaded things to the media like Ozzy Guillen(sp?). I think Ozzy is entertaining, but glad he isn't our manager. Baseball players are adults and I would think they would prefer to be treat as such. I was always told by my boss to praise in public and chastise in private.

[TauPentaRei]

Anybody have a video link of Soriano doing this "moonwalk"?

[JoeH33]

I'd think you could just go to the Cubs website and check they're top plays archive. HR's are almost always posted.

[TauPentaRei]

thanks Joe... i just got my first look.

 

Soriano hit it onto Waveland, knew he got it all. And I am actually torn here. Part of me thinks he was being a punk, and the other part thinks he was genuinely enjoying a fun moment. The camera cuts out, but he gets at least 30 feet down the line still skipping backwards.

 

It was bottom 6 (3 - 1 Cubs) when he hit it, and the crowd was probably still hyped after Fontenot's 2 run jack broke the tie.

 

I think Young's beaning was absolutely deliberate. That is just me and I do not have a statistic to qualify my statement - my apologies. Good for Young. Young definitely enabled the fight by walking towards D Lee. I'd be chilling out behind the mound if I just threw at somebody's face.

 

Zambrano running at me with his belt off is a haunting thought.

[naivin]

It was definitely a bad move by Soriano, but I sort of think he may not really have known what he was doing. Not an excuse, and still pretty weak, but I'm not necessarily convinced there was a whole lot of intent there.

[SeriesFinale]

It's a shame this couldn't have happened when they played in SD so we could've missed Peavy

[Ennder]

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Soriano always has alwaysstruck me as a selfish-player. I won't move to the outfield, I strikeout a lot, but hit homeruns, I steal a lot of bases, but have a less then average success rate. I'll make more money as a crappy 2nd baseman then a crappy defensive outfielder

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Most players who have established themselves at a position aren't going to be happy moving positions, in the end he moved and stopped complaining about it.

 

Most guys who hit a lot of HR's strike out a lot, its a tradeoff that is generally worth it.

 

Soriano has 218 SB, 62 CS for a 78% success rate which is a good rate.

 

His teammates almost always compliment on him being a great guy to have on the team, I don't think he's really all that selfish and I'd take him over Menchkins myself.

[Time for a Miller]

I am probably being slightly unfair to Soriano. A lot of my dislike for him stems from the fact on how greatly he is overated by many people.

 

I was mostly focusing on his stats last year which was a contract year for him. He struck out a lot (5th in MLB) and got caught stealing a lot (tied for 3rd in baseball, Him and Scotty Po did not do well on the basepaths last year). He was playing for the out-of-contention-by-May-Nations though so he was able to swing away more and making an out on the basepaths was less of an issue. I also have some angst for him since I think his 40-40 season is vastly overrated by the general public. He lacks skills defensively and was not the type of player a team on a budget or long-term plan could afford to sign.

 

I have seen other players transition to a new position much more gracefully who actually played good defenes previously. Robin Yount comes to mind or how bout someone more recent, such as A-Rod. I believe he said he would refuse to play at one point, which should be forgiven, just like Capellan should be forgiven. It is just fustrating when a player can not look at there own shortcomings like his defense at second base.

 

He obviously has more talent and production then Menchkins and I would probably want him on the team if we could get him for the same price, but I'll take players that aren't grossly overrated.

 

After defending him for 4 paragraphs I would still like to say his behavior after hitting that homerun was unexcusable. He carried the bat a good portion of the way down the line, skipped backwards smiling like a jackass so everyone knew it was a homerun, and completely showed up the pitcher.

[sbrylski]

I was mostly focusing on his stats last year which was a contract year for him. He struck out a lot (5th in MLB) and got caught stealing a lot (tied for 3rd in baseball, Him and Scotty Po did not do well on the basepaths last year). He was playing for the out-of-contention-by-May-Nations though so he was able to swing away more and making an out on the basepaths was less of an issue. I also have some angst for him since I think his 40-40 season is vastly overrated by the general public. He lacks skills defensively and was not the type of player a team on a budget or long-term plan could afford to sign.

 

And you didn't even mention his below average OBP.

[rluzinski]

Character is generally over rated in baseball, but when a lack of it keeps getting your players suspended, it certainly is worth noting. The Brewers thank Piniella for getting his guys to play "with a chip on their shoulder".

[Point Beer Is Best]

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Zambrano running at me with his belt off is a haunting thought.

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I still can't believe that. It reminds me of this:

 

"During high school, I played junior hockey and still hold two league records: most time spent in the penalty box; and I was the only guy to ever take off his skate and try to stab somebody."

-Happy Gilmore

 

Had he connected with that belt, are we talking 10 games? 20? Suspended for the rest of the season? That goes way beyond the usual baseball skirmish - he was willing to actually whip another human being.

[Fatter than Joey]

Soriano's teammates almost always compliment on him being a great guy to have on the team, I don't think he's really all that selfish and I'd take him over Menchkins myself.

 

I would agree 100%.

 

I would take Derrek Lee on my team in a heartbeat as well -- I think what he did was stupid, but I wouldn't start questioning his character.

 

That said -- this is the second time in a short period of time, where the Cubs have come out with the short end of the stick, playing the machismo card.

 

To echo what Hawing said -- the more the Brewers stay out of these brawls, and acts of retribution the better. We don't need any suspensions or injuries. I just don't get the need to throw at batters, or worse throw at them, because they threw at us.

[sauveb]

The suspensions are in. 5 games for D. Lee and Young, 3 games for Gerald Perry, a fine for Peavey and Giles and nothing for Zambrano.

[Ennder]

Zambrano was getting changed in the locker room and ran out when the fight started, thats why his belt was half off, don't see much of a reason why he would have been suspended.

 

Apparently he changes his uniform every three innings for some whacked out reason.

[SeriesFinale]

I imagine Cubs fans are blowing their top about Peavy just getting a fine...considering his comments before the game and then the way it seemed to flare up again after he tackled Lee. Especially when you consider that perry got three games. I think they got hosed there.

[Ennder]

The real victim in all of this is Giles who is getting fined for trying to break up the fight.

[valpocrewsader]

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The real victim

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Honorary mention to Young. The penalty for self-defense is the same as the penalty for instigating a fight and throwing the first punch?

[Ennder]

Well to be fair Young won't even miss a start, a 5 day suspension to a pitcher just makes him push back his start 1 day. He did throw counter punches when he could have just avoided the situation completely.

 

He still loses 5 days pay though.