Chicago Cubs 2026

#1,676      
Curbelo Fanboy
Gary J said:
Arm chair managers. He was the right leader. You under estimate leadership.

Leadership builds World Series winners. It takes a lot of money to overcome a team with effective leadership.
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Did Joe make perfect strategy moves? No. Was his use of Chapman a little curious in the last few games? Absolutely Was Joe the best "leader of men" that organization has had in the modern era? Absolutely 100%.

He was a great clubhouse leader. He NEVER EVER threw one of his guys under the bus in the media. He also knew how to play the mental side of the game. That was of critical importance with a team of mostly young guys trying to break a 108 year old curse. The pressure was palpable. He perhaps made it harder than it needed to be at the very end but Joe's approach with that team absolutely was a key factor in putting them in position to win. I'll never be convinced otherwise. He was the right guy at the right moment in time & at the end of the day despite weird moves he DELIVERED THE GOODS.
 
#1,677      
KBLEE
Juju said:
And he could actually hit too!
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I had some good seats to a game back in 2010 and Piniella brought him in to pinch hit late in the game.

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#1,678      
AssemblyHallForever
oldman said:
I could be heard in the next county when he took Hendricks out.
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He was asked this specific question about when he would want to bring Lester in. The question was will you bring him in with runners on. Maddon said No. But he was so amped about bringing him in, that’s exactly what he did. Cardinal sin. Starters are not used to not only coming into the game but with runners on? They start the game with a clean frame. If he would have until the next inning, start him with a clean slate, I believe we would not have given up the lead. Lester would have been more relaxed and his head would have been better focused. Maddon completely mismanaged game 7.
 
#1,679      
Gary J
Curbelo Fanboy said:
Did Joe make perfect strategy moves? No. Was his use of Chapman a little curious in the last few games? Absolutely Was Joe the best "leader of men" that organization has had in the modern era? Absolutely 100%.

He was a great clubhouse leader. He NEVER EVER threw one of his guys under the bus in the media. He also knew how to play the mental side of the game. That was of critical importance with a team of mostly young guys trying to break a 108 year old curse. The pressure was palpable. He perhaps made it harder than it needed to be at the very end but Joe's approach with that team absolutely was a key factor in putting them in position to win. I'll never be convinced otherwise. He was the right guy at the right moment in time & at the end of the day despite weird moves he DELIVERED THE GOODS.
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Perfectly said! End of story. The pressure was masssive on a young team!
 
#1,680      
Curbelo Fanboy
Gary J said:
Perfectly said! End of story. The pressure was masssive on a young team!
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It didn't fully register until I went to the Grant Park victory rally & several players talked about how on the days when they would walk from their house to the park they'd have little old ladies coming up to them asking "are you gonna win it this year" & stuff like that. Of course everyone has pressure when they get close but that team had the kind of pressure that a high school team has when trying to win a state tournament for the hometown. Next level stuff.
 
#1,683      
Grandpa
They didn't score and had 2 hits Mr Brightside. What was so great about it? I know s. Guess I'm not in the mood. After they win the WS we can look back and laugh about it. Maybe.
 
#1,684      
Warren Carter Fanclub
Grandpa said:
They didn't score and had 2 hits Mr Brightside. What was so great about it? I know s. Guess I'm not in the mood. After they win the WS we can look back and laugh about it. Maybe.
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I'd rather lose 2-0 than get walked off 3 times (leading with 2 outs and blowing 3 and 4 run leads) Grandfather. At least we went into the 9th knowing they would lose.😞
 
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#1,685      
Illiniaaron
The Cubs Incredible Disappearing Offense strikes again. Their performances in get-away afternoon games this season are usually terrible.
 
#1,690      
Illiniaaron
bdutts said:
Let's not get carried away...Zeferjahn hasn't been good but he's not as bad as Maton. Yet.
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He has a higher ERA and a higher WHIP than Maton with the Cubs. It's just that we had to see it in 20 more appearances than Zeferjahn has had with the Cubs so far. Don't get me wrong-I'm not excited to see either one of them right now. The important thing is that Zeferjahn needs to get straightened away before the playoffs start. Is Maton out for the season?
 
#1,695      
Jimbo
Illiniaaron said:
He has a higher ERA and a higher WHIP than Maton with the Cubs. It's just that we had to see it in 20 more appearances than Zeferjahn has had with the Cubs so far. Don't get me wrong-I'm not excited to see either one of them right now. The important thing is that Zeferjahn needs to get straightened away before the playoffs start. Is Maton out for the season?
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Playoffs? Playoffs? You’re talking about the playoffs?
 
#1,699      
Second place is 1st loser
Warren Carter Fanclub said:
You can't convince me that Javier Asaad wouldn't help this pitching staff, at least in the bullpen.
I know he had options but who are you trying to protect? Civale? Thielbar? Thornton?
Maybe they knew they were going to DFA Milner, (for some reason), and had to keep Thielbar, a lefty.
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I can't understand it either. I'm sure they're buying time until 9/1 when they can expand rosters, but in the interim, the bullpen has thrown 4 games away(1 in Seattle, 2 in Arizona and 1 vs Cincinnati). Think about how different the outlook would be if they just convert 3 of 4, which is still ridiculous because they had no business losing any of those games, much less all 4. Last week put the entire season in jeopardy. For them to have sent Assad down and basically relegate Rea to a spectator, they completely tossed aside two MAJOR contributors in getting them close to Milwaukee. I think they were within 3 games before this disaster.

I know it's easy to judge from a forum and in hindsight, but keeping those two guys hot in the pen seemed like common sense.

Edit and addition: With Boyd and Imanaga regressing, those two guys could have spot started. Again, they got them in the prime position they had.
 
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#1,700      
Second place is 1st loser
Illiniaaron said:
I think they’ve lost 9 out of 14.
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They had 4 of those losses on lockdown. For arguments sake, let's throw Thornton's 5 run implosion out the window and say the bullpen flat out blew 3. If they win those games(2 were vs Arizona), they would have been 8-6 during that stretch(6 games on the road) and they would have put a fork in Arizona catching them.

Just brutal.
 
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