I want to be serious , ROADGAMES !

[LeeEila's/rant]

Ok , what can be the reasons for such a stark difference in hitting performances ? It does not effect our pitching . We don't see our guys getting shelled away from Wrigley and you would think that would make more sense . You can understand a guy pitching to his park and ,getting out of it , gets him hit but , this is hitting , what the hell can be the difference ?
I have spent quite a bit of thought on this and you may not like what I am thinking . Could we have taken a lesson from Buffalo and place a camera to steal signs ? This is the only thing I can think to cause extreme drop in batting .

I know , I know but , do any of you have any insight to what could be the reason ?

[Cubbies10]

The only thing i can think of is that it is all mental. Without the familiar surroundings and the warm crowd players just don't hit as well. I highly doubt that we are stealing signs. There isn't always a explanation for things like this, they just happen to happen. It's very strange that we suffer such a dip but there is not much i can put it down to other than comfort and mentality.

[SkullKey]

Garlic.

I have avoiding this forum and subject and team as much as I can recently because I have been through all this(De'ja Vu in Hell) just too many times before. I can't take it.

I have also been wondering what, exactly, is the cause for weak road performances, it actually makes no sense. Isn't going on the road a motivator? And as you point out it's the hitting; almost exclusively. It is, specifically 2 guys: Ramirez and Lee. What's wrong? What's going on?

[TheBenjamin]

I wish that I knew. But they all play like crap on the road. The pitchers pitch well (starters for the most part anyway), but the hitters cant hit, and the fielders make errors they dont usually make

[SKIPPER 11]

Garlic.

I have avoiding this forum and subject and team as much as I can recently because I have been through all this(De'ja Vu in Hell) just too many times before. I can't take it.

I have also been wondering what, exactly, is the cause for weak road performances, it actually makes no sense. Isn't going on the road a motivator? And as you point out it's the hitting; almost exclusively. It is, specifically 2 guys: Ramirez and Lee. What's wrong? What's going on?


Honestly w/o trying to make anyone mad- I have always thought Lee was a bit overated. He has had one great season and basically every broadcaster, including Len and Bob, continue to look at him that way. He is a good hitter, but never been a serious run producer. The year he hit 46 HRs he drove in 107. Thats Adam Dunnish w/o the strikeouts. Thats the only season he has driven in more than 100. I like him as a player, I just dont think is evrything that people make him out to be.


Rammy is a totally different story. To me he is a lot better than people give him credit. Sure he loafs some. He has bailed our team out so many times and still plays second fiddle to the Lees, Fukudomes, Sotos, etc. I hate to say this because he is my favorite player, but the strikeouts are up this year, the average is down right now, he has hit a lot of warning track balls this year that he thought were going out. Maybe there is a different reason why he looks so much thinner this year.

Of course neither one of these have anything to do with hitting on the road or at home.

[Cubbies10]

Firstly Lee is a number 3 man, so his primary job is to get on base for the clean up guy, last year he had a OBP of .400 so he does that ob. Anyone that consistently gives you 20+ Hr's and 80+ RBI's from the 3 hole is a run producer. The year before he had 107 RBI's he had 98, and the year before that he had 92, so i don't think it is fair to say he is overated, nobody says he is going to hit 50 Homers and drive in 150 runs, but his contribution to this team is spectacular. Last year he walked more than he had since 03 and this year he is well on course for 70+ walks again. He also hit .317 last year which for a who also gives you 22 homers and 80 odd RBI's is rather spectacular and something to admire. Yer sure he isn't a Albert Pujols but nobody says he is, he is one of the better hitters in the game. He also unlike most of our team hits consistently home and away, in fact he has a better AVG away (.305) than he does at home. No way is he overated. Maybe he is overated by some delusional Cub fans who expect him to drive in 130 RBI's a season but anyone that knows baseball doesn't overate him.

Taking out the great number 3 guys like Ortiz and Pujols, look at some of the widely regarded number 3 hitters, Joe Mauer for the Twins, his production is noway near that of Lee's. Bobby Abreu in NY hits between 90-105 RBI's and he is considerd one of the best run producers from the number 3 spot. David Wright's numbers are similar (a little better than Lee's) and he is considered one of the best run producers from the 3 hole. So all things considered when you take out Pujols and Ortiz, Lee is one of the premier 3 hitters in the game.

In conclusion......Lee is not the problem

[LeeEila's/rant]

I agree Skip , that is why I have been crying out for another bat in the outfield . Lee is not a number 3 hitter and it has drove me nuts ( has he ever bunted ? ), he would be better at the 6 hole . Outside of 2005 he is doing what he normally does.


Pujols is really a number 4 , pitcher hits 8 there

[SKIPPER 11]

Cubby 10, Im not saying he's an average player- Im saying that he just isnt great. He has a good hitter with a very good glove. Looking at all number 3 hitters in last nights games, granted some of these have hit in different spots in the lineup and players like Zimmerman and Doumit do not have the same number of ABs- I still looked at all # 3 hitters in the NL acording to last night- Lee ranks out of 16- 9th in average, 9th in HRs, and tied for 4th in RBI.

[Cubbies10]

Thats not too bad though Skip, he is ranking Very well/well in all important catergorys, i think it's too easy to single people out in a situation like this. I truly believe he is one of the best number 3 guys in the game, when we put everything into consideration. I'm a lot more worried with our clean up man hitting below .250 on the road.

[Bims]

To be fair most of baseball is struggling on the road. Only 3 teams in all of baseball have a winning record on the road. For whatever reason(banned stimulants? Simple uncomfortableness?) teams and players are seeing a big drop off of production once they leave home. ..... I'm a big fan of DLee. Not only is he a great guy for the club house, but he's a very good defensive first baseman. But I don't think he's a #3 hitter. I see him as a #5 or #6 hitter. He isn't walking as much this season. Plus we are starting to realize that 2005 was a career year that DLee will probably not come close to again. He's still a very good player. Just not that big run producer we need in the middle of the lineup.

[VanMan]

Let's take a detailed look at the expanded standings. We all know our record on the road is not that great, 21-30. However, look at the two teams leading the AL East right now. Tampa is 19-25 away from Tropicana and Boston is 23-32 away from Fenway. They're separated from each other by a half game, with the Yankees 3 1/2 back right now, 23-23 away from the Stadium.

Looking at the AL Central, the White Sox are 22-27 away from the Cell, the Twins are 21-26 away from the Homer Dome, and Detroit is 23-29 when not playing at Comerica.

Winning away from home is a problem with a lot of teams, including several teams in contention. Of course, there are only two division leaders right now who have great road records: Philly (27-23) and LA of Anaheim (31-18).

Now what might put us into a panic is that Milwaukee is currently at .500 (26-26) on the road, and St. Louis is 27-22 away from Busch. The expected records, according to the stats by some formula based on runs scored and allowed, are: Cubs 60-40, Brewers 53-47 and St. Louis 54-48. We should have a seven-game lead.

[TheBenjamin]

BoSox and the Cubs are the exact same team if you look at it. Almost unstopable at home, and very easily beatable on the road

[SKIPPER 11]

Let's take a detailed look at the expanded standings. We all know our record on the road is not that great, 21-30. However, look at the two teams leading the AL East right now. Tampa is 19-25 away from Tropicana and Boston is 23-32 away from Fenway. They're separated from each other by a half game, with the Yankees 3 1/2 back right now, 23-23 away from the Stadium.

Looking at the AL Central, the White Sox are 22-27 away from the Cell, the Twins are 21-26 away from the Homer Dome, and Detroit is 23-29 when not playing at Comerica.

Winning away from home is a problem with a lot of teams, including several teams in contention. Of course, there are only two division leaders right now who have great road records: Philly (27-23) and LA of Anaheim (31-18).

Now what might put us into a panic is that Milwaukee is currently at .500 (26-26) on the road, and St. Louis is 27-22 away from Busch. The expected records, according to the stats by some formula based on runs scored and allowed, are: Cubs 60-40, Brewers 53-47 and St. Louis 54-48. We should have a seven-game lead.


Im not real good with computers so I wasnt for sure how to just pull that last paragraph about the runs scored and allowed formula. From what I gather it is saying by that formula - we are underachieving and the other two are overacheiving.

[AceCubbie]

We had a much better expected record than we actually had last year, too, right?

[Drockvb]

Ok , what can be the reasons for such a stark difference in hitting performances ? It does not effect our pitching . We don't see our guys getting shelled away from Wrigley and you would think that would make more sense . You can understand a guy pitching to his park and ,getting out of it , gets him hit but , this is hitting , what the hell can be the difference ?
I have spent quite a bit of thought on this and you may not like what I am thinking . Could we have taken a lesson from Buffalo and place a camera to steal signs ? This is the only thing I can think to cause extreme drop in batting .

I know , I know but , do any of you have any insight to what could be the reason ?

Funny, i actually wondered this the other day. Maybe they are cheating at home. It seems like the only logical explanation.

But then i looked at hitting stats, and saw that Colorado had an even larger difference in batting average home and away. They were first in hitting at home, and dead last away from Coors.

I think the Cubs are built for our ballpark. We hit a lot of fly balls, and on certain days we reap major benefits from that, especially when the wind is blowing out.

[TheBenjamin]

they were taling about the wind when we play at home the other day. I think they said the wind bloew in alot while at home, and we were playing great when it did.... so it has little to nothing to do with the wind

[SKIPPER 11]

I think they said it had blown in 27 times this year. I actually think it helps us with it blowing in. We are prone to give up the HR ball.

[TheBenjamin]

i think thats what they said. We are well over .500 at home when the wind is blowing in. and while we are over .500 when the wind is blowing out, its a much smaller number