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From: Frank Sereno on 20 Feb 2010 20:10
The Cubs won their arbitration hearing with Ryan Theriot. If he
let the things that were said get in his head, he might let it
affect his play this season. On the other hand, because he lost,
it is less likely that the Cubs will trade him. But on the other
foot, since his salary is more reasonable at 2.6 million dollars,
maybe he'd bring more in trade if the Cubs do decide to part with
him.
From: Claude on 20 Feb 2010 20:17

"Frank Sereno" <fsereno(a)domain.invalid> wrote in message
news:hlq15g$ii0$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
> The Cubs won their arbitration hearing with Ryan Theriot. If he let the
> things that were said get in his head, he might let it affect his play
> this season. On the other hand, because he lost, it is less likely that
> the Cubs will trade him. But on the other foot, since his salary is more
> reasonable at 2.6 million dollars, maybe he'd bring more in trade if the
> Cubs do decide to part with him.

According to his quotes, he's not holding it against Hendry or the Cubs. He
said it was interesting, but boring. I think he just took a shot at it,
thinking he had nothing to lose. I gather there was no bitterness or
rancor. Actually, Theriot is getting about what he is worth, and he might
not be with the Cubs at the end of the season. He does a workman-like job,
but he will never be an all-star.


From: Frank Sereno on 20 Feb 2010 20:41
On 2/20/2010 7:17 PM, Claude wrote:
> "Frank Sereno"<fsereno(a)domain.invalid> wrote in message
> news:hlq15g$ii0$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>> The Cubs won their arbitration hearing with Ryan Theriot. If he let the
>> things that were said get in his head, he might let it affect his play
>> this season. On the other hand, because he lost, it is less likely that
>> the Cubs will trade him. But on the other foot, since his salary is more
>> reasonable at 2.6 million dollars, maybe he'd bring more in trade if the
>> Cubs do decide to part with him.
>
> According to his quotes, he's not holding it against Hendry or the Cubs. He
> said it was interesting, but boring. I think he just took a shot at it,
> thinking he had nothing to lose. I gather there was no bitterness or
> rancor. Actually, Theriot is getting about what he is worth, and he might
> not be with the Cubs at the end of the season. He does a workman-like job,
> but he will never be an all-star.
>
>
I dunno, Fukudome and Steve Swisher have All-Star selections on
their resumes so crazy things can happen.

I didn't see the video of his remarks and I'm not the greatest at
reading body language or voice inflections anyway so I'm not in a
position to judge. Theriot knows how to say all the right things,
but I don't know for sure if he really believes them. As long as
he is a Cub, I'll hope that Ryan plays the best that he possibly can.
From: Claude on 21 Feb 2010 12:32

"Frank Sereno" <fsereno(a)domain.invalid> wrote in message
news:hlq301$rae$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
> On 2/20/2010 7:17 PM, Claude wrote:
>> "Frank Sereno"<fsereno(a)domain.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:hlq15g$ii0$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>>> The Cubs won their arbitration hearing with Ryan Theriot. If he let the
>>> things that were said get in his head, he might let it affect his play
>>> this season. On the other hand, because he lost, it is less likely that
>>> the Cubs will trade him. But on the other foot, since his salary is more
>>> reasonable at 2.6 million dollars, maybe he'd bring more in trade if the
>>> Cubs do decide to part with him.
>>
>> According to his quotes, he's not holding it against Hendry or the Cubs.
>> He
>> said it was interesting, but boring. I think he just took a shot at it,
>> thinking he had nothing to lose. I gather there was no bitterness or
>> rancor. Actually, Theriot is getting about what he is worth, and he
>> might
>> not be with the Cubs at the end of the season. He does a workman-like
>> job,
>> but he will never be an all-star.
>>
>>
> I dunno, Fukudome and Steve Swisher have All-Star selections on their
> resumes so crazy things can happen.
>
> I didn't see the video of his remarks and I'm not the greatest at reading
> body language or voice inflections anyway so I'm not in a position to
> judge. Theriot knows how to say all the right things, but I don't know for
> sure if he really believes them. As long as he is a Cub, I'll hope that
> Ryan plays the best that he possibly can.

Fukudome was, of course, an aberration (sp?)---an all-star until major
league pitching figured him out. As for Swisher, unless my memory fails me
here, he was selected because the rest of the team was so rotten and the
Cubs had to have at least one representative (I'm sure we agree that we
never want that again.)


From: Frank Sereno on 21 Feb 2010 14:00
On 2/21/2010 11:32 AM, Claude wrote:
> "Frank Sereno"<fsereno(a)domain.invalid> wrote in message
> news:hlq301$rae$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>> On 2/20/2010 7:17 PM, Claude wrote:
>>> "Frank Sereno"<fsereno(a)domain.invalid> wrote in message
>>> news:hlq15g$ii0$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>>>> The Cubs won their arbitration hearing with Ryan Theriot. If he let the
>>>> things that were said get in his head, he might let it affect his play
>>>> this season. On the other hand, because he lost, it is less likely that
>>>> the Cubs will trade him. But on the other foot, since his salary is more
>>>> reasonable at 2.6 million dollars, maybe he'd bring more in trade if the
>>>> Cubs do decide to part with him.
>>>
>>> According to his quotes, he's not holding it against Hendry or the Cubs.
>>> He
>>> said it was interesting, but boring. I think he just took a shot at it,
>>> thinking he had nothing to lose. I gather there was no bitterness or
>>> rancor. Actually, Theriot is getting about what he is worth, and he
>>> might
>>> not be with the Cubs at the end of the season. He does a workman-like
>>> job,
>>> but he will never be an all-star.
>>>
>>>
>> I dunno, Fukudome and Steve Swisher have All-Star selections on their
>> resumes so crazy things can happen.
>>
>> I didn't see the video of his remarks and I'm not the greatest at reading
>> body language or voice inflections anyway so I'm not in a position to
>> judge. Theriot knows how to say all the right things, but I don't know for
>> sure if he really believes them. As long as he is a Cub, I'll hope that
>> Ryan plays the best that he possibly can.
>
> Fukudome was, of course, an aberration (sp?)---an all-star until major
> league pitching figured him out. As for Swisher, unless my memory fails me
> here, he was selected because the rest of the team was so rotten and the
> Cubs had to have at least one representative (I'm sure we agree that we
> never want that again.)
>
>
Swisher was having a decent season until the calendar turned to
July. He was hitting in the .270's or .280's when he was
selected. On Fukudome, he was voted in as a starter. I don't know
if that can be blamed on Cub fans stuffing the ballot box or if
he had a lot of cultural support. He was hitting close to .300 at
the end of June, although there were certainly better players
that deserved to start in his stead. And Fukudome's average fell
in each successive month making his selection particularly galling.

But let's go back to the 1976 Cubs. They did finish 4th out of 6
teams and put up 75 wins. Was Swisher the best representative for
that team. That season Bill Madlock hit .339 in 142 games and won
his 2nd consecutive batting title. He had been named co-mvp of
the 1975 All-Star game. Was he on the DL at the All-Star break?
What about Rick Monday? He hit 32 homers that year with a .272
batting average. Was he on the DL? Or how about fan favorite Jose
Cardenal who posted a .299 batting average? Why not pick him? Or
how about my favorite player from that era, the master of the
basket catch, Jerry Morales? Or they could have picked Rick
Reuschel. Or a young Bruce Sutter.

The really cruel thing about the Swisher selection is that he was
the only Cub and he was only NL player who did not get to appear
in the game. I'm guessing that Sparky Anderson picked him as some
sort of joke. And the karma kickback of this is that at the end
of the season, Madlock and Ken Griffey Sr. were locked in batting
title race. Griffey didn't start the last game of the season, but
Madlock came up with 4 hits for the Cubs. Griffey and Anderson
apparently realized Griffey needed to get another hit or two to
win the title so Griffey entered the final game late, going 0 fer
2 and losing the batting title to Madlock. So a Bronx cheer for
Sparky.
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