which isn’t real likely since i think i want to get a high school certification before i start the ph.d thing, because 8 years of grad school seems really daunting, i am glad chicago is not getting the olympics.

-Eleanor Roosevelt

I don’t mind BP spouting off from time to time. I just wish he’d stop swinging at pitches closer to my backyard than the strike zone.

“we could be sure that [insert any manager name other than Dusty] would continue to play those guys next year.”

it wasnt the injuries that kept the team from winning. they werent that good to begin with, and then on top of that Dusty played the wrong players in the wrong positions. Votto missed a month, but it was Hernandez who took his spot, sliding Hanigan in at catcher. Hanigan was actually better than Hernandez at catcher, but Hernandez was Dusty’s “veteran RBI man” so he took precedence. so had Votto not been injured, Hernandez would have played anyway. and he played at replacement level. then he got hurt too, which was actually fortuitous.

Bruce was hurt for 2 months, but his struggling bat made him a merely average player. his defense was and still is spectacular, so that was difficult to replace, but the drop off from Bruce to Wladdy/Nix/Gomes wasnt drastic, if even a drop at all.

losing Volquez did hurt. he was the team’s best pitcher last year and was pitching well to begin the season. not as well as last season (he had 20 walks in his first 20 innings), but still good. by my off-the-cuff estimation, losing him cost the team about 2-3 wins.

i cant think of any other “key” injuries. Harang went out in August, but the team was already kaput by then. Gonzo was injured early on, but he sucked so that actually helped. Taveras’ injury really helped. Lincoln’s injury is a non-factor. EdE was hurt for a while, and i can believe that he was probably injured long before he was put on the DL, which may have contributed to his poor play.

my point is that this whole “injury” excuse is bullshit. the team was bad because there wasnt much talent to begin with, and to compound upon that the talent was used ineffectively. but these injuries hardly compare to what the Mets went through this season. now they are a team that can legitimately make the injury excuse. now if the Reds had lost Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes and the like, then it would be a whole nother story. i get what youre saying about Dusty learning that the young’uns (Stubbs, Janish) were better than the guys they replaced, but is that enough?

…….I set you up for the perfect nasty comeback. Let me have it.