Comments on: The Cubs are making scouts take the subway!

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:44:29 +0000

Wow – you saw a lot! You were an attorney, then?

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:34:59 +0000

The tortoise was the primary mode of pre-adolescent transportation at the old Catskill Game Farm. My parents used to take me there when I was a child to exploit the endangered species. It was fun. At the end of the ride you were allowed to let the tortoise have the strawberry, which pleased it immensely and made it love you. Just a form of hostage syndrome, I think.

By: JBerardi

JBerardi — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:12:59 +0000

Theo isn’t a “saber” guy, he’s an information guy. Stats are information. So are scouting reports. I promise you he’s looking at both.

By: JBerardi

JBerardi — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:06:51 +0000

“a Galapagos tortoise steered with a fishing line with a strawberry at the end of it”

My mental image of Gator now includes him using this as his primary mode of transportation.

By: ptfu

ptfu — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:44:44 +0000

During rush hour, it’s nearly as fast and way cheaper to take the el to/from either airport. You don’t need sabermetrics to know that.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:29:19 +0000

Stairs: I was there to collect from some recalcitrant Lloyds underwriters parts of a six hundred million dollar liability claim against McDonnel-Douglas for a misfired booster rocket that sent two communications satellites into useless orbits. It was supposed to take me six to eight months to get the jib done but I found ways of taking on new projects that kept me there for four and a half years. It was a hayride - I was getting paid from the States and Sterling was very weak. I had a flat on the Thames in Chelsea overlooking Battersea Park and the Albert Bridge. English women loved my accent. I lost my taste for that golden pisswater Americans call beer and became an ale person. I had a ringside seat and unlimited popcorn for the Falklands War, the coal strike, Greenham Common and Ascot.I watched Yes, Minister, The Young Ones, Struggle, a bunch of great sick Dennis Potter musicals on the BBC, learned a lot of Salman Rushdie jokes and hung out at the 606 Club. Life was good. It all ended when I married a London girl who insisted on going back to Macondo so that she could see what the sun looked like.

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:34:00 +0000

Gator for the win, as always.

What had brought you to London?

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:23:41 +0000

I really enjoyed the L when I lived in Chicagoland and went to UC. I enjoyed cruising by all those wooden fire escapes, fantasizing about what a stone blast Mrs. O’Leary could have if she were around today. It was a pleasure to take it to O’Hare for my periodic flights south to Macondo for some decent Cuban food. When I lived in London, I really enjoyed the comfort and convenience of the underground, the Sloan Square bitch who kept droning “Mind the gap!” in my ear, and all the punk chicks without bras in December, when the cold made their…uh…well, anyway, and then I came home to Macondo with its wretched single Metrorail line and HIV test ads along the a/c ducts, and if you’re lucky, a huge Cuban anole with a screaming treefrog in its mouth – sushi style – staring at you from the top of a palm tree next to the platform. Trust me, Chicagolanders: aside from your accursed baseball team, you have great transportation and even greater pizza – not horrible horsemeat and Velveeta™ sandwiches.

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:18:06 +0000

I am positive I’d pay anything to see Gator go head-to-head with Jim Bowden on ESPN radio.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:14:49 +0000

Yeah, it’s Scrooge McLoria level penury, that’s for sure. But let’s not exaggerate. Until the front office starts insisting that their scouts wear swastika armbands, the analogies with Marge Schott will be extenuated.

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:14:29 +0000

You know what, the article said this week. And honestly, the L is less stressful than the idiot cab drivers we have in Chicago. We don’t even know that this is permanent. And it sure isn’t a big deal.

We don’t know how budgets work for MLB teams. We have very little resources to find anything out. Maybe scouts use to abuse the hell out of their expenses – and considering the Cubs farm system is a joke, maybe I’ll go as far as to believe Jed and Theo are sending a message.

Again, we don’t know anything other than scouts had to take the L this week instead of a cab they could easily afford and likely took anyway. I don’t feel this is disrespect. Let’s agree to disagree.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:12:45 +0000

Anyone who is going to Citi astride any conveyance, including Mr. Ed, Francis the Talking Mule, Bresson's Balthasaar (his show name) or a Galapagos tortoise steered with a fishing line with a strawberry at the end of it is a fool in in the first place if they really want to be rid of the Wilpon regime.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:03:20 +0000

Whereas the Cubs may be a “storied” franchise….it isn’t a good story…it is a “you are the but of a bunch of jokes story”.

Good baseball decisions can only be made with good information, a lot of that information comes directly from your scouts. Good scouts likely have a choice of employer, and when other options come along that are more attractive than your current one….those scouts will be gone.

Theo (and Hoyer) make millions/year making decisions based on information collected by other people….treating those people anything other than first class may compromise the quality of the information they have to make decisions. Savings this minor within the context of MLB team expenditures is not worth losing one quality scout.

By: lanflfan

lanflfan — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:52:14 +0000

My gut feeling on reading this was Saber-head Theo was searching for ways to annoy their scouts into quitting, but that is probably just the Saber-hater in me speaking. I agree this is a “wait and see” if it effects baseball decisions.

And Craig, +1 for the Airplane! reference.

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:49:45 +0000

A comment so good, it had to be said thrice.

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:48:47 +0000

That’s so weird – I don’t recall saying the Cubs are acting like a bad employer or not valuing anyone properly. I’m merely saying, I don’t expect my employer to expense my transportation, and the Cubs have no real need to.

If their salary is right, and their work is regarded, then the L being a dealbreaker is a bit petty. That’s all I’m saying.

By: blacubed

blacubed — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:42:03 +0000

The news from this article is learning the Cubs actually have scouts.

By: blacubed

blacubed — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:41:54 +0000

The news from this article was learning the Cubs actually have scouts.

By: blacubed

blacubed — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:41:36 +0000

The news from this article was learning they actually had scouts.

By: JB (the original)

JB (the original) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:58:42 +0000

We’ll see how long it lasts once “regular” L riders/commuters start seeing these guys on the train with their logo’d attire and luggage and chatting them up as to who they are and what they’re doing. Being as the scouts probably aren’t exactly happy about the change, I would imagine the conversations wouldn’t exactly be painting the team/executives in a rosy way, thus leading to the general fandom to start making fun of/ripping the team about the matter; then it will all quietly go away.

By: henryd3rd

henryd3rd — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:40:44 +0000

Theo; did you make your scouts use the T in Boston or was that Larry’s territory?

By: pike573

pike573 — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:39:24 +0000

it’s not about transportation… it’s about treatment and value. if the organization doesn’t value my services and i have option to move to one that does, then i’m moving along. if they have this little concern for their scouts in this regard i doubt they have regard for them in others.

being a storied francshise doesn’t give you the right to be a bad employer.

By: sdelmonte

sdelmonte — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:24:34 +0000

Anyone who isn’t taking a subway to Citi instead of driving is a fool in the first place.

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:21:49 +0000

If transportation is a dealbreaker when you’re working for one of the most storied franchises on earth, your priorities are a bit questionable.

By: ndrocks2

ndrocks2 — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:17:02 +0000

Two old scouts sharing a room and riding the L from the airport carrying luggage probably sounded ok when they were discussing in the boardroom over their catered breakfast, lunch and snacks but really Rickett$ “come on man”. This is petty beyond belief for any MLB team especially one from a market the size of Chicago.

By: pike573

pike573 — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:11:25 +0000

I would say it does have the potential to be a bad baseball decision. What if you run off your scouts who know their worth?

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:08:39 +0000

Wow, I really like to use the word “however.”

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:07:29 +0000

It goes underground a lot. Semantics, my friend.

By: xmatt0926x

xmatt0926x — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:00:43 +0000

The “EL” (elevated train) and subway are two different things entirely.

By: kopy

kopy — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:00:21 +0000

Having a hotel roommate everywhere you go may not exactly be the most fun, but I wouldn’t listen to any complaints about having to take the subway. The L in Chicago is more than serviceable for getting around the city.