celebrity

why is barry rozner perhaps the best columnist in town?

because he tells it like it is:

They didn't have the guts to merely trade Sosa, so first they had to humiliate him, strip him of what dignity he had left and shove it down the throats of every kid who worshipped No. 21.

They couldn't let him leave a hero because they didn't want the heat, so the Cubs tried to make sure Sosa left here with a reputation as the worst person, teammate and baseball player the North Side has ever known.

on the whole, it seems to his humble observer that "sammy's saga in chi-caga" is yet another exercise in the artificial life of celebrity. you aren't who they say you are when the raise you up and seat you upon the pedestal -- and you aren't who they say you are when they smash the pedestal and lay you low. the extent to which any of us believe in the illusion -- and this goes triple for sammy himself -- we are fools to the game (and i don't mean baseball).

for better or worse, however, we are human -- and being human, we go weak in the knees for heroes with a little skillful marketing, the more outrageous and bombastic the better:

The same critics quick to rip Andre Dawson or Ryne Sandberg for their quiet professionalism, or happy to brag they'd never vote Ron Santo to the Hall of Fame couldn't wait to shamelessly promote Sosa as the savior of the sport and a grand human being because he could hit the ball a long way.

He shook writers' hands and smiled, and they looked the other way as he grew exponentially each winter.

But now that public sentiment has turned, thanks to the Cubs, the critics have also abandoned Sosa and joined the pariah parade.

They have all helped sell it to you, and by the Convention the Cubs knew it. They took the ballroom's temperature and realized 100 days of trashing the right fielder had worked, and they could make their trade - albeit 10 years too late.

well -- five years too late, by my clock. i still cannot understand why virtually any player is allowed by a major-league team to become a 10-and-5 guy.

but informed fans should stand up to call this travesty by its rightful name. as rozner points out, the cubs have made their millions on sammy -- they may not even care if they get a particularly fair deal in pushing him out of town because they've already made their mint. protecting the franchise from lasting public relations damage that could detract from ticket sales is what they care about.

so they butcher sammy on the way out the door, to ensure the club takes what appears to be (to the credulous, anyway) the moral high ground. cubs good, sammy bad, buy your season tickets now.

but a consequence of this strategy is that the club is backed into a corner -- teams around the league understand what the cubs are doing when they do this. the cubs, for the sake of public relations protection, talk themselves into being a motivated seller. the upshot is that you send an uberpopular 40-homer corner outfielder away for a utility player and $4.5mm in 2005 salary clearance (after sending $10mm to baltimore and paying hairston his $2.5mm -- not to mention footing the $4.5mm 2006 buyout fee).

deals like this protect the cubs' marketability and public image in the eyes of the vast majority of the fans -- at the expense of the quality of the team on the field. and i can't help but think that such decisions are the product of boardroom consensus thinking which, though they may have the long-term profitability of the club in mind, demonstrate the weakness of corporate ownership in winning.

Happy Birthday Mr. Cub

Ernie Banks turns 74 years young today.

Happy Birthday to the greatest Cub.

From the land of crabcakes...

While we wait for the physicals and Uncle Bud's stamp of approval, here are some links to O's blogs to see what the Bird fans are feeling about the deal.

Joseph Jackson from Flying Orioles gives an O's fans view of the trade.

The guys at Orioles Hangout have differing opinions on this deal.

The Oriole Warehouse is pretty indifferent on the deal.

It doesn't look like the Cubs are getting much in Hairston. Hopefully a deal for Huff follows.

Finally on Birds in the Belfry gives a good quantitative article on Camden Yards. The conclusion is that "Camden Yards has settled into a slightly better than neutral home run park for left-handed hitters while displaying a clear and fairly consistent advantage to right-handed hitters." That sounds like good news for Senior Sosa.



As Sammy heads to Baltimore, I start to think of the fun out on Fell's Point. If you head out to Maryland anytime soon try the crabcakes. John Steven, LTD. has never disappointed. The cakes are good and the beer is always cold.

Sammy e-Mail read on ESPN Radio earlier today...

The Sammy deal continues to produce opinions this one from 1060west's own Vehere:

(This was an e-mail that I sent to ESPN Radio. It was
amazingly read on the radio. I apologize in advance
for not getting a plug for the blog, I honestly didn't
think it would have been read)

The Chicago sports fan is one that appreciates hard
work and giving it your all. Sosa walking out on his
teamates and the fans sounded a death blow to his days
here in Chicago.

The relationship could have been repaired, but Sosa
has never publicly apologized (only through his
manager).

Most Cubs fans would have let it slide if Sosa
returned to his old form, but after watching a less
than patient hitter not advance runners or hit to the
opposite field like he did in 1998 maybe it was time
for a change.

The media created Sammy, he was the homerun hitting
dancing bear. This is the same media (via the Chicago
Tribune and its sports staff) that has called for
Sammy's head all last season. Go figure.

As a Cubs fan, I welcome the trade. I just hope that
GM Jim Hendry has a suitable defensive and offensive
answer for right field.

Enjoy your show, keep up the good work.

it just don't add up!

with the sosa-hairston deal -- that even SOUNDS like a joke -- all but done, it's time to settle into some analysis. cub fans, you may want to go get a cold one out of the fridge.

the upshot is that the cubs found themselves into a terrible corner -- whether it was a player revolt or simply another pre-emptive PR hack job ordered from on high or both or neither -- and must have felt they had no way out except to take the best possible deal.

unfortunately, when everyone knows you have to sell, you aren't going to get much for bids. welcome into the fold, jerry hairston.

WHAT THE CUBS LOSE: an declining right fielder, sure -- but one who declined to a .517 slugging percentage. i won't sit here and tell you 2004 was a golden sammy year, nor will i suggest that sammy is only 36. but sammy had a bad year with some injury weirdness -- and if he rebounds to even the midpoint of 2003 and 2004 for the orioles (where he'll hit cleanup), he will put out 60 extra base hits, approach 100 rbi, and score 85 runs. it should not be overlooked that only sheffield, guerrero and burnitz hit more taters playing right in the majors even in a bad 2004 for sammy, in which he still offensively compared favorably to the likes of jacques jones, richard hidalgo, jermaine dye, shawn green and others. and they'll pay most of his remaining salary -- having waived the 2006 option, sammy's a free agent after 2005.

so let's put sammy in perspective -- the cubs are losing a *big* bat. you can argue that, with ramirez and lee around, they can afford to lose some power and strikeouts.

WHAT THE CUBS GET: a second-tier leadoff hitter with a featherweight bat and two aging prospects. hairston might get on against both righties and lefties well enough, but speed is a problem -- the kid stole 13 and was caught for 8.

here's the bigger issue: hairston's best year was 2004, by far -- a year in which he played only 86 games. the only year he played the whole lot was 2001, in which he hit .233 with an obp of .305, stole 29 and was caught for 11. he also committed 19 errors at second sack that season -- he's not a great glove. but he can bunt.

if you buy that the hairston the cubs got is the one who hit .289 over the last two years, he's a viable everyday player who could even hit leadoff. however, his last two years have been spent behind brian roberts. this should be a warning. i think he's essentially a utility player who can't unseat walker at second or patterson in center. any way you look at it, depending on hairston would be a major gamble.

it seems to me that the two kids involved had better be spectacular prospects for this to look anything but a bad deal made under tough (and almost entirely self-inflicted) circumstances for the cubs. dave crouthers (a 26 y/o low-90s rhsp) and mike fontenot (25 y/o lefthand hitting infielder) don't seem to rise to that level.

moreover, the cubs now have a gaping hole in right which must be filled. so terrible is this deal that there almost *must* be a rightfielder in the works (as many others suspect).

THE FINAL ANALYSIS: the cubs apparently felt compelled to get rid of sammy -- and were fleeced pretty well, as things look now. time will tell, and probably there's another iron in hendry's fire.

but the odds of sammy having three more productive years are a lot higher than hairston and one of the kids becoming really solid everyday players. as i see it, if you make this deal at a probable loss, you have to make another at a probable gain to come even. given that the entire world now knows that the cubs *need* a body in right, the chances of that happening are pretty low. the cubs are rumored to have been in contact with jeromy burnitz -- and all i can say is that he would not be a probable gain.

Meanwhile in a Dominican Republic Electronics store…

(A dramatization Not to be taken seriously)

Sahm: Yes, I’ll take this one, it has to have more power than my old one and be impenetrable to baseball bat blows. Can I try this cd out on it?

Salesman: Of course Senior Sosa, it is reinforced with concrete. Here, you put in the cd like this.

Sahm: And where do you turn it on? (Sahm flipping a switch on his new, louder boombox)

Radio Announcer: This just in…Our beloved national hero Sammy Sosa, who was besmirched by the evil Chicago media giant, will be traded to Baltimore.

Sahm: Oh, I better get ready. I need to book a trip to Venezuela and call Manny the Mule.

Salesman: Senior Sosa, should I wrap this up for you?

Sahm: No, I will walk out with it. (Sosa turning on the cd player and letting loud Salsa music blare). I hope that Miguel Tejada likes this cd…

Adios Sammy!

Every media outlet is reporting that Sammy is heading to the Orioles for Jerry Hairston, Jr. and two minor leaguers. The names of the minor leaguers that seem to keep coming up are pitcher Dave Crouthers and infielder Mike Fontenot.

It became apparent last weekend--at the Cub convention--when fans booed Sosa in a video that the brainwashing of fans by the flagship radio station along with Dusty Baker had been a success. The fandom that had followed Sosa's meteoric rise to superstar was no longer interested in their one time hero. Sosa's numbers as a Cub speak for themselves and he will hold a special place in Cubs lore.


What the Cubs are getting in Jerry Hairston is the leadoff hitter that they need. The 28 year old second baseman/outfielder has had injury filled seasons in 2003 & 2004. Hairston is a lifetime .261 hitter with a .334 lifetime OBP. The reality of this trade is the Cubs see this as addition by the subtraction of the future HOFer Sosa. This deal creates an OF hole for the Cubs. The names of (gulp) Burnitz, Huff and Ordonez have been thrown around. Maggs is unlikely as the Tigers have given him an offer the Jim Hendry won't (and shouldn't) match.

What's in this for the O's? The Orioles need a PR splash. Baltimore/Washington is now a two team region with the Nationals coming to town. Peter Angelos and Mike Flanagan have failed to acquire Pavano and Los Delgado. One thing about Sammy is he is popular nationally. Sammy will put butts in the seats at Camden Yards. Sammy will also hit alot of balls out to the 364' gap in left center (see The Cubdom's SammyStock Day 3) at Oriole Park. By moving to the AL Sammy can become a DH and extend his career.

This is a bittersweet deal for me as a Cub fan. I understand that it was time for Sammy to leave. Hopefully this move will make the Cubs a team again. Still it is hard to see a legend at Clark and Addison leave in such a bitter way. I do not think the Tribs anti-Sammy campaign following last season was beneficial to anyone. Following the departures of the popular Steve Stone and the once popular Sosa there is little doubt that Dusty Baker is the King of Cubdom right now. Long live the King.

.....More on the Sammy Trade as it becomes available.....

Update: the Cubs are going to pay $10 million of Sammy's $17 million salary in 2005. Sammy and the MLB Players Union have agreed to waive his option on 2006. This deal simply needs Uncle Bud Selig's approval and it's over.

It'll be real interesting to see what Jim Hendry does next to reshape your 2005 Chicago Cubs.

Alderman Tunney signs off on Cubs Bleacher Expansion

In today's Bright One Fran Spielman reports that Alderaman Tom Tunney has decided to support the Cubs expansion plan at Wrigley Fd. This move begins clearing the way for nearly 1,800 additional bleacher seats along with construction of the Wrigley campus next to the ballpark.



In exchange for the expansion the Cubs will pay for the development of a neighborhood park they will also provide transportation-trolleys- to take fans to and from the hotels on Michigan Ave. and to and from a couple of Metra stops. In addition to this the Cubs will pay the city for the land just west of the ballpark and they will pay for the sidewalk witch will be swallowed up on Waveland and Sheffield.



As a fan of the Cubs finding more revenue I am happy to hear this news. Finally this deal may be close to actually happening. I won't hold my breath.

The World According to Dusty...

On BLIZZARDs

1060west: Dusty, what did you think of the blizzard we had last weekend?

Dusty: I don't know dude. Blizzards they're a problem in all society. Take a look at our society, it's full of blizzards. Isn't it?

1060west: ahhhhh. What?

Dusty: You know what I'm sayin' dude. I remember when I was playing we played a game in Chicago or somewhere and it got called because of a blizzard. Ya' know dude them blizzards ain't my fault. They was here before I got here...and will be after I'm gone. What are ya' gonna do?

1060west: Shovel?

In Dusty we Trusty?

"I'm not that powerful. I've been here two years. There's no way you can be here two years and be that powerful. I didn't run Stoney out of own. That's not my style. I didn't want Stoney to leave. I wanted him
back."

"Their leader is not a whiner, reputations are usually blown out of proportion."

"You can't bring bad stuff from the past into the
future. I've never seen anything like [the '04 controversies] in my 36 years in
the game. I'm sorry it was on my watch."

"I didn't like Houston drilling Derrek Lee with two outs in the ninth, [knowing] we don't see 'em again until next year. To me, that's dirty baseball."

"Did some writer add fuel to a fire that wasn't there? I don't know."

"I don't take things as insults. You're the one who's got to play, bro. It's a big year for him and a big year for us, period. It's a big year for me. Personally, I'm not crazy about going into my last year of my contract (in 2006) without winning (in '05)."

The above quotes were from the Cub manager over the weekend at the annual love fest that is the Cub Convention. Dusty Baker's reputation with the Giants was that he was a great manager in the clubhouse dealing with the egos of players like Bonds and Kent, he was questionable tactician managing a game, and he was a poor handler of pitchers. During those years Dusty's strength inside the clubhouse was never questioned. Following 2004 you have to question if Dusty could have handled this team any worse--both on and off the field.

Dusty Baker lost control of the Cubs in 2004. Dusty can spin this thing anyway he wants. He can blame the media, the rules setup before he arrived, or the "snitches" in the clubhouse. The fact is 2004 happened on his watch. Dusty Baker always has an alibi. If you cannot make decent in-game decisions managing a baseball team you had better run a good clubhouse. If you can't do either, good luck getting that contract extension.

It's funny how things change in one year. A year ago Baker was the toast of Chicago. He had turned the Cubs into winners. Bringing them within 5 outs of the...you know. Now Baker is in a real pickle. Fan perception is that Baker chased the popular Stoney out of town. Stoney's replacement is Bob Brenly, a man who has won the World Series--this decade. Brenly's a perfect replacement for Baker if the big blue express runs off course this season.

Baker will face his first challenge when and if Sosa arrives in Mesa. How will Baker handle the fragile sluggers ego. Even Sosa-apologist Ron Santo has called for Sammy to apologize for his actions the last day of the season. Is that realistic? I don't think so. Listening to the Cub players over the weekend, it sounds like they expect an apology from the future HOF'er. Baker is going to have to save his relationship with Sammy, along with the rest of the teams relationship with Sahm. If Dusty can do this, the Cubs will have gotten what they hired Baker to do. If not, get ready to see another new color commentator in the broadcast booth in 2006

Delgado signs with fish...

The Marlins have landed Carlos Delgado. According to ESPN's Jayson Stark the power hitting firstbaseman has agreed to a 4 year, $52 million deal.

This creates an interesting situation for the Cubs and Sammy Sosa. The NY Mets had backed off of Sammy while pursuing Delgado. Now the funds are available and Sammy is on the market. The ball is in GM Jim Hendry's court.

Jimmy Buffet will Play Wrigley Labor Day Weekend

The Cubs continue to find new revenue that they will not have to share with MLB's other clubs. According to today's Bright One Alderman Tom Tunney and Andy MacPhail have agreed to have Buffet play concerts at the Friendly Confines on Friday night and Sunday night Labor Day Weekend 2005.

Like anything else, in the City where the motto is "where's mine", all of this comes at a price. The Cubs will "donate" $150,000 of the gate to neighborhood schools and they will "donate" 3,000 tickets to neighbors. Not much of a chance that Vehere or any of the good Wrigleyville neighbors will see these ducats. These tix are heading right to Tunney campaign contributors and cronies. You cannot beat Chicago politics.

Lots of News in Cubland this Afternoon

First off the Cubs are going to eliminate the names on the back of the home jerseys. There's no word on whether or not they will drop the red piping around the names. I hope so. I'd also love to see them lose the alternate blue jersey but that won't happen. If you're a uniform geek like I am you may enjoy Baseball Almanac's review of Cubs uniforms.

The Cubs avoided arbitration with three players on Tuesday. They inked backstop Michael Barrett to a three year $12 million deal.


Corey Patterson signed a one year $2.8 million contract.


In one of the funnier deals you will ever see the Cubs signed middle reliever Kyle "Sleepy" Farnsworth to a one year $1.975 million dollar deal. That money will buy a lot of drinks at Tai's 'til 4. If Farnsworth returns to his odd year form the Cubs will have gotten a deal.


On the Cubs two other arbitration eligible players the Cubs exchanged offers with Carlos Zambrano's and Aramis Ramirez's agents.

Zambrano asks for: $4 million
Cubs offer: $3.3 million


Ramirez asks for: $10.25 million
Cubs offer: $8 million

As most of you know, the Cubs have never allowed a player to go to arbitration since Andy MacPhail arrived from Minnesota. Reports have the Cubs agreeing to a one year deal with Ramirez before his arbitration hearing. The Cubs will follow that up by signing him to a multiyear deal, just like they did with Derek Lee and Kerry Wood last year. The Cubs should be able to find a resolution with Zamrano who was the Cubs best starter in 2004. Arbitration hearings get ugly, I have to hand it to MacPhail and Hendry for avoiding these hearings through the years.

In other news Jim Hendry added Scott Williamson as a minor league Free Agent. Williamson will not participate in Spring Training. The Cubs hope he will progress from October "Tommy-John surgery" and join the Cubs bullpen in July or August, just like Ryan Dempster did this past season.


The Bulls have given us plenty to cheer about the past few weeks. I had forgotten what it was like to watch professional sports in the winter. Great job Johnny Pax.

Welcome back Mr. Optimism

Winter gets pretty long in the Midwest. Here in Chicago we have the added feature of nightfall around 3:00 pm, thanks to the fact that we are on the eastern edge of the central time zone. Lack of sunlight and temperatures in single digits send many into depression. They also send many of us to the travel agent or in 2005 to a travel website. I found myself on the travel websites earlier today. Once I booked my flight and hotel for Arizona this March guess who showed up? My old friend: Mr. Optimism.

The September 2004 collapse is now history. It is a part of Cubs lore. 2005, now that is a different story. The Cubs are a well built team going into 2005. Like every other team they have holes. Still they have an incredibly talented group of starting pitchers. If these guys stay healthy the sky is the limit. The starting 8 is as talented as I can ever remember. Yeah the Cubs need to find a closer and it’d be nice to have players that considered taking walks occasionally. But you can’t have everything, right?

In the NL Central you have to say the Cubs are better because of the other team’s losses. Can the Astros recover from the loss of Beltran, Kent and Miller? Can the Cardinals rebound following their collapse to the Red Sox? While both the Cards and Astros were playing late into October the Cubs were at home resting their young arms. They also fired their trainers!

I’m telling you this is it. This is gonna be the year. I just know it.

Funny how Mr. Optimism always shows his face this time of year. I wonder how long he’ll be around this year.

motivated seller

if you're listening to the Mother Ship 720, you know the corporate public-relations assault on sammy is in full swing. snide bits regularly float over the airwaves to ingrain themselves into the minds of cub nation: the team is the good guy, sammy and the boombox are bad, keep buying tickets. while some of the more obvious literature tried to talk up sosa's value, 720 is more subtly changing the popular perception of sosa from marquee name to also-ran deadweight cancer.

this is a strategy the cubs inflicted on sammy via don baylor back in 2000 as well, but ended up keeping him (despite the oft-rumored yankee offer of alfonso soriano and jake westbrook... sigh...) but one can't help to think that it backs the cubs into a bit of a corner. if you run down the star attraction, you then have to build him back up (after the coffeeboy pays the price for failure, of course).

perhaps the anticipated difficulty of doing that again explains why the cubs appear to be a motivated seller. infirmary denizen clifford floyd, a back-of-the-rotation righthander -- and eat the salary too? oh boy.

more on this as it happens -- apparently the baltimore expos are in on it too, so you know the price is low -- endy chavez and sun-woo kim, and macfail eats the $17 million, i'll speculate -- so stay tuned....

Wrigley's okay but concrete will continue to fall

I swear this story came out a while back. In today's Sun-Times the Cubs Engineers report: Wrigley Field's upper-deck concrete "should not require replacement in the near-term -- certainly not in the next 10 years". I don't know about you but that makes me feel good.

Is Beltran worth $17 million/year?

Apparently Omar Minaya and the Mets think he is. Reports have Carlos Beltran signing a 7 year deal for $119 Million. Yep, that's $17 Million a season.

This past week Tim Kurkjian wrote a good article for ESPN.com on Beltran's value. There are several questions you have to ask about Beltran:

• is Beltran worth $17 million?
• does Beltran deserve a 7 year deal?
• does any player deserve a 7 year deal?

My answer would be NO across the board. I think Carlos Beltran is a very good player. What he did in the playoffs last year was incredible to watch. You have to remember that was a very small sample size. There is no doubt that Beltran played very well on the big stage. When you start to look at the bigger picture you have to wonder about making a $17 million/year investment in a player who's numbers are more comparable to Bobby Bonds than they are Barry Bonds.

Beltran's career numbers are not even close to Vlad Guerrero, but he is asking far more than Vlad received in his monster contract from the Angels last off season. According to DugoutDollars Vlad is making about $14 Million/year. The funny thing is that teams like the Mets are actually considering paying Beltran the coin Boras is asking for.

Scott Boras is the best agent in the game today. I still giggle when I think about how he had the Rangers bidding against themselves in the A-Rod sweepstakes a few years back. Earlier this week when he said five teams had made the minimum bid of $120 Million over seven years you had to laugh. There is no way that was true. But all is fair in negotiations and Boras is gonna get his clients the most money possible.

Seven years is just too many years to sign any player in MLB. You have no idea what will happen to that player next month yet alone in six or seven years. When the Reds signed Junior Griffey to their deal before 2000 they had no idea that Griff's career was about to be filled with injuries. When the Cubs signed Sosa to his last extension it looked like a happy ending to Sammy's career. Look at what has happened. I wouldn't sign any player in MLB to a seven year deal. Players careers are just too unpredictable.

If you take a look at the NL Central you have to like the Cubs situation. In addition to Beltran the Astros have lost Kent, Wade Miller, and Berkman will start the year on the DL because he tore his knee up playing flag football. All of this and Roger Clemens is threatening to retire again. The Cubs have holes ladies and gents, but the Astros prove it can always be worse.

Beltran Comparisons

One of my favorite sites baseballreference.com has a great feature that compares players to similar players through certain points in their careers. When you compare Carlos Beltran to players through the age of 27 here are the players that come up: Andre Dawson , Bobby Bonds , Dave Winfield , Jack Clark , Gus Bell , Shawn Green , Harold Baines , Reggie Smith , Gary Sheffield & Johnny Callison. This is a group of very good Major League ballplayers, but as of today only Winfield is enshrined in Cooperstown.

Looking ahead in these players careers may give us a look at what we can expect from Beltran the next seven years. Here is what each one of these ballplayers did in the next 7 years of their careers:

ANDRE DAWSON
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1983 28 MON NL 159 633 104 189 36 10 32 113 25 11 38 81 .299 .338 .539 341 0 18 12 9 14
1984 29 MON NL 138 533 73 132 23 6 17 86 13 5 41 80 .248 .301 .409 218 1 6 2 2 12
1985 30 MON NL 139 529 65 135 27 2 23 91 13 4 29 92 .255 .295 .444 235 1 7 8 4 12
1986 31 MON NL 130 496 65 141 32 2 20 78 18 12 37 79 .284 .338 .478 237 1 6 11 6 13
1987 32 CHC NL 153 621 90 178 24 2 49 137 11 3 32 103 .287 .328 .568 353 0 2 7 7 15
1988 33 CHC NL 157 591 78 179 31 8 24 79 12 4 37 73 .303 .344 .504 298 1 7 12 4 13
1989 34 CHC NL 118 416 62 105 18 6 21 77 8 5 35 62 .252 .307 .476 198 0 7 13 1 16

BOBBY BONDS
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1974 28 SFG NL 150 567 97 145 22 8 21 71 41 11 95 134 .256 .364 .434 246 0 4 8 4 4
1975 29 NYY AL 145 529 93 143 26 3 32 85 30 17 89 137 .270 .375 .512 271 0 5 8 3 10
1976 30 CAL AL 99 378 48 100 10 3 10 54 30 15 41 90 .265 .337 .386 146 0 5 6 3 7
1977 31 CAL AL 158 592 103 156 23 9 37 115 41 18 74 141 .264 .342 .520 308 1 10 5 2 9
1978 32 CHW AL & TEX AL 156 565 93 151 19 4 31 90 43 22 79 120 .267 .355 .480 271 3 8 7 2 14
1979 33 CLE AL 146 538 93 148 24 1 25 85 34 23 74 135 .275 .367 .463 249 4 7 4 8 9
1980 34 STL NL 86 231 37 47 5 3 5 24 15 5 33 74 .203 .305 .316 73 1 3 3 2 4

DAVE WINFIELD
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1980 28 SDP NL 162 558 89 154 25 6 20 87 23 7 79 83 .276 .365 .450 251 0 4 14 2 13
1981 29 NYY AL 105 388 52 114 25 1 13 68 11 1 43 41 .294 .360 .464 180 1 7 3 1 13
1982 30 NYY AL 140 539 84 151 24 8 37 106 5 3 45 64 .280 .331 .560 302 5 8 7 0 20
1983 31 NYY AL 152 598 99 169 26 8 32 116 15 6 58 77 .283 .345 .513 307 0 6 2 2 30
1984 32 NYY AL 141 567 106 193 34 4 19 100 6 4 53 71 .340 .393 .515 292 0 6 9 0 14
1985 33 NYY AL 155 633 105 174 34 6 26 114 19 7 52 96 .275 .328 .471 298 0 4 8 0 17
1986 34 NYY AL 154 565 90 148 31 5 24 104 6 5 77 106 .262 .349 .462 261 2 6 9 2 20

JACK CLARK
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1984 28 SFG NL 57 203 33 65 9 1 11 44 1 1 43 29 .320 .434 .537 109 0 3 7 0 9
1985 29 STL NL 126 442 71 124 26 3 22 87 1 4 83 88 .281 .393 .502 222 0 5 14 2 10
1986 30 STL NL 65 232 34 55 12 2 9 23 1 1 45 61 .237 .362 .422 98 0 1 4 1 4
1987 31 STL NL 131 419 93 120 23 1 35 106 1 2 136 139 .286 .459 .597 250 0 3 13 0 5
1988 32 NYY AL 150 496 81 120 14 0 27 93 3 2 113 141 .242 .381 .433 215 0 5 6 2 14
1989 33 SDP NL 142 455 76 110 19 1 26 94 6 2 132 145 .242 .410 .459 209 0 5 18 1 10
1990 34 SDP NL 115 334 59 89 12 1 25 62 4 3 104 91 .266 .441 .533 178 0 2 11 2 12

GUS BELL
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1957 28 CIN NL 121 510 65 149 20 3 13 61 0 1 30 54 .292 .332 .420 214 6 6 5 3 10
1958 29 CIN NL 112 385 42 97 16 2 10 46 2 3 36 40 .252 .314 .382 147 6 5 7 1 7
1959 30 CIN NL 148 580 59 170 27 2 19 115 2 3 29 44 .293 .325 .445 258 1 8 1 2 13
1960 31 CIN NL 143 515 65 135 19 5 12 62 4 3 29 40 .262 .300 .388 200 4 5 3 1 7
1961 32 CIN NL 103 235 27 60 10 1 3 33 1 1 18 21 .255 .298 .345 81 0 9 3 0 4
1962 33 NYM NL & MLN NL 109 315 36 76 13 3 6 30 0 1 22 24 .241 .288 .359 113 3 3 2 0 5
1963 34 MLN NL 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 1 0 0 0 0 0

SHAWN GREEN
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
2001 28 LAD NL 161 619 121 184 31 4 49 125 20 4 72 107 .297 .372 .598 370 0 5 10 5 10
2002 29 LAD NL 158 582 110 166 31 1 42 114 8 5 93 112 .285 .385 .558 325 0 5 22 5 26
2003 30 LAD NL 160 611 84 171 49 2 19 85 6 2 68 112 .280 .355 .460 281 0 6 2 6 18
2004 31 LAD NL 157 590 92 157 28 1 28 86 5 2 71 114 .266 .352 .459 271 0 2 6 8 17
(GREEN IS STILL ACTIVE)

HAROLD BAINES
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1987 28 CHW AL 132 505 59 148 26 4 20 93 0 0 46 82 .293 .352 .479 242 0 2 2 1 12
1988 29 CHW AL 158 599 55 166 39 1 13 81 0 0 67 109 .277 .347 .411 246 0 7 14 1 21
1989 30 CHW AL & TEX AL 146 505 73 156 29 1 16 72 0 3 73 79 .309 .395 .465 235 0 4 13 1 15
1990 31 TEX AL & OAK AL 135 415 52 118 15 1 16 65 0 3 67 80 .284 .378 .441 183 0 7 10 0 17
1991 32 OAK AL 141 488 76 144 25 1 20 90 0 1 72 67 .295 .383 .473 231 0 5 22 1 12
1992 33 OAK AL 140 478 58 121 18 0 16 76 1 3 59 61 .253 .331 .391 187 0 6 6 0 11
1993 34 BAL AL 118 416 64 130 22 0 20 78 0 0 57 52 .312 .390 .510 212 1 6 9 0 14

REGGIE SMITH
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1973 28 BOS AL 115 423 79 128 23 2 21 69 3 2 68 49 .303 .398 .515 218 0 3 7 1 11
1974 29 STL NL 143 517 79 160 26 9 23 100 4 3 71 70 .309 .389 .528 273 1 8 10 1 16
1975 30 STL NL 135 477 67 144 26 3 19 76 9 7 63 59 .302 .382 .488 233 0 7 9 3 16
1976 31 STL NL & LAD NL 112 395 55 100 15 5 18 49 3 2 32 70 .253 .312 .453 179 0 1 6 2 8
1977 32 LAD NL 148 488 104 150 27 4 32 87 7 5 104 76 .307 .427 .576 281 1 7 11 3 5
1978 33 LAD NL 128 447 82 132 27 2 29 93 12 5 70 90 .295 .382 .559 250 0 13 8 1 5
1979 34 LAD NL 68 234 41 64 13 1 10 32 6 5 31 50 .274 .359 .466 109 0 3 3 2 5


GARY SHEFFIELD
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1997 28 FLA NL 135 444 86 111 22 1 21 71 11 7 121 79 .250 .424 .446 198 0 2 11 15 7
1998 29 FLA NL & LAD NL 130 437 73 132 27 2 22 85 22 7 95 46 .302 .428 .524 229 0 9 12 8 7
1999 30 LAD NL 152 549 103 165 20 0 34 101 11 5 101 64 .301 .407 .523 287 0 9 4 4 10
2000 31 LAD NL 141 501 105 163 24 3 43 109 4 6 101 71 .325 .438 .643 322 0 6 7 4 13
2001 32 LAD NL 143 515 98 160 28 2 36 100 10 4 94 67 .311 .417 .583 300 0 5 13 4 12
2002 33 ATL NL 135 492 82 151 26 0 25 84 12 2 72 53 .307 .404 .512 252 0 4 2 11 16
2003 34 ATL NL 155 576 126 190 37 2 39 132 18 4 86 55 .330 .419 .604 348 0 8 6 8 16

JOHNNY CALLISON
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1967 28 PHI NL 149 556 62 145 30 5 14 64 6 12 55 63 .261 .329 .408 227 3 3 17 3 7
1968 29 PHI NL 121 398 46 97 18 4 14 40 4 3 42 70 .244 .319 .415 165 3 2 4 3 6
1969 30 PHI NL 134 495 66 131 29 5 16 64 2 1 49 73 .265 .332 .440 218 1 4 11 3 6
1970 31 CHC NL 147 477 65 126 23 2 19 68 7 2 60 63 .264 .348 .440 210 0 3 11 3 10
1971 32 CHC NL 103 290 27 61 12 1 8 38 2 1 36 55 .210 .298 .341 99 1 4 8 2 6
1972 33 NYY AL 92 275 28 71 10 0 9 34 3 0 18 34 .258 .299 .393 108 2 5 1 0 6
1973 34 NYY AL 45 136 10 24 4 0 1 10 1 1 4 24 .176 .197 .228 31 0 2 0 0 6

stats vs scouts

an interesting roundtable (including the cubs' own gary hughes) between professional scouts and the sabremetric folks. it is, in some respects, an argument for and against particularity -- the scouts argue for:

you need to see him in the two games a year that he plays against a pitcher that might have any ability whatsoever... A player at UConn, his stats, compared to a guy that I’m watching in the Pac-10, mean almost nothing to me. I’m in the middle of a negotiation right now (with Jered Weaver) where a guy wants to compare our first-round pick’s stats to Mark Prior’s. And to me, there’s no correlation whatsoever.

while the sabremetrics argue, in the main and as would make sense for statisticians, against:

The issue I would bring up is that for all of these issues—level of play, the type of pitchers, his raw abilities like his speed, his strength, his size—these are all things that can be, to an extent, measured. Six-foot-one is a measurement. Five-foot-seven is a measurement. Hitters who are 6-1, do they turn out better than hitters who are 5-7, with similar stats at similar schools? These are the sorts of things that people can analyze, and I think it could provide useful information.

bu it's also interesting to see the sabremetrics folks back away, once confronted, from the hubris that has surrounded the statistics since michael lewis' "moneyball" came out:

ALAN SCHWARZ: Gary Huckabay, I believe you coined the phrase, “There’s no such thing as a pitching prospect.”

GARY HUCKABAY: Yeah, but that was an overstatement designed to sell books....

there's also an interesting discussion of pitching, high school vs college, but what i really took away was the need for the demystification of statistics as a method of analysis in sports. people are particular, and this includes athletes. statistical analysis is, by its nature, generalizing. this dichotomy is irresolvable and will always limit the utility of statistics in evaluating individuals.

at the end of the day, mccracken -- who helped theo epstein build the red sox -- isolated the core idea:

The stats can help the scouts zero in on the guys they should be zeroing in on. And the scouts, once the stats are sorting things through, can tell you who exactly are the best guys to go after.

player development, especially for teams on a budget, has to be an exercize in risk management. things will go wrong; but trying to minimize the risk of a disastrous streak of bad outcomes is the key to sustained success. certainly, it seems to me that statistical analysis which concentrates on metrics whose utility is based on a large set of data is fundamentally risk-reducing.

but it will never successfully replace the primacy of scouting.

ALAN SCHWARZ: But what would you have to see to be encouraged?

GARY HUGHES: The swing, the approach at the plate, the show of fear.

EDDIE BANE: If you show fear, you're gone.

VOROS McCRACKEN: How would someone show fear?

GARY HUGHES: There would be a little give at the plate.

EDDIE BANE: You give on a pitcher with a decent slider . . .

VOROS McCRACKEN: That happens to everyone--everyone gets their knees buckled every once in a while. So if you rule a guy out that gets his knees buckled, that seems extreme. You'd need to see him show fear a bit more consistently. I'm not sure . . .

EDDIE BANE: I am sure. Because if I see fear in a hitter, I'm not ever coming back. I don't see fear in good big league hitters. I know that they get fooled and they'll bail on balls. But for me, that's a different term than fear.

interesting stuff.

Let's JUICE the MLB and it's players

(Note: The following is a submission from MCav. He's having trouble submitting his posts.)

All season ticket holders and people that provide sufficient proof of
attendance should sue all involved in the recent steroid scandal for:

The increased value of ticket prices as reflected by the increase in
Home-runs by steroid use.
The period of time would be 1998-to present, (you would have to show a
direct correlation between the increase in ticket prices and how
increased home runs affected such)

MLB is at fault for their failure of action against steroid use, this
has been going on for years, and the players (caminitti) have already
made it public.

The players association and players: sue those that fail steroid tests,
and had an increase in salaries due to the fact they put up better
numbers with steroids.

Celebrating Sandberg! -- the "Sandberg Game"

In 1984 Ryne Sandberg was a third year Major League Player. He had won a Gold Glove for his play at 2B in '83. Outside of Chicago Sandberg was an unknown. That would all change on June 23, 1984. On NBC's Game of the Week Sandberg entertained Cub fans with one of the best individual performances in team history.

I consider the "Sandberg Game" to be one of the top 5 Cub games of the past 30 years. There are games that you remember where you were while you watched. This was one of those games. I wasn't old enough to sit in the bleachers, so I watched this game at home in my bedroom on a black and white tv. I turned the game off several times, but something kept me inside on that beautiful summer afternoon (maybe it was the thrill of seeing the Cubs on national tv) and something made me turn the tv back on each time I turned it off. When Sutter came in I thought the game was over. What happened next is still unbelievable to me even as I watch it on ESPN Classic -- 20 years later.

Ryno brought us many thrills as a Cub fan. But there's only one game that holds his name. Here's the boxscore for the "Sandberg Game":


Chicago Cubs 12, St. Louis Cardinals 11

DayGame Played on Saturday, June 23, 1984 (D)
at Wrigley Field
STL N 1 6 0 - 0 0 2 - 0 0 0- 2 0 -- 11 13 1
CHI N 1 0 0 - 0 2 5 - 0 0 1 - 2 1 -- 12 14 2

BATTING
St. Louis Cardinals AB R H RBI BB K PO A
L. Smith lf 4 1 1 1 1 0 3 1
Sutter p 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Ramsey ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rucker p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lahti p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
O. Smith ss 4 4 2 0 2 1 0 7
McGee cf 6 3 4 6 0 0 3 0
Hendrick rf 5 0 1 2 1 1 0 0
Green 1b 5 0 1 0 0 1 10 1
Braun ph 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Jorgensen 1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Herr 2b 6 1 3 0 0 1 4 4
Howe 3b 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 1
Allen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Landrum lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Salas ph,lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Porter c 4 0 0 0 2 0 5 0
Citarella p 3 1 1 1 0 2 0 0
Van Slyke 3b 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 2
Totals 46 11 13 11 9 9 30 16

FIELDING -
DP: 1.
E: Porter (2).

BATTING -
2B: McGee (6,off Smith).
3B: McGee (6,off Trout).
HR: McGee (2,6th inning off Noles 1 on, 1 out).
IBB: Porter (6,by Bordi); Van Slyke (5,by Frazier).

BASERUNNING -
SB: O. Smith 2 (20,2nd base off Noles/Davis,2nd base off Smith/Davis); L. Smith
(17,2nd base off Stoddard/Davis); Van Slyke (11,2nd base off Smith/Davis).

Chicago Cubs AB R H RBI BB K PO A
Dernier cf 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 0
Sandberg 2b 6 2 5 7 0 0 2 7
Matthews lf 5 0 2 1 1 1 1 0
Durham 1b 5 1 1 0 1 0 16 0
Moreland rf 4 1 0 0 2 1 3 0
Davis c 3 0 0 0 3 1 9 0
Cey 3b 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 3
Stoddard p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hassey ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Frazier p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Woods ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Smith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Owen ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Bowa ss 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 4
Trout p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bordi p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Johnstone ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Noles p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brusstar p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hebner ph,3b 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Totals 42 12 14 12 9 5 33 14

FIELDING -
E: Dernier (1), Davis (10).

BATTING -
2B: Matthews (10,off Citarella); Dernier (10,off Allen).
HR: Sandberg 2 (9,9th inning off Sutter 0 on, 0 out,10th inning off Sutter
1 on, 2 out).
HBP: Cey (2,by Citarella).
IBB: Davis 2 (7,by Sutter,by Lahti); Moreland (2,by Lahti).

BASERUNNING -
SB: Dernier (27,2nd base off Citarella/Porter); Matthews (8,2nd base off Sutter/Porter);
Durham (11,2nd base off Lahti/Porter).

PITCHING
St. Louis Cardinals IP H HR R ER BB K
Citarella 5.1 7 0 5 5 2 3
Allen 1.1 3 0 3 3 2 2
Sutter 3.1 3 2 3 3 2 0
Rucker L(1-1) 0 0 0 1 1 1 0
Lahti 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
Totals 10 14 2 12 12 9 5

Chicago Cubs IP H HR R ER BB K
Trout 1.1 5 0 7 7 3 1
Bordi 3.2 2 0 0 0 2 3
Noles 0.2 3 1 2 2 1 0
Brusstar 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Stoddard 1 0 0 0 0 1 2
Frazier 2 1 0 0 0 1 2
Smith W(4-4) 2 2 0 2 2 1 0
Totals 11 13 1 11 11 9 9

WP: Citarella (1).
BK: Trout (1).
HBP: Citarella (1,Cey).
IBB: Sutter (2,Davis); Lahti 2 (5,Moreland,Davis); Bordi (2,Porter); Frazier
(1,Van Slyke).

Time of Game: 3:53 Attendance: 38,079

Celebrating Sandberg!

Ryne Sandberg is the greatest second baseman I ever saw. And I saw Rogers Hornsby, I saw Charlie Gehringer, I saw Joe Morgan, I saw Red Schoendienst, I saw Bobby Doerr, I saw Joe Gordon and I have seen Billy Herman.

Harry Caray

Ryne Sandberg had 12 errorless streaks of 40 games or more.

• 123 Games (6/21/89 - 5/17/90)
• 61 Games (6/30/84 - 9/7/84)
• 60 Games (5/26/92 - 8/1/92)
• 59 Games (5/6/96 - 7/21/96)
• 58 Games (8/21/91 - 4/27/92)
• 52 Games (8/25/90 - 4/27/91)
• 48 Games (9/22/83 - 5/20/84)
• 48 Games (8/3/85 - 9/24/85)
• 47 Games (6/25/91 - 8/19/91)
• 45 Games (9/26/85 - 5/18/86)
• 42 Games (8/5/93 - 4/11/94)
• 42 Games (7/6/97 - 9/2/97)

Ryno joins baseball immortals

It was announced this afternoon that Ryne Sandberg and Wade Boggs have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Sandberg enters the Hall on one of the slimmest margins in history. He was only 1.2% over the needed 75%. Still it is great to see Ryno get the recognition he deserves for a brilliant career. Here's the vote:

2005 Hall of Fame Voting Results

The complete vote
(516 ballots, 387 to gain election, 26 to remain on ballot):
Player - Votes - %

Wade Boggs - 474 - 91.9%
Ryne Sandberg - 393 - 76.2%
Bruce Sutter - 344 - 66.7%
Jim Rice - 307 - 59.5%
"Goose" Gossage - 285 - 55.2%
Andre Dawson - 270 - 52.3%
Bert Blyleven - 211 - 40.9%
Lee Smith - 200 - 38.8%
Jack Morris - 172 - 33.3%
Tommy John - 123 - 23.8%
Steve Garvey - 106 - 20.5%
Alan Trammell - 87 - 16.9%
Dave Parker - 65 - 12.6%
Don Mattingly - 59 - 11.4%
Dave Concepcion - 55 - 10.7%
Dale Murphy - 54 - 10.5%
Willie McGee - 26 - 5.0%
Jim Abbott - 13 - 2.5%
Darryl Strawberry - 6 - 1.2%
Jack McDowell - 4 - 0.8%
Chili Davis - 3 - 0.6%
Tom Candiotti - 2 - 0.4%
Jeff Montgomery - 2 - 0.4%
Tony Phillips - 1 - 0.2%
Terry Steinbach - 1 - 0.2%
Mark Langston - 0 - 0.0%
Otis Nixon - 0 - 0.0%

There will be joy in Cubville

Around 1:00 CST this Tuesday we should know that the minor league player Dallas Green insisted be part of the Ivan DeJesus/Larry Bowa deal has made it. Ryne Dee Sandberg a kid who came to the Cubs in 1982 and started his Cub career 1-32 will have his plaque alongside Hornsby, Robinson, Doerr, Carew, Fox, LaJoie, Collins, Morgan and all of the other all time great second sackers. The quiet kid from Spokane, Washington will join baseball greats as a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Despite what some people in the media want to tell you, Ryno deserves this. Sandeberg was not a "bonus baby". He worked his way through the Phillies system. Phillies scouts looked at Sandberg and saw a utility player. Dallas Green saw something else. He brought Sandberg to the Cubs and put him at 3B in 1982, while the great Bump Wills lead off and played 2B. There was talk of Ryno becoming the Cubs CF. The Cubs had some pretty talented minor league OF's at that time. Mel Hall and Joe Carter were gonna take two of the three spots. So, Lee Elia moved number 23 to 2B and the rest is history.



Sandberg was fortunate to join the Cubs in 1982. That was the same year Harry Caray moved from the Southside to Wrigley Field. With the growth of Cable TV, Cub fans across the nation were able to listen to Harry rave about Ryno's ability. At that time the Cubs had never drawn 1.7 Million fans. Following 1984 the Cubs have never fallen below that mark. With Harry at the microphone and Sandberg (the most complete player Cub fans had seen in years) playing the popularity of the Cubs exploded. Sandberg does not have the persona of the great Ernie Banks, but he was the player you identified with the Cub franchise in the 80's and 90's. The knock on Sandberg (or any Cub player except Brown, Tinker, Evers and Chance) is that he didn't win a World Series. Don't forget that `Sandberg did lead the Cubs to two division titles in '84 & '89. Keep in mind that in 84 the last time the Cubs had won anything was 1945.

Sandberg's resume is too long for this blog. When he retired following the 1997 season he was the All Time Homerun leader for 2B with 277. Sandberg won 9 Gold Gloves(he's the only second baseman to do this), he was a 10 time All-Star, led the NL in assists 7 times and in fielding percentage 4 times. Sandberg is the only N.L. second baseman to record 6 -- 500 assist seasons.

In 1984, Sandberg caught the national medias attention with one of the greatest games in Cub history. On Saturday, June 23, 1984 the Cubs played the Cardinals at Wrigley Field on NBC's Game of the Week. In front of a national audience Ryno went 5-for-6 with 7 RBi. Sandberg hit two game tying HR's off Bruce Sutter in both the 9th and 10th innings. The Cubs won the "Sandberg Game" 12-11 in 11 innings. The Cubs would go on to win the NL East and Ryno won the NL MVP. Ryno hit .314 with 114 runs scored and had 200 hits. The most amazing stat from that season may have been Ryno's 19 triples.

1990 may have been Ryno's best season. Sandberg again led the league in runs with 116. That season he became only the third second baseman ever to hit 40 HR's in a season. He knocked in 100 runs and stole 25 bases.

I look forward to seeing a ton of Cub fans in upstate New York July 29 - August 1 when Ryno joins Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins in Cooperstown. Thanks for all the fun memories #23.

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