Analysis

To continue a thought started here and expanded elsewhere...

Assuming that the Cubs are 9 games out and each of the next three games count as two games picked up is not analogous to setting your clock 15 minutes ahead. It's what is called a "Downside Case" in projecting performance. Quite often, in forecasting, one will project a base case, an upside case and a downside case. The downside case tells the readers what the analyst thinks is the worst possible outcome. Sometimes, the downside case is accompanied by additional analysis stating under what conditions the downside case improves.

But anyway...

Here's the new game. The Cubs are 9 out and can pick up 4 games by winning their next two.

They can't pick up 6 anymore.

Blame Game

Go ahead and be pissed at Dusty or throwing up a white flag tonight by batting Rey Ordonez second. Be more pissed at Jim Hendry for still allowing Rey to be on a roster.

But be very scared about Sosa and Alou. Sosa looks lost and Alou looks old. You can recover from lost. You don't recover from old.

On the plus, Alou will NOT be back next year unless he rebounds higher than Jerry Garcia used to on the odd Saturday night.