Joe Maddon

Old whitey went with his gut and imagine that, his gut told him to start a white player over a black one who does all five things better. Hey, I hope this continues.

This is why Maddon is planning to use Grimm as Cubs closer

Don't think either of these moves would have made a difference in a 6-0 game. Schwarber had a big K in the 8th but did get on in the 7th when the Cubs threatened and I don't think you can count on Heyward at the plate for anything this series. Good defense with him but any hitting will be a bonus.

This has nothing to do with Schwarber, he was the DH. And I believe Coughlin came up with men on base at least once, uwho is to say what could have happened. I will take Heyward over that stiff versus a RHP every day and twice on Sundays for double headers, slump or not. All a slump means for a player like that is he is due. But again, I will take it. Keep on thinking Maddon, PLEASE!

You brought up schwarber in your original post which was the only reason I said anything about him. Looks like it will be 1-1 after tonight, not a bad position for the Cubs going home. I am still rooting for Cleveland but won't bet money on it.

There was an entire 20 minutes on MLB network devoted to 3 experts analyzing Heyward's swing, and pointing out how and why it is so screwed up right now that it will take an entire offseason to tear it completely down and rebuild it from scratch.

That couldn't be the reason Steve. The only possible reason that Heyward didn't start must be that Joe Maddon is a racist as was suggested earlier in this thread.

Don't think either of these moves would have made a difference in a 6-0 game. Schwarber had a big K in the 8th but did get on in the 7th when the Cubs threatened and I don't think you can count on Heyward at the plate for anything this series. Good defense with him but any hitting will be a bonus.

This has nothing to do with Schwarber, he was the DH. And I believe Coughlin came up with men on base at least once, uwho is to say what could have happened. I will take Heyward over that stiff versus a RHP every day and twice on Sundays for double headers, slump or not. All a slump means for a player like that is he is due. But again, I will take it. Keep on thinking Maddon, PLEASE!

You brought up schwarber in your original post which was the only reason I said anything about him. Looks like it will be 1-1 after tonight, not a bad position for the Cubs going home. I am still rooting for Cleveland but won't bet money on it.

.429 BA .556 OBP is "overrated"

Joe Maddon did pretty darn good for the Rays, with a very limited payroll...we'll take him (and Zobrist) back in a heartbeat!

Go Cubs!

"Old Whitey"? I didn't know Whitey Herzog was managing the Cubs. Too bad Old Dusty is sitting home watching the Series on TV.

There was an entire 20 minutes on MLB network devoted to 3 experts analyzing Heyward's swing, and pointing out how and why it is so screwed up right now that it will take an entire offseason to tear it completely down and rebuild it from scratch.

That couldn't be the reason Steve. The only possible reason that Heyward didn't start must be that Joe Maddon is a racist as was suggested earlier in this thread.

Damn that racist fool "Old Whitey" putting in Mike Montgomery instead of Carl Edwards Jr.

Just heard last night that "overrated" Schwarber has the highest postseason OPS (minimum 40 ABs which is all Schwarber has) - 1.274. As in #1. As in no one is better. I guess he is caucasian so he must be overrated unlike the postseason OPS of Heyward which is .494 so Maddon is an idiot for sitting him.

Heyward is better at every facet of the game. You want to bring the last three four years into it? Okay let's compare the stiff he started to Heyward's last couple of years.. But even if Heyward doesn't get a hit he is better defensively and better on the bases.... There is nothing Coughlin does better than Heyward.... Maybe if there had been a lefty on the mound for Cleveland I could see it. No, Joe Maddon outsmarted himself,and I hope it continues. It looks like he has Heyward on the bench again tonight, I will take it. At least Soler isn't the stiff Coughlin is.

On the other hand, Terry Francona stuck with Roberto Perez for his defense and look what happened. By the way, Perez has caught every inning of every game in the post season.

Go Tribe!

Coghlan has a .390 OBP and .730 OPS for the year. Heyward has a .309 OPB and .631 OPS for the year. Maddon wanted players to take pitches in order to get Kluber out of the game, that was the entirety of the strategy as Kluber is the breaking ball pitcher that in general the Cubs can’t hit. Heyward for whatever reason refuses to do that and swings meekly early in the count - swings late in the count and has no idea of the strike zone. You cannot count on your shortstop to be your power hitter to cover for your right fielder at the plate in the World Series. Better on the bases? Heyward is never on the bases.

In the Dodger series Hayward, despite not being able to hit anything (he is batting 2 for 30 in the postseason this year, he continued to swing at 3-0 and 3-1 pitches and swung at a 3-2 pitch that was a foot outside. He is strictly a defensive player right now, with less offensive hitting skills than even most of the Cub pitchers. Lifetime in the postseason Heyward in nearly 100 at bats has an OPS of .429 and a batting average of .157 and has only taken 4 walks and two were intentional walks. He is playing worse than any other Cub player on the roster other than his ability to field the ball.

Heyward is better at every facet of the game. You want to bring the last three four years into it? Okay let's compare the stiff he started to Heyward's last couple of years.. But even if Heyward doesn't get a hit he is better defensively and better on the bases.... There is nothing Coughlin does better than Heyward.... Maybe if there had been a lefty on the mound for Cleveland I could see it. No, Joe Maddon outsmarted himself,and I hope it continues. It looks like he has Heyward on the bench again tonight, I will take it. At least Soler isn't the stiff Coughlin is.

On the other hand, Terry Francona stuck with Roberto Perez for his defense and look what happened. By the way, Perez has caught every inning of every game in the post season.

Go Tribe!

Coghlan has a .390 OBP and .730 OPS for the year. Heyward has a .309 OPB and .631 OPS for the year. Maddon wanted players to take pitches in order to get Kluber out of the game, that was the entirety of the strategy as Kluber is the breaking ball pitcher that in general the Cubs can’t hit. Heyward for whatever reason refuses to do that and swings meekly early in the count - swings late in the count and has no idea of the strike zone. You cannot count on your shortstop to be your power hitter to cover for your right fielder at the plate in the World Series. Better on the bases? Heyward is never on the bases.

In the Dodger series Hayward, despite not being able to hit anything (he is batting 2 for 30 in the postseason this year, he continued to swing at 3-0 and 3-1 pitches and swung at a 3-2 pitch that was a foot outside. He is strictly a defensive player right now, with less offensive hitting skills than even most of the Cub pitchers. Lifetime in the postseason Heyward in nearly 100 at bats has an OPS of .429 and a batting average of .157 and has only taken 4 walks and two were intentional walks. He is playing worse than any other Cub player on the roster other than his ability to field the ball.

Thank you Charlie. Well said.

This has nothing to do with race and everything to do with winning. Maddon & Francona are two of the best managers in the game and Maddon likes to tinker with his chess pieces more than almost any manager out there.

As a lifelong and long suffering Cubs fan, I can tell you that Heyward has been absolutely BRUTAL this year, he simply cannot hit. Coghlan came around after struggling mightily in the American League and while he sucked it up on Tuesday, I would agree it was the correct call.

As for Heyward, I absolutely loved his signing when they announced it and was expecting 20 HR's, 80+ RBI's, .270+ AVG, 15+ SB's and great defense ... I guess 1 out of 5 ain't bad. For Heyward, I guess we will have to "Wait until next year" ...