Ahem.... Harden to have surgery?

[Hawkeye's clutchness]

Seriously, this surprises anybody?

Not surprised. No element of surprise anymore with this team.

[Hawkeye's clutchness]

The commish now says no surgery and we picked up his option. So we have that going for us. Whic is nice.

[Dave B]

I think it's a good pre-emptive strike on the part of the Cubs. They are forcing Harden to get looked at NOW, and not waiting a couple of weeks or till December. They can go with four-man rotation for most of April and if he's ready to step in by May and is healthy, then he's worth $7 million.

[PenFoe]

The commish now says no surgery and we picked up his option. So we have that going for us. Whic is nice.

Here's the link

[cubbiebluestew]

I can see the headline in the April 14, 2009 Tribune  "HARDEN'S SPRING TRAINING ISSUES WILL BE RESOLVED BY SHOULDER SURGERY.  MAY RETURN IN 2010 SEASON"

[Chuck to Chuck]

I think it's a good pre-emptive strike on the part of the Cubs. They are forcing Harden Prior to get looked at NOW, and not waiting a couple of weeks or till December. They can go with four-man rotation for most of April and if he's ready to step in by May and is healthy, then he's worth $7 million.

2004 and 2005'd

[Internet Apex]

Matt Murton.

[RV]

So this definitely doesn't belong in the Dick Harden splooge-o-rama thread since a) Rich has not been squirtworthy this year and b) Ivy6 is right that Chuck may have permanently ruined the tradition, but I was confused and intrigued by Lou's mysterious quote about Rich's bizarre home/day vs. road/night splits:

"There are reasons for it," Piniella said. "I'm not going to specifically talk about it, but if we can get him as much as we can on the road, you'll see good performances."

Anyone have access to Deep Goat so we can find out the reasons? Is 1:20 Rich's regularly scheduled time of day to take dump or something?

[Quality Start Machine]

So this definitely doesn't belong in the Dick Harden splooge-o-rama thread since a) Rich has not been squirtworthy this year and b) Ivy6 is right that Chuck may have permanently ruined the tradition, but I was confused and intrigued by Lou's mysterious quote about Rich's bizarre home/day vs. road/night splits:

"There are reasons for it," Piniella said. "I'm not going to specifically talk about it, but if we can get him as much as we can on the road, you'll see good performances."

Anyone have access to Deep Goat so we can find out the reasons? Is 1:20 Rich's regularly scheduled time of day to take dump or something?

Sarah Spain doesn't go on the road with the Cubs, natch.

[Brownie]

So this definitely doesn't belong in the Dick Harden splooge-o-rama thread since a) Rich has not been squirtworthy this year and b) Ivy6 is right that Chuck may have permanently ruined the tradition, but I was confused and intrigued by Lou's mysterious quote about Rich's bizarre home/day vs. road/night splits:

"There are reasons for it," Piniella said. "I'm not going to specifically talk about it, but if we can get him as much as we can on the road, you'll see good performances."

Anyone have access to Deep Goat so we can find out the reasons? Is 1:20 Rich's regularly scheduled time of day to take dump or something?

Didn't Dusty Baker teach you anything, Dude? Rich Harden is white (and Canadian) so he pitches better without the sun.

[motown]

So this definitely doesn't belong in the Dick Harden splooge-o-rama thread since a) Rich has not been squirtworthy this year and b) Ivy6 is right that Chuck may have permanently ruined the tradition, but I was confused and intrigued by Lou's mysterious quote about Rich's bizarre home/day vs. road/night splits:

"There are reasons for it," Piniella said. "I'm not going to specifically talk about it, but if we can get him as much as we can on the road, you'll see good performances."

Anyone have access to Deep Goat so we can find out the reasons? Is 1:20 Rich's regularly scheduled time of day to take dump or something?

Didn't Dusty Baker teach you anything, Dude? Rich Harden is white (and Canadian) so he pitches better without the sun.

Not too far from the house organ's theory: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090716&content_id=5895642&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

Harden is now 4-1 with a 2.17 ERA away from Wrigley Field. Expect to see him in the road grays more as the season winds to a close.

"I don't see anything statistically," he said. "I haven't really thought about it too much. I've had some tough games at home with the wind blowing out and the ball carrying."

"I think there's reasons for it," Piniella said.

One theory is that day games seem to wear out Harden more than night games, when the weather is cooler. He's had some problems with mechanics, with his arm dragging and his body opening up. Hitters can see the ball easier if he does that, and his changeup flattens out. He can't be effective that way.

On Thursday he was able to follow through on his pitches and get more ground balls, and he got the job done. It's something he hopes to continue to do.

[Brownie]

One theory to be examined would be that Harden always wears the pajama tops. There's a reason the Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins like to wear white at home.

(no I'm not serious)

[CT III]

It's pretty obvious he's a vampire.

[MAD]

One theory to be examined would be that Harden always wears the pajama tops. There's a reason the Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins like to wear white at home.

(no I'm not serious)

But why do the Redskins do it?

[Waco Kid]

For the day games Harden just needs use Kaplan's tanning plan prior to taking the mound.