Who is more responsible for the Cubs success this year?

I pick straight vodka over the doughnut infused vodka. I have to say it's a relief to see Pinella come out with the hook when a pitcher is screwing up. Dusty would have kept whoever in too long to "try and work it out," which usually failed.
It's also nice that while ownership is in flux, Hendry has been able to conduct business reasonably well. The only two curses I believe in as far as the Cubs are concerned are:
1)Cursed with bad owners
2)Cursed with bad scouts
Historically speaking that is.

It doesn't matter what the manager says he needs. The GM is his boss. If Hendry doesn't think that Neifi Perez will help win ball games then he shouldn't sign him, no matter what the manager says.

there have been a number of recent renovations so both of those numbers might be inaccurate.

do you keep editing this comment or something? It's shown up as "new" three times for me now?

I would guess they didn't get around to updating the new auction seats on cubs.com and muskrat/sullivan are right with 41,210...but just a guess.

how the mighty have fallen...

other interesting notes from that article, Soriano taking batting practice this weekend in all likelihood and will bat leadoff when he returns. Fukudome likely dropping to the 2 spot with Edmonds batting 5th vs righties. Reed Johnson will be back Thursday, meaning Murton or Epat gets sent down.

The boy just needs a vacation really. Send him to the Caribbean. he's got the pitching equivalent of writers block and a holiday with hot girls would be just the thing.

I don't think Manny reads anymore now that the Cubs are good. Maybe after another few 3-game losing streaks we'll see him bitching about how bad Hendry is again.

Attendance at Wrigley is a mystery, like Theriot's injured hand.

Do the Cubs have the ability to just keep printing SRO tickets as long as they feel like it for one particular game, figuring that somehow people will continue to fit themselves inside the stadium? Is there some fire code restriction that caps that number?

Didn't Dusty come in and change the "culture" of the organization too?

and GM's don't do much with the draft, other than hire the scouting director. Bash him for Pawelek or Harvery, you have to give him credit for Soto, Marmol, Theriot, Gallagher, etc....

I knew Rich Hill, was weak between the ears, i could see it in the way he carried himself. That guy is done for the near future. I would have traded him when he was a prospect and especially after last year. I still can't get over that Batting Practice Fastball he through Chris Young in Game 3 last year. There's a reason why it took Rich Hill 3 different chances to figure it out at the ML level after dominating AAA. He was scared to fail.

Great work...clearly you've missed your calling. 

I voted for Lou, but it was a tough call. Hendry is not useless. In fact, he directly signed, drafted, or traded for every player on the 25-man roster except Theriot, Soto, Cedeno, Marmol, and Wuertz, who were in the system when he took over as GM. I think Lou has played a huge role in getting the Cubs to play this well, but Hendry built this team over the last few years.

Wow. I guess Lou really changed the culture back in Tampa Bay when he was winning 63, 70, and 67 games per year. The manager of a baseball team is the most overrated position in all of sports. Good players win games, bad players lose games. Hendry has given Lou good players to work with, and he's winning games.

Of course a good manager can win a few extra games with strategy, motivation, and team attitude and vice versa for a bad manager, but Lou isn't the main reason the Cubs are good this year.

And you're seriously using missed draft picks to rate Hendry's tenure? How about all the other GMs who drafted shitty players ahead of future stars? Do you realize Bucholz was picked 42nd in the 2005 draft? That means every single team passed on him at least once, not just Hendry.

I also love how you dismiss Hendry's good moves and emphasize his bad ones. Yeah, DLee, ARam, Zambrano's extension, Fukudome, Soto, DeRosa, Dempster - none of those are really important. Let's focus on Ryan Effing Harvey.

"I knew Rich Hill, was weak between the ears, i could see it in the way he carried himself. That guy is done for the near future. I would have traded him when he was a prospect and especially after last year. I still can't get over that Batting Practice Fastball he through Chris Young in Game 3 last year. There's a reason why it took Rich Hill 3 different chances to figure it out at the ML level after dominating AAA. He was scared to fail."

That was a good hypothesis and I suspect that may have a lot to do with it. However, I think you jump to your conclusions a little too quickly. Accordingly, I can't get on board with your other opinions the way I would, say, those of an AZ Phil.

Finally, your screen name indicates a pre-determined prejudice about Hendry. This makes me heavily discount any evaluation you make about Hendry. It's not like you have an open mind on the subject.

Sorry, dude.

But Rob... Hendry has missed on some players and some evaluations of players. And therefore, because of Hendry's mistakes, he sucks.

No other good GM misses. Ever.

And Lou never makes mistakes either!

Agree -- Hendry has provided (and, importantly, retained) some high quality players. The "culture" changed in 2003 -- looking at the 6 seasons starting in 2003, the Cubs have been in the palyoffs twice, had one near miss and are in first place halfway through 2008. That's 4 highly competitive years out of 6, with 2 injury-fueled duds mixed in. Not bad.

But, as has been said, Lou won't play his GM's mistakes, and so Lou also gets a lot of credit for shaping the roster. Also -- did having Lou help the Cubs chances with Soriano, Lilly and Fukudome? Probably didn;t hurt.

Whose idea was it to move Marmol for catcher to pitcher? Now that guy deserves some credit.

Also -- who decided to switch Wood and Dempster? So far, that has been a terrific move.

I really like Hendry, but one thing I give credit to Lou for is for creating a culture of accountability. For the most part if you screw up or complain, you are going to sit or be shipped out. No one is calling up to the press box this year, and they aren't fighting one another in the dugout. It seems the cancers on the team have been weeded out. And we are seeing more quality at-bats and innings pitched this year. They hustle, play all 9 innings and come from behind a lot, make plays when they need to, rebound after losses, etc. When Lou comes out to the mound and tells the pitcher to throw f-ing strikes, more times than not the pitcher gets his shit together.

I've been following the Cubs since the late 1980s and I can never remember another time where I would watch something go bad and KNOW that when I woke up the next morning Lou would have already addressed it in the post-game interview. When Patterson had that atrocious game in LF the other day it was easy to predict that Lou would not tolerate it. I think the players realize they have to play a certain way to keep playing for Lou and it makes them play better, and the team win. That's something totally new for the Cubs franchise. Hendry could have built an all-star team, but I think we needed a bit of Lou to get over the Cubbery.

Getting the most out of his talent is Lou's job. He's done that well. Also, I think he's changed Hendry's mind about what wins baseball games.

"For those voting Lou, I am curious as to what role he played in acquiring Marmol, Soto, Theriot, Lee, Ramirez, Howry, Wood, Wuertz, Gallagher, Marshall, Dempster, etc? and I'm curious exactly how much people think he had to do with getting Soriano, Fukudome, DeRosa, Lilly, Marquis, Edmonds, etc?" -Rob G.

Not really fair to question people on this level of acquiring talent because the original question you asked was "Who is more responsible for the Cubs SUCCESS this year?". Hendry has more to do with the composition of the team but Lou has more to do with the motivation of the team. Apples and oranges, buddy.

Clearly Mike Fontenot is the superior player

VA Phil touches a key point -- there was a perception (and possible reality) that the Trib never coughed up the money to compete.

Cubs now have an appropriate payroll for their market, and although they don't go for some of the idiotic contracts the Yankees have offered over the years, they have put a lot of $$$ on the table for Soriano, Fukudome, Lee, Ramirez, Lilly, and Zambrano. In general, they have invested their payroll $$$ well.

However, it would been nice if they had spent a little money on new concrete and upgraded bathrooms....

Huh? LouPa controls minor league roster moves now?

Hell... I am not even sure that LouPa controls the major league roster, yet somehow he was the reason that Parker and Garcia got moves around the past week?

Interesting.

Maybe LouPa is also the real reason that pitchers throw harder, and not Koyie Hill.

If Lou doesn't show up to the games then people notice. If Hendry doesn't show up, who cares.

okay, but what the hell does that have to do with anything? The managers are certainly more of a figure-head and out in the public, but who's more important to the team.

You probably think George Bush is running this country too.

/breaks own rule of starting a political discussion.

//shows himself out. 

It's a bit counterintuitive, but this would be the right time to keep Murton up if the Cubs are serious about unloading him.

I'm not your MONKEY!!!

kidding, had something planned for the future. Meche won't be on the list though.