The Cubs are 25 Individuals, not 1 team

As much as it irks me to say this about the Cubs, it is the truth, and the truth needs to be heard. One thing I have learned from the poor play of the Chicago Cubs is that they are no longer a team, they are just a group of 25 individuals with their own personal agendas. Watching this team, it is obvious you will see that they are lacking chemistry and personally do not care about the team effort. And those feelings are beginning to show.

As back-up Catcher Koyie Hill ripped the team for being one of the worst fundamental teams in the league…

This is the way Hill so aptly described the sequence of events:“It was a perfect situation for the Brewers. They had a guy at the plate who … practices those situations (and) … he got the bunt down on the right side of the field.“They had the perfect guy (Gomez) on first base who is one of the fastest guys in the league and they had one of the worst fundamental teams in the field.”One of the “worst fundamental teams” put it all together in one real stinker of a game.“… Dropping fly balls, covering the wrong base, throwing to wrong base,” Hill said. “Not just today, just in general.” CHICAGO TRIBUNE

As much as you don’t want to see Koyie Hill rip his own team, you can’t say that what he said was not the truth. The Chicago Cubs have been one of the worst fundamental teams this season and even last season. They are among the league worst when comes to fielding. The one person to blame for the lack of fundamentals is Lou Piniella. If you don’t want people calling you a “D*** Dummy” how about you do your d*** job and actually manage like a true manager. It is not the players fault, if their washed up manager has no solutions, it is solely the managers fault.

What I am about to say next really bothers me, because I for one do not think this is true, but when it is posted on a respected site like Bleed Cubbie Blue I think it does deserve a mention.

Now Al Yellon is the lead for the site, and for the most part I think he is credible writer and writes honest opinions. However I, for one, think he crossed the line with these comments.  Mainly because he is basing it off of a no named commenter, who for all we know could be anyone at home with no actual connection to the Cubs.

Here is what the Commenter Posted…

I have a contact with access to the Cubs clubhouse. He said the clubhouse is a disaster right now (maybe this game will help). He said the latin players, led by Ramirez and Z, have completely walled themselves off from everyone else, to the point that they wouldn’t let them team haze Castro in the typical rookie fashion (carrying bags, etc). He said Ramirez has completely shut down, refuses to practice, and is barely willing to take the field for games. The team never turned on Soriano, despite all his struggles, because he worked his butt off, but the team is turning on Ramirez, because he doesn’t, and doesn’t see a problem with it. BLEED CUBBIE BLUE

Here is what Al Said…

Since this was posted here last night, I received an email from tomas21 this morning elaborating further on this situation and given what he told me — and I will not repost the additional information here — I have absolutely no doubt that what he told me is 100% correct. Bleed Cubbie Blue

The only thing disturbing about the article that Al posted, is the fact that whoever this commenter gained a lot more credibility because it was falsely given to him. Their might be problems in the Cubs clubhouse, but to say that it is racially divided between Latin players and the rest of the players on the team, that is just outrageous.

For the record, here is Bruce Miles, of the Daily Herald, rebuttal to Al’s slanderous report.

It’s never fun after losses, but it’s not a “bad” clubhouse by any stretch. Dempster, Lilly, Soriano and Byrd are all pretty good guys from a leadership or accountability standpoint. Soriano is always there after tough games, and he always talks. Howry and Marmol seem to be helping the young pitchers adapt.He[ Aramis Ramirez] took BP and fielding right up to the other day when he had to rest his hand, and he was talking in earnest with Rudy Jaramillo (contrary to other speculation). I asked another writer this question a minute ago: “Do we have a bad clubhouse here?” He said, “A bad clubhouse? What are you talking about?” DAILY HERALD