‘‘As much as anything, we’ve addressed being held accountable on the defensive end of everything,’’ manager Dale Sveum said. ‘‘When something happens on the field, it’s taken care of right when they get off the field. Some people say, ‘Well, I’ll take care of it after the game.’ Well, what if there’s six innings left and it happens again?’’

Oh, brother.

Am I the only one who read this initially as Special Sauce?

I didn't think it 'poked fun' or 'made fun of'...but then Matt Garza isn't exactly my Go-To-Guy when I think of humorous chaps.

When something happens on the field, it’s taken care of right when they get off the field.

How does this happen now, if not by Zambrano punching the offending fielder?

Am I the only one who read this initially as Special Sauce?

I read it as G Love.

In fact, Matt Garza seemed a little chapped at that commercial poking fun at the Cubs’ 103-year-old drought. It showed realistic images of a Cubs championship celebration only to reveal in the end that it was just a video game.

I thought that ad was pretty funny but if they are still running it in 5 years the pressure on Curse Killer Epstein will be intense.

Weird: The add just came up on the MLB network telecast of the Yanks game.

‘‘As much as anything, we’ve addressed being held accountable on the defensive end of everything,’’ manager Dale Sveum said. ‘‘When something happens on the field, it’s taken care of right when they get off the field. Some people say, ‘Well, I’ll take care of it after the game.’ Well, what if there’s six innings left and it happens again?’’

Oh, brother.

Squared.

That strikes me as requiring the maturity level of "I don't hold back. I just say what's on my mind" or "I believe what I believe because I think it's true. I don't want people to suffer unnecessarily. But, I'm not going to go against what I believe is the truth just so people don't have to suffer. Life involves suffering, and I'm not going to tell people to do something I believe is wrong to avoid suffering."

You know, as much as everyone looks forward to the day when pitchers and catchers report ... every year I realize a little bit more that spring training is actually deadly dull.

Matt Garza sees ‘special stuff’ in Cubs

In related news, MLB will be exercising the probably cause provision of the drug testing program for more intensive testing on Matt Garza.

What exactly is the problem with what Sveum said? If he sees mistakes being made, is he just supposed to ignore them? Maybe he should just give the players candy?

What exactly is the problem with what Sveum said? If he sees mistakes being made, is he just supposed to ignore them? Maybe he should just give the players candy?

Can't speak for the others, but what made me roll my eyes is the implication that managers and coaches typically wait until after the game to address problems that can be fixed on the spot. Is this really the case? It's kind of hard for me to believe, and has the feel of Sveum just blowing smoke up the media's butt.

But who knows. Maybe this is a new direction for the team, and the lack of direction for the franchise over the last few years has left a lot of this kind of low-hanging fruit for Sveum to pick.

When something happens on the field, it’s taken care of right when they get off the field.

Sveum: OK guys, take a number . . .

Can't speak for the others, but what made me roll my eyes is the implication that managers and coaches typically wait until after the game to address problems that can be fixed on the spot. Is this really the case? It's kind of hard for me to believe, and has the feel of Sveum just blowing smoke up the media's butt.

But who knows. Maybe this is a new direction for the team, and the lack of direction for the franchise over the last few years has left a lot of this kind of low-hanging fruit for Sveum to pick.

Well, what got me rolling my eyes was that these are professional freaking athletes who have been playing baseball their entire lives being taught by baseball lifers. How on earth are they making mistakes that can apparently be fixed with a 20 sec chat in the freaking first place! How about you ### coach them to get it right the first time!

every year I realize a little bit more that spring training is actually deadly dull.

I like the idea of ST better than the reality of it. The sound of batted balls sounds amateurish during ST broadcasts.

Or, the sounds of batted balls sound amateurish...

Balls sound differently off bats in ST.

It's a different sound, batted balls in ST.

What exactly is the problem with what Sveum said?

1. "Accountability." That suggests a calling out or a "hi, I'm Darwin. (hi Darwin) I've been error-free for 17 games. (applause) But that last error I made cost Volsty a chance at a win and I want to make amends for that. (how about getting a frekin' hit once in a while?)" moment.

Anyway, "making people accountable" is not "teaching." If a "teaching moment" occurs, then, sure, teach.

2. What #13 said. They know they screwed up so there's no point in holding them accountable. They likely know how they screwed up. And I'd imagine 99% of the time they've already said "Sorry guys, I took my eye off the ball."

If Sveum sees something chronic or he sees messed-up footwork or something, then by all means fix it. If he wants to send a message by benching the first guy to now run out a popup, well OK I guess. But most errors are just random acts of inattention.

Which brings to mind one of those frustrating conversations I had recently. A while ago, the city converted a stretch of one-way street and pedestrian mall into a two-way bus lane. Not surprisingly, a handful of people who were used to not having a street there or looking only one way before crossing got hit in the first couple of weeks. There's debate over whether the city took sufficient steps which is fine. What was frustrating was the friend of mine who kept referring to these people as "stupid" as if they'd thought "should I not look both ways and risk stepping out in front of a bus? Yes!"

Hmm. . new manager calling out the star player (Castro). I think we've seen this before in Chicago. Don Baylor.

Walt--Chicago tried the reverse flow bus lanes 30 years ago. The casualties were idiots, until one day the CEO of a Fortune 500 company was flattened. That was the end of the bus lanes

I remember my dad telling me stories about the reverse flow bus lanes in Chicago when I was a kid. I think he knew he someone who got hit by one of those buses.

Walt--Chicago tried the reverse flow bus lanes 30 years ago. The casualties were idiots, until one day the CEO of a Fortune 500 company was flattened.

Natural selection works. We should let it.

I always look both ways when crossing a one-way street, because you never know when some drunk or out-of-towner might be going the wrong way. Not that I would condemn anyone who didn't do so.