Tribune Corp has settled a sexual discrimination suit with Jennie D. Patton a Montgomery, Alabama woman who was a part time scout with the Cubs from '94 -- '02. This article from the will detail the whole situation.

The final paragraphs are very interesting:

Preston Douglas, an experienced scout who gave a deposition in the case, said of the Cubs, "One thing I can say very strongly about the Chicago Cubs organization is that it exemplified them, and still exemplifies, as does most of professional baseball, a good 'ole' boy fraternal attitude and practices, with its rules of solidarity, discrimination, elimination and exclusion."

"As early as 1995, I heard discussions and statements within the Cubs organization that Ms. Patton would never be a full-time scout because she was a woman," Douglas said in the deposition.

I am not going to comment on the firing, I don't know Ms. Patton nor do I know anything about her job peformance.

I'd like to comment on Mr.

Douglass' remarks. It does not surprise me that a the Cubs or any MLB team is run by a good ole boy mentality. I am surprised that a tight buttoned corporation like the Tribune is not more careful watching the good ole boys operate their baseball team.

What have the "rules of solidarity, discrimination, elimination and exclusion" ever done for the Cubs? These rules have won the Cubs countless pennants and world series banners. After 96 years of futility maybe the Cubs should rethink their good ole boy mentality and the rules that come with that mentality.

Funny how no Chicago paper reported this story. The heads up on this article came from . Thanks.

One thing that I found amazing yesterday was this quote from Todd Walker:
"I'm a big fan of [general manager] Jim Hendry and a big fan of [manager] Dusty Baker, and ultimately we just have a group of good guys. Chip Caray and Steve Stone might not say that, but the rest of us feel we have a great bunch of guys that just want to win and have the talent and mentality to do it.

"

Amazing! These guys just can't leave that Stone situation alone. If the Cubs win the pennant in '05 this will all be forgotten.

If they struggle in '05, there will be more problems with this group players.

Many fans like "clubhouse lawyers" like Walker. He's quick with a one-liner, goes on all the talk shows, and loves to be quoted by the scribes after a game.

I'll take a "boring" personality like Ryne Sandberg or Andre Dawson any day of the week.

The Signing of Nomar, Walker, and Maddux's new caddy Henry Blanco leaves the Cubs with many of the same question marks they had in '04.

1. Who is gonna leadoff?

   It looks to me like the current options are the new LF, Patterson or Walker. I hope they find a fast LF option.

2. Next the bullpen.

   Who's gonna close and do you trust any of the setup guys?

3. There's still a player in RF who had his boombox smashed on the final day of the year. Can they trade him?

   If he returns will he produce?

4. Team Leadership, this team didn't have any (see Walker's comments)
5. I am very concerned with the middle inf. defense.

Hopefully, Jim Hendry can find this team a player or two who will put the focus back on the field. It's sounds to me like Walker could use some help with his focus.

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"It's not like we need ten or twelve new players to contend."

-- Jim Hendry

"All your statistics are going to tell you is what a guy has done.