4 Comments »

• Ace says:

  January 31, 2009 at 3:17 pm

  I’m not going to complain about the backup catcher, but I just wonder what exactly Paul Bako can do that Koyie Hill can’t do for a few hundred thousand less.
• Firewalker says:

  February 2, 2009 at 2:27 pm

  Why not sign Pudge. He would be a great back up for Soto, or better yet, why not keep Blanco. Trading Derosa was bad enough. what are these guys smoking.
• Bryan Parrish says:

  February 2, 2009 at 3:19 pm

  I think Pudge is looking for more playing time than what the Cubs are willing to give now that Geo has emerged as one of the best catchers in the NL, but he would be good to have. I think all of this could have been avoided if we would have just resigned a solid backup like they had in Blanco.
• tholler says:

  February 16, 2009 at 11:02 pm

  About 9 months ago, my 8 year old daughter and I decided as a service project that we would like to adopt a soldier. You see, my brother is a submariner in the Navy and because of his job, he packages, e-mails and letters are really reserved for his wife and Heather does a wonderful job making sure he is well and taken care. However, my daughter Angelique and I thought, wow there are others that could need us. We signed up and got this soldier SSG Thomas Holler Gender (if answered): m Address: Comments: I am a Reservist stationed in Kuwait and expect to return to United States around September 2008. I don’t have any special request, I just thought it would be nice to correspond with people back in the States We sent this soldier some letters and a package never expecting to hear from him. We are told as Angels, not to expect to hear but know we are appreciated. My daughter and I were happy to simply know we were making a difference. She loved making pictures. To our surprise, this soldier contacted us. He sent us a card and he and I started talking by e-mail. Even more cool, we talked by instant messenger and he called us from Kuwait. Over the month s that followed, Tom and I became very close. I am from Milwaukee and he mentioned that he had just talked to his Chicago boss two weeks before hegot his my firstletter. His boss wanted him to move to Wisconsin. It just seemed like we were meant for one another that it was like God put us together. Tom said that after going to mass one day and listening the homily that he knew what his purpose was. It seemed that we were meant to be together or so he told me. He mentioned he had my back, that he wanted to marry me, he mailed my daughter a card telling her how much he cares for Mommy and not to worry that he wouldn’t steal me. He sent her some really cool American Girl doll clothes for Christimas. He told me of his many brothers and sisters and how all his friends were married. He seems so close to his friend Jeff. We seem to share the same goals in marriage-a traditional marriage. He is very funny telling me stories about how he stole a Canadian flag once at a wedding. We talked often. It was so cool that he would call me from Kuwait. It was hard with the time delay but we still did it. He sent me this really cool Cubs shirt. Ryne Sanberg is his favorite player number 23-used to play second base. He also loves horse racing and I was so looking forward to going to races with him. He really made my daughter feel that he cared. She had complete anticipation of meeting Tom and Emma even though Tom wasn’t going to keep Emma because of the old lady taking care of her was old and the lady’s only friend We talked about other dogs and Angelique was so happy at the thought of having a pet. Now this is a little embarrassing, but we became intimate over the phone. Being our talks of marriage and his promises not to do anything to hurt me, he loved me, I agreed to do these things by text, e-mail and phone. The last few months he mentioned that work was really taking off and that he couldn’t always communicate and not to worry. He would be home soon enough to start a life. So the past few weeks, I did not find it strange not to hear from him, I just figured he was working hard for our country. Being a man of honor and integrity that I had fallen in love with after 100’s of hours of talking, e-mailing, texting and messenger, I just knew he would contact me once he was done doing his job assignment. Imagine my surprise when I came in this past Monday and found an e-mail titled US. The e-mail said, Due to things that have happened to me, I can no longer have a relationship with you. Sorry e-mail is a cheap way out, but I cannot call. Do not write because I will not write back I was so worried that he had been wounded that I tried to contact his family. I thought he didn’ t want me to deal with that which of course is crazy. Wouldn’t you know Tom answered the phone at one of his brother’s houses. I guess he negated to tell me that he had met someone else and was simply unable to be honest and forthcoming with me and my little Angelique. He continued to pretend all was the same using me right up to the end to get what he wanted. He also got 100′s of dollars of extra packages and 100′s of dollars in phone charges. We bought him major league baseball tickets for $250 and he knew we did and still pretended all was ok He cost us at least $1000, I am a single mom with no child support and he knew this. I could have adopted 2 more soldiers for that amount of money . We have notified SA that he is home so he is off the list and we have adopted a new soldier and we continue to write the wounded. Approach this man with caution. He seems to have some sort of mental issues before he came home and now is being treated for PTSD. He’s a liar and a user.