False Alarm

saw the rock the bells tour in toronto this weekend--tribe called quest, de la soul, rakim & kid capri, nas, the pharcyde, mos def, method man & redman, and the cool kids. showed up too late for murs and some other acts, and the venue wasn't really prepared to deal with that many people, but the sets i saw were mostly fantastic.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 07:51 PM) food for thought... before this series we were 19-6 in the previous 25 21-7 vs. the central division and 28-15 in our previous 43 against detroit - going back through 2006 can anyone say untenable statistical anomaly EXPLO-SHUN with those stats in mind, the expected value of this series was 1 win and 2 losses. At best, I thought it might be 2 wins and 1 loss, but I thought 1-2 was way more realistic is anyone honestly saying that because we performed 1 game worse than the expected value that the outlook suddenly drastically changes? nice avatar.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 9, 2008 -> 04:58 PM) They know he has a nasty slider... he does? i've never heard that. as i recall his slider was called "slurvy," with a tendency to flatten out, when he was drafted. and in college they tried to change his arm angle to get more break on the slider but that took too much sink and velo off his fastball so they scrapped the experiment. and i've never read anything since then reporting progress on his breaking ball. and he's striking out about the number of guys you'd expect, based on his college numbers. plus i remember hearing the same thing about tyler lumsden purposely pitching to contact when he was with us, and look how well that's turned out. i like poreda, but until i hear something substantive about progress with his secondary stuff, i'm'a maintain that peeps' strikeout expectations for him are way too high.

WTF? retherford pitched in the 8th of the winston-salem game. i think he was our best pitcher all night too.

QUOTE (29andPoplar @ Jun 6, 2008 -> 02:49 AM) The questions/speculation you pose don't have answers. Maybe the whole decision making process will come out in the press, I would expect it would. Even then, who knows if we're hearing the truth. like you said. (trib blog.) http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune....-day-draft.html

QUOTE (Cubano @ Jun 2, 2008 -> 09:01 PM) Yes, False Alarm. I am familiar with that study from BP. BP compared our league vs Class A Short season New York-Penn League. Can someone name some players from that league able to come to the big leagues right now or at least be an star in AAA? not many. that's one reason i'm so impressed with ramirez coming in and holding his own in the majors. it's interesting stuff and i'm sure BP's study didn't really have enough data to accurately gauge the competition in the cuban league. it's much tougher for a cuban to make the jump to the majors for all the reasons you mentioned. i just mentioned the study for the sake of discussion. welcome, by the way, cubano.

FWIW BP did a study a few years back trying to gauge the level of competition in Cuba's Serie Nacional, their highest league. an excerpt: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=3794 so yeah, they say A-ball. one caveat is that jose contreras was an important data point for them, and this study was just prior to the 2005 season. edit: i love alexei btw. ain't knocking him at all.

honestly, does it not trouble anyone if BE really does (did?) scout for the sox? fascinating as his material was sometimes, and as much as i appreciated a glimpse behind the curtain, the sheer willful ignorance of posting some of his info, were it true, boggles me. i mean, i suppose being sensible on that type of thing isn't necessarily linked to being able to project a prospect accurately, but i'm just not sure i want that kinda mind helping rebuild our farm.

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ May 7, 2008 -> 03:38 PM) That's what Kenny HAD to say, you do realize that right? no i didn't realize it at all. thanks for that huge revelation. just cuz he had to say it doesn't make it a lie.

QUOTE (YASNY @ May 7, 2008 -> 03:53 AM) What the code of conduct is, apparently, and what it should should be are two different things. i don't think i've seen anyone talk about kenny's comments before the game yesterday in this thread. they basically echoed what tex has been saying, talking about how inappropriate and disappointing the incident was and how they'd had seminars on proper conduct in the locker room and with PR and everything in spring training, so this was exactly what they didn't wanna see. i think he mentioned something about speaking with the player(s) involved too. so it looks like there is a proper code of conduct, and i think the organizational response has been about right. i stand under the "players were wrong but no big deal" umbrella, btw. just wanted to make sure kenny's comments got mentioned here.

QUOTE (knightni @ May 5, 2008 -> 02:53 PM) I think that the offensive part of it to me is that Ozzie feels it necessary to criticize the fans at all for what is essentially the team's problem. If consumers say to Coke, "You guys really need to improve the quality of your product or I will buy from Pepsi." Certainly Coke would make changes if enough people felt that way and stopped buying their product. The White Sox are a business and we are the consumers who keep them in business. If Ozzie can't handle constructive criticism, then he is the one who is too sensitive, not me. i don't think there's any doubt ozzie's too sensitive. but in the end i guess i just don't think the rants matter much. using your coke-pepsi model, the consumer-feedback forms are just starting to roll in (cuz it's may 5). if coke continues to get bad reviews--ie, if we continue to lose and the fans continue to voice their displeasure and stop showing up--i'm confident there'll be changes this time whether ozzie opens his mouth or not.

QUOTE (knightni @ May 5, 2008 -> 04:39 AM) Hey, consumers who purchase our product and have complaints! Instead of using consumer complaints to improve our product like most businesses do, we're sending out our factory foreman to insult you and tell you how stupid you are! This is our way of keeping you coming back and buying our flawed product! Makes good business sense to me. that was insulting to you? are you a pretty sensitive guy? gonna stop goin to the park if ozzie says the fans are fickle one more time? i'm pretty sure ozzie's rants have no effect on business. i do think it'd be hilarious if baseball teams made their on-field and personnel decisions based on customer feedback. i wonder if they'd listen to the cat who wanted to bench quentin.

QUOTE (scenario @ May 1, 2008 -> 07:54 PM) I'm impressed that Poreda hasn't given up a walk in his last two outings. It would be nice to see him start striking more people out though... and giving up a few less base hits. He's giving up over a hit per inning and he's not the kind of guy I'd expect to be a "pitch to contact" pitcher. It's resulted in him having to pitch out of several jams. So... Poreda has a good ERA but he clearly hasn't dominated this year yet. Rice's peripherals are better, even if his ERA is a little higher. i think poreda had less than 1 K/IP in college last year, so even if he develops well, i dunno how much of a strikeout pitcher we can expect him to be unless the wish for better secondary stuff is granted. seems reasonable to expect more with that kinda fastball but i just dunno if it's gonna happen. we may have to settle for him issuing few walks and killing a lotta worms. (i think the difficulty level of power conferences in college baseball is considered to be between low and high A ball, btw, so i dunno if we should read too much into his K numbers at great falls either.)

5th, but i guess it's all good. he might be better than our 1st-rounder that year anyhow.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Apr 10, 2008 -> 10:43 PM) I was not impressed with the service at Record Breakers - everyone in there acted like you were bothering them if you wanted to buy something. that's too bad. i mean i guess they were never especially welcoming to most peeps when i was a regular, but i wouldn't say they were any more snobbish or indifferent than the clerks at pretty much any other record store i've been in. plus the store pet was a bird named cheech. anyhow, lotta good memories of the place. i wish stores like it hadn't completely disappeared from the suburbs. getting music online's not nearly as fun, and it's hard to find a lotta stuff at big-box stores. although i guess i'm sentimentalizing s*** a little--record breakers' selection had fallen off some in the final few years, probably for the same reasons they ended up having to move to the city. oh well.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Apr 9, 2008 -> 03:55 PM) Went to Reggie's Rock Room last night to see the Anti-Nowhere League - what a great night of punk fun! Reggie's is a really great room! Holds about 500 people, maybe, with an upstairs lounge area for another 75 people or so. Nice open room, fairly small stage, benches on each side for people who don't want to get in the middle of it all (raises hand) or for kids who've had too much of this (saw a few of those last night as well). Sound was excellent, loud and clear and I had no ringing in my ears afterwards. They have a nice video screen behind the stage. Overall, a really good setup. man, i think reggie's is the venue associated with record breakers, my old music store in hoffman estates. i'd been going there since i was like a freshman in high school. dunno whether they've still got a store now that they've moved to the city, but i really miss that place. suppose i should try and get out for a show sometime at least.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 20, 2008 -> 02:13 PM) I disagree because I know his group of friends, but ill let it be. i'm friends with his roommate. he's a cards fan.

QUOTE(knightni @ Mar 7, 2008 -> 04:29 AM) Everyone has their own differing opinion on every subject and, as Americans/Canadians/etc, they have a right to state that opinion in a public forum. Some people argue their opinion better than others. Some resort to nitpicking and name calling out of frustration; because, while they disagree with your opinion, they have no way to refute it as it is your opinion. How can you go somewhere on the internet and automatically expect other people, who are their own "free and independent thinker," to agree with your mindset immediatey just because they like the same sports team as you do? Also, when it comes to requesting stats to back up opinions, why shouldn't people expect other posters to back up their opinions with a shred of fact? We expect all professionals in our everyday lives to do it (media, politicians, lawyers, doctors, teachers, the announcers on tv doing the ball game.) Again, I don't mean to belabor the point here, but, why should you expect to be any different? Internet message board posting is akin to being on a debate team. If you are arguing, make sure that you are coherant and know from what you speak of. Nobody likes the guy who "talks out of his backside." I'm not saying you do, I'm just stating as to why people "nitpick", because they care about knowing the facts. i don't post much but i'm a regular lurker, and i think it's more an issue of tone. i agree with you generally, but i also agree with cali's sentiment that, basically, a small but vocal minority of peeps on soxtalk are f***ing assholes when they correct (or attempt to correct) other peeps' baseball misconceptions. (and 90% of their posts are correcting other peeps' misconceptions.) the default tone for that minority is sarcasm. often i agree with the arguments of the people being dickheads, but, man, it's exhausting to read.

QUOTE(BigEdWalsh @ Feb 12, 2008 -> 05:17 PM) I picked up a couple of old science fiction paperbacks from the early '60s at a thrift store. I'm reading one right now called 3 From Out There. It's three short stories by Isaac Asimov, Damon Knight and Edmond Hamilton. i love those things. always great cover art and the rattier the better.

the river why, david james duncan.

QUOTE(BobDylan @ Feb 10, 2008 -> 05:16 PM) I've been lost in his Ask For Forgiveness EP lately. i like his palace brothers stuff too.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 11:38 PM) The best teams don't always win, thats just the way it is. who gives a f*** about this platonic best team people keep talking about? hardware is what matters. the giants (and the '72 dolphins, '85 bears, and 39 other teams) have it; the patriots don't. the best SB champs are indusputably all-time great teams. the pats are the best runner-up in NFL history. so they're a cool footnote and that's pretty much it. bein sure deep down that he was on the best team ever ain't gonna keep seau warm at night. QUOTE(YASNY @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 08:21 PM) As much as I don't care for the 72 Dolphins annual celebration when the last undefeated team loses... yasny this is a common misperception and i feel like peeps are pretty unfair to the '72 dolphins because of it. other than the bears game in 1984, when they were all present and probably did a toast with the whole team, it's just a couple guys. from yesterday's miami herald: http://www.miamiherald.com/616/story/406426.html finally, i'm a DIEHARD dolphins fan, and i hate morris. he's the bad apple of the '72 team and a self-serving prick who's ruining their rep just to keep his name in print and scavenge a few used-car-dealership endorsements or some s***. (although he probably would've been pretty fun to watch play.)

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 04:58 PM) Why does the history of football begin with the Superbowl? QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 05:25 PM) Oooo, good question!!! pretty obvious he's talking about the NFL. was the all-america football conference the premier league of its time or something? if so, why'd it last only a few years and get swallowed up by the NFL? hey, did a USFL team ever go undefeated? let's not forget about them.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 01:41 AM) Oh, and one more thing. Anyone ever been to "The Diner" on Irving Park Road on the Northside for "the slinger"? You start with toast, followed by two all-beef hamburger patties, topped with two fried eggs, a couple of hefty helpings of chili, followed by plenty of hash browns....Wow, that is a huge late night delicacy....and if you finish it, you even get a certificate saying you finished the Slinger! love the diner grill. love the slinger.

doesn't it seem kinda weird that they'd project DLS to the rotation, yet have him as a #3 rather than a #1 or #2? i mean, i thought his profile was basically closer, front of the rotation, or injury/bust, with little in between. yet here he's behind gio, who i thought was generally considered a future 2/3 if things worked out. DLS as innings-eater. huh.