ZoomSlowik

I could definitely see Konerko going nuts in that park. As often as he yanks the ball in that direction, he could put up some big numbers. The Astros simply don't have a right-handed hitter with as much dead pull power as Paulie. He could turn that short wall into a major factor in our favor.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 24, 2005 -> 10:03 AM) When was the last time there was a BIG game at Wrigley Field? You might have a point there... My point was in my view it seems like they've gotten a pass on the "God Bless America" thing because of their precious "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" tradition. They've had nationally televised games before, and It always seems to be the usual crappy rendition from some guy who has no reason to be there. As for why I even watch, there's nothing else on during the afternoon on a weekday, and I have a habit of watching whatever baseball game is on. Plus it makes it easier to rip on my friends that are Cubs' fans when I know more about the team than they do.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Oct 24, 2005 -> 09:13 AM) For "big" games and holidays, it's a MLB standard. Unless you're at Wrigley Field. I've never heard it done on any broadcast for the Cubs.

QUOTE(redandwhite @ Oct 24, 2005 -> 12:37 AM) I knew first hand that it gets frustrating, I was even frustrated tonight with Buck and McCarver dicing the Dye situation in everyway imaginable. Thats when you utilize the mute button, and listen to Farmer and Rooney. The only problem with that is that the radio is at least 5 seconds faster than the TV, maybe more. The sound on the signal went dead for about half an inning in game 3 of the ALDS and I tried that. After Freddy induced a double play they were setting up the commercial break before Freddy even threw the pitch on TV. God, I miss Hawk right about now.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Oct 23, 2005 -> 11:22 PM) Absolutely, no questions asked. You're never paying more than $5 mil/year for him that way. Considering we give that kind of dough to Carl Everett, this is a no brainer. Don't know what we'd have to give up though... If they're eating that much salary, it's gotta be big time talent. I'd imagine they'd try to pry away B-Mac (obviously not happening). I'm not really sure what they'll actually get in trade though, it should be interesting.

I'm still desperately trying to get tickets. I called Front Row and wasn't exactly happy with the response I got, so I'm trying some last minute E-bay work. If that doesn't work out, I'll be sitting at home with some cold beer on Saturday and probably somewhere in Evanston on Sunday (previous committment, shouldn't miss the game). Future game plans are still to be determined.

We put our order in aroun 10 Monday night, 10:30 latest. Still nothing.

We put our order in at about 10:00 Monday night. Maybe tomorrow morning...

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Oct 20, 2005 -> 11:56 AM) Is that the recruit you are going to hang Weber's hat on? Being that he had probably the best team in the nation last year, you find that signing Carlwell proves he can recruit? You really would hope that after a year like that he would be able to do better than Carlwell and Semrau. He's going to need to get another guard or two that can play pretty quick, since the motion offense relies on them pretty heavily. Gordon would be big, but even then he'll either need to get some more talented players or hope that the guys already on the roster step up big time after Brown and Augustine use up their eligibility. Guys like Rose, Walker, and Summers could be major boosts, but you need to start getting at least some of these guys if you want to be an elite program.

I like our chances in this series for one reason: Houston's lineup. They are like a much weaker version of Boston. Only Berkman, Ensberg, and Taveras hit over .270. They also don't have a whole lot of power threats (Berkman, Ensberg, Lane, and Biggio all hit over 20, but everyone else is pretty low in the totals), so I'm thinking our pitchers should be able to challenge hitters, get ahead, and put them away. The one concern is if their starters come out and absolutely kick our ass, but realistically how likely is it that they come up with 3 or 4 dominant outings in the series? They're going to have to hit in order to win, and I'm not sure they can do it against our rotation. I think we have a very good shot, but I'm not planning the celebration yet. You still have to play the games.

Interesting. It looks like there's still hope. Either way, my Dad and I are getting ST for next year. We're actually going to try to change our order from Lower Deck Reserved to at least Lower Deck Box, maybe Lower Deck Premium Box. Either way, I've always wanted season tickets and it looks like I'll finally be getting them.

I still fail to see how they need A.J. Burnett. What's worse is I think the Cubs' management is actually interested. They really need another injury prone power righty that throws way too many pitches? I always laugh at Cubs fans because every offseason they think they are going to get at least two of the top free agents. Apparently they've failed to realize that they almost never make a major splash in FA (only major one I can think of is the aging Maddux). They never get the guys like Tejada, Thome, Renteria, or Beltran that people think they'll get. They only major moves they've made have been in trade mid-season for Lee, Ramirez, and Nomar, two of which were highly underpaid. The only reason their payroll is so high is they keep the guys that the fans have grown to know, like Sammy and Wood. When are they going to learn that? They're probably going to wiff on all the big guys, sign one or two middling FA's (maybe get one of Furcal or Giles, since they are very good fits, not a chance on both), and work out an extension for some if not all of the Lee/Prior/Zambrano group. I would not be surprised at all if their starting OF was Murton/Patterson/Burnitz with Cedeno at short and someone like Grudzelanik back at 2B.

QUOTE(Cloudyguy09 @ Oct 18, 2005 -> 12:41 PM) is it possible for me to get fake tickets off ebay? and if so can i get my money back? Yes, it is possible to get a fake, but realistically that's true of any ticket, printed or E-mailed. The difference is that it is conceivable that someone could sell the same ticket in different places and someone wouldn't know about it until they got to the gate. I'd avoid anyone with a feedback under 50, maybe higher. Theoretically, E-bay has free insurance up to like 2 grand, but I'm not really sure how that works. I'd look into it if you are genuinely concerned.

QUOTE(agame @ Oct 18, 2005 -> 12:27 PM) I agree, Their infrastructure is obviously not setup to handle this. They should've offered the deal throughout yhe playoffs. They had radio commercials offering this same deal in like August. I would have done it then, but my Dad and I couldn't convince Mom to give in until she saw how much WS tickets were going for. If we'd have done it in August heads would have rolled. I'm hopeful that they put some tickets on reserve for this purpose and that we'll here from someone by tomorrow. Regardless, I'm going to at least one game no matter what it costs me.

I gave up on my one search that was still running. I put in a request for 2 tickets to game 2, got in line shortly after noon, and now the server has been telling me I have a 2 minute wait for about half an hour.

QUOTE(BDavisFutureHOF @ Oct 18, 2005 -> 12:26 PM) MOTHER f***ING TICKETMASTER/SCRUB FANS! This is horses*** -- my pops has been a fan of this team since the early 30's and we can't get tickets but this f***ing duech bag Scrubs fan next to me got 4 to games 1 AND 2 -- Only to f***ing sell them! I seriously feel like beating this s*** bag senseless! You can take solice in the fact that they'll cancel his order, because they only let you get tickets to one game.

I can't even get the pages to load right. I got screwed out of a place in line twice because the damn word verification wouldn't load. In a couple of cases I couldn't even get to the event page. I'm down to one spot in line on the first computer I used. It's never been at more than a 4 minute wait, but it's been stuck on 2 minutes for quite a while now. If the page would actually load, I'm sure it'll tell me tough luck at this point.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Oct 18, 2005 -> 11:10 AM) So how much do you think the brokers are willing to invest? How much capitol will they invest for 2006, knowing that most regular season games will not sell out and they will have to take a loss on those tickets? They will not be getting face value on most of the games. They also have expenses in selling the tickets. Even getting face value, they will lose based on interest and overhead. Plus if they tie up too much money they don't have it to buy Stones, Bulls, Streisand, etc. tickets. If the Sox are out of the race by August, the brokers are really in trouble. They don't like to gamble. They also don't want 50 or 100 seats to an event that may or may not sell out. Then have that for 80 games? Who will be paying a premium in April? Don't you think they would come out better in a single game market? Invest now and get your return in days? You know the phone lines would be jammed by opportunistic people hoping to snag tickets to sell. And the brokers employ people to buy tickets. Some have ties directly to Ticketmaster and the other sellers. They develop contacts inside the clubs to gain access. This at least puts up one barrier to the sellers. They need a much bigger investment. Regardless of what the Sox do next season, having the available World Series tickets is huge. I have yet to see a ticket go for less than $750 anywhere. Plus, they know that they'll be able to sell tickets for the Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, and next season the Cardinals (think Astros too) for well over face, plus probably the Indians and/or Twins. They'd probably be buying those tickets anyways. Also, regardless of who they play, some people with more money than common sense will always be looking for premium seats to a game, which usually aren't available. Think about it: with a conservative estimate at $500 a pop for WS tickets and an easy $200 to $500 for Cubs, Yanks, Red Sox, and Cardinals, it's not that bad an investment. Plus if they make the playoffs again next year, which seems highly possible, that's several more games with high resale value.

QUOTE(Chisoxrd5 @ Oct 18, 2005 -> 10:49 AM) Thats actually a good sign for those who have filled out that form already I think... I'll be interested to see if we hear back from the Sox at some point. We put in our order last night. I figured they'd be hard-pressed to get back to us by the time tickets went on sale.

All of the Astros' starting pitchers can shut you down, but they can all also be hit if they are not on their game. Just look at the numbers for Clemens and Pettitte in the AL (they're pretty much the same pitchers, they didn't suddenly become Gods when switching leagues), and while he's good, Oswalt he does allow a fair share of baserunners. Remember, in 3 of the 5 games in the ALCS we didn't exactly light up the opposing starting pitcher. The games will probably go roughly the same way, except the Astro's pen is not as strong as the Angels. The series will definitely be winnable, but you never know when their aces will shut you down. That could be said about all 4 of our starters too, however. The production is similar when you consider the AL/NL difference, we just don't have as much hype.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Oct 16, 2005 -> 03:40 PM) To help cheer me up from the Steelers loss a little, the Tar Heels finished off one of the all-time great recruiting classes. http://northcarolina.scout.com/2/453159.html Not like anyone else cares :-P What's scarier is they were in the running at the end for Spencer Hawes. Is it just me, or does it take less than it used to in order to get a high pre-season ranking? Granted I wouldn't bump up a whole of teams (Maryland looks too low, Memphis should be pretty high, and I like LSU more than some of the teams that follow), but damn. I have no problem with the first few, but some of the top 10 and low teen teams aren't that good. Some of the teams I think are only decent but are ranked pretty high: -Oklahoma has some solid guys back, but I don't think they're worthy of #6. They lost some key players from their backcourt. Outside of Gray, Bookout, and Everett, they've got some question marks. -What has Arizona done to deserve to be that high too? They lost by far their two best players. Adams is pretty good, and Shakur, Radenovic, and Rodgers are decent, but come on. McClellen being out will hurt, and they need newcomers/role players to step up. -I don't get the BC hype either. They get bounced in the second round, lose one of their few dependable scorers, and they somehow get better? Outside of Smith and Dudley, they have major issues. Teams where I question whether or not they should be ranked: -Kentucky that high really bothers me. Unless Randolph Morris gets eligible really soon, they're going to have to lean very heavily on Patrick Sparks and Rajon Rondo. They're pretty good, but they can't carry a team. -How is Bama ranked? 3 of their 4 good players play in the post. Unless some guards come out of nowhere, they won't be THAT good. -West Virginia bugs me too. They were highly mediocre all year, and then came up with a couple of great games. They lost some key players and simply won't be the same team.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 14, 2005 -> 10:42 AM) IIRC there is a strict rule in the Missouri area about scalping and the way people try to get around that is by selling some crappy baseball card and including 4 free tickets to the world series to see the Cardinals. So people will pay like 1200 bucks for a freaking Willie Harris card or whatever (if you had like 4 tix). DOn't know if that really makes it legal, but its what I remember seeing be done a few years back. They used to have those restrictions on E-bay too. If the state you list as your location has scalping rules, not only could you not sell the tickets for over face value, but it wouldn't let you bid on tickets over face value either (only if you were in the state of the event, which I would be). Only if the event were in a state that neither the seller or buyer was in were the restrictions removed. I remember this vividly because I had to work a deal with a seller off of E-bay in order to buy Rolling Stones tickets. The only way you were able to get around it was to include something else in the auction "of significant value," which was usually something like room reservations, a game program, or T-shirts.

Over $90 mil seems like a stretch to me. I could seem them maybe getting one big name guy if they happen to fall short this year ( they don't) to put them over the top, but not more than that. Plus their team philosophy still seems to be the team over any individual player, meaning I don't see them splurging too much. I could buy raises to the individuals already in their organization, but I don't think they'll ever be consistent players in FA, with the possible exception of 07 (there are some interesting players, but that's way too far off to worry about) if they decide they don't want some of their guys. It's going to take another seriously successful year after this one with a concurrent jump in attendance for them to get that high in terms of payroll in my book.

QUOTE(Randar68 @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 02:46 PM) Konerko- $11M Contreras- $9M Thome/Delgado - $10M, other team paying the difference (at least in the first couple of years) Garcia- $9M Furcal- $8M (deal starts there the first year) Buehrle- $7.75M Dye- $5M Hermanson- $3M Iguchi- $2.4M Pods- $1.975M Politte- $1.2M Garland- call it $5M AJ- we'll call it $3M Vizcaino- call it $1.3M Crede- call it $1M (from 400k in 2005) These veterans = 78.625M ------------------------------------------------------------- Cotts: 400k Anderson: 330k Jenks: 330k Bajenaru: 330k Ross Gload: 400k Ozuna: 400k Widger: 500k McCarthy: 330k 4th OF'er - 500k Lefty Specialist: 1.5M others: 5.02M --------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL: 83.625M Frank's one-time 3.5 million buy-out is a non-salary adder absorbed by JR. Also leaves the option to resign Frank to a small (1.5M base + lots of incentives) deal should the Sox end up with a non-1B type of DH or a guy like Giles in the #3 hole, allowing Frank to DH part-time hitting 4th or 5th. Or they could absorb more money from acquiring a DH. I really like the Giles idea, but I just don't see him leaving the west coast except to play with his brother in Atlanta. The wonderful world of numbers. If you'd like to now divert to the question of whether or not 85 million is realistic, that's an entirely different discussion. You're still making the assumption that you could get an acceptable 4th OF and a LHRP for $2 mil total. You're also still assuming you can get Florida or Philadelphia to eat money. You're also assuming that they'll backload a Furcal deal (would probably be like $12 mil a year for the remainder under your structure) despite Buehrle and Garcia both making near or at $10 mil in 2007 while numerous other players' contracts like Iguchi, Hermanson, and Dye get slightly less affordable. Thome's and Delgado's deals also escalate in size in the coming years. So you're going to end up with 3 guys making $12 mil or more and Mark and Freddy right at $10 mil in 07? Highly dubious and unlikely. Plus you're still ignoring the fact that Paulie could easily get more than $11 mil (or that they'll backload that deal too, either way), Garland, Crede and AJ could get bigger raises. Granted they don't have a ton of money committed past 2006, they also don't have a lot of guys under contract past 2006. So you want us to commit large sums of money to a SS that hits under .300 with only mediocre power and an aging 1B/DH that either has been inconsistent (hits in the .270's with low 30's homers one year, .300 with high 30's or 40's another, with some probable decline in the coming years) or has a back problem rather than giving our team the flexibility to resign our own quality pitchers or sign new ones? You're going to end up with a lot of holes unless several of our prospects (by that I mean more than Anderson, Young, and B-Mac) turn into above average players. That sounds like a good way to get an expensive loser in a couple of years. If you can't see how financial crippling that can be down the road, I'm wasting my time.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 02:11 PM) I was going more along the assumption of Pauly's contract already being factored into the payroll, so the only thing you would be looking at was his raise. (so about 3-4 million to get from 8 mil to 11/12 mil or so) The rest of the money would be to pay for the big time #4 hitter that people are trying to add. I see. I'm not 100% sure Giles will go for quite that much then. I have a hard time seeing someone giving Giles a 4/48 type deal. Maybe 4/40, but he doesn't have anywhere near as much buzz as one would expect.