ZoomSlowik

I miss the good old days of the score. I used to listen all the time. Some of my favorite shows that aren't there anymore are Jiggetts/North, whichever show MacNeil was on, and Murph and Fred. Now I almost never listen, only occasionally catching Boers and Bernstein or Murph. North is absolutely unbearable, and the afternoon show is just weak.

My personal favorite was the skit where black people got reparation checks. I thought that one was hilarious.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Aug 2, 2005 -> 10:00 PM) Is there a site that lists all teams' current closers without having to look up each team individually? ESPN's Fantasy Baseball page usually has an article called the Closer Report that will list and rank all the closers (and some elite setup men and the probable replacement).

My take on the big guys, those being Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, and Palmeiro I think Bonds should get in, although not on the first ballot anymore. He was a great all-around player that won a couple of MVP awards long before he ever became the feared super-slugger. He didn't become the behemoth that he is now until somewhere around 2000. Sammy is a guy I wouldn't put in. He clearly benefitted between 1998 and 2002. He was an absolute monster during those years. He had some good years outside of that stretch but in my book not enough to warrant him being in with the knowledge that he probably did steroids. He was more of a .270 hitter with pop before that monster run where he pushed it around .300. I definitely wouldn't put McGwire in. He's a guy who's credentials were entirely built around his power. He wasn't that great a hitter outside of the homers. Palmeiro is another I wouldn't put in after recent events. I wasn't a big fan of his candidacy before this because outside of his career hits and homerun numbers he doesn't seem to be hall-worthy. He didn't hit over 30 homers until he was 28, and then did it 9 of the next 11 years, hitting over 40 four times. That seems pretty fishy to me. Steroids won't turn a mediocre or poor player into a star, but they seem to be able to turn a pretty good player into a star. Anyone that makes the majors is already a better player than 99.9 percent of the population, so a much smaller improvement is needed to vault over many of those players. If you can already hit a 95 MPH fastball, adding another 10-20 feet can have a huge benefit. 20 flyballs in the course of the year that turn into homers or doubles makes a drastic difference. It seems that steroids has been able to put guys like Bonds, Sosa, Giambi, Palmeiro, and Boone over the top.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 01:34 PM) I hear you, man. The commercials drive me nuts as well. Football talk in late July/early August doesn't bother me, though. The first preseason game is less than a week away, and football talk is going to get the most ratings right now IMO. Are you a Bears fan? You don't think that they deserve any talk? You're not excited about that defense despite the lack of depth at CB and LB? I'm a Bears fan, and frankly I'm not all psyched up for football yet. I am however a bigger Sox and NU fan, which probably is the reason. I will admit that I am already getting antsy about college football, but I think that has as much to do with our spectacular tailgating as the season. Also, I do have a couple of fantasy football teams already, but that's another story entirely. I've gotten used to football in the summer because it is the most popular sport in the country by far. The constant Cub talk does get to me though. One would think that there wasn't a team on the other side of town with a massive division lead, since all I hear is how the Cubs are only 3 1/2 out in the wildcard (people always fail to point out how many teams they're behind).

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 11:57 PM) Wow! Thanks for the great info. I woudln't even try to send a card or oic without at least a small letter. I was thinking about sending a few acrds individually to different people but using the Cell's address. Kinda like this: Harold Baines Chicago White Sox 333 W. 35th Street Chicago, IL 60616 In the envolope, I would send the card (in something protective), a letter asking for an autograph and with some background info on my fandom, and a self-addressed return-envelope. I hear about a lot of successes to Dustin Hermanson though... If you stick with Sox players you should probably be fine. I think the least well known players at the time (around 1996) I sent them out were Kevin Garnett and Warrick Dunn. Frankly, I don't know why I wasted my time with some of them, like MJ and Scotty, Frank, Griffey, ect. The time and money I wasted when I was younger...

QUOTE(DukeNukeEm @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 05:54 PM) Id kill for him. Just remember that everyone was saying that about Oliver Perez last year.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 11:33 PM) For those who get player autographs through mail, what resources do you use to find player autographs. I remember somebody posting a site with a TON of addresses used to get autographs of current and former MLB players, but I cannot seem to find it. I am very interested in sending some cards out to players and possibly have them autographed. Any help would be appreciated, thanks... I've tried this before, sending out cards with SASE's. Trust me, your success rate is pretty low. I know a guy that used to do this all the time and his success rate was well under 10%, although it varies. You should be able to find the team addresses in the back of a sports collectibles magazine (ie Beckett, although I'm pretty sure I used Tuff Stuff). I wouldn't send it to their home address if you could get it, I would think that would piss them off. The exception would be if it is a former player that has stated he'll do it, although most of those guys will charge you. I sent out like 100 to players in various sports when I was younger. I remember getting back like 3/4 of them unsigned with aplications for their fan club or stock pictures that they send out. I never heard back from a several, and I think I only got a couple back signed. Two things that might improve your chances. First, include some kind of personalized letter with the cards. I was way too lazy to do that at the time, which probably explains some of my problems. I also only sent them out to pretty big name players. Some lesser players might supply a better and more timely response. As for the Sox items, I have a throwback hat with the hitman on it that I wear all the time. I also really like the pictures/sigs I got when I was on the field during batting practice (even if the two solo-sig items were Maggs and CLee). My Maggs jersey was also a favorite before this offseason. I'm still trying to get a really cool item to put on display, like a signed '59 ball or a Thomas jersey. I've got some neat Bears/Bulls/Hawks stuff, but no major Sox items as of yet.

That's incredibly ridulous that Collison and Nene are ahead of Kirilenko and Wallace. Kirilenko is something on D, although he is somewhat of a tweener. Dalembert not being on there mystifies me.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 10:08 AM) If someone says that Morgan gets consideration as a Top 3 second baseman in the history of baseball, then that person just doesn't know their s***. The true sign of a fool is when one takes a definitive stance on something without the benefit of research. Well, actaully, that is one of the many true signs of a fool, but the most relevant to what we're discussing here. I'd put Biggio in the Top 15. He's one of the most underrated players of the last quarter century. There is a good chance that he won't even make it to the HOF. Morgan was definitely impressive in his prime, but was not exactly great before/after. He didn't really hit his prime until 29, and kept playing into his early 40's despite the fact that his last several years were pretty bad. I find it hard to believe that He improved that much between 71 and 72, so I'm more inclined to believe that playing with the likes of Rose and Bench really helped him out. His three years before joining the Reds he hit .236, .268, .256. His first three years on the Reds he hit .292, .290, and .293. He always walked a lot and had decent speed, but without those 6 years with the Reds his numbers look pedestrian, somewhat like Luis Aparicio's with more walks, and he got in based on his superior defense and speed. BTW, Hornsby was the man. A qestion about your list: no Rod Carew? He's got quite a few batting titles.

Frankly Joe Morgan doesn't impress me a whole lot as a player. He had some good years, but isn't it interesting how much better his batting numbers got once he became a Red? My personal vote is if he didn't play on the Big Red Machine, one of the best offenses ever, he isn't a HOF'er, or at the very least borderline. Sandberg performed even though he was on some awful teams.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 01:01 PM) It's one of the sillier things that has happened. I understand the sentiment, but it really is silly. The guystopped playing, he hasn't improved any. At some point a voter says, I didn't think he was good enough these past two years, now he is? Silly and pointless. The whole process is somewhat silly. Not only do you have the first ballot thing, but there has never been a unanimous pick for the hall. I really don't see how that happens. Who the hell decided not to vote for guys like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, or Ted Williams? Palmeiro has been a solid player for a long time, and he should be in. But I'm not so sure about the first ballot thing. I think enough people will look at the 3000/500 milestones and vote for him the first time around. Raw statistics seem to rule, meaning I think he'll get in first ballot, although I probably wouldn't if I had a vote.

QUOTE(HSC's Biggest Fan @ Jul 29, 2005 -> 08:41 AM) Foxx Raffy if he is 50/50 Frank Thomas is out. The amazing thing about baseball is that in its history Yankee (or NY in general) players are so grossly overrated it is disgusting. Yogi Berra v. Mel Ott for instance (not sure about the stats but they are close) Whitey Ford Hell even Joe Dimaggio. His hit streak is nice but in the grand scheme of things what did it get him (what was his average during the streak). I'll take 3 2 for 4's and an 0 for 2 over three 1 for 4's and a 2 for 4. Hank Aaron was probably the greatest (behind Ruth) and you would think he couldn't hold Willie Mays jock with accolades draped on Mays (not saying he wasn't great). The media overhypes flair, pizzazz (not Piazza) and locale rather than real talent and achievement. I bet Jorge Posada is more of a HOF lock then Frank Thomas, christ there were stories on if Mattingly should make it. Harold Baines will pass on the balloting like Andre Dawson, too bad he didn't play longer with the cub he (Dawson) would've been a first ballot guy. With the Trib coverage of Sandberg this week (back page every day) did they do this for Fisk???You would have think he saved 10,000 children in a burning orphanage and then found them all nice warm homes. Enough of my rant, off to the USA radio poll to post the Trib comments on this, they are precious. Berra- 19 seasons .285 career average, 358 homers, 1430 RBI Ott- 22 seasons .304, 511, 1860 I'm not sure what the point of that comparison is though since one was a catcher and the other was an outfielder. And since you brought it up... DiMaggion- 13 seasons .325, 361, 1537 Those are pretty impressive numbers considering how relatively few years he played. I'm not sure what you have against Ford either, he has a career ERA of 2.74 and led the entire league in ERA twice. As for Aaron/Mays, I'd say they were pretty similar at the plate. Aaron's numbers were slightly better, but Mays also played most of his career in some horrendous hitter's parks. When you consider that Mays was a slightly better runner and probably the best defensive OF ever, that's why he gets a ton of credit. In some cases, your team matters (cough, Phil Rizzuto, cough), but most of the time if you were really good you're in the hall. I can only think of a handful of guys that I think belong that aren't in, and several are closers, who seem to be undervalued in the hall.

QUOTE(DukeNukeEm @ Jul 31, 2005 -> 04:28 PM) Stop... f***ing... Posting. Briggs may be the best young OLB in football and a tie with DJ Williams. I'd take both Miami guys over Briggs, by that I mean D.J. Williams and Jonathan Vilma. They both had slightly more than 100 tackles with 80 solo, two sacks, and Vilma added 3 picks, in their rookie seasons. Both are more athletic than Briggs. The tackles are nice, but I bet he doesn't get 126 again with a healthy defense, and he needs to make some more big plays.

Does anyone have the % of runs scored on homers for the entire league? My vote is that our number isn't that unusual. Just looking at the Red Sox, they're at about 22% even if you assume that every homerun was a solo shot, and using the same assumption with the Rangers they're already at a whopping 31%.

I finally see what you guys mean about the bombs. After messing with the sliders, I had a pretty good game against NIU where I won 34-24. My completion percentage was pretty low, but I liked it. I played ASU next and that game was quite frustrating. I played about as good a game on offense as I could. I put up 38 points, with Jordan rushing for about 120 yards and Basanez throwing for about 320 with 3 TD's (about a 55% completion percentage). ASU put up 45 for the win. I wouldn't normally have a problem with that, but the way they scored was pretty annoying. They had 4 touchdowns (3 pass, one run) of more than 65 yards. The first was a drag route with their TE. He was definitely open and should have gotten about 15 yards. The problem is he broke two tackles and somehow avoided two others while running down the sideline for 80 yards. The second was a short out to their #2 WR. The corner that was on him went for the ball and missed. I controlled the safety on that side and hit him dead on. He went right through me though, and again somehow avoided the deep safety who had a good angle for a 74 yarder. The 3rd was a run out of the shotgun spread. There was a good hole up the middle, but I had two safeties and a corner in position. He manages to outrun two of the players (still not sure how) while shaking off a tackle from the other for 84 yards. The last one I was playing a zone to try to prevent the deep ball with about 30 seconds left. He manages to find a guy 40 yards downfield, and again the receiver somehow avoids 3 guys in his run to the endzone. I'm not quite there on the sliders. My guess is when I turned up RB ability it also juices up the WR's running ability. If so I might have to turn it down because it was pretty ridiculous. ASU has some good receiving options, but their TE ran with the ball better than their RB.

QUOTE(Spod=Ratings @ Jul 28, 2005 -> 01:45 AM) ok Leinhart got injured Out for the Year in my RFTH and now he is out for the year in my dynasty for people who have done both do u see this happening I'm finding that significant players seem to get hurt a lot. I've run three different dynasties (at least 4 years each) with NU and I've only faced Michigan with Michael Hart twice.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jul 27, 2005 -> 02:23 PM) I think the Angels will prevail. Oakland can't keep this pace up. I agree. There's no way the A's can keep playing .770 ball (using Jugg's numbers since June 1), and I think the Angels are a stronger team overall. The Angels have a stronger lineup (the A's are pretty much like us, only three guys over .290, and 2 of them aren't everyday players, and Crosby missed some games, meaning a smaller sample size), a deeper rotation, especially if Escobar gets back (the A's rotation is frontloaded, making them better built for the playoffs), and a similar bullpen (although I give the A's a slight edge thus far).

I'm going with Vizquel because I think another near .300 bat would have the biggest impact and I don't see how Huff or Overbay get in the lineup everyday like they should. I don't see Ozzie benching Everett or Konerko for extended periods of time, meaning those guys would be part of a logjam that would end up limiting their effectiveness. Wagner gets second place for me.

Here's a question, what percentage of most teams' runs are scored on homeruns? I would not be surprised if that number alone is a little misleading.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 26, 2005 -> 11:42 PM) I guarantee you that if Damon doesn't resign with the Red Sox, they'll trade for Baldelli. Young and Crawford are the only guaranteed members of their offense. Gomes is more of a DH. Tampa doesn't have the money to go out and sign a FA starting pitcher. They need to have prospects to trade in order to get the starter, and they'll have no problem bringing in more outfielders. Even assuming Baldelli gets dealt and Gomes doesn't play in the outfield, that still leaves them with Crawford, Young, and Gathright. They won't need prospects to get starters because they'd be likely to get at least one in our deal (probably McCarthy, maybe Tracey), and that would most likely be what they'd seek in your proposed trade of Baldelli.

How exactly are all of the 7 runs earned? Stairs would have been out at first had Uribe not gunned it past A.J. I know that is nitpicky and it doesn't matter in the long run, but that seems like a mistake to me.

Considering they got Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambtano, I highly doubt we get Huff and Baez.

I don't think that Overbay is the right answer for the rest of this season however (I love the idea in the offseason). Our major area where we have hitting woes is in the infield, both off the bench and on the left side. I think the right answer is we need to find a contact hitter (at least a .270 average) that can play at least two out of 2B, SS, and 3B to fill in when someone needs to take a rest. Polanco would have been a nice fit. I'm not sure who else we could get. Vizquel could work, but I'm not buying the fact that he is available.

QUOTE(Tadahito Iguchi @ Jul 26, 2005 -> 10:24 PM) The fact they have only scored 1 run against the royals tonight....Is a perfect reason the sox NEED a bat...........So this is Kenny's calling here............ against the Royals.................. I still laugh every time I see your avatar video. I think if Ozzie would stop putting 3 bench players in the same lineup we'd be fine. There is no way Willie, Timo, and Ozuna should ever be in the same lineup. Frankly, I would like it if the first two weren't on the roster and the latter played once a week barring injury. Tonight's lineup is pitiful, and it always seems to happen to Buehrle. I think that's a big reason for his poor run support.