CaliSoxFanViaSWside

It's official. Frank is no longer "The Big Skirt". That title now belongs to the whore of Detroit , Magglio Ordonez.

Also , expect to see Politte. Marte, and Shingo start some spring games. The Sox are trying to build a good working relationship between the bullpen and A.J.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Feb 21, 2005 -> 01:05 AM) As a long term Sox fan, I can certainly understand CubKilla's point of view. I was not quite 2 years old the last time the Sox were seen in the World Series, so it's been a long hard row to hoe. That kind of disappointment, year after year, can lead to someone being slighty jaded. However, being a fan, I always look for and hope for the best every spring. I hope that one of these years all the pieces will fall into place. I hope a midseason acquisition will be the final ingredient that makes the team gel, ala Julio Cruz in '83. Basically, I think I just like drinking the Kool-Aid every spring and won't spit it out until all hope is gone. Nicely said Yas. That makes us exactly around the same age. As long time fans hope springs eternal. Soxtalk is great entertainment. I feel bad for the poor Indian lover who was banned. Probably was just a kid who loves his team, nothing wrong with that. Yea he stirred the pot a bit . Not everyone can back up what they say with stats. Not all of us play fantasy baseball and know what ERA+ or WHIP mean. Myself, I like to look at the positive. I like Garland ,I like Harris, probably the 2 most hated players on the Sox. I like freedom of speech also. So the Indian lovin kid rattled our cages a lil bit. What it comes down to is, if you cant stand the heat get out of the kitchen. Even with all the "heat" this kid took he stayed in the kitchen. I feel ashamed he was ridiculed and banned. We had the nerve to tell him how to post. Do it this way or dont bother posting. He hung in there with everyone against him until we couldnt take the heat and threw him out of the kitchen. I, for one, would rather not see Soxtalk ban a baseball loving guy. I sure would rather have him spend his time agitating us on Soxtalk then doing drugs or hanging with a gang or even playing video games for that matter. Writing , no matter what form it takes, is an intellectual pursuit. Shame, shame for saying off with his head because he isnt one of us.

Fact or Fiction: A White Sox starting pitcher will win 20 games this season. Fiction: We'll be in a lot more one run games so I expect the bullpen to amass its share of wins. Fact or Fiction: Willie Harris will be on the White Sox opening day roster. Fact: Willie is needed , the team is supposed to be based on speed and defense now and he provides both. Fact or Fiction: Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez will toss more than 140 innings this season. Fact: All indications say he's healty even if he's ancient. Fact or Fiction: Shingo Takatsu will record more than 30 saves this season. Fact: Shingo is a pro's pro. If the new pitch he added is effective I see him challenging for the league lead in saves. Fact or Fiction: Scott Podsednik will set a career high in both batting average and OBP this season. Fiction: That is laughable. Fact or Fiction: Frank Thomas will play in more than 120 games this season. Fact: Frank is motivated to get 500 HR's, make the Hall of Fame, and make it hard on the Sox to get rid of him. Fact or Fiction: Carl Everett will get more than 350 at-bats this season. Fact: When SPod flops Everett will get his AB's. Fact or Fiction: A White Sox starter other than Mark Buehrle or Freddy Garcia will throw a complete game shutout this season. Fact: It can happen. Garland's gotta get it right one of these years. And finally....Fact or Fiction: The White Sox will win the American League Central in 2005. Fact: Minnesota's run is over.

QUOTE(whitesoxmurph @ Jan 28, 2005 -> 01:47 PM) I've actually read the script and it's pretty good and knowing the guys involved Mike North doesn't have a prayer. The script would have to be pure genious to appeal to anyone outside of Chicago .Cheers murph

QUOTE(silver and black @ Jan 27, 2005 -> 08:02 PM) :fthecubs :sosasucks You suck... It's one or the other You can't rout for both! Rout ??? Let's all Rout for Rownad !!!

I've heard talk of a movie possibly being filmed in Chicago about 16 inch softball. Anyone else heard anything about it ? I like the idea . Hope it's true.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ Jan 26, 2005 -> 03:56 PM) If people just call Ichiro "Ichiro", why can't we just call Iguchi "Iguchi"? Becuz Iggy or Guchi sounds a lot better than Itchi

Guillen has already said its Garland. El Duque has a clean bill of health according to the brass and incentive clauses, one of which is based on appearing in the All-Star game. If Contreras can't win for the Sox he'll be as as bad off as Loaiza is now .He'll get every opportunity to show his stuff. That leaves Garland at #5.

Did you all miss the thread on page 2 of pale hose talk ? The player to be named had been named. He is Travis Hinton, Class A first baseman. It was announced 1-10-05. There is a press release on Whitesox.com. Type Travis Hinton in search to find the report or just read the 7 page thread on page 2 of Pale Hose Talk.

For once I'm in complete agreement with Anthrax and the others who don't like Frank batting 3rd anymore. Frank voluntarily gave up the 3 spot because he knew he is slow and said the spot belonged to Maggs. After foot surgery he probably will be even slower. I guarantee when Frank is back in the lineup it will be at the 4th spot and I really think the cleanup spot belongs to Paulie. Rowand is ideal now at in the 3rd spot because he hits for average, power and has decent speed which is traditonally what teams prefer in that spot in the lineup.

Go to gatewaystamp.com . Its pretty cool.

Can Scott Podsednik be the key to the much maligned offense or is he just a guy who had good numbers his first year in " The Show" and then regressed to his true level because the pitchers knew how to pitch him better his 2nd year?

QUOTE (The Critic @ Dec 29, 2004 -> 01:52 PM) ...THIS after I agreed that you're a great mod????? YOU BASTARD!!!!!!! ....how DARE you.....get a good zinger on me...... I hope this turns out green . As the child of unwed parents i take offense at the use of the word "bastard" We sure can take this to an extreme can't we?

Thanks for the welcomes but i got those in August . I'm more of a lurker since i read this thing religiously. But once in a while i have the urge to post a smartass comment. I like it here in the Peanut Gallery.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jan 1, 2005 -> 12:19 AM) This is a far cry from last season where we were resting our hope on Scott Schoenweis as #4 (a one time failed starter turned middle reliever repurposed into a starter again) and Danny Wright as #5 (a pitcher better suited for the bullpen than as a starter) It's amusing to me that Sox management decides that a power filled lineup doesnt work and we need a new direction , when clearly, if we had a better pitching staff all along we would've competed. Saying the power lineup got us nowhere is just managements attempt to redirect the blame away from themselves for not getting the Sox better pitching. Been following the thread since my last post and mostly all seem to agree the pitching sucked wether at home or on the road with the exception of MB and FG on the road . Blame "the Cell" if u want but we won more at home then on the road . And if " the Cell" plays so favorably to power why are we changing our team to one that can hit to one with speed ? Yea we upgraded the pitching and that was my whole point , we needed to do that and we would have competed much better had we had the pitching along with the power lineup. Dont see how not having Maggs and CLee who both hit for avg and power will help the offense become any more consistent unless u mean consistently scoring less runs. Seems to me the pitching was a lot more inconsistent then the hitting . We argue back and forth on wether the pitching or hitting was more "inconsistent" , but manngement's spin that it was the hitting is just that , pure spin . They've done a great job at covering their own asses on the failures of the past.

QUOTE (Clarkdog @ Dec 31, 2004 -> 03:27 PM) This is a far cry from last season where we were resting our hope on Scott Schoenweis as #4 (a one time failed starter turned middle reliever repurposed into a starter again) and Danny Wright as #5 (a pitcher better suited for the bullpen than as a starter) It's amusing to me that Sox management decides that a power filled lineup doesnt work and we need a new direction , when clearly, if we had a better pitching staff all along we would've competed. Saying the power lineup got us nowhere is just managements attempt to redirect the blame away from themselves for not getting the Sox better pitching.

After lurking since August, I'd have to say Anthrax is the Jay Mariotti of SoxTalk.

QUOTE (DBAH0 @ Dec 31, 2004 -> 07:51 AM) The problem with Willie wasn't his OBP or average. It was mainly two things. 1 - He was too god damn inconsistent, 5 for 5 one night, and then 0 for 5 the next. If the Sox are going to play small ball, they need consistent production every night. HMMM , lemme do the math here. 5 for 5 one night + 0 for 5 the next night = .500 BA. I think I'll take that "inconsistency". Face it hitting a baseball is an inconsistent thing anyway, since a good hitter fails 7 out of every 10 at bats. Do you dismiss entirely his range , defense and speed ? Granted he sucks against lefties but he could get better and if not pinch hit for him in the late innings if need be.

WTF is that ? Telling yourself excellent post You lost me when you said J. Dye was better then Carlos Lee. You wanna explain that one???

I apologize in advance for this . Anyone with Judy Garland in their screen name would think its an insult to call sumone gay.

Call me sentimental but i like Garland .He is still very young . A pitcher has to learn to pitch I think one day he will be a consistent 15-18 game winner. If we trade him we will regret it

Why be so negative ? Let's talk about positives. Garland, Crede, and Harris are all young , let's not give up on them too soon. Ordonez resigns and heals. Frank regains old form. Carlos has a monster year. Contreras figures how to throw strikes. Garcia and Buerhle win 20 each.Cotts and Adkins pitch better with a year under their belts. Everett and all Alomars are gone. Uribe is the regular shortstop and keep improving. Paulie keeps hitting 40 and driving in 115. Marte pitches like he did in 2003 If all that happens i can live with a platoon of Davis and Burke at catcher. If we have dreans why should they be nightmares?

Thank u all for the welcome and especially to Minne for the offer to help me with a sig. He knows how its is to be a Sox fan in another state though I imagine its a lot worse being a Sox fan in MN. I'll try to post as often as i can though I get lazy. I'll be rooting for the Sox when they come to Anaheim to play the Angels like i did last year and just about every year I've been here. Last year against the Dodgers was especially nice when my Dad flew in from Oak Lawn and my kids came in from AZ. Too bad some a hole Dodger fans ruined the fun by throwing peanuts at us all game. It takes some real chicken sh*ts to throw stuff at 3 generations of a family just rooting for their team.And I paid threw the nose for those seats too. Imagine what its like in the cheap seats! Thanks again for the warm welcome.

New kid on the block here. Feel naked without a banner and pictures and snappy quotes ,but I like all that stuff. Wish I knew how to do it ,but, I digress. Let's review our acquisiton of Contreras: 1. Not as familiar to central division opponents 2. Nasty stuff 3. Loaiza's loss of speed 4. Loaiza's impending free agency vs. Contreras' contract through 2006 5. Yankees covering nearly $4 million of Contreras remaing contract If I missed anything let me know . At this point with flagging confidence in the Sox playoff hopes, I'm putting as postive a spin on this trade as I can . Hope this turned out OK.