jackie hayes

What I still don't get -- since this came up earlier, why didn't the Sox ask Cora to lay off making press comments if it's really not a big deal to them? Everyone seems to be minimizing this, and I think the argument that they won't develop more by playing even more is sound. But I still don't understand why Cora would be going off on the radio if the Sox organization thought it was nothing to be concerned about.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jan 8, 2006 -> 04:59 AM) Doesnt like being the youngster in the chat room Probably attends Johns Hopkins, as he is also unable to spell his own first name.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 06:22 AM) I do. My parents are devout Roman Catholics and are good people. I think the same is generally true about most of the rank and file practicing Catholics. Any priest in a leadership role within the Chuch apparatus who either turned a blined eye or, worse, actively worked to hide the CRIMINAL acts of their fellow priests is criminally negligent and not someone I'd consider to be a moral person. Aren't any RC who still look to the Church and the Pope for guidance "apologists" by LCR's logic? Or is it somehow okay to look to these criminal, immoral people for spiritual leadership? Recent popes have been directly accused here. Anyone who claims that it is possible to be Roman Catholic while reviling the Pope and the Church's leadership is fooling themselves. They may attend mass and receive Communion, but in reality they're practicing their own private religion.

Bulls***, Rex. First of all, LCR has also said that the Church is intentionally attempting to spread AIDS throughout the world, and "especially in Africa", and is trying to "strong-arm" politicians into supporting the war. Disgusting wacko conspiracy theories and pure lies are not excusable just because he's feeling particularly pissy today. And second, it's just nonsense to say that anyone who defends the Church in general (WITHOUT defending particular actions) is complicit. What, should Roman Catholics hate the Roman Catholic Church? How can you even call them Catholics then? Word choice doesn't change any of this -- Do you really think that the "Catholic Church apparatus" is any different than the "Catholic Church"?

Lol, no s*** I was lucky. Tatum Bell? Thank goodness I didn't spend too much time adjusting the prerankings.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jan 4, 2006 -> 11:49 PM) Other priests have said that it does. So there is a bit of ye olde schism on the topic. So let me get this straight -- you linked an article to support your statements that doesn't support your statements at all, and now you're telling me that it doesn't matter because you've heard that some Catholics think that way, even if they aren't in any sense the voice of the Church? Are you f***ing kidding me? What a great well reasoned, detailed response refuting my points. You sure showed me.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jan 4, 2006 -> 11:33 PM) http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:qU5RF...lient=firefox-a If you vote for a candidate you're no longer Catholic and can no longer receive the Eucharist. That is inherently a political action taken by their organization and therefore should lose their tax exempt status. There isn't s*** in that article about the war. In fact the Vatican has been consistently opposed to the war. So, wtf is your point? And read THE SECOND PARAGRAPH -- "it is not necessarily sinful for Catholics to vote for politicians who support abortion, as long as they are voting for that candidate for other reasons". So voting for a candidate (I assume you meant pro-choice cand) does NOT revoke your Catholicism. Read an article before you link it, for...Christ's sake.

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Jan 4, 2006 -> 11:13 PM) yeah, what a policy. Catholics must hate black people. I hear Cardinal Arinze is in charge of the extermination. So the Church is 'strong-arming' people to support the war? Wow, and they even hid it from the Pope! That's some clever s***.

Cool, thanks, I'll check out the HBT annual and see if they have it. Personally, I think that stat is a lot more interesting and intuitive, anyway.

ARod may be the only one who's worked up about this. At least I hope so -- my national pride won't depend on this little dog-and-pony show. I was almost looking forward to a Pujols-ARod-Tejada-Vlad lineup, just to see what kind of ridiculous damage it could do.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Jan 4, 2006 -> 06:15 AM) Yep, that is correct, but that goes for ALL past performances. Win Shares just puts all the stats into an easy rating scheme for comparisons. There is no way to predict what each individual player will do, and when they will do it, but you can get a ball park figure as long as the player plays close to his past performances. How are the projections done? Using past actual WS, or projections of the 'pieces'? I thought it was the latter, which would help answer the question. WS may not be very good at forecasting, b/c they reflect a lot of luck as well as talent, but by being smart with the projections of the component stats, you can try to minimize the contributions of past luck and get a better forecast based on ability. Btw, does anyone publish the other win shares-ish stat, based on the contribution of each player to the probability of the team winning? Anyone know?

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Aug 24, 2005 -> 04:42 AM) I'm in, from now on I shall be known as ImTimCouch&UMyb****. I think the name says it all. Oh, and God bless Tatum Bell.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 3, 2006 -> 09:30 PM) From what I could tell, it really isn't a clause so much as it is the fact that he signed as an international free agent, thus allowing him to skip over arbitration once his contract expires, thus not allowing the team controlling him to offer him arbitration. This is why the Sox won't be able to get draft picks for Iguchi if they fail to resign him after this season, and why the Yanks wouldn't have gotten draft picks for Matsui had they not resigned him. Please, someone do correct me if I'm wrong. Supposedly the clause was written explicitly into Hideki Matsui's contract. From an ESPN article on his signing, I've only read here that a similar clause was included in Contreras's contract. I found this article on international free agents (specifically, Danys Baez) and some of the free agent/arbitration restrictions on their deals. I don't really know if it helps. If there are any lawyers in the house, step forward, b/c the thing just makes my head spin.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jan 3, 2006 -> 10:22 PM) I understand that, but my other question was "Did James really say that?" He's quoting Studes, not James. Looking at a WS article that James wrote, I can't find that quote verbatim, but I think it's a fair summary anyway. I'm not sure where the "Whoa" comes in, I don't know why that statement would be controversial...

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 07:53 PM) You get 2 draft picks at the end of the year and McCarthy another year under his belt and ready to move into the starter's slot while keeping the World Series pitching intact for this upcoming year to make another run. If I'm KW, I hold onto Contreras even if he doesn't sign an extension unless you can get a Tejada for him. Iirc, a couple people have said that Contreras has a Matsuiesque clause in his contract, saying that the Sox have to release him by some particular day if they don't have an extension worked out. But by doing that, the Sox give up all claims to draft picks. I'm not sure if it's true, but if so, we would lose him for nothing.

I don't think Taveras is a bad player, but all this 'oh you evil stats people' is bs. Look at the stats or don't, I don't care, Taveras has zero power. I don't want 2 places in the lineup (in the outfield, no less) occupied by players with flyswatter bats. I agree that obp is more important than power at the top of the lineup, but I think it's absurd to jettison pop entirely.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 11:59 PM) Because OBP is a far more important stat than AVG, especially when it comes to a leadoff-type hitter like Taveras. His AVG is good while his OBP stinks. I'd rather have Taveras if he had a .270 AVG and a .360 OBP. Okay, so basically we're not disagreeing at all? (Except that I expect his obp will get better, based on his minor league stats. )

Okay, and players with good obp usually keep their plate patience and keep drawing walks. I still don't see any reason to think ba is a 'good stat', while obp is a 'bad stat'.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 08:51 PM) You can't just assume that Willie's SB success rate would have stayed at 80% if he had tried to steal as much as Taveras. It more than likely wouldn't have. Last year, they each succeeded about 75% of the time, and it looks like Harris was more likely than Taveras to steal (given that he had many fewer plate appearances). Why do the stats bashers seem to love citing Taveras's batting average so much? That's no less statty than obp. I don't think the 'tools' analysis of Taveras says anything different than the stats analysis. Fast guy, decent fielder, probably more patient than we saw this year, zilch for power. And then it comes down to those who think we need dual Podsedniks against those who think one is enough...maybe more than enough. The eternal sb debate. Hasn't this debate been done to death?

Price of oil is a wee bit higher, too. Even with that, they still have a national income of one-sixth to one-tenth of the US's (per capita), and infant mortality is still roughly three times what it is in the US. That's poor. Chavez is a pure demagogue, and I don't want to see Chicago's public sector beholden to him.

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Dec 29, 2005 -> 11:21 PM) Damn the Venezuelans for not taking advantage of super high priced profits and instead offering to help those who need it. Look at the poverty in Venezuela and tell me that Americans are more needy. If Chavez gave a damn about helping the poor, he'd sell the fuel on the world market and use the profits to help the poor in his own country. He's an asshole and a demagogue, and I'm not disappointed that Chicago public services are not putting themselves in debt to him.

WC, what a bad comparison. If I knew BMac would have a start like Prior, I'd take him in 1/10th of a heartbeat over 35 year old Contreras. If you want to say Tejada's more important, okay, that's an argument. But saying he may be like Prior...geez, f*** Tejada then.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 28, 2005 -> 10:33 PM) Is this serious? I wouldn't trade Raul Casanova for Erstad. He wasn't proposing this -- he was asking if the other poster was referring to the Garland-for-Erstad deal a few years back, instead of G-for-Eckstein. (Which I don't remember either...)

Anyone know if the $100 mil number take into account the offsets we got for Count, Thome, and Vazquez?

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Dec 28, 2005 -> 08:23 AM) Well Newhan showed he can be good in stretches and while Gibbons is uninspiring, he does have a 100 rbi season in his past. I think they sign Burnitz, chicken out on Prior and overpay for Jeff Weaver and claim they are trying Gibbons is a solid player, reliable -- the average'll go up or down in a given season, but you're likely to get a .300-.330 obp. About what you'd expect from Burnitz. Newhan was a big disappointment this season, but still, looking at his minor league numbers (consistently a very good hitter), I'd expect him to bounce back this year. Funny thing is, people in Baltimore were pissed about the Jeff Conine signing, and that might end up being the best signing they manage this offseason. (Except for Mazzone, of course.)