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QUOTE (scenario @ May 3, 2011 -> 02:51 PM) I did a little digging a couple of years back to find all AJ incidents that could have classified him as a prick. I posted on Twins and Giants boards and asked for specific examples. The Giants incident you named above is the ONLY one anyone ever could come up with. And the only evidence that it ever happened was anecdotal. Several knowledgable fans I talked to said that never really happened. And that the real reason AJ was not liked is that the Giants had a clique of pitchers with fragile egos and AJ wouldn't kiss up to them. Besides that questionable "incident"... the other things were all game related... like the 3rd strike against the Angels, etc. So I think the myth of AJ's behavior has grown way out of proportion to the reality. There was one game-related one that I loved which probably set the stage for his hatred in San Francisco before he got there. It had to do with a playoff series between the Twins and A's when AJ was still with Minny. I guess he was chirping back and forth with a couple of A's trying to get into their heads while they were at the plate... and it started to get a little heated. Then he came up to bat late in a game and hit a homerun to put the Twins ahead... and as he crossed the plate he turned to the A's catcher and yelled "BOOYAH"... practically inciting a riot. Twins fans remember it (and him) very fondly. They only started to dislike him after he left. So, if this was Politifact... then I think I would find B&B's claim of AJ hatred to be... I knew him in the minors. He just isn't a nice person. He has had many incidents that may or not be printed or reported but he has had plenty of them.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 3, 2011 -> 01:49 PM) David Kaplan Breaking News, Rose did have MRI despite reports to contrary. Grade 2 sprain to ligament on outside of ankle. A grade 2 sprain is a partial tear of the ligament, up to 50%. The ligaments are extension of the joint capsuleso there is concomitant laxity in the joint with special tests. The results don't change much during the playoffs. You tape it tightly add a functional ankle brace and hope he doesn't make it any worse. The downside is he may play a little more tentative due to the possibility of making it worse.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ May 3, 2011 -> 10:29 AM) I don't believe it. That's like saying nobody liked Carlton Fisk. these situations are different. People didn't get along with Fisk because he was stand offish and arrogant. He just didn't really associate with people. AJ is just a pain in the a** to everyone. He is tolerated because winning teams will tolerate it if he is helping them win. As soon as the losing starts so will the complaining about the personality.It's similar to the Yankees with Gary Sheffield, although AJ is not the class of Sheffield.

QUOTE (LVSoxFan @ May 3, 2011 -> 10:05 AM) Just how is he a jerk and a bully? I hear a lot of accusations, but very, very little details or specifics. He likes to berate people. He not only doesn't help others he tries to make their life more difficult. The classic example is when he was with the Giants and he took a bouncing pitch in the nads during warmups. The trainer asked how he was feeling. AJ still kneeling hit the trainer in the nads and said "it feels like this a**hole" and began laughing about it.

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ May 3, 2011 -> 09:55 AM) This is total crap ... if there was a real clubhouse issue, they would not have re-signed him. Additionally, AJ has made average starting pitchers outperform for years and we all know that at a minimum Buehrle respects him. GMAFB May I refresh everyone's memory: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3657165 It isn't crap. AJ is a classic jerk and bully. Nobody likes him. They tolerate him because of how he can help a pitching staff. MB may repsect him, I don't know for sure, he tends to try to get evrone to play niceand is usually postive but I guarantee he doesn't like him.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ May 3, 2011 -> 08:44 AM) This may be morbid, but curious to know what kind of gun they used to kill Osama Bin Laden. Navy Seal standard weapons are the M4 Carbine and the HK MP4. My guess is that in the close quarters they were expecting it was the HK.

QUOTE (since56 @ May 3, 2011 -> 07:41 AM) A.J. has been the most hated man in baseball for a long time. He behaved himself when K.W. took a chance on him and now the ass***e in him is re-emerging. The biggest ass is the manager. I could see it being an uncomfortable situation for some guys. But so what, make your big money and win ballgames. Winning is fun remember. It cures all ills. Actually there are very few people who do not like Guillen. He is a very fun and entertaining person to be with. He is a very likable person. He is the loudmouth friend at the end of the bar that everyone has fun with. Now, his in game strategy is a totally different thing.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ May 3, 2011 -> 12:27 AM) This whole organization is full of losers, chokers, and softies, and being that AJ is not one of them, it certainly makes sense that he'd have some enemies right now. There is zero reason for a team with this much talent to pack in it, night after night, series after series. This is the same s*** they did this time last year, only Kenny and Ozzie could be blamed for it that time. Now, there's no one to blame but the sorry ass players themselves. It's not September yet, boys, and these aren't the Twins. You don't have to tuck tail yet! Maybe Kenny needs to send off everyone who has a problem with AJ and fire Ozzie's ass too. Change the culture and just start this whole damn thing over. Please, Mark Buehrle, go somewhere else and win. You too AJ, and same with Paulie. John Danks - what a great call on not signing that extension! Money aside, why would anyone with your abilities want to play here? Go make some cash and win some games elsewhere. This team is 100% capable of not only righting this ship but trouncing those pretenders atop the division, winning the division, making the playoffs, and winning a WS. The talent is definitely there. But this AJ hating s*** is exactly why they'll do nothing but founder once again when the going really gets tough. This is a rant, but I mean Jesus, it's like half the noteworthy and conversation inducing team related events occur over Twitter posts by a Guillen family member. That's what we get as Sox fans instead of a baseball season, Guillen family Twitter drama. And choking. And now hating on AJ?! Really?! If you're a player and AJ's behavior is pissing you off then how about you take out yout tampon and let your balls drop and take it out on the field of play instead of confiding in some dbag Score host. Ugh. I'm done now. Don't worry AJ has a history of punching trainer's in theirs so he'll take care of it for you.

And in other news, water is wet. AJ has always been and will always be an a**. Nobody likes him. We've been saying this since he got here. Players tolerate him if things are going well. Remember Garland's quotes about him being tolerated in the clubhouse. This is not news. It's just coming out again because the other story is that the team is playing awful.

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 2, 2011 -> 09:36 PM) I saw 2 hits come tumbling in after Konerko's HR. Guess how many I saw after each of Ozzie 2 out steal attempts? Anyway - I'm not saying I want to see guys swing for the fences. But, stop taking the bat out of the hands of other guys who can hit. f***ing aggravating.... and THAT is what is not working. Neither is waiting for a hit. The average and OBP are awful as well.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2011 -> 09:34 PM) Sox are 12-26 stealing this season Just another part of the awful offense this year just like the team BA and OBP, so waiting for a hit isn't likely either. This is why you need to continue to try different things.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 2, 2011 -> 09:30 PM) That's not true. If he plays by any book, it's the very outdated one. It's the book that says a lefty always hits better against a righty and that you always want your lefty pitching to left-handed hitters. You mean like leaving Ohman in to face more than just lefties. He needs to pick his spots better and I don't always agree with it bit someone will complain no matter what he does.

QUOTE (TomPickle @ May 2, 2011 -> 09:29 PM) I think what most people complain about is that the Sox brought in Will Ohman to be a LOOGY (presumably) and Ozzie doesn't even try to use him as one. I agree with this. A man(ager) has got to know his (players) limitations.

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 2, 2011 -> 09:30 PM) Sox win when they hit HRs. It's that simple. True. But when they aren't doing it for long strecthes, you need to try something else instead of doing the Lou Pinella impersonation and falling asleep.

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 2, 2011 -> 09:26 PM) We can discuss the high rate of steals. Let's start with this game. Just 1 game. Easy..... How many attempts? How many successful? Doesn't matter. When the status quo isn't working try something different. Even if the Sox win it doesn't change that the offense is struggling. Don't focus on one game focus on the big picture of getting the offense going.

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 2, 2011 -> 09:23 PM) Hey - here's something positive and I mean this sincerely...no negativity. I'm impressed that Ozzie let Crain handle the 8th (though, I noticed he was warming Sale for his R-L bulls***) but didn't stop Crain's momentum. That was good to see. He finally kept himself out of the f***ing game. We may actually win this one. That's different most people complain he doesn't follow the book enough. I do agree with you on this one though.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2011 -> 09:21 PM) It's stupid cause they always get caught. Our success rate seems to be below 50% this season. When nothing nothing else is working try something else. The offense has been awful lately so you may as well be aggressive. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of .........

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 2, 2011 -> 09:10 PM) Yeah, another failed steal attempt (squandered baserunner). This time, he asks a guy to steal just seconds after getting pegged in the f***ing elbow. Genius. Go Ozzie! So true, it's really difficult to run when your elbow hurts.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2011 -> 09:10 PM) Rios swinging the bat really well tonight. Just when you get excited, you get frustrated by another stupid caught stealing. Yes, it's stupid because sitting back and waiting for the home run has been doing well for the offense lately. Or maybe it's the extremely high rate of hits our offense is producing.

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 2, 2011 -> 07:46 PM) Don't misunderstand my point - I'm not blaming just Ozzie. But if you're rational, you start somewhere meaninful and impactful. And he damn sure is a good place to start. That I can agree with. I don't think he is the problem but if things don't change soon changes will need to be made.

QUOTE (Andrew @ May 2, 2011 -> 07:13 PM) Yeah, and that's the line he premises the entire article on which is what I think fires me up. I'm tired of hearing that it's on the players. That's the easy excuse. Everyone in baseball decided there shouldn't be a cap, the union guarantees and rules are what they are, everyone agreed, and that's how it is. They are overpaid children, but that doesn't change the fact that Managers are STILL RESPONSIBLE to be sure your team is prepared, executes, and gets the results. I run a business - I wish I had the luxury of going - "Ah well, even though the $ on top notch marketing has been spent, we put together a great product, got the phones ringing, generated interest, but the sales guys just aren't closing the deals" all the while managers, systems, and resources are also being paid for with no repercussions for anyone. Especially when that "talent" has demonstrably proven it's ability to perform in the past. It's bulls*** and it doesn't apply to any business or product anywhere else in the world, yet this s*** keeps getting shoved down our throats. KW has been changing bodies and even went so far as to go against his entire team building philosophy just this past year. He's right about the same results; he's wrong about changing bodies under the laundry being the solution. Actually, blaming the problems on a single person such as the manager is the easy way out. The first few loses were on the pen, most of the recent ones have been on the offense, all bit PK and TCQ probably. I'm not the biggest Ozzie fan here, although I do think he is an above average manger, but to blame him for all of these things is just wrong. It's just easier to take it out on a single person and it's easier to get rid of one person.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 29, 2011 -> 06:15 PM) Is it Rios' left or right big toe? If it's his RIGHT, that's a much bigger issue, since it's the plant foot and would severely affect his power and drive at the plate, as well as jumps in CF. Where's PTAC? Is it like "turf toe" or something different? How long would they theoretically need to shut him down for him to be 100%? Is it one of those injuries that you just have to play through during the season, but where it won't get any worse but it can possibly be healing and then regress again or be re-aggravated? I'm not sure what the injury is. If it is turf toe, it will really inhibit any push off with that foot or running. Turf toe is a sprain of the ligaments and capsule on the inside of the big toe. This will limit any activity where alot of weight is put on that foot. Whenever you run or walk you must dorsiflex (raise up) the toe at least to 70 degrees. This is next too impossible to do with turf toe. It is an injury which can take up to 6-8 weeks to heal depending on the severity of the sprain. Real severe ones can end careers.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Apr 27, 2011 -> 11:04 AM) I'm with BigSqwert. I loved Buerhle's play, and likely the "better" play, but there was just something crazy about the way Iguchi had to contort his body with the MASSIVE spin on the ball to make that throw 3 inches off the ground parrallel to it was just incredible. I voted Iguchi for the same reason. Plus being there live adds a little for me.

QUOTE (Real @ Apr 26, 2011 -> 09:10 PM) We lose that game with CQ in RF Ozzie is an idiot. How dare he pinch run for CQ and keep Lillibridge in RF. Lilibridge shouldn't have even made the team. Milledge should have made the team instead. (yes, this should be in green)

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 26, 2011 -> 08:07 PM) Morel needs to go to AAA and be told to pull every pitch he sees. No more of this NL pitching style bulls*** at the plate. But I thought that is the only thing Walker can teach.