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QUOTE(Steff @ May 23, 2005 -> 01:23 PM) I care about winning. winning isn't everything, IT'S THE ONLY THING!!!!!!!

QUOTE(DABearSoX @ May 23, 2005 -> 11:41 AM) I read an article in the paper on if JR dove into his pockets and made the parking lots into an area like wrigleyville, with bars and things to do before and after the game we could be owning this city. What most people tend to forget is that JR owns very little of the team. I'm sure someone knows the exact number but I believe it is around 9%. He is the managing partner and speaks for the rest of the group. Holwever, when discussing the improvements around the ballpark it is by no means "JR diving into his pockets." It is the plan of the partners (of which there are many) and that of the Illinois Sports Authority which owns the stadium which must be taken into conisderation. I hope they do improve the area around the ballpark but it will hardly be up to JR diving into his pockets to do so.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ May 23, 2005 -> 10:31 AM) Everyone needs to put this line of thinking to rest. Frank is one of the most prolific OBP guys in the history of the game; in no way, shape, or form should we question his return to the lineup. It's rather easy: Frank starts at DH. Done. It's Frank Freakin Thomas we are talking about. I'm blown away with this questioning. We will find this out shortly after he comes back. Is he going to be the "my stats first only guy." If a situation calls for him to hit to the right side to move a runner along will he do it? Or will he try to pull it to get the RBI or increase his ave. This has been the complaints about him, mags and c. lee in the past. Only worrying about their own stats. Mags and C.Lee are gone becuase of it let's see how Frank responds. Me, I hope he comes back and stays until he retires, but if he doesn't do what Ozzie asks he may be gone.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 18, 2005 -> 12:41 PM) We have got to stop making outs on the bases. There's a difference between being aggressive, and playing dumb baseball. Everybody told me I was over reacting when I complained about this in ST. We needed to work on base running then and we still need to work on it.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 17, 2005 -> 01:41 PM) In the Month of May 2005 the bad news first Our power guys Joe Crede who everyone is claiming is a Walker success is batting .191, he has a .268 OBP Kong is batting .149, Everett is batting .233 Dye is batting .239 Our swing players AJ is batting .243 Uribe is batting .245 Now for the good news Our little guys Arow is batting .340 with a .404 OBP Gooch is batting .283 with a .345 OBP Pods is .308 with a .429 OBP And now for the news of hope Our first three guys are doing their job, the rest of the guys needs to kick it in gear. If they hit at all this team will score some runs. Frank should be licking his chops looking at all the ducks that will be on the pond for him. I agree the first three have been doing well. If we begin to get any production from the 3-4-5 we will be in business. Back to the walker discussion. "I wonder if the little guys" are more capable of following the opposite field thoery than the others for whatever reason?

QUOTE(JimH @ May 17, 2005 -> 01:14 PM) Interesting, for me it's been old Comiskey and U.S. Cellular, Wrigley, County Stadium and Miller Park, Anaheim, Dodger Stadium, Pac Bell, Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arlington new, Busch Stadium, HHH Dome, SkyDome, Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Fenway, Tiger Stadium, Comerica, Jacobs Field, Royals Stadium, Riverfront in Cincinnati, Camden, Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Astrodome, Atlanta new. In the near future, next 2-3 years, want to get to Pittsburgh, RFK in Washington, and Philly. It's a blast getting to other cities and seeing the ballparks. For me it's Both Comiskey's, Wrigley, County Stadium, Miller Park, Petco, Kingdome, Bank One, Old Met Stadium in Minny, Kaufman Stadium, Busch, Sky Dome, Tiger Stadium (not Comerica though), Olympic Stadium, Fenway, Riverfront, Camden, Astrodome, Fulton County, Tropicana, Minute Maid, Yankee Stadium, Oakland Coliseum, Coors Field Three Rivers for a Steelers game but not Pirates.

QUOTE(SoxFanForever @ Apr 15, 2005 -> 01:35 PM) That pen will never succeed without a lefty too!! We better get Billy Wagner too....Better resurrect Lefty Grove while we are getting Ruth too Babe Ruth could double as OF and lefty out of the pen!!!!! It makes as much sense as anything else in this thread.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 17, 2005 -> 12:23 PM) Walker is a complex subject. Everytime I have heard him talk he states on preaching his hitting to all fields. Yet I see nothing from this team over the years to back this up. Last year anyone and I mean anyone who was a soft tosser who could spot the fastball on the outside corner would shut this team down. Why is this. Well look at our players hitting stances and styles. Hands high up, standing away from the plate. If a pitch is inside they murder it foul. On the outside corner they still try to pull that slow pitch and either pop up or roll their wrists over for a weak ground out. Its hard to square up a ball when our hitters are putting hitches and archs in their swings. How many hitters over the last 3 years have had BA's that sit around the .200 level. I have never seen this on a major league team. Yes one player can slump, but groups of our hitters slump at the same time. Konerko is completely lost now. The minute you start changing your stance every single time you go up to the plate you are going to K. He doesnt even have pitch selection right now to go with. This is a mirror of where Crede was last year. Always 0-2. Kong has been a good fastball hitter, however is getting beat this year on 89 mph fastballs down the middle. This is exactly what Crede did last year. Crede would come up with the big home run late in games last year because pitchers would get 0-2 on him and would throw a 12-6 pitch down and in. When you have a hitch in your swing a curve that plays into your upper cut swing is the best remedy. Now Kong is doing the bat resting on the shoulder routine. This is a Walker thing. He had Miggy doing it, Crede and now Kong. The hitting coach should be able to use video of good swings to help a hitter find his swing again. When our hitters get lost they are completely lost and for like 3 or more months at a time. What Walker should be doing is to try and get Konerko's back elbow up a bit. This would stop the upper cut swing and allow him to square up a ball or to for a hit. Watch Arow, his back elbow is up again( which is not where he started the year off with). His hitting is more mechanical than others but very effective. He has great oppo power. Gooch has a goofy open stance, but watch his hands through the hitting zone. Its a line drive swing. This is what I would expect Walker to be teaching the guys. Line drive swings. Line drive swings are less likely to get into slumps. Yes they dont hit the monsterous moon shots, but the BA comes up and the homers will come. Our team has been remade into a smartball team. Its time for them to start to hit like that. Smallball teams dont have a group of hitters hitting below 200. Rob Deer, Jose Valentin teams are the ones with the 200 averages and the upper cut swings. And before we state that Walker helped Carlos get into the 28 game hitting streak lets look to the tinkering he did to get him out of that approach. Walker helped Carlos Lee change his stance and extend his arms at the end of that hitting streak so he could hit for more power. Before Walkers tinkering Carlos had a very tight compact swing with opposite field power. After Walker helped him change his swing, a longer swing that allows Carlos to pull the ball. A month later we are all upset watching Carlos swing for the fences and trying to pull the outside pitch. This is cause an effect. Remember the press was hounding Carlos about the power numbers. Well guess what he changed his swing, told the press he would hit 30 and did. At the expense of situational hitting during a strech in August. Remember when Kenny made the comment about "If I ever see another guy swing for the fences when we need a basehit I will puke." This is an interesting take on the situation. While your points are valid, everytime you hear walker talks he discusses going the opposite way and up the middle is the most important part of hitting. This brings up a few possible scenarios. Either he isn't teaching what he discussing, the hitters aren't listening or the hitters are truly just stuck in a slump and are guessing at pitches. None of these possiblities show well on Walker. One thing I have noticed is Walker keeps talking about his hitters did not walk enough last year and they worked on it in ST. I wonder if they are becoming too passive and wind up going after pitcher's pitches, which may explain the high rate of pop ups. Let's hope the professional experienced hitters can turn it around.

The offense has been awful all year and now the pitching is going south with no end in sight. The offense isn't improving and we need to get rid of crede, PK, Dye Timo, Willie, and anyone else who chokes in an RBI or clutch situation. I'm tired of this whole thing it's going downhill from here and we will be in last place by the end of June!!!!!! I feel better now. Just some anger and rants leftover from last night. My students had a b itch of a lab practical on the lumbar spine and most will need to re-take it to pass the course. It can all be blamed on the last three Sox games. The students are hoping the Sox get better. So, let's get Texas and move on to crush the Cubs.

If you prefer how about tired arm phase. Usually about 1/3 of the way through a season the pitcher go through some kind of a down phase where they kind of lose it. They also go through it later in the year as you mention. It's not an injury but tired. some can work through it better then others

QUOTE(That funky motion @ May 16, 2005 -> 08:16 PM) Then why is the other teams arms look so peppy They'll go through the same thing. Like I said everyone does at a certain point in the season. I hope this is the problem but it could just as easy be they are reverting to past poor habits.

hopefully, it's just the deadarm phase many pitchers go through about this time of the year. Remeber all of the pitchers have consistently gone deep in games since the beginning of the year. It natural for pitchers to lose it around now. It's a little early but as stated they have been going deep in games alot.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ May 15, 2005 -> 09:34 PM) A more fun topic would be which players have you drank with lol I will say I have been very fortunate in my life to interact with a lot of great people and have remained friends with some (including the catcher none of you had ever heard of that hit a HR against the Sox today)...... But my favorite memory was being lucky enough to spend parts of three days with Willie Mays. It was an amazing experience and nothing I could ever forget. I remeber Sal from the minor league days with the Royals. He was a decent hitter then. I think it was 93 or 94. Tipped a few with him during ST that year

QUOTE(Steff @ May 16, 2005 -> 09:59 AM) Don't worry.. all of us season ticket holders will buy them up so you don't get one. I'll grab the ones you don't!!!!

I don't read the paper or listen to the radio. I will only listen to the XM music or comedy channels until the next game. It also depends on how they lose. If its a close well played game it doesn't bother me as much. But errors, poor pitching or poor baserunning drive me nuts.

QUOTE(White Sox @ May 14, 2005 -> 12:49 PM) If parking wasn't 17 dollars, I would go. Park on state by IIT. It's free. But you need to get there early because they go fast.

QUOTE(DePloderer @ May 13, 2005 -> 03:13 PM) Cheers Fellas, thanks for the info and insight. Welcome aboard!!!! now for the important question: What is your favorite beer?

QUOTE(Nokona @ May 13, 2005 -> 03:17 PM) I put my pants on two legs at a time actually. No wonder you have Fast Break in your sig

QUOTE(Steff @ May 13, 2005 -> 02:55 PM) Really.. and I know this will sound s***ty.. so many to name. Right now Jim and I know, and talk to on a regular basis, players on 11 different teams. Add in the retired ones he plays golf with and I bet we have both leagues covered. No need to apologize. There is no shame in having friends. 99% of the people who read here appreciate any insight and good stories you have. There rest of them to qoute another poster can eat..... (I just bring myself to type it.)

QUOTE(Steff @ May 13, 2005 -> 02:18 PM) Yoss.. I don't think you and I have ever had a cross conversation. It's just a select few that for some reason think I think my s*** don't stink because I know people who play professional sports.. :rolly OOOoooooo... big friggin whip. They put their pants on one leg at a time just like the rest of us. I agree. Some people just take it too far. As far as them putting thier pants on one leg at a time, this does apply to most except for those how have taken the performance enhacers, theirs go on easier

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ May 13, 2005 -> 01:34 PM) Tim Raines, 1992, we just dug it up. Ozzie tore his ACL and needed surgery. On a side note: His injury was somewhat of a test case. Previous to his injury, surgery was done for this as soon as possible with the theory being it would heal better and faster. Just before his case a new theory of letting the swelling go down before doing surgery was becoming popular. The Sox surgeons at the time decided to try this and having the swelling go down first. The medi kept asking when is the surgery going to happen. While not earth shattering his was one of the first high profile athletes in the area to change the way ACL rehab was done. Just though I would throw that out there (everyone can wake up the lecture is over)

QUOTE(JimH @ May 13, 2005 -> 01:23 PM) Harry Teinowitz, AM 1000, pleasant guy but my goodness I have never seen a guy more attached to his cell phone in my life. A true Cub fan

working in the game I've met many players both on and off the field. As others have stated most are what they seem some good some bad. One that was totally different than the common perception was Jose Canseco. While he was an egoist he went out of his way to be nice to kids. I saw him hang around after games for an hour to sign for kids. after one ST game he sat for 21/2 hours to talk with kids. I asked him one time why and he said something to the effect of, "they are the future and we need to help them as much as possible. " From my dealings: The best guy of all time Robin Yount When I was a student trainer he took me out for dinner and paid for everything just to say thanks for helping out around the club house. The worst Gary Sheffield i think I've poted why before and I don't like to dwell on negatives IMHO Forgot the best Sox: Once was on a plane with Harold Baines. Sat and talked with him for 2 hours. He answered every question and had an opinion on every possible topic. While not talkative, very personable and freindly.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 12, 2005 -> 04:38 PM) I guess I should've said if they were doing roids. Of course, we could hook Timo up with some flaxseed oil..... The policy states that the substance for which they are suspended will not be released. many of the GNC products contain steroid precursors or masking agents that will show a positive test. With the increased positive tests, the players will eventually learn to ask the athletic trainer about the products before they take them.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 11, 2005 -> 12:40 PM) The question I have is that Dye was a late replacement for Everett in the DH spot. Why not let Widger DH today? He's been one of our best hitters lately. I know Ozzie has gone with some stupid lineups in the 3rd game of the series this year, but that was when we had won the first two games of the series. Getting swept by Tampa wouldn't exactly be good for this team's psyche. Who would be the back up catcher if AJ went down? You don't want to lose the DH with this lineup. Of course maybe Duke hitting would be better.