Balta1701

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Apr 23, 2007 -> 04:52 PM) That pitcher's uniform is so 2006. Pretty sure that came from a link I originally posted.

The National Republican Senate Committee's Multimedia Page.

Having driven a couple of sports cars in Chicago weather... I can not fathom why anyone would actually want to drive a rear wheel drive sports car around Chicago from November through April. If you want any power at all, then at least in my experience, the vehicle is not going to be controllable in the type of weather Chicago gets in the winter. It just won't be.

And I'm back from the Tehachapi Mountains in just enough time to join in and say Happy Birthday!

Is not nearly emphatic enough with the "go sox". The baby can't even use caps lock for that? Come on baby!

Kick some ass Mark.

King Felix has been diagnosed with a strain in a muscle in his right forearm/elbow. 10 to 20 days or so, if their trainer can be believed.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 04:25 PM) In that case, I can certainly respect your views on killing animals. But I fail to see how hunting is any worse than commercial animal processing. Well, I'm neither...but I think that in terms of cleanliness, safety of the food, and carefulness of preparation, hunting your food is probably better for you than eating a burger from a cow raised on a factory farm next to who knows how many diseases and slaughtered in such a way where fragments of its brain stem wind up ground into meat.

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 02:17 PM) If Padilla hits AJ, Id be willing to bet that AJ charges the mound. sox - 7 rangers - 1 Considering that MLB has already fined AJ once for being annoying enough to be punched, I sure hope AJ keeps his cool. Who here wants Gustavo Molina starting with Wikipedia as his backup for 2 weeks?

QUOTE(bmags @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 12:44 PM) whats the weather report Time Condition Feels Like Chance Precip Dew point Humid. Wind 4pm Mostly Sunny 55°F 51°F 20% 38°F 57% From NE 15 mph 5pm Partly Cloudy 55°F 51°F 10% 38°F 57% From NE 14 mph 6pm Sunny 55°F 51°F 10% 38°F 57% From NE 14 mph 7pm Sunny 53°F 49°F 0% 38°F 59% From NE 12 mph Sunset 7:36 pm 8pm Sunny 51°F 47°F 0% 38°F 63% From NNE 11 mph 9pm Clear 49°F 45°F 0% 37°F 66% From NNE 9 mph

QUOTE(Soxy @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 12:33 PM) Eh, that's basically just the definition of a sociopath. And I agree, I think there is some level of disclosure that may be necessary. For example, just like a sex offender I would like to know if someone with Anti-social personality disorder moved in next door. But the NIHM (National Institute of Mental Health) estimates that slightly over 1 in 4 Americans have some form of mental illness. I don't think that all of those people should have a record like that hanging over their heads. Is keeping public records of people's depression or anxiety diagnoses really going to help? I imagine that would really only exacerbate those problems, and I don't think it would be just embarrassing--I think it could be really professionally damaging too. So, if you want to keep track of people that have a history of anti-social behavior I would agree. But if you think someone with Seasonal Affective Disorder, Dysthymic disorder, OCD, or anorexia shouldn't be allowed to buy a gun, I'm afraid I would disagree. Then thinking beyond that, who all gets access to this database and what happens when they do so? If we're cataloging a database of varieties of mental illness...that sure seems like something people other than just gun shop owners might like to get their hands on. I can fully imagine employers and health insurance companies would go head over heels to try to get access to that sort of data, because it could help them avoid expenses either for their employees or to cover insurance bills if they could remove the 25% or so of people with some sort of issue.

Oh, and on the subject of trading Anderson...trading Brian Anderson right now is, IMO, the stupidest thing this organization could do with any of its young players. The whole reason another team would want Mr. Anderson right now is that he clearly has a lot of talent, but the team trading with us would be expecting the White Sox to have to be the team compeltely biting the bullet on him, so we'd basically be trading him for the value equivalent of what we got back for Joe Borchard - either some minor leaguer with little shot of making the big leagues or a major project case. We got lucky with Thornton because he was out of options and Cooper already liked him...I doubt lightning would strike again.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 12:10 PM) Ryan Zimmerman last year- 84 R, 20 HR, 110RBI, .287/.351/.822 in a pitcher's park Joe Crede last year- 76 R, 30 HR, 94 RBI, .283/.323/.829 in a hitter's park and a much stronger lineup Look pretty similar to me... Well, that's what I get for not looking things up. Ok, I'll give Zimmerman also, that puts Crede in the pack competing for the 5th place slot. Of course, one could make the point that Mr. Crede was performing much better than that until his back went out in September and his numbers dropped, but that all fits into the equation anyway.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 11:50 AM) Wrong. The back is a major concern. Joe could have had surgery on the back this season, but decided against it. So far this season, he has been awful at the plate. Not very encouraging. And sorry, but he isn't close to being a "Top 5" 3rd basemen. To start. Alex Rodriguez Miguel Cabrera David Wright Ryan Zimmerman Scott Rolen Chipper Jones Eric Chávez Garrett Atkins Aramis Ramírez You could then make arguments for guys like Glaus, Mora, Tracy, even a guy like Inge. I will certainly give you the top 3. Zimmerman though is still developing, even though his contract status makes him more valuable than Mr. Crede, but he has yet to put up numbers like Joe put up last season.. Rolen, Jones, and Chavez have all had major injury issues over the past few years that have decreased their value well below that of Mr. Crede. Ramirez can put up offensive numbers better than Mr. Crede, but his defense is in the toilet and everyone knows it. I don't know that Atkins guy well enough to comment on him.

The Angels moved Wood to 3rd base this season with the understanding that they have at least 2 guys, probably 3, who will make quality SS, but didn't really have a 3rd baseman except McPherson who is constantly hurt. The Angels are simply not trading Wood for Crede. No chance, no way, no how. On the other hand, I wouldn't mind at all getting a chance to pilfer McPherson away from them while he's hurt, but that would be as a low-level throw-in type guy. Crede to the Angels would have to be built around some piece they might be willing to give up, that we'd want, and that could allow for equal value. From looking at the Angels organization, I think the only guys who might fit that bill are Erick Aybar, Chone Figgins, and Ervin Santana (obviously, the value of those 3 differs significantly). I think it might be possible to construct a fair deal around one of those 3 guys, but that depends on whether or not Mr. Crede starts hitting this season and how desperate the Halos get for another bat.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 11:28 AM) Administratvely it could be as easy as the gun shop sending a form into some state office where they simply reply 'yes' or 'no' to whether they should get a gun. No questions asked, no information provided, lives possibly saved. I believe the national waiting period for purchasing guns got struck down, so it couldn't be a form going into a state office because there's no legal way to delay the purchase. It would have to be something added to the insta-check system, so there's no real way any actual judgement could be applied on the spot if a person comes in to buy one. QUOTE(Soxy @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 11:39 AM) And, I think this is key here: what percentage of people that commit these sort of mass atrocities actually have a paper trail of mental illness behind them? I am willing to bet it's very few. And I really disagree with you that having a mental illness is on par with committing a crime. I think this piece from a few years ago looking at the psychological profiles of the Columbine shooters adds something to this discussion.

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 10:35 AM) he wasn't for a good part of last year. He was getting caught stealing an awful lot. We'll see how fast he is after coming back from yet another groin injury. He's already been thrown out by Victor Martinez this season.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 10:01 AM) Oh joy, a player who's ceiling is probably 2005 Scott Podsednik. If this organization has Owens in their plans as a future leadoff hitter, I'm going to pull my hair out. I'm sick of these slap hitting speedsters who get on-base at no better than an average rate. Hey, no matter what else they say, if a guy can hit near .300 and steal a ton of bases at a reasonable (75%) clip, that's a major league caliber player in my book. There is always a place for those type of guys.

Howie Kendrick to the DL with a broken finger. As Tim Kurkjian put it last night, the Angels are a bat short when they have a full, healthy lineup, and now they're missing Kendrick and Guerrero. Ryan Howard has a sprained ligament in his left leg. Charlie Manuel (Phillies manager) went all Bobby Knight ape-sh*t on the media in his press conference and in the locker room last night. Bobby Cox signed a 1 year extension through 08. Willie Aybar was suspended indefinitely for skipping a game. Jose Lopez signed with the Mariners through 2011.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 09:45 AM) If healthy, I foresee him starting in centerfield for the rest of the season despite his abysmal offensive production. There's no one else currently on the roster who the organization feels is any better than him and I don't really have much confidence in KW going out and acquiring a starting position player before the deadline. I think that based on last year, they can only go so long with him hitting like Anderson before they give someone else a legit shot. It would help if B.A. could get some good at bats in the backup role they've given him, but so far that hasn't happened. But seriously, can they live with another CF hitting below the Mendoza line throughout April and May again?

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 09:39 AM) Is there any way they can get their hands on the appropriate servers and recover any of those emails, or any legal recourse for such a blatant action? Obstruction of justice? It's going to be a long process, I think, even just to get a chance to look at the emails that they didn't send. The White House is going to be claiming executive priveledge at every step, they've already shown this. They've instructed the RNC to hand over nothing in terms of emails, claiming that everything is priveledged. Congressman Waxman and the White House have exchanged a series of publically available letters so far, to no avail yet. What will almost certainly happen is that eventually, there will be subpoenas issued by the Congress for those documents, the Administration will refuse to comply with the subpoenas, and it will wind up before the Supreme Court, possibly just dragging things out until the end of the administration. If it is found that they deliberately deleted emails to cover up possibly illegal acts or removed emails after they had been subpoenaed, then they would certainly be subject to obstruction claims. Without either of those, they have acted in clear violation of the Presidential Records Act, but I'm not sure what, if any, punishment it can mete out.

Is it possible that Mr. Williams still has some confidence in Mr. Owens, who I believe has started off this season hitting .290 in AAA?

QUOTE(Iwritecode @ Apr 19, 2007 -> 09:24 AM) That brings up an interesting quetion. If we had the same laws here, would this guy have even attempted this stunt in the first place? Well, the other side of that same coin is Iraq. Everyone there seems to have an AK 47 or two, and that hasn't exactly served to make the place safer. Or for a different comparison, take the U.S. and Britain. The U.S. has an awful lot more guns than Britain, but the U.S. also has a crime rate several times higher than Britain. There are major societal factors that play into this. Some societies are hurt a lot more by things than others. If everyone was armed to the teeth, it's possible he might not have tried this, it's possible his death toll might have only been in the teens, etc. But on the other hand, it's also quite possible that having everyone armed to the teeth in this society, while it might have stopped this guy, could also lead to a lot more deaths by guns in other places.

Time to show up Mark, Javy.