Balta1701

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 29, 2007 -> 11:31 AM) The #1 sportsblog on the internet presented their AL Central Predictions today. Deadspin picks the Sox to win the Central, so quit your b****ing, the Sox actually got some love from a media source. Great, now they're even taking away the "We're underdogs" bit from this team. Now what's going to movitvate them?

Well, the team splits today. Half go to Birmingham and play against the minor leaguers later today, half have a game against the Rockies here in a few minutes. Garland pitches the early game, Russell the late game. Linups momentarily.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Mar 29, 2007 -> 10:32 AM) That is a helpful summary. I have the paper in hand but it will be at least the weekend before I get to it to digest it all. The second point you bring up is one I had wondered about - whether the extant lines represented by the current research missed out on earlier diversification that resulted in lineages that disappeared later in the Tertiary. If so, then the dogma of the rapid rise of mammals after the K-T event may not be totally abandoned. Which is good because I don't want to have to toss out all my kids' dinosaur fact books. As far as I can tell, this study is entirely done by constructing evolutionary trees based on DNA from modern lineages. It matches the fossil record in several important ways, in that it shows the initial divergences of mammals in the mid-Cretaceous and shows the post-Eocene radiation, but it doesn't give any information about what happened in lines that don't make it to the present.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Mar 29, 2007 -> 10:28 AM) defense, batter's eye, hustle, two world series rings. And I wouldn't call Brosius or Borders "terrible baseball players" either. They're not terrible ballplayers, but you can only have so many guys like that on a team before you start lacking in production. David Eckstein is exactly what the Caridinals need...a cheap, non-terrible SS who's attitude they like. But if you start thinking that the only thing your team needs is more hustle...and forget that they have a couple guys, one of whom wears #5, that produce a hell of a lot of runs and can cover up for the deficiencies in other spots, then you're going to build a pretty crappy team.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Mar 29, 2007 -> 10:02 AM) I don't expect Bonderman and Robertson to have career years this season, either. Detroit will be a good team this year, but they're not going to win the AL again. But...they do get Maroth back from his injury and surgery last year. He was very effective before he was lost last year. That could fill in some of their issues. And of course, if they stay healthy, they've significantly upgraded their offense by adding a cleanup hitter.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Mar 29, 2007 -> 09:52 AM) Although my undergraduate degree carries an emphasis in evolution, my graduate work and professional experience is not in that field so I'm very much an armchair evolutionary biologist. But, I do have a hunch that the timing of mammalian diversification events will turn out to have a lot to do with that fact that the Tertiary (which started when the dinosaurs died out) is the period in which angiosperm plants (particularly monocot grasses) became the dominant vegetation on the planet. Off the top of my head, I'd say that is the most significant ecosystem re-engineering event of the time. The press reports sort of gloss over this, but this is one of the key issues discussed in the paper. The paper gives a couple of different possibilities. 1. There was some continued inhibition of mammalian development by the remaining elements of the cretaceous fauna. Not every single non-mammalian species died out at that impact event, and there were potentially other species which could have continued competing with mammals until conditions changed more. This I think sort of fits in with your bit there, and I'm going to argue against it in a second. 2. There was inhibition of the development of modern mammalian lines because other mammalian lines were better suited to the conditions that predominated on Earth after the K-T boundary events. I think that as a geologist, this is the one I would favor, because there is significant evidence in the fossil record of rapid mammalian divergence appearing shortly after the K-T boundary. The key element that this paper would present is that the species which made up this radiation did not in fact wind up being parts of the lines that survived to the modern period. The way to think about this is that there were mammals that were around before and after the impact...but the conditions after the impact favored certain groups relative to others. But these groups which wound up being well-adapted to the post-Cretaceous conditions wound up not being well adapted to the conditions that prevailed about 10 million years later and died off. Conveniently enough, the time period they note as the start of the radiation of the modern mammalian fauna happens to coincide pretty well with what we know as the Eocene thermal maximum, a period where the earth seems to have been at its warmest since the mid-Cretaceous (10 degree C or so temperature increases along with very large spikes in atmospheric CO2 concentration, to the levels that humanity will need 200-300 years at current rates to reach). There was then a fairly rapid cooling of the earth over the next 10 million years combined with multiple pulses of extinction before the Oligocene begins. It's possible that these climate shifts selected against the species that were favored at the end of the Cretaceous and more strongly for the species that had been suppressed by the fauna that did succeed.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Mar 29, 2007 -> 09:45 AM) Yes, and the fact that if those players everyone seems to be complaining about the most (Erstad and Pods) fail to play up to expectations, they will be gone, and Sweeney, Anderson and theoretically Fields or Owens will replace them. Not sure that will make anyone happy either, but it will be a clear and obvious direction at least. How many season ticket holders we lose (25-33%?), that's an issue for KW and JR. What exactly is it in this team's recent history that suggests that Erstad and Pods will be gone at any point this season if they don't perform?

Happy B-Day Kap. I'm sorry to inform you that the team has decided to reassign you to AAA Charlotte.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 29, 2007 -> 08:52 AM) Isn't 10-15 million years pretty much instanteous when it comes to the planets timeline? In terms of geologic events, for the most part yes, it is pretty darn quick. However, in terms of biology, it's a hell of a long time. 2 million years ago humanity was basically a bunch of big apes. Especially right after a crisis like the Cretaceous extinction event which opens up a ton of niches for new species to figure out ways to fill, there can be an enormous amount of biological innovation over that timescale.

Gavin Floyd was optionned to AAA Charlotte yesterday after failing to make the big league team. He had a pretty poor spring, but there are some positive signs. In particular, several press reports had his fastball all the way up to 96 on some guns, which would be a hell of a lot faster than he was advertised as throwing. He's still having issues with consistency in his delivery though, which is something that hopefully can be dealt with in AAA. This kid does still have some talent.

Too much Chicken... Anyway...KR is the one guy on Detroit who's probably the most likely to take a huge step backwards this year. Not only is he another year older after a big workload last year...but people will be watching his hand after the playoffs. Fortunately, Andrew Miller isn't ready yet, so that does leave some weakness in Detroit's rotation.

So, as far as I can tell, the optimistic post here basically is arguing for that optimism based on the White Sox beginning a successful rebuilding project.

OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD WHAT KIND OF STUPID SH*T IS THIS? WHAT IN THE WORLD DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO EARN A FREAKING SPOT ON THIS TEAM? IT CLEARLY HAS NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH HOW YOU PERFORM ON THE FIELD!! GOOD LORD! Great, what a way to ruin my morning.

Hi folks with more powerful software than I. In This video there is a scene in which the Toronto Raptor mascot, the Toronto Raptor, taunts a mascot in an Eagle Costume, turns away, and immediately falls down. It happens with about 1:25 left in the scene. If someone who has the ability could grab that scene and make it into a little animated box that I could use as an Avatar, that would be great. Thanks.

QUOTE(wcw2323 @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 06:49 PM) That doesn't make any sense. What difference does it make if he throws 96 or 68...as long as he wins? I'll guarantee you that he will have a longer career than any flame thrower. Charlie eats up innings, and has the best record in the minors the last two years. You are under valuing based on your perception. The reality is that he was 14-6 with an ERA around 3.00 last year, started the AAA All-Star game, and has nothing more to prove in AAA. He has a high ceiling since he's only 23. Charlie Hough said he's the best knuckler since Wakefield. The only difference is that he's much younger than when Wake broke into the bigs. Charlie deserves the chance to be a part of a major club based on his performance the past two years...period. If the Sox aren't high on him, then move him to a club that appreciates what he has to offer. The response of "because people don't know how to evaluate a knuckler" is crazy. How about evaluating won-loss records for the last two years (28-11) Whether it's fair or not, the reality is that baseball teams don't prize a knuckleball pitcher anywhere near as highly as they prize a guy with a great fastball even if the knuckleball pitcher puts up better numbers. What do you think would happen if you tried to offer up Charlie Haeger for Philip Hughes? You'd be laughed out of the room. That's just the reality. But, the fact is, that is why I don't want to trade him. He went 28-11 in teh last 2 years. He eats innings. He put up an ERA of 3 last year. He's very very cheap. And most importantly, I think it would be impossible to get equal value for a performer of his caliber entirely because of the pitch he mainly features. He may have very little left to prove in AAA, you are correct. But Personally, I don't expect him to be stuck there for all that long. He'll be in the big leagues soon enough. He doesn't "Deserve" anything yet, any more than any minor leaguer deserves to be in the rotation when someone outpitches them. But rest assured, he'll get his shot soon.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 06:44 PM) Can't we say the same for whenever Buerhle pitched in the 2nd half ? How about when the White Sox offense couldn't produce anything besides HR's ? How about Bobby Jenks who wasn't very good in the 2nd half last season ? Eh, Jenks was still pretty darn good in the role of getting saves. Yes, you can say the same thing about Buehrle, and so on. The thing that bothered me about Mack in CF was that it was such an easy fix; just stop doing it. It's a lot harder to make a pitcher stop sucking than it is to not write Rob's name next to CF on the lineup card.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 06:02 PM) The top of the order very well could dictate the success of the team. If Thome is up with no one on base as much as I suspect he will be, this team could be in some serious trouble. The starting pitching is insanely important but it's not the only element that could break this team. And lets just say for the sake of argument that Darin Erstad plays defense in centerfield at about the same level as Mack did last season (I doubt he will be he very well could) that could very well keep the Sox out of the playoffs. Defense that bad at such a key position can destroy a team. The numbers don't back it up, but I will go to my grave saying that the White Sox make the playoffs last year if Rob Mackowiak doesn't play more than a handful of games in CF. There were just so many...so many missed plays...

I'm starting to think Mr. McCain's whole campaign is having mental issues. Link.

Back to back strikeouts by Jenks.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 02:37 PM) Why is that this team simply refuses to make a pitcher work by fouling off good pitches or letting them go rather than swinging at everything. Grinders don't make pitchers work. They get the bat on the ball and run hard to first.

Jenks in.

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 02:27 PM) Why is he still in at this point? It's spring training and the games don't matter? Anyway, there he goes.

Seriously Farmer...how the Hell could Danks's legs be tired at this point?> 5-0 DBacks.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 28, 2007 -> 02:24 PM) Oh yeah. It amazes me how many people think we can just throw "name your pitcher" into the 5th starting role, and at worst, they'll have a 5.50 ERA. The common argument is that the list of guys we have up for contention is better than the busters in 2004. However, the minor league numbers for many of the 2004 busters were just as good as the guys we've been trying out for the 5th starter spot now. Saying they should be able to pull out a 5.50 ERA is a lot different from saying they'll have a lower ERA than McCarthy.

Walk # 6....