Balta1701

QUOTE(TheBigHurt @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 12:24 PM) Buck and McCarver blow. I'd much rather listen to that ass chris Berman, at least he has some damn enthusiasm... "Back, back, back, GOOOOOOOONNNNEEEE!!!!!" Compared to... "It's going... back at the wall... this ball is GONE. Podsenik. Home run." If you remember the call (or numerous calls with bass when there should be shouting), all you have to do is imagine it in your head again. ( -Poetic Justice.

QUOTE(GoRowand33 @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 07:25 PM) I think it all depends on our record as much as I would like to think that we have the diehard fans that will come out full-force even if we suck, it's just not true that said Brooks Boyer was a genius with his world series-season ticket deal he must of boosted the season ticket base to atleast 15,000 add that to all the scout seats being sold out and walk ons I would say payed attendence of atleast 20,000 a night add sellouts and I think they'll draw 2000000 this season if they suck if they're good and draw really well even for bad matchups, then I think we can average 30,000+ a night bringing a total more close to 2500000 this season things also have to be taken into account such as april and may, which are always slow months 1. Go look at our lineup. WE WILL NOT SUCK. Jim Thome could get hurt and leave us with a lineup equal to or better than last year's. And our pitching staff is better than last year's. WE WILL NOT SUCK. It will take a team winning 105 games in our division for them to firmly beat us. 2. April and May are normally slow months, but there has to be some offset due to our playoff performance, especially in April. I'd be there if I could, and I'd want to go ASAP, when I knew I'd see everyone there. (Maybe we could get KC to sign Frank...that would turn all the KC games into sellouts)

QUOTE(Mr. Showtime @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 08:05 PM) For the Orioles? You have made an enemy today....

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 04:51 PM) I haven't heard anything, but judging on the Sox past, I would guess a cutter would be more likely. That's what I fully expected him to be working on too, but the report said it was a 2 seamer/split finger pitch of some sort that he wanted to work on. I do think a split finger/2 seamer makes sense though, at least as much as a cutter, simply because the kid is freaking tall, and he'd really be able to get on top of that thing and push it downwards, just like JG. (Imagine JG with BMac's changeup...he might give up 3 hits all year)

QUOTE(Middle Buffalo @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 09:31 PM) I am a Joe Crede pop foul. Greatness is just around the corner, though. Dude, don't you realize...after he came off the DL in September...those popups went fair...and traveled about 420 feet? He earned 1 offseason with no Credepopsup jokes. You may resume next season, if he does. But the kid had the best OPS of anyone in the AL with more than 50 at bats in September. He practically carried us to the postseason with his bat, and he was right next to PK for the ALCS MVP. "OH! WAY BACK! HE LOOKS UP YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD...Y-ES! JOE CREDE! HIS 2ND HOME RUN OF THE GAME, AND THE SOX WIN IT 7-6!!! JOOOOOOOOOOEEEE CREDE!!!"

A few months ago there was some talk that he might be working on a split finger pitch over the offseason.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 01:57 PM) Man, there's got to be a better way to phrase that.... Nope. Absolutely perfect.

Kobe suspended for 2 games for throwing the elbow.

A bloggity response...

QUOTE(qwerty @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 10:57 AM) This is several days old by now. This guy is so good but such a damn douche. I think we're just learning about how bad it got...Link

Well, he'd been good for several months, I guess he was overdue.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 10:44 AM) Hilarious! I agree, Republicans bashing a business for exploring a revenue stream is absolute hilarity. P.S. Thanks to whichever host moved this thread!

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 10:37 AM) If AA is asking for "donations" they are in serious need of financial help. A conservative offers a service or product for a fee. A liberal sticks his hand out. 1 year of the "Limbaugh Letter" - $34.95, gets 13 issues. Subscribing as an Air America associate: Free stuff = bumper stickers, tote bag, mention on the air. Pay if you're willing.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 10:34 AM) That depends which poll you look at. Also, the errors in many of these polls overlap, which would mean that the numbers aren't statistically different. Gas prices have also gone down signficantly since October, which has undoubtedly helped. As opposed to the "PR offensive" from Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi that called Bush a liar and a criminal? What a joke... :rolly As soon as Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi can request and get free air time on all the networks for speeches to try to bump up their approval ratings, we can talk about their PR Offensives, ok?

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 10:30 AM) It seems to me that you bashed O'Reilly, then gave kudos to AA for asking for donations while giving away bumper stickers and stuff as a thank you. This discussion of AA Opened with others bashing AA for taking donations. I responded by pointing out that all of the other media guys do almost the same thing - it's just a question of what they're giving away. O'Reilly can do whatever the heck he wants or sell whatever he wants, I could care less. If people are willing to pay that fee, it's a smart business move, and I have no interest in bashing him for it. But I find it totally contradictory to say that AA is clearly losing money because they're asking for money when guys like O'Reilly, Limbaugh, etc., are all doing the same thing, and that the statement I've been trying to respond to.

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 10:08 AM) http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIADS...ml/301605.shtml? I blame the Dutch. Can't really explain it but its something to do with their wooden shoes. "400 years ago on the planet Earth, workers who felt their livelihoods threatened by automation flung their wooden shoes called Sabot into the machines to stop them."

QUOTE(Felix @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 10:21 AM) And again, since this has been asked at least 3 or 4 times, what happens if one guy gets hurt? We don't have anyone in our minors to take their place. A valid point, but it should be weighed against another point...what happens if we lose Contreras for only draft picks at the end of the year, when we could get something immensely more valuable for him right now while we do have him?

QUOTE(WCSox @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 10:18 AM) And one last fun bit of trivia: Bush 43's approval ratings have gone up ~10% over the past four months, coinciding with lower gasoline prices and further removal from this summer's record-breaking hurricane season. ??????????? He's gone up relative to mid-November, thanks in no small part to the Iraqi elections and his PR offensive associated with it, but that's because he was down even further in November. Compared with September, he's basically right back where he was.

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 09:59 AM) That was unbelieveable, only about 4 guys went to the DL. (el duque, pods, frank, gload, im not sure if that is it but i think it is) Marte also hit the DL for a stretch. Also...it's not really that unbelievable for your team to stay that healthy...if you're mostly working with a young team, and you're not overworking people (i.e. Ozzie's "Sunday Lineup" which gave people a chance to sit down, rest, and avoid turning any little tweaks into nagging injuries)

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 09:53 AM) A lot of that is because they sold areas like the PSB and the Patio as regular tickets instead of add ons. The regular season capacity is more like 39k. Which means that for us to hit 3 million, we'd have to be near capacity at almost every single game - if we have to average 37,000+ and our capacity is 39,000, then you need 1 sellout for every game that you have a crowd of 35,000 fans, or you won't make it. 3 million just seems too high for us right now...I just can't see us selling out enough ballgames and drawing in enough big crowds during winter/after school restarts for games against K.C. or Tampa Bay.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 03:06 AM) It happened on Clinton's watch. It was his responsibility to respond. If Bush had responded two+ years after the fact you would have screamed bloody murder. I'll tell you something, in all honesty. The rhetoric you guys put out here has about driven me to the point that I won't even consider voting for any democrat for any office. Except of course, according to the 9/11 commission, we didn't really have good, solid evidence about who did the bombing, evidence that we felt would have held up in court, until like Jan/Feb of 01. Edit: Let me add in, Clinton probably had enough preliminary evidence to respond in Dec of 00, and he didn't. That was a mistake, but it's much more of one in hindsight. Both Clinton and Bush had ample opportunities to respond.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 02:33 AM) What? O'Rielly has to give everything away? Or is being successful and making a buck against liberal principals? So Air America gets bashed in this thread for selling exactly the same sorts of "Memberships", but then when I try to turn it around and point out how O'Reilly, Limbaugh et al. do exactly the same thing, I get that as a reply.

There's one more point I keep bringing up in these threads talking about mid-season trades. Let's assume for a moment that we're going to be in contention next year for the playoffs. Let's also assume that there will be other teams in contention, but who discover that for whatever reason, their starting pitching is not what they hoped it would be. It happens every year - it'll happen for the Yankees sometime in April this year, it'll probably happen to the Red Sox the first time Beckett's blister shows up, it'll happen to the Angels when they realize they have only 4 starters, it'll happen to the Braves when one of their guys goes down, it'll happen to the Rangers, it'll happen to the Cubs, it'll probably happen to the Dodgers, the Cardinals, the Padres, the Giants, hell it'll happen to almost the entire league. So...which team do we want to help beat us? Let's say Vazquez comes around and pitches like he did in 2003. Can someone out there point to the team that they'd like to give a massive shot in the arm to at midseason? The teams in the market for pitching are going to be the exact teams we don't want to help, because those will be the teams we need to beat. The Royals and Devil Rays aren't likely going to be wanting to acquire expensive pitching at the trading deadline. If we give up a pitcher, especially for some combination of ML guys and prospects, we're making the team receiving the pitching better, and that could very well come back to bite us later. If we want to put ourselves in a situation where it doesn't hurt us, then we're not going to get value back on it. Think about this...which teams are likely to be willing to give up the most for 1 pitcher? The Yankees, the Red Sox, the Angels. Teams that want to win now while their perceived window is still open. They'd be the ones likely to give us the most in return for a guy. Does anyone think trading with any of those teams would be a good idea? I sure don't. Not if we want to beat them.

Just what the Red Sox need...another guy who can't play SS or CF.

QUOTE(SoxFanInDallas @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 06:45 AM) What do you think the 2006 season will bear? 3,000,000 (37,073 avg.)? Lower? Higher? What is the max capacity @ the ballpark these days? How close would that average be to a sellout every game?