Balta1701

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 05:35 PM) Yossarian, I was just saying that comparatively -- Bolton is a choir boy compared to our previous UN ambassador who had a lot of blood on his hands. And thanks for the kind words. So far I've only gotten one semi-nasty hate mail but I debated the woman hard and I got the "Well then I guess you just want the US blown up!" comment (which pretty much means that she had no way to debunk the points I had made, haha) Of course...after that, Negroponte was appointed ambassador to Iraq, and is now serving as national intelligence director - you know, the 1 supposedly key position which was created by the 9/11 commission reforms. Hell, I'd rather have him at the UN - he could do less damage there.

Link

Ok, I just saw this at MLB.com, and it immediately pissed me off. According to the page, the next few weeks, they'll be running polls to see who is most like a particular Chevrolet-made automobile. This week...the poll is "who is the player who best exemplifies speed" Eric Byrnes Carl Crawford Orlando Hudson Juan Pierre Jimmy Rollins Omar Vizquel What, the guy with 52 stolen bases not fast enough for them?

Was reading through a bundle of White Sox blogs when the season started, clicked on a link. No idea which one any more.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 04:06 PM) Any chance of rain interrupting this? In Rolling Meadows its pouring right now.

Here's my favorite piece on the highway bill.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 03:24 PM) I've got it all planned out. Angels or A's vs Sox Boston vs Angels or A's (whoever is the division winner of the West) 2nd round (hopefully) Sox vs Angels or A's (whoever beats Boston). Than the 1st two rounds are on the west coast (I'll have tix to every game in Anaheim and have a friend who lives up in Oakland, plus playoff tix are easy to get for the A's). So basically I can help break the west coast slump and than I fly out to Chitown to see at least one world series game Hey, it could happen. Want some company?

Before you say that a 10-6 team will win that division...don't you have to argue that no other team in the division will have a 10-6 record or better?

QUOTE(KevHead0881 @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 01:56 PM) Um, I'm pretty sure that race is an issue in sports, as it is everywhere else. Take the NFL for instance: Based on the complete lack of minority coaches, it is expected that a minority be interviewed for a coaching vacancy. In the NBA, age limits have been criticised for being racist because they mostly affect inner-city black athletes. Now, I don't want to get into who is right or wrong in instances like this, but to say that "race is really not an issue" in sports would be incorrect. It may not be as evident in sports as some other areas in society, but its definitely an issue. It definately can be an issue, but in many cases it is made into an issue in cases where it should not be. This is one of those cases.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 01:56 PM) I'd like the Yanks to overtake LAA. With the pitching woes of the Yanks [near the bottom of the AL in both SP and bullpen], that lineup isn't nearly has fearsome as in years past. I think a team like LAA would give the sox a harder time than the Yanks or Boston I almost think I'd agree with you...except there's just something scary about going into Yankee Stadium in October...having to face a guy like Jeter, and then having Rivera sitting out in that bullpen. That lineup is still pretty damn fearsome...#2 in MLB in runs scored, only a couple behind the red sox, and given that they had an anemic Giambi for about 2 months, they're only getting better. All that said...pitching wins championships, and they Yankees don't have it. The Angels do. We do. That makes the Angels a much tougher opponent in the postseason. End of story.

CNNSI lets you sort pitching stats by number of save opportunities. It's not perfect and you can't sort by a 2nd stat after that, but in most cases the regular closers float to the top quite rapidly.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 01:29 PM) Over the last 2 months, Ozzie should try to find the Aaron Rowand of last year if he can. In my view that means moving him to the top of the lineup, either third or second. Iguchi would fill the other slot. That means everyone else would slide a spot. And if Dye continues to hit better than Konerko, I have no objection to flipping them, frankly. Tadahito Iguchi has been the MVP of this team this year because he has been so damn good at doing the job of a #2 hitter. It is simply insane to mess with that now that he's in the role and he's adapted well to it. Maybe next year. Not this year. In terms of Carl...he hit a nice .350 in June, but only .220 in July. It seemed early in the year like he was doing a great job of hitting sac flies to drive in Pods once Iguchi got him to 3rd, but he hasn't been doing that lately. I don't like the idea of a radical lineup change, but maybe hitting him 5th a few times woudln't hurt.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 01:41 PM) well said. If the A's stay hot, the sox keep the best record in the AL, the A's will overtake the LAA and the sox will play the wildcard The Angels just finished up a road trip where they went 1-5 against the East, although they're now playing Baltimore, which should help them wake up. Their offense has been anemic lately, their bullpen is absolutely exhausted, and their defense let them down several times against the Yankees. Anaheim is only 4 games up on the Yankees in the Wild Card race right now. Don't just concede that to the AL West with Oakland's hot streak. One of those random "hot bat" surges from the Yankees could easily pull them even with Anaheim or Oakland if they ever cool off.

QUOTE(heirdog @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 10:09 AM) just for fun... 3-time world champion Whitesox in 2009: SS: Robert Valido (untouchable) 2B: Chris Getz RF: Ryan Sweeney CF: Chris Young (untouchable) LF: Brian Anderson (untouchable) DH: Aaron Rowand 1B: Thomas Collaro 3B: Josh Fields C: Donald Lucy Bench: Jerry Owens (OF), Casey Rogowski (1B/DH), Carlos Lee ( C), Angel Gonzales (IF), Micah Schnurstein (IF) SP: Mark Buehrle SP: Jon Garland SP: Brandon McCarthy (untouchable) SP: Gio Gonzalez (untouchable) SP: Lance Broadway CL: Bobby Jenks (untouchable) SU: Sean Tracey RP: Ray Liotta RP: Kris Honel RP: Neal Cotts RP: Felix Diaz Just sitting here reading that reminds me a lot of the Braves in the early 90's...in say 92-93 they were already sitting on top of the division with guys like Justice, McGriff, Mr. October Mark Lemke, etc, but then when you looked down in the minors they had guys like Chipper Jones, Ryan Klesko, Javy Lopez all climbing the ladder.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 10:06 AM) What exactly is a minor concern? If Oakland makes the playoffs, we will have to face them. Big deal, we will have to face many tough opponents on the way to a WS ring. Home field? Give me a break. I would rather NOT have home field advantage since we are a better road team anyway. When we pack 38,000+ screaming folks into that stadium on a chilly night in early October...we'll see what Home Field Advantage means.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 09:00 AM) That's a good deal. Haslem does a lot of dirty work around the rim. He's definitely underrated. Undersized, but strong with a good head on his shoulders. Any news on Alonzo? They need a back-up center who can play effectively for 15 minutes a game while Shaq is on the bench. I disagree with both of them being on the court at the same time, though. The foot speed just ain't there. Last report was the Heat were still waiting on Mourning to decide whether or not he wanted to play another year.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 10:49 AM) Scoop writes 1 bad column for every 30 s***ty marriotti columns. :headshake But I shouldn't be surprised that all you white guys are taking his side when race is brought up. If nothing else, can we at least point to the fact that we're fans of a team with an African American GM, a hispanic manager (who replaced an African American one), an African American broadcaster, and a Japanese 2nd baseman and say that maybe the south side community just doesn't care at all about what race people in baseball are?

How has BMac's changeup been looking lately (for anyone who's seen him)? That was the pitch he was missing when he was in the big leagues earlier this year. Is there talk yet about having him work on a cutter in the offseason?

After Buehrle lost a pitch and hit Hafner in the head, the guy pitching for the Indians retaliated with 2 outs in the bottom half of the inning by plunking Dye. (Happily Dye came around to score). It was obvious, and everyone knew it was going to happen (Hell, I predicted it the half-inning beforehand in the chat.) That guy wasn't suspended. No way in Hell Buehrle should be.

QUOTE(chisoxfan79 @ Aug 2, 2005 -> 05:45 PM) At this rate we will have homefield hopefully we can squeak one out at home and win two on the road. When October rolls around...it should be a weee bit colder at the Cell for ballgames...so hopefully our pitchers will be a bit more comfortable then. Come on Jon, take these guys down and let's get ready to come back.

Man, that was unpleasant.

Come on Jon...keep em off the board

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Aug 2, 2005 -> 05:25 PM) JD is awesome. Sudden urge to look back in time at some Soxtalk posts from May...eh I'll pass.

24. (insert ticking clock noise from Fox TV Show)

Web Gem for Blum on his first chance.