Balta1701

QUOTE(DukeNukeEm @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 10:52 AM) Imagine Garland in the pen in the Playoffs. Do you understand how amazing that is? Aw Hell no...I want him out there every 5th day...every 4th day even...and pitching 7 innings. The last thing I want is for him to end up underused.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 10:59 AM) Just wait till/if AJ and Paulie ever heat up. I still say A.J. looks like he's about to snap out of whatever funk he's been in...he's at the point where he's hitting lots of balls right on the money, and they're going straight at people. He's had probably the worst luck of any hitter in the AL in terms of balls just going straight at people. Just watch...he's about to have a big July.

So let me get this straight...this "Game" considers trading Uribe for Clemens or Crede for Clemens straight-up a possibility? I don't even see the point of playing. Just accepting the idea...I love our starting lineup. I love our bench. I love our starters. I love our bullpen. I love our clubhouse. There are people out there who would be upgrades over what we have...but the cost would be too damn high to get them. I wouldn't change a thing about this team right now.

Personally I still think this is more a matter of Cleveland looking like an organizational disaster right now. You don't change ownership, GM, coach, and collapse out of the playoff race in the middle of the season if you want to make other people think you're headed in the right direction. The Cavs might still have a shot at Hughes, but I don't think anyone other than Washington has really shown interest in him...seems most everyone's pretty sure he'll end up in Washington. I think my point holds pretty well...if Redd had taken this deal...and they had failed to turn around that front office in Cleveland...it would have been the Redd and Lebron show, mainly the Lebron show, for 2 years. After that, Lebron's a free agent, and if you're a player of his caliber and you sit there and think your team is going absolutely no where because your front office has its heads up its collective asses, why in the world would you stay? I think Redd probably is saying the odds of Lebron leaving are too high for him to consider Cleveland.

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 10:44 AM) I'm still laughing at the 8.5 mil Contreras makes. At least we're only paying about $6 mil. Thank the good ol' Yankees for deciding on the exact number.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 10:43 AM) Also keep in mind that Matsui was on that list and you could only vote for one guy per league. They split the Yankee fan vote. Pauly=buzzkill. So if all of the Yankee-haters could organize and support Podsednik after it was obvious Pods had a shot...why couldnt' all of the Yankee lovers figure out the same thing and vote for the guy who was closest? Personally...I'd love to see the total numbers...see how Scotty fared against Matsui + Jeter. 4 million votes for Pods out of 14 million cast...say probably 5 million for the NL...that leaves a total of 5 million votes between Jeter, Matsui, Hunter, and Crawford...there's a decent shot that Pods held his own against the combination of Yankees...if more than 1 million votes went to Hunter and Crawford Combined he could have beaten them both.

Let's also remember that even if it was Yankee-haters who coalesced around Podsednik and put him over the top...he never would have become the "anyone but Jeter" candidate if there hadn't been a huge initial push of people voting for Pods on the first day and getting him within a hair of Jeter then. If Pods wasn't so close...he wouldn't have been a viable alternative candidate, and that alone means we did our job.

(Note...i'm not doing any justification here...just pointing out another interesting note) I think it's also worth noting that the Trial of a noted militant Islamic cleric, one of the guys linked to Richard Reed (exploding shoes), began just this week in Britain.

I also can't help but think that this vote might really come out as one of those things people point to at the end of the season as something that really brought this team together. Think about it...this team started the year with people ripping on its fans for not showing up at ballgames, people ripping on the manager for his "Tirades", people ripping on the GM for trading away a slugger...and we're barely a couple years removed from hearing even worse...anyone else remember when Buehrle said that the Sox fans might not know that much about baseball in 2003? This whole team, including ownership, players, and fans, just sat down and put one of its guys on the all-star team. People who were injured spent time voting. The Sox's supposedly anemic fan base just roared to life. I can't imagine how the guys in the clubhouse must feel to have just seen us put out this kind of effort on behalf of one of them. We've given them all the standing ovations and curtain calls in the world this year...but this time...we got into it and we did a hell of a job on behalf of one of them. These guys now know that there is a city behind them...and I don't know if there's anything that could possibly make them feel better. Hell, it makes me feel better just watching it.

Just in case anyone else out there really enjoys watching Podsednik beat up on Derek Jeter...here's another poll for you. ESPN.Com's sportsnation has a poll up asking "who deserves the all star bid more, Podsednik or Jeter" Pods is currently winning 64 to 36. These polls usually only get about 1000 votes or so...so if we pile in a couple hundred more from here...we can really make this one fun. VOTE HERE Oh, and in the Chat...Steve Phillips was talking about the Orioles, and he went out on a big limb and said that he didn't think the Orioles would make the playoffs because they didn't have the pitching to compete with the Yankees, Indians, or Twins. I doubt my comment in reply to that one will be posted. Let's just say it was fairly arrogant.

QUOTE(Pale Hose Jon @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 08:58 AM) Before we jump on the i hate the middle east bandwagon, could we atleast wait a little while and find out who ACTUALLY did this before we start blaming people. ( oh wait it appears i am far to late). IIRC, the madrid bombings were done by the ETA, a basque seperatist movement, although after those bombings we were quick to blame alqueda. So could we please wait til more information comes out before we spread ignorant hatred of islam. Actually you're completely, utterly, totally, 100% wrong about the Madrid bombings. The Aznar government in Spain immediately tried to blame ETA after the bombings because they realized an Al Qaeda attack might look bad for them in the elections due to their support for the terribly unpopular Iraq war. But rapidly, evidence came out that it was an Al Qaeda hit. The government which had been trying to cover that up then was voted summarily out of office. Several Al Qaeda people are now in jail for that attack. It was not ETA.

I don't know if I'd call it stealing as much...the guy had simply worn out his welcome in the Angels organization...sometimes a fresh start is the best gift you can give a player.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 7, 2005 -> 12:33 AM) About a week ago, some people were thinking that Frank should be taken out of the 3 spot with the way he was scuffing. Well the past few games will have shown the advantages of having him in the #3 spot, espeically with Scotty and Gooch in front of him in the lineup. His OBP is now .364 and he has an OPS of 1.100. And just think what his OPS would be if he was only hitting doubles...

I can't think of a single team in the big leagues I'd rather be right now. Not a 1. Think about this...we have 2 genuine number 1 starters and a genuine number 2 starter in Mark "God" Buehrle, Big Jon, and Freddy. We then have a 4th starter who is not lights out every single time, but who can a.) shut the opposition down completely on any given night and b.) gives us a chance to win in more than half the games he pitches. And finally, we have a #5 guy who is currently our only starting pitcher with health questions, and he has started over 30 games in the playoffs in his career. I couldn't be happier about our starting rotation.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jul 6, 2005 -> 11:19 PM) A #35 jersey will never be out of date. I'd call a blue #21 out of date right now. I don't want a #35 when he's wearing that number in antoher color.

QUOTE(103 mph screwball @ Jul 6, 2005 -> 10:57 PM) Thats a good point Balta. Plus, I think that you can actually alienate fans and cause negative PR by not bringing him back also. Hopefully the Sox will win it all and bring everybody back for a repeat. Plus...How many "#35" Jerseys have these last 2 absolute blasts sold? Hell...my only jersey has no name on the back because I don't want it to become out of date...but I almost want one. I tell you what...if he's going to be here for a couple more years...then I want a #35 for Christmas.

When Roger Clemens re-signed with Houston...Houston gave him a huge contract for 1 reason; because even though they're paying him $17 million this season; he brings in more than he's paid just by having him pitch in their ballpark. Or at least enough to pay most of a huge contract. Combine the wins and the performance, and he virtually pays for himself. That's one reason why the Astros were even willing to resign him this year, and why they were willing to put up with him not traveling with the team, etc. Let me ask you this...let's say Frank demanded $7 million next year. Let's say the average ticket price for a White Sox game is $25, plus $10 spent on souvenirs, food, etc (clearly an underestimate, especially with those scout seats and the skyboxes). You've seen Frank hitting absolute bombs these last 2 games. Do you think that Frank getting highlights on Sportscenter that make the guys there absolutely drop their jaws wide open and say "wow" is worth 200,000 tickets in a year? Do you think him hitting his 500th blast in a Sox Uniform would be worth that much over a year? I think he'd add enough fans to the audience to pay for himself...several times over.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jul 6, 2005 -> 09:58 PM) Anyone else see this as an audition for a trade? Just a thought. Sweet Jesus I hope not. GOD NO.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Jul 6, 2005 -> 09:25 PM) Wasn't he a starter at one point too?? Anyway, I remember watching a special on him that when Anaheim signed him to a minor league deal, the game they scouted him in he hit 99, 101, 99, 100. As for Guardado, Peter Gammons said we and the Nationals have been making hard pushes for him. I read somewhere today that Boston might make a push for Everyday Eddie...and that's a move that makes as much sense for that team as anything else in the big leagues.

"Refreshing to see...Refreshing for baseball" - thanks for that clip...love watching Pods tip the cap.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Jul 6, 2005 -> 08:59 PM) You have to wait hours just to see it like once on mtv and vh1. Both of those channels suck so bad. Those channels show music videos????

Scottie.... We started this season with John Kruk telling us how embarassing it was that on a freezing cold night we weren't drawing a crowd to the Cell to watch the team play the Royals. Tonight...we passed the test. We just out-voted the biggest city in the country. Think about that. Last year, New York single-handedly put Matsui on that team. This year, we outdueled the CAPTAIN of the YANKEES. Tonight...I don't feel like the 2nd city, or the 2nd team in the 2nd city...I feel like part of the fan base of the best team in baseball. And damn that feels good. Enjoy the bonus Scott...and steal a base for us!

I don't think I ever want to see another thread about how our attendance sucks or how our fan base is too small. We just outgunned f***ing NEW YORK.

This one is just hard to say... The Braves and the Marlins were in the Nats division, the supposedly great Indians and Twins were in the Sox division.

"The Laser"