Balta1701

Does this mean BMac will be facing the Tigers or will he be skipped entirely?

If they're reporting it and its a fact, that's good news - it'll mean we finally split up the 2 Cubans in the rotation. Very good news for our bullpen.

QUOTE(Dam8610 @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 02:38 PM) RF, and I think Burnitz will win if it's not fixed. Sadly, our efforts have probably motivated more cub fans to try to find other people or computers to vote from in order to try to catch us.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 02:37 PM) lets do it then, what position is next? Right field...Dye versus Burnitz? That's actually a moderately fair fight probably going to our side just a little bit. Run it as an actual fair fight and encourage people to vote? At least for a few hours to see how it runs?

I doubt many SUV Drivers have the money to buy those things after they fill up the gas tanks for the 3rd time in the week. It'll get even worse too.

I hate to say this, but I almost wish you guys had just left 1 position open so that we could see how actual voting would come out. Even if it was just Third base, so that we could see how many people actually voted Crede over Ramirez.

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 01:49 PM) Never we're the White Sox . When we cause bigger riots in Chicago than the Bulls did.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 02:27 PM) I don't know if you've been paying attention, but Everett is probably a better fielder than Pods and Dye. Pods has the speed on him, no doubt, but Everett has been very solid this year. Pods is the worst at picking up the ball off the bat. It has absolutely blown my mind how a person with Podsednik's speed could be so slow to get to a ball. I'd say his first step is in the wrong direction more than 1/2 the time. Someone needs to get his arse out in left field and start hitting fly balls that way. Hundreds of them.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 02:26 PM) Understood, but thats not going to be the case. We are the team that people love to hate. We are the fans that get no respect. We are the team that is going to have to prove we are good. And thats fine, no coverage is better than what they are doing now. The cubs will be the loveable team until they blow up even more than they are now. When they flop, and the fans start bailing, then you will see an interest. We are the best team in baseball, nobody likes us because of that. f*** em It worked for Detroit last year in the NBA.

QUOTE(ISF @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 02:25 PM) Likewise, any suggestion that Joe Crede is better than Randa offensively is a joke. We have large sample sizes on both that are pretty indicative of what production you can expect from each. Randa wins going away. The best thing I've read about this was 1 simple fact; each player can expect roughly 300 more at bats this season. If a player hits .290, he will have roughly 12 more hits than a guy who hits .250. That is all. 12 hits are not worth whatever price we'd have to pay in prospects. They just aren't.

QUOTE(wsox08 @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 02:23 PM) Cleveland is a team of streaks... Their streak will run out.. Minnesota is always a proven threat, but not this year.. SOX WIN The White Sox were the prime example of a team of streaks for the last 2 years. Hitting gets hot, then hitting gets cold. This is why Ozzie kept saying that Speed doesn't go into slumps. They face 2 good pitchers in a row and suddenly everyone's pressing because they've only scored a couple runs, and then bam, losing streak. We face a couple of good pitchers and we take 1 out of 2 because we outpitch them, bunt a couple people over, and get some clutch hits. The Indians have that streaky mantle this year. I think the Yankees are an even better example too.

Zito is not a dominant lefty, nor has he been one in the last 2 years. Think about him as an Esteban Loaiza who throws left handed and who was good for slightly longer. His fastball has dropped considerably. His control is not as good as it was. Schmidt at least has an excuse - he's been hurt, he could recover. Zito...I don't see him ever being a Cy Young candidate again.

QUOTE(wsox08 @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 02:19 PM) I just looked at their power rankings and I'm not sure how they can put washington as #1.. Yeah espn does seem to underappreciate the record of the sox. I am sick and tired of the yanks and bosox.., but what can you do? ESPN's power rankings seem to pick whoever is the hottest good team at the time. When the Sox were 5-5 in 1 ten game stretch, the Cards took over the top spot. If nothing else...remember, the ESPN Interactive power rankings poll has never had the Sox anywhere but the top spot since the Dodgers streak to start the y ear ended.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 02:15 PM) I don't understand sitting Aaron Rowand in the middle of his RBI streak. I'm sorry, but watching Everett in the outfield is horrible. I would almost feel better if Timo was over there. Plus, I believe that Ozuna played a decent LF when covering for Posednik early in the year. It's the only way to get Everett into 2 games out of every 3 game series. Face it, as long as both are healthy, Thomas and Everett each are going to play 2 out of every 3 games. This means Everett will DH once, and he will play the outfield once. And it's a setup I honestly can't complain about. We need both of those bats to get regular playing time. I think it's a decent idea to rotate who Everett subs for every series - 1 series he subs for Dye, the next he subs for Pods, the next he subs for ArRow. Keeps everyone's legs fresh, keeps everett in 66% of our games, and keeps Frank in the lineup. And it also makes Timo that much more expendable.

QUOTE(wsox08 @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 12:06 PM) Greinke is usually solid verses us, but look at the offense he's had behind him and you see the 1-7 record.. This might turn out to be a good pitchers duel I think that his 5.97 ERA hasn't helped out his offense much either.

What y'all should still realize though is that Cleveland beat up on a bunch of weaker teams like Colorado, and then when they were suddenly faced with even moderate competition, they gave it their best shot but couldn't win the game. Against David Wells even. They'll cool back off from here. I wouldn't be surprised if the BoSox sweep them, or at least take 2 out of 3, even with Boston's bullpen.

That's a team that needs to dismantle itself rapidly and try to follow the White Sox model. Take a couple of those bats and use them to add some speed and pitching. If it works in the Cell it can work there.

Here's a question for you guys... Tino Martinez clearly doesn't deserve to be an All Star, and is only leading the balloting because of the New York fan base and that 1 string he had back a few months ago. If Teixiera does manage to pass him...who do you guys rank as the 2nd best 1b in the AL? I certainly dont' think it's Millar. Francona of course could do the Torre thing and pick half of his team, but I think that if Teixeira does pass Tino, Paulie ends up in the AS Game.

God, Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Confucious, Zoroaster, Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesh, etc.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 11:03 AM) He could have counted the teams on one hand who would have been interested in Joe Torre when the Yankees hired him and only needed his thumb. Now all the ESPN guys would line up to top him off. I don't understand the almost across the board White Sox bashing from ESPN related guys especially. They are making themselves look very petty and dumb so far this season. I can't really say I blame them...When's the last time a team won a world series based on speed, defense, timely hitting, and a ton of pitching?

The Angels also have this habit of taking the fewest walks in the AL. Just something to chew on. Does anyone have ESPN insider access? I'd love to read that Neyer piece but I'm a poor graduate student.

I bet Jason would have hated Vince Lombardi.

QUOTE(Capn12 @ Jun 20, 2005 -> 11:09 PM) When McCarthy isnt getting the changeup over the plate consistently, like tonight....guys are gonna let that curveball go, and sit on deadred Koch-esque fastballs. I think we need to lock Shingo and BMac in a room with a bathroom, pitching mound, fridge full of food, and a stove and tell them they can't come out until they can throw a change-up for a strike.

Somehow, I think that if Joe Crede was really pumped about staying on this team with a long-term deal...he'd have realized how much the Sox community dislikes Boras and started looking at switching agents by now. I know Boras will probably get him another million or two, but if he wanted to stay, that would be a worthy gesture.

We tried using Mr. Offday as a starter early in the season last year when we had Buehrle, Loaiza, Garland and Schoenwies. (sp?). I didn't like it. Our guys really started to seem like they were wearing down after a few weeks of that. Late June/July it really seemed to take its toll...even though guys might not like the extra day of rest you get with the offday, it certainly seems that it helps keep people fresher. I'd be particularly worried about Garcia and Contreras if we did this...both of them are either older or have had some arm problems in the recent past. Those 2 are the ones I think have benefited the most from us having 5 regular starting pitchers.