Balta1701

I was 2 years old in 1983, so I'd have some difficulty voting for them. If anyone can pass along some stats to convince me, i'd love to see them. Otherwise, I still rank 93 the best...for now. If this pitching staff continues to carry us to the playoffs, then they can easily surpass that lineup. But man, wasn't Black Jack incredible in the early 90's? I never saw anyone be so dominant when he didn't have his best pitches working.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jun 10, 2005 -> 01:57 PM) I like Lopez. He's just solid. "That show just perpetuates the stereotype that George Lopez is funny" -Chris Griffin

QUOTE(Steff @ Jun 10, 2005 -> 12:47 PM) What part of "And I am not saying YOU are doing it" did you not comprehend..??? The part of it that didn't stick in my head. My apologies...I kind of lost that statement when I was replying. Entirely my fault. Aside from that, I think my last 2 posts still effort the same point. It's not the "white woman's fault", but the media is going crazy for these "missing young white women", and it's really not a good thing.

Here's a WaPo piece from today on the same topic.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jun 10, 2005 -> 09:43 AM) So is that all the "white woman's" fault...?? That gives the green light to talk s*** about her..? And I'm not at all saying YOU are doing that.. just a curious question. I'm not talking sh*t about her. I just don't care about her, and I don't think that she's national news. The only reason she's national news is that she's a white American female. Here's a quote from a former Dole Press Secretary on the subject. There are also links there to missing African American females who are simply ignored by the news media. Ditto Children.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Jun 10, 2005 -> 08:28 AM) I, for one, got a kick out of it. Fireronzook.com orginated this stuff and has yet to be challenged. And considering they won their fight (and really had money pouring in near the end - hell they bought ad space on a plane flying over Florida games last year), that's not a bad model to emulate.

QUOTE(Cubs Suck23 @ Jun 10, 2005 -> 09:56 AM) I would love for the Sox to win the AL Central but getting into the playoffs is the main thing.. If somehow the Twins over take us which i dont think they will.. The Sox have a 7.5 game lead on Texas for the Wildcard spot... This is not said in anger so please don't take it that way... I don't want to hear the phrase "wild card" when talking about this team unless the Twinkies pass us. It should not even be uttered. There should be absolutely no one on this team who wants the Wild Card. This team right now is good enough to win this division, and we're going to have to start playing worse to get to the wild card. The Twinkies are playing their hearts out right now and are still 4 back. There should be 1 goal and 1 goal alone for this team during the regular season, and that's to get that magic number down to zero. Anything less means that we let up and let the Twins pass us. Anything less means that we went into a slump. Anything less means that we are no longer the team to beat in the AL. Anything less means that someone else has home field advantage in the playoffs. The phrase "wild card" should only be mentionned in the context of the Wild Card coming from the AL Central instead of the west. That is all.

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Jun 10, 2005 -> 07:32 AM) I wonder if they will make the same big deal next weekend when the Sox play the dodgers? I believe that the Sox played the Dodgers last year (or was it 2 years ago?) so it won't be the first time that's happened.

QUOTE(Yoda @ Jun 10, 2005 -> 09:34 AM) Last appearance: 5.1 IP 11 H 5 R 5 ER 1 BB 3 SO ... and got the W. The Dogers as a whole have been a really wierd beast this season. They have the talent to get as hot as anyone, but then they keep making themselves look like fools in other cases. Their biggest problems have probably been inconsistent starting pitching and infield defense, which is exactly what people would have predicted when Depodesta put this team on the field. And when defense is a problem and you've got Izturis at short, that's saying something. The Twins are a far better team than the Dodgers. I don't think that LA has to face Santana, which is lucky for them, but the Twins will probably pile on quite a few runs onto the Dodgers, several of them unearned. The Dodgers best hope is that they can figure out the Twins' pitching staff. They'll need to outscore the Twinkies, because I doubt they're going to outpitch them.

I used to work for a sales business that had 2 shops in the NW Indiana area. During my last year there, the guy who owned the other office in the area was shot and killed outside of his office. It later seemed to turn out that his teenage kids had repeatedly tried to put out a hit on him. Btw, he was a millionaire. His wife had also been cheating on him. The person who they actually think pulled the trigger was a person the kids knew from school. He has since disappeared. One kid was arrested, but because of shoddy police work, he was never charged. The wife later ran off to Michigan with another guy from that office and blew most of the guy's money on drugs. If just 1/20th of the amount of coverage that CNN et al. have wasted on discussing missing white women was given to that case, I bet you it would be enough to find the killer. I bet you it would spur the local police to get their act together. I bet you it wouldn't be that hard to find the guy if his face was out there (last I heard he was cited in one of the Carolinas.) But alas, all we get is missing white women. No wonder I no longer watch cable news.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 06:14 PM) I don't either, but apparently someone is still watching. Enough people to keep the damn show on the air. I do. I'm currently sitting at a grand total of 1 episode missed (damn DirecTV rainstorm effect)... And it's really pissing me off too. It was the episode where Marge's sister came out of the closet, and I think Fox is resisting showing in reruns because of the political content. I've seen every one of the reruns from that same month at least 1 or 2 times already. It's not Family Guy funny right now, but it's still worth watching, at least to me.

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 10:04 PM) Yeah, I'm not advocating trading Cotts, I just think that he would have some value now, and KW probably would be more likely to trade him over McCarthy at this point. I think right about now, even if we considered Trading him, we'd never get back enough value to make up for the loss of a quality left-hander. Especially since very few people have heard of him. No team's going to get excited if they give up someone for "Neal Cotts". They would for BMac. I honestly think the only guy in our organization we might get equal value for is BMac, just because of how dominant he was in the minors last year and in ST this year.

QUOTE(knightni @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 10:05 PM) Balta... I love that avatar! LOL Why thanks...I was waiting for someone to take note.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 08:34 PM) If anyone ever showed up to the Cell wearing a shirt like that they'd probably get "heaved" into a trash can face first. And I can think of probably 20 people, including me, who would be happy to help. Even while sober. That man is the best marketing engine the Sox have. Look what having Harry did for the Cubs. The man was out there for years telling people to come to Wrigley, and all of a sudden people started listening. The Hawk is an icon. Every now and then the Sportscenter guys will do his homerun call or use one of his nicknames, and a lot of times they attribute it to the Hawk. I hardly know any other announcers who get their catch phrases on air. I've been listening to the Hawk since I became a Sox fan. I don't know if I can name a better home run call in baseball right now. I don't think there's an announcer I'd rather listen to. Hell, I practically bought MLB's extra innings so I'd get more games that he was announcing. The White Sox without the Hawk are the blandest White Sox around.

I thought we were trying to elevate the level of discourse here. Anywho, I think the most important thing here is that it's obvious that even KW is working to keep this team playing as a team. When we won in 2000, everyone on that team was saying how much fun it was. This year is the same thing. Everyone seems to be picking up everyone else. And when people go into a slump, I guarantee you that pat on the back helps. KW having an "Open door" can really help that. Get things out of the back of people's heads. Get Crede, for example, to stop thinking he needs to hit the ball out of the park every pitch so that he can keep his job, and maybe he keeps his head back and shoulder closed on a few more balls.

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 09:59 PM) I've always like Neils arm, but wanted to see him at AAA being a starter. He's really turned me around this year. He's throwing strikes and has done a great job settling into a bullpen role. He's been rock solid lately. This might be out on a limb, but if KW does make a move (and Marte isn't seriously hurt) I wouldn't be suprised if Cotts is a young pitcher they use as bait. If he keeps pitching this way, a team can easily stretch him out next ST for a starters role. God I hope not. The last thing we need is to be trading 1 of the guys in our bullpen with an ERA below 3. Not if we're making a playoff run. Especially not if the guy is a lefty. 2 quality or near-quality left handers in your bullpen gives you a ton of options in the playoffs, and that's a very good thing.

QUOTE(mmmmmbeeer @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 07:36 PM) Agreed. I'm not trying to dog the trade. I'm just saying that if we could have pods leading off and el caballo still hitting 2nd or 3rd...good God. To get talent, you have to give up talent. Personally, I think our biggest pickup was probably A.J. Giving Garland and Buehrle a smart play caller...wow. That wouldn't have happened without the Lee trade. It'd be nice to stick him back in this lineup, but then again, it'd be nice to stick lots of people into that lineup, but they aren't all going to happen. Also remember 1 thing...Lee had a good year last year, but not a great year. He wasn't producing power at all for the first 1/2 of the year. He's been on fire this year, but he has a habit of cooling off. During his 29 game hit streak or whatever it was last year, he only had like 1 home run. He's driving in runs like mad right now, but I'll lay you 2 to 1 odds he doesn't lead the NL in RBI's.

QUOTE(ScottPodRulez22 @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 08:40 PM) Didnt the sox get dye before they made the trade? Yes, they did. The way I did the numbers...Garcia and Dye were bought with Ordonez's money, while El Duque, A.J., Pods, Hermanson, and Vizcaino came from El Cabayo.

Ichiro was ridiculously hot during the last few months of the year last year. It was like he'd never make an out. It was remarkable. Everyone goes through good streaks and bad streaks. That's why it's so darn hard to hit .400. You literally can't have more than a bad week or two during the entire season, otherwise you fall pretty far away from it and have to struggle back. Ichiro will end this season hitting .350 or more. He'll find that grove again. If nothing else, he'll start slamming the ball into the ground again, and that'll get him a hit every 3 at bats.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 05:56 PM) Most likely. But they sure must be pissed that they signed Beltre to that huge contract now. :puke Beltre's contract isn't exactly "Huge"...it's large, but not like $20 mil or anything. I still think Beltre will find his swing. He was absolutely amazing last year. He will pull it together.

Wonder if we'll see any of Valdez this weekend. I'm sure they got him to replace Loretta while he's on the DL. They've been playing a replacement, Damian Jackson I think, at 2nd.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 09:19 PM) Did you catch Mark Grace with the Hawkism there?? I've heard like 3 or 4 announcers use that line in the last month or so. I swear, it's like a disease. (one of them, I think it was the Mets' guy, actually credited Hawk)

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 05:49 PM) The sox are 27th of 30 teams in # of RISP AB's...http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/aggreg...=39&season=2005 Just to be clear - that statistic is number of at bats with runners in scoring position, not total number of runners in scoring position.

QUOTE(soxman352000 @ Jun 9, 2005 -> 02:43 PM) Maggs robbed the Tigers blind (Well actually that was Scott B.) What do you think Maggs numbers will be when he returns from the DL? I'll go with .275-.280, 40-50 RBI's, Mabey 10-12 Homers. Thoughts? He's been out of baseball so long I bet his strength has diminished quite a bit. And I'm still a bit curious over these "wierd injuries" he's been having. Throw in that he's playing in Tiger Stadium (or whatever the hell its called), and I'll bet he struggles a lot more than that. .250 or lower, maybe 8 hr's.

They've been in pre-production on this thing since 1992. I'm not going to believe it's really happening until I actually am sitting in the theater.