The Ginger Kid

I hope it's the White Sox who play like there is no tomorrow on Friday. Keep their foot on the neck and all those other cliches apply, IMO. Don't go in thinking you only need to win 1 of 3. Win Friday. End this.

my favorite quote from their game thread regarding Bobby: "I'm telling you, this kid is Billy Koch in a fat suit... If we don't get Graffy home, it's a brain fart. "

QUOTE(whitesoxmanager @ Oct 5, 2005 -> 10:47 PM) gooch was pissed at himself for not swingin at the first one. he delivered on the next one. blame that one on the catch for not catching that one? get it? sorry.... He wasn't pissed at himself, he was pissed at the call, according to Buster Olney who wrote a great piece on the at bat on ESPN.com. Really points out how smart Iguchi is that he remembered his only other appearance against Wells earlier this summer and how he tried to quick pitch him. Read it, it's great.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Oct 5, 2005 -> 10:42 PM) Didn't see this posted yet and I usually hate the anti-national media bashing because soxtalk posters appear paranoid beyond recognition but I figured you'd guys would get fired up by this heading into Friday and t'd make you want the win even more. "White Sox fans won't ever be confused with the most knowledgeable fan bases in the game. In the first inning, they cheered wildly on three White Sox routine outs; one to short, a medium fly ball to center and a groundout to second. We can chalk it up, I guess, to overexuberance. Or, more likely, to lack of postseason practice ..." First, Donovan's a red sox fan. And in case you didn't know it, Boston has the greatest baseball fans on earth. And NY too, and St. Louis. Somehow in the drought of championships, I suppose, Chicago fans became grossly ignorant of baseball, this despite the fact that the White Sox have been around since 1901. It's a remarkable thing, our ignorance, but let us rejoice that men of stature, men of greatness, men like John Donovan, RED SOX MEN, are there to lead us and guide us and school us. Too bad he'll be doing it from a press box in Chicago, not Boston, next week, but maybe by then fans will have learned something.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Oct 5, 2005 -> 07:29 PM) Crede needs to shape up, and quick. He hasn't been very good at all at 3B. Man oh man, I thought for sure yesterday was just first playoff game jitters, to be expectd. But he's really playing with his head up his ass. Not good. Twice he's failed to move runners along and while we all know that we can live with that from Joe, he is nothing without the leather. I really hope he snaps out of it and has a great trip to beantown.

Bring it. I like bandwagon fans cause they put asses in the seats and bring bigger TV contracts which brings free agents to the South Side. It's a vicious, beautiful cycle. Bring it.

maybe if we don't talk about it.....

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Oct 5, 2005 -> 08:48 PM) That was predictable. I said it was going to happen earlier in the game thread. The media and fans will blame Graffanino a la Buckner if the White Sox win the series. Boston needs an excuse - curses, series ending errors, that sort of thing. Nice to see Buckner let off the hook for a spell. Feel bad for Graf though, I liked him a lot when he was with the Sox and don't blame him for signing with KC for only 25K more a year. He got a chance to start and play more rather than ride the pine. The boy wonder was right to pick him up for the carmines, but he's just not a starter. On KC, yes. Chicago? No. Boston? Mistake. But I'm sure little Theo, cash burning holes in his pockets, will find a suitable replacement. And this series is far, far, FAR from over...and this gaffe by graff could soon be forgotten.

Of all people, Gammons made a great point, IMO, last night when he said Buehrle attacks the strike zone and will not allow the red sox to sit back and take a lot of pitches. He thinks this game favors the real sox. I think the key for the Sox is to keep the score close, make boomer throw a lot of pitches then feast on that weak ass pen of the bosox.

You would think reading their writers and listening to their fans that the Red Sox didn't just win the WS last year, but the last three or four years straight - as if all those whippings at the hands of the yankees never happened, all those crushing defeats a mirage, all those collapses (including this season's loss of the division in the last two weeks) a mere fable. What a f***ing joke. Like ScottyDo said, I like how he tried to take digs at the city while trying to seem emotionally detatched. A real sports writer would realize that the lack of starting pitching - especially in a short series - is serious cause for concern, not smug potshots and baseless boasting. Pinning your hopes on an overweight 42 year-old so past his prime that he can't even see it in his rearview mirror is the real fantasy here.

If you want a good laugh, take a look at this game thread from a carmine fan board. It's like watching a fuse burn slowly toward a crate of dynamite. Linky

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Oct 4, 2005 -> 04:39 PM) I find it funny just how little baseball 'experts' know about the White Sox. Isn't it funny? Watching Kruk eat crow (he likes it battered and fried) was nice, but Reynolds dodged any retraction. I hope Crede shook off the nerves today - man he looked nervous out there today. We need him - I told my wife that I think he'll wind up MVP of the series. Hope I'm right. Great win. Forget about it and go play tomorrow.

Man, it's hard to believe that 7 months ago I was sitting in Tucson watching this team work out and dreaming of this day. I have to admit I thought it was a long shot at the time.

i'd love to see the sox do to the carmines what the cards are doing to the padres right now

I sure hope the Sox have confidence going into this series. They should. They're a damn good team and can hold their own with any in the league. Jose, just get through the first without any damage and we'll all breathe easier.

QUOTE(knightni @ Oct 4, 2005 -> 10:20 AM) I don't belive that Olerud will be the main focus of the WSox in this series. I'm thinking that the LF and DH will be more of a concern. What's the story with this "Ramirez" fellow and that "Ortiz" guy? Are they any good?

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Oct 4, 2005 -> 10:19 AM) I believe it was the 1918 Series that the Cubs threw, to the Bo Sox. you know what, you're right. my bad. edit: Here's a great book on the subject:

There are many great books on the history of baseball and some bad ones as well. But if you check it out you'll see that players on the 1919 White Sox got busted while many other players on other teams did not. In fact, there was a great article some years ago on the 1906 Cubs who lost the world series to the White Sox. Supposedly it was fixed. Cheating and gambling were rampant back then but people single out the Sox because they became the whipping child for the league, the unfortunate example. I'm not excusing in any way what they did. It was scandalous. But keep in mind that many White Sox players on that team -- considered by some to be the greatest team of all time -- did not throw the series. It was a handful of players who regretted it until the day they died. I say take pride in that team because they were a great team whose efforts were undermined by a greedy owner and a handful of malcontents who coerced and threatened other players into submission.

If Ben Affleck is at the game would someone please ask him for the $8.50 I paid to see Gigli? Then again...how dumb am I? Nevermind.

QUOTE(letsgoarow @ Oct 3, 2005 -> 09:13 PM) hey kyle, they did the same thing on cbs.sportsline.... its so funny.. gave the edge to sox in everything but oufield but picked the "peoples" choice I just got a funny feeling that that sox found their "mojo" in Cleveland and will carry it over tomorrow. They looked like they expected to win each game and that's how they looked for more than half a season. Here's hoping I'm right for a change.

QUOTE(fathom @ Oct 3, 2005 -> 08:11 PM) Every line in Rowand's journal should read: Don't swing at Clement's slider low and away. I hope he translates it to spanish for Uribe!

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Oct 3, 2005 -> 07:09 PM) I know I'm one to talk, but let's keep it friendly guys. I don't mind it. Apparently my laughter struck a nerve. Let me retract my statement in the hope of making nice: tony graffanino is one of the finest hitters in the league and would bat wherever he liked on the white sox. And he's a much slicker fielder than Iguchi, Uribe or Crede. I realize it must be hard being a fan of two teams in the same league. I don't know what that's like. Sorry if I made you mad. If it's any consolation, at least you'll be feeling good no matter who wins, right? So you've got that going for you.

QUOTE(redandwhite @ Oct 3, 2005 -> 04:33 PM) Possibly DH as qwert suggested, but there is no way that the "best hitter" on your team doesn't start for you when you're a team in diar need of some offense.

QUOTE(redandwhite @ Oct 3, 2005 -> 03:41 PM) Tony G would be a starter on the White Sox, without question. really? starting where?

Farmio, from the rally today: You go Ed!!