StrangeSox

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 10:13 PM) What the hell is Anderson's approach? Bad.

gameday is all messed up. Still frozen on Vaz vs. Gordon

What the hell is wrong with Javy?

How'd Anderson play on that one, Farmer made it sound like he played it horribly.

So much for that lead.

Bulls up big!

Damnit, Insight in Champaign isn't televising the game. http://chicago.comcastsportsnet.com/Illinois-Systems.asp

If you turn down a request for a search, they can still bring in a K9 unit to sniff the outside of the car. If the dog alerts to a substance, they then have probable cause to search.

Better to have too much than too little. Much better. Besides, its not like it'll go bad. I'd go with 1.5 or 2 rolls per person. It's probably overkill but it's better than wiping with leaves.

QUOTE(HeGone33 @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 10:09 AM) Ozzie said BA will be starting in CF tonight, so you can expect the game to be postponed. Go Bulls!!!! LOL. BA's only going to be the announced starter whenever it looks like a game will be rained/ snowed out.

Does anyone know where this channel might be down in champaign, just in case they do get it in?

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 09:26 AM) There's no reason to talk about BA (from a statistical analysis POV) if he has less than 50 or even 100 at-bats. So we can bring his statistics in once we're 90 games into the season? I know, there were just some other people using his 9AB's to say he sucked and could never be as good as GRINDERSTAD!

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 09:26 AM) KW didn't drop the ball. If he had done nothing besides going into the season with Anderson and Terrero and a prayer, THAT would be dropping the ball. At the same time, he ensured that Pods would have a back-up in Mackowiak not playing out of position, instead of having to play Mack in CF. You might not like Erstad, but getting him for $1 milllion is almost as big of a bargain as Dye's contract. We could be getting worse production from Dave Roberts and be stuck paying him $18 million for three years just as easily. There wasn't much out there, would anyone be happy with Preston Wilson's defense and overrated bat in CF instead? If he gets 600 AB's, doesn't he have a clause in the contract that kicks in for $6 million?

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 02:07 AM) I've been asking for those "close and late" stats for weeks. What are the raw numbers, and what site is that information found? ESPN's splits. QUOTE(TheHolyBovine @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 01:48 AM) I need to spell out the problem for some of you: Pods, Erstad, and Anderson don't hit very well. Two of them (Pods and Erstad) never will again because of their age, and Anderson has about an 18% chance of becoming mediocre. Arguing about whether Erstad or Anderson should start is missing the point, IMO. Neither of them should be starting on a championshp team, and Pods wouldn't be a very useful player unless he hit .330. I think you're missing the point that, barring a big mid-season trade, we're stuck with these players. I agree that KW sort of dropped the ball with the OF this offseason, but the roster is what it is. FWIW, Brian's OBP is actually higher than Erstad's THIS year.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 01:21 AM) That's nice. Anyone can pull stats on any player in a given situation to make a case for them. You can skew the stats anyway you like. That's great. I found some interesting stats while looking up his post-ASB stats that showed he hit well in some RBI situations. And post-ASB isn't cherry-picking or skewing stats. Its looking for improvement in the second half of a rookie season.

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 12:28 AM) Wow, did anyone see that thing about Mackowiak on ESPN? The day his son was born (a doubleheader), he hit a walk-off Grand Slam in the first game and a game-tying homer in the 9th of the second game. What a day! I remember that happening, but not that it was Mackowiak.

I've really dug Kings of Leon lately.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 12:24 AM) He hit .200 or under in every other month. He can't hit major league pitching consistently.He still struck out 26 times in that period. That is more than Uribe in less at-bats. You can't have both Uribe and Anderson striking out that much at the bottom of the order. Someone has to put the ball in play. BA Post-ASB: .257/.301/.393/.694 Any reason he can't duplicate his own numbers from last year with more experience? For s***s and giggles, here's what he did last year with a man on 3rd, less than 2 outs: .353/.391/.588/.979 "Close and late" .256/.304/.372/.676 2nd and 3rd .500/.538/.900/1.438

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 12:36 AM) If BA could match any of his healthy seasons I would love to see him play. I doubt the guy can. I don't think he can match any of Erstad's healthy seasons. Since 2000? I would love to see BA match Erstad's 02, 04, or 05 seasons. If he could do that I would let him play. I don't think he can. Can he hit more HRs? Possibly, but I am not looking for Erstad to hit HRs. We have enough HR hitters in our lineup. He almost did it in his rookie year. He struggled a lot at the plate early on and improved later in the season (before having a crappy September). I'd love to see Erstad match his 02, 04, or 05 seasons. I doubt he will.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 12:29 AM) Erstad is coming back from having a year off. Give him time. Yes, I am comparing a 2nd year player to a 12 year player. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt by going with this year's Erstad stats to last year's Anderson's stats. Would you rather go by Anderson's rookie year compared to Erstad's? How about any of Erstad's first 7 years? Do think Anderson could equal any of them? I don't. Erstad has had one good year since 2000. How much more time do we give him before evaluating? Oh, and Anderson could probably match his 1999 season pretty well. His OBP and SLG were close last year, and that was with him being useless at the plate for 3 months before getting a little hot after the ASB.

QUOTE(Whitewashed in @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 12:18 AM) I like the Eclipse because it's got a little power under the hood while the Civic is economical and has less HP, but I have heard the Civic is a better car. For more HP I know exhaust is a place to start. What are some of the little things that can give you a few more HP? My dad has a 3rd gen Eclipse (2003) and that car is an absolute turd. I haven't heard much about the latest (2006 MOY, I think) Eclipses. The older ones (mid-late 90's) are decent and can be had for a reasonable price. You're going to have to watch to try to avoid getting one someone beat on for the last 50k miles. As far as modifications go, it depends a lot on the car. Some cars have terribly restrictive exhausts from the factory -- others have systems that were designed reasonably well. Same for just about any other component. Your best bet would be to find a good enthusiast forum for the car similar to SoxTalk and see what other people have to say. Nothing wrong with letting other people spend their money first to figure out what works and what doesn't! The best way to go faster is to reduce weight! It improves not only acceleration, but also cornering, braking, and fuel efficiency. As for your earlier question regarding low-profile tires and snow, here's my thoughts (take with a grain of salt, I'm no tire expert): The size of the sidewalls shouldn't matter too much. What's really going to matter is the tire width (narrower is better for snow), tread patterns, and the compounds used. Aside from allowing people to shove huge wheels on cars, low profile tires help performance because the shorter sidewall is stiffer so there's less compliance in the tire. I don't think this will effect your traction in the snow.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 12:17 AM) So you want him in the minors developing? OK I will go for that. I don't think you develop a young player at the major league level on a playoff caliber team. Anderson has never looked good at the plate at the major league level. He is very good defensively. That is it, that is it, THAT IS IT! That is all he has ever done. He hit over .300 for a month last year, and close to it for another month. If he's not getting regular playing time in the majors, he needs to be in the minors. But eventually, you've gotta step up and prove that you can hit major league pitching. It takes some time -- not everyone can come up and do it right out of the gate while being platooned and facing lefties like Johan and C.C.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 12:15 AM) I really have my doubts if Anderson will turn out to be a solid major league player, and I am a big Anderson guy. I just am realistic, and so far, things offensively have been a big struggle for Brian. However, if I'm going to be realistic, I also understand that young players don't always come up to the big leagues and dominate, and need to be given time to grow. Anderson isn't doing any growing on the bench. Yeah, his current situation really isn't helping his development at all. He needs to be moved to AAA, traded, or, god forbid, played regularly.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 12:10 AM) Which is exactly the problem alot of us have. Anderson got just under 400 AB's last season. A good amount, but a young player needs more. At least give Anderson a chance to fail. Right now, he isn't even getting a shot, and right now, it looks like he probably wont again with this organization, which is a shame. Yeah, they really gave up on him too soon. Kenny Williams gets rid of two guys to get him a spot and then he's platooned all year and benched the next. He really showed improvement in July and August last year and showed some potential to be a decent player at the plate and a fantastic outfielder. QUOTE(southsideirish @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 12:11 AM) Why are you using Erstad's April for a comparison as to what he normally does when healthy? He barely played last year. Don't you think he is shaking off a little rust? Don't you think he needs a little time? Do you want to compare Anderson's 2006 April to Erstad's April? Anderson - 62 ABs, 9 runs, 10 hits, 2 doubles, 2 HRs, 6 RBI, 9 BB, 22 Ks, 2 SBs, .161 Avg,, .264 OBP, .290 SLG, .554 OPS Erstad - 64 ABs, 5 runs, 13 hits, 0 doubles, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 9 Ks, 4 SB, .203 Avg, .254 OBP, .250 SLG, .507 OPS Pretty equal and Erstad has 6 more games to improve on those numbers. If everything is equal why would you take a younger player over a vet? I think you are overestimating Anderson's ceiling and you think he is all-star caliber if you want him to play over a vet. I don't see it. One can be the future of the team, the other cannot. One is on the decline, the other on the rise. One will likely get injured, the other will not. And a .50 OPS difference isn't that minor. Anderson had more runs, more HR's, and more BB. He also K'd a ton, unfortunately, but it was his first crack in the majors as a starter and he came up with the typical White Sox holes in his swing. Oh, and Erstad has one extra-base hit which came in game 1, and nothing but soft singles since then.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Apr 24, 2007 -> 12:06 AM) Well, 10 AB's are all we have. I know the sample size is ridiculous, but to me Anderson has looked worse than Erstad at the plate. Do you really think that if Anderson were starting everyday that he'd be better than Erstad? Maybe, but I haven't seen it. I'd rather the Sox had a CF that can hit, but I don't see one on the roster. So why not try to develop the one who could be a future for your team instead of the one who's probably going to get injured at some point during the season if he keeps playing this much? If Erstad were hitting even decently (.250), there wouldn't be too much argument. But he's looked brutal at the plate. He has zero power. Almost everything is a soft grounder. His spray charts look like a big blob near the 2B. He's done well in the field, but his age and slower speed have shown a few times. Anderson hasn't looked good at the plate, but he sees pitching once every six or seven days. Hard to improve when you're playing that irregularly. His lackadaisical play in the outfield was definitely a big blow against him yesterday, though. That was the absolute last thing he needed to do at this point. It comes down to the sad fact that the Sox don't have a decent starting CF, and they are forced to play a 4th OF and a struggling young player.