SpringfieldFan

Ok, now lets see how she would fare if she stepped up to the plate to hit some baseballs from Randy Johnson. Enough said.

Ahh, got it done. I don't know if "by the 10th" means that once Tuesday begins it is too late or if there is still a day left. Oh well. Anyway, Chsoxfn - mine is the "best talk on the planet" one if you know what I mean.

There is only one downside to your post. The pictures of Kirsten Dunst on the scoreboard is not part of the renovation.

I am not optimistic about what would happen in an Ordonez trade. I like to think he would bring in a lot of good talent in a trade but I doubt it. All things being equal, that would be true, but another owner would already "giving" the Sox something very valuable in return for Maggs - namely the $14 million savings on his contract. Not many teams will say "sure I will take Mags off your hands for $14 mil and a lot of talent". In today's game, as the Pirates have illustrated - you pay for talent with money now, not other talent.

My apologies if this has already been posted but still well worth the read: "Where is the love Cubbies?"

I can lend concrete proof to that. This summer my Mother, Stepfather and kids moved to Vegas. My step is a great, great guy - except for one thing: the Cubs. A couple years ago we all got together for a dinner and it was during the city series (if fact IIRC it was the game David Wells hurt himself and had to leave). Anyway, he and the kids turned the radio on during dinner and openly cheered them and jeered the sox knowing how big a sox fan I am. That doesn't seem like a big deal but you have to understand my wife and I are quiet fans who don't get involved in all that back and forth smoke blowing and chain yanking. We just sat there quietly while the cubs were ahead and tried to keep our appetites. I think after we all went home the Sox ended up winning though (maybe it was C Lee's slam night). In any case, that is what you will now be treated to in L.V. I love my family and miss them dearly, but at this point in time, I am glad they are 1500 miles away. Luckily my Dad is a Sox fan and he is still in town. BTW wasn't L.V. formerly a Cubs AAA town? That might explain a lot if true.

The reality is that this is these guys career, not their hobby. The utmost important consideration is their salary. If salary wasn't the number 1 issue, then all the major leaguers would simply sign with the teams they were fans of during their childhood. Sure, all things being equal, I would love to play for the Sox if I made it to the majors, but if come contract time I could get an additional 3 million to play for someone else, thats damn well where my allegience will go. Heck, even if I could just take the 3 million and give every penny of it to the March of Dimes, that would still be enough to sway me to join that organization.

I understand that Webster was a long way and certainly no guarantee. I also applaud the deal KW made that resulted in giving him up. However, I would still rather have him in the system now than not. Too bad losing him didn't pay off for us this year.

They were about to have one - Anthony Webster.

How about Ozzie as player manager?

My choice is Old Comiskey - for the attitude. However, in the pictures I wish the Old Comiskey picture could have been the one with the old exploding scoreboard (the one with the sox-o-gram, not the diamold vision). If fit the old park better IMO.

Well, the last couple of days I have been trying to imagine what I would do if somehow I acquired ownership of the team and had roughly the same budget to work with. Here is what I would do: First, I would make a commitment to the fans that they are priority #1. I would reduce ticket prices a couple of bucks across the board, and bring back $8-10 bleacher or "cheap" seats and tell them that when this team becomes truly competitive, then it will have earned the right to charge higher rates on tickets. Its probably not financially feasible, but I would consider refunding 2003 season ticket holders a nominal part of their expense, explaining that they never got the product they paid for. Next, I would make the ballpark experience more fan friendly. I would get rid of goofball scoreboard races and similar fluff and bring back the ballgirls, Nancy Foust "full time", and more "real" promotions like jersey day and glove day. I would provide access to all parts of the park for any ticket holder. Etc., Etc. After taking these measures to ingratiate myself with the fans again, I would proceed to retool the team. I am afraid high prices favorites like Maggs, Colon, and Everett would have to go. I would make it very clear to the fanbase that it makes more sense to pay 2 mil to a 300-25-90 guy then 12 mil to a 320-30-100 guy. A handful of avg points and home runs are not worth 10 mil and that money would be spread around the roster to make a very effective product top to bottom. I would guarantee that the total salary would be at least equal to the 2003 salary, even if there isn't a $10 million man in it. Finally, I would replace Manuel with Backman and they new guys I acquire will be strong fundamentally, have some speed, and provide a balance between power and small ball. Most importantly, along with the new manager, they will have a desire to win every game and give 110% every inning, play, at bat, and pitch. The attititude will be one of tenancity in every situation, regardless of the situation. Although a couple superstars might be missing, I think the type of effort and play will be appreciated by the fans and it should translate into W's as well. This team should be able to eclipse the 2003 win total, and I think if it is done right, could contend. ...now back to my real job

Five Chicago sports fans were climbing a mountain one day. Each was a fan of a different Chicago team and each proclaimed to be the most loyal fan of all. As they climbed higher, they argued as to which was the most loyal. They continued bickering all the way to the top. Suddenly, the Blackhawks fan hurled himself from the peak, shouting, "This is for the Hawks!" as he fell to his doom. Not wanting to be outdone in the loyalty department, the Bulls fan threw himself off the precipice, proclaiming, "This is for the greatest team of the '90s!" Seeing this, the Bears fan shouted, "This is for DA COACH!!!" as he leapt to his death. The two remaining fans looked at each other in stunned silence. After a minute the Sox fan bellowed, "This is for everyone on the South Side!!" Then he pushed the Cubs fan off the mountain.

Well, to be fair to the guy, he does accurately report the lack of Sox interest around here. It took quite a while for me to find even a Sox t-shirt at the mall in the sea of all the red and blue stuff. And the comment about the lack of radio coverage - that was right on. I am forced to listen to am1000 and at night all I can hear on that frequency is spanish and static. However I do take strong issue to his comment the Sox have no tradition. Tradition has been the richest part of the sox experience and I would take any of the sox stars he lists over any of the cub stars he compares them to. And the volkswagon comment was a cheap shot, no question about it.

Up in Chicago I know how much the media is biased towards the Cubs. I just thought I would provide a little perspective on what it is like downstate - in Springfield. Here is a story from one of our paper's sportswriters that sums it up pretty well. State Journal Register I guess I cannot get upset too much at the writer - what he has written is pretty much what I have observed down here. At least the Sox got ink of some sort down here. In any case, I hope you all can understand why I dislike the Cubs and the Cardinals. It is lonely being a downstate Sox fan!

Hey folks, with everyone looking at whether Albert Pujols can win the triple crown this year, do you realize that Esteban Loaiza in firmly in the running to win his own triple crown of sorts - a "pitcher's" triple crown? As I look at the stats this monday morning, Esteban is tied for the lead in wins (19), is third in ERA (trailing by only 0.12), and is third in strikeouts (trailing Pedro 178 to 176). Has anyone ever heard of a pitcher leading all three of these categories in a season? I honestly cannot remember it ever happening. It must be even rarer than a hitter's triple crown, since you never even hear of one for pitching. Do it, Esteban, and snag the Cy Young while you are at it!!

In witnessing the events of Wednesday where Minnesota came back to win in the 9th, and the Sox gave one away in the 9th, the nature of the two teams is once again illustrated. The Twins win via small ball and by coming up big in close games. The Sox are poor at small ball and seem to lose the close ballgames. However, unlike the Twins, they can win with a powerful offense and long balls (i.e. "bigball"). Normally I would be pessimistic at the fact the Sox cannot win when the bats are quiet, but have just learned to accept the fact that the Sox simply approach it another way - by relying on pounding the opposition, which has landed them in this tie for first. Now, my question - do they have a good shot at going all the way by using this method? Maybe this is the best way since the WS winner will have to be playing at their best anyway, and we have seen that the Sox at their best are incredibly strong. What do you all think? Do we have good reason to hope?

Wednesday night on BBTN I distinctly heard him say "the White Sox could be dangerous in the post season - very dangerous." ominous

This is good though, considering the remaining schedules of the Sox as compared to Minnesota and KC, isn't it?

Yes, that is very true. Of course if you toss his 18 hrs with texas, then you have to include the 7 dingers Jimenez had while still with us, etc. In any case I am just looking at the talent on the team NOW, and Carl's 18 hrs with Texas are a testament to that talent, and what we can hopefully expect from him down the stretch.

And all this is after over 3 months of corpseball. I am in shock.

That there is a possibility the Sox will end the season with seven guys having at least 20 home runs? Mercy!

The ESPN.com rankings also have the Sox up to #7. What is interesting is the blurb about them saying that they have a hunch that when the dust clears, they will still be playing in October.

Borchard with a 1 for 4, which as usual, raises his average.

What ever happened to bat day? I fondly remember hot Saturday nights at old comiskey where drunk fans disgruntled over a losing team would be brandishing 30" authentic wood bats - and in some cases "using" them... Ahh for the good old days.