Carlo Paz

Carlos May was a pretty solid player you don't ever hear too much about anymore. He was rookie of the year, and then he blew his damned thumb off. Still went on to a respectable career. Jorge Orta was a pretty solid second baseman with similar stats to May.

What about Ozzie Guillen? One of the most popular and highly regarded Sox of all time. An absolute liability offensively. Did he ever have an OBP above .300?

Almost invariably when Foulke blows a save it is the managers fault. When he was with the Sox it was always obvious when he did not have his good stuff and was going to be hit. For some reason managers think that their closers have such delicate egos that they can't be pulled in game situations. When Foulke gave up the first homer last night there was no reason for him to be in a position to give up another one. Bad managing.

My dad and I got on an elevator once that Rick Reichardt was on. He had met my dad at a store promotion and remembered him and was very nice.

(heh heh) Dang, sorry for the repost. Oh well, hopefully someone (besides me) who missed it the first time can catch it this time.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.06/s...tw=wn_tophead_4 (There is a pop up ad before you get to the article). Interesting article on a lab that uses 3-D imaging to help pitchers correct imperfections in their delivery. Zito swears by it. With the Sox pitching injuries in recent years I would like to see them consider this.

Let's not forget Konerko being on pace to steal over 50 bases while we're at it.

Much is being made of Cito Gaston's demeanor being too similar to Jerry Manuel's. I think this misses the point of why Jerry wasn't successful. It wasn't his laid back attitude that cost the Sox, it was his poor choices. Hopefully Cito has a better understanding of strategy.

Sammy deserved any s*** that he got after that at bat in the eigth inning. Down three they desperately need base runners. Sammy has a 2-0 count. Ball three sails in out of the strike zone. Sammy swings for the fences! Next pitch...same thing! What a dick.

I wouldn't be that quick to toss Backman in the trash because of these RUMORS. I could easily imagine a situation where Backman called his old buddy and someone jokingly said "he's probably calling to encourage us so he can get the Sox job" and some media dimwit prints it as the truth. Much of what we read in the newspapers is bulls***, rumor, or inuendo. Ever been to a game and then read about it in the paper next day in a story filled with mistakes? I have lots of times. I don't know much about Backman's qualifications to manage in the majors, but I'd hate to see his carreer destroyed by a story that has even odds of being complete bulls***.

I have no problem with the Cubs. The problem is with their fans. I wouldn't mind their winning if we didn't have to have our noses rubbed in s*** forever.

In my opinion coaching boils down to two critical areas. Strategy and motivation. Ditka was well above average in the motivation category and well below crappy in the strategy area. Manuel seems to blow in both. I won't miss him.

I'm don't think this is true (Konerko played his way out of his funk). Konerko has always been a streak hitter. I've noticed in the past that he has a very difficult time breaking out of a bad run. Some guys are lackidasical and need to buckle down and focus to break out of a slump. Konerko is not one of them. When things go bad for him he presses harder and harder. I can easily imagine him tossing and turning in bed at night going over and over each at bat. This year he finally came out of it after an extended stretch riding the bench. This may be the most valuable information to come out of this disappointing season. In the future, when Konerko goes into one of his inevitable multi-week slumps, sit his ass down for a week or so. This may force him to chill out and back off from his over-intensity and will spare us an automatic out in the middle of the line up. Who knows, if Jerry had given him a week off in May perhaps Konerko would have come out of it a whole lot sooner.

Went to the game tonight and really expected the crowd to lay into the Sox for their lackluster performance in Minn. Didn't happen. Outside of one guy behind me, I didn't hear any booing the whole evening. Not even when Manuel came out to replace Buerle in the 8th! Then again, it doesn't seem like much of the crowd is there for the game. Outside of the two home runs, the only time the crowd made any noise was when the scoreboard told them to, or when there was a between inning frog race of some kind. I was sitting next to a Polish guy who didn't know much about the game. At one point he turned to me and said "the people, they like the frogs more than the baseball?". Yep. I guess so.

Just a note on the original topic of this post. It was not Gammons who said that the Sox have potentially the best pen in the AL. The paragraph starts with "Meanwhile, one AL scout adds, "...

I remember the headline in the Sun Times when the Sox finally won after losing the first ten games in 68 SOXWINSOXWINSOXWINSOXWIN wrapped around from back to front in "war is over" sized font.

I saw that near perfect game by Mussina. He was awesome. Lets not forget the perfect game that Milt Pappas had stolen from him on a borderline 3-2 pitch with 2 outs in the ninth that the ump called a ball.

Even Hawk and DJ were ripping the decision to start Cotts in the first inning before the Yanks had even scored any runs.

Some fuel for the fire. http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/rwas/in...egory=2&id=2294 http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/rwas/in...egory=2&id=2301 http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/rwas/in...egory=2&id=2283

Based on the response in Cincinatti, it sounds like a fantastic pick up. Here's some quotes. "When I heard what we got for him, I nearly threw up. We've been best friends since 1997, since I've been here. It hurts. I don't know how to think of it right now,'' said Graves, the losing pitcher Thursday night against Arizona. "I understand you have to get young talent and this and that, but Scott Sullivan came here below market value to remain in Cincinnati because he loved pitching here and he came up through this organization,'' Reds first baseman Sean Casey said. "It's just a money thing. This one is so frustrating because Sully has led the league and led the world four of the last five years in appearances. They say no guy is irreplaceable, but Scott Sullivan is irreplaceable. The leadership he brought here and the things he brought to this team, for what Scott Sullivan brought, he was cheap. ... It's a sad day here for a lot of guys.''

Just curious. How does one become a Sox fan in Australia?

No way! With Kenny Williams' track record of obtaining guys with common names, there's no way I want him trying to sign a Japanese player! He'll be expecting to get a stud homerun hitter and we'll end up with a 65 year old karate instructor that trims bonsai plants in the clubhouse as a hobby. good one (crap, haven't mastered the quote function yet)

Hey, we're talking about Jerry Manuel here. Maybe he decided to replace Loiza with Adkins for the rest of the season to bring some youthful enthusiasm to the club.

Wow. Not one person picked the nastiest starter in the majors this season. What's his name? Estaban something or other.

In 83 there was an important series in NY just as the Sox were starting to turn it around. I remember LaRussa made a few decisions that were crucial that paid off (I remember in particular 2 pitch-outs in the same sequence to catch a runner stealing). I wasn't a huge fan of LaRussa, but he impressed me during that series. Regarding your other points, in my opinion Ditka was a horrible coach who managed not to blow it one year, while Phil Jackson was the best coach this town ever saw. Generally speaking, I tend not to notice the manager unless I feel his decisions are really bad. I notice JM a lot.