mmmmmbeeer

Timlin about to f***ing blow it up in Boston. Sean Casey is on fire.

QUOTE(AbeFroman @ Aug 15, 2006 -> 12:25 AM) Those mortgage rates seem a tad high to me. One great little trick is to get three or four mortgage brokers working for you. Let them know that they are competing. When the compete, they will often offer lower closing costs and even lower rates... particularly on that 15 year fixed 15% loan. We just went through this with a couple of lenders. We ended up knocking off 5/8pts off of our 30 year fixed with no down payment, no origination fees, and miniscule costs. My wife had the pleasure of bargaining with these two, had one on each line and kept clicking back and forth until she got an offer the other couldn't beat. I agree, those interest rates seem really high, especially on the 15 year fixed.

Overrated player: Ervin Santana -- People speak like he's in the same class as Verlander, Weaver, Liriano, etc... He's not even close, imo...and I think that the #'s support that opinion Overrated manager: Jim Leyland-- He is getting waaay too much credit for the Tigers' success this season. Overrated GM: Sabean--SF sucks and appears to have no plan whatsoever Underrated player: Ryan Howard -- His #'s are very close to Ortiz but Ryan's still a kid. All we hear about is how Ortiz is a given as MVP and how dominant a hitter he is. Howard is mentioned in MVP talk but is not given the praise for being as dominant as he is. Underrated manager: Definitely Girardi...he's turning boys into men down there all the while fighting with ownership. Underrated GM: Dombrowski -- The performance of Detroit's rookies is, imo, the main reason for their success this season. I attribute their opportunity to succeed to Dombroski.

QUOTE(Wedge @ Aug 12, 2006 -> 02:48 PM) Pinella "That's not fair" was it the hook on 3-2 count?

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Aug 12, 2006 -> 02:24 PM) Wow, our pen is sick. KW put a lot of thought and work into constructing that pen. That's what pisses me off the most when Oz sticks with his starters too long; what's the point of KW crafting that pen if Oz refuses to use it. Hopefully today is a sign that Oz finally understands that it's alright to the turn the ball over to the pen before your SP gets in any trouble.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 12, 2006 -> 02:22 PM) His athletic ability. i guess they must have been talking about him on TV. i remember hawk talking about him being able to drive a golf ball 400yds. that's insane.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 12, 2006 -> 02:20 PM) Excellent job by MacDougal. That Inge stuff is insane. inge stuff?

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Aug 12, 2006 -> 02:07 PM) Wouldn't it be wacky if Alomar went deep this inning? If anything were to qualify as being labeled "wacky", an Alomar bomb would certainly make the list.

QUOTE(He_Gawn @ Aug 12, 2006 -> 12:45 PM) The World Series. you mean when we went on an 11-1 run against the cream of MLB teams? sure would be nice to go on a tear.

if mb can keep this a quality start, I hope that this is a sign of things to come...that would mean that each starter, minus garland, had a good last start. when's the last time we've seen 4/5 starters on their game at the same time?

So KOKI, FOX23 out of Tulsa....ya know, the tulsa that sits directly in the middle of the country, has decided that "regional coverage" means Yankees vs. Angels instead of, say, a couple midwest teams like Chicago and Detriot.

Biggest series of the season starts tonight and I don't get to watch the game (WCIU)...nor do I get to watch tomorrow's game (FOX). I loooove extra innings.

QUOTE(soxyess @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 09:44 PM) Yea but last year we had great situational hitting We either lead the AL or MLB, can't remember which, in avg w/ RISP.

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Aug 8, 2006 -> 08:10 PM) Hahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahaha. We just gave the lead away... for the 3rd time. can we ban this guy on some sort of technicality? I've seen other team's trolls get banned for less s*** talking about the Sox.

QUOTE(DABearSoX @ Aug 7, 2006 -> 11:20 PM) I posted this in the "I can't take this anymore thread" so if you already read it please disregard....I think this also applies to this thread Keep blaming ozzie, please use him as the scape goat. Yea of course he makes some questionable calls in the bullpen.....but please OZZIE IS NOT THE PROBLEM.......our starters other then Garland are flat out crap. JC needs to stop with his lazy arm bulls***, in a game or 2 he is gonna be throwing submarine. Freddy needs to speed it up and stop lazily wondering around the mound like a lost puppy. Javy needs to stop thinking and just pitch. And Mark I just don't know.....his location is complete s hit, his velocity is about as good as a high school freshman..... What I find funny is there is no blame being put on Coop. COOP THE MIRACLE MAN, the only reason he gets so much credit is because of last year......SO WHAT THE HELL IS HE TELLING THEM NOW..... Whenever there is an offensive slump people call for Walkers head.....Coop saved Matt Thornton, or did he, Matt says OZZIE was the one that has givin him all the confidence......So keep blaming it on Ozzie, the man who brought a worse team to the world series...... 1 run deficit. 2 outs, bottom of the 7th. men on 1st and 2nd. buehrle has thrown nearly 100 pitches. man at the plate homered off him earlier in the game. umpire has a tea cup for a strike zone. you're right, ozzie made the right decision. no fault on ozzie. thanks for clearing that up.

KW has made several moves to shape the BP into a semi-reliable entity. What's the use if Oz refuses to use them? As much as I despised Ozzie's decision to leave MB in the game, I would have been equally pissed had he made the move. Why? Because he had BMAC, a guy who has shown time and time again that he's less reliable when he comes in with me on base, as the only pitcher warm in the BP. Where's Thornton? Riske? f***ing MacDougal?!?!? Horribly managed ballgame.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Aug 6, 2006 -> 01:08 AM) At this time right now, they'd beat us in playoff series imo. That could change but at this time, my money would be on Detroit. Disagree. They were lucky to take 2/3 our last meeting when the Sox were absolutely sucking ass. Now we're hitting and it appears the pitching is starting to come around. The Sox are a MUCH stronger team than DET if the Sox can start firing on all cylinders, which they've done the last week.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 06:57 PM) Perhaps, but I'm not willing to depart with McCarthy. I'll guarantee you we'll regret the decision. Think about it this way -- considering the current nature of our offense and starting pitching, is it easier to imagine ourselves without Crawford or McCarthy? Personally, I value starting pitchers over positional players. Crawford alone may be irreplaceable, but his production can be compensated across other divisions of the team. Without McCarthy's salary/production to offset this mammoth starting rotation, Williams is devoting an awful amount to a rotation yet to consistently meet expectations. Tell me, without McCarthy, who will be available this upcoming offseason to replace Garcia or Vazquez in the rotation? I don't believe there's any doubt changes must be made. Either one of those two, perhaps another, will depart. Or how about 2008? This rotation -- which no longer attains its VAUNTED label -- can't be depended upon. Honestly, I wish Lumsden were still here so perhaps he could replace Buehlre in 2008. Not because I entirely doubt Buehrle's future, but atleast have the in-house option available. Crawford would be ideal to replace Podsednike, but not at the price of our future starter. You've definitely made some great points and I certainly agree that, in most cases, a #1 or #2 SP is more valuable than a fast LF. In this case, a purely hypothetical case, we've got a proven LF stud for a possible #1 or #2 starter. BMac showed us a ton of talent last season, but he also showed us some vulnerabilities (his first few starts and this year's BP stint). I think that Carl's track record, vs. Brandon's lack thereof, would push me to make a deal. Baseball GMs must live a stressful life... Oh, and to the original poster, I think that sticking Sweeney in the 1 hole would be entirely too much pressure for the kid. He's been good in the minors, but doesn't strike me as a guy who is, at this point, any more ML ready than Brian Anderson was when he was called up. We saw Brian's struggles, imagine those struggles in the leadoff slot. Yuck.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 04:55 PM) I think with the way Ozzie manages and if he is our manager we got to get a new speed guy to replace Pods. Carl Crawford is the perfect fit, the only question is whether we'll be able to make a deal that the Drays would have interest in. I think we could use one of our starters to get prospects, than move some of those prospects and some of our own (not named Bmac) to land Crawford. Following that move Pods and maybe someone else for a prospect that could maybe help out our pen or be a 6th starter option. With the freed up salary, maybe make one other move and who knows maybe Kenny goes out and moves two starters with one bringing back prospects and the other bringing back another starter. I think you're right on in your assessment; Crawford would be absolutely perfect on this team. The one thing that I disagree with would be your reluctance to give up McCarthy in a deal to shnag Crawford. Carl is still very young with plenty of productive years ahead of him and, imo, is well worth your top pitching prospect. You definitely know more about the Sox farm system than I do, but I really don't see a viable replacement for Pods down there.

QUOTE(SadChiSoxFanOptimist @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 09:50 PM) I don't dislike Jermaine at all! I think he's been a terrific add for the Sox, and almost an even replacement for Maggs as a better team member at a reasonable salary. We both know that JD wasn't the WS MVP last year -- it was Crede and the starters. Jermaine will be 33. I disagree that the's above average OF. He's slowing down, makes some strong plays and butchers others. He's just an average RF'r in a below average OF. As other posters note, he (nor any of the other Sox OFrs that I can recall) haven't thrown out any runners at the plate...Think about how many SOX players have been thrown out! We've seen JDs best days and it's downhill from here. The Sox cannot ignore ANY opportunity to improve OF defense, increase team speed and overall "small ball" offensive execution if we want to remain competitive with the Tigers and Twins in the toughest division in baseball. (Improved pitching will help too... ) We need focus on the team, not just love the players. After 2005 Kenny Williams doesn't have to find cheap players and hope they play beyond their best years. He'll have zero loyalty to past accomplishments and total focus on improving all areas of this team. I think you're absolutely right. I wish KW had called up Dombrowski on the 31st of July and offered Dye straight up for Marcus Thames. Of course Dombrowski would probably take the deal, seeing that MVP-esque #'s that Dye has put up this season. But you and I know that having a player of that calibre is nothing but a death sentence for your team, ala 2005 White Sox, and that a guy like Thames who can't hit but has a bit of speed and plays average D, that's what makes teams winners. Damnit, KW really let us down.

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Jul 31, 2006 -> 01:14 PM) I'll just tack this i-pod question here... my computer with i-tunes recentally crashed, and likely not worth recovering. But if I install the software on a new computer, is there anything special I have to do when I add new music to it? I'm afraid that if I hit update i-pod, it will update with the new i-tunes with little music on it... any guidance? It will erase your ipod and update with the new library. Use this: http://www.download.com/iPod-Agent/3000-2169_4-10338209.html Follow the instructions and you should be good to go. I just recently had the exact same situation happen to me. My desktop crashed but I still had the music on my ipod. My brother gave me his laptop to use which had his itunes and all his music on it. I just used that Ipod Agent to import all my ipod music onto the computer and into the itunes folders. Once that was accomplished, I was able to sync the ipod to the laptop's itunes without losing any of my music.

Thanks guys, I'll probably be buying a new drive in the next couple of weeks.

QUOTE(S720 @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 04:57 PM) Come on! Stop blaming this on Ozzie. BMAC is overrated by a lot of people on this site! There goes trade value! jon has/recovering from the flu, barely makes it out of the 5th unscathed, and oz brings him back out for the 6th in 110 degree heat. he gives up the dreaded leadoff walk, oz still sticks with him. he gives up the double, finally oz decides it might be time to pull him. mccarthy comes in with 0 out and men on 2nd and 3rd...spiffty situation to walk into. had bmac started the inning i guarantee he wouldn't have allowed 4 runs. oz f***ed up.

QUOTE(IowaSoxFan @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 03:35 PM) How bout: Fields McCarthy Vazquez for Peavy Carillo Headley If the Pad's were talking to the red sox about a Peavy for Lowell swap, this wouldn't be out of bounds by any means. Pads get three major league ready guys and the Sox get Peavy, a top prospect, and mid level prospect to come up and fill Fields's spot in the system in a heartbeat

QUOTE(Dan Pasqua @ Jul 29, 2006 -> 11:36 AM) This team does not need another reliever, especially if it means trading fields. I guess it wouldnt hurt having a little more help but IMO not at that price tag.Fields is a blue chip prospect who has potential to start everyday. Who knows whats gonna happen with joe. You saw what our bullpen can do last night if our starters can give us quality outings and hand the ball to cotts,MacD, Thornton,Jenks. The question here is our starting pitching. Who cares if our bullpen is the best in the league. It doesnt matter if our starters cant get the ball to them in good situations. Buerhle is awful, Vaz blows until ozzie knows how to use him, and Garcia still scares me cuz he lost 5 mph on his fastball. The upgrade i can see ( which has been stated numerous times) is moving mccarthy into the rotation and vaz to the pen becuase he can give us a couple solid innings before he breaks down. Plus im apprehensive to make this move especially with linebrinks strugles right recently. Seems like pads Gm knows something we dont. ie: Mike Sirotka for Boomer Wells As mentioned earlier, it would surely be a precursor to another deal. With the addition of Linebrink, as you pointed out, our pen would be overflowing with arms. We'd need to move one of those arms either in a trade or, more likely, into the rotation (BMAC). So your pen is set, your rotation now has 6 pitchers. One of them would be dealt, hopefully Freddy or Vaz. So your pen is stronger, your rotation is stronger (should be), and you're probably going to get back a pretty nice offensive contributor for a SP in this market. Assuming this is the plan, I deal Fields straight up for Linebrink. If for whatever reason this wouldn't serve as a precursor to another move, there's no way I make this deal.