Cochise

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Apr 9, 2009 -> 01:28 PM) Should be like football. Have to continue all the way through the throw to first. Did the ump do the over the top point at the ball and "out" sign over and over again? So he has to make a "baseball move"?

Its up to Bobby to hold them, and one of the dinosaurs to hit a solo. Or 4 singles.

We suck.

I was half expecting him to GIDP.

There we go JD. Lets get this started. Though we need more than just singles.

The old men are up. Lets get some XBHs.

MacDougal is garbage.

CQ just needs to pop his hit cherry then he's going to tear it up.

Unless he somehow gets out of this inning quickly, I think this is Danks' last inning.

That makes this the 14th inning in a row of getting blanked.

Way to work it Wise

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Apr 7, 2009 -> 01:38 PM) Cochise. Say hello to Pete Ward out there in Portland I know he's from Portland, but does he live out here now? He's one of my dad's favorite players. I'll track him down.

162-0?

So ESPN's Page 2 has this thing about Mount Rushmore's of sports, and with baseball they did 4 iconic faces for each club. According to ESPN, the Sox Mount Rushmore would consist of Frank, Luke Appling, Nellie Fox, and Shoeless Joe. Who would you put up there?

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 04:15 AM) I cant see any city putting up the financing to build a stadium right now, or in the near future. Teams are locked in where they are and are going to have to make due with their current financial situations. KC - The team has lasted this long in that market and recently had renovations, dont see them going anywhere. Detroit - Probably the team in the most trouble because of their payroll obligations and increasing unemployment rate in the area, Detroit will probably see a shift from spending like a large market team to more of a small to mid market team over the next 10 years. Cleveland - The team is in pretty good financial condition and the population of the city will hold steady at least. Minnesota - Almost folded once, but a new stadium will cease any specualtion about that possibility and the team will continue to operate with its financial constraints. Pittsburgh is a team that could be in trouble, low attendance, small market size, and a lack of results hurts the team, though it has a storied history and a newer stadium to keep it anchored. Florida - The team is in the process of building a new stadium and ownership will be obligated to keep the team in the area for a period of time after the stadium is completed so that the city can recoup some of the money that was invested. Going nowhere. TB - Last season a WS run, this season contenders in the East that will likely fade in the second half of the season. Last years success will cause an attendance bump, but with no financing available the team will look at re-locating but have few options available (Charlotte, OKC?) Are the Marlins for sure getting a new stadium in Miami? I thought that was still up in the air. Seems like their city council keeps pushing back the vote on the subject. I don't know, maybe I am misinformed, but I don't think its a done deal.

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Feb 25, 2009 -> 04:28 AM) The surrounding areas bring that 500,000 to over 2 million. There is more than enough around these necks to support a professional baseball team, especially with how well connected the Max-Rail is. I'd have to say that nobody gives a damn about baseball in Portland because nobody has a reason to. Hell, people are working to bring a ML Soccer team to the city... talk about a low draw in this country. With how beautiful the summers are here, I can't think of many, if any, other places better suited for a Major League Baseball team. Thats what I was trying to convey. Sometimes minor league teams bring in minor league fans, as in theres no reason at present for Portlanders to be all that concerned about baseball. I bet given the opportunity, the city would embrace it. As for the summers, like I said earlier, and BD backs me up, they're top notch out here. Wonderfully beautiful. All they're missing is a ballgame.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 24, 2009 -> 08:52 AM) If the source didn't completely give it away, those numbers are definitely cherry-picked. Portland has a few things working against it... (1) The Mariners. Lots of people in PDX are already fans and it's only 3 hours away. (2) The Portland/Vancouver area is relatively small and the next-closest major metro area (Salem, ~150,000) is an hour away. Corvallis is even further away and Eugene to PDX is a full two hours. If you go north, you're in M's territory. The Cascades make driving in from Central Oregon a massive headache. Driving in from Astoria or Newport through the Coastal Range on those windy, two-lane roads is also a pain in the ass. So, you'd basically be relying on Portland/Vancouver and Salem as the bulk of your season ticket base. That's maybe 900,000 people, tops. (3) Most native Oregonians aren't really into pro sports. The culture difference between here and the Midwest is enormous. They follow the Ducks or Beavers, maybe the Blazers, and that's about it. The transplants already follow other teams and, while they may go to a couple of games, they're probably not going to fork down money on season tickets. (4) Public financing for a stadium might be a problem in PDX. Taxes and cost of living are already pretty high out here. An owner might get a lot more public financial support elsewhere. Portland is sort of like Indianapolis: A large enough city for a baseball team, but with a VERY limited suburban area, no other major metro areas within easy driving distance, no significant cultural interest in baseball, and an established team only a few hours away. My feeling is that Charlotte or Nashville would get a team first. And it's too bad because, like you said, Portland's summer weather is outstanding. The Portland Metro area is as large as a bunch of the other small market teams that are struggling. But your point is taken about the difficulty of travel around the state and the lack of surrounding metro areas as a source for a larger extended fanbase. Although I do agree with you that north of the Columbia most people are already M's fans, I don't buy that as an argument. Most people in the beltway were O's fans and yet the Expos were still relocated to DC. If you relocate a team, you are going to infringe on some fanbase. Though I will say, there really isn't a whole lot of fervor for a club at the moment. People seem more concerned about whether or not PDX will possibly be getting an MLS team (yawn). But mainly, WCSox is right, people here in Oregon are mostly concerned with the Ducks and the Beavers, and I'm not sure if a major league club would change that. I wouldn't mind finding out though.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 24, 2009 -> 04:22 AM) Unless you have interleague play everyday, this would be impossible as each league would have an odd number of teams. Yeah that didn't come out right. I meant that I hope it would be a national league team so I could watch a team, and even cheer for a home town team and not have it interfere with cheering for the Sox. I have trouble cheering for other AL teams. Thats my hang up. Anyway, thats why I said hopefully it'd be a NL team. But I said it'd make more sense to realign the divisions and have 6 divisions of 5 teams. Say you'd move the Marlins to the West Coast and the AL. Move the Pirates to the NL East. That takes care of the NL, 3 disions with 5 teams each. Then you put the former Marlins (Portland's team) in the AL West. I chose the Marlins because they seem like the most viable candidate for relocation. Before last year I'd say Tampa was up there. And I guess they still could be. It depends on how last season's success translates. If the Rays moved to the West Coast you could probably just get away with the AL West and AL East flip flopping who has 4 teams and who has 5. It might even make the AL more competitive with a team having more of a chance to fight it out for the playoffs without having to deal year in and year out with the massive payrolls of the Yankees and Red Sox. Anyway, I digress. I wasn't clear on what I meant, and I hope that takes care of things.

Portland is the biggest market in the country without a major league club. In 2002 when the Padres and the Mariners had an exhibition game in Portland, it sold out in 15 minutes. Its definitely the largest metro area in the country with only one pro franchise. As far as the fan base is concerned, its hard to tell. Over the years Portland has had trouble maintaining a fan base with its minor league clubs, but maybe minor league clubs get minor league fans? In 2001 and 2002 Mariners broadcasts in Portland got 4.3 and 4.5 ratings from the Portland area, which was better than 19 major league cities, including the Cubs, Yankees and Giants. And during the 2002 World Series, the Portland area had the 7th best viewership for any city watching, and 3rd best for a city without a regional interest. Lastly, according to a 2003-04 poll on ESPN Portland has the highest %age of major league fans for city without a team (72%). Now, these numbers could be a bit skewed. First off, I got my info from a site called http://www.oregonstadiumcampaign.com/. Now, I don't have more current numbers, because these are from the proposal made to MLB when the Expos were on the move. Thats why the numbers are a bit dated. Also, the TV numbers for Mariners could be a bit inflated because thats when the Mariners were winning 116 games and Ichiro was a rising star. The 2002 World series also featured 2 West Coast teams as well, which could inflate the numbers a bit. But it definitely shows that there is a market and people are interested. I know I'd go to games if they brought a team here. Portland summers are great, it barely rains and it never gets too hot or humid. All we're missing is a ballgame. Just thought I'd add my 2 cents to the discussion. It'd be cool if MLB relocated a team to PDX, hopefully it'd be a National League team, but it'd make more sense to realign the divisions and have 6 5 team divisions.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Feb 22, 2009 -> 01:14 PM) If you check out the latest Quentin article on WhiteSox.com, he has clearly embraced the Zac Efron look. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/artic...sp&c_id=cws He looks like the Barry character from Beerfest.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 23, 2008 -> 11:16 AM) Since we've been talking so much about Fernando Perez recently, why not another Perez? It's kind of funny, all the talk about not drafting Porcello and we're handing out money now like the Salvation Army after the holiday bell-ringing season is over. It will be interesting to see where this kid ends up, and if he does, in fact, get a major league contract. There are also Arguellez (P) and the SS among Torres' clients that remain unsigned. The White Sox are becoming like the UN...although we probably need to get another Japanese/Korean pitcher back on the roster to further diversify. We have Betemit, Viciedo, Ramirez, Contreras, Vazquez (Puerto Rico), Cora (PR), Guillen (Venezuela), Carlos Quentin sounds Hispanic (lol)...before that Uribe, Ozuna, El Duque, L. Vizcaino, Marte, Olivo, Carlos Lee, Ordonez, Colon (DR), Loaiza (PR), Iguchi, Takatsu...I think there were a couple of times in the last decade the White Sox even had an all African-American and Hispanic starting line-up and pitcher. Just shows you how international the game has become over the last 10-15 years. I've also heard rumblings that the Dodgers made a serious run at Viciedo, too. When's the last time we beat the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers out for a player that those teams were seriously interested in obtaining? You barely got any of those countries of origin correct. Contreras and El Duque are from Cuba, as are Viciedo and Ramirez. Ordonez is from Venezuela and Loaiza is from Mexico. Check your facts.

SOX WIN! When was the last time the Sox pitched consecutive shutouts?

Atta boy, Paulie!

There we go, keep the ball down.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 14, 2008 -> 10:00 AM) Buehrle has to keep the ball down. When KC is making contact, they're hitting it pretty hard. Yeah he has only induced one ground out vs. like 5 fly outs and only one of the hits given up was a ground ball.