ThunderBolt

Here's some video. Not mine, but he was shooting from the left field line. http://img13.yfrog.com/i/frh.mp4/

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 12, 2010 -> 08:37 PM) this word you say. I do not think it means what you think it means I won’t even bother justifying that one. I was feeling verbose. It made sense before I changed around the post.

QUOTE (quickman @ Mar 12, 2010 -> 08:42 PM) So he is down on the ground for a long time wrenching with pain for a sprained ankle? If so I question his pain tolerance. has to be something more. He hit the wall hard. He must have had the wind knocked out of him. He was rolling around for maybe twenty seconds, before the Angels trainer got to him. Regardless, it looked like it hurt. He seemed okay when they carted him off the field. I couldn't get a decent read of just how serious it was.

Went to the Sox game in Tempe today. I had another great time. I got autographs from Ramirez, Beckham, Gartrell, Morel, Armstrong, and great pictures with Beckham and Ramirez. Also, got Chris Chambliss and Jenksy to wave, Peavy to give me a nod, a thanks from Jacob Rasner, and Tony Pena to give me a fist bump. Game wise: Rios, Peavy, and Beckham look great. Dialed in and ready to go. Matt Long looked great as well. Jenksy was shaky, nearly all of his pitches were flat, and his curves didn’t break. I saw what happened to Jared Mitchell, and it was pretty frightening. He read that ball perfectly off the bat, and hit the wall hard. He lay there as rounds of applause, and chants of “Web Gem,” echoed through the stadium. I hope he’s ok.

I was there, and it was amazing. That play shouldn't have been made, but it was, and it was shocking. Mitchell was down for a long time, and everyone but Viciedo and Pena ran out to check on him. He was down on his stomach writhing in pain, as the entire stadium cheered his tremendous play.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 12, 2010 -> 08:30 AM) Andruw Jones is going to bounce back, Kotsay is a "professional hitter", yet Linebrink needs to have his contract bought out. There's very little logic with this. As long as he is healthy Linebrink will be better than most think. I agree with most of what you said, DA, but isn’t assuming Linebrink will have a consistent wire-to-wire year, just as big an assumption that Jones and Kotsay will recover their careers?

I'd pitch him to the Cubs and see if they bite. But if they don't. you can't swallow that contract. Keep him and use him, just use him the right way.

QUOTE (chisoxfan09 @ Mar 11, 2010 -> 10:04 PM) Cabrera pitched badly again I take it, he had 1K, 1 BB, and 1 earned run. How bad was his control? He’s very frenetic. He’ll go from incredibly wild, to sharp from batter to batter. It’s very clear that he’s just odd there to throw now. He nearly killed a couple guys today with some high heat.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Mar 11, 2010 -> 08:01 PM) Man, how could you diss Donny like that. Any player I get a chance to have an autograph from is a welcomed opp. You should never say no. I remember even getting Rick Brunson autograph one time. I was exaggerating a bit, but there was definitely an awkward moment for me there. He was walking towards the pen, but he would have come if I called. I didn’t call. I did say, “Good game, Donny.” So, there’s that.

Wish we could have pulled him in. I'll hope for Ruiz now, but bully for the Rays.

Anyone know who #88 is? None of at the game could put a name on him, but he through the ball well.

Had a blast today at the Sox-Indians game. Game was fairly by the numbers, Retherford looked great, Putz seems to have life on all of his stuff, Santos is looking like a major league pitcher, and Daniel Cabrera is a mess. What happened after the game is where the fun began. I had great seats right by the dugout, so after the game after being spurned by Ozzie and Cora, I got Nix over to sign a ball, Lucy came up behind him with a look of hopeful expectation on his face, I didn't ask him to sign, felt awkward afterward. Next, came Retherford. Really nice guy. Fellow next to me asked him if he was playing tomorrow, said nah, "Going to Vegas".” Next comes Jordan Danks. One of the most athletic looking guys I've ever seen. And I'll tell you Jordan Danks might be the coolest damn guy on this team. We had the following exchange. Me: Think you'll be in Charlotte, this year? JorDanks: Dunno, they haven’t told me anything yet. Me: at least they seem to be fast tracking you. (At this Danks turns with the biggest grin on his face.) Jordanks: Absolutely! (He then turned to leave) Me: It's the production! Next comes Dayan, who still clearly struggles with his English, but was good enough to come over and sign. After all this I was pretty damn happy. The players had dried up, so we turned to leave, and made it half way through the parking lot before my brother realized he has left his jacket in the stadium. We had to run back for that, but in some sort of divine providence, we got back to the employee parking lot, right as The Carlos Quentin pulled up to the stop sign in his car. Got his autograph, thanked him profusely, and went on my merry.

I'll be at the game today. Hoping the Good Guys put on a show.

Eddie Guardado was released by the Nat's. I wouldn't be suprised if the Sox take a look.

Red Dragon Tattoo- Fountains of Wayne The Underdog- Spoon

I love all the good natured ribbing Floyd takes on this team. All the crossword stuff is classic.

QUOTE (chisoxfan09 @ Mar 10, 2010 -> 10:07 PM) I hope Holmberg improve velocity on his FB and also his secondary pitches. He's still young enough to make those adjustments. I think he will, He's got great raw stuff, just needs a touch more control.

Got to see the Cubs play the Giants at Ho-Ho-Kom. Good to see the Cubs continue to shoot themselves in the foot, today it was Derrek Lee's. I got Shawn Dunston's autograph. I was unaware he still worked for the Giants.

Nix. He's a great package of tools, who'll provide some decent numbers off the bench.

Just got to my hotel in Arizona. Will be seeing three Sox games at Camel Back this week. I'll try to give you some decent recaps like last year.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 12:07 PM) Not saying it should happen, but for whatever reason, some guys seem to handle the responsibility better than others. I’ve always been inclined to think it’s more of a mental thing. The closers position does carry a certain reputation, and I think depending on the ballclub you play for that reputation can get to you. I think that’s the reason why guys can succeed interchangeably in the role for the A’s, but suffocate under the pressure for a team like the Yankees. Certain games matter more for certain teams. Those expectations can be tough to live up to.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 11:47 AM) Probably because you are only looking at it from one point of view. Offense Most managers put the closer in the 9th innings of close games. It doesn't mattter if the game is 2-1 because of their high powered offense. If Nathan's replacement loses 5 more games, our offense differential doesn't matter because they lost 5 more games. They still lose that many more games. Most closers get about 40 chances in close games. These are more chances to lose games. Losing Nathan allows them to shift a guy like Rauch or Guerrier into the closers spot, while letting another one of their 5th starter candidates to make the team. Rauch and Guerrier are by no means Nathan-esque, but they are pitchers who can be inserted into the role and trusted to produce at least league-average results out of the closers role. Their obligation will be to usually pitch one inning a performance, my understanding has always been that one inning shouldn't be too much to ask of any pitcher. Since his shift to the bullpen Nathan has averaged 63.375 innings per year, innings that can be assumed by other members of the pen. It’s unlikely the Twins will get equivalent production, but that’s not fatal. Nathan was a great pitcher, but greatness is not a requirement for the closer’s spot. Losing Nathan might cost them a couple solid performances in the 9th, but as a rule: a closer’s job varies in it’s important on a nightly basis, often with the more important innings falling to the set-up-man. The Twins will take a hit here, but that’s not enough to rule them out of the race. I hope that didn’t’ seem like a lecture, I just needed to put the case out their without leaving anything out.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 11:18 AM) Yeah, well you just turned it into one. It doesn't have to be anything more then me stating my opinions on this piece of news. I had to preface my opinion before i get accused of saying that Nathan isn't a great pitcher, he is. Only as a rule, i find his position in the pen to be overvalued. That goes for every other closer in the league.

You move TCQ to DH. Start Hamilton in RF. I like Hamilton a lot, but I’d be very concerned for a guy going to Chicago with his type of problems. The nightlife is famous for getting to people who are lot less easily swayed then Josh Hamilton.

This doesn't change that much. I’m not trying to make this issue a referendum on my opinions of the closer position, but I fail to see how losing a closer accounts for the large gap in offense between the two teams. This is good news for us, just not the biggest news we could have hoped for.