Swingandalongonetoleft

He should probably be somewhere else against lefties, but honestly it's 2 weeks into the season. Thome's batting average, along with our record are not set in stone, or even sand. I think the man's career speaks for itself. If he bats .180 then I'll divey up my refund check amongst this board. Streaks come in good and bad, but if it keeps going then maybe Mark Grace might be able to help him-although he's happily married...

If we were out of playoff contention in mid-may, but somehow ended up with Thomas in a deal, I would look back at this season favorably. Sox should change their logo to Frank's mug.

I had work during game 3 of the ALDS. Through some fortunate alignment of the stars I took lunch right in time to catch the whole "Duque inning". I've had final exams and police encounters less stressful than that piece of time right there. Crede over Pods? I don't understand how the most improbable moment of the entire postseason got overlooked for a double... IMO Gooch's ALDS game 2 homer is also worthy. If I were in charge I'd also add a giant bronze "14-2". Not only was it especially satisfying to step all over the SAWKS with Berman calling the game in a semi-stupor, but the moment I saw the final score I got the feeling that we would do just fine that October.

I don't remember ever seeing any of our pitcher's heads swivel back to check their speeds after a pitch.

Contreras gave the team a quality start Friday night, you can thank our bats for the end result. I'm getting word that his agent sends soxtalk.com posters Jose's deepest regrets that he didn't throw a complete game one hit gem w/16 K's+ buy a full tank of gas for everyone in attendance on Friday.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Apr 12, 2008 -> 01:48 PM) Verlander took it on the chin today. cabrera took it on the helmet.

We'll never know if Jose Canseco was the first ballplayer to use PEDs. The timeline is cute and all but trying to get an accurate picture of who used what, when is like trying to put together a puzzle that you carelessly tossed in the attic 15 years ago. Pieces will be missing, distorted etc. Jose Canseco may have been Wal-Mart, but I would be surprised if the town of MLB didn't have a few Osco's and 7-11's. If players/trainers were trying to avoid getting caught then it's not farfetched to think they may have succeeded. A neon green sky would make more sense than any argument anyone could come up with that baseball would remain untouched if it weren't for Canseco- given the fact that athletes in professional sports all over the world take advantage of PEDs. (I don't know if thats what you were trying to infer) People will do the darndest things for money. Assuming he *was* the first (distributer), if Canseco didn't do what he did, someone else would- probably in relatively short time. You can't tell me the goof was the only one with that lightbulb over his head. What difference does it make if it was in '89 rather than '87 or '86? Steroids in baseball was gonna happen despite Canseco. I'm not glorifying him. He shouldn't be enjoying the attention and money he's getting for essentially telling the truth and ratting people out- but he has raised awareness via his selfish methods. That in itself won't stop players from finding new ways to cheat, but hopefully it makes it harder to do so. And for crying out loud he needs to stop calling himself "uncle".

/\ I wouldn't quite say he's the *main* reason, but he was certainly accelerant that helped turn a fire into a blaze. If Jose Canseco didn't do what he did I have no doubts someone else would eventually.

That's kind of sad about the"game worn" jerseys...and cheap.

Not quite a rain out although damn near everyone was certain it would be (and they left...sucka!), so I'm talking about it. Opening Day '06. My personal favorite game ever attended- playoff or not. It was surreal to see the park so alive and loud at the beginning of the game and so empty just a few hours later while a game was still being played. I explored the park and got to see it in ways I haven't before. Went down to walk around by the Sox bullpen while play was still stopped but it wasn't raining. Ozzie came out of the dugout, waved to us, may have said something to the handful of us near the dugout. Then play resumed a little while later, it's damp, cold, and eerily quiet at the park. Thome cracks his first bomb as a Sox- the fireworks are absolutley deafening shattering that silence, and then a White Sox winner at what felt like 2 in the morning. To have a game like that fresh off a World Series winner, I'm certain I'll never experience anything like it ever again. That one game justified the price of my split season plan that year and then some.

Not trying to open up Pandora's Box or anything, but anyone else thinking it could be Alexei getting sent down to work on hitting breakers when it's time for Richar to come up and not Ando?

We wouldn't quite be ending their season just yet although it would be pretty damning for them. Crazier comebacks/implosions by first place teams have occured. Remember running away and hiding for most of the season only to find yourself sweating late in the summer of '05? That to me is one of the strongest reminders that the baseball season is a marathon as opposed to a sprint.

I've been a big Crede fan since '05. At this point I'm torn. I don't care what it costs to re-sign him, the only thing that bugs me is his potential health issues. On the other hand, Fields was great last year, but can he repeat/even come close to what he did? Ballplayers have caught lightning in a bottle before... I'm not completely sold on him. I guess if we could net a whole lot for either one of them I'd be all for it. It really seems like it's hit or miss either way.

"I sucked at calling balls and strikes today but I guess it doesn't matter anymore, and joe mauer loves himself"

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 7, 2008 -> 06:07 AM) Section 522 Row 1 Seat 4 Nice, I had 522 row 1 seat 5 for the past two years. Had to let go of em for this year...

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Apr 5, 2008 -> 02:16 PM) ... And with that Erstad's Rowand-like status begins no

D. Erstad 1-1 (double) w/ RBI against Marquis and the Cubs. The more you know

Which is why I brought up the '06 Cards. Eckstein at short? An oft-injured Rolen at third? An outfield that I would be hard pressed to name? Don't worry, you can still win with Uribe at second and Crede coming back from an injury. I'll agree with you that the key lies in starting pitching/bullpen, but defensively those two guys give us the best shot, and what team wouldnt take a 20 HR/70 RBI 9 hitter regardless of what his OBPS/SNIUF/DUFEDF/POOP/whatever other ridiculous asanine stat you can come up with says?

I don't think a team with Uribe, Crede, and Owens in the starting lineup has any chance in hell at contending. Honestly this is getting tired... They friggin won with Uribe and Crede. Hell, the St. Louis Cardinals won two years ago with a low 80 win total! 10 times out of 10 I'll let the games play out on the field and you can take your blessed "best team on paper" with a small fries and a coke... No chance at contending is an ignorant statement- You should probably stop sucking the joy out of a 2 day old baseball season and stick to fantasy baseball...

08 WS Champion Cubs aren't looking too hot either...

I was thinking just the other day how cool it would be to have the Knights play before a Sox game. There's so few doubleheaders nowadays, and the ones that do happen always seem to be day/night. This would make up for it a little bit in my mind.

southsidehawkeye sez: "at least we wont have to watch Uribe strike out 3 more times tonight" ...or hit a double...

I voted Masset based on the Cubs game he started. Even after his s*** outings in the spring, a damage control reliever is more valuable than a specialist (Wasserman), especially with the question marks we have in out 5 man rotation this year. The effort he put forth today pretty much solidifies (in my mind) that he's the backup plan for Floyd or Danks. I never doubted his making the team, based on options alone, but I think eventually he could become stable- in the reliever sense of that word.

somehow these three hospitalizations of cubs players is going to amount to a new curse.

I heard Jim Rome talking about this on his show. I guess Michael Barrett also had some sort of scrotal injury which just sounded really bad.