The Critic

I don't see anyone with much personality on that list. Ventura was a locker-room prankster, but not outwardly chatty. Maybe Guillen, but he wasn't quite good enough to get on the national radar. Maggs is too quiet. Belle was a dick. Wells IS a dick. Durham may not have been a dick, but SEEMED like a dick. Alomar....I don't know if I've ever heard him speak. Mark could be a possibility.....we'll find out when he's on the Cardinals, I guess. Foulke was kind of a dick, at least I thought so.

I think he needs a couple more hot hitting weeks to be named. a .280-something average won't be enough, I don't think. I hope he makes it, though - and that's weird for me, cuz I've never been a big fan of his. Loaiza ABSOLUTELY should start the All-Star Game.

But his favoritest team of all time is his beloved boyhood idols, the Brooklyn Dodgers...

Doesn't it become a self-fulfilling thing at some point? Coming out of spring training, people were just hoping for Loaiza to perform a little over .500 - he's your #5 guy - certainly no feeling of certain victory when he took the mound early in the year. Buerhle, on the other hand, was your Ace, even with the acquisition of a 20-game winner in the offseason. Sox players had to feel confident of victory when Mark took the mound early on. If things have changed in the minds of the Sox position players, and they truly feel that any mistake will lead to Buerhle falling apart on the mound, that speaks to a real lack of confidence throughout the team.

No way, man!! Bridgeport is too hard to learn!! That's why Simonson got his ass handed to him in that bar - language problems!!

Agreed! Colon hit Hairston because of his uniform and the situation. In the NL, Colon would have plunked the next pitcher to bat, or his pinch-hitter if that was the case. This is ridiculous - this whole discussion is ridiculous. I believe that some teammates dislike each other - you put 25 people together all summer and some of them will not get along ( hasn't "The Real World" taught us ANYTHING, people??? ) but to think that ALL the Latin players dislike ALL the Caucasian players, or ANY variation of that theme, is just silly to me. And if any Sox players can't handle the thought of Latin players talking about them in Spanish, they should take a Goddamned SPANISH CLASS in the off-season, then! ...and take a course in Japanese and Korean while they're at it, if they're THAT paranoid!

Good call on all these guys! Judging by the three you listed, maybe Paulie has a mental problem??? Cuz all three of these guys seem to have a screw loose... Wohlers and Ankiel aren't hate-filled jackasses like Rocker, but the elevator seems to stop a few floors too low!!

Not watching, don't care, hate the Spanks and that jackass Clemens. Although it WOULD be cool for a guy to get number 301 with a no-hitter...

I SMELL A THREE-WAY!!! A really disgusting, disturbing, nauseating three-way!!! sorry HSC - didn't notice that you had touched on the 3way already.....huh huh huhuhuhuhuhhh huh....I said "touched".......

That's true - what he seems to do A LOT is ground the ball weakly to second, flip his bat in disgust, shake his head dejectedly and trot down the first base line just in case the second baseman's arms fall off. It is truly amazing how PK's numbers ( and apparently his confidence ) just fell off the edge of a cliff around the All Star break last year. I honestly cannot recall anyone plummetting faster.

Dude, apologizing is SO "geigh"!!!

Fastest oldster around the bases gets to race Konerko. Luckily for Paul, they have to race RIGHT AFTER the first run, so Gramps ( or Gramma, let's be fair ) will probably still be winded. This'll give Konerko a huge advantage!!

My opinion: Loaiza HAS to be included Thomas can hit his way on if he continues his hot hitting for the next couple of weeks Colon's record isn't good enough to justify it Marte deserves it, but won't get the call - it seems that only starters and closers go Nobody else is even worthy of consideration

I don't know, have you seen the prices at Toys R US these days??? Then add in a supply of bananas for the monkey, and a glass case for the Elephant Man's bones, and you're looking at some serious cash!!

A couple of the best basketball players in Iowa State history came from there...most notably Jeff Grayer. Who? I am sure youse meant Jeff Weaver? Who? That is an EXCELLENT exchange of posts!!! "WHO?" "HUH??" "WHAT??" "EXCUSE ME??" "IS THIS THING ON???" "HMM??"

Water Polo breeds violence and hatred wherever it's played, and it MUST be stopped NOW!!! Check out the LATEST ugly display of Water Polo brutality!! to Water Polo..... BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (Reuters) -- Rampaging Serb water-polo fans stoned the Croatian embassy in Belgrade and tore down its flag after a violent European championship final, prompting the Croatian foreign minister to cancel a visit to Montenegro. The Serbia and Montenegro team beat Croatia 9-8 in Sunday night's match in Slovenia, sparking violence more likely to be seen at a football match that left at least 20 people injured. Incensed by the defeat at the hands of their wartime foes, Croatian supporters smashed up the stadium in Slovenian city of Kranj, injuring two Serb team members and forcing the cancellation of the medals ceremony. "They were throwing bottles, stones and flares," said a Serb team official. "They were shouting 'kill the Serbs'."

I agree about 97% with forkit's post. Frank had Jimenez on base for him A LOT in the early part of the season - he just wasn't getting the hits. It's nice to see Frank hitting like he can again - and even nicer is the fact that he is playing a VERY acceptable first base right now! Crede will be fine in time - people might not be so down on him if the "big guns" had been delivering early on. With Borchard I'm more hopeful than optimistic - he has all the tools, but some guys just don't put it all together. We shall see...

The list is very short of girls/women/farm animals/White Sox 3rd basemen that Maury would not bang...

Hey, HSC, good thing the Sox don't play any night games, huh? So far, nothing but PERFECT BASEBALL WEATHER at US Comiskey Field!!

Agreed. One of the most relaxing things in summer is reading a good book out on the deck, or at the beach or a park. For me, that beats the crap out of playing video games.

That actually sounds like the textbook definition of a "North Side Bleacher Bum" Bartolo got Bonds 3 times, and made him look pretty bad on the third K, but Bonds got Bart just like he got Garland and Buerhle. Sometimes you just gotta tip the cap to him and move on.....

If he gets close, the Sox will sit him down a la Jose Hernandez! And to bastardize one of my favorite lines from Eight Men Out: "19 losses is NOT 20, Mark!"

Olczyk is a good guy - he just tried too hard when he was with the Hawks, and his play suffered as a result. He always played better on the road, where there was no family or friends to impress. I'm happy for him, since he is very excited to get the job. I feel bad for him, too, since he'll lose a LOT - if Lemieux doesn't play, he'll lose in Tim Floyd-esque fashion. The Penguins SUCK...

This answers the age-old question: "How many pitchers does it take to no-hit the Spankees?" I am SO grateful to the Spankees for giving me ammo against my NY-loving friends at work! First they drop 2 of 3 to the Cubs, then they s***can Acevedo, now this!! As a lifelong Spankee hater, this has been a VERY good week!!!

ARE YOU TOO COWARDLY TO FOLLOW YOUR OWN INSTINCTS???? SHOW SOME BALLS, SHOWTIME!!!!! ...there, ya got blasted anyway....