The Critic

Devil's advocate: Teams usually experience a spike of success following a managerial change. Why NOT do it before a big stretch of games? I'd MUCH rather see a change made rather than watch another West Coast annihilation. I'm starting to think that, as others have mentioned, that the Sox are doomed to another "too little too late" season unless some sort of statement is made soon.

Jerry Manuel is the wrong manager for this team. He has poisoned this team with his sleepy demeanor. They roll over after 6 innings, obviously, and nobody seems to take it personally except Valentin. Everybody says the same thing - "we're too good of a team for this to last, we'll be fine when it's all said and done", etc etc etc. I'm not seeing anyone DOING anything to change things except for Valentin. I'm hoping that playing a team like the Twins, a team that they really have a problem with brings out the fire in these guys, but if that doesn't do it, I don't know what will. When you see your manager go out after one of the worst umpiring calls ever and NOT EVEN GET HIMSELF TOSSED OVER IT, that spreads a whole blanket of "I don't care" over the team. Manuel can't even get himself a token ejection one time for the team? Pathetic... It's only April but it's later than you think...

Gotta say, he looked completely pissed off when he was throwing it! That Gordon impression was a bit much though...

Has this hasbeen had ONE decent outing yet this year??? That "high heat" sure goes a long way when it's not so hot!!! :fyou Trash Gordon!

Apparently, things are getting a little testy at the BallBar! I've always thought that cell phones were too inexpensive! You have to be a special breed of moron to throw something as easily traceable as a cell phone - why not throw your license plate? or your wallet? ....tards...

My wife loves that show - I think it's nothing more than a glorified high school talent show. awful....

How the $#@%! could the umpire miss that home run by Crede????? You can overlook a blown call if it's not so PAINFULLY OBVIOUS!!! ...ridiculous...

Here's a lesson for you, kids - always read the linked article BEFORE reading the following posts. I thought that Beanball Ben was the one who threw at the bird! I really hope Christensen never throws another pitch ever again. I also hope he somehow loses EVERY CENT he made in baseball, so that he and Molina ( the guy he hit ) can get back to even.

I heard on the NBC Nightly News today that Blue Jays players have been told to avoid signing autographs. Somewhere, Joey Belle is thinking, "That's what I've said ALL ALONG!"

That's the best thing for Paul, actually. At least as far as playing time goes, anyway. It would really stink to rot on the end of the bench. I don't know his contract status, so I can't say if it'll hurt him in the wallet or not.

Does anyone know how Konerko pronounces his last name? Is it "kuh - NURR - ko", like almost everyone says, or "kuh - NAIR - ko" like Harrellson says? For some stupid reason, it really bugs me when Harrellson says kuh NAIR ko. Of course, I intensely dislike Harrellson, and always have.

OMG, Conine just crushed that high fastball! ...ugh...

Hypocrite How so? I'm pretty sure that Killa's saying that he thinks it's hypocritical for you to say that you should NEVER throw at the head, and then immediately after that, saying that it's okay to throw at the pitcher's head who threw at the first guy's head. If that's what Killa meant, I agree with him. You can't have it both ways - if it's wrong for one, it's wrong for all. I think Juan Cruz handled it correctly - he plunked Torres in the knee. It could have done damage, but couldn't have killed Torres. If it's me, I probably drill the guy right between the numbers on the back of his jersey. Headhunting is low-class, no matter what.

It's an embarrassment to the Cub organization that they drafted that classless dirty f***wad. He's a jackoff and I hope he gets rocked EVERY time he pitches and that he's out of baseball as soon as possible. After that, I hope his investments all go bad so he is penniless and doesn't profit AT ALL from his classless baseball career.

Agreed. There's nothing funny about a guy getting drilled in the head, whether you like him or not. Hoppong when you hit a homerun is NOT comparable to getting a fastball to the skull...it's just not.

If you want a new release, get "Motherf***ers Be Trippin" by the Supersuckers - available Tuesday, April 22nd! If you want a classic punk disc, get either "Stranger Than Fiction" by Bad Religion or "London Calling" by the Clash. If you want classic metal, get either "Ride The Lightning" by Metallica or "A Life Of Crime" by Zoetrope - good luck finding Zoetrope, though. If you want recent metal, get "Violent Revolution" by Kreator If you want pop music, nu-metal, country or easy listening....I can't help you with that.

Alou is looking like the guy they thought they were getting, Grudzielanek is doing very well at the leadoff spot, and Choi has a lot of upside. But they are a .500 team, and they'll wilt when they play some better teams.

1. I think the home court advantage is all mental. They have to play even more aggressively on the road, press the other team and create scoring chances. 2. Doesn't sound like Paxson likes the JC/JW backcourt, not for extended minutes anyway. Look for one to be dealt, I think. 3. In your scenario, SF is definitely an area that Pax will have to address. I don't know who might be available, so I can't comment on that. 4. I think Baxter and Hassell get another chance. 5. My guess is that they keep Robinson and eat Bagaric's salary. Bagaric has not shown anything above the most basic skills, where at least Robinson has flashed more than that in the past. 6. Very......very good. Don't know if he'll ever get TOO much more disciplined, though. He had better stop taking the ticky-tack fouls. If you're going to foul them, get your money's worth. 7. Paxson has the respect of players around the league for what he did on the court, and he's a straight shooter. I'd be very surprised if the Bulls DON'T land a significant FA in the near future. As for trades. that takes two, so we'll have to wait and see. it will be interesting to see how the Bulls progress next year - I also think that at least .500 is a reasonable expectation. That should land a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

WOW, the "danger" must have kept everyone away tonight!!

Randy Myers will tell you that they're capable of taking a punch! I remember that - it was great. Myers wanted to kill that moron, and I wanted to watch!

I think this would be pretty difficult to do. You'd have to have some sort of punch card that the beer vendors would punch when they serve you or something, and even that would be hard to do if you're passing beers down an aisle. And if you're buying a round, would 4 punches come off your card, or 1 off of four people's cards? There are a lot of logistics to be considered. I agree with the idea of personal responsibility. There are plenty of people who can drink a bunch of beer and NOT want to tackle an umpire or a coach, and who do NOT want to streak or run around the outfield like a moron. The people who can behave like human beings should in a public setting should NOT be punished for the idiotic, dangerous actions of a few mentally deficient f***wipes who cannot suppress their crude urges. Still, I thought it was a bit melodramatic for the Royals to suggest that they wouldn't play the game tonight without tighter security. Not that they don't have a valid point, but it can be argued that nobody last night went after any of the Royals.

I'd be completely creeped out by Canseco, watching him squint, twitch, stutter and flex all day! Hopefully, he doesn't pick the "winner" up in his car! Do you get an autographed copy of the scandalous book he supposedly wrote? I bet Jose scams people by holding two auctions and sending Ozzie to one of them in his place!

??? What are you saying here? Are you implying that the Bulls only played like this down the stretch, because they had nothing to lose? You know, as much as I think the Bulls are headed in the right direction - especially after the Hamster resigned, or was forced out, or whatever - they still have to prove that they can do this when something is on the line. A lot of guys can relax and play balls-out when the season's already lost ( see Fred McGriff ), but there will be higher expectations next year. I'm optimistic and excited to see what they can do next season, especially if they get a good bounce at the draft lottery.

And THAT is why this s*** ain't funny. Like it or not, perception becomes reality, and if the perception is that US Cellular Field is full of drunken dopes who run on the field and attack coaches or "touch umpires' arms" - I call it an attack, anyway: if you run on the field and make unwanted contact with someone, it's an attack - then SOME people will think twice about going to "a place like that". It's bad for business, it's bad public relations, and it gives people who are looking for something negative to write or report a VERY easy target. As Jimmy Piersall said during Disco Demolition, "These aren't baseball fans, these are fans of far-out". Logical people realize that this imbeciles are not representative of the majority of white Sox fans, but too many people in the world don't think logically. They just react like lemmings to whatever the TV God puts on the screen. By the way, looks like security got their shots in on that moron last night, huh?

This is maybe the ONLY consideration that would swing the decision in Sosa's favor. No, there's one more thing - when Frank is not going well, he has a tendency to sulk, and that is just as bad in a clubhouse as selfishness. Truth is, they're both outstanding hitters, and you can do worse than either one. Thomas will pull out of his slow start, I think, and he'll end up really helping this year's team.