Al Lopez Ghost (old)

They do not use sticks. They use cornstalks.

Until you don't have one.

Starting Tuesday and going through Thursday, Boers and Bernstein on the Score are in Tucson for 3 days of Sox-intensive shows. Both of them are Sox fans, by and large, altho they will criticize the Sox, especially upper management. I like them, and it's refreshing to hear Sox stuff on the air. ON THE OTHER HAND, prepare yourself for next week's Cub fest on TV. Believe it or not, the assholes are on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. I have never seen any team in spring training on TV 6 days out of seven. Of course, I won't see any of it this time either.

Well, the "precisely why" he won't be back is financial. But having the good looking outfielders on the way may be why Maggs' absence won't hurt that much in the long run.

It would be nice to have a regular dp combo, but Harris still has to prove he can play in the majors. If he's still struggling in late May or June, and/or Uribe gets hot, Willie will be lucky to be in the majors. I know you meant to say R. Alomar. That situation with KW and the agent and what we offered or didn't was just totally screwed up. But I think Robbie was on the downslide of a great career. He was better than D'Angelo, but I'd just as soon see Uribe get the job for the long term. Offense/defense??? Depends on how bad the defense is. The ball will always find you. I'd rather start with a solid defense and figure out a way to score a few runs, than start with offense and hope to overpower and outscore the other guys.

This is from Monday's Tribune. By the way, Josh is trying to make the Angels. "There are many reasons I look forward to coming back to play in Chicago. It is still my favorite city...in the summer. I grew up here, and it remains the home of most of my friends and family. I have developed close relationships with players from the North and South sides. But I really looked forward to seeing Joe Nossek again. Sadly, because of his retirement as White Sox bench coach, I will miss that part of my homecoming. Joe is like a father to me. He helped me through a lot of hard times. He was there for me as I mourned the loss of my friend, Mark Hindy, in the 9/11 attacks. As the team worked out the next week, we paused to observe the national moment of silence. Immediately after that, I lost control of my emotions and left the field. It was Joe who stood with me in the stairway to the clubhouse as I sobbed uncontrollably. He has helped me through many frustrating times as a player. He encouraged me and pushed me to play the game with my head as well as my heart. He taught me that it's not the tough circumstances that matter in this game; it's how I react to them that counts. He promised me that if I stay positive and play the game the right way, I would land on my feet. I still believe that. Joe, thanks for everything you've done for me. You've been a friend and mentor to me, and I trust the lessons that I have learned from you will guide me through my career. I know I speak for many players when I say that you will be missed sorely. I wish you all the best, and I hope our paths cross again soon." Pretty nice of Josh.

Jeez, Grilli was grilled, fried and fricasseed. I hope he already had the team made, because his line on Sunday was below awful. Bullard got in, and closed a rally with a double play. But still his line was not great either. Just one of those days where you hope nobody gets hurt out there.

I like everyone else love Harold because he was a great player and never copped an attitude. Personally, in the role of a bench coach, I would have liked to have seen the Sox take someone who has more experience, someone who could act as a mentor to a first year manager. Namely, Jeff Torborg.

From Bull Durham: It's a long season, and you gotta trust it.

This is by Scott Gregor, the Daily Herald's Sox beat guy. TEMPE, Ariz. - At the moment, White Sox GM Kenny Williams doesn't feel like messing with a starting rotation that features Mark Buehrle, Esteban Loaiza, Jon Garland, Scott Schoeneweis and, most likely, Dan Wright. There's not a legitimate ace in the bunch, and only Buehrle has a somewhat proven track record. Loaiza, who came from out of nowhere last season to finish second in Cy Young Award voting with a 21-9 record, has been hit hard in his last 2 spring starts and is becoming more of a question mark than sure thing. But as the days before the 4/5 regular season opener at KC continue to dwindle, it's not like Williams is lacking outside options. For months there have been rumors of a trade with the pitching rich Dodgers, but Williams has been reluctant to send a power hitter like Frank Thomas or Paul Konerko to LA in exchange for a marginal starter like Odalis Perez. Before spring training opened, the typically covert Williams acknowledged talking trade with LA. "It's quite possible," he said, "i know they've been looking for a hitter for a long time and the market certainly has gotten very thin. It's possible." While the rumors linking the Sox with LA have cooled considerably, Williams just might have an even better trade partner with the Angels. Ironically, the Sox played against Anaheim on Tuesday and faced Bartolo Colon. Colon's departure left a gaping hole in the Sox rotation, but there is a chance an Anaheim starter could fill a void. "If Kenny thinks we need some help in the starting rotation, I'm sure he'll go out and get somebody," said Ozzie Guillen. How does Jarrod Washburn sound? If the White Sox are willing to part with a quality minor-league prospect like Jeremy Reed, Joe Borchard or Jon Rauch, Washburn could be had, according to sources. The 29 year old Washburn pitches a lot like Buehrle and had a big season (18-6, 3.15 ERA) in 2002 while helping win the World Series. He tailed off last year, going 10-15 with a 4.43 ERA. The lefty is slated to make $5.45 million this season. If Washburn doesn't appeal to the Sox, righty Ramon Ortiz is also available. Like Washburn, Ortiz was solid in 2002 (15-9, 3.77 ERA) before falling to 16-13 with a 5.20 ERA in 32 starts last year. The 30 year old carries a $3.1 million salary this year. ANd if that's not enough, Anaheim is willing to part with 33 year old Aaron Sele, a disappointing 7-11 (5.77ERA) in 25 starts last year...The veteran is still trying to make a complete recovery from rotator cuff surgery he had following the '02 season. If the Sox agreed to take a gamble on Sele, the Angels would have to pick up a significan chunk of his $8.5 million salary. If KW trades Jeremy Reed....well he just can't trade Jeremy Reed!!!!!!!!!!!!

Department of Accuracy: Michael, not Marty. Big Props to Neil Cotts for plunking Nic Johnson. Gotta stand up for your guys.

Well, at least the three Cub games, and probably a few more if we stay in contention. Taking out the rows from the Upper Deck should make it easier to sell out some games, I would expect.

He won't get many more chances.

Funniest thing I've read in a long time.

This is insane. There is no set of circumstances in which I would prefer to see the Cubs in the World Series.

The afternoon it happened it was a huge deal, Elia was called into Dallas Green's office for a few hours while everybody speculated about his future. It was really classic.

We probably agree more than you think we do. But as for minor league records, Danny Wright's minor league stats are 48 starts, one complete game, 20-19 won loss, nothing great. And I like Danny Wright. Rauch finished strong last year, but he's just the tallest question mark in the big leagues. I'll confess that I don't have Grilli's numbers. My bottom line is that last year we were 4 deep in the rotation, and got killed by the fifth spot, and I'm afraid this year we are 3 deep. I know someone will get those starts, but unless Schoneweiss (sp?) really comes through, we're in for a struggle. Our bullpen depth was pretty good last year, if you throw out Rick White. This year could be as good or better. Good talking with you.

Our rotation is Buehrle and Loaiza, and hope the rest will suprise ya. Garland is on the edge of greatness, like I am on the edge of winning the lottery. It could happen, but experience says it probably won't. The 4th and 5th spots are, let's say, areas of concern. A lot of guys who have never done well in the big leagues, (heck they haven't done that well in the minors), is not depth. I'm hoping for the best, but fearing the worst.

Around the 4th inning during yesterday's broadcast, Farmer said neither Harris nor Uribe is playing well so far.

Yes, the carmine derierre is the redass club. He used to say Jeff Torborg was one, the kinda guy who when he got mad, he got really hot. A Billy Martin type of guy.

I'll take this with a grain of salt. These mystery offers apparently were the only rumors not leaked this winter. And many times over the years Frank has made mention that his salary is too low for the market, that his salary is not in line for a player of his accomplishments, it's a slap in the face, etc. I don't believe Frank took less money to come back to the Sox. That said, I hope he has a great year, but it may be hard to drive in a lot of runs hitting behind Harris and Rowand.

I understand that about 7% of those tested last year tested positive for steroids. If you look at Tuesday's sports page for the New York Daily News, there are pictures of Giambi in civilian clothes. He doesn't look like a Yankee, he looks like a Backstreet Boy. And, yes, it's across his chest that looks the most dramatically smaller. I think it's a good guess that Giambi was on steroids and stopped. But he can prove the doubters wrong, just go out and hit about 40 homers, which he has averaged over the last 4 years.

Todd Walker is a bad defensive player, and his hitting stats were greatly inflated by Fenway. He's not that good a ballplayer.

I'd go with Rowand. He's hit there a lot, I think, and been fairly successful at it. As I remember it, he had a good concept of what it takes - he hits behind the runner and he can bunt. So far, I think Rowand has shown himself to be a team player, which at the 2 hole is very important. Keep Clee 5th, where he can drive in a boatload of runs.

Pastime, this didn't happen. I know this for a couple of reasons. One is I went to every home game between 1984 and 1992, and in old Comiskey I sat right by Nancy in box 235 - she was in box 236. If she had been thrown out of a game I would remember it. Second reason, is that such a thing did happen once in the minors, not involving Nancy of course, but an organist did get tossed for playing that. Third reason is I double checked by asking Nancy today. She said that she had heard of the minor league organist doing it, and she also said she doesn't play 3 blind mice, because it's not very original, and because her bosses would not be happy about pissing off umpires. Remember when they fired the disc jockey for playing the Whitesnake song for the pitcher who was married to Tawney Kitaen? So anyway, Nancy getting tossed - didn't happen.