Controlled Chaos

QUOTE(Misplaced_Sox @ May 24, 2006 -> 11:50 PM) Y aI know Dye should have caught the ball... but its was comically funny in that dye was looking at Mack when the ball was hit thinking WTF are you gonna do... talk to me. And Mack was like I dont want not part of that... abd you have to your te CF... the Cf has to want every ball. Oh well. He got some knocks today but his defense will cost us mor ein the long run. And whos to say that BA couldnt get a hit off Haran.... its just pure conjecture.... he got hits off tough pitchers before Id rather have D and a struggling hitter then a black hole from LF to CF It looked to me like they were talking. Both of them were calling for it. It happens sometimes.

QUOTE(Chisoxrd5 @ May 25, 2006 -> 08:52 AM) It doesn't suck...its absolutely ridiculous. When you plow over someone like that, there is no way you can rationally think that going to get your helmet is/was trying to provoke Barrett to grab him and punch him. Any person with half of a brain, and apparently that is hard to find now-a-days, can tell that AJ was obviously lowering the left side of his body to try and abstain from making contact with Barrett. I guarantee if they suspend him it will be for provoking the crowd after the fight, but how can you blame someone who gets fired up after so totally pwning their opponents they decide they have to punch you in the face to get even. I'm just praying that Watson is taking his time and actually rules fairly in this situation, but who am I kidding... I will use my post from another thread to give my take.... AJ didn't put his shoulder in to him. Come on people. AJ's explanation is the only logical one here. You can tell he was surprised when Barrett grabbed him. Even more surprised when Barrett punched him. You can see AJ's lips never moved and Barretts do. Barrett has conveniently left that out when describing his events. AJ got up to get his helmet and Barrett got up right in his line and AJ moved his shoulder to avoid him. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for AJ to get up after that play, and go over to bump Barrett. I mean come on. Can't people use common sense. Not to mention if AJ wanted to hit Barrett, which once again makes no f***in sense, he's not going to turn his shoulder to graze him. Also, what has been left out was when Baker was interviewed during the game he was asked about the fight. He said something like Michael, told me he didn't have the ball and I told him it was a clean play. AFTER the game Barrett came with this story about AJ coming at him. That was never the issue...he was pissed he got rolled, wrongly pissed at that, and he clocked AJ and said "I didn't havbe the ball b****." Hopefully they look at that Baker interview cause I don't think Baker ever said....Michael felt threatened when AJ got up...it was all about the play.

Sweet!!!!!!!

I thought I heard on the radio that Barrett is some martial arts guy. I was curious since his punch didn't really damage AJ, so I searched "Michael Barrett Martial Arts." I found this gem of an article. Big League Workout: Cable Ready To tune his body, Cubs catcher Michael Barrett has taken the path of most resistance By Lisa Altobelli At 29, the Cubs' Michael Barrett is one of baseball's top catchers -- the U.S. World Baseball Classic backstop hit .276 and had just four passed balls last year. One reason, he says, is his off-season workout. Five days a week he goes to Competitive Edge Sports in Duluth, Ga., near his home, the training center for scores of NFL players, including the Bears' Brian Urlacher and the Broncos' Champ Bailey. "As a catcher you get beat up, so I like being around physical guys," says the 6'3", 222-pound Barrett. "My favorites are college guys getting ready for the combine. They push me." Barrett follows a regimen designed by the center's owner, Chip Smith. Using surgical tubing with a nylon overlay, Barrett does resistance exercises that mimic what he does on the field. The idea, he says, is that the muscles "remember" the movements and perform them at a higher level once the resistance is removed. "I feel much more flexible," says Barrett, who also undergoes regular massage therapy and acupuncture. "My hips aren't as tight, my knees aren't as sore, my reaction time feels quicker." Three days a week Barrett ends his training day with an hour of martial arts. "I don't believe there's a place for fighting in baseball," he says, "but I want to be confident that if a situation arose, I could handle it." A situation such as sucker punching someone? FOOT SPEED Wearing cords with four pounds of resistance attached from waist to heel, Barrett, using a variety of step patterns, accelerates down and back a 15-rung ladder laid on the ground. Fifteen reps. "The cords pull his foot up faster than normal and resist as he puts them down," Smith says. "We call this an 'overspeed' drill. He'll have a neuromuscular reaction: When the cords come off, his foot will be conditioned to fly up faster, as if the cords were still on." LOW-PITCH BLOCKING One knee and both hands drop down in a blocking motion to the right and then to the left with 45 pounds of resistance from three cords attached to waist. Three sets of 15, each way. Smith explains that blocking is a complex maneuver:"He is working his adductor and abductor [inner and outer thigh] muscles, his abdominals, lower back, glutes, quads and his hamstrings." HITTING Three sets of 15 swings while attached over his shoulders and around his waist to a harness (held by Smith) with 30 pounds of resistance. One set of 15 swings without resistance. "This generates bat speed," says Smith. "His hips work against the resistance to fire as hard as they can, and his hands come around as an extension of his hips turning. When we take the resistance off, the muscle memory will be there; the explosiveness that his muscles generated with resistance will be there." LOWER-BODY EXPLOSIVENESS With 100 pounds of resistance attached to his waist, he does a set of 10 quarter jumps (only go into a partial squat), a set of 10 full jumps (squat deeply before jumping as high as possible) and a set of 10 fast jumps (jump as rapidly as possible, without getting set between jumps). Then he removes the resistance and does five quarter jumps. "When he needs to come up for a throw to second base," says Smith, "his muscles will fire that much harder to get him up quicker. It also helps prevent muscle fatigue." SELF-DEFENSE Barrett's mixed martial arts regimen involves 20 minutes of punching a heavy bag and sparring with a partner, 20 minutes of muay thai (in which he hits a padded surface with shins, knees and elbows) and 20 minutes of grappling called "ground and pound" with a partner on the mat. "This is my release," says Barrett. "It works my arms, my legs and my hips. It totally wears you out, but I think it's fun. I wouldn't mind trying to be an ultimate fighter after my baseball career." If you can't knock someone out with a surprsie punch how do you think you'll fair against someone that knows it's coming? POSITION SKILLS Barrett catches a ball thrown from five feet with 45 pounds of resistance from cords attached to his waist. He then jumps to a throwing stance. Three sets of 15. "He doesn't know where the ball is being thrown," says Smith (holding cable). "It helps him with wild pitches."

Someone just needs to jam his knuckle a little bit before each start. I'm not worried about Gar.

Baffled Pierzynski wonders why he's bad guy May 23, 2006 BY JOE COWLEY Staff Reporter White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski is tired of it. Tired of always being portrayed as the bad guy, warranted or unwarranted. Tired of his past haunting him. And now tired of the toll it has been taking on his family. That was his message Monday, two days after he was sucker-punched by Cubs catcher Michael Barrett, sparking a bench-clearing brawl. "Have I done things in the past that I wish I wouldn't have done? Yeah,'' Pierzynski said. "But who can't say that about themselves? Have I done anything the last couple of years to warrant what's been said about me? No. Am I tired of it? Yes. Do I wish we could just talk about baseball? Yes. Is that ever going to happen with me? I don't know. "I do know that it gets tiring after a while. It was a tough weekend for me and my family, not only because of that, but other stuff. It's going to continue to be a struggle as long as this [stuff] keeps coming up.'' It hasn't been boring this season for Pierzynski, who has had a beanball thrown at him by Los Angeles Angels pitcher Kelvim Escobar and been involved in the incident with Barrett. But he maintained his innocence in both situations and doesn't understand why he still is being portrayed as the bad guy. "Things like this used to motivate me, but I have a wife and kid now,'' Pierzynski said. "I have to deal with how it affects them now. It's just wearing on me, and I'm tired of it.'' He did go out of his way, however, to thank current and former teammates who have defended him. The latest was Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. Ortiz told Boston reporters how Pierzynski helped motivate him when Ortiz was struggling with the Minnesota Twins. "He plays to win,'' Ortiz said. "He's not a bad person. He's not a bad dude.'' Said Pierzynski: "I've played on winning teams, and for the people that I really know -- and that know me, more importantly -- to stand up for me like that ... for someone like David to say that, I really appreciate it. I appreciate guys that have said stuff in my behalf. "Those are the people that know me. At this point, that's all I care about. The people that don't know me are going to say stuff.''

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ May 23, 2006 -> 06:34 AM) Would you look at this, Kotex boy is fanning the flames of Joey Cora biting someone during the fight. It is so easy to write columns when you only have to watch the game and post-game on Comcast. Mariotti doesnt have to leave the house. Ah that's where I saw it....In the print version Mariotti doesn't say "Oh, and did I mention Sox third-base coach Joey Cora, who helped run the club" He says Joey Cora, who ran the club after Guillen whipped off his jacket and stormed through the tunnel"

QUOTE(Whitewashed in @ May 23, 2006 -> 12:09 AM) That's what it was. I think Coop did a great job in place of him. Oh yeah and why was Raines coaching 1st? Yeah I saw Rock at first again. What's going on? Also, the paper said Cora managed the game after Ozzie was ejected. I always thought it was Coop.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ May 22, 2006 -> 02:01 PM) Actually it was DJ who mentioned that Cora bit someone in a brawl, back when they played together in San Diego. Thats why I am thinking that these stories got confused, because Jacque Jones was interviewed after the game and didnt say a word about it. You would think if the guy got bit in Saturdays scrum, it would have been talked about immediately afterwards. That sounds more like it...cause I heard Jacque in an interview too and he never mentioned it. he said something about he saw someone choking his catcher and he pulled him off. I heard some of what Dempster said and he said it was busch leage for Cora to get involved in the fray. He is on the other side of the white lines and should stay out of fighting. He can pull people off, but he shouldn't be fighting. I didn't hear him say anything about biting. So I don't know where it originally came from.

QUOTE(Felix @ May 22, 2006 -> 01:50 PM) Zambrano was already yelling before that happened. I remember when during ST last year, AJ offer $100 to whoever hit a HR off of a Giants pitcher (his name escapes me, Tomko maybe?). Its that sort of thing that pisses off other teams. AJ and Tomko were at each others throats in SF. He was a big part of the problems AJ had over there. So I don't have a prob with AJ doing that....They have a history. Now if AJ just picked some guy out of the blue, I would agree with you.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ May 22, 2006 -> 01:35 PM) Allegedly, according to reports on the Score, Joey Cora bit Jacque Jones. I haven't seen anything posted about it here, though. I guess Dempster had said that in an interview.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ May 22, 2006 -> 09:51 AM) I heard he gives poisoned milk to school children. You would think. This makes more sense then "instigator" or "agitator"

What does AJ do to get this label? I know he must do something or he did stuff in the past or whatever, but I have heard this since he got here and haven't really seen him do anything. Stepping on Boone? I guess it could be debated, but if he doesn't step squarely on him...he probably falls and doesn't score. Dropped third strike in Anaheim? not AJ Tag without glove? not AJ Barrett incident? not AJ Zambrano incident? not AJ I'm sure there's more you people can come up with, but find me something where it's AJ being "the agitator?" Does he talk to the batters when they're batting? I don't recall ever seeing a batter saying something or getting in his face at the plate so I don't know. He may talk to the umps about balls and strikes, but unless that is hurting our pitcher...what's the problem...not to mention that shouldn't get him the agitator label. I'm not speaking with bias here either. I can look objectively on things. If AJ does something out of line I can admit it, but it's like people look to blame him when a controversy comes up. With regards to this weekends incidents, with Barrett it was "oh AJ slapped the plate." First off Barrett didn't even see that. Second...since when can't you show emotion. That was a big f***in play. A home plate collision to score the first run of the game. Now if AJ said.."screw you Barrett" when he slapped the plate...I can see that as instigating...but just slapping the plate...that's stretching it. Can teamates not slap hands at home with the guy who hits a home run? Don't the existing base runners wait at home plate to slap hands after a homerun? Is this too offensive to the other team? If the ensuing events didn't take place...nobody would have even criticized AJ for slapping the plate. It shouldn't have even been mentioned, but it's like people have to find something AJ did. Also with Barrett, AJ didn't put his shoulder in to him. Come on people. AJ's explanation is the only logical one here. You can tell he was surprised when Barrett grabbed him. Even more surprised when Barrett punched him. You can see AJ's lips never moved and Barretts do. Barrett has conveniently left that out when describing his events. AJ got up to get his helmet and Barrett got up right in his line and AJ moved his shoulder to avoid him. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for AJ to get up after that play, and go over to bump Barrett. I mean come on. Can't people use common sense. Not to mention if AJ wanted to hit Barrett, which once again makes no f***in sense, he's not going to turn his shoulder to graze him. Zambrano doesn't like AJ clapping? Are you kidding me? f***in Zambrano who jumps upand fist pumps after strikeouts in the middle of innings. Most guys clap between first and second base when the ball clears the wall. Now I don't know about AJ pointing to the sky, but what I do know is Zambrano didn't see any of that. So that has nothing to do with his blow up. If anyone in this city should have an agitator label it should be him. AJ plays hard every day and that makes him alright in my book. I like an emotional player. I don't like a guy that doesn't play with sportsmanship, but I have yet to see it. Now I've seen him after a big hit or a big steak clap his hands and say f*** yeah. I don't know if that's what's considered agitating, but all players do that. Maybe this was beat to death over the weekend, but I don't really post on the weekends and I know a lot of other posters don't either.

QUOTE(JimH @ May 21, 2006 -> 01:37 PM) Tim Raines is coaching 1B today. I just signed on to relay that info. Ya beat me to it. Any idea why? Maybe Ozzie worried if a brawl broke out, Harold would get hurt...where as Rock would just start smashing people.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ May 20, 2006 -> 04:15 PM) WTF Barrett was right on the plate, it was 100% necessary. Burke gave Hunter the entire plate. Corey McPherrin on Fox compared the two as well. I'm sorry, but there is no comparing the two.

I'll bring you guys a win!!

Garland said he pitched better because he hurt his knuckle and he had to throw his sinker slower so it worked more. I remember something similar last year? He did something to his hand or arm and that helped his sinker. Anyone remember what it was? Should we smack his fingers with a mallet or something before starts? He pitched a good game yesterday.

Come on Big Jon!! Make my first game thread worthy!!

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ May 17, 2006 -> 09:35 AM) There does seem to be a judges attempt to sabotage Kat. Her's and Elliot's voices are both just as technnically sound, but Kat has a stage presence that is really captivating. Elliot has none. I never hear Kat being flat or "pitchy" (a favorite word it seems). It was funny, once Clive said that he wanted Elliot to do Journey, I did a Randy impression of what he would respond with. I was pretty much dead on, even with all the Randy-isms. I think Taylor will win. He's the one out of them all that is seasoned performer. The guy obviously has done his time on a stage and it shows. Hopefully if he does win it AI will let him bring his band with him. Speaking of Clive...I don't know where he was going picking "I believe I can fly" for Kat, I thought that was a horrible choice. As for them picking their own songs...I think they all pretty much suck at it except for Taylor.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ May 16, 2006 -> 07:50 PM) It is a shame you would consider that a s***s and giggles kind of activity. The FBI has confirmed that they have "backtracked" journo phone records. They have done so using National Security Letters issued under the authority of the Patriot Act (Wow, who could have foreseen the Patriot Act would be abused?), even though the National Security Letters are suppused to be used in terrorism cases. Not to hunt down journalists' sources, and send a chilling message to the news media that freedom of the press is an antiquated concept. You don't get even the faintest whiff of fascism here? Whatever. Any kind of link to support this?

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ May 17, 2006 -> 09:08 AM) Just the other day when asked about Garcia's performance, Ozzie replied that "if Garcia pitched on the northside, I guess he'd be Cy Young." Today, there's this: Ozzie: Chicago's still a Cubs town May 17, 2006 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- There are few instances when White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen offers a disclaimer before giving an opinion on a touchy subject. But Guillen has been on the South Side long enough to know that any Sox-Cubs talk is viewed under a microscope. Before the Sox' game Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the third-year skipper was asked if winning the World Series in 2005 made Chicago a Sox town rather than a Cubs town. "If we played the way the Cubs played, there would be 2,000 people in the ballpark, believe me,'' Guillen said. "I know there may be some fans that are going to hate me for that, [but] it's a Cubs town. "But it's a good time to be a White Sox fan right now, a great time to be a White Sox fan. You're not going to turn the lights off and on in one year.'' Guillen said the best way to remedy the slanted treatment the Cubs seem to receive is to keep on winning. That's why no extra incentive is needed this weekend, when the Sox host the Cubs for three games at U.S. Cellular Field. "With the kids right now who are growing up in the city, it might turn around in 10 years,'' Guillen said. "If you're going to bring kids to the ballpark, you bring them on the South Side and see more stuff for kids. But if you're going to watch just baseball, go to Wrigley Field.'' First of all, Wrigley is mardi gras, with a ball game in the background. If you want to watch 'just baseball' it is NOT the place to go to. Second of all, if he believes this to be true, than he shouldn't complain about biased media coverage. Last, who gives a s***. Stop feeding into this idea that the Sox will always have an inferiority complex by making these statements. I read that in the paper this morning too. I think you can chalk it up to Ozzie mixing up his words as he often does.

QUOTE(joeynach @ May 17, 2006 -> 03:39 AM) Looking at the tigers schedule they have only played 7 games against teams currently over .500. In those games they are 3-4 including being swept at home by us. They are also 19-8 against teams currently under .500 and 2-1 against the A's who are currently a .500 team. It seems they have played a lot of Minn, Cle (who is really stuggling), Balt, Sea, and KC to make their hot start. The purpose of this is not to compare them to the sox, you can if you want, and our schedule but to show sometimes the weak schedule can be decieving from such a small sample of games. P.S We have only played 6 games against team above .500 teams, we are 5-1. This is so eerily similar to what outsiders said about the Sox last year. I think Detroit will be our biggest competition at the end of the season and once again, just as last year with Cleveland, I think the Sox will be better off for it.

Elliot goes!!

If you haven't seen this, you have to check it out. Quick setup, two guys are waiting in the BBC waiting room (both of which are named Guy). One is a cab driver waiting for a job interview, the other an internet expert waiting for a live interview on BBC. The internet guy goes to the restroom and the producer comes out and yells "Guy, we're ready for your interview." The cab driver thinks they are talking to him and goes in for his interview. Hilarity then ensues. The look on his face when he realizes he is in the wrong interview is absolutely priceless. Cheers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4D8w2v7IB8...bbc%20interview

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 16, 2006 -> 03:43 PM) Question: Who the hell is pitching on Saturday for the Cubs? Based on days off and such, it won't be Maddux (pitches Friday), or Marshall (pitches Wednesday), or Zambrano (pitches Sunday), or Wood (pitches Thursday), or Prior (lol), or Guzman (in the pen). I'm guessing it will be Rich Hill then, or Rusch? Haha either way, they have both sucked and Freddy is going for us, so HOPEFULLY I'll see a win, as I'll be there in attendance. It said Hill in the paper. Zambrano goes vs Contreras on Sunday