Controlled Chaos

I heard some people called ticketmaster like a half hour early asking questions about concerts and stuff basically stalling till 12:00 and then being the first to buy sox tickets. :finger DOH ....why didn't I think of that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Features in Naperville....

Ah you know this kid, I tell you, I know he was gonna be good when he come to manage this team, cause he has a lot of heart. I no care if he has no managing experience, he is dedicated to winning and this kid is my MVP this year. GO OZ!!

I think I'd rather play the Cards with the big down side being that....if we play them they would be on a 3 game winning streak and have some momentum.

QUOTE(The Critic @ Oct 17, 2005 -> 11:32 AM) I'll readily admit I was worried - I never gave up hope, and I never jumped off the ship, but especially during that 4-10 stretch in September I had some BAD feelings about it. As it turns out, the Cleveland uprising was probably the best thing that could have happened to this team. Having some seriously important games in late September seems to have renewed their focus and intensity, and it's paying off now! I remember our discussions from this thread... http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=39929&st=0 I'm glad you stayed aboard!!

YASNY you've kept up the faith all year!!!!!!!!

A Sox fan is one of the hardest things to be. The people on this board are some of the most passionate Sox fans there are. For those of us that never wavered, never lost faith and put all our confidence in the sox...Cheers to us!! What a special year it's been to be a fan. For those Sox fans who believed we wouldn't make the playoffs or we'd get knocked out in the ALDS or the ALCS(you know who you are)...Well, I hope you put your money where your mouth is and LOST, but I also hope you are enjoying this as much as the rest of us. Man there were some absolutely ridiculous posts made in September. So here ya go....hope your hungry....After your meal lets all join together in cheering the White sox on to a World Series Championship!!!!!!! P.S. For those who don't think we can win the world series, your waiter will be with you shortly.

For those that can't get to grandstand. There's an ad in the Sun Times that JCPenny has all the ALCS gear. The locker room shirts, hats, and a hoodie. Check the bottom to see if a store near you has the stuff today!!!

FYI - Jimbo's and Schallers are nice because of the crowd, but they're nothing like 'sports bars' you're used to. They don't have 15 big screens or plasmas all over. They are just local bars with a couple of tv's and die hard sox fans. Good times, but I don't know if it's worth the drive in from Indiana. IMO every place is gonna be jammed with sox fans this weekend. You don't need a 'sox bar'. You can go to any Buffalo Wild Wings and have your pick of big screen and be surrounded by Sox fans. Whatever you choose....

I just want to give some props to AJ here too. It was a big time heads up play by AJ. He heard the umps strike out call 5 times during the game(4 Buehrle K's and 1K of his own) so when the 6th one came and he didn't hear 'You're Out', he ran. I think he is probably the only Sox player that would have noticed that. I guess it was just luck that he was the one in the batters box.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 12:31 PM) I'll sum this up real nicely. Who gives a s***? We won, they didn't. They're not going to reverse the call or give the game back to the Angels. People need to STFU and accept it for what it was. Good call, bad call, it don't matter anymore. It's just fun to talk about it....dam dude we have a day to kill here...Why you bustin up the party.

QUOTE(bighurt574 @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 11:51 AM) http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=cnns...cnnsi&type=lgns I agree with everything except the "A simple "No catch" or "I've got it on the ground" comment. I think Rex Hudler cleared that up in another post with these comments:

QUOTE(shakes @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 09:26 AM) Also, AJ was behind the plate the whole game. He new the umps mechanics and verbal calls. Paul had just gotten into the game. He's also a backup catcher who rarely sees playing time. I doubt he's very familiar with Eddings. I'm siding woth AJ on this. I agree and if Molina was behind the plate there is no way this play even happens. AJ turned and ran to cause he didn't hear "you're out", which he heard all game long. I'll bet if it was anybody else on the sox up there they would have proceeded to the dugout.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 08:44 AM) I think this has been one of the best discussions we have had on any subject Wow, I thought these props were going to me for my measily little post, but I just got through reading the whole thread and realized Krush and Rex had a great debate. Of course I have to side with Rex cause he pretty much has the same take as I do on it, but great discussion guys. I also didn't think the ump was suppose to say "no catch, no catch" cause that is more or less telling them what to do. Rex came up with a great comparison with this comment:

I was impressed with Scioscia as well....he kept it together. Erstad also had a great attitude after the game saying: (paraphrasing here) That's part of baseball. The players, the managers, the coaches, the umps, the fans. It's all just part of the game. We'll try and get em Friday. He also commented with regards to them being tired saying: We're fine. That's just something for you writers to write about. Do we not want to get up sometimes?? yeah, but who doesn't. We're certainly not going to complain about it...everyone has to wake up for work. That's life. We do it all year long...so it' doesn't even phase us. I loved hearing this cause I was so sick of hearing about poor anaheim they are like walking zombies. blah blah blah. Finley said Tuesday when asked if he was tired...hey, I got my 8 hours sleep so I'm fine. The only people making a big deal about this were the media and I thought it was playing right in to anaheims hands. Giving them the motivation to overcome all the naysayers when they really weren't in a "bad" position in the first place.

I think the umps believe it was the right call. During their press conference last night, they were pretty adamant about that. This was not an umpiring mistake. It was a cathers mistake.

There's really no need to argue whether he caught it or not. It's the umps call. It's like arguing balls and strikes...Sometimes they're right sometimes they're wrong. What can't be argued is whether or not he said "You're Out" which he didnt. The ump was very clear in the press conference last night. He never said 'You're Out' and he was waiting for Josh Paul to tag AJ.

f*** yeah the sox are 1-1 in the ALCS and are looking as good as ever to make a trip to the big show!! That's what counts. Here's the facts how I see them reagrding the controversy. Take away the slo mo replay, conclusive/inconclusive..yada yada yada. Those arguments can be made every play. They are judgement calls by umpires. They are part of the game. What is not a judgement call is did the ump say "You're Out". That would be a factual statement...either he said it or he didn't. And according to all accounts he didn't. AJ ran to first cause he never heard it. The ump never said it and he was watching Josh Paul to see if he was gonna tag AJ out and he never did. I don't care what the umps arm was doing when he called strike 3. Josh Paul doesn't have eyes in the back of his head. He didn't roll the ball up to the mound cause the ump lifted his arm. I don't even know why that's an issue. He simply never said "You're Out" It's just a lack of experience by Josh Paul. When it's close you tag the guy. I'm sorry it happened to Josh Paul...good kid. I'm sure it will never happen again. Let's ride this momentum now. Come on SOX!!!!! Garland pitching back home in Cali. Freddy pitching in the heat. Let's do some damage out there!!!!!!!!!

QUOTE(robinventura23 @ Oct 12, 2005 -> 12:04 PM) I was hoping that Pods or Rowand would pull back and swing away with Figgins playing so far in. Hopefully, it would've blooped over his head. That's the chance you take. Instead, Pods got caught looking. A pathetic AB. There is no way Rowand should have bunted with Figgins playing where he was. That really sucked...we got lucky we were'nt doubled up. Sometimes the bunt has to come off if they are gonna play that close....I mean that was ridiculously close...he was almost even with the mound

Yeah I saw it on the news yesterday. Tthe guy said he is from the southside and all his friends are sox fans and he is a cubs fan. They showed him trying to sell them at Jimbos and then at the park. He said he had sold 40 already and only had 20 more left. They were sellin for 20 bucks. None of this money goes towards the team. This is just a guy trying to make a buck.

Here's some positives.... I thought Pods looked like he got his best jump in awhile on the pitch out steal. He almost got in there even with the pitch out. Contreras is still looking solid. I know the pessimists are waiting for him to falter, but he really figured something out and he is dealing! Cotts was typical of what we've seen of him. Lights out. Bullpen was saved. There were some fundamental mistakes, but those can and will be corrected. This was not as hard of a loss to swallow, cause it wasn't a shalacking, we just got out executed and out played. It will happen in the playoffs, you just have to make sure it happens more to your opponent than to you. We'll get em tonight!!

Dam, I wish I can make that game. Classy Move JD!!

Yeah so that's the old armor square. Wow I didn't know they renamed it...who is this jay character I wonder. As for that guy who got his ass kicked, from what I know, he deserved it.

What the hell is Jay Pasconte playground?? Is that what used to be Armor Square??

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 02:59 PM) There's pressure, but not the lose you go home pressure Santana was under. I'm not short-changing Duque, he was awesome, and the mess he was getting out of, he had nothing to do with. Totally disagree here....I don't think for a second a pitcher is on that mound in a playoff game with any thought whatsoever of "hey we can afford a loss here" I think they feel they need to get everyone out they face in every game. There is no "Oh we'll just get them next game". You have to play like that is your last chance at winning a game...cause it might be. El duque could have blown that game and the sox could have lost the next 2 never having been in a postion to win again. Every run counts is the bottom line and when the tying run is 90 feet away...the pressure is at it's highest, I don't care what game the series is in.