greg775

Gotta love Crede.

I hope Willie Harris is on a short rope. If he goes hitless the first two series dump him before we have another Julio Ramirez type start on our hands. I'd take a Graffy/Uribe platoon right now, but we ain't got no Graffy anymore. Here's hoping Willie succeeds but I've never thought the guy was worth a flip.

I wonder why Jose can't hit righty at all. I say keep trying righty if he hit .111 in winter ball vs. lefties as a lefty.

Bring him on. If he's good enough, I hope he makes it.

I remember the media going crazy praising the Sox when they got Alomar and Everett. Those guys didn't help us win the pennant so the deals were failures. I can't believe we acquired Alomar and refused to pay him enough to keep him another year. The Sox have a lot to prove this year. I've listened to interviews with Graff and Sully on Royals radio and they both made it clear they were happy to get out of chicago. That is not a good sign to me. Graff basically said Frank was a jerk. We better get off to a good start or it could be a long season for our team of non-leaders. Hopefully Oz is what we need to instill some spirit in the clubhouse.

6 saves for Billy. Bullpen by committee. GO SOX

Interesting how you complain about both the high prices and how the Sox have a "low payroll." There's always minor league baseball, college baseball, high school baseball and lots other baseball games that you can take your kids to for only a "couple bucks." Good point, but it's not big league ball. Big league baseball and its 80 home games was originally designed as a cheap night at the park. That said, can't people go on Tuesday nights dirt cheap? At least the Royals basically give away tix on Tuesdays? is it the same in Soxdom?

Baseball wasn't designed to be this high priced game that it has become. It was supposed to be for little kids going to the park for a couple bucks. We must blame Steinbrenner and all the owners for overpaying. In the final analyis, what are Sox fans paying for? Not a chance at winning the series, that is for sure. Not with our payroll. If you love going to the park and having fun like the one poster said, more power to you. But 16 bucks to park??????? Unbelievable. And yes I realize it's not just a Sox problem. But c'mon.

Scott Sullivan said on local radio today he had no intention of staying with the Sox. Didn't sound too high on our club or organization compared to the Royals.

If we go 0-6 we're doomed. 20,000 on opening day at the cell and the Cubs will own the city more than they do now. I am assuming we have 6 in a row on the road to open the season, forgive me if i got that wrong.

Bill Veeck was a god, small g. Jerry Reinsdorf is J. Reinsdork. IMO caseclosed.

I'm not worried about the cussing. Mark B obviously thought it was funny. I think Oz will do fine if he does the things Baggs says. I agree with Baggs. We haven't had spirit or unity in a while. It's gotta be us players and one manager against the world.

Maybe that's why we didn't give up and trade Paulie. Hard work is bound to pay off. I hope he hits .281 with 39 home runs and 109 rbis.

I agree we all probably want to see him bounce back. I like what he's said all along in the media, kind of like Todd Ritchie. But performance wise, horrific, ala Ritchie. We need Koch to perform well. That is for sure.

I like Mariotti, but granted I don't read him every single day living in Kansas. I like when he writes Sox columns. I usually agree with his rips of JR.

Glad to see them there early. I can't think of three players we need more to have good years. Except for our sluggers, of course. Paulie, Lee, Frank and our questionable pitching staff.

Is it good or bad we play the Yanks 7 times right off the bat? This early in the year we figure to go at least 3-4 instead of 0-7 in the hot summer months, don't we? And we play the Royals early again. Does it matter how we do coming out of the gate? Do we have to hang near .500 lest we draw 10,000 the rest of our games? What do you think? Is our tough early schedule a factor in our ultimate success or failure??

While the verdict isn't out on Oz, at least we know he can't be worse than Bevington. He was horrid. It's possible he was the worst manager in Sox history.

I'd define greatness as the fact he's been one of our best players if not the best player the past 5-6 or however many years he's been with the Sox. I think he's a great player. When he gets on a tear, it's amazing to watch him plaster the ball like he did last year in that stretch against the Royals. I love seeing Maggs bash line drives over outfielders' heads. I think he's one of the best players in the league, don't you?

I hope people don't blast Maggs at all. The guy has been a great Sox player and person. He's not been a problem in the press or clubhouse. He deserves Frank type money. Case closed. If we don't pay him, fine, but please think twice this season before blasting Maggs. Maggs doesn't deserve our wrath. He's been a fricking great great Sox.

Chet Lemon Gary Peters Dick Allen Wilber Wood Fisk Thomas Soderholm Did I say Chet Lemon?

I love Hawk.

I believe Willie is this year's Jimenez and Ramirez of the year before. I hope I'm wrong, but I think Willie is a huge stiff. I hope we don't stick with guys too long if they suck. Look at our schedule. We get the Royals and Yanks early. We could really bury ourselves once again.

Hey OttawaSox, Thanks for mentioning Soderholm. I can't believe I forgot him. That guy hit about 28-30 homers in 77 including one off Marty Pattin in the seventh inning of that Sunday doubleheader I was talking about. It was amazing. The score actually for some freak reason in the year the Sox bashed the baseball was 0-0 and in the bottom of the sixth Soderholm broke up a no hitter by journeyman Pattin with a homer in about the first row in leftfield seats. We all went nuts and the Sox won 3-0 but Game Two was a disaster, the Royals won about 11-0 or something like that and the rest is history. Great post. Like the one poster said, I remember those Ozzie triples into the corner and doubles where he'd flick hit bat out there. I hope Oz has some magic as manager. I'm worried he's going to have some major growing pains and in this day and age of talk shows and internet, poor Oz may implode if we don't win and win big. GO SOX and great post.

1977. We had season tickets in about the fourth row just to the left of the net behind the plate. The sound of ball hitting bat that season still resonates. The sound in the old ballpark was incredible and the Sox got "good wood" on almost every at bat that season at least through the first three weeks of August. Does anybody remember that series in August when KC came to town and in game one, the Royals got four in the first, started by George Brett's home run off the upper deck facade (yes George Brett led off at that time). Alan Bannister also threw a ball into the crowd from shortstop which let in 2 runs. The hard-hitting Sox scored five in the bottom of the first and the place, which was full, went crazy. That was the season strangers kissed each other in the stands. The Sox beat KC 11-9 Friday, won Saturday, won Sunday, then lost Game 2 of Sunday doubleheader and went in the tank the rest of the season. The Royals won something like 20 out of 22 games and the Sox finished way back in a season they led for so many weeks. Zisk, Gamble, Jim Spencer, Essian, Naharodny, Bannister, Orta, Lemon, et all had such an exciting summer; not season, but summer. GO SOX