NUKE_CLEVELAND

QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Apr 19, 2005 -> 06:16 PM) As many of you know, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected to be the successor to Pope John Paul the II and has chosen the name Pope Benedict XVI. A few months ago I came across the apocalyptic predictions of St. Malachy O Morgain. I collected the following from a few sources, so if it doesn’t sound like the way I would write, it isn’t. I am copy and pasting. Let the record show, I read these sources BEFORE the election of the current pope and they have not changed since then. What follows is very simply quite astonishing. Malachy O Morgain (1094-1148) was an Irish priest and seer who foretold the identities of 112 Roman Catholic popes, from the reign of Celestine 11 in 1143 to the present time and beyond. But not far beyond. According to St. Malachy, whose predictions have proven amazingly accurate so far, only two popes will succeed John Paul II. St. Malachy did not name the popes specifically, however Malachy included a single line in Latin identifying a characteristic of each pope that can be loosely interpreted, but his prediction of Pope John Paul II’s successor is almost amazing! According to his biographer St. Bernard of Clairvaux, in his book "Life of Saint Malachy," the saint was known to have the gift of prophesy and had even predicted the exact day and hour of his own death. While in Rome in 1139, Saint Malachy is said to have gone into a trance and received a vision in which he foresaw all the popes from the death of Innocent II until the end of time. John Paul II s successor is called "Gloria Olivae," or "glory of the olive." Traditionally, the olive branch has been associated with peace, but in both the Old and New Testaments it also serves as an emblem for the Jews. Putting the two together, some commentators believe that the reign of this pope will be a peaceful one during which the prophesied conversion of the Jews will take place. However, Malachy’s description may instead refer to St. Benedicts 6th century prophecy that a member of his order will lead the Church in its fight against evil just before the Apocalypse. The Benedictine Order is known by another name: Olivetans. The new Pope is Pope Benedict XVI. Take from it what you want. But you have to admit that is rather interesting…….. You know why I don't pay any attention to "end of time" stuff? Its because if its baloney then I get to laugh at whoever said it for being wrong. If it turns out to be true.........guess what......nobody will be around to say "see I told ya so".

QUOTE(Molto @ Apr 20, 2005 -> 08:50 AM) That wouldn't bother me, but I'd personally rather go the route of no closer. Hermanson is good, but he isn't lights out, which is what I want from a closer. IMO, if you don't have one of the best, go at it by situation. Is anyone in that pen better at this point? Right now he is most capable and I think the job should be his until he proves otherwise.

QUOTE(TheBlackSox8 @ Apr 20, 2005 -> 08:48 AM) I think Ozzie was thinking that even last year. That Shingo would be a good set up guy. I'd see if he can handle it a couple more times...if he struggles, give it to Hermanson. We dont need anymore late inning drama. Give it to Hermanson in the 9th. He's proven he can handle it. When Shingo gets his stuff working again he can compete for the closer job but nobody can say OZ hasn't given him the opportunity to get his act together.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Apr 20, 2005 -> 08:29 AM) It's a week night in April, kids are in school, college kids are still away at school and people have to work the next morning. No big deal IMO. THANK YOU!!! Remember the Lee Elia rant.. 85% OF THE PEOPLE WORK FOR A LIVING!!!!!!!!

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Apr 20, 2005 -> 08:43 AM) I don't think Shingo pitches scared at all either...it just doesn't look like he is throwing his fastball well enough yet. Nothing wrong with having others pick him up right now. Shingo was slow last season too. If Shingo continues to struggle let him move to a setup type pitcher and Hermanson be the closer. Until he can get more than 1 guy out without giving up runs I think he is a situational pitcher. Someone who's brought in to get a certain batter ( NOT JOE MAUER! ) out. He really needs to work on his stuff though cause he's in a world of hurt right now.

QUOTE(HSC's Biggest Fan @ Apr 20, 2005 -> 08:40 AM) What I am seeing this year is that a deep solid bullpen, Cliff is a 6th inning/ losing game pitcher and he could close and Cotts is a mop up man. This is more important than a slugging team. I put it this way, I think in today's day and age, Hermanson, Vizcaino and Marte are worth more than Ordonez (Healthy.) As a whole this is how we are going to win because of our pitching. In previous years we lose last night 5-3 and we sit at 5-9 for the season. Oh and how solid is our infield defense. This team is not playing well and they are 10-4, yikes. Pitching and defense my friends wins games. Ask the Twins who outplayed us in two games and lost. We're taking a page right out of the Twins handbook and we're beating them at their own game. This re-tooling of KW's is looking better and better every day. You're right about the pen too cause last season who would have gone out there? Adkins? Wunsch? Jackson?? I shudder to think about those guys now.

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Apr 20, 2005 -> 08:39 AM) Hermanson just looks like a bad ass mofo...and pitches like one too. He doesn't seem to get intimidated at all or nervous about anything...in which you have to love. That's what we need in a closer. Someone who's gonna go up there and intimidate the other club and make them believe they aren't gonna do a damn thing against him.

QUOTE(Molto @ Apr 20, 2005 -> 08:02 AM) closer by committee is such a dumb term that people use for every bullpen situation in which you don't have a set closer. when I think closer by committee, I think the team isn't sure and will just let whoever is hot take over the job. that's usually done by a team that has no relievers whatsoever, and as a result, usually fails. in this case what Guillen will be doing is going by the situation, which means Marte, Hermanson and Takatsu will all be getting chances to close, pending the batters due up for the opposing team, or, if someone like Vizcaino works a quick eighth, he can go ahead and finish out the ninth. I'm very happy with this as I think a lot of teams should be going this route instead of having a pretend closer finish out games even though the matchups for them in the ninth are absolutely horrible. I think that Hermanson is the clear choice for closer. He has been untouchable, even under pressure, so far and there's no reason why the job shouldn't be his.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Apr 20, 2005 -> 06:54 AM) El Duque has done the best out of the FA arms mentioned that the Sox were seriously interested in--Jaret Wright, Clement. That El Duque held the Twins to 0 runs while facing them the 2nd time shows he's capable of winning a lot if he stays healthy. I was seriously pissed that we didn't get Clement but so far it seems to be turning out for the better. Lets see how things are later on in the season though before we pass final judgement cause it's still WAY early.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ Apr 20, 2005 -> 05:29 AM) http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylc=X3o...0419104&prov=ap If that ain't "Winnin' Ugly" I dont know what is.

QUOTE(beck72 @ Apr 20, 2005 -> 06:54 AM) El Duque has done the best out of the FA arms mentioned that the Sox were seriously interested in--Jaret Wright, Clement. That El Duque held the Twins to 0 runs while facing them the 2nd time shows he's capable of winning a lot if he stays healthy. I dont know how he did it with all those hits but I give him credit, he made the big pitch when he had to. He kind of reminds me of James Baldwin in that regard. Anyways. Keep it up Duke!!

QUOTE(rangercal @ Apr 20, 2005 -> 08:17 AM) I added hermey and everett to my fantasy team last week. Hermey 4 Closer! He certainly has proven himself more than worthy of the job. Give him a shot.

Again I ask.... Why does anyone care what this twit has to say?

QUOTE(YASNY @ Apr 20, 2005 -> 12:54 AM) Crede had a bad year in '04. No doubt about it. Then again, Paulie sucked in '03 and rocked in '04. You have to give a guy a chance. KONG had one bad half a season in 2003 and everyone jumped on his ass demanding he be traded post-haste and look at him now. Crede has had 14 good games and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. If he's still hitting like this in July and August then I'll be impressed.

QUOTE(JDsDirtySox @ Apr 19, 2005 -> 10:38 PM) Keep It Going Joe... Sooner or Later they will all be wearing Crede Jerseys. That'll be the day.

QUOTE(rangercal @ Apr 19, 2005 -> 10:39 PM) Pardon me guys. f*** Gammons too. Throw in Harold " I have a .258 lifetime average but I still know everything about baseball" Reynolds on general principles.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Apr 19, 2005 -> 10:38 PM) Yes, he has a man crush on him. Then he went on to say by the end of the season he will be batting .320. Yeah, ok. LOL At least Kong made the "Todays Best" list with his bomb to center.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Apr 19, 2005 -> 10:36 PM) Gammons said that about nomar. Was it Gammons? My mistake. I thought it was Kruk.

In their little 3 up and 3 down segment Kruk makes the following excuse as to why Nomar Garciaparra is struggling. ".....well he moved up north last season and the cold is bothering him......" I'm sorry IDIOT but didn't he play the rest of his career in BOSTON?! I heard it is pretty cold there in springtime too. :rolly

QUOTE(Jabroni @ Apr 19, 2005 -> 10:27 PM) You sound like Hawk. He's right. The power is there when we need it but we're not totally dependent on it like we were last year.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Apr 19, 2005 -> 09:08 PM) Well timed bump. Nuke, While I agree that Shingo is not the guy who should be getting the ball right now, you're way to quick to call a guy on "sucking". Has he had an outing this season where he has faced more than one batter and did not give up a run? If you're a "closer" who can give up a run in one inning of work and LOWER your ERA then you're pretty sorry.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ Apr 19, 2005 -> 10:21 PM) I'd rather watch El Duque give up singles than see Contreras get a guy 0-2 and then pitch around him until he walks the guy. :headshake Or Balk in a run.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Apr 19, 2005 -> 10:19 PM) He didn't say we were the best team in baseball. The question was "Buy or Sell - The Nationals are the biggest suprise of the season so far" and only 1 person bought. Plashcke said it was the Dodgers and someone else picked them too. Mariotti picked the Sox because it seems like we lost so much but our moves are paying off. He also said he's not being a homer and that he could ask how much we hate him. That's what makes the Sox winning that much sweeter. They are throwing it in the face of all those "pundits" who said we'd fall apart after trading Lee and letting Magglio go.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Apr 19, 2005 -> 10:14 PM) So much for him sucking and renaming everything bad the Crede (insert bad state here) I'll eat crow on the Crede issue.......for now. Hopefully he keeps this going.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Apr 19, 2005 -> 10:15 PM) You've got it wrong, the last part goes Josh Stewart, Arnie Munoz, Jason Grilli, Arnie Munoz, & Felix Diaz pitching in AAA... Priceless. ...............THANK GOD!!!!!! Plus the Roulette wheel is now firmly packed away in the closet cause even if one of our starters goes down BMAC is chomping at the bit waiting for his shot.