thomsonmi

Helton singles by Uribe. By the way, I did not recognize the name of the guy they say is playing second base for the White Sox today. I'm a moron. :headshake

Garland strikes out Clayton... Two outs. Helton at bat.

www.850koa.com/listen/

Garland strikes out Rockies lead off hitter... Royce Clayton coming to bat.

A Republican White Sox fan... That's not right.

Konerko lines out to shortstop double play, top of the first inning is over. Doesn't appear that Reed had a chance...

Reed steals second base...

Jeremy Reed one out shallow single to left field. He's batting 1.000!

Juan Uribe, SS Jeremy Reed, LF Paul Konerko, 1B Mario Valenzuela, RF Aaron Rowand, CF Sandy Alomar, C Mike Bell, 3B Gramsfeld (?), 2B Jon Garland, P

I have the White Sox vs. Rockies on the radio here in Boulder, CO. I'll post updates if no one else has 'em.

I'm going to Arizona to see the White Sox March 20 thru March 25. It will be my first visit to a White Sox Spring Training and I am pumped.

Amen! Thank god I live in Colorado though. There's no way I could handle this Scrubs s*** on a daily basis.

Paully will be fine. He's one of the leaders on this team. And, I'm convinced that the first half of last year was a complete abberation. This guy is a hitter. Something was seriously awry the first half of last year but in this game its not that unusual for a good hitter to experience those kind of struggles. My problem with Konerko isn't his bat. It's the fact that I run faster than he does.

Wood who? :fthecubs :fthecubs

South sider and Irish. Good combination. No wonder, I agree with so much of what you said.

It's more than reasonable. Mariotti's an asshole.

AMEN!

Baggio, Your argument requires me to admit that last year's team didn't have the talent to win 95 or more games. Who had more talent then we had last year? The Red Sox? The Yankees? I'm sorry I just don't see it. We vastly underperformed last year. I blame it on the fact that our manager was as inspiring as Dick Cheney. My confidence for the coming season isn't just fanatism its based on the feeling that we have talent. We made the one move we had to make. We fired Jerry Manuel. We have underperformed for the last couple years. I believe that the changes we have made will fix that. Ozzie's energy will reinvigorate this team. Now, energy alone isn't enough. But, my premise here is that we have the talent -- we just haven't performed. And, I unlike you believe that White Sox management wants to win. I disagree with Reinsdorf's decision to cut the budget. My one biggest complaint is that I don't think Reinsdorf recognizes the potential this organization has from a revenue stand point. If he builds it they will come. It's doesn't work in the reverse. Criticism of Reinsdorf to me is justified.

Baggio, I'm new to this board. I respect you because in my brief time here it has become obvious that you are a passionate White Sox fan. That being said I couldn't disagree with you more. I witnessed your protestations at Soxfest and though I understood your frustration as I feel it too. But, that's where we part ways. I believe KW is also a passionate White Sox fan. I believe that he will bleed for this team. He bleeds black and silver. Until last year, I didn't think he had the stuff. But, last year he did everything humanely possible to bring us a world championship. He put together a team that was as talented as any team in baseball. And, I believe he will do his level best to do it again. And, now I believe he is capable of doing it. Clearly, last year's team underachieved. The talent is there. And, its still there. Our offense is too right handed and we will be counting on somebody to step up and fill the #4 and #5 starting positions but these problems are not overwhelming. We have an excellent bullpen and we have as much power as any team in baseball this side of New York. If the starting pitching does its job and we hit like we're capable of this team will win 90 games. Book it.

One of the reasons that I am amongst the few optimistic White Sox fans in 2004 is our bullpen. I really think we have one of the best bullpens in baseball. Laugh if you want but I am confident that this will bare out.

:fthecubs :fthecubs They are overrated! Good starting pitcher. Poor bullpen. No offense.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...cs-home-utility by Rick Morrissey With Guillen, Sox have a pulse February 26, 2004 TUCSON, Ariz. -- There were no cattle skulls being bleached by the sun, no tombstones sitting all by their lonesome, no tumbleweeds blowing across the practice fields. Wait a second, weren't the White Sox supposed to be deceased? Even more stunning, the Sox were carrying on Wednesday as if they actually have a chance this year. Perhaps they hadn't heard the news that, if not for the fact that they train in the desert, they would be dead in the water by now. "It could be our year to shock the world," Frank Thomas said. Speaking of shocking, there was Thomas leading his teammates in the first lap around the field on the first day of spring training. And there was new manager Ozzie Guillen sending general manager Ken Williams into hysterics with a few one-liners. (Say this about Ozzie: His command of English might not be perfect, but the man is fluent in cursing.) This is the team that either isn't supposed to matter or the team that's going nowhere, take your pick. The Cubs are getting all the headlines. The Sox subtracted in the off-season, losing Bartolo Colon and Carl Everett through free agency, and their fans are trying to decide between anger and despair. Every day I get e-mails telling me why Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf should sell the team, as if it were up for vote. From the outside it looks improbable: the team that collapsed down the stretch last year and lost talent in the off-season going on to win the American League Central Division. But it can happen. In fact, the Sox might have an easier time winning their mediocre division than the Cubs will have winning the National League Central. This isn't merely the ramblings of a madman, though that certainly is a possibility. Let Paul Konerko explain why the Sox could fare better than last year's team. "We won the division with a team in 2000 that was not as good as the team that's here now and we did it against a team in Cleveland that was stacked up better than any team in our division now," he said. "If we come together and work hard, it's there." Maybe Guillen, by virtue of his enthusiasm, won't let this team lose to Detroit, the way last year's model too often did. Maybe reliever Billy Koch will become what he used to be and not what he was last season. Maybe Jon Garland will turn into the pitcher he's supposed to be. Too many "maybes"? OK, here's a certainty: Thomas will get upset about something this season because he always does. He's still slightly torqued about the way the Sox handled his contract last year, but he said he won't let it bother him. He might not be the happiest camper, but he's a content camper. "Something was missing and hopefully we found it," Thomas said. That something is a somebody. Guillen. "He's a joy to be around," Thomas said. "You better be prepared for what he might say at any second because anything might come out of his mouth at any time. I think the guys are going to have a lot more fun." In sports, the new coach or manager often is the polar opposite of the previous coach or manager. Jerry Manuel sometimes was so lacking in fire he was North polar. You'll never have to check Guillen's pilot light. If he does lose his temper, he said, it will be because one teammate criticized another in public or because someone didn't hustle. You know, baseball things. "Oh, he's going to snap," Thomas said. "I can see it coming. He's going to snap. He's fiery." Guillen's job is to alter this team's brain chemistry. Despite having all that talent last season, the Sox never meshed. The team had sports psychologists on speed dial. The Sox hired Guillen to do what Tony Pena did in Kansas City last season. If it sounds like stereotyping—the emotional Latin manager brought in to stir things up—well, teams copy success, and Pena was successful. Guillen was the Marlins' third-base coach when they won the World Series last season. He saw players "take care of each other, how they love each other." Let's not get carried away with the concept of team as family. These are the Sox. Any club that includes Thomas is going to have domestic issues. We'll settle for Sox players liking each other. Anything can happen with this team. Insofar as Thomas didn't implode upon arrival, Wednesday was a fine start. So far, so good.

AMEN, YASNY! I've had my disagreements with KW but I was very pleased with the moves he made last year in an attempt to win it all. Clearly, he understood the salary problems that he was facing this year and made a run for it.

Our GIDP problem isn't just about slow-footed power hitters, of which we do have many. Another aspect for us is too often our slow-footed power hitters are hitting in double play situations. One of the obvious ways to avoid such situations is by having a better base stealer at the top of the order. But, another way to avoid such situations is to have a #2 hitter who focuses on advancing the runner. For this reason, I'm not sure having Lee bat second is the best answer. Carlos is too good a hitter for us to have him focusing on advancing the runner. El Cabuyo should be hitting 3, 4, or 5 in the lineup. In those spots he can focus on driving in runs. I wouldn't mind us working on Rowand as a potential #2 hitter. I think Aaron can be a good major league hitter but I don't see him as ever being an RBI guy like Lee, Thomas, or Maggs. Rowand seems to have the skills that a traditional #2 hitter should have.

Baggio, Unlike the ridiculous Bear Report sold by the Trib, being a member of Chicagosports.com is free. You just need to do their stupid registration drill.