Ozzietheairedale

I was just wondering...didn't Brian Anderson go 5-1 against the Sox last year? Don't want to rain on your parade, cheat, but the Sox don't "crush" anybody.

I read the link to ESPN. It sounds like you guys are jumping the gun a bit. It says the worst case scenario is he's out 3 months and it's possible he'll be returning before the end of spring training. Hopefully he's out for the early games against the Sox at least.

Is anybody else bothered by the fact that Ozzie can't remember the names of his third and fourth starters?

You've got to stop trying to kill the messenger with these threads about the sports media in Chicago. There is only 1 baseball team in Chicago worth covering right now - and it ain't the Sox. That is just a simple fact. Don't blame the media if Sox management and players can't do anything right.

What??????????!!!!!!!!! :fyou

ChiSoxFan, You're anger is directed at the wrong person. I can't figure out how you could be mad at Mariotti on this one. He's right about Maddux- he should take the Cubs job because he IS likely to make them the best team in the National League. If he wants to win a pennant, he SHOULD go to the Cubs. Also, Lofton has long been know to be a problem in the clubhouse, and he can't carry Sosa's jock. I hate Sammy as much as any Sox fan, but let's face it - he's likely to lead his team to a pennant this year and if Lofton even so much as looks at him funny he should be out on his ass (which he is). Mariotti is a 100% right on when it comes to his views of the Cubs and Sox. Our anger should be at Sox management and players , not Mariotti.

Here's a question for you - and I'm not sure I know the answer. If Maggs signs a 5-6 year deal for 12 mill per year and the Sox win the pennant 2 years later, but Maggs is hitting .280 by year 4-5, is it worth it? I think the answer is yes. So, maybe we shouldn't be thinking less about how overpaid he would be in the last years of the contract and more about 2-3 years of a great right fielder.

I think this constant bashing of the Sox management is redundant. We are all saying the same thing over and over again. The main issue is the amount of money spent on payroll and who it's being spent on. Mariotti doesn't have to be a brain surgeon to figure that out. The issue is not, however, about whether to pay Maggs 12 million dollars a year. I think it is very likely that that 12 mill could be better spent elsewhere. The problem is that I don't trust KW to be able to figure out where to spend it.

I agree. Somehow I'm still concerned about our offense more than our pitching right now. I have to admit I was surprised last year that we couldn't hit the ball, but still see the same problems this year. Rowand and Harris are big big ifs right now. Konerko - who knows? Thomas could falter again. Crede is unproven. Maggs may be the only sure thing. I think if we trade Maggs this year for only pitching, it's a White Flag trade for this year.

Again, I don't care more about beating the Cubs than winning the division. In a game for game comparison, though, I am more excited about beating the Cubs than beating the Royals. Each win is worth the same in the standings, don't forget. I know the Sox play more games against KC and Minnesota, so obviously those series are more important than the Cubs-Sox series, but on a game-for-game comparison, I think MOST Sox fans are more excited about beating the Cubs than beating the Twins. My hope is that the Sox players use the anger that we all feel at playing 15th fiddle in this town and show the intensity they have shown in the past in beating the Cubs to beat all their other opponents.

I'm sorry, but I just don't care as much about beating Minnesota or KC as I do about beating the Cubs. I think most Sox fans, whether they are willing to admit it or not, are more interested in beating the Cubs than any other team. The simple fact that Minnesota and KC are in our division is not enough to overcome the natural intra-city rivalry. Having said that, I agree that I would trade wins against the Cubs for a WS championship in a heartbeat. That doesn't mean that Sox players shouldn't use the current one sided fan base in this city as motivation to beat everybody they can and try to improve the situation. Beating the Cubs doesn't mean just beating them on those 6 games/year, but beating them to a WS championship.

I think you're missing the point here. It's not to try to convince Cubs fans to become Sox fans. Although I am old enough to remember a time when this town was not so lopsided in its support for the Cubs and still believe that with the right kind of team and ownership, fan support can swing the other way. The point is also not to use the current Cub fever in Chicago to only beat the Cubs. The point is that Sox players SHOULD use the fact that they are mostly overlooked in this town as a rallying cry to create some intensity and win, at least, the division. I hope, that like most Sox fans, the players don't just want the "bragging rights" for the Cubs-Sox series. We already have that. I hope they are angry enough that they will put as much effort into beating everybody else as they do into beating the Cubs. :fthecubs

Critic- Why shouldn't the Sox get fired up about the Cubs taking over this city? I know most Sox fans are fired up about it. If the Sox can put a chip on their shoulder and use it to whip up some intensity (which BTW they have been sorely lacking for several years) I say I hope they're as angry as most Sox fans are.

Upnorth- Maddux has made it clear he won't play in the American League.

After watching the Cubs-Sox series over the last few years, it is obvious that the Sox play differently when playing the Cubs. The team certainly shows more intensity and the record against the Cubs versus other teams demonstrates the results of that increased intensity. Remember Jose mocking Sosa's home run trot? I don' t think there is any question that Sox players notice the Cubs and how they have stolen the limelight in this town. It's too obvious to us and them. I hope they can use the fact that the great majority of people in the Chicago area are only interested in the Cubs and increase their intensity against all of their opponents.

Before we all knock Ozzie, let's wait to at least see if he can make this team win. I don't care what he says about anybody or anything, if he can just make this team win.

I have to take KW's side on this one, (and that's not easy - I think the guy has the people skills of a doorknob). He was asked, directly, if he had contacted Frank this off season. He was in a no win situation. If he says he hadn't contacted him, he would have looked like he didn't care about Frank's mindset for the upcoming season. If he says he tried to contact him, he's either going to have to lie and say they spoke or he's going to have to say what he said - the truth. Frank simply had to act like a man and return his or Ozzie's phone calls. The fact that he didn't says alot about Frank Thomas.

Is KW in disguise writing this post? "First of all" getting 86 wins, which incidentally is only 5 games over .500 in the worst division in baseball when you were predicted to win it, is mediocre. Other than 2-3 weeks last year, it was not "fun" to watch. Second, blindly supporting your team means filling up the seats at the Cell regardless of the product produced. That's exactly what KW is asking. Third, bad baserunning - have you watched Magglio Ordonez lately? I know the team defense improved last year, but prior to that it was pitiful. Execution - try watching somebody lay down a bunt, move runners over or close a game early last season. Fourth - see the second point above. It's exactly the same thing. Fifth - 85 mph is a good high school fastball.

As much as I hate to admit it, Mariotti hit the nail on the head. Unless you're hoping for a minor miracle, this summer will be all Cubs. :fthecubs

Hey aboz- You know, I think that it's symptomatic of this offseason - nothing new. I'll bet if we reviewed your threads there wouldn't be anything new there either.

I think that the fact that JR was unwilling to spend any more on the team now suggests that even he thinks it is unlikely to win anything this year. Basically, you could look at any team in baseball, come up with a series of "if this guy would only play up to his potential" remarks, and put them in the World Series. Anybody who says they are unwilling to evaluate the team now and wants to wait until April or May is just putting their head in the sand. Nobody in their right mind would look at our starting pitching and believe the team has any chance of being anything but .500.

I've got to agree with HSC and Ghost. But be careful. Somebody here might decide that you shouldn't criticize the Sox or you're just a Cub fan in disguise.

zach- Your premise that the Cubs began investing in their team over the last couple of years because they filled up their ballpark over the last decade and saved their money is ludicrous. The Cubs are owned by the Tribune! The issue has never been whether the Cubs could afford to invest in high priced talent, it was simply whether they wanted to shift their Cub earnings to another division that may have been doing less well. Cub fans have been filling that ballpark for years and the Cubs still sucked. Recently, they apparently have made a decision to win now, but that is independant of the attendance at the ballpark. More importantly, the question arises: why do the Cubs fill that park and the Sox can't fill The Cell unless they are playing the Cubs? I believe it has to do with the decades of free TV that has created many more Cub fans than Sox fans. Also, let's face it. Most independant observers (not Sox or Cub fans) would rather go to Wrigley than the Cell largely because of the sterility of our park and its location. There simply is no way to get around the fact that Sox management made a colossal error in choosing the appearance and location of that park as well as its earlier decision to go to pay TV. Now add a stumbling, bumbling goof of a GM who has alienated other GMs and players alike and an ownership group who apparently has done the same thing and can't keep up financially - you've got the current mess we're in.

Wow- sure got some hot-headed responses with this thread!! My point about the Cubs was not that I want to be a Cub fan-it's simply that there is a team on the north side which is doing a lot of things right and a team on the south side which is doing nothing at all. So for all intents and purposes, there's really only 1 team right now. The fact that the Sox have been better than the Cubs over the last decade is meaningless. Neither team has won anything but right now anybody with half a brain has to admit the Cubs are alot closer. To all of you who say that I shouldn't criticize the Sox - you're the ones who sound like Cubs fans. That's the Cubs fan's motto - "I'll keep going to Wrigley even if they stink year after year". One of the things that distinguished Sox fans from Cubs fans, at least in the past, was that we knew good baseball from bad and failed to support bad baseball. I'm all for "hoping" that alot of Sox players have career years like Loaiza - I just think it's bad baseball.

After almost 40 years of being a Sox fan, I would have to see we have reached the all time low. Things are especially low because this is definitely an all time high for the Cubs. With an artificial salary cap imposed by the owner, a lousy ball park in a lousy neighborhood that no one wants to go to and a general manager who has to be classified as a moron, this organization has hit bottom. On the field the Sox are tied into expensive contracts with players nobody would want (Thomas, Konerko, Koch, Valentin) and a starting pitching staff that is made up of a #2, #3 and a #4. I look in the paper or online to see something about the Sox and, as you all do, find nothing. On the other hand, the Cubs seem to be making all the right moves to improve a team only a few outs from a pennant last year. Jerry, it's time to sell.