Chisoxfn

Awesome, you've been here since the beginning of the site. Your probably the most optimistic Sox fan ever and I hope your optimism pays off this year. This team is going to win.

Sorry its a little late, got busy at work today. Also, want to quickly apologize for them not being up every day lately. Were going to get back to get them up everyday and we apologize for the few days that there weren't any. Minor League Recap By Jason Gage May 2, 2003 SoxNet.net The Knights offense was rolling, scoring a run in each of the first six innings (Two runs in the Sixth) while the pitching staff did its job in a 7-4 victory over Rochester. Jon Adkins struggled in yet another start giving up seven hits and four runs in 4/2/3 innings of work. Adkins now has a 6.75 ERA on the season. Matt Ginter (2-0) picked up the win in relief of Adkins with 2/1/3 scoreless innings. Lefty Arnie Munoz who has struggled mightily may of finally straightened things out during his inning of relief. He pitched one inning, giving up no hits, while striking out two. After Munoz the Knights turned it to their closer, Edwin Almonte who shut Rochester down in the ninth en route to his tenth save. Willie Harris led the Sox offensively going 2-3 with two runs score and an RBI. After the game Willie was notified that he was being recalled. Anthony Sanders also had two hits (1 HR) while Ross Gload went 3-4 with a run scored. The Knights will play the second of a four game series against Rochester tonight. Danny Wright will make what is expected to be his final rehabilitation start against Brent Hoard. Corwin Malone (2-2) was on the wrong end of a beating last night in Orlando – giving up nine hits and eight runs in 1/2/3 innings of work. The nine runs would be plenty for Orlando who eventually won the game 15-3. The bullpen wouldn’t do much better then Malone. Clay Eason pitched 2/1/3 innings giving up a run and Jake Bajeneru gave up five hits and four runs in his two innings of work. In the eighth inning manager Wally Backman decided to go another way and brought in position player Eric Battersby. Battersby pitched two innings giving up two hits and two runs (One Earned). Former major league pitcher John Rocker threw a scoreless inning in relief of Jon Switzer (2-2). Switzer limited the Barons’ offense to 3 hits and two runs over six innings of work. Danny Sandoval, Maldanado, and Guillermo Reyes each had two hits a piece for the Barons. Darrin Ingram hit his third homer of the season, a solo shot. Birmingham will play the second game of the series tonight in Orlando. Brian West is scheduled to face Brian Stokes. Ace lefty Ryan Wing (3-1) picked up his first loss of the season for Winston Salem despite pitching rather solid. The Bullpen would give up a few late runs in a 7-2 loss to Wilmington. Wing pitched six innings giving up six hits and four runs. The outing raised his ERA to 1.52. Winston Salem would jump out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on a Mike Morse RBI groundout (Brian Becker and Eric Welsh singled earlier in the inning). That lead would last until the fourth inning where the Blue Rocks put up a four spot. With the game already tied up 1-1, Justin Cowan hit a two out three run homer making it 4-1. Brandon O’Neal gave up three hits and three runs (One Earned) in the ninth inning. Rolando Garza and Josh Fields also pitched for the “Hogs”. Eric Welsh had a big game at the plate going 3-3 with an RBI while Brian Becker had two hits. The Warthogs will play the second game of the four game series tonight when Franklin Francisco faces Brian Bass. Kannapolis and pitcher Tim Bittner stayed hot. Bittner picked up his team leading fourth win of the season while Kannapolis has now won six of its last seven after Thursday’s 10-4 victory against Delmarva. Tim Bittner (4-0) limited Delmarva to six hits and four runs over six innings of work. Julio Castro relieved him with three scoreless innings of work and Todd Deinninger pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two. Kannapolis pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts. Kannapolis’ offense went to work in the second inning scoring five runs. They were led by Julio Reyes who extended his hitting streak to seven games. Julio Reyes started the two-out rally with one of his two doubles on the night. After a walk Charlie Risk had an RBI double, putting runners on second and third for Thomas Brice who had an RBI single. Anthony Webster would strike out, but make it to first safely because of a wild pitch, which scored Charles Lisk. Pedro Lopez capped the inning with a two run double. Julio Reyes led the Intimidators offense with three hits and three runs scored. Anthony (1 RBI, 1 Run) Webster, Charles Lisk (2 RBI, 2 Runs), and Thomas Brice (3 RBI, 2 Runs) each had two hits. Anthony Webster also picked up his sixth stolen base of the season. Kannapolis will play the series finale on Friday when B.J. Lamura faces John Maine.

HSC, think of it this way. Wouldn't you like having Sosa in left and Magglio in right. THen you wouldn't have your favorite player, Carlos Lee out there

Battersby isn't typically a pitcher. Of course he ended up doing better then Corwin. Its alright, I'll support them all. I hope Corwin can get out of his funk and Birmingham can get back to winning.

Are you saying you wouldn't want Sosa on this team right now? Or are you saying you don't think he would have developed into the player he is now? Because i should sure put up with his distractions if he's going to put up those ridiculous numbers in this lineup I'd take Sammy everyday of the week. Everyone is nuts if they say they wouldn't love having him. The guy busts his ass game in and game out. Sox fans would go nuts for him. He gives it his all and puts up amazing numbers, and I do think he cares about his team-mates. He seems to be growing as a player and person every year.

SN Report: Rowand Sent Down; Harris Recalled By Mario Scalise May 2, 2003 SoxNet.net Just as we reported last week here on SoxNet, Aaron Rowand's time with the White Sox was running short, as following Thursday night's 7-5 win over the A's, Rowand was demoted to triple-A Charlotte. In his place, the Sox called up Willie Harris. Jerry Manuel, who is on the hot seat himself, expressed concern for Rowand's play last week and hinted that if Rowand didn't progress in the Oakland series, where he went 2-9, Harris will take his place. The 25-year-old Rowand has struggled all season, batting just .133 (8-for-60) with just two RBIs, two walks and 10 strikeouts. Last season in limited time for the Sox, Rowand batted .258 with seven homers and 29 RBIs, but struck out 54 times and walked just 12 times in 302 at bats. In 22 games with the Knights, Harris was batting .410 with 18 runs, 11 RBIs, five homers, a .483 on base percentage and .692 slugging percentage. Harris, 24, batted .233 for the Sox last season, with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 163 at bats. Harris stole eight bases in the stretch, but struck out 21 times. It is uncertain what role Harris will now take with the team. Armando Rios has been effective in the short time he's played in center, driving in nine runs in 15 games, while second baseman D'Angelo Jimenez has struggled, going just 2-29 with no runs scored or RBIs in his last eight games. Harris is expected to join the team for Friday's series opener against the Seattle Mariners at U.S. Cellular Field.

Bahahaaaa. On a sidenote I wish Aaron the best of luck down there. I want him to get his stuff back together, get healthy, and get back up here.

He has a ton of control problems, but this is the kind of guy the Sox need to get on track. If I were them I'd send him down a level (Give him about one more start, maybe two; Don't want to give him too many so he loses any more confidence) then call up someone like Ryan Wing to replace him or an A ball reliever with Bullard moving into the rotation (If he wants to). Once in A ball, I'd send him to the pen for a full month and bring him in in more games and completely work on preaching one thing each week with his motion. He'll get shelled at times, but it will slowly put things back in place. Usually a pitcher can make 1 or 2 changes and it will make a world of difference. It could be he's flying open on his pitches or he has an inconsistent release point or he's wrapping his pitches. Not sure cause I haven't seen him other then in spring.

Konerko at 7 I should think not. Lee's 2 1/2 weeks don't make him a better hitter than Paul K Paulie's just not seeing the ball right now. If he can improve, then we might bring him up again. Konerko is really coming along. He's a better proven run producer so I'd stick him there. Plus its a better way to break up the slow players. Also in reference to Olivo, we'll see him draw plenty of walks as soon as he gets comfortable. This kid has great patience at the plate. One thing I'd do is have Carlos and Konerko ahead of Jose against lefties. Agree 100% with breaking up the slow players It kills me with all the double plays the Sox have already hit into. We know Konerko and Magglio will hit into a ton of them. If we can find a way to have speed in front of Maggs (we usually do unless its Frank) and then have it on again in front of PK, we'd probably see those numbers drop. Those numbers are also inflated because the top guys got on base so often early on while the Sox bats were absolutely horrid in the middle. That and when you try to pull every outside pitch you see, your gonna hit a heck of a lot of grounders (That goes for pretty much everyone on our lineup)

I dunno, I think JM would of been happy as a lark to get Koch. A manager is always happy when you have a ton of arms in a bullpen. Thats a managers and teams best friend. A good, deep bullpen can make a manager look really good.

Konerko at 7 I should think not. Lee's 2 1/2 weeks don't make him a better hitter than Paul K Paulie's just not seeing the ball right now. If he can improve, then we might bring him up again. Konerko is really coming along. He's a better proven run producer so I'd stick him there. Plus its a better way to break up the slow players. Also in reference to Olivo, we'll see him draw plenty of walks as soon as he gets comfortable. This kid has great patience at the plate. One thing I'd do is have Carlos and Konerko ahead of Jose against lefties.

And just in case I ever need proof, here is what I wrote late last season in regards to KW. I've pretty much always stuck up for him, but I've ripped him when he's needed ripping, ie the Rithcie fiasco and I ripped that one from day one. KW - What will they say next year? Written in October 2002 Ken Williams has now been the White Sox General Manager for two seasons and for two seasons he's heard nothing but ridicule and blame. Fans blamed him for the 2000 team not getting better in 2001. Then they blamed him in 2002 for making the Todd Ritchie deal as well as the Ray Durham deal. Never do you hear, the good things that Ken Williams has done. Ya, most people snicker at this and go ya right, Ken Williams made a good move. Well folks, he has made multiple good moves and has the White Sox positioned to be a very exciting team next year. If you take a look at next year's projected lineup you will notice many names that were there when Ken Williams took over. Names such as Paul Konerko, Magglio Ordonez, Mark Buehrle, Jose Valentin, Carlos Lee, and Keith Foulke. Those players have played key roles for the White Sox, but they won't win anything on their own, as proven this year. Next year's White Sox will have to count on a cast of youngsters like D'Angelo Jimenez, Willie Harris, Joe Crede, Miguel Olivo, and Damaso Marte. Other youngsters like Jon Rauch, Joe Valentine, Edwin Almonte and Joe Borchard may also get a shot to help the 2003 White Sox. What do all these youngsters have in common? Well they were all Ken William's acquisitions or players that were drafted on the recommendation of Ken Williams when he was the White Sox Minor League Director. My question to you is what will people be saying about Ken Williams next year, when the White Sox are playing with a very complete lineup thanks largely to Ken Williams. Williams went out and acquired D'Angelo Jimenez via trade to fill our void at shortstop. It looks as if he will be playing second base next year and not short, but Jimenez will be leading off, taking part in a very key role with the club. Another Williams acquisition Willie Harris was a guy the Sox expected to fill the leadoff slot, but his recent struggles have brought up questions, but one thing that the Sox are confident in is the fact that Harris at worse can be a very effective role player. The Sox will also count on 24-year old catching prospect Miguel Olivo, who was another prospect that Williams acquired via trade, a move that was ripped at times. Olivo now appears to be one of the top catching prospects in baseball and should be able to fill the void the Sox have had since the days of Carlton Fisk. Damaso Marte, the Sox current closer, was another guy that Williams went out and acquired. Many people, including myself doubted this move because we gave up Matt Guerrier, a top pitching prospects at the time. Instead it is the Pirates who now doubt this move as Marte has developed into an exceptional reliever that has excelled since entering the closers role. Marte played a huge part on this year's club and the Sox will expect more of the same out of Damaso next year. Joe Crede rounds-out the group of prospects as the one player Ken Williams didn't draft, nor did he acquire in a trade. However, Ken Williams did scout Crede and gave his scouts advice on shortening his swing and helping him with his approach at the plate. Since then Crede has been a hitting machine, hitting for power and to all parts of the field. Crede isn't a strikeout hitter and has made the jump to the majors with ease. Crede already has 12 homer's and 35 rbi's in just 50 games. The White Sox will look for Crede to develop into a good middle of the lineup hitter to make their already potent offense even better. If these players all produce and do what they've done in their short stint with the White Sox, then this team has the possibility of fielding a better team then 2000. Of course the wild card of this whole situation is the pitching staff, which won't be effected too much by Ken Williams and his drafting, although he claims he will make a push at a "front line starting pitcher". Jon Rauch is the one prospect who could make an immediate contribution to the starting rotation, although many believe the Sox will take it slow with him, giving him a little more time in AAA. Rauch is coming off of a strong start where he threw seven innings giving up just 1 run. Joe Valentine and Edwin Almonte could contribute to the White Sox bullpen. Both pitchers have excelled since joining the White Sox system and have dominated as closers in their respected leagues. Valentine is the more touted of the two, but both have put up brilliant numbers in the minors and are here because of Ken Williams, just like all those other players.

Is the buffett table thing in reference to him breaking one? And if I had to kiss a little ass to become assistant GM, them maybe, just maybe I can kiss some ass for the first time in my life.

Yep, sticking to the plan is a good way to keep you out of trouble. Think of all the times people have wanted people gone. We wouldn't have Crede, wouldn't have Konerko, hell we probably wouldn't have Buehrle (He struggled his first two starts). In baseball timing has a huge effect and I still go by my theory, if you can play .500 baseball when you play like crap, then your a damn good team. This team is doing exactly that, and the funny thing is, if they played like crap and simply did some of the little things they would have 4 more wins at the least and thats without their bats clicking what-so-ever. Thats why I have optimism.

Agreed, stick Harris in the nine hole for a while. I also think Olivo can do a lot of little things and he could turn into a really good two hole hitter in the future.

I wish I was Kenny's assistant, cause if he was getting my insite be even more confident in him.

I knew that someone would bring that up, but I think Beane is being honest and I do think that Williams is probably one of the smartest minds out there. I don't see too many teams with this much talent out there at the Sox payroll level. I can't blame Kenny for the inneficiencies of ownership for not spending money. I also can't blame ownership for not spending the money when they get piss poor attendance like they had this entire series and for most of the games against the Twins. Those are games against some of the best in baseball and they get crappy attendance. I don't give a rats butt how cold it is, plenty of fans should of been there. Plenty drudge out to see the Bears and I wish plenty would see the Sox.

I will repeadetly say I don't want Ken Williams fired. Unless Billy Beane wants to join up with the Sox, I'm happy with Kenny.

This is something I saw in Sports Illustrated talking about Kenny Williams. They are mentioning how he is one of the most influential minorities in sports.

Rex, I definately understand where your coming from. JM is a great guy and I wish him all the best. I have my belief that his style is much better for a team filled with veterans. Just like I think Joe Torre would struggle with the Sox, because I think of him as more of a veteran type manager.

And if JM has no balls other then to accept what KW is telling him (Sorry Michelle, but I still don't think any GM is forcing their manager into anything; I still love ya though )then he shouldn't be here anyway.

Remember, no one beat the Braves out in that division in a long time so its a bit misleading.

Before people rip Bobby V, I'm pretty sure he has a winning record and well if you want to blame him for last years team, take a look at what this years team is doing with another supposedly great manager Art Howe. Plus, Howe has Tom Glavine which should easily make the Mets a better team then last year's group.

sweet. Thats the nicest facility there along with Kc and Texas' park.

I'm running an update this weekend though and I think that will make it less likely to happen.