Chisoxfn

Fullerton took 2 out of 3 from a ranked Riverside squad on the road and now get to play 2 games against #3 ASU and 3 games against #8 UCI. Talk about a tough stretch. I believe they play UCSB after that, who just dropped out of BA's top 25 but is right at the cusp still.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Mar 30, 2009 -> 04:05 PM) Per Cowley's Twitter: I heard someone talking to Cooper at todays game and he basically said unless they have a hiccup in terms of injuries that those are there guys and they are counting on them. Sounded like we have all our eggs in that basket cause there was no mention of Marquez. Had to leave to drive back home so I didn't get to see Count pitch but watched Colon's pen session and his entire outing and boy was it awful.

I was at the game and his knee bent really funny so I thought it was going to be really bad. Glad he was alright. Also, Colon looked f***ing horrendous...horrendous. I know the numbers show it but he looked awful. The only thing I can say is there was a stretch where he must have thrown 15 straight offspeed pitches and it made me think the Sox were just having him work on certain things. Thats just me trying to somehow come up with something optimistic about his performance.

Yes

QUOTE (zenryan @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 01:55 PM) What does the Big West look like this year? I know Irvine made a CWS run a couple of years back and Long Beach is usually pretty good too. Playing all these big games is kinda weird unless Fullerton is trying to get the players some experience before regionals start up. One other thing is that Fullerton is such a respected program (easily one of the 3 best programs in the nation, and when you factor in the budget limits Fullerton has compared with the other top programs, I think they are the best run program in the country) so they know that they can afford some out of conference losses and still get the nod in the tournament field (assuming they put up a pretty good team). The bottom line is, you look at the schools history and its unheard of the type of numbers they put up year in year out (in terms of wins, tourney births, omaha trips, etc). And of course I'm a bit bias as an alum.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 01:55 PM) What does the Big West look like this year? I know Irvine made a CWS run a couple of years back and Long Beach is usually pretty good too. Playing all these big games is kinda weird unless Fullerton is trying to get the players some experience before regionals start up. It is why Fullerton consistently is amongst the top teams in the country. They are an incredibly young team, but they consistently schedule tough out of conference opponents and other opponents love scheduling Fullerton because there style of play puts a ton of pressure on defenses and in general is very beneficial for the team that plays them. The Big West isn't down, UCI and Fullerton are both legitimate top 10 contenders. Long Beach State is typically a powerhouse as well (Longoria, Tolowski, Jared Weaver, etc), but is in a down year. Santa Barbara and Cal Poly have emerged though and Riverside is solid as well. A case could be made for the Big West having 5 top 25 teams but my guess is they'll at least get 4 into the tourney. I also am a firm believer that our schedule is why Fullerton makes so many trips to Omaha. The team isn't afraid of other opponents and doesn't just mash up on other weaker schools (ie, what FSU has done the past couple of years). Big West baseball is a thing of beauty, imo. Plus the nature of our location and rivalries pretty much assure that we'll play UCLA, ASU, Arizona, USC, Stanford, and San Diego and all of those schools are very strong baseball schools.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Mar 21, 2009 -> 08:19 PM) Is he like the second coming of Joba minus 20 pounds? Sure sounds like it. Don't compare him to Joba. He's the greatest college pitcher ever.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Mar 21, 2009 -> 05:59 PM) Yeah. Bad feeling he could end up with the Tigers, if he starts slipping. MLB draft is the only draft (well NFL sometimes this happens, but not like MLB) where the best players do not go to the worst teams. That really needs to change. I don't know if the Tigers have the money to do that.

Latest Baseball America Rankings have Fullerton as the #1 team in the country. They have a tough road set coming up with 3 @ UC Riverside (borederline top 25 team, probably about 27th in the country) and than a midweek series @ Arizona State (#3 in the country). Clearly the Titans continue to have one of the toughest schedules in the country as they have already played a s***ton of ranked opponents. I'm stunned they are doing as good because I still think there lack of a veteran in the rotation will bite them in the butt but they are one talented ass squad and incredibly young.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 01:00 PM) I'll give your opinion deference, because you live in the area and probably watch him more critically than I do. However, would you say that there are throws that Tom Brady can't make? I mean from what I saw in 07 he did have time to throw (except for XLII) but he still did hit receivers in stride, with authority. There were times when Moss simply out jumped everyone (MIA game), but I also saw a few throws where Brady hit Moss on the deep ball where he needed to make the throw -- and he did. I guess I just feel like Brady is undervalued (haha, never thought you'd hear that -- did ya?) as a passer. In his first year you could see his deficiencies as a passer, and since then you can see that the guy really worked on his game. He will probably always be viewed as that crafty "Montana" type, but both of those guys offered more than just intangibles (Joe Montana made a sick game for Sega in the 90's). Mark, I think Brady is the best QB in the league. I'm just stating that I would consider him a game manager more than a gunslinger.

I'm always a fan of Pepperoni, Mushrooms and Green Peppers

I got back from Vegas last night gassed and hungover and as of this morning I've seen all 6 episodes. That s*** was f***ing hillarious.

I really love Chris Getz. He's faster than most people realize, rock solid defensively, and really knows how to handle a bat. He won't hit for a ton of power nor does he have tools that blow you away, but as a whole the guy flat out knows how to hit and his swing is conducive to hitting major league pitching at a similar clip as he hit minor league pitching because he has always relied on good plate discipline and a nice level swing as opposed to just relying purely on raw natural ability (and it isn't as if he has no tools or is David Eckstein). I think Getz will be the biggest surprise of the season (in a good way) and will end up leading off most of the year and will actually turn into the franchises long term leadoff guy. As a whole I think he projects better as a 2 hitter but regardless I think he'll have an MLB career where he gets on at around a .360 rate which would be pretty damn nice.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 08:38 AM) Trent Dilfer is great on NFL Live. However, if your going to use him as a part of a trend... you may want to include some additional names. Last 12 SuperBowls 98 -- Elway, Favre (both pro bowlers) 99 -- Elway, Chandler (both pro bowlers) 00 -- Warner, McNair (both pro bowlers 01 -- Dilfer, Collins (neither pro bowlers) 02 -- Brady, Warner (both pro bowlers) 03 -- Johnson, Gannon (both pro bowlers) 04 -- Brady, Delhomme (both pro bowlers) 05 -- Brady, McNabb (both pro bowlers) 06 -- Roethlisberger, Hasselback (both pro bowlers) 07 -- Manning, Grossman (manning -- PB) 08 -- Manning, Brady (Brady -- PB) 09 -- Roethlisberger, Warner (both pro bowlers) 20 of the last 24 SB Qb's made the pro bowl. Now that fact is not without its faults... but i think its generally indicative that Trent Dilfer is an exception to the rule... and definitely not a TREND. Awesome post Mark.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 08:14 PM) If the Bears are MUCH better suited for a game manager... then we should resign ourselves to the fact that we will never make consistent runs at the superbowl. It's not a coincidence that teams with pro bowl level talent at QB are seemingly in the title games (Conf. Champ, SB) every year. In fact, the only time we've made it to a title game in the past 20+ years was with --- a "gunslinger." The "game manager" tag is another way of saying... you have an average or below average QB. Orton is around average right now. Find me a trend of teams winning the SB with avg QB play and we can talk. While this team isn't a SB contender with Cutler... we're a lot closer to having a legitimate chance to win the big game with him than without him. Brady is pretty much a game manager, but he's also incredibly productive. Its not as if Brady is ridiculous talented, he's just very very smart and accurate and makes quick decisions and great plays. So I think the key is you need an above average QB, but a game manager can very well be an above average QB.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 06:39 PM) That's because he was old, and sucked. He did his last couple of years in Green Bay too actually. He was pretty damn good his final season in Green Bay.

Fullerton did more of there thing, but have a tough couple series ahead of them and have had very few home games the past 2-3 weeks.

Cool. Just got back from Vegas and see this. Nice job.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 02:34 PM) Alexei did hit .304/.331/.502/.833 after becoming a full time starter last year, sure there's almost no plate discipline present in that line but how many other hitters non-power hitters on this team are capable of hitting .300 or putting up a .330 OBP? (even if it is almost all batting average) The only thing that hurts is the .200 ISO in the #2 spot, that's a #5 or #6 hitter right there. I think Getz/Alexei is the best idea given the current lineup. Ramirez has the speed the Sox want, can bunt, and really can handle the bat so you could utilize a lot of hit and runs and other things as well. Plus he has good pop so he could really start some big innings from the 2 hole, but not too much pop that you would be making a mistake having him hit so high.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 02:33 PM) If AJ can bat second, why can't Thome? Should a guy get on first and be able to steal or get to second, the shift is out of play. That isn't the worse idea, especially if the Sox happened to have another left handed bat for the middle portion of the order. Unfortunately we don't. It would be very unorthodox but I could see some plusses in having Thome up there. The negative of course is that you are taking him out of a lot of potential RBI opportunities.

Linebrink is going to be a huge part of this season, hopefully he'll be healthy and dominant like he was for most of last season.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 01:54 PM) Why were all of Bureau's posts deleted? A matter of respecting a mistake that was made. I won't go any further for that, but someones career was in line and because of that we pulled everything from public eye, which is within our right as mods/admins. We really are pretty good people, won't do any illegal for anyone, but posters here get every chance to stay and it takes a hell of a lot to get banned.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 11:53 AM) cool, where you staying? I'm staying at Harrah's, but tournament will be watched at Venitian (sp?, my head is already there!) book. I usually bust out my game worn Wunsch jersey once a trip to vegas so if you see it come up and say hi. Here's some first round games I like, i'll just list who I will bet USC UCLA Memphis Clemson Cal Mich. St. Arizona West Va The 'Cuse We got a pretty sweet deal at the Wynn so we are staying there. It was cheaper than every other hotel on the strip. I love Priceline. I'll keep my eye out for you, I figure you'll be the only one in Vegas with a Wunsch jersey. Three teams I love are USC, UCLA

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 02:24 PM) And sadly I have. Damn Getz gets down the line. Can anyone really deny at this point that Getz is quicker than Owens? He is faster. Getz is the fastest guy in the Sox system, imo. Not necessarily in a sprint, but out of the box he's fastest.

I wonder if the Sox will make a push at signing El Duque to a minor league contract where they could assign him to Charlotte and make him feel comfortable and worse case he could get healthy and prove that he could come up and be an effective long guy. Probably not an overall good idea, but it would be nice to make sure that you have Viciedo comfortable.