SoxAce

QUOTE (Ranger @ Dec 27, 2009 -> 04:25 PM) Absolutely. Of the multitude of issues they had last year, outfield defense is pretty low on the list in regard to things that hurt them the most. Fewest hits in the league, Fewest extra base hits, one of the worst in OPS and runs scored, unearned runs, errors (in particular on the left side of the infield), 4th and 5th starters...those are the biggest reasons things went the way they did. I'm not sure how many mental or physical errors our OF defense cost us those created big innings, but from what I watched all year it was more than just "pretty low" but I will agree about the others, which I said earlier KW did address, especially extra base hits (Beckham, Teahan and Rios will be the catalyst of that) not to mention changing all 3 guys in the OF spots (Q moving to RF, if you don't want to count Rios, then 2) for this upcomming season. (as he probably saw the same thing) But the offense overall was always suspect in Walker's tenure (and no I'm not saying he is the problem) Hell even our W.S. year, our offense overall was pretty much average, but our pitching and defense was what got us to the promise land.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Dec 27, 2009 -> 04:26 PM) Took an hour and a half to get all the snow out of the driveway. I'm about to go out there in 30 minutes myself..

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Dec 27, 2009 -> 02:33 PM) The rangers shoudl have said somethgin like "If we find out just who these young men are, we would like to give them another opportunity to remove their genes from the gene pool by giving them a detailed map of all the traps in the area for them to try." DBAH0 has got to be one of them. Seems like his M.O.

I love the comments on the bottom of his article.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 26, 2009 -> 09:56 PM) Wow, is Tyrus Thomas that important? Well I wouldn't say THAT important, but he is a huge part of what they do on the defensive end thats for sure. Having another big body really is beneficial to Noah, who seems to take a heavy load of work in the paint guarding the really skilled players, not to mention with Taj usually in foul trouble (also a rookie and the mistakes), JJ never really seeing the floor (though he had a solid game yesterday) Miller... slow and not a defensive guy, etc.. Plus he can give you that 10-20 ppg the Bulls really need, since points at all is really hard to come by with this team. Now.. not saying this means anything, but I love Tyrus of course and I'll throw this out there and end the homerism. Bulls are 4-2 with Thomas, and 7-15 without him.

Happy B-Day to a good friend of mine and one of the best posters on ST in qwerty, even though you suck at life. You better drink a few cold ones A.J. :cheers And a happy b-day to the England native and the best graphic designer on ST.. Mr. DePloderer.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Dec 26, 2009 -> 05:33 PM) I don't understand why people shovel during snow, just wait until its over and do it once. I'm waiting till tomorrow personally. Then again... looking out now.. might have to shovel once tonight, then tomorrow morning. (don't want to shovel snow too heavy)

Nice article on Toews and his new condo here in Chicago. Sweet pics of the inside of it.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Dec 26, 2009 -> 01:26 AM) The thing that saved VDN is that none of the players want Bickerstaff to take over, and none of the other assistants would do a better job than what VDN is doing right now. Like it or not, the Bulls are going to have to wait til the off-season to upgrade their coaching position. And they're going to have to make a big splash if they want any chance of attracting a quality FA. Agreed. And honestly if they dropped VDN (I believe there was a report anyways they wanted to wait till January to see where we are) I wouldn't mind seeing Pete Myers (who the players really like) take over. Sad to think he had much more experience than VDN did when he was hired.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Dec 26, 2009 -> 01:19 AM) Should I apologize for always having a point? Why would I post if I didn't have one? If I'm wrong about something, I'll admit I'm wrong. On the other hand, if somebody else is wrong, it's ok for me or anyone else here to tell them such. Also, if somebody has an interesting question/answer/post/whatever, I'll respond. And if they weren't quite following what I was getting at or I didn't explain myself clearly enough the first time, I'll clarify. And as you will read if you go back to my post, I don't think UZR should be ignored. But I also don't think people should be married to it, which seems to be a prevailing thought with people like qwerty (who, I believe, had the intent of being a smartass toward me in his last post...if not, I hope he'll accept my apology) People shouldn't look at a player's UZR and then say, "oh, well he's a terrible defender because of this number." That number can be misleading and it isn't proof of anything. It's really a suggestion and doesn't take everything into account. However, I'm thrilled about the new data that will become more available in the near future when defense can be more accurately measured. That is going to change things. The constant contradictions here is cute, but basically what I was saying was in regards to this. This team had a ton of problems not just in one area, but to completely eliminate the OF defense as even people's eyes watching the games all year is completely foolish. That was one of the many problems that team last season had. That is what some posters here wanted to mere merit and they have excellent points and pretty much what KW and company certainally addressed from the additions. I agree 100% with this BTW. There are some things here people can see with eyes instead of the stats. But what I saw added more of with what the sox did was in the OF FYI. Hope you had a good X-Mas Chris.

I'm pretty much in the single name phase like Cher, or Prince. I am this name from here on out just like my lone star state.. but I refuse to change my sig with the star and the old name of "Texsox" on it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 11:04 PM) No you don't...

QUOTE (Ranger @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 10:32 PM) Oh, well since the UZR says so, it must be true. Do you guys even know how UZR, RF, and defensive stats of the like are even measured? You realize none of them accurately measure the speed of the ball off the bat (actually they don't even try to) or the defensive positioning prior to the pitch? These statistics should be looked at and considered, but if you're going to use them as your sole proof of a defensive player's worth, you're going to be misguided much of the time. Companies like Stats Inc. are working on a system using cameras and computers (not people watching on monitors) to precisely measure stuff like this. Baseball has been moving forward with collecting data from this software from Sportsvision that does basically the same thing. Eventually it will be used in every ballpark, and after it is perfected and utilized, we'll have a considerably more accurate measure of defensive abilities. For the time being, UZR is flawed and it's a mistake to use it as a bible of some kind. It should be considered but shouldn't be everything. (Oh, and a happy holiday to everyone.) Alright since the other guys aren't on from who you quoted I'll speak for me. Yes alot of us already know about UZR's flaws and other aspects (alot of posters bring the Fielding Bible to the equation which is probably the best measure of defense measure out there) and other ares as well (there are some insane symmetric fans on this board), not just UZR. Hell there was a couple of threads a few months back on it before you registered here. I've been on a few boards from the old days way back when, and this is by far the smartest posters I've ever come across. Guys like qwerty, Kalapse, Cheat (when he was here) etc.. are just outstanding posters and not to mention guys like witesoxfn, fathom, iamshack, DickAllen, ptatc, Rowand44, bmags, chw42, lostfan, scenario, Ozzie Ball etc.. etc.. I mean the list goes on and on, on this board. Alot of these guys you'll realize if you haven't already will definitely bring up interesting post, and at times.. can be very stubborn. You just fit the list already ranger, but at times I notice (and I believe a poster brought this up) is at times, when a poster quotes you, and they are right, or bring up an interesting question/answer/post/whatever, you play the "I am always right or there's always a point with me" card (you might not mean to, or might not necessarily think so) and you'll find out that'll get old very quick here. (some posters still do it here) Now me personally, I'm not big on UZR, but I won't completely ignore it as well. I'll just say I've learned alot from some of these guys and alot of people I didn't mention (the "etc.." guys) on this board, and not just in baseball.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 09:41 PM) Yeah, some stuff got deleted. Yeah.. I hate you.

The usual old people stuff. Socks Pants Shirts Shoes Income this year was much worse (esp. for me) than usual. I got cash as well.. But then I realize that is going straight to bills..

Thought I'd stop by here before a healthy grub calls my name later. Merry X-Mas to all the fine posters here.

QUOTE (b-Rye @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 08:51 PM) Jenks/Jenks Linebrink/Thorton Dotel/Putz Carrasco/Torres Richard/Linebrink Macdougal/Pena Hmmm... so I guess Thornton somehow died last year, but somehow is relevant this year eh?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 23, 2009 -> 09:57 PM) Detroit is bleeding cash. They are in huge trouble. The Reds will be in the same situation next year unfortunately (hence the Joey Votto, etc.. rumors). It is gonna happen quite a bit of teams actually unless something (whether that is the economy or whatever) drastically changes.

Ima go out on a crazy limb and say Kane is a lock for Team USA.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 23, 2009 -> 06:23 PM) It appears Capps is going to blow off the Cubs for the Nationals. I thought everyone wants to play for the Cubs. Wow.. he had to choose between the two, and he's picking the horrid (though up and comming through the farm) franchise over the loveable losers. I don't think I've ever been a bigger Matt Capps fan. I gotta ask though... how much more was the Nats paying him over the Cubs.. if at all? NVM.. I found something..

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 23, 2009 -> 06:09 PM) We've done this for the last 4 or 5 years, no (save 2007)? Up and down all year until a strong push the last month. I really don't care about winning 45 games when we're a lock to get bounced in the first round by any of the conferences elites. Which is why 2010 class is so vital to this team's future success. I was hoping we would at least not suck this year to help make a case for the FA to come here, to help justify this franchise. (and not just the whole large market ordeal) This rarely, at all, happens in the NBA as far as legit superstars potentially moving in one offseason. (not those Elton Brand, Baron Davis, etc.. type players) Those earlier teams overachieved under Scott Skyles, which kind of spoiled us to a degree IMO.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 23, 2009 -> 05:51 PM) I have no problem with those that want VDN gone. But it bothers me very much that it seems to be popular opinion that this would be a much better team with a different coach. There's no coach, past or present, that would take this particular team past the first round. Orlando, Cleveland, Boston and Atlanta. We're miles behind any of those 4 teams regardless of who's the coach. The one guy that should really be on the hotseat is John Paxson. But Jerry Reinsdorf is loyal to a fault. Paxson would have to quite before Jerry let him go. If the playoffs started today, we wouldn't even be in the playoffs, which is regressing from last season. I didn't expect this team to be a top team, even with the hot start we had against top teams early, but I didn't expect this team to be this bad either. Hell I thought we were a 6th or 7th type seed (progressing from last season) because of the horrid Eastern Conference. We can't even match the 8th spot as of right now and I know we are still a game back or something like that.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 23, 2009 -> 05:24 PM) I was exaggerating a little. But I'm sure it's always in the back of his mind. I have to disagree with you about Beckham. He was a pretty safe bet from day 1. I thought the same thing about BA.. Two homers off King Felix, and I was hyping his ass to everyone.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 23, 2009 -> 05:15 PM) He's probably forever spooked by all those 'can't-miss' guys we had at that time and looks to trade prospects the second they reach peak value. I don't think that he's "spooked" more or less that he knows who is worthy of the hype and who isn't. I'd probably believe you if he didn't keep Beckham as far as top spects go and guys like Richard, McCarthy, etc.. were pretty good for us at one time..

QUOTE (WCSox @ Dec 23, 2009 -> 04:58 PM) Excluding the strike year, I consider the '84 Sox to be the most disappointing in my lifetime. We had almost all of the same tools in place plus Tom Seaver, but Greg Luzinski was done, Britt Burns was nearing the end of his career with that degenerative hip, LaMarr Hoyt's drug problem had caught up with him, Julio Cruz was no longer a prolific base-stealer, and Floyd Bannister had a below-average year. Not that we would've beaten the Tigers in the ALCS, but it would've been fun to watch them try. The '97 season was also massively disappointing on multiple levels, but Jamie Navarro, Danny Darwin, Doug Drabek, and Robin Ventura's injury tempered my expectations going into April. Hmmm... showing your age alittle bit WC?