hogan873

Offense! Did Dunn have two hits and an RBI? That's encouraging.

So our leadoff hitter is our HR leader so far?

QUOTE (Wanne @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 11:53 AM) I'm not. Ozzie has placed himself in Demigod category and unfortunately for him his IQ was never on parallel with his self-appointed status. It was inevitable something like this was going to happen. And for this reason I've refused to read anything Cowley ever writes again since he's been his biggest enabler. Cowley and Ozzie are in the same category as bananas of things that go bad quickly. I expected Ozzie to put his foot in his mouth eventually, but in the first week AND being suspended...that's impressive.

I'm truly surprised that Ozzie made an ass out of himself this quickly.

Did anyone else want to see Fukudome hit for Rios after Rios made that error in right? I saw a right-handed pitcher on the mound and figured it was the perfect opportunity. Of course maybe it's a little early to react like that, but I thought maybe Ventura would send a message.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 07:05 AM) But isn't the "one too many fastballs" issue more on Pierzynski than Santiago? A.J. is the veteran signal caller here. Probably. I kept saying to my son, "Watch, here comes the screwball", and then he'd fire another fastball. He was getting a piece of every one he threw. Whether it was AJ or Santiago, one of them should have realized a change in speed would be a better option.

QUOTE (The Baconator @ Apr 9, 2012 -> 09:16 PM) Santos has now blown two saves in Toronto, Santiago has converted two on the South Side. Aside from the one-too-many fastball last night, Santiago looks good. He looks confident on the mound. He's got some good velocity on his fastball, and that screwball can be pretty nasty.

Sale looked awesome, although I thought he might have blown off the mound a few times when the winds gusted. De Aza is looking like a good leadoff guy. Viciedo is hitting the ball and getting on base, the mammoth homeruns should be coming soon. Dunn looks a lot better at the plate this year. He's making contact. I think he'll start hitting more HRs soon and be back to near career norms. Konerko is just ridiculous. Is the guy going to keep getting better with age?

The cost of living is very high. I was stationed there when I was in the Coast Guard. We got a nice cost of living allowance because of the high prices for groceries, gas, etc. That being said, I'd go back in a heartbeat. It's an outdoors lover's dream.

QUOTE (jeffro2525 @ Apr 6, 2012 -> 02:54 PM) There are 10,000 different ways to follow a game. Twitter, espn gameday, foxsports, chisox.com...on and on and on. Why you're following on an in-game thread is beyond me... I'm a glutton for punishment.

I'm at work, following the game through this thread. I can't tell what's really going on with all of the sarcasm and whining.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 6, 2012 -> 02:09 PM) Lot of Fuko support in the thread. Who do you want him to play for? I want DeAza in there. That leaves Rios. He can play for whoever is sucking the most.

Okay, I was distracted enough with the season starting today. And then you guys had to mention Zombie Dust and the Tilted Kilt. Thanks.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 5, 2012 -> 10:13 PM) There was a scene after Rue from District 11 died that could have been included. They sent bread, even though they were a very very poor district and they consistently described in the book how that would have cost so much money as it was closer to the end of the Games and the prices for sponsors/ships were going up exponentially. That connection with District 11 wasn't quite made clear enough, except for the final outcome of the movie, when there were only 4 Tributes remaining. I haven't seen the movie, but I read the book and I'm reading Catching Fire now. The connection with District 11 is very important in Catching Fire, and the bread being sent is mentioned. With the certainty that there will be at least two more movies, it's surprising they didn't include that.

De Aza

Okay, I admi it. You got me until I opened the thread. Well done.

Dunn would have been mine, too. But I'll say Sale winning 15+ games.

Is this game on TV?

QUOTE (oldsox @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 09:40 AM) Juan Pierre made the Phillies' roster. Good for him. Hope he does well.

I feel pretty good about this team. The distractions should be much fewer, and I believe Ventura will do a decent job...maybe even a great job. It comes down to a few keys "ifs", but if Dunn, Rios, and Beckham rebound and if the pitching staff does a good job and stays healthy this team has a chance. The only team I'm really concerned about it Detroit. I see the Sox hanging with them, at least close by for most of the season. I'll stick by my prediction of 82-85 wins.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 10:54 PM) You're f***ed on Sundays. He did say "primarily".

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 08:02 PM) What about getting the infamous "Ozzie" Martinez and Jhan Martinez for the departure of Ozzie Guillen? At least our system and major league team are strong enough that these former "top prospects" from the Marlins' system didn't come close to making the team. A- for new beginnings, unknown grade for picking Ventura and a C- for keeping KW in charge. This would have been a good trade if the Sox received a jar of sunshine and a Cuban sandwich, so getting a couple prospects made it a great trade.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 08:03 AM) It's really not that hard to envision a path for how the Sox get to 95ish losses from last year. Lose Buehrle, lose Quentin, lose Santos. Between them, that's ~10 wins if you're going by WAR. That takes a 78 win team down to a ~68 win team. You're right there already. Now, just have most of the people repeat last year's numbers. Some people are likely to improve, it'd be hard for De Aza to be as bad as Pierre, but then if you finally have PK14 start showing his age and either get hurt for 1/2 the year or only hit 18 home runs, the team is literally right there. The place we're starting from is ~70 wins if everyone does what they did last year. The list of guys who can improve on that is long, but you can raise a question on almost all of them. I see your point, and I guess I see SI's logic for a 95 loss season. However, the fillers for Buehrle (Sale), Santos (?), and Quentin (Viciedo) are unknowns. Saying you right away count the loss of those three guys as -10 wins is discounting anything their replacements bring to the table. And then you assume Rios, Dunn, and Beckham don't improve at all. To me it seems like a lazy prediction. So if the Sox had won 84 games last season, SI would predict 71 wins for 2012?

Seems like I'm in the majority with 82-85 wins. I saw on the news last night that someone predicted a 95 loss season. I really don't see how that would be possible unless there were a string of injuries and Dunn, Rios, and Peavy (aka the Lawrence Bums) repeat 2011. I think a lot of people outside of the Sox fandom overvalue the loss of Buehrle, Quentin, and Santos. Realistically, I think the Sox have filled those holes fairly well.

QUOTE (knightni @ Mar 27, 2012 -> 03:53 PM) I really like Grimm. Anyone else? I like Grimm, too. I'm way behind on it, though. I think I have about 8 on my DVR.