hogan873

Finally baseball is being played. I can already smell the fresh cut grass, hear the crack of the bat, and taste that cold, cold beer.

After reading some stuff on the ideas being floated on MLB realignment, I wondered what everyone here on ST thinks. What would be your ideas in realigning the teams? Have fun with it. My plan would take three years to implement. For the first year, the Twins are moved to the AL West, and the Brewers are moved to the AL Central. Now each league has 30 teams. For the second year, the Rays are moved from Tampa to another city (in my future it's Las Vegas). They move to the AL West. The third year is the radical realignment. Both leagues adopt the DH since several teams would be switching leagues. In the end, it looks like this: AL North - Twins, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Tigers, Mariners AL Atlantic - Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Orioles, Nationals AL Pacific - Padres, Giants, A's, Dodgers, Angels NL Central - Pirates, Cardinals, Royals, Las Vegas (Rays), Rockies NL South - Astros, Rangers, D-Backs, Braves, Marlins NL Great Lakes - White Sox, Cubs, Brewers, Indians, Reds

I voted to get rid of it, but I wouldn't mind seeing it added to the NL. If both leagues were the same (in regards to pitchers hitting or not), one would have to wonder if there would be more interleague play.

I'm more of a fan of malty beers than those loaded with hops, but I though the Noble Pils was actually pretty good. Clear golden body with a soapy white head that disipates quickly. Citrus and pine hops dominate the aroma, which invites you to take a sip. Medium mouthfeel with some bright carbonation towards the end. The taste starts with just a bit of malty sweetness. This is quickly pushed aside in favor of slightly sugared grapefruit and a punch of pine. Nice, smooth aftertaste. Good brew!

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Mar 1, 2010 -> 12:27 PM) Man, Cowley is one petty Mofo. Absolutely. Pretty childish, too.

Who wouldn't want to see AGon in a Sox uniform? I'm skeptical, thoigh, about the idea of a package including Beckham. Not only would I not want to see that, I don't think KW would do that.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 01:53 PM) i would project the sox starting lineup to finish somewhere along this line pierre avg .293 1 HR 42 RBI 46 SB beckham avg .290 22 HR 92 RBI 94 runs quentin avg .278 42 HR 112 RBI .932 OPS Konerko avg .266 26 HR 86 RBI .835 OPS Jones avg .238 27 HR 69 RBI Rios avg .284 23 HR 84 RBI 27 SB AJ avg .290 12 HR 57 RBI Teahen avg .275 18 HR 66 RBI 10 SB Alexei avg .296 20HR 78 RBI 23 SB Peavy 16-10 3.49 ERA 205 IP 210K 1.19 WHIP Buerhle 15-12 3.84 ERA 210 IP 120K 1.30 WHIP Floyd 18-10 3.62 ERA 210 IP 175 K 1.22 WHIP Danks 14-12 3.90 ERA 200 IP 175 K 1.29 WHIP Freddy 11-11 4.49 ERA 150 IP 110 K 1.30 WHIP Jenks 2.69 ERA 65 IP 72 K 41 Saves Jenks and Rios will have bouce back years for the sox but the twins still gonna win the divison! I like the SBs. I wonder, though, if Jones will get enough at-bats to hit 27 HRs...especially considering he's supposed to be splitting time as DH. I think he'll do well and end up getting more at-bats, but I wouldn't expect that if he was hitting .238.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 11:55 AM) Well looking at these predictions; the good news is that this is a 90-95 win team. People b**** and b**** and b**** but when asked to throw out some numbers they almost always go the optimistic route. The alternative is too depressing.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 08:51 AM) If danks wins 21, Peavy pitches enough innings to log 195 Ks, Quentin drops 37 bombs, Konerko gets 199 Hits, this team will run away with the division Not necesarily. I hope so, but that's only four players having great years. I'm being optimistic, and I'm sure some of those numbers are inflated/wishful thinking. If Danks does win 20+ games, that will be great. But if the 5th starter position tanks and Buehrle has a sub-par season and the bullpen is shaky it won't matter how well Danks does in the end.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 08:54 AM) Nothing like a 34 year old topping his career best hits total by 22 I'm sure I'll be proven wrong. Thanks for pointing that out.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 08:42 AM) The answer to all these questions is Beckham. He will also lead the team in wins, saves, ERA, stolen signals, triple plays, and hair. Don't forget about the ladies. He'll lead in ladies, too.

I'll add some numbers to my predictions: AVG - Beckham (.309) HR - Quentin (37) RBI - Quentin (111) SB - Pierre (42) Wins - Danks (21) K's - Peavy (195) 2B - Pierre (43) 3B - Beckham (6) BB - Quentin (lots) HBP - Quentin (many until he does his Hulk impression, rips his shirt off and charges the mound) Hits - Konerko (199) Saves - Jenks (40) Holds - Putz (37) Ejections - Ozzie (9)

QUOTE (SockMe @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 10:42 PM) and in about an hour will be 39. Baseball season is right around the corner! Get excited Sox fans, I have a feeling we are in for a treat this year. I agree. I'm still concerned about the DH situation, but I think Jones is going to have a breakout year and end up batting against lefties and righties eventually. There should definitely be a new energy to the team we haven't seen in a while.

AVG - Beckham HR - Quentin RBI - Quentin SB - Pierre Wins - Danks K's - Peavy 2B - Pierre 3B - Beckham BB - Quentin HBP - Quentin Hits - Konerko Saves - Jenks Holds - Putz Ejections - Ozzie

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 10:37 AM) I was thinking the same thing.

Now that spring training has begun and the scent of spring is in the air (don't pay attention to the snow), we can start thinking about baseball. Who on the Sox is going to hit the most HRs, knock in the most runs, steal the most bases, win the most games, etc. Predictions?

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 07:30 AM) I want people to learn how to spell and pronounce Teahen by opening day. You have 40 days. Pierre Beckham Quentin Konerko Jones Pierzynski Rios Teahen Ramirez My apologies. Sorry if I offended you.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Feb 23, 2010 -> 11:08 PM) They don't he will be playing vs lefties only /teal If Jones really breaks out, I wouldn't be surprised to see him getting more and more at-bats, even against righties. Especially if Kotsay struggles...

What I find interesting is all the talk before the winter about El Nino. Some of an El Nino pattern certainly is evident with wild weather in the east. But, many predicted a winter with above average temperatures and below average precipitation here in the midwest. Well, we've had over 50" of snow (for the 3rd winter in a row!), and it has not been very warm at all. Granted we haven't had any long frigid outbreaks, but it has been steadily cold all winter. The snow hurricane sounds wild. I was living on the Outer Banks of NC in 1989 when a similar storm hit right before Christmas. It was probably one of the only (if not THE only) white Christmas ever there.

vs. LH pitcher Pierre - LF Beckham - 2B Quentin - RF Konerko - 1B Jones - DH AJ - C Rios - CF Teahan - 3B Ramirez - SS vs. RH pitcher Pierre - LF Beckham - 2B Quentin - RF Konerko - 1B AJ - C Rios - CF Teahan - 3B Kotsay - DH Ramirez - SS Wow. Looking at this, I realized that we're lacking that definitive 5th batter. I'm not sure about Jones or AJ in that spot. I'm a little depressed all of the sudden.

QUOTE (since56 @ Feb 21, 2010 -> 08:39 AM) Wow! Annointing him a hall of famer at this point amazes me. I remember some talking head once saying Mark Prior would be the next 300 game winner. I hope Beckham can adjust to 2nd base, has a solid year and doesn't get caught reading his own accolades. I'm not positive, but you may have broken the law of physics by using Mark Prior and Gordon Beckham in the same paragraph. I'm sure if you tried to put them in the same sentence your computer would implode.

I've got a security system that allows for "away" and "stay" settings. It hasn't been tested yet (thankfully).

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 23, 2010 -> 12:23 PM) Ideally he would bat 2nd and then come back as the DH, hitting 5th. Of course he would have to throw on a fake mustache or something when DHing. Then he could just put "Gordon" on the back of his jersey. No one would question it because it is a last name.

Something tells me that he would have spewed similar BS if he had signed with the Sox or even the Braves.

Maybe it's the fact that this winter has seemed ungodly long and the additional fact that the Bears sucked, but I'm looking more forward to this baseball season than in the past. I'm willing the snow away so I can go out and start playing catch with my kids.