gettysburg32

Brendan O'Donnell (Santa Barbara, CA and U. of Texas-Permian Basin) was the final pick of the draft for the White Sox. O'Donnell made UTPB history by being the first player from that school to be drafted. The Sox chose him in the '05 draft (46th round) but O'Donnell decided to stay in school at that point returining for his sophomore year. This time around, O'Donnell signed and is playing at Bristol. O'Donnell graduated from Loyola HS in Los Angeles in'03, spent one year at Santa Barbara CC and then at UTPB. O'Donnell is 5'11" 170, an outfielder, he didn't have many numbers at UTPB (.270, 3 2Bs, 1 HR) but he seems like a very good athlete and that's what the Sox must see in him. In high school, he was a major player his junior and senior year on two straight undefeated soccer teams (which might not be much in a lot of places, but in Los Angeles, Cal. it is saying a lot). So if the Sox can't use him, maybe the Chicago Fire can at their new stadium. So far w/ Bristol in 5 games and 14 ABs, he's got 1 hit and 1 RBI O'Donnell was released in March of 2007

The Sox are 19-6 since June 6. We've won our last 8 series. If any Sox fans are panicking now, then If we have the same second half (ending up with 106 wins) and still finish 2nd to the Tigers (and obviously still getting the WC), then God Bless Detroit.

Brian Omogrosso has made four appearances, all out of the pen, for Kannapolis since joining the club on June 24. In 2 1/3 IP, he has allowed 3 ER with 4 BBs. He had his first positive outing of his short season Sunday, pitching 1 shutout inning and getting 2 Ks during a 15-5 loss to Greensboro. In his '06 season at ISU, Omogrosso had a 1.51 ERA in 22 appearances, all in relief. He had 4 saves (but ISU was crappy this year, the whole team only had 6 saves and the record was 19-34). In 41.2 IP, he allowed 35 hits (with 3 2Bs, 0 3Bs and 0 HRs allowed) and had 37 Ks. It seems that having tough stuff to hit is his strength (96 mph according to this article), but control is his problem. He had 16 BBs (not bad, but not good either) and 11 WP and 10 HBP (both terrible). Brian is also a Freddy Garcia, Jose Contreras, Bobby Jenks sized pitcher, he's 6'3" 230 lbs and in a couple pics of him in action on the ISU website, I'd say the 230 was awhile ago. Here's a story from the Terre Haute paper about Brian and another ISU Sycamore taken on the first day of the draft. By Todd Golden The Tribune-Star TERRE HAUTE — The phone rang twice for Indiana State’s potential Major League Baseball draftees Tuesday — about 10 minutes apart. Nevin Ashley and Brian Omogrosso didn’t have to wait long, or wait on each other for very long, before they knew their professional fates. ISU’s standout catcher and relief pitcher for all intents and purposes bookended the sixth round of Tuesday’s Major League Baseball draft. Ashley was picked 169th overall by the Devil Rays, Omogrosso went 195th overall to the Chicago White Sox. The Devil Rays had the third pick of the round, the White Sox had the second-to-last pick of the round. The ISU pair were both picked higher than any Sycamore since Jason Frome was selected in the third round of the 2001 draft. Also drafted Tuesday was ex-Terre Haute North standout Blake Holler, who now pitches for Stanford. He was chosen 402nd overall in the 13th round by the Los Angeles Angels. Ashley — who hit .382 with 10 home runs and 42 RBI for the Sycamores — was in an ironic location when he was told of his selection. He was taking batting practice at Carson Park in Eau Claire, Wis., where his Northwoods League Eau Claire Express team plays. That was where Hank Aaron made his minor league debut. “I was sitting in the dugout, waiting to take BP, when I got the call,” said Ashley, a Bruceville native who played at North Knox. “Wow. Top 10? I can’t believe it, I’m just beside myself.” Ashley thought he’d go on the first day, but he admitted he didn’t expect the sixth round. “I'm overwhelmed. To be honest, I was hoping to be picked anywhere from the seventh to the 12th round, that's where a lot of people thought it I'd go. This is a real bonus,” Ashley said. Omogrosso — who had a 1.51 ERA, four saves and 37 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings for the Sycamores — thought he might be selected a bit higher, given that he’s thrown 96-miles-per-hour from a sidearm motion, but he was still thrilled with the realization of a dream. “From what I heard, I thought I was going earlier, but I'm not going to complain. Honestly, I'm honored to get a chance to show what I can do at a higher level,” said Omogrosso, who thought his signability might be an issue. Retired ISU Coach Bob Warn thought Omogrosso might have been victimized by some struggles late in the year. “Brian’s stock went down the last two or three times we put him in save situations,” Warn said. “We had a lot of front office brass here, and when their advance scouts pick and choose someone for them to see themselves, it’s like they’re expecting to be seeing a future 12-year veteran out there. That’s kind of unfair to the players, I think the fact that he struggled surprised them a bit. There were some folks that were talking second or third round for a while. “I’m excited for them. I’m not surprised. I thought Nevin would go from the fifth to the 12th round,” Warn added. “It’s a good opportunity for both. Once they get the offer from the team, they need to find out whether they return to school. They can always return, they have the bargaining power.” Both players were a little surprised at who selected them. Ashley said he’s only talked to Tampa Bay five or six times during his ISU career. Omogrosso thought he was destined for Cleveland or Cincinnati. Both were happy to be joined by their teammate in the same round. “Nevin deserves everything he got, he’s the hardest worker on the team. He’s going to work harder than anyone to do well, you can count on it,” Omogrosso said. “Brian is a great prospect, a great player and a great teammate,” Ashley said.

Inouye got released 5/12/09. Matthew Inouye was the 21st round pick for the White Sox. Here's part of an article from a Honolulu newspaper on the day he was drafted. It covers some about his UofHawaii career in which he played outfield and catcher. He was a four-year starter for the Rainbows but was an outfielder in his junior and senior seasons. "Major League baseball teams selected 11 more players with Hawaii connections yesterday, bringing the two-day total to 14 picks in the 2006 First-Year Player draft. Matt Inouye was taken in the 21st round by the Chicago White Sox. He was drafted as a catcher, the position he played at Mid-Pacific Institute and for his first two seasons with the Hawaii Rainbows. "I tried not to think about the draft too much, but the anticipation was a big factor in how much sleep I got," said Inouye, who will sign. "It feels good to have it be over. It is a weight off my shoulders." Inouye, who played right field the last two years, was a taken in the 41st round in 2002 by the Boston Red Sox. "Matt is the consummate team player. I had promised him he would catch more this year, but we were a better club with him in the outfield. Matt will impress people in pro ball as a catcher," said UH coach Mike Trapasso. The White Sox used their next pick to take Kanekoa Texeira in the 22nd round. The right-hander from Kamehameha played for Saddleback Community College this year, where he was 6-1 with a 4.00 ERA. "Several teams watched me throw a bullpen after my season was over. I am going to sign," said Texeira, a 31st-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005." So far in Bristol, Inouye's 12-27 batting (.444) with 2 2B, 1 HR and 6 RBI. Inouye's started eight games, all at catcher, and batting either 3rd or 5th in Bristol's order. Here's a game recap from the Bristol paper last Saturday with some quotes from Inouye... BY TIM HAYES Bristol Herald Courier BRISTOL, Va. — Bristol White Sox starting pitcher Alexander Woodson had to settle for a no-decision on Friday night. So his battery mate provided him with some consolation. Catcher Matthew Inouye went 3-for-5 with three RBIs to highlight Bristol’s 8-3 Appalachian League victory over the Johnson City Cardinals at DeVault Stadium. Inouye had an RBI single during Bristol’s decisive four-run seventh inning and is 6-for-9 with five RBIs in his two games this season. “I’m just doing everything I can to try to stay in the lineup,” Inouye said. “This is my job now.” After Bristol’s starters struggled in the first two games of the season, Woodson was impressive on Friday. The 6-foot-1 left-hander struck out 10 and allowed just four hits in six innings of work. He left the game with a 3-2 lead before Johnson City tied the game in the top of the seventh inning with an unearned run. Woodson is in his second tour of duty in the Appalachian League, after going 1-0 with a 2.55 ERA in 16 relief appearances last season for the BriSox. “The kid’s talented,” Inouye said of Woodson. “Coming from the left side, he has dirty stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him out of here and (promoted) soon.” Bristol (2-1) struggled against Johnson City starter Elvis Hernandez, but pounded six ineffective Cardinals relievers. All but one Bristol starter reached base at least once, and shortstop Scott Madsen also had a three-hit night. It was also another eventful night for the 22-year-old Inouye. Along with BriSox reliever Kanekoa Texeira — who tossed a perfect eighth inning on Friday in relief — they are just a handful of players from Hawaii to play in the professional ranks. “Baseball in Hawaii has always been pretty big,” Inouye said. “The talent has gotten a lot better down there and guys have started working harder. We’re just all doing everything we can to make it to the next level.”

I was at work during the day and had the VCR going. Luckily in here in the good ole' US of A, it's not much of a problem to avoid soccer scores. So, I just got done with the day one matches and I thought they were extremely entertaining. I couldn't believe the first 20 minutes of the Germany match and Ecuador looked a lot stronger than I thought they would. It was so depressing watching the Poles in the stands after Ecuador went up 2-0. Highest scoring opening game in WC history! Great way to start. Anyone who is blah on soccer (not haters, because they are too f'ing stubborn to ever change) and had a chance to watch the Ger/CR match today, and see the awesome goals Germany scored and how Los Ticos fought back, should at least want to watch some more as the WC continues. I know a ton of people are probably geared up for England starting off tomorrow, and their always great to watch, but the Argentina/Ivory Coast match tomorrow is the one I think will be very exciting. Also, since this is soxtalk, what a kickass comeback by our Sox tonight over those bloody injuns. JD Jenks PK Pablo

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 8, 2006 -> 07:00 PM) I read 40,000 Englanders are expected for England's first game. HOLY ****! Along those same lines, and probably of at least passing interest to many Chicagoans, the Poland vs. Ecuador match tomorrow will be an awesome scene with a stadium 90% or more full of Poles. I'm looking forward to that match more than Germany/Costa Rica tomorrow for that reason and because that match will probably determine the second team to make it out of that group (Hopefully it's Poland). My VCR will be out of gas by the end of this month. I'm one of the few Americans that the '94 WC had a big impact on. As far as anticipation of a sporting event, MLB Opening Day is the only thing that beats the World Cup for me. (I love college basketball too, but the WC beats out the NCAA tourn. because of the once every four years thing).

Let's trade Crede for Aubrey Huff. Ah, winning one-run ballgames and b****ing about Joe Crede, it feels just like 2005 all over again. I can sleep easy tonight.

Actually an impressive job by the pen tonight, and umm, the Tigers are not playing well under pressure. Let's hope that continues. I luuuv winning close games. Joe, that throw sucked, but it's cool because in the very next inning there was a slight siting of the Rally Crede. Yep, the Rally Crede definitely f***ed Alexis Gomez up.

"Now, go ahead and boo that all you want."

Definitely looks sweet DePloderer. Great work and thanks.

QUOTE(Chisoxrd5 @ May 26, 2006 -> 03:18 PM) The most amazing thing about the Cameroon pick is that they didn't even qualify for the World Cup this year. The Ivory Coast, Angola, Togo, Tunisia, and Ghana qualified from the African Region this year. That's why I used green.

QUOTE(watchtower41 @ May 26, 2006 -> 12:36 PM) NEDERLANDS in '06 Van Nistelrooy is a stud. I love Cameroon as a darkhorse, Eto'o is one the more exciting players right now. Cameroon That's a helluva pick - It obviously didn't look like it the other night vs. Morocco, but this team is more talented and deeper than the 2002 team. Unfortunately all three group games for the US will be very tough (yes, Ghana too) and just making it out of this group will be a better accomplishment than making the quarters in '02. I have no idea why Pope still gets used so much by Arena. And Reyna's loss (if it he is unable to play) would not be that big a deal. Donovan, O'Brien, Mastroeni and Dempsey are all quality center mids who either, one have already been on the stage before, or two, are perfectly ready for it.

Jordan4life has it exactly right. Would Frank have been better off keeping his mouth closed on a couple occasions? yes, obviously. No one should question his effort, loyalty and obviously, the numbers, Frank gave to the Sox during his 16-year Sox career. Frank Thomas will be a Hall of Famer and he will be a White Sox Hall of Famer. I look at it this way, is Jim Thome a Hall of Fame player, not yet, but he probably will be once he gets 500+ HRs. Thome played 11 seasons with Cleveland (the first 3 as a bench/platoon player). Both guys should've been told to shut up a couple times. Sox fans booing Thomas would be worse than the Indian fans who booed Thome.

QUOTE(AWhiteSoxinNJ @ May 19, 2006 -> 09:03 PM) He sure did s*** himself every time Pods was on base. Yeah, that more than him b****ing at the ump was what surprised me about Maddux today. I never remember him losing his composure so much because runners were on base. As Ozzie said, " :fthecubs "

that picture just became my background

As to how the FIFA rankings work, they take the last eight years worth of match results (so the main reason the USA has gone up from 8/9 to 4/5 now is that they've spent most of the last two years beating the crap out of El Salvador, Trinidad and Panama in World Cup qualifiers). Also, for all those folks who complain about the US ranking (true, they aren't the fourth best team in the world, but it's not worth giving two s***s about the Fifa rankings), the US might even go higher soon because their crappy WC98 results are about to be tossed out. The matches are weighted based on time and importance (for instance a WC qualifier in 2005 is going to mean more than a friendly in 1999). Yes, friendlies count too, but not very much. Matches are weighted in this order... 1. World Cup 2. Confederation Cup (yes, no one cares about this tournament but it is very important to these rankings) 3. Continental championships 4. World Cup or Continental tourn. qualifiers 5. Friendlies The rankings are a farce for two main reasons (I'm sure there are many more, but these are the two I know about) 1. USA and Mexico artifically benefit because these two teams always dominate everyone in CONCACAF. The always exciting Gold Cup actually counts just as much as EUROs, and since the US and Mexico dominate that as well as WCQ matches, both nations rack up tons of points no matter what each year. 2. European teams, while most of them do deserve to be ranked highly, play 95% of their matches against other European teams mainly because of all the WC and Euro qualifying. So, they cyclically keep one another's rankings high. Elite UEFA teams never can fall very far because when they lose, they lose to at least decently ranked teams, and mid-to-low UEFA teams stay ranked fairly high because when they do happen to win, they always go substantially up in the rankings. In the end, USA/Mexico and Europe should have no beef about the rankings, African and Asian (and South America if you're not Brazil or Argentina) teams are the ones who have the toughest time moving up the rankings. Luckily, the only actual thing the FIFA rankings impact is determining the eight top seeds for the World Cup. Other than that, they are as trivial as they deserve to be.

He has struggled against Jim Thome, the White Sox's hottest hitter. Thome is batting .381 (8-for-21) with three home runs and seven RBIs against Mays. Any word on Uribe's status?

1. I vote for "lumberjack" 2. Would I like more offense? Of course, who doesn't. But, these last three games have looked like last year. MB was the ace, Garcia looked better and threw the ball more than 80 mph and Contreras was nasty again. The offense is doing enough. The Sox, as last year, will go as far as their starting pitchers take them and that's a good situation considering who our starters are. 3. What's missing in the offense? Obviously Pods is one big answer but the overall answer is simply that the Sox aren't manufacturing any "Ozzieball" runs right now. That involves Uribe, Anderson, Pods and Iguchi. Dye, Crede and Konerko have helped Thome out the last three games, but half of the order is useless right now and it happens to be everyone that can run/manufacture as well as set the table for Thome to hit three-run bombs instead of solos. 4. I have no problem with "Joe and Two", but right now "Juan y Dos" is more appropriate. Complaining aside, 's are fun and tomorrow we'll have one, nothing like playing the Tigers to make everything better in a hurry

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Apr 3, 2006 -> 11:49 AM) I have to say, nothing makes me prouder to be a Sox fan than all the noise the couple of thousand people left were making. I remember being a quite a few games last year where there weren't that many people but those of us that were there were LOUD. Or, watching on TV and hearing the same thing. But yeah, with the diehards there in the wee hours, you could still "feel" the excitement because people were so rowdy. Nice job, those of you who were there! I didn't really enjoy staying up until past 2 am (east coast) and then having to get my ass out of bed around 7:15 to get to class and then work, but... I love watching Sox games after a long rain delay. Sox fans seem to be the only ones who can have 38,000 people, or 8,000 people, in the stands, and the stadium atmosphere is still jacked. (Of course it helps being the night they raised the World Series banner) But, it's been that way in years past anyway, and it was a great game last night. I Second LV, great job to the Sox fans at the Cell last night!

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Apr 3, 2006 -> 11:49 AM) I have to say, nothing makes me prouder to be a Sox fan than all the noise the couple of thousand people left were making. I remember being a quite a few games last year where there weren't that many people but those of us that were there were LOUD. Or, watching on TV and hearing the same thing. But yeah, with the diehards there in the wee hours, you could still "feel" the excitement because people were so rowdy. Nice job, those of you who were there! I didn't really enjoy staying up until past 2 am (east coast) and then having to get my ass out of bed around 7:15 to get to class and then work, but... I love watching Sox games after a long rain delay. Sox fans seem to be the only ones who can have 38,000 people, or 8,000 people, in the stands, and the stadium atmosphere is still jacked. (Of course it helps being the night they raised the World Series banner) But, it's been that way in years past anyway, and it was a great game last night. I Second LV, great job to the Sox fans at the Cell last night!

That was a bomb, it was about 12:30 here on the east coast, my dad and I woke up everyone in the house.

TOP PROSPECTS OF THE DECADE Team Player, Pos. 2005 Org 1996 Chris Snopek, ss/3b Out of baseball 1997 Mike Cameron, of Mets 1998 Mike Caruso, ss Out of baseball 1999 Carlos Lee, 3b Brewers 2000 Kip Wells, rhp Pirates 2001 Jon Rauch, rhp Nationals 2002 Joe Borchard, of White Sox 2003 Joe Borchard, of White Sox 2004 Joe Borchard, of White Sox 2005 Brian Anderson, of White Sox

QUOTE(Balance @ Dec 9, 2005 -> 05:15 PM) So, here's a question for you hard-core soccer fans- what's the best way for the average U.S. viewer (who, like me, is not really familiar with international soccer at all) to watch and appreciate the World Cup? I'd like to give it a chance. I was of the same mind as you prior to the 94 WC in the US. I wasn't a soccer fan at all, but I watched a good amount of that WC and I've been a growing soccer fan ever since. First of all, it's definitly worth it and the World Cup is certainly the place to start watching soccer. The passion and intensity of every moment of every match is really awesome and it's surprisingly easy to get hooked for the whole tournament if the US does well or not (ie. the NCAA basketball tournament all March long). Second, that being said, patience is still a virtue when it comes to soccer. In that sense, soccer faces a lot of the same criticism non-baseball fans use to rip baseball. There can seem, especially to a new eye (myself still largely included) long stretches where nothing of importance or excitement is happening. There are three suggestions I'll make here - Have patience with yourself, as you learn more about history, strategy, talent, etc, you appreciate more and more of what you're watching (just like a baseball game) - Watch the physical talent and skilled moves the players make, even when it seems neither side is all that close to scoring or making something "exciting" happen, the talent of world class pros is still very cool. - Patience actually leads to one of the best aspects of soccer, esp. at the World Cup level, when there is a goal is scored, a great scoring chance stopped, a penalty shot stopped, a huge tackle, a red card, a big strategy change, a controversial call by the ref, the drama and excitement is unbelievable. My final idea, get together with friends, especially if you know a person or two who are big soccer fans. Get together with some buds, get some good food and plenty of good beverages and treat it like any other popular "American" sporting event.

Louisville 53, Richmond 45 - final - Dean saved the Cards w/ 30 pts. - UR led almost the whole way until about 6 min to go. Other interesting scores in progress now... Ark-Little Rock 28 @ Illinois 32 - half Northwestern State 32 @ Okla St. 29 - half Longwood 35 @ Kansas St. 36 - half Fairleigh Dickinson 44 @ Seton Hall 46 - 7 min to go FDU over the Hall is not really that big a deal as Seton Hall is terrible, KSU is terrible too but Longwood (a school here in VA) is in their 2nd year in D1.

Louisville 47, Richmond 43 - 1:34 to go - Taquan Dean 28 pts.