Wedge

Let's at least wait for our second time through the rotation before we begin to forumlate judgement on it. Plus, I'd like to see a few "bad starts" out of these guys, to see what we really have, you know? That said, this rotation looks a lot more like the rotation I thought it would be than the one I saw in spring training. This looks like a very solid team overall and I'm impressed with the array of talent that Kenny Williams added in the offseason. I think that considering budget restrictions, the Sox may have quietly had the best offseason in baseball. I think as long as we get improvement from 3B (power OR average would be good) and Shingo doesn't fall apart like I'm afraid he will, then I think we have a better chance at a division crown than we've had, before even 2000.

QUOTE(ZeroHour @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 01:03 PM) That would have been an adequate replacement for Thunderstruck. Also, in college fashion, hordesof sox fans chanting "kill, kill, kill" would be nice too. But ill concede to Steff, Id put up with John Tesh for the intros if the Sox were winning. You a domer?

QUOTE(qwerty @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 01:17 PM) Everett strike out and looked horrible while doing so. Inning over 5-0 sox. EVERYBODY HIT THE PANIC BUTTON, WE WENT DOWN IN AN INNING 1-2-3

QUOTE(KWs OK for Me @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 01:12 PM) I just checked the gamecast for the Tigers-KC game, anyone know why Maggs isnt playing? "Dizzyness" In other news... now our hitters should be licking their chops at the thought of facing their pen... heh heh heh

CORPSEBALL!

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 01:07 PM) I almost had a heart attack, Crede got a hit. these aren't the droids you're looking for... ...make sure you weren't duped.

QUOTE(sox-r-us @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 12:57 PM) Vinny Castilla had 35 HRs last, 21 of which were away from Coors field So what is the problem there? He plays for a team (Nationals) that will clearly look to trade anyone who is a vet at the deadline....not sure what Vinny's contract #s are but if we can get the Nationals to pick up a bit of the salary, what is the problem there? we'll hurt crede's feelings

QUOTE(Be Good @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 12:55 PM) Crede did the same thing last year with errors, had almost all his errors in the 1st couple weeks of the 2004 season that was a pretty good season for him, right?

I feel the old: Paulie at 3B, Frank at 1B and Jurrasic at DH coming on

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 12:52 PM) He made a nice play getting a cup of gatorade for Ozzie. Real MVP-type moves on that one. can we put willie at 3B?

3 games in and I'm ready to pull the plug on Crede

QUOTE(sox-r-us @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 12:18 PM) More Cowbell....I understand your argument. It is a standard statistical dillemma. What you are saying is that we are going for less "game to game score variation" (standard deviation). Yes, we need that (last year we had too many weeks of an avg of 8 run games followed by weeks of 2 run games on avg).... HOWEVER, in the process of improving the standard deviation, my fear is we are going to reduce our "mean" scoring too. If we can maintain our mean scoring we will be fine, but I doubt it. You said you did not want us getting blanked out in games after scoring lots in other games. But we just got blanked for 17 out of 18 innings in a poor man's Coors field. Think about that... You're right that we were scoreless in 17 of 18, argue with facts, but that's just a fact of baseball. Even tthe Cardinals last year had innings where they went down 1-2-3. You can't infer too much about the team based on 2 games, because so much happens in a season. IF we get the sweep today, that just means that we look like we're in good shape early this season. But there's so many variables in a baseball season... you almost have to look at it as four seasons, plus the post season. I guess we'll see what plays out. I'm reserving my judgement on anything until 10 games have been played, minimum. That gives all the starters pitchers 2 appearances and probably most of the pen gets a work out, too. And let's not forget that after the "first season" we get reinforcements in the form of Frank the Tank.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 12:39 PM) ATTENTION: Rather than tell you what Crede did...someone take a stab at it. horrible strike out

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 12:29 PM) Looks rather similar to me. If you build it... they will come. Nah, we usually suck at early season attendance.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 12:24 PM) Hawk clearly drunk in the booth. Dare I ask?

QUOTE(qwerty @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 12:20 PM) Everett doubles down the line. Second and third one out for konerko. that's a good delay, I guess...

he's throwing strikes... but are they good strikes or bad strikes?

Didn't they do something with the Imperial March at some point? That was pretty sweet.

QUOTE(sox-r-us @ Apr 7, 2005 -> 11:42 AM) I know that we have not accomplished much in our last 4 years with the HRs we were hitting. So we decided to change the philosophy to "small ball" based on "necessity" (KW's quote). I am not saying this small ball will not work and I am not saying we should bash them for their O performance based on 2 games. BUT, here are my concerns regarding this change: a) Last year, up until Maggs and Frank were lost for the season we had as good a chance to win the division. Say what you want, but you cannot replace guys who hit 100+ RBIs. B) Except for the last two years, the Cell has not behaved like a poor person's Coors field. So making this change now to "small ball" because we have not done well the last 4 to 5 years does not reconcile with these two facts. I am hoping this new philosophy works and I know we have a fixed salary to go off so we had to let go of salary to get pitching + offensive philosophy re-structuring. But those two facts above have me worried about this season. We can still make this work, in my opinion, if at the trade deadline we get a vet 3rd B who can hit HRs to replace Crede (unless Crede suddenly plays at 0.300+ and 30+ HR level...not something I am counting on right now) Flame away.... Small Ball by necessity is interesting phrasing. Yes, we were doing very well with Frank and Maggs, but the fact is that they both got hurt and we tanked. Our pitching got a lot worse as last season wore on. I'm not sure Williams was saying small ball by necessity because we need to be a small ball team... rather, I believe he said it because by switching to a small ball team, we could improve our pitching staff a lot. Consider, losing Valentine, Maggs, and Lee freed up a ton of cash. Plus, it directly added Posednik and Viz, via trade. Additionally, we were able to add AJ, Gooch and El Duque. I think you have to believe that our baseball team from an overall stand point (viewing it in 4 categories: offense, defense, starting pitching, relief pitching) is greater than it was last year in 3 out of 4 categories. We may not have the power of last year, but I feel like we are going to be a much more offensively consistent baseball team this season: no more 32412352135 runs 1 game and get blanked for the next week. Playing powerball like we did the last 5 years, it's like going all-in on every hand in texas hold'em. Sure, you're going to win some hands and maybe even win some games. In the long run, that approach will lose you more money that it's going to win you... small ball tends to score you runs more consistently than powerball. Additionally, we do get Frank back. At that point, we do have some big hitters in our lineup: Frank, Jurassic, Konerko, Dye. Maybe that's not quite as much power potential in a given game as Frank, Konerko, Maggs, Lee, Valentine, but it is quite a bit. I think the one position we really need to upgrade is 3B. Crede is absolutely killing us there and has been for 2 years. If he sucks this year, we gotta upgrade there (maybe Fields is the answer, maybe not). So we do agree there. 3B is really the hinge that this season is going to swing on, I feel. We have just enough everywhere else where it COULD work, but man, if we get that 3B I think we show up in the ALCS.

We can do it...

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Apr 6, 2005 -> 01:28 PM) There is a difference between criticism as a fan which we can do and just b****ing to b****. Saying their is something wrong with our offense right now is ok, saying its the end of the season or that ozzie's smallball is bad is reaching. You're right. Saying smallball is bad, considering that decades of baseball data prove the contrary.

QUOTE(robinventura23 @ Apr 6, 2005 -> 01:22 PM) I don't think we can judge anything when the season is only 13 inning old. :headshake How come no one complained that we only scored one run on Monday.... Oh yeah, because we won. heh, I guess I forgot to put my sarcasm in green... but I thought it'd carry through. Oh well. You can't tell jack s*** about a baseball season based on 2 games.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Apr 6, 2005 -> 01:18 PM) this whole ozzie ball isn't cutting it so far through 12 innings...so much for Kevin Millwood being overrated, huh guys?? you're right. We should throw away a tag because of a few innings worth of work.

QUOTE(mreye @ Apr 6, 2005 -> 11:09 AM) Are you serious? Who's Freddy Garcia? But why male models?

A number of my friends here at school are Phillies fans and they all think Millwood is garbage (as do a few of my Braves fan friends). I hope we prove them right!