fathom

News flash....the Indians are good. It's going to be a hell of a race with them this season.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 08:14 PM) By any chance, d'you recall where Prior plunked him? I think it was due to the Cubs throwing him well inside during the entire series vs the Giants. I think there was also some bad blood because Bonds thought Dusty had told his pitchers to go after him "inside".

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 04:01 PM) All great points, and also remember that he won't have 1/10th the pressure at NC State that he would have at IU. The other interesting point is the Derrick Rose derby, this makes UNC and the Illini the 2 clear favorites, unless Calipari can go to NC State and get back into it there. Two things: - NC St. might not have the tradition that IU has, but their fans are some of the most rabid and insane that you'll find. Calipari will face a ton of pressure at NC St. to produce big right away. - NC St. will now likely be a player in the Rose sweepstakes (and when I say sweepstakes, I really mean it). Rose favors the ACC over the other conferences, and just cause Calipari is no longer at Memphis, it doesn't mean he won't be offering the same "opportunities" at NC St.

BTW, I'm 99 pct certain that Thome charged the mound against Rheal Cormier a while back. The funny thing is that Thome and Cormier are real close friends. Thome said he charged the mound for the sake of the team. To show how classy of a guy he is, Thome and Cormier hung out after the game.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 07:10 PM) Willie Harris Time??? The worms on the infield dirt at Fenway are about to become endangered species.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 08:42 PM) Fathom, excellent point on Ozzie figuring this bullpen out in the early-going. I'm sure that wasn't easy for you. But, seriously, he's fingered McCarthy as his go-to guy in the close ballgames and it looks like he still has faith in the big guy closing things out. I'm an Ozzie critic, not an Ozzie hater. I have absolutely no problem pointing out good decisions he makes during a game, etc. It's going to take him a while to get used to this bullpen, especially if some guys are a little better/worse than last year.

BTW, kudos for Ozzie for quickly realizing that McCarthy is his best righty set-up man. It's also encouraging to see McCarthy be able to go 2 innings today after loosening up yesterday.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 07:32 PM) You know what's odd about today's performance for Garica? He threw harder this afternoon than I've seen him throw since joining club. Consistently 92mph; 94 occasionally in certain situations. Last season he rarely hit 94, and today he reached it frequently. I would have been satisfied if he eclipsed 90. Literal night and day difference between second-start Garcia and typical, hardthrowing Freddy Garcia. Last game was a wake-up call for Garcia. Any pitcher with pride would be upset with the way the Indians smacked around his fastball. Great outing by Garcia today.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 05:56 PM) Has Lisa cut his sex life off or something? What's wrong with Pods? Jesus Christ. Cue SSH's quote about Pods being a porsche.

Did Thome and Barry Bonds switch jerseys? Keep it up Jim!

Pods batting average is going to come close to the legal limit for blood-alcohol content pretty soon.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 05:35 PM) Yah! What has he ever done for us! Lets see....you say stupid walks and stupid Monroe. I believe Garcia was the one who walked Guillen, and the person who hung the offspeed pitch.

QUOTE(Ndgt10 @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 05:34 PM) I really think Detroit is going to be a very good team this year. I like them better than minnesota and cleveland. I don't think they're better than Cleveland, but I like them better than the Twins. The Tigers have a terrific lineup though, and their pitching/managing is going to be much improved. If you put them in the NL Central or NL West, they'd easily compete for first place. BTW, what the hell did the Cardinals do this offseason? Talk about a team getting worse.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 05:33 PM) Stupid walks. Stupid Craig Monroe Stupid Freddy Garcia

By the way, did Dmitri Young receive his WS ring before the game?

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 05:30 PM) Couple of long fly balls off of Freddy thus far. Can Freddy just be our designated road pitcher?

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 05:27 PM) I like Mackowiak and all.... but so far you would think he is an everyday player. I like how Ozzie makes sure everyone gets involved and playing time but seriously we need the regular lineup getting time together. I don't mind Mackowiak playing instead of Anderson today. Anderson doesn't match up with Bonderman at all (of course, last time I said that, it was against King Felix).

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 05:23 PM) Maybe Crede can get another broken bat double. That was sweet yesterday. For as many long fly outs as we've had, that was a nice little break yesterday on that broken bat double.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 12:53 AM) Surprised he hasn't tried to get a bunt hit. Didn't see yesterday's game but today he only squared around 1 time in 5 ABs. His bunting has been off for a long time. The only bunt he's got into fair territory was a pop up right to the 3rd baseman yesterday.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 9, 2006 -> 10:32 PM) I said that was a worst case scenario. But I think DLing him would be bad. His problem is, I think, that he hasn't had enough time to practice his timing. Real-world practice is what he needs, methinks. I think he'll be okay and sooner than my worst case scenario. That's exactly why you would DL him. Put him on a rehab stint, and let him get his timing down without hurting the major league team.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 9, 2006 -> 10:03 PM) It's just the start of the season and he missed much of ST. He'll be fine in about two weeks, I'd say, at worst. I'm sure he'll be okay. Players slump sometimes, particularly at the start. ::shrug:: Another two weeks? That's about 50 at-bats. If we had to give Pods nearly 75 ABs to get back into game shape, then we really screwed the pooch by not having him start the season on the DL.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Apr 9, 2006 -> 08:45 PM) How is catching the ball not an out? On a questionable call like that, you're supposed to be able to be able to show the ball to the umpire. Even Crede knows that, which is why he brought his glove up right away.

QUOTE(allupons @ Apr 9, 2006 -> 08:27 PM) Nothing annoys me like a manager getting himself thrown out on a CORRECT call to fire up his team. I think the rulebook states that it wasn't the correct call. Anyways, the game is over.....good win!

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Apr 9, 2006 -> 08:26 PM) Is it okay to worry about Jenks? Not as long as he has Crede behind him. This is a big change from the way that Rowand was pathetic for him in the field last year.

Even though Jenks had to throw strikes there, hopefully this series will show Sox mgmt that you can't throw Sanders fastballs the whole game.