BlackBetsy

The Sox flat-out outplayed the Yankees in all three games. The Sox just didn't get much clutch hitting in any of the games, and the A-Rod home run in the first inning against El Duque was unfortunately enough for the first game. You have to be impressed with the pitching performance.

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 10, 2005 -> 04:11 PM) 54,365... I wish our park was that big. Our Park was that big...then they tore it down and built a new one across the street where the closest seat in the upper deck was as far away as the furthest seat in the old park's upper deck. [Turns out, having a park that big makes it harder to draw fans to the game, not easier. Ask the Red Sox and Cubs about ticket scarcity and how it helps sell tickets]

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 10:49 PM) You know, I was wary of Broadway at first but he's done nothing but perform. Look out Birmingham. I'd worry about the Sox scouting department if the #1 draft pick didn't do well in high-A ball.

I looked at Sele's stats in his first three innings of work....just as bad as innings 4-6. He actually pitches better in innings 7-9, but rarely makes it that far, anyway. Sele had a nice career, but it's over.

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 11:35 AM) Definitely do it. Depending on where he lives DC is approx 25 minutes from Camden. Don't know how you get there, but it is always 1 hr + for me from Alexandria. Only the northernmost Maryland suburbs can get to Camden in less that 1/2 hour. Plan on a pretty good trip if you go - leave DC about 5 pm. for weekday night games and 11:45 for weekend 1:20 p.m. games. It's a beautiful park - the club level is nice (but more expensive) and the surrounding area has some great places. Tip - there's great food outside the park on the street parallel to the RF wall - you can even get pretty good bratwurst and polish sausage. Boog's BBQ inside the stadium is expensive but good. Greatest BBQ sauce ever.

I think that if you have to ask the question "Where do I fit this guy into the lineup?," you don't trade McCarthy for him. That kind of excludes Aubrey Huff IMHO. I don't like a two-month rental of AJ Burnett, either, since McCarthy will be better than Burnett in 2007, and if you don't trade him, he will be a White Sox in 2007. Burnett won't. I'm now pretty firmly against trading McCarthy for any of the shark bait out there. Adam Dunn I could see, if he were available, but he's not.

I was at today's game in Camden Yards. The Count was frustrating as usual, looking dominant at times and really idiotic at times. Thank goodness I was getting Dippin Dots when Palmeiro homered- I would have been really pissed. Crede looked better than I remembered at the plate. Great cut at the homer off Chen. I was surprised to see on the highlight that Pierzynski acted like he knew it was a homer all the way. I thought it was perhaps off the wall or going to hit the track - it just barely made it. Dye's homer was a bomb. I think Man Soo Lee caught it in the bullpen and got pretty excited. Was great to see. The Gooch looked good, too. Interesting play on Palmeiro to thrown him out 4-1. Jenks's fastball doesn't look as fast as Contreras's - Contreras hides the ball better. But Cotts' fastball looks almost as quick as Contreras. We have a closer with an 88 mph fastball? Get Billy Wagner quick. I think that the offense is just now getting on track. Pierzynski is a .300 hitter, and Konerko is a .290 guy. I expect them to get back up there.

Word is that the Reds are so stupid, they won't trade any of their outfielders. Seeing as you can't play 4 outfielders in 1 game, this is nothing short of moronic. I'd trade Wily Mo if I were them, but they simply aren't smart enough to deal the least valuable of the 4.

What I like about Sweeney's .289 is that he is showing improvement over the course of the year. It shows that, despite being pushed into a high level at a young age, he is not only holding his own but making the adjustments to improve his game. I wouldn't be surprised to see Sweeney add a bit of doubles power the rest of the year and over the winter. The question is - do you promote Sweeney to Charlotte next year so he can compete against 24 year old top prospects and former major leaguers or do you have him start in Birmingham and let him put up big numbers before promoting him?

What does Phillips say about KW?

QUOTE(ChiSox_Sonix @ Jul 24, 2005 -> 11:45 PM) Very, very nice to see Honel pitching well again recently Agreed. Once I heard that he hit 91 last week on the gun, I figured that his arm problems had finally begun to resolve themselves. Remember - this kid is still pretty young and could have a pretty good career. If he can get his velocity back and get his command back, it's like having a second 1st round pick this year.

The more I think about it, the more I think that sending Contreras, McCarthy and Marte to the Marlins for Burnett is foolhardy. Burnett benefitted from piching in one of the most extreme pitchers' parks in the NL over the last few years. And, because he's in the NL, you can expect to have his ERA increase by .3-.5 runs anyway by going to the AL. That just puts him on about a par with th Count, who has been HURT by pitching in what has been the best hitters' park in the AL. Unless we are getting Florida's #1 or #2 prospect, I can't see this deal being reasonable, EVEN IF BURNETT SIGNS AN EXTENSION.

I think we'll see a lot of 30,000 plus crowds as we head into the playoff time. Everybody wants to go to the game where the Sox clinch. The funny thing is that in MLB there is a pretty big divide between the 16th highest team attendance (Atlanta) and 17th (the White Sox). The Braves average about 31,000 per game, while the Sox are at 27,700 or so. It would take the Sox averaging 38,600 - essentially a sell out - for the remaining 30 games for the Sox to catch up to the Braves for 16th place in attendance. I think the Sox wind up just shy of 30,000 per game this year - maybe 29,500 or so to pull in 2.39 million or so. That'll take average crowds of 32,000 the rest of the way. With three Yankee games, a bunch of games vs. the Twins, and a playoff run, that seems pretty reasonable. I think that will be 4th highest in team history. Lopping off 9,000 seats as they've done in the past few years will probably cost the Sox about 100,000 in attendance this year given the terrific record.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 24, 2005 -> 07:50 PM) Why do I rate him #1, because he's the best in my mind. He has a good FB (low 90's and climbing), a plus curve and a plus change. McCarthy having a "plus" change is news to me. He didn't have any confidence in it at the major league level, and as far as I know he learned it rather recently. That said, McCarthy is the one #1 starter prospect in the system. At 6'7" 190 and his age, I expect him to: (1) gain 30-40 pounds over the next 5 years, and gain 3-4 mph on his fastball; and (2) learn another breaking pitch such as a cut fastball to take away reliance on his straight fastball. Burnett is a #3 starter when he's on and has benefitted greatly from pitching in one of the best pitcher's parks in the league. I'm not real anxious to give up McCarthy for that, especially when signing Burnett is up in the air. Now, if you told me someone farther away from the big leagues - like Gio Gonzalez - was the man going along with Marte, I'd say giddyup, even though Gio might be a great starter someday.

QUOTE(SoxFanForever @ Jul 21, 2005 -> 11:21 PM) 2 Outs until meltdown on this board. As well there should be. This team has played like a 75-win team over the last three games. It's not just bad days. It's a consistent lack of execution.

Nevin is a quality hitter and wants to win really badly. However, he can also be a real prick when it comes to his teammates. I saw him absolutely chew out Klesko one time for not scoring on a fly ball he hit to the outfield. Just screaming at him - looked like he cared more about getting the RBI than anything. I'd worry about Nevin in the clubhouse.

Livan's a great fit with the White Sox given El Duque's presence on the team. On the flip side, Contreras would benefit hugely from pitching in RFK (he's a flyball pitcher). I say Livan and Ryan Church for Contreras, Bajenaru, Takatsu and Brian Anderson.

Gio gets the win for W-S, but was hittable. Five hits, three walks and three runs in six innings. Eight strikeouts, but what else is new. Schnurstein 3 hits, homers for Nanita, Hill, Hinton and Collaro. Link here

I've got 4 tickets in the Club section to the July 31st game against the Orioles IN CAMDEN YARDS...can't use because they switched the game to a night game. I'd like to swap these out for Friday, July 29 if possible.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jul 15, 2005 -> 04:22 PM) Ours was just over 10K. 10K just for JR and a location.. nuts. I wish I could get our wedding in DC done for 10k...reception alone 2.5x that.

1993 team lost in the ALCS 2000 team lost in the ALDS 2005 team..... Seems like we are going backwards. What did Early Wynn do in the '59 ASG?

Looks like we have a few guys making a mockery of the Pioneer League. Brandon Allen is putting up Barry Bonds type numbers. Torres has some nice stats, so does Rote and Richard. Which of these guys are age appropriate/prospects?

IIRC correctly, the Commissioner's office will have to approve this if over $1 million is going to the Twins. The Commissioner's Office may reject it if the prospect isn't good enough or if they think too much money is going to Minnesota as part of the deal.

To me, Jerry Owens is the guy most likely to be traded. The organization doesn't have too much of a commitment to him (they got him for free by trading Alex Escobar, who they got off of waivers) and he has a nice batting average that might attract clubs. If they throw a AA outfielder into the mix, it'll be Owens. Query whether Rogowski won't be a throw in. You never hear the excited statements out of Sox brass about Rogo that you do about the other top prospects, although Hawk likes him IIRC. But I'm not even sure that the Sox will make a big deal as in years past. Ozzie is too sold on Crede's defense (and I admit, I like Crede defensively) to trade for a third baseman. A SS is a possibility if Harris is sent down, so I might see Vizquel (who, in the first year of a multi-year deal, would have the right to veto any trade). If the Giants trade Vizquel, they could pretty much use help from any of the Sox's minor leagues. I could see them taking a package like Valido, Bajenaru and Owens for Vizquel.

I'm starting to worry more about the Indians and their sorry-ass schedule in the second half. They have 24 games against the Royals & D-Rays in the second half. The Twinkies have a much harder schedule (mostly due to the White Sox) than the Jndjans.