elrockinMT

That rumor doesn't make a lot of sense. Toronto has DelGado at 1st so they don't need Konerko plus Paulie and Rowand for Lidle doesn't make sense either as we are giving up too much.

This was my feeling Sunday, but we skunked Ledezma. However, today I see the Sox players talking about how we faced him in the Tigers sweep. It is a hard one to call, but I think what we have in our favor is hot hitting in the last 5 games and hopefully a new approach to hitting pitchers we haven't seen before. I think we will do well tonight.

1) Who will win the series (CHW/CLE/Split) (2 points)? Chicago White Stockings[/b (2) Who will reach base more times (Graffanino/Alomar) (2 points)? Alomar 3) How many errors will the Sox make (4 points)? 1 4) Which Sox OFer will have the highest average for the series (4 points)? Ordonez 5) How many hits will Bartolo Colon allow (5 points)? 8 6) How many runs will Sox right-handed hitters bat in during the series (5 points)?14 7) How many times will Miguel Olivo strike out (4 points)?3 8) Will Frank hit his 400th HR (Y/N) (2 points)?No 9) Will Porzio get a win (Y/N) (2 points)?Yes 10) Will Ben Broussard hit a HR (Y/N) (2 points)?NO TIEBREAKER: Total attendance for the 2 game series 56000

Paul Konerko for Monday versus the Indians

Hummel might well be there too next year if we don't sign Valentin.

We don't want to trade Paul Konerko. He will be a true force for the Sox in the second half. He has battled back from a horrendous first half and never gave up. He never made excuses, second guessed the manager or quit being a team player.

When Frank gets hot he can carry the whole team. He is showing it today, but there are a number of hitters contributing. Look at Hurt, Maggs, Paulie and Graffy WOW! Loaiza is cruising.

Watching game day and it looked as if Ledezma tried to hit Ordonez. Mags comes back and hit the homer. 7-0 now after Maggs and Frank deliver again.

I knew in the 1st inning that we weren't goint to see Loaiza and the Sox suffer another 1-0 loss. You give ELo 4 runs and watch out.

Just signed on to see what's happening. I caught the 1st inning on MLB game day and saw Graffy, Rowand and the Big Hurt deliver. Now the Hurt does it again. I think we are in for a stretch here where Frank will carry this team with his hitting. He goes in streaks and I think today will be the satrt of it. Good to see Frank, Maggs, Lee (?) and Konerko all getting hits at the same time. Go Loaiza!

I didn't see the BBTN broadcast, but Brantley never has impressed me in the past shows. Koch has never been effective this year that I can remember can anyone else? I don't think he has ever shown the 100 MPH fastball he is so famous for. Plain and simple the trade for Foulke was bad.

I hear your plea Heather. Graffy has come through clutch more than once for us this year when it seemed all was lost. But, he is so valuable in the role he plays I am not sure putting him in at DH or otherwise messing with his role is prudent. However, if we don't sign Alomar nexyt year do you think Graffy might be the new full-time 2B? Miles and Graffy could be fighting for it.

That's what makes a succesful pitcher and a big league prospect

I did the same earlier, but all I got was the Sox were sitting him becasue he aggravated the college injury sliding into base. The baseball writers in Great Falls said that it was obvious that something more serious was wrong. Interesting to see if you get any more response from the team PR person.

The Sox and many of us on SoxNet stuck with Paul Konerko when the going was tough. I think Paulie is back on track and can make a very significant contribution the second half. Look at the last few games. Frank Thomas is slumping, but Paulie comes in and hits picking up the slack like good teammates do when others are struggling. Earlier this year we wouldn't have seen that happen. If any trade is made I would think it is possible Daubach might be included. We don't need his lefthanded bat as much now and he is only signed with us through this year.

Not many that's for sure! Ozzie was a good player and always hustled. He was fun to watch and I think he would be a good coach for the Sox. However, it is the idea of Carlton Fisk managing the Sox that intrigues me the most. Whether he would play for JR again is a valid question. He dissed Fisk and it was inexcusable.

Nanita continues to hit and Anderson continues to sit with hand injury. Nanita sets Pioneer record; Sox still fall -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSOULA -- Great Falls outfielder Ricardo Nanita set a new Pioneer League record by hitting safely in his 28th straight game, but his teammates weren't able to celebrate very long here Friday afternoon as the Missoula Osprey posted an 8-6 victory over the White Sox in a Northern Division game. Nanita went 3-for-5, establishing a new league mark for hitting streaks, but the White Sox fell to 18-11 overall and dropped out of first place in the division. The Helena Brewers, 7-5 victors over the Billings Mustangs Friday night, regained the Northern Division's top spot. The Brewers (19-11) lead the Sox by a half-game and the Mustangs by 1Þ games. There are nine days left in the Pioneer's 38-game first half. Champions of both halves qualify for the league playoffs. Nanita, who tied the league record with an eighth-inning single Thursday night in Billings, didn't wait long to break it on Friday afternoon. The southpaw-swinging 22-year-old grounded a single up the middle in the top of the first inning. The 28-game hitting streak breaks the record of 27 games in a row set by K.C. Gillum of Billings in 1990. Gillum batted .395 (47-for-119) during his streak. Amazingly Nanita, who uses a wide, unconventional batting stance and doesn't pick his right foot off the ground at all during his swing, is also 47-for-119 during his streak. Nanita's RBI single in the second capped a two-run rally and put the Sox ahead. But it didn't last. The Osprey, who pounded out 16 hits against a trio of Great Falls pitchers, built leads of 3-2 and 5-3, the latter after four innings. The White Sox, who got a solo homer from Chris Kelly (No. 2) to tie the game at 3 in the fourth, received a run-scoring triple from Cory Haggerty and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Antoin Gray to tie it at 5 in the top of the sixth. The Osprey regained the lead with the aid of two Great Falls errors in the bottom of the sixth. Missoula's Andrew McCreery hammered a two-run homer in the seventh as the Osprey took an 8-5 advantage. Nanita singled again leading off the ninth, eventually scoring on Charlie Lisk's groundout, before Missoula closer Josh Perrault nailed it down for his first save of the season. J.D. Johnson (1-2), who relieved Great Falls starter Sean Thompson in the fifth, took the loss. Erick Silva picked up his third victory in five decisions for the Osprey.

I agree that losing sucks. We had so much fun and the optimism was flowing during that streak we beat the Red Sox, Cubs and Twins. That was the team we all knew was hiding somewhere in those Sox bodies. Every game we lose right now to the Tiger lair puts us that much further behind KC, which is beating teams like the Mariners. Every game we lose means we lose a little bit more of that special Sox fan optimism.

I am changing my pick to Aaron Rowand for Sunday.

Frank Thomas on Saturday

Any real Sox fan always has hope. However, realistically being 8 games out and continually losing to the Tigers is not a good sign. Also Colon getting battered and not winning in his last 5 starts more or less is not a good sign. But then again to have the team battle back from a 9-1 deficit and make it a 10-9 game, even though we lost, gives you that little ounce of optimism.

Nellie Fox is my choice. Nellie was as steady in the field as any player we have seen in this org. He was a sparkplug and could handle the bat. Here is a fellow that would get over 600 AB's a season and strikeout less than 20 times. He was an all-star and in the hall of fame.

Carl Everett on 7-18

I quit the posting around the 4th inning when we were down 9-1 after Colon and Sanders got beat up. I looked at ESPN once and it was 9-5. Never thought our offense would make a game of it but they did. However, run #10 scored off of Billy Botch. I see he did get 3 K's though. White was the only effective pitcher last night. Interviews before the game have Sox players going on about the great pitching. What happened to Colon? He has been so inconsistent pitching a brilliant game here and there to make us remember the 20-8 record and then he falls apart. Manuel says we should take heart in the fact the Sox showed offense. OK Jerry, but we lost and are now 8 games behind KC and the Twins passed us. KC beats Seattle Jerry, who arguably are the best team in the AL and we lose to the Tigers Jerry. Get a clue man!

Sox outlast Mustangs; Nanita continues streak By Tribune Staff -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BILLINGS -- Charlie Lisk drove in three runs and Ricardo Nanita tied the Pioneer League record by hitting safely in his 27th straight game as the Great Falls White Sox defeated the Billings Mustangs 4-3 here Thursday night. Nanita singled to spark a three-run rally in the eighth inning, tying the league hit-streak record set in 1990 by K.C. Gillum of Billings, as the White Sox snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 18-10 on the season. The victory also moved Great Falls into a half-game lead over the Helena Brewers in the Pioneer League's Northern Division. The Brewers dropped both ends of a doubleheader Thursday to Missoula. Nanita will attempt to establish a new league hitting-streak record this afternoon at 3 (KMON-AM) as the White Sox take on the Osprey in Missoula. Lisk gave the Sox an early lead with a solo home run in the top of the second on Thursday. Lisk fouled off several offerings from Billings starter Derek Hawk before lifting a towering drive to left, giving Great Falls its first lead in the three-game series. The White Sox, outscored 24-5 in the first two games of the series, didn't score again until the eighth. By that time, Billings managed to tie the game as Ben Himes rapped a two-out RBI single in the sixth. Nanita went 1-for-4 -- he also had one hit the previous two games in the series -- and for a long time it appeared as if his hitting streak might end. Nanita flied out to center in the first, grounded to first in the third and lined to first in the sixth. In the eighth, he came to the plate with two out following a walk to Antoin Gray. The southpaw-swinging Nanita took a ball, then singled in the hole between third and short off Billings reliever Jeff Groeger. Carlos Lee followed with a line single to left on a 2-2 pitch and Gray scored to break the tie. After an intentional walk to Brandon Bounds, Lisk doubled home a pair of runs to give the White Sox a three-run cushion. In the bottom of the eighth, the Mustangs loaded the bases with nobody out against Sox reliever Fraser Dizard on a pair of singles and a walk. Billings scored one run on a 4-6-3 double-play ball, then Dizard induced Mustangs' slugger Walter Olmstead to ground out to third. The Mustangs also rallied in the ninth, thanks to some shaky defense by the White Sox. With two out and one on, Juan Acevedo's soft liner down the left-field line appeared catchable but fell for a hit that made the score 4-3. Acevedo advanced to second, then went to third when Luis Bolivar struck out but reached first on a wild pitch. Up stepped Billings slugger Habelito Fernandez, who entered the game hitting .370 and had three hits his first three at-bats on Thursday. Great Falls reliever Fernando Hernandez Jr. got ahead 0-and-2, then induced his namesake (no relation) to ground out to shorstop, ending the game. Sean Tracey (4-2) gained the victory for the White Sox. Groeger took the loss for the Mustangs, who lost for only the third time in their last 14 games. Billings dropped to 17-11 on the season, a game behind the Brewers and White Sox.