elrockinMT

Carl Everett

It is my intention to see the Sox rookie team next week. I'll let you all know what he looks like at the plate and in the field when I get the chance to take in the game.

That's a shame for Kelly. I was hoping we might have him back on the team soon.

Truer words could not have been spoken!

I don't think they will call up Cotts because he is pitching the Sunday all-future stars game, or whatever they call it, and he is on the AA all-star team. That's more important for him right now then to use him for one big league game. We have pitchers at the AAA level they can call up if they need another starter for just one game.

That just shows you how pathetic this offense can be at times. They continue to fall back into the old routine of swinging at everything and trying for the fences. Once in awhile something clicks and they go to the opposite field or up the middle and we score runs and then they go back to the old routine. Garland is looking better all the time and we at least have 4 solid starters. Wright is still iffy, but hasn't pitched bad at all.

Wednesday, July 9, 2003 A 'five-tool' regular guy Humble No. 1 pick tearing up league By SCOTT MANSCH Tribune Assistant Sports Editor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian Anderson is an extra special baseball player, a $1.6 million first-round draft choice whom Chicago White Sox officials labeled a rare "five-tool" talent upon selecting him with the 15th overall pick in the amateur draft last month. It hasn't taken long for the center fielder to make an impression upon Great Falls fans, what with his outstanding size (6-2, 205 pounds), grace in the outfield and power at the plate. The former University of Arizona star connected for the cycle (single, double, triple, home run) in his sixth professional game and is currently hitting .429 with 13 RBI as the White Sox enter an important three-game series that starts tonight in Helena. What makes Anderson so extraordinary -- and important to the success of the Sox -- is something that cannot quite be measured in the box scores. "The thing I'm most impressed with," said Great Falls manager Chris Cron, "is Brian's ability to be a regular guy. Sometimes these No. 1 picks are just a little high on themselves, and he doesn't seem to be that way." Cron, who reached the major leagues as a player and has been managing at the Triple-A level the past three years, realizes that chemistry in the clubhouse is as important as talent on the field. "Brian seems like a regular guy who gets along with everybody," Cron said. "He generally cares about the team and wants his teammates to do well. And then he brings all those other things to the table." Cron was talking about Anderson's ability to hit, hit with power, run, throw and play defense. The ball flies off his bat in all directions in a manner uncommon to many professionals, and his gliding ability in the outfield is obviously an asset. Want more proof of Anderson's potential? "Well, I still feel a little uncomfortable at the plate," he said the other day at Legion Park. "But I think that will come around." Mind you, Anderson was hitting over .400 when he made those comments. "Tell you what, he's pretty good," said Mike Lum, the ex-major league slugger and veteran White Sox minor-league hitting coordinator. "He does a lot of things correctly. He's able to hit the ball in the middle of the plate the other way. A lot of times with young hitters, all they want to do is pull the ball. But this kid, he's pretty polished." Anderson, 21, smiled easily and often during a recent interview. "It's a lot of fun. I like it here," he said. "I come from a pretty big place (Tucson) and 55,000 sounded like a small town. But it's really pleasant here. There's a lot of nice and it's a good environment, a good baseball environment." Of course, it's a better baseball atmosophere at Legion Park when the home team is winning. And they've been doing a lot of that this summer. "It's amazing," said Anderson. "We've got some talent on this team. Especially our outfielder. It's so talented, and we push each other. We all know if we don't play well, someone will take our spot." Anderson's position is pretty safe. His signing bonus guarantees a lot, and so does the way he goes about his business. In fact, Cron said the latter is far more important. "I like the way he swings the bat, and I really like the way he plays defense," Cron said. "He knows where to throw the ball when it's hit to him and he's got good arm strength. At the plate, he finds ways to get hits. He's not really tearing the cover off the ball yet, but he finds ways to throw two or three hits together." Not bad for a kid who grew up hoping to be a basketball player. "That was my main sport growing up," Anderson said. "But it was different when I got to high school. Our basketball teams were good, but our baseball teams were dominant." In the last few weeks, there's been another dramatic change in Anderson's life. "I was always a Dodger fan," said Anderson. Funny, a lot of folks at Legion Park used to say the same thing. "But when I got drafted by the White Sox I had to change my views a little bit," he said. One thing that hasn't changed, apparently, is the size of Anderson's head. And that's refreshing for a lot of folks connected to the Sox either by vocation or avocation. "It's just the Good Guy Syndrome," Cron said. "Brian Anderson is a nice guy, and everybody gets along with him fine."

I still would like to see one of these high priced primadonas offer to give nack part of their inflated salaries because they didn't contribute. You don't pay a guy $6M a year to lead the league in GIDP's. That's all you see from Konerko and that's a ground ball out. But, others who have posted here are right. Losing is a team effort and the Sox do a great job of losing to pathetic cellar dwellers as a team. Pretty soon we will be that low too. KC won again and the Sox and Twins lose.

We lose to Tampa Bat 4-3 and 3-2 in games we should have won. we beat them 11-3 and then go to Detroit and have the wheels stolen from us losing 2-1. How can a team with the supposed power of the Sox lose 3 one run low scoring games to teams like the Tigers and D-Rays? We were just at the point of celebrating what many of us thought was a turnaround and then more jubilation over adding more fuel to the team in Alomar and Everett. It's time to round up the usual suspects. Konerko is 0-7 in his last two games and GIDP tonight. He hasn't been playing much lately for good cause, but still seems intent on catching Ordonez in the GIDP race. Lee most likely can't remember to hit to right and everyone is swinging for the fences. I see the team rolled over into 4 DP's tonight. It is so pathetic to see the Tigers and D-Rays with players hitting for a higher average than the Sox. Pitchers who come out of nowhere for the sole purpose in life to shut the Sox down & our hitters let them. I don't think they can make the adjustments needed to drive in the big run unless it's with a homerun swing. Where is the heart and drive to this team? The Twins lost and the Royals won so we both drop an extra game behind KC. How does KC get so motivated and our team so complacent and ready to lose against the teams we need to beat to make up ground. We might beat KC and Minny and Boston, but lose to Detrit and Tampa Bay. The thing is that KC beats the lowlies and we can't. Now Cleveland is starting to jell as a young team also so we have another one to be worried about.

We lose to Tampa Bat 4-3 and 3-2 in games we should have won. we beat them 11-3 and then go to Detroit and have the wheels stolen from us losing 2-1. How can a team with the supposed power of the Sox lose 3 one run low scoring games to teams like the Tigers and D-Rays? We were just at the point of celebrating what many of us thought was a turnaround and then more jubilation over adding more fuel to the team in Alomar and Everett. It's time to round up the usual suspects. Konerko is 0-7 in his last two games and GIDP tonight. He hasn't benen playing much lately for good cause, but still seems intent on catching Ordonez in the GIDP race. Lee most likely can't remember to hit to right and everyone is swinging for the fences. I see the team rolled over into 4 DP's tonight. It is so pathetic to see the Tigers and D-Rays with players hitting for a higher average than the Sox. Pitchers who come out of nowhere for the sole purpose in life to shut the Sox down & our hitters let them. I don't think they can make the adjustments needed to drive in the big run unless it's with a homerun swing.

happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you... You know the rest. Have a good day.

The questiuon is: was there anything of value in any of those posts?

The three amigos on BBTN all picked Loaiza as their Cy Young mid year pick too.

I think the bottom line anymore IS the bottom line. I just don't see teams paying the big bucks we have seen in the past years. Everyone is financially struggling including the Steinbrenner Bombers. Maggs is a great player, but so is Juan Gonzalez, Luis Gonzalez, Vlad Guerrero, et al, You Name Them. 14 million from the Sox is a ton of money and I don't see anyone giving him more and maybe there is less to give. San Diego can say all they want, but new ballpark or not I am not sure they have the kind of money it wil take to sign all these free agent possibilities they talk about. Plus they need to be careful they don't get charged with tampering.

Because Foulke ran his mouth about Kenny. I thought the trade rationale given by KW was odd. I believe he wanted to trade Foulke because it was his FA year coming up and we couldn't afford Keith anymore. He then trades for Koch who had a year or two left and turns around and gives him big dollars to sign for 2 more years. If he didn't have the money for Foulke how come he did for Koch? I never liked that trade and now that Foulke is an all-star I like it even less. I think it was because Foulke challenged the front office plain and simple.

Rick Burelson, late of the Red Sox, et al, is the manager of Rokie League Billings as reds farm club. One of the local TV stations did a little segment on sports with him miked up. He was talking to his players and coaches during the game and kept praising the White Sox rookie team at Great Falls, going on about how talented they were and could really pound the ball as well as having some great pitching.

1) Who will win the series (CHW/DET) (2 points)? Sox 2) Will Jon Garland give up a homerun (Y/N) (2 points)?Yes 3) How many errors will the Sox make (4 points)?two 4) Which Sox infielder will have the most hits (4 points)?Jose Valentin 5) How many walks will Frank have in the series (5 points)?five 6) What will Loaiza's ERA be after the series (I will give 0.1 either way) (5 points)?2.10 ERA 7) How many saves will the Sox have (4 points)?two saves 8) Will Frank Thomas make the All Star Team (Y/N) (2 points)?Yes 9) Will Carl Everett have at least 5 hits in the series (Y/N) (2 points)?Yes 10) Will Jeremy Bonderman have 14 losses after this series (Y/N) (2 points)?Yes

The saving grace I get as a Chisox from reading the Red Sox implosion report is the fact they are still up there with the Yankees and in the thick of the race. Can you imagine what their record would look like if they had a relief corp? We have blown games, but can take heart from that story and know we can still win this thing too.

Miguel is an inexpereinced hitter and is learning very slowly here at the big leagure level. I watched the game on WGN Saturday and Hawk and DJ commented on the fact that Miguel is having a hard time reading pitches and that the Rays took advantage of his inexperience during that fiasco when we couldn't score with no outs and the bases loaded. It will take time and effort to bring Olivo up to an acceptable level. However, Crede is also still learning and gets fooled badly on pitches low and outside. I have watched him get suckered a few times now and his backside sticks out a mile and he flails away limply at that outside pitch. It takes time and I hope the rest of the team can pick it up from here on. We can't afford anymore 1-2 series like Tamp Bay. By all rights we should have swept.

Frank Thomas on 7-9-03 in Detroit. Frank is still proving them wrong.

Frank Thomas on 7-8-03 in Detroit. Frank is mad and going to tear the place up.

The Dodgers need offense and we have it to trade, but assuming that our need is another starter or a closer to help out, I don't think LA is going to give is anyone. Ashby might be available, but he is not what the Sox need. He is about a 5-6 inning guy and we already have that covered.

Monday, July 7, 2003 White Sox arms give Provo Angels a devil of a time Great Falls has won five straight and 12 of their last 13 contests By CURT BACKA Tribune Sports Writer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a perfect day for baseball, and the Great Falls White Sox put a perfect capper on the day with their fifth straight victory, taking a 3-1 decision over the Provo Angels before a Tribune Family Day crowd of 3,685 Sunday at Legion Park. The White Sox have now won 12 of their last 13 games, and many of those wins were made possible by a potent offense -- an offense which came into Sunday's game hitting a collective .324 on the season and leading the Pioneer League in runs scored. On Sunday, pitching turned out to be the key. Starter Boone Logan and three relievers turned in sparkling performances, limiting the Angels to just one unearned run and eight hits. "I didn't have my good stuff today," said Logan, a 6-foot-5 lefthander from Helotes, Texas. "I had to find ways to get them out." Logan, who picked up his second victory of the season, went five solid innings, scattered four hits, walked four and was victim of the one unearned run, which came in the fourth inning. "In games like these, it's important to pitch well, especially when your offense isn't putting up any runs," Logan said. "My best pitch today seemed to be my fast ball. "But, I still have a lot of work to do." The White Sox, who were handcuffed by Provo's Von Sterzbach and Wayne Hedden, were only able to manage six hits in the game. But, they made the most of them. In the third inning, following a pair of Provo errors, Sox catcher Charlie Lisk lifted a high drive to deep right centerfield. Angel centerfielder Reggie Willits couldn't quite catch up to the drive and it fell for a double, allowing Ricardo Nanita and Brian Anderson to score. The Sox added a bonus run in the fourth inning when Brian Anderson roped an RBI single following a pair of walks. Unfortunately on the play, Nanita was cut down at third base on a splendid throw by Willits. The three runs were all the White Sox needed on this day as reliever Mike Moat pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh inning. Thomas Jacquez held Provo scoreless in the eighth and Fernando Hernandez, who picked up his fourth save of the season, pitched the ninth. "You always want to be focused and pitch your best no matter what the score is," said Moat, a 6-1 righthander out of Longmont, Colo. "But on days like today, it is a little different because the score is close." "The bullpen came in and did a great job today," Logan said. The White Sox, now 14-4, will try for their sixth straight win tonight as they close out their four-game set and seven-game homestand against the Angels. First pitch is 7 p.m. After an off day on Tuesday, the White Sox face Northern Division rival Helena, who is tied for the division lead, for the first time this season in a three-game set at Kindrick-Legion Field starting on Wednesday.

Will finish at least 16-15

I think Ashby is washed up as an effective starter. Perez would be another deal altogether.