S720

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Oct 14, 2005 -> 12:03 PM) Every other person in the media that I've read or heard has given AJ credit for a heads-up play to run to first since he never heard the ump call him out and he thought the ball was in the dirt. But get a load of this pile of crap from Bill Plashke in the LA Times: The perfect storm refers to a 3rd string catcher, a novice umpire and a "smirking batter" aka, AJ, coming together at the wrong time. I'm sure he was running to first to piss someone off, not to win the game. Plaschke has amazing insight. Here's his email: [email protected] I take Bill's article as a compliment. AJ is the type of players whom you love to have but hate to play against.

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Oct 14, 2005 -> 11:51 AM) Let me pray as well :pray My coworker and I were talking about the Sox before our weekly RoHS meeting we both were talking about how nerve racking the games are to watch because of the potential involved with them. We both are praying that we get to see them in the big show this year. ALL TOGETHER NOW: Amazing grace, how sweet the Sox...

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Oct 14, 2005 -> 09:00 AM) Jon is going to get it done tonight, and the bats are going to wake up, and all will be right with the world. Who is that one vote for Judy Garland? Come one, we haven't gone out to war yet, and we already concede? Jon will pitch great tonight, and tonight game will be the first of the three wins in Anaheim. Keep your faith!

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Oct 14, 2005 -> 08:41 AM) Do allow me to PRAY with you. :pray :pray

QUOTE(Texsox @ Oct 14, 2005 -> 07:58 AM) Wow, he jumped on the bandwagon early I'm kidding with the above posts. I'm just noticing how quickly we divide the idiots, the bandwagon jumpers, and the brilliant sports writers and commentators. There are no other categories and as soon as there is a positive article somewhere, like a bunch of lemmings, we rush over and take a look. People have opinions, there are intelligent opinions that picked the Angels. That thought the call was wrong, etc. You know the only way we can make the call "RIGHT" is to win three straight in Anaheim. Here is to the first one tonight.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Oct 14, 2005 -> 07:07 AM) He's just a bandwagon jumper. He wasn't a fan before, now all of a sudden he's writing nice things about the Sox? You are right, the loser tag was wrong. Although didn't he lose his wife to Mark Grace? Texsox, I disagree with you COMPLETELY. So what you're implying is if a non-Sox fan says something positive about the Sox, then he or she is a bandwagon jumper! That is such a fallacy! How do you know Ryno's mind? How do you know that he didn't think that was a BAD call at all? So if he sticks up to something he believes is right, and it just happens that that something is to the advantage of the Sox, you call him a "bandwagon jumper." I am totally surprised that this is coming from you.

What do Cubs fans have to say about the call now when their very own idol's opinion in favor of the ump? Even until now, I find it very funny and ironic when the people who have expressed the most fury regarding the call came from the Cubs message boards!

QUOTE(Texsox @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 12:17 PM) You are right for the hard core fan. The Cub fan base is not all hard core. They have legions of casual fans who really don't care. We've made fun of their fans for years, talking on a cell phone, showing up late, not knowing players, not knowing the rules, standings, etc. Those people do not care and are the very people we are trying to attract. Good point!

Go and tell them to talk to my Cubs-fan brothers and friends. They would want nothing more than for the Angels to put the White Sox away in a sweep! And that's the fact! Have you all noticed the people on the baseball message boards who complained the most and really intensify their criticism about the call last night were either those who hate the White Sox AND the Cubs fans? My brother who has moved away from Chicago since 1989 still hates the White Sox in his gut. I respect his feelings as well as he has for me.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 10:32 AM) I think it sucks. Why do these dips***s have to besmirch Chicago sports fans again? What the hell they were doing? As if we don't have enough negative publicity already! Such unprofessional and stupid actions!

This is why the White Sox is where they're at! The presence of mind, the gut, the hustling, the never-give-up attitude, the don't-give-a-damn-about-what-you-think personality, the pumping-everybody-up play, etc... Pierzynski

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Oct 12, 2005 -> 11:52 PM) I gotta disagree with ya here somewhat Krush.... On the play in question... 1. I have no doubt the ball hit the ground. There was a definite change of direction just as the ball was entering the web of the glove. It was about as close as it can get and most of the time, the umpire will just ring the batter up in that situation, but tonight he did not. 2. The home plate umpire immediately put his right hand to the side, which is an indication that the play is still live. That clearly indicates to me that he thought the ball hit the ground and wasn't calling AJ out. 3. What I cannot figure out is that he made an out/strike indication shortly after that. I don't know what that indication was for. If you go back and look at it, he made that motion almost simultaneously when Paul was letting go of the ball toward the mound. Paul was out in front of the plate along the baseline when he did this so there is no way he was tossing the ball to the mound because he saw that motion. He had already made the assumption the out was recorded. One could argue that the motion Eddings (sp?) made froze other players such as the pitcher, who could have reacted in time to throw AJ out. But I can't buy the argument that Paul threw the ball back because Eddings had called him out. Paul COULD NOT have seen that. If the umpire did not verbally call him out, which all parties seem to agree he did not, Paul cannot make the assumption he did. Again, Paul was throwing the ball to the mound as the fist pump was made, which was behind JP. Paul cannot use that argument. 4. This play is probably called the other way 8 out of 10 times, but if Eddings thought it hit the ground (I am assuming he was going on sound, because that is almost impossible for the home plate umpire to see) then it is legit. I just can't understand the initial motion of safe/ball is live (right arm extended) followed by the strike/out motion. I umpired for 10 years and can't figure out any reasoning for both motions. The bottom line is the Sox caught a break. AJ was heads up, realizing that Eddings never said "he's out" which is typical after such a strikeout. Paul made an assumption that would not get him in trouble most times, but today it did. The Sox got a break, but the Angels DID NOT get screwed! GREAT OBSERVATION REX!

QUOTE(qwerty @ Oct 12, 2005 -> 11:51 PM) Only times he threw a ball in the dirt was when he was up 0-2 or 1-2. He was never in jeopardy of walking anyone even if the sox didn't swing. It supposed to be satire!

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Oct 12, 2005 -> 11:44 PM) Our guys were swinging away at crap in the dirt all night long. I was talking to one of my friends and I called the AJ k on the pitch in the dirt. Fortunately it turned out ok. You know if our guys didn't swing at all, we might have scored a walk-in run. Man, how could you swing at a whole bunch of in-the-dirt balls and stand still at the in-middle-of-the-plate ones???

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 12, 2005 -> 11:35 PM) So...did I miss anything interesting? We won the game. And now the rest of baseball is hating us! To which I say, "Who give a *^%#!" It is when we are cornered that we play our best game. So go ahead and hate us! Man Balta, how did you get more than 5,500 posts when you just joined in April? Man, you type fast, don't you?

QUOTE(fathom @ Oct 12, 2005 -> 11:28 PM) So, how will you answer the question we're all sure we'll hear tomorrow: "So, how much did you pay the umpires?" from a Cubs fan. Any suggestions? I was thinking things along the lines of: - the same amount that we paid Bartman to screw you guys in 2003. - the same amount we paid Ronnie Woo Woo to wash our car yesterday - the same amount that we paid the clubhouse attendant to put cork in Sosa's bat - the same amount that Prior and Wood paid for a round of golf yesterday How is your vacation?

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Oct 12, 2005 -> 10:45 PM) LMFAO AT THE MLB BOARDS!!!! All the Spankee, Red Sucks and Astro loser fans are uniting against the Sox and b****ing about the call. I f***ING LOVE IT!!!! LOSERS OF THE WORLD UNITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHA NUKE, LET THEM BE! All season long we have been disrespected by everyone outside of the White Sox Army. The rest of the major league baseball is just waiting for any kind of opportunity to tear us down. I don't give a damn who criticizes us now. People criticized us when they thought we would forfeit the rained-out game against Boston. People criticized us when they thought we would not want to move this series' first game back to Tuesday. People criticized us for our lacking of perfect attendance. Now people are criticizing us for cheating with the umpire. To all of the people who made these accusations, I will take upon Pierzynski's attitude and say, "The HELL with all of you. All I care about is my White Sox and the RING!"

QUOTE(Brian @ Oct 12, 2005 -> 11:03 PM) Sorry guys, but nobody will convince me that he didn't catch it. But we take it! Brian, ask yourself this question. If the ball didn't hit the ground, why was it that it landed high inside the catcher's glove? If it didn't hit the ground, it would have been caught by the lower part of the glove.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 12, 2005 -> 10:59 PM) If it hit the dirt, it wasn't a horrid call. There was no he's out (not a definitive one) there was no anything (either way) that indicated that the Angels should have stopped and threw the ball back. I vehemently disagree with this idea, imo. The ball hit the dirt and its a players job to keep playing until something is ruled final. Plus how can it be a horrible call when no replay shows that the ball clearly went into his mitt. In fact I think most replays show that there is a pretty likely chance that it did hit the dirt. Chisoxfn, what do make of the umpire's clenching his fist? Why did he do that if it wasn't an out? I know the ball was trapped. My question is in regard to the umpire's motion.

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Oct 12, 2005 -> 10:55 PM) I saw that as well. I don't know if the ump called strike three or strike three, you're out, but any catcher that is in the big leagues, let alone on a team in the ALCS KNOWS throw the ball to first or tag the guy, don't ASSUME that the umpire saw you catch it cleanly. I am not saying I wouldn't be livid if it was reversed, but I would be more pissed at my catcher than the ump (although he would get some of my wrath as well lol). The ball was trapped! Two consecutive still shots indicated that. If the ball did not hit the ground, it would not have landed high in the glove. The question remained is did the umpire call or make a signal that Pierzynski was out? In any event, if the situation reverses, do you think the Angels would give a damn whether it was a right call or not? A win is a win. Just like Mike Sciosia said during his post game conference, they didn't lose the game because of the call. They did not play good enough to win this game. Whether it's a good or bad call, you have to accept the result and move on...

QUOTE(Shingotime!! @ Oct 12, 2005 -> 10:12 PM) imho, that ball was caught cleanly, were showing our biased guys I watched the play differently from you. The front still shot showed the ball right in front of the glove but also on the ground. The second still shot showed the ball well high inside the glove. That tells me that the ball hit the ground and bounces up into the glove! THAT'S HOW I SAW IT! Anyway, an experienced catcher will NEVER make that mistake like Josh Paul just made. Pierzynski or Molina without a doubt will either touch Pierzynski or throw the ball to first base. Great tough win!!! And Mark Buehrle is light-out!

QUOTE(iWiN4PreP @ Oct 12, 2005 -> 08:12 PM) dye has been absolote s*** bench dye, put in blum? timo? who else do we have? First of all, you don't ever bench Dye for Blum or Timo! But I agree, if you are going to go up there and bat lazily like Dye just did, why bothered batting at all? Suddenly, all of our hitters have changed the way they batted in the ALDS. They were much more patient.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 09:24 PM) We've been outmanaged, outplayed in every facet of the game. If our club somehow pulls it out, which I doubt, it will be a miracle. This game is disgraceful to watch as a fan. What the hell are you talking about Flash? Get a hold of yourself! It's 3-2 for god's sake! What so goddamned disgraceful about it?

QUOTE(ChiSoxFan @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 03:02 PM) At least that's what I think I heard. But if so, that's huge. The Baseball God wants our beloved White Sox in the World Series. DEFINITELY!

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 01:46 PM) you shouldnt be believing in curses and jinxes. What are you talking about? Man, I forgot to TIVO the first game of the ALDS, and after we won that game, I DID NOT DARE TIVOing the other two games. Baseball is full of superstitions, curses, jinxes, etc.