Rowand44

Eh? W00T THE OFFSEASON STARTS NOW

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 08:12 PM) Inge is no Joe Crede. He's got more range than Joe, that I will say. Inge has the most range of any third baseman I've seen in a while. For my money he's the best in the league, even with all the errors.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 05:50 PM) Honestly, I don't think it does. It'd be a big bonus to them if it happened, but I think they can get by without it. I think their performance will wind up hanging on Garza & Bonser, & Silva to some extent if he's still there. Garza & Bonser are the 2 question marks though...we know what Santana will give them, we know what their bullpen will give them, we know their offense is just going to keep getting better as long as Mauer and Morneau stay healthy and they don't start the season with Tony Batista...the question is going to be those middle-of-the-rotation starters. If those guys put up average numbers, then the Twins can be really good. If they struggle in their 2nd years, then the Twins basically have Santana. I don't think highly of Garza at all and I think Boof is basically going to be a league average starter. As for their offense, it's going to regress. Nick Punto, Jason Bartlett and Jason Tyner are not going to have seasons like they did this year, not even close.

I'm going to see Saw soon, I'm very excited.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 05:34 PM) Will Mark be with the Sox on opening day? I wouldn't bet the house on it, but I think there is a very good chance Mark will be on the mound April 2nd vs. Detroit. Cleveland.

QUOTE(bmags @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 04:01 PM) minnesota scares the bejesus outta me next year. Especially with hunter presumably healthy the whole year, and mauer/morneaux...yikes. Barring some big moves their season is going to hinge on Liriano being healthy, and that's not going to happen.

QUOTE(Brian @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 10:23 AM) Oh you didn't know? You're ass better call somebody! Libertyville vs. Notre Dame of Niles will be broadcasted online at WKRS.com a little before 7pm tonight. You will be able to hear the golden pipes of ME!!!!

QUOTE(watchtower41 @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 09:53 AM) Ohio State has a chance to be really good, hell they may win it all, but do they deserve #4 coming in?? Were they even ranked at the end of last year?? 1 player shoudl not make that kind of immediate impact. They should earn that respect. Well they were a 2 seed in last years tourny and made it further than KU in the tournament. Their team is almost entirely different(they do have Lewis and Butler back) but they have one of if not the most talented team in the nation. I see no reason why they shouldn't be ranked that high. Besides Florida every team has to prove themselves. QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 11:42 AM) Lots of buzz as a sleeper...returning 98% of the offense from last year including 4 double-digit scorers...2nd year for a well-respected coach who's creating good vibes...a potentially huge break-out year for sophmore Chandler along with a solid senior year from Mejia...top-notch schedule...and probably most importantly, we're in the best conference in the nation... That's how. I know plenty of people who believe Depaul could be a top 25 team(myself included). No surprise at all that they got some votes, I'm surprised they didn't get more to be honest. QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 10:00 AM) And Wichita State not being ranked in a travesty! Gonna be hard for the 3rd or 4th best team in the Valley to get ranked. The other Mid Major who should be ranked to start the season is Hofstra, they're going to be great this year(Stokes and Agudio are absolute studs). And I assume they will be ranked after they win in 'Cuse. Winthrop is going to be pretty damn good this year as well.

QUOTE(whitesoxin @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 11:23 AM) The Tigers choked with untimely errors against us all season long. I am not suprised at all seeing them doing it again on the biggest stage in baseball. They are chokers and cheaters. What does that make us?

QUOTE(AirScott @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 09:30 AM) is it any surprise how bad the Tigers are playing? hello? 36-38 after the All-Star break. they're only in because we didn't win ANY of the games we needed to win...Sox were 12-17 in September. ouch. Well considering they were playing fantastic in the DS and CS and now they're playing worse than the Royals, yes, I'd say it's a bit of a surprise.

Booerns, guess we're just going to have to fight our way into the top 25. EDIT: Some quick thoughts on this before I head to class: Pitt is beyond overrated. Gtech and Memphis are going to be very dangerous come tourny time. Duke will be more dangerous this year come tourny time than last. Creighton is better than 23 in the nation and Nevada better than 25th.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 07:47 AM) You're just mad b/c WH is going to be right from that argument you guys had way back at the beginning of the season. LOL, I forgot about that. He was basically just talking about the Mets though, so eh. Still, if the Tigers can win tonight I think they have a shot.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Oct 27, 2006 -> 01:01 AM) Marlins over Yankees? DBacks over Yankees? Marlins over Indians? Reds over A's? Dodgers over A's? Twins over Cardinals? Well the first two were pretty expected imo, especially the Marlins winning, I actually remember not thinking the Yanks had much of a chance in that series. I can't talk about the others as I don't remember those as I was either too young or not born yet. As for this series, you're right the Tigers aren't great and certainly haven't been dominate but the Cards were a pretty heavy underdog coming in and I know a lot of people(myself included) gave them no chance.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Oct 26, 2006 -> 11:52 PM) Oh yeah...the team playing the best in October always wins. The team that is playing the best though is a matter of total luck and randomness, and said team usually gets a few huge breaks as well. Ok, I lied, I will argue this. It's not total luck and it's not randomness to get hot in October. If it was don't you think that the law of averages would have caught up to the A's or the Twins or hell even the Braves more than once? There are reasons that those teams haven't won the World Series. Usually the best team in baseball is going to win the World Series because you have to go through 3 series and win 11 games. You're not going to luck your way through 3 series and if you're not the best team then chances are you will get beat. Like I said there are exceptions and this appears to be one of them. I don't believe the Cards are the best team in baseball(not close) but because baseball as a whole is so average this year they have their shot to win it all because they have not played one great team in this whole postseason.

QUOTE(CardsJimEdmonds15 @ Oct 26, 2006 -> 11:46 PM) Yea and even the 2004 and 2005 team Cards were better than this team IMHO.. maybe someone is smiling down on us.. an OK team has a chance to win a WS whereas those other two teams couldnt? That 2004 team was one of the best I've ever seen in my life as a Cards fan (I'm only 21) and they couldnt do it! But this team may? It doesnt make sense really! Well my simple answer to this is that baseball as a whole is wayyyyy down this year. There is not a great team, not even close to one. The 04 Red Sox were great, the 05 White Sox were fantastic and even the 05 Angels, 05 Astros and last years Cards were better than both of these teams in this years World Series.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Oct 26, 2006 -> 11:33 PM) The best teams GET to October. And on some occasions, a dominating team exists and they win (you could call us that to be honest, we did go 11-1 and wire to wire with the best record in the AL). But that's only 10 percent of the time IMO (1927 Yankees, 1976 Reds, 1998 Yankees, 2005 White Sox even). The other 90 percent of the time, you have pretty evenly matched playoff teams, and the one that gets the most luck wins. I highly, highly disagree and to be honest, that's a theory that a lot of people have that really bugs me. I really don't feel like getting into a big argument over this right now but the best team will usually win the World Series, I'll just leave it at that.

Wite could beat the Tigers by himself at the moment.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Oct 26, 2006 -> 11:22 PM) If the Cardinals finish this off, it continues to strengthen my theory that the MLB playoffs are about 90 percent luck. Not to diminish what teams do in October, but it's so much about luck. Hell, even us last year, if the A.J. play is called properly, we might go on the road down 2-0. That's why it's so important to MAKE the playoffs, because anything can happen. No offense but that's bull. For the most part, the best teams win in October(I don't care what anyone says) but there are obviously exceptions to every rule and this might be one of them. I'm embarrassed right now to watch this damn thing. The Tigers are disgracing themselves and I'm really starting to dislike Cardinal fans(a few bad apples for every fan base, unfortunately I'm in Cards territory now). The thought of an 83 win team winning a championship does kind of make me sick though, not going to lie.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 26, 2006 -> 12:08 PM) There defense is ridiculously solid/strong. Offensively one thing Booty has missed are his two top receivers who were out so things could get better after that. However, Booty has not played near as strong as of late (which again could be because of injuries to his playmakers). I'm not saying he's stunk, but he hasn't played like a national championship QB should play. I still think they lose to Cal.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Oct 26, 2006 -> 01:22 AM) I want the off-season to just get here ASAP so Kenny can start retooling this White Sox team. ^^^ I just want this darn thing to end so the offseason can begin.

I wouldn't mind Heilman for our bullpen but I got a feeling he'd get rocked in the rotation.

What the hey, time to pop in the ol' World Series DVD.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Oct 26, 2006 -> 01:56 AM) Yeah, SI had 'em at 18 (I think). Is this SIU team comparably better or worse than the one that made the Sweet 16 run a few years back? I honestly couldn't tell you how it compares considering I really just started to follow SIU bball hardcore last season. I can tell you that this team is pretty damn good and deep. We have a few weaknesses but this team could definitely be a s16 team.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Oct 26, 2006 -> 12:07 AM) This has got to be some kinda record for most games pushed back because of rain for one post-season. Happy it didn't happen to us, it would have made me go nuts.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Oct 26, 2006 -> 12:04 AM) we were up 2 games to nil, headed to the bottom of the 14th, at this time last year..... So um, yeah. Happy Damaso Marte is trying to give this game away anniversary. Ya well I didn't want to wait until 11 to make this thread, so sue me.