DaSoxRox

With all the big thumpers behind him in the line up, they may not run him very much. In that case, then the OBP will be the important stat for this guy. Any of the next 5 or 6 batters in the order can and should hit 20+ dingers. I agree....OBP is the only stat we should be paying attention to with respect to Jiminez...I don't care how the hell he gets on...hits, walks, errors, heck get yourself hit 30 times....I don't give a s***...all I know is that there are 125 runs sitting there waiting to be had at that spot, so whoever it is better damn well be patient and once they do get on base stay there for the big boys to knock you in....

A difficult situation, but one any manager would love to have.... Yes, it could be a very nice problem to have. It would be interesting to see what the Sox do if Joey B does make the team. Would they trade Lee? Rowand? Thomas? Well....I think alot will depend upon how Rowand produces....If he looks as if he can be a good productive ML-level CF, then I think the organization should consider what they might be able to get for Lee...that of course assumes JoeyB continues to hit....I mean, right now, Carlos is a pretty marketable commodity and might be able to get us another LH bat or some serious minor league pitchers prospects.... I'd hate to see his bat go, but if Rowand and Borchard are the goods, then you've got 3 guys for 2 positions, and we might want to move one of them to improve ouselves elsewhere by moving one of them... But there's a long way to go before this all happens....

A difficult situation, but one any manager would love to have....

Grew up in NYC (I actually was a diehard Yankee fan growing up), spent 10 years in Philly before moving to the southside in 90....came to chicago with an expectation that I would probably become a Cubs fan....however, after I started to attend both Sox games and Cub games, I quickly realised that the Sox Fan is the type of person I want to hang with and I liked the direction the organization was going in at the time.... See, I came from Philly, which is a real blue-collar type town who is passionate about their teams, and are true diehard fans even though they don't win very often....the fans are down to earth people who like to party, tailgate and talk baseball...that's what I saw from Sox fans....not the duchebags in their suits who sit in the bleachers at Wrigley or the assholes who jump on the bandwagon during a Cubs early Aug win streak only to run away during their predictable Sept swoon....no, I just found a home in Comiskey and that's that..... Now, my wife moved me to London in 99 to make the big bucks, so I have to suffer through the summer listening on radio and catching clips on the dish once in a while.....sigh......I must admit, I am looking forward to the day when my wife says she wants to retire, so we can come back and I can spend every f***ing day at the park and do s*** like cw is doing by going down to AZ to hang out for a week or two. Just counting the days.... Thats the story, thanks for asking...

Ok, this could get ridiculous.....if JoeB truly becomes the real deal this year.... this could get scary......decided to throw some hr and rbi estimates on our starting lineup and it could be awesome.... Jiminez/Harris 5 40 Valentin 25 80 Frank 30 110 Maggs 35 130 Paulie 30 100 JoeB 30 80 Lee 25 80 Crede 25 75 Olivo/Alomar 15 60 Bench 30 100 Total 250 855 Last Year 217 819 Totally rough numbers, which could get lotsa cries of argument, but my point is that I see no reason why this group of guys can't crush even last year's great numbers... Now, if our 4 and 5 slots produce.......WS BABY!!!!

The concerns that I'm hearing they are having with Olivo at this early stage is his handling of himself behind the plate, not necessarily his bat. I say, let's all just see how the month develops and see how well Alomar teaches and how well he begins to pick things up.... That said, the target I think would be 80-90 starts for Olivo with the balance going to a healthy (yikes) Alomar....then next year it Olivo's for himself....

Couldn't agree more, Koch.....I mean, think of the investment the Sox have made with Buerhle since, what 1996?...so many guys just don't pan out, and to finally have one end up to be an almost 20-game winner and AllStar....you gotta shake your head when the org, uh KW and JR, give us the bulls*** line about s*** that they have done in the past....give me a break...Buerhle can be an exception to the rule....HE HAS EARNED IT. KW, get it done, right.

OUCH DaSoxRox, that hurts seein that I'm a half Greek guy... Didn't know people around here don't like Gyros... It's called lamb buddy... Oh, yeah....gyro's......now don't get me wrong, I love Greek food and Greek people......actually got totally drunk once at a Greek wedding and had tons of fun smashing plates and stuff....but....I am always skeptical of food that takes on a different shape after processing......like, what are the actual ingredients to that cone of meat? Anyway, yesterday's performance by all 5 guys, plus the solid outing the day earlier (with the exception of Almonte) IN ARIZONA, is something we should all be smiling about, regardless of the fact that its early March....I am pumped right about now!!!! Chisoxfn, have a good flight down there and keep us posted!!!!

Yes, in this instance, we do have a guy who doesn't let this bulls*** get in the way of his performance, but I GUARANTEE that he will remember this when 2006 rolls around......and the ridiculous thing is that for a hundred or two (chump change), we would keep the guy happy and feel he was getting the respect he obviously deserves... Its sort of like taking your wife out to a cheap resturant on your honeymoon....she'll never let you forget....know what I mean?

How s***ty was the deal they were offering Buerhle? Was his agent greedy or was it nowhere in line with what other young guys of his caliber are getting before they go to arbitration?

I gotta go with Buerhle as well.....potential is worth s***....until you post some real numbers in the bigs... it would be a pretty ballsy move for a GM to trade your allstar and arguably your #1 guy for a guy with a lot of potential.....nope, not me....even with the potential Prior's got...

yeah, and can you imagine how fat he might get if he happens to find a couple of good late night greek fast food joints in and around Comiskey? You know, the ones with that nasty looking greasy meat they slice off? I shudder to think my avatar might become a reality check by late summer!!!

I agree, ALOT has to go in our favor....I mean, you can't expect to have no injuries, so depth will be critical toward our success, but I must say, all systems are GO and things are pretty positive right about now.... ....by the way, the Twinkies go hammered today by that tough Pittsburgh linup, 14-3 although Mays did pitch the first two scoreless and I gather looked pretty good.....the rest of the guys (most I never heard of) got rocked.....

There is absolutely no reason why Garland can't win 18 this year....and, I know some of you will think I'm nuts, but it would not suprise me if he owns more W's than Buerhle does by the end of Sept.... This could be a real special year.....

One of JM's quote's after the win today: "Man, whoo!" Manuel said when asked about Gordon's performance. "It's a matter of keeping him healthy. He can be pretty special." Yeah, I know....it's only 1 inning in the 3rd ST game of the frickin' year......... but..........if we get Flash to keep his butt healthy all year, that right lefty setup combination with Marte could be awesome! And how bout the performance by Garland today! After yesterday, it looks as if 1-2 and the 3 spot are lookin' pretty sharp, nice and early....now its up to Wright to notch a solid performance on his next start.... I'm feeling pretty good about things fella's...

Oh, no doubt I like our chances as well.....its just that the question mark we are talking about happens to be our leadoff hitter.....and I just wonder what is plan be if everyone we put out there can't hit over 220? Anyway, I'm going to stop thinking the glass is half full and hope like hell my pessimism is unwarranted and just enjoy what will be one hell of a fun year for all of us!!

Call me a pessimist, but I am getting (albeit a bit early, I know) a bit nervous about the 2B position.... We've got Jiminez, Harris, Miles, Nunez, Hummel all looking for a chance to play and I see weaknesses in each one..... I think we need a guy who can be patient at the plate, get on base, hit for a decent average and hopefully end up scoring 120 runs with the guys hitting behind him....in addition, the guy will need to be a rock in the IF and get confortable with Valentin turning the DP..... ...each guy is unproven over a full season.... ....ok, so tell me I shouldn't worry....

247, Chisoxfn.....thanks for the play by play....just got home and caught the last batter Koch whiffed..... Although ST wins/losses are meaningless, its nice to see: 1. Colon looking solid 2. Buerle pitching ok for his first outing 3. Borchard hitting and fielding well 4. Konerko smacking the ball 5. Gaffy showing me he back to almost 100% (he will be playing more than most think this year) 6. and finally, Koch for doing what we expected SOX WIN ! SOX WIN!

Without a doubt, these two represent the key question to the overall success of the team this year.... If we can get 25-30 wins between the two of them, I think that would be enough to upend the Twinkies.... It's gonna be fun to watch!!!!!!

Oh, man.....he's down 233-176....can we make a last ditch effort or should we concede to the folks up north? LET'S STUFF THAT BALLOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Foulke Lore It will be interesting during the course of this year to see who is performing better and whether or not KW messed things up once again....JM's handling of Foulke last year was definately questionable and I am also concerned that this deal may be a bust.... Let's hope I'm wrong...

Try Living here in the Rockies in Canada where I am, I wanted to start a clinic for the kids I coach... ha think again. ok, that's pretty bad.....but.........look at my pathetic situation....living in London, England......no baseball on the dish....anytime, anywhere...the only f***ing game over here other than soccer is some silly sport where guys in pretty white outfits throwing a cue ball to guys hitting with flat bats trying not to hit it to guys who try to catch the ball without any glove....and, when they get tired, they go back to the sidelines and drink tea....and, oh yeah, the game last 5 days........aaaaagggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Thank God for the internet......thank God for broadband....and thank God I found this site.....

You know who that sounds like? Barry Bonds Not sure that is what Bonds is like, but the media isn't always nice to star players. Yep, that does sound more like Bonds, excellent point...but, for all the negative feedback we got from the SF press about Barry's impact in the clubhouse, it didn't seem to have any problem with the team's success last year.... I had a chance to live in SF last year and watched the daily frenzy of info created by the local media to help sell papers about how bad things were in the clubhouse, but at the end of the day, it appears that, no, the players were just fine and it was the media and the fans who got carried away... All the players know what Barry and Frank are like and handle their personalities the same way they handle all the other 23 personalities on the team.....some folks need more space than others, some get their egos bruised a bit easier (see the 2 guys mentioned above), but bottom line is that they are ALL PROFESSIONALS who are there to do a job... Team chemistry is critical, don't get me wrong, but I think most of the negative stuff we read about is the same kinda crap we deal with every day in our jobs....and at the end of the day, we all have to perform individually and as a group in order to be the best. Frank will hit 330, 31,112 this year.....mark it down.

Yeah, no offense, but a pretty ridiculous poll.....there should at least have been a "other" option, that most of us could have used.....anyone who doesn't see the value of the hurt and what he WILL do for us this year, and hopefully the next 5, obviously has a somewhat blurred memory or has only recently become a fan.... My opinion, he deserves better..... yeah, I know....a self-centered, ego-filled head case, a cancer in the clubhouse, yada yada...but, he can CARRY a team for extended periods of time and I think his "negative" influence is very much overrated when it comes to the fellas on the bench...most simply roll their eyes and move on..... Let's give it a rest.

He just batted in the 8th and promptly struck out with Daubach on...the announcer was saying that Brumbaugh was in the Colorado org last year and actually had some pretty decent stats....285, 16, 85 or around there....appears he's a 6 year free agent...not sure why the sox picked him up.... hope that helps....