Wong & Owens

We traded Jon Rauch, Jose Valentin, Josh Stewart and Arnie Munoz to Texas for Alex Rodriguez. No wait, I made that up.

I belive that's basically the way it works. The players(assuming they're major leaguers) have to clear waivers, then they can be traded. Not sure how it works if Minor leaguers are involved.

Was Koch in the high 90's yesterday? (I had to miss the game to see Cirque du Soleil with the girlfriend--glad to see I only missed another HR Derby courtesy of KC pitching) That is big news, he has been struggling to hit 94 most of this year. His fastball is pretty straight though, so if he's not getting up to 98-99, he's basically a right-handed Alan Embree. What was his highest reading at last night?

Hey! I made a retarded argument! Did you miss it?

Great, just in time for when the Sox come to town. IMHO, I think he's overrated. Playing in a hitter's park with some track record of mediocrity. Plus, I hope he sucks so we see Beane fall on his face.

My attempt at a retarded argument would be this--Jose, you dumb bastard, bat left-handed no matter who is pitching. I have no idea why he continues to try right-handed, when he couldn't do any worse sticking with 100% lefty. Until that happens(and is proven to be successful), Tony G. should start vs. southpaws.

As Bill Simmons would say, if the Sox sign Felix Heredia, I will light myself on fire. I never thought about Ligtenberg. I would really like that move. How about Dave Burba, where is his sorry ass? He could still be a halfway decent 5th starter couldn't he?

Wright only has two pitches, I don't know why they keep pushing for him to be a starter. Unless he develops a 3rd pitch, he needs to work out of the bullpen.

I was a big Rick White supporter through Spring Training and through his rough start to the reg season, and was ready to tell all the RW naysayers to stick it until his last three outings. He almost got out of that inning yesterday unscathed--Alomar could have made that play on the grounder hit to his right--but I think at this point, given his performances and his mouth he has to go. I'm just worried about who would take his place. If we get Sullivan, or someone else that's decent, by all means cut his hairy ass.

A Boone is hitting .273, with 18 HR's and 65 RBI's + 15 SB's. I don't know how he is defensively, but those numbers are a pretty big upgrade over Joe C.'s.

I was thinking the same thing. Why get Boone unless they were planning on moving Crede or Alomar? I wonder if the Sox management still isn't sold on Crede. It took him what, 25 years to finally get the call up? And even when they finally did call him up, they sat him on the bench for almost half a season. All this during a time when Tim Hulett would have been an upgrade at 3B.

Yah, I forgot they moved Carlos Santana into the starting rotation. Romero, Hawkins and Guardado are still pretty good tho'. I'd take any of them over the 2003 version of Billy Koch

Actually, Williamson was probably very cheap--The REds were simply looking to take salaries off their books. They weren't necessarily looking to get anything substantial in return. If Boston gives up Sanchez, they overpaid.

I think the Twins are done. Ownership won't make any more moves to help them, and they are above average only in defense and in the bullpen. Their offense is garbage, and so is their starting rotation. They're starting to not play as hard either, and things that went their way last year all the time are not this year, i.e. Daubach's double off the light fixture, and whoever that pitcher was that threw the ball down the third base line yesterday.

I hope Kw doesn't tinker too much with the chemistry that's building here. Trade what you have to to make us better, but geez, he's made 4 trades already, and we're 10-1 over the last 11 games. It ain't broke no more, so stop fixing it?

Gee, I wonder who said that? Hint: His name rhymes with Kenny Williams Penny Killians?

You got all kinds of good stuff in Oakbrook. Tuscany, Morton's, Maggiano's, Wildfire, The Clubhouse, PF Chang's, Stir Crazy, etc. Let me know if you need a dining tour guide!

I believe the stadium is configured that way to keep the sun out of the batters' eyes as often as possible. I think most stadiums are configured to face east, yes?

Seat comfort: 3.5--They're OK, does any stadium seating get a 4 or 5? Hot dogs: 4.5--Really good, especially if you get them from a stand, and not a vendor. Concessions: 3.5--Decent variety, decent tasting stuff Signature food: 4.0--Gotta be the churros, doesn't it? Beer: 3.5--Prices seem to be better than most parks, not enough choices Bathrooms: 4.0--They're relatively clean and don't smell terrible. Scoreboard: 3.0--Only because of the fireworks. Stupid between innings skits/races, o.o.t. scores are slow at best, in-game stats often wrong. P.A. system: 4.0--Sounds good whenever I'm there Fun stuff: 4.0--Lots of stuff to do before and after games Souvenirs: 3.0--Average souvenir assortment Tickets: 4.5--Easy to get, prices are good. Exterior: 2.0--Blah Interior: 2.5--Again, Blah, but getting better Access: 3.5--El accessible, plus plenty of parking except during Cubs games. Traffic into and out of area is very congested. Ushers: 3.0--Nothing special here Trading up: 3.0--Used to be alot higher, obviously Fan knowledge: 5.0--We maybe be smaller in number, but we make up for it with solid baseball knowledge. Quality over Quantity. 7th inning stretch: 2.0--Anti-climactic Local scene: 1.0--Area is NOT friendly to outsiders, few spots within eyeshot of park. Heading east on 35th is not advised Wild card: 3.0--Originators of exploding scoreboard, good fans. Total(I think): 66.5

I still see 82-80, no playoffs. Boston over Houston in the WS.

If the Sox win 10 in a row, I'll shave every inch of my body. I'll take a short pause while all the ladies consider that visual. Done? Pepto's in the medicine cabinet.

Um, how many of last year's Anaheim Angels team had a ring prior to 2002? Unless Appier was around in 1985, I believe the answer is zero.

Yeah, they won alright, but you can still see why they are going nowhere but .500 this year. Only a Carl Everett single bailed them out. Thank you Frank Thomas and Carlos Lee for both swinging at garbage third strikes, AGAIN not getting runs home from scoring positions with less than 2 outs. Thank You Carlos Lee, for another baserunning case for sending you home on the short bus. Sorry for the negativity, but this team ain't playing in October.

I've already turned my focus to the opening of football season. I don't think the Bears are going anywhere this year, but since the season hasn't started yet, you can still be optimistic. I guess the Bulls could also be interesting this year, though I don't care much for basketball. The Hawks will also play, but I think anybody that contributes one second of their lives to the Wirtz organization is an absolute idiot. This year's Sox team is done, and I've tended to agree with a friend of mine who stated that this year's Sox is the most disappointing Chicago sports team of our lifetimes. Hard to argue against that.

Here's what will happen: Wright loses today--He'll give up 5 runs in the first again, then settle down for 6 more innings as the Sox lose 5-2. Buehrle's hot, he'll win the first game Saturday. White will win the second game Saturday, because sweeping a doubleheader with Rick White makes no f***ing sense at all--par for the course with this Sox team. Garland is due for a bad outing, and Traber looked great against the Yankees, Sox lose big. 2-2, more disappointing White Sox baseball. Prove me wrong, guys. Please? Pretty Please?