Wong & Owens

I know this is going off on a tangent here, and I have no problems with Eminem or anyone's taste in music, but I just read that Eminem won't clear Weird Al Yankovic to do a parody of one of his songs because, "it would take away from my legacy as a serious hip-hop artist." C'mon dude, lighten up. You're a friggin' RAPPER, for f***'s sake.

Finding good deals on tickets isn't the problem, and explaining the lack of attendance at Sox games is kind of a pet issue of mine. I just don't see how you market a team to local kids and families, when kids/families sadly don't make up half of any pro sports audience anymore anyways. If you want some plumber from Homewood with 3 kids to sit through a cold night on a Tuesday to watch the Sox, the Sox better have a real good team to make it worth the effort. Just going to get blitzed with your friends and showing up for work hungover the next day is for young, single people with disposable income--North siders/Cubs fans.

The Sox have a very small fan base that live within 5 miles of the park(Sorry Bridgeporters, there ain't that many of you attending regularly), and when they aren't playing well, and it's cold and rainy out, nobody is going to race home from work at 5:00 in Oak Lawn, then haul their ass up to The USS Cellphone to catch a 7:05 Wednesday night baseball game.

This post should officially end this useless thread. If you have read this thread all the way up to this post, and have somehow garnered the willpower necessary to keep from setting yourself on fire, please return to Pale Hose Talk, or another message board of your choice. Thank You.

Well, with the numbers he put up that year, he certainly was doing more than his part in 2000, but I'm still not seeing it happening again from him this year. And I will more than happy to eat Crow Florentine, Almondine, Marsala, Stroganoff, whatever if I'm wrong. Looking forward to it, actually.

Chuck Finley has been around almost as long as Charlie O. Finley. He might be worth it if the Sox are in serious contention, but I don't think he puts you over the top if they're 5-6 games out.

Wha-Wha-What? Frank hasn't had a team-carrying roll since 1995. Even the last time he was good, 2000, he was rarely carrying the team. Clutch hitting from Mags, Valentin, and Herbert Perry were doing most of the legwork, supported by career years out of every starter on the staff. I hope more than anything that I am wrong on this, and that everyone can tell me what an idiot I am at the Sox victory parade in October, but I still say Frank is done, and that his .260-25-75, .190 w/RISP numbers are about the best we're going to see out of him.

My only hope is that it becomes "bulletin board material" that the Sox use to pull it together and make a run at this thing.

Word. It's not Buerhle's fault Jimenez and Harris leave their gloves in the dugout every time he pitches. And the only thing that Jimenez does is make you assume he's getting on base almost every time he comes to the plate. I wouldn't attribute either pickoff yesterday solely to him--the only thing he's done to irritate me was the Oakland Mystery Pop-up.

It was tough work, but the "perks" made it all worthwhile. We pulled some crazy s*** in that place.

I was thinking we'd either keep Valentin, or move Jimenez to SS. Is there a better leadoff hitter in baseball right now than Luis?

Trade Jon Rauch and another prospect for Luis Castillo. Florida wants him gone by 07/31. Thoughts?

Cool, I'm a Rainbow Cone Alumnus. Spent many a hot summer Saturday slinging ice cream cones for 10 hours.

Hey SFIB, Is that the south side neighborhood you're talking about?

I agree, this kind of thing runs rampant around here. Although, I don't recall calling for the head of any Sox player thus far with a good track record behind them except Thomas, who I just feel is washed up.

True, he has been much better, but I'd still not jump the gun too early. If Pedro Martinez started this year with a 2-7 record, and a 4.68 ERA, would you tell the Red Sox to hurry up and get rid of him? I trust overall career numbers more than a 6 week stretch in any one season. Believe me, I hope you are right, but I'm going to remain wary for now. to Loaiza

Slow down. This is a guy with a sub-.500 career record, with an ERA of around 4.70. He's had 6 good weeks, and people think he's Mike Mussina or something. Let's see how the rest of the season goes for him, and start deciding what to do with him in September.

Maybe. Or maybe he's the next Mark Davis.

You'd be getting a light-hitting, average-fielding shortstop. With "issues." If Kw considers signing this chump, he should be shot out of one of the scoreboard fireworks tubes(yes, i know they're only for show) during the 7th inning stretch. Unlike Warren Moon, or Jason Kidd, Lugo is a mediocre player at best. If he were better, the Astros would have kept him.

I'm with you. Management gets too much credit when things go well, too much blame when things go poorly. Can't blame Manuel, Ward, KW, etc. for the third-worst hitting team in the league. These players have to do their jobs, and then the entire organization looks smart.

Konerko singled, mags to 2nd

Mags walked

Top 1, Graffanino grounded out to 3rd, Frank whiffed

I am a huge Anti-Willie Harris guy, but I thought he looked OK at the plate yesterday. Almost got on with a bunt, took a walk, etc. I love Frank in the 2 hole, he's going to see some good pitches to hit, plus he'll obviously take a walk if it's there--what you want from your #2. I also think if I'm Jerry Manuel, Tony Graffanino plays everyday until he shows he can't. I don't care where you play him--get him a catcher's mitt if you have to, the Sox seem to like using 3 catchers anyways.

Why no Rios? He's a lefty who seems to be our best clutch hitter thus far, although his Baserunning Intelligence Quotient is somewhere in the negative numbers. If you insist on using Harris, I like your lineup idea, but I'm sticking with yanking Frank out of the 3-spot. No problems with Frank? I would disagree with that.