RockRaines

QUOTE (Gregory Pratt @ May 17, 2008 -> 08:25 AM) To be straight, most of the people at Wrigley gave Maddux all of the respect he deserves. I'm glad someone else considers Maddux his favorite in the game. With Clemens being a cheater, Maddux is probably the best pitcher of our era.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 16, 2008 -> 09:25 PM) Depends on how you define "big money". Lately, your first arbitration year for a guy like Howard, they're talking in the $10 million territory. Which is why I'm pushing this now. Is it a gamble signing him early? Yes. But if the team wants to save money long term, then that's the best way to do it. Now is just not smart, he hasnt shown he can play a full season injury free in the bigs yet. This offseason, maybe, now, awful.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ May 17, 2008 -> 11:45 AM) I have no idea how Floyd pitched 6 shutout innings. Oh wait -- the Giants lineup sucks worse than the Sox' even. A good team punishes Floyd for the dozen or so hanging breaking balls he left up and over the plate. A bad team fouls them off or makes outs and that's what the Giants did. Credit Gavin for having the guts to keep throwing strikes though. He smartly realized that only way the Giants were going to get a big inning is if he gave it to them with walks. Turns out they couldn't even get a run. Sox' inability to hit LHP is ridiculous. Perhaps Ramirez will find something against them. I have to say, other than Cabrera and Uribe back to back I'm enjoying the new lineup, feels much more balanced all the way through. Sanchez has some good stuff, dont let his ERA fool you. He misses alot of bats. Gavin had a decent sinker last night which helped him out, I like how he leans on his different fastballs at varying speeds to compensate for having no curve. He was hitting the mid 90's at times.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ May 17, 2008 -> 12:01 AM) Wite has made the Halladay comparison for a while now, and too be honest, it's never been a terrible one. Obviously Floyd has a long way to go, but the similarities are there. Halladay having much better stuff could be one difference

Hawk freakin called it. Alexei came up big and looked decent at the plate tonight. We could use a nice bat at 2B. Q still is locked in.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 16, 2008 -> 07:23 PM) According to Kap's contract sheet, he's pre-Arb this year and next year and then has 3 arbitration years...so if we want to buy him out cheaply by guaranteeing him a contract early, it's pretty much this year or nothing I'd say, because next year, he's a few months away from solid money even if he gets hurt. (I.e. he gets hurt next June, the team isn't cutting him, they'll offer him Arb and he'll still make a couple million) so we have him for 5 years in theory before he makes really big money. If he plays well this entire season injury free, the offseason is maybe when you want to have that thought, but not before.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ May 16, 2008 -> 01:55 PM) His service number will be 2.060 by the end of this season. If he really is THIS good, next year will be his final "cheap" season. But yeah, I agree with the majority on this one. The earliest you start worrying about extending him is May or June of next year and that's only if he stays completely healthy and productive up until then. Dont you have to have something like 2.14 years of service time to qualify? I believe we have 2 more cheap years of him.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ May 16, 2008 -> 11:16 AM) I definitely agree with Wite, we shouldn't see Konerko at all in this series and Thome maybe in a pinch hitting role. Swisher's versatility makes things a whole lot easier and after watching Anderson save 3 or 4 runs with his play in CF during the Seattle series I'd hope Ozzie would play him all 3 games in one of the biggest parks in baseball. Cabrera, SS Pierzynski, C Quentin, RF Dye, LF Swisher, CF Crede, 3B Anderson, CF Ramirez, 2B Floyd, P I'd say start with that lineup, and if it works the first game, sit Konerko the whole series.

QUOTE (hammerhead johnson @ May 16, 2008 -> 01:56 AM) I'd have to go with Ty Cobb. 11 batting average titles, 10 OPS titles, 7 OBP titles, 8 SLG titles, 6 SB titles, etc. Highest lifetime batting average in MLB history, a .433 career OBP, over 4000 hits, 2250 runs, 900 SBs, 300 triples, 725 doubles, etc. Consider this: Rickey Henderson never had an OBP of .440 or higher, but Ty Cobb did it 13 times: .456, .467, .456, .467, .466, .486, .452, .444, .440, .452, .462, .468, .440. SHould have been modern era. Cobb is well known as probably the best player in the "dead ball era" but we cannot compare players between the two era's. The dude had a career .367 batting avg, that just couldnt be done now.

QUOTE (Texsox @ May 15, 2008 -> 11:02 AM) I always kind of considered him a goof, with the illeism and just plan goofy stuff he did. But I was just reading some stuff on his career and realize he was far greater then I remember. Amazing career and really loved to play. As I get older, I am beginning to appreciate the guys that just seem to really love their sport, Buerhle, Favre, and the like. Best lead off hitter of all time, he was an amazing baseball player. RockRaines was a close second IMO though.

QUOTE (ptatc @ May 16, 2008 -> 10:10 AM) There is very strong evidence that it gives him a large competitive advantage. 1. It makes the limbs much lighter thus he uses much less energy then other athletes , so he can run faster longer. 2. The prosthetic legs have a greater return of energy so he can move quicker (picture you runnig in sand and him running on cement) 3. There is no energy spent on lateral and vertical movement at the foot and ankle. Since his is solid all of the energy can be spent on forward motion. watch him run. Runners will have some up and down motion. He stays level saving alot of energy. Whether or not he should be allowed to run is a good discussion but he does have a significant advatage over other runners. Yes, but he also DOESNT HAVE LEGS. Its not the same feeling whether they are hyper futuristic or not. The guy is running on fake legs.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ May 16, 2008 -> 12:06 PM) with position players, you generally know what you have. once they've achieved their best level of production, the odds are they'll sustain that for a few yrs i say sign Umm what? That makes zero sense, Baldelli, Shelton, how about rookie of the year Angel Berroa? He is under our control for cheap for several seasons, you DO NOT sign him now and we wont.

Broadway has a sub 2 ERA now. He threw 107 pitches 67 for strikes and walked 4 bringing his total to 16 in 54 innings with 29 k's. He's also featuring a GO/AO ratio of 1.83

ugh its an awful idea, he's been somewhat injury prone, hasnt played a full year of MLB ball and wont even have 2 years of service time after this season, its beyond a bad idea.

why doesnt everyone just post no so the thread can be answered and closed.

Pretty short answer to this entire thread. No. Not even close to the time to extend him.

I didnt want to start a whole thread about it, but I would look at signing Kenny Lofton to a minor league deal if I was KW. His OBP has been fairly steady over the years and could add a decent presence to the top of our lineup. Right now our leadoff hitters have been some of the worst in the majors.

Gavin isnt so much trying to not throw as hard, but Coop has made him compact his delivery a little bit which has allowed him better control and hasnt tipped his pitches as much in the past. He may lost a couple of mph here and there, but he still can run it to the mid 90's if needed.

QUOTE (klaus kinski @ May 15, 2008 -> 07:14 AM) AJP also apparently still etched in Scosia's head since 2005 the more he's booed, the more he's motivated.

Has anyone been noticing the many batting stances of Carlos Quentin? Check out his video archive on mlb.com he has shown alot of different looks.

ha, on the angels board they think Jose throws a spitter. Lackey was loading up the ball with his arm sweat all night and Jose barely licks his fingers and its a spitter.

QUOTE (BearSox @ May 14, 2008 -> 10:50 PM) I don't know how Contreras has been doing it, but he's not been getting rocked. He hasn't really been throwing nasty stuff up there, just getting outs. His increase in velocity does help though. pitching to contact with his fastball, and inducing grounders.

QUOTE (zenryan @ May 14, 2008 -> 05:49 PM) Would've been a funny comment if this was the 80s or early 90s. But this team has been nowhere near the number of incidents that FSU,UF,Tenn and countless others since Butch Davis cleaned house in the mid 90s. But your comment is outdated and unoriginal. Easy killer, he's just saying Miami has a rep of its own, and some has been recent. Its going to take a long time to erase those acts in peoples minds.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ May 14, 2008 -> 11:01 PM) Except Fields is currently injured (on the DL) and Thome isn't going to accept being placed on the disabled list if he isn't injured. Hence, the I would like to comment.

Liked him since college, love the little s***, thanks for the update!