BrandoFan

Suddenly WA's grammy being busy getting raped by Cossaks comes to mind. [/morbid humor]

To be fair, Sox attendance sucked. 22K in a park seating 45K? In a major city? With all those half-price nights and kid days? With a really talented team in 1st place? In a year in which we hosted the All-Star Game? In a year that ended with a "3"? With new flashy scoreboards installed and bullpen bar expanded? With great kid-friendly facilities and best food in the majors? TV ratings sucked as well. As I imagine did merchandise sales. In Chairman's--or anyone else's for that matter-- book that spells "INSUFICIENT FAN INTEREST" all over it. Let's face it, we played right into his cheapness big-time. He wouldn't exactly be the first owner who "didn't care about winning", would he? He didn't get to where he's at by spending his OWN money and by seeing lots of red ink on financial sheets, did he? Let's face it (again): The only thing Jay-R fears more than someone crapping in his clam chowder is going all out ala D-Back owner and ending up in financial straits it would take decades to get out of.....He has a business reputaton to uphold, and he would take real-estate issue of Forbes over some anonymous happy Sox fan's ass any day of the week.

If they are anything like Ukranians and Russians (or Armenians and Azerbaijanians for those of you with obscure georgaphy tooth), forget about it. NO mucho likey-likey. Then again, initial curiosity will bring some fannies to the seat. Who knows really.

I am not his biggest fan by a longshot, but give Ken-Dub the extra 30+ million Hendry had to work with, so he can spend it on, say, Guerrero, Pudge and Kevin Brown, and Sox would have had a 10 game lead by May's end.....Winning the division by 20+ games. Hendry should be considered (and he was), but there are at least 3 people in NL more deserving. And yes, his affiliation with da Kubs does nothing for him in a way of cool points.

Eric Chavez was like 2-for-22 with 3 errors or some such.

Oh Yas, you had me at "very"....

Entrapment.

WSI-perpetrated sabotage.

I've been fairly merciless in my criticism of the Sox and the Comatoseball played on the South Side for the bigger part of last 3 years. HOWEVER, put me down for at least 95 wins next season. And we don't even have a legitimate #2 yet, whoopeee! Minnesota just can't win for the 3rd straight year with the talent they have, in the manner in which they have....I refuse to believe Gods can be that cruel.

For starters, A-Rod's production is inflated by a) the park , b.) line-up protection that included Palmeiro, Everett, Blalock, Gonzalez, Texeira and Pudge and c) playing mostly in low-pressure situations with his team being dead last.......Meanwhile, Bonds has shown he will do it anywhere, anytime, with Galarraga hitting behind him if needed. As far as defense and baserunning go, Bonds is more than respectable. The problem with a SS position is the wear'n'tear; at 28, A-Rod is arguably as good as Bonds. But will he be in 5 years, let alone 10? But I do concede that along with Pedro (playoff importance) and aformentioned Bonds, A-Rod is one of the players who truly deserves big bucks. Well, maybe Pudge too if only he could duplicate his playoff production in the regular season, which he only done once in his career in 2000. Just 2 years before Rod signed, Belle was making 11 Mill and Frank was making 10 with half of it deferred. Even if he didn't lose alot of money on the deal, Hick's 250 million generosity largely contributed to ridiculous escalation of salaries.....Anyway, I think you're making a mistake by using White Sox as a model for comparison. We are and almost always have been mediocre, Texas should be spending more on non-A-Rod players. But I digress. Baseball is a unique game in that the impact of any given player, possibly excluding The Babe, is LOWER than it is in any OTHER team sport, especially basketball. (Again, with the exception of playoffs where Unit or Pedro can give their team a 3-0 headstart in a 7-hame series). Hell, if Texas GM plays his cards right, they could get Orlando Cabrera, Ponson, Batista, Livan and Anderson for 26 mill. They'd win at least 12-15 more games that way. . You're probably right. In addition to that, Garciappara (as Tejada) was HORRIBLE in the playoffs.

Was there ever a sentence as beautiful and true? CW?

Anyone who thought Hendry of the deplorable Cubs deserved it is INSANE. The joke is on Steve Stone and the rest of the Koolaid Army. Taking nothing away from Mr. Sabean (except for the award, natch), but Marlin GM not only had a MUCH lower payroll to work with, but also saw two of his phenoms, Beckett and Burnett, go down with arm injuries as well as his best run-producer Lowell out for pretty much the whole second half....Imagine Barry Bonds being out. Marlins also played in possibly toughest division in baseball. Did I mention they fukin' won the World Series! ETA: at least McKeon has the Skipper trophy bagged.

I started out hating Hawk. Little by little, his passion and homerific eccentricity were too hard to resist. Now he is on my very exclusive Ten People I'd Like To Meet Before I Turn 22 List. Trust me, as a redneck, you could do a lot worse. Obscured by the infamous Konerko and Thomas EI shots is his call of Olivo's hit against the Twins. I mean, with a walk-off homer you would expect some heart-stopping freakouts, but this was a FIRST INNING BLOOPER just out of Stewart's reach! Mercy.

Oriented-shmoriented, Sox are gonna have to be more reliant on speed, and base-stealing/extra-base taking and keeping opposition nervous is a big part of it......Since the DH went into effect in AL, the average team socres only 4 tens of a run more. Let's not pretend like modern teams score 2-3 more runs per game and as such have little need for base stealing.........Of all team, Sox have been so horrible with GIDPs and base-taking in crucial situations, we need a new direction. My bad, in my mind I confused him with Pokey Reese, another underachieving bum. Still, even with the recent decline, his 77% success rate is pretty damn good. Not as good as Beltran, Robbie or A-Rod, but so what? That what I meant by "possible reasons for his premature decline". Again, this is not a clear-cut case, either way. Risks are involved, and our GM has his work cut out for him.

Geezuussssss, we've been over this, haven't we? Ghastly repetition, here I come.... While it's undoubtedly true that a sub-60% base-stealer is a detriment to a team (though, as a to-be small ball team, Sox would need more baserunning to survive in 2004).....it's also just as true that an OVER-80% base-stealer is a big ASSET to a team--- think about how many DP's overswinging Sox grounded into with nobody out in 2003. You don't need me to tell you that with a runner standing at 2nd, a grounder to 2B/up the middle moves him over to third with just 1 out instead of killing the inning......... And let me quickly dispel the notion that "speed" is just steals- it WAY MORE than that. Remember, for instance, Rowand getting thrown out at the plate from 1st in a crucial game against Boston? Cedeno is safe and we win......Sox were awful at going from 1st to 3rd on singles, unlike Minnesota which made living doing that because their players had more speed. Cedeno when healthy flies past 2nd....Etc, etc, etc. Speaking of pitchers shortening strides, a fast runner who is a CONSTANT threat to steal, if anything else, distracts a pitcher, with the latter frequently falling behind in the count...which only helps the batter. Gap between 1st and 2nd? With Everett standing at 1st, some first basemen still chose to play the hole........Generally, the better the base-stealer is, the WIDER the gap. Outfield and infield defense also have to adjust to prevent extra bases taken, with all attendant benefits to the hitter. As it is, Sox are only saving a mill. That doesn't get it done for me. Knowing the Mets' past, saving face-related generosity with respect to Robbie's slary, I specifically mentioned them having to pick up at least another 2 million even if that costs us a mid-levels prospect or two in the process. You ARE right about Cedeno's defense......as well as about Rowand being all potential at this point. It would interesting to see if Cedeno can regain the plate discipline he had as a 25-26. Might be wishful thinking on my part, but I since I think Koch is DONE, may be worth a shot.

Yes, um.....ah......the s-s-sea......of universal love and acceptance

I guess who he pitched AGAINST in terms of intra-division, namely NY and Boston, played some role in the overall scheme. Just a thought.

When Frank effertlessly hits those majestic drives into LF-LCF, Sammy Sosa's ugly overswinging is dwarfed in comparison....But I do get your point, and I agree that making the stadium look super-beautiful and original is KEY. Getting a Japanese SS would give us more of a NATIONAL and INTERNATIONAL attention in addition to piquing local interest. As long as he is a VERY GOOD player.

You're so right, the wonders of the Wave never cease, do they!! It should be bottled.

I.told.you.Holiday.would.win.

No worries, this reactionary whinin' is but a passing thing. Wave is practically an American institution, right up there with apple pie and fatuity. Unassailable always and forever.

If you mean Smarmy (aka 'Big Cocksucker'; Clujer), good riddance.

I am not a season ticket holder, but I do attend 7-12 games a year. In the past, I never had the money (and time) to afford more. Now I am thinking about going to at least 15-20 games in 2004.

As a Mod, your opinion must be respected. It is.

Edited To Add Sorry, my English isn't very good.