BrandoFan

How many hitting coaches will we have to go through before you realize that the hitting coach ISN'T the cause of our hitting woes? Have you looked at Lee-Ordonez-Konerko-Daubach-Rios-Crede career numbers? Notice anything that isn't like the other in terms of OPS production? What does that have to do with how they are performing now? Are you suggesting that because they have a new hitting coach, that they are CHANGING whatever it was that was making them have greater success in the past? If you are saying that, you are retarded. Ever heard of "solution-problem" dichotonomy, my fair lady?

How many hitting coaches will we have to go through before you realize that the hitting coach ISN'T the cause of our hitting woes? Have you looked at Lee-Ordonez-Konerko-Daubach-Rios-Crede career numbers? Notice anything that isn't like the other in terms of OPS production?

If you thought Perez, Ben Davis and Corey Lidle to name a few completely shut us down with their C stuff, get a load of this: after intial doubles, Burkett has hung/layed in there at least 15-20 pitches and only one of them was hammered (Maggs- out)...That is beyond pathetic considering the magnitude of this game. Fire the hitting coach RIGHT NOW, our hitters are nothing but a bunch nootered mental cases. Sickening.

by book of fictional stories, I meant "Harry Potter". Nice try, I am not an atheist....but I'll leave the whole self-aggrandizement thing to others. f*** war, let's dance!

Bump-bumpy tiiiime: ___________________________________________________________________ I

Jesus had more class than that- he would never refuse to give a hand to a stranger

May Lord have mercy on your misguided soul!

No. Im not attracted to black chicks. Just the same way Im not attracted to very curly hair. I hang out with black chicks but I wouldnt date one... I thought so...what if a Black chick had her hair straighted and her skin was light- like Michael Michelle? What would be your excuse then?

Books are for smart people with imagination, duh. I am rather fond of Tzvetaeva**, does that count? (**- Marina was a well-known poetes- think Sylvia Platt but with a true genius)

Roman, would you date a Black girl? (I have never dated one, but I have dated a 'Rican...)

Bad people deserve to be judged and in some cases punished. (the trick is in discerning who is bad and who isn't in this often contradictory, unpredicable and fallible world)

You have clearly never seen me breaking the TV when Augie Ojeda barely beat out the would-be bases loaded DP for a game winning run at Comiskey, with Sox failing to sweep the Cubbies....Or each time Jim Parque took the mound.... Hate.

Hmmm so roman is an asshole cuz hes standing up for what he believes in and you just dont happen to agree with it? No way. I dont agree with him but Vince is my friend and I respect his opinion... How dare you use his real name, ungrateful bastard!

Like I said, you obvisouly don't remember the specifics, but I do. Trust me, the amount of chances we squandered and painful mental f***ups was mindboggling. Well above what a good team should reasonably be expected to commit, not saying they should have blown people out every game, but a clutch hit or a defensive play once in a while would be nice, in 1-2 run games, ya know? .... You must not have been watching it right....Who cares how "good" someone was, look at the way we played LA/SF (Colons starts) and SD (Galrand)- one tiny hit, one obvious baserunning move, and we probably win both of them. In fact, Burly start in Toronto, we didn't even have a chance because of how Graff and Lee played defensively....very winnable game if most elemental of plays are made early on, but I didn't count it because it wasn't as close thereafter as those other games. We beat ourselves, badly. Worse than that. -15 is a very fair assessment. Hell, we should have taken 2 games in the season's opening series in KC, but were swept.

Ah, so it's the other way around...well, I can only say I hope to God I am lucky enough to live anything close to great lives both my grandparents have lived. And enough with the generational cliches, ok? People 2000 years ago were much closer to you in every respect than you will ever know.

Did I mention just how much I adore gays if only because they confuse and piss off unevolved pissants like Roman big time? So rawk on, gay people, you fabulous little creatures! Sox4lifePA, you go girl!

How f***ing deep, yo... We get it...people in the past knew how to live their lives to the fullest and "for real". We kids are just a bunch of pussy- (or is it PC-)fied, uneducated, homogenized, spine-less zombies with no spice or soul or personality.... Yawn.

Let's be realistic -- NO team is going to get the runners in from 3rd with less than 2 outs EVERY time. But, the Sox have failed to do it an inordinate number of times. Maybe my 4-5 games guesstimate was off, but I don't think it's as high as 15. Let's meet in the middle and call it 10. But even if it WAS 'just' 5, it would make a HUGE difference in the standings, and we'd be right there. And with guys like MB, PK, and JC underachieving like they are, it's amazing to think we could EASILY be in 1st place right now. The AL Central... It's not just "1 and 3rd and 1 out in 5th inning", it's everything this f***ing team did wrong, including f***ed up situational RBI chances.... I have watched or taped (50-50) every single game since 14-game road trip began: The split in Toronto was forgiveable, but not taking 2 out of 3 in Cleveland, 2 in Arizona, sweep in LA, 2 against San Fran and sweep of Pads were NOT.... Then add April and May....trust me the "shouldas" are in double digits, easily. The 2000 team would have been at least 45-20 right now all things considered, at least.

Try "14-15 games games". Hell last 3 weeks alone, the differential is 7

This may sound strange, but Brando is really growing on me. I actually look forward to reading his babble. Sorry, Bri but I don't think sweetly short posts of the "so and so is this way and I don't need proof or stats to know it" variety are NEARLY enough, not for thinking adults anyway. Sue me.

(I am breaking my promise to not respond to your pointlessly tagless posts, just this once, I swear on my mother's soul...) No, my friend, he DOES NOT (not nearly as much as Pierre and other burners do anyway) and that's part of his problem- I've seen him needlessly pull up at 2nd...held up at 3rd...easily forced out at 2nd/doubled up....miss a bunt....fail to execute hit'b'run with Thomas hitting into a DP....etc....so many times, it's not even funny. Especially in close games Sox lost it made HUGE difference...Do you think someone with a bad OBP, Valentin, scoring more runs than Jimenez means anything? Valentin, Graffanino and Carlos Lee should never be better base-runner than Jimenez because they are all slower then he is and yet they have been more aggressive and smart this season....Sorry, but Jimenez is nothing but a deeply mediocre player right now, he ain't in Furcal's or Beltran's league....and don't get me started on his defense... And believe me, if Jimmy should become a GG 2b-man, who steals 30 bases, scores 125 runs with 400 OBP and 500 Slug, noone would be happier than me. I love using Beltrran an example...please reflect on the above statement some more and you will see that for high-% runners like Grissom, Alomar, Jeter, Carlos, Willie, Patterson, etc......the "gamble" as you put it is definately worth it even if you count a CS as 2 SBs....And consdering how many crucial DP's Sox hitter hit into with zero outs in games that counted, I think the "gamble" was absolutely the right thing to do. Do you even remember how the 2000 succedeed? Whenever Magglio, Konerko and Hurt would slump or struggle against a certain pitcher, both Valentin and Durham would give them (via "gambling" naturally) runner at 2nd and zero out or runner at 3rd and 1 out, so that the pressure was on the pitcher and not on the hitter if anything else...at the end way more runs scored, many of game-deciding variety, and less DPs/FO were hit into, with oppostion comitting more fielding errrors.... As soon as the Sox became Solo Shot Wonders in 2001, this team's offense had died....

I think were looking at a sweep. Excuse me, but after Padres, Royals, Tribe rookies and assorted Deadroit bums have shut us down all year long....I don't think it would be so outrageously unrealistic to think that Estes-UglyTroll-Zambrano trio can shut us down. Badly if they're on. Sorry, but our hitting coach is still terrible: our hitters are out there playing SZ goalies, reacting and covering the whole plate instead of having a strategy, picking up the ball early, zoning it in, and putting short, quality swings on it. No, instead they are guessing, overswinging and getting themselves out, and with those three going for the Cubs, if you are gonna do that you're gonna get killed. I am praying we take 2 out of 3, but we'll be lucky to win one.

I've never really hated on Mark, so my conscience is clean. Now Jim Parque is another story altogether, I am going straight to Hell...

It may never replace a bases-clearing 2-bagger...but as far as a 1-2 spot hitters go, tell me: What the difference between a leadoff double and an infield single plus a stolen base? If anything, a runner like Beltran or Willia Harris fakin' & jivin' at 1st causes a pitcher to nibble and pitch-out, which in turn only helps the hitter....of course nothing will replace the good OBP, but it's what you do while on base is what really matters and it goes way beyond SBs...Carlos Beltran's Real-Slugging is close to 600 because his speed. Seeing what Carlos Lee is doing OB, Jimenez should be ashamed, he is faster than Carlos anjd can't slug as much. . I know your uncle is a big wig scout and all....and while I agree that 80% steal rate should be a magical number....lets' get something straight here: over 162 games, a great speed is way MORE than just SBs- it's effortlessly going from 1st to 3rd with 1 out on singles to the left side....it's scoring from 1st on long, Konerko-esque singles off the wall with less than 2 outs...it's a dozen+ extra bases taken on ball in the dirt (think Valentin but with speed)......it's DP stayed out of and force outs to second beaten out....it's bunting....it's making a pitcher nervous and affecting defensive alighnment......etc, etc, etc.... So if you have a solid OBP (350+) and you have Pierre's speed, you will be VERY valuable to your team over the long haul- at least as valuable as someone like Jeremy Giambi and his 385 OBP or Edgar and his 400 OBP and so on....That's why Tejada is terribly overrated as a 3rd spot hitter.

Great f***ing movie, deliciously depressing. Julie Christi is a goddess.