BrandoFan

How New Age-y of you. Any more gems such as this? And all because someone had the gall to metion that it's too early to celebrate the "break-out year" just yet. Afterall, I was the one who predicted 99 wins for the Sox (and was very high on Carlos for a few years now), so I couldn't possibly be the unhappy party-pooping fun-spoiler....Maybe you should watch more games and at-bats instead of checking out box scores. It goes along way. When the Sox are second in the majors in total offense, 5th in total pitching and have a 10-game lead on the overrated, over-achieving Twins, the team we should have easily handled for two years now...then maybe I won't find much too criticise. Maybe. .

1) are you IDseer? 2) It's Marlon Brando. As in "Last Tango in Paris"... 3)You may enjoy whatever/whomever you wish to. It goes without saying, especially among adults...not that I haven;t mentioned it half a dozen times to appease your tender ego...Can't anyone be critical of anything ever? Can't anything you like actually suck, ever? Why and why? Explain yourself...I thought so. I just thought I'd quote what you said again. For contrast.

So what? 99.999 % of baseball players (college and minors included) either suck completely or are medicore and unexciting to watch...no one raises an eye brow because it's an accepted fact. Why must art/music be much different? I am not saying it should be all about merit because one 1) no one knows what "merit" should be in the first place, especially in the abstract form of music where a simplest danceable groove is often enough to enjoy the song and 2) the profit industry has too much influence/control and nothing can be done about it. Totally unrealistic. BUT why in hell should I like it? Why should I pretend like Em is some kind of genius-poet and a inspired, ground-breaking musician whereas he is woefully illiterate in both respects? Because there isn't much choice nowdays? I dont care, I'll listen to Elison Krause or Aimme Mann if I have to and I am not even a big fan. Anything to escape boring-ass, focus-group, over-produced and shrill crap that passes for music today. If I have to listen to another pointless, infantile and self-aggrandizing line from eM.... ETA: I don't mean to sound as completely dimissing all rap/hip-hop just because Puffy and Co. butcher it with their remixes and people like J Rule don't have a single ounce of talent, any kind of talent...No, I think there is an infinite uncharted territory in that musical form. I truly do. Unfortunately Em ain't the person to break things wide open.

How eloquent and intelligent. Next thing you know you'l be pushing the Academy Award as some kind of proof..."Eminem" and "music" shouldn't be mentioned within the same rhetorical mile. Just because he is better than lowest of lowest of common denominator (Ja Rule, Maya, DMX, Britney, etc) doesn't mean he is a "can do". What a Suburban Angst Merchant indeed, with trite, predictably "controversial" lyrics and patheticly simplistic "beats" and melodic layout. At least (overrated) Marvin Gaye had a good voice and some semblance of "social" critique...but then again he didn't market himself as a "rapper-rebel, sent by God to piss people off" and had danceable and melodic tunes, operating in a different, less lyrics-oriented genre...whereas Em is just a whiny, hateful punk with a grudge against everybody, a "musician" with little to no musical education or imaginative/writing/composing/performing skills. An insecure wannabe, a wife-beater, a cultural clown...He has his niche and he will make a lot of money just purely on on the novelty/shock value and because he has no real competition. The marketing machine will do (has done) the rest. Kinda like KISS.

Like the 'brilliant" your mama's digits finish-off at the end of "8 Mile"? No thanks, my bilingual little sister can do better. I apologize as well. You're also forgettung just how much I defend Lee. Just ask Baggs Whether Baggs takes offense to this or not...this goes for 420 as well...if this isn't passive-agressive crap I don't know what is. Like I said before, it's either you toss every Sox player's salad or you are a hater. No in-between whatsoever...I know this is a Sox site, but common...

Non sequitor notwithstanding...if Calros was batting .500, it'd be a different story. You don't see me "nit-picking" Jimenez, Alomar or even Valentin even though they are nowhere near .500. Nice try anyway. Shooting blanks as usual.

What the hell are you blabbering on about? You didn't even see the at-bat! Go search for talent and meaning in Eminem's "music", why don't you...shmuck

Hate to rain on your parade, but that was a lucky swing. He looked awful and lost, went all for it on 0-2 count and somehow connected on a shoe-string level pitch. Ugly. 9 out of 10 times he ends up with a pathetic strike-out on a pitch like that.

That was an ugly at bat and he hit a shoe-string home run on 0-2...Nothing to be excited about. All it does is set precedent for him to swing at even more pitcher's pitches way out of the zone. Not everyone can have Vladimir Guerrero/Soriano's (s***ty) pitch selection and live to tell about it. Crede is looking just as awful. "Vacation swings" as DJ put it. Sit down, Joe, and figure it out while Graffanino plays 3rd

Is Graffanino for real? Short quick swing on a mistake from a mediocre/bad pitcher...beautiful Rowand, Lee take notice.

15 walks in 29 abs..but wait, is that a 4th homer he just hit as well? For someone who "only walks", 700 Slug% is pretty uncharacteristic... That's a pretty f***ing arrogant thing to say considering srCuBies are out hitting and out-OBP-ing us by a mile so far. Must be all those great teams we've been playing...

Jose just took 3rd on a pitch that bouced 5 feet away from tyhe catcher...cool, small ball. BTW, all those walks Sox hitters are taking are going to pay dividents sooner than later

We are a lousy franshise, baggs, what do you expect?

Surfer Dude is looking awful. Can't over-match hitters, can't out-finesse anyone and is a s***ty runner-holder and fielder. It's a miracle Sweeney's ball wasn't gone.

If anything, this should tell you something about how impatient our 4-9 hitters are and how utterly s***ty their eye is. (I give Maggs a pass for now, but then again it's not like is he is hitting anything but singles at this point.) I reiterate: Choi has 14 walks in 29 at bats. Those 4 have the same amount but in almost 200 at bats. Make whatever you want of it.

The "point" is right there in the thread title and the first post. Make it 14.

make it 13

12 in 29 at bats in his first year. Lee, Maggs, Konerko and Crede? 14 in 185 at bats. Almost 14 years in the majors between them. *Sigh*

Absolutely. Let the fans sort it out with opposing players. Frank needs to stay out of trouble, if he bites the bait, it'll only get worse the rest of the season, with every mediocre pitcher out to provoke him.

2000 offense scored 100 runs more than either 2001 and 2002 line-ups despite the fact that they hit less homers and played in basically a pitcher's park. During 2000 season there were WAY more innings where Sox batted around, especially with 2 outs...Why? Because we played small ball, running bases, fouling off tough pitches, wearing pitchers out, hitting mistakes all over the field, loading the bases effortlessly with bloopers and infield singles and walks...and only THEN blowing games wide-open with one big swing...Now nearly every single hitter not named Jimenez or Olivo is trying to hit a solo shot, having to come back from 0-2, 1-2 counts and usually resulting in ugly outs. No wonder we get beat by medicore pitchers who continually get away with mistakes. Something has got to change...

Let's face it: if Sox are to win 99 games, they are going to have to do it in station-to-station, 3-run-homer fashion. And pitching. There will be NO help from defense whatsoever and they will NOT be manufacturing runs any time soon. We ain't Twins or Angels of 2002. Good news is, our 3-6 hitters are yet to get going and Garland should be better than he has been.

At least Jose made a diving catch for an out before f***ing up...what's Paulie's (first he can't catch a bouncer over his head and then drops an easy OF throw) excuse? What about Carlos Lee getting thrown out by a mile at the plate with 1 out? Or Jose wasting DJ's would-be SB with a foul ball before grounding into DP? Or Carlos Lee, Maggs, Crede and Konerko almost exclusively swinging at utter s***e? Rios running himself out? I've been saying that Sox had an awful defense and fundamentals in the last 5 years but noone believed me. Last year and 2001 D. wouldn't have made much difference...this year we are seeing the damage already.

But...like...didn't you hear that Koch "wants the ball all the time, it's hard to stop him"? It's a good thing, right?

I think that's like 7 in the last two Sox games, no?