BrandoFan

I just not want to hear about either Koch or Adkins. Hattenberg would have never gotten around a 99mph fastball in thar location letters-high. Koch bragged about being able to throw 98+ again a few weeks ago. Well, let's see it Billy Boy - I am sure you can get hitters belt-high with a 98 mph heater with 2 strikes. Just 1 such pitch per at bat would make all the difference in the world.... Adkins? Almost never pitches in close games and we all saw why. Has Kotsay at 1-2 and can't put him away.

Has he ever hit in the 1st half when Sox needed his offense the most? Check April-June of 2002 and 2003.

It IS a big deal. He's not a "very good defensive OF" he's always hyped as and never will be - these "small" f***-ups that are not scored as errors are part of the reason why. His defense in this Oakland series has been particularly brutal. He doesn't boot that ball, the tying runner is held up at 3rd. The next batter grounded into what would have been a routine, game-ending DP..... And then you got his ever-so-clutch hitting.....This is the guy annointed Magglio's successor.

That's exactly what Cubbie losers were saying about Borowski when his ERA was 3.00, then when it was 4.00, then 5.00, then 6.00, then 7.00. You give up enough walks and rockets and wild pitches as Kotch has been doing this year, and it's just a matter of time before there is 1 blown save.....2 blown saves....3 blown saves.....2 losses.....4 blown saves........He was bailed out by luck and by Uribe plenty of times this season - and as everyone knows, good baseball fortune can turn on a dime. You were told this back on April 5th. By people who actually know a little bit about the game. He needs a 98mph fastball the way he is pitching right now. He is topping out at 95. Not gonna cut it. Even though Hattenberg and Durazo broke their bats, they SAW the ball early out of his palm and had no problem top-handing that straight fastball. And the wild pitch didn't help, either - it never does.

:puke

Could always count on Billy Goat and Headcase Sox Prospect #166 to stop whatever momentum hapless Sox could muster dead in its tracks, demoralizing the team, 2003-style. Shingo is the only winner in this BP full of incorrigible losers. :puke

I claim responsiblity for the "Gload you no-good POS" and the "Corpseball" threads. Good times Oh and.....Jose is the bummiest bum who's ever bummed. Burn her. I mean, him.

Speak for yourself, Josh. Anybody with half a brain knows that the pressure is IMMENSE, and that it's the SINGLE biggest reason why, over the years, so many minor leaguers with great stuff and good minor league stats couldn't "dent" ( ) the majors. I guess people expected Cotts to dominate right away and be rookie of the year. The way he pitched earlier in the year spoiled a lot of people.

"Condom ambulance"? They couldn't make this s*** up.

A's are the Twins/Cubs of ALW. They'll find a way to win it - without Giambi, without Tejada, without Justice, without Hernandez, without Isringhausen, without Foulke. As long as they have Hudson-Mulder-Zito-Harden-Redman, they will be in almost every game. Kotsay has been unstoppable lately. Chavez, Hattenberd, Durazo, Dye, Byrnes can all hit. They play good defense as a team and don't run themselves out of innings with stupid small-ball (as opposed to the smart small-ball as practiced by Marlins). Billie Beane still needs a BIG bat (just as Twins badly needed a Shane Stewart infusion last year) at the all-star break so the A's can get on their patented 2nd half move.....and his team will be more than good enough to win ALW even without a strong bullpen. Unless of course Garret Anderson comes back completely healthy and Vlad's back holds for the entire season (unlikely), in which case Angels will challenge them. Texas are pretenders and will finish below the Mariners.

It's about as meaningful as the American Idol voting. Uribe has to get a few more steals under his belt and keep on hitting close to the current level, but right now he's the best 2B in AL. As Ronnie Belliard fades in June, Willie Harris will have the chance to get ahead of Uribe. How? By continuing his OBP march toward .400 and by swiping 15 more bags before July 10th. His defense is WELL above average and unlike Belliard, Willie plays on a WINNING team. Soriano's numbers aren't that good, esp for him, and I don't expect the Rangers to stay above .500 for long. Damon over Beltran, Matsui, Guillen, Wells, Maggs? Everett over Wilson? I-Rod over Posada? Sosa over Drew? Nomar over Young/Guillen? :headshake

that freckled Parenthood girl has really filled out, Mandy Moore-style.

Tue GoG: Uribe (big play at 3rd)

Come on, I gave you no less than 10 reasons why Sox looked like they "didn't have it". It wasn't meant to be. 1) Sorry, there is no such thing as "accidentally" gettting doubled off in my book. Notice how I don't blame Rowand for the DP - he did his job by hitting the ball hard. 2) Val blew it. No excuse. 3) Again, I don't buy it. Crede had the ball stuck in his glove 3 times this year. That's an error in my book. Slipping on a non-wet surface is too. In either instance, an out should have been recorded and it wasn't. End of story. 4) I was being facetious, but whatever. Olivo had a crappy day, highlighted by a GIDP off a lefty - and he kills lefties this year. 5) Yeah, he turned his head and reacted too late. With their vast foul ground, he could have made it to 2nd if he had picked up on the fact that Crosby totally airmailed it. Tough to hold it against the baserunner, but it's funny how Sox always had so many similar excuses back in 2002 and 2003, while Minnesota and other good team always managed to take advabtage seemingly of every fundamental miscue comitted by the Sox..... 6) Uribe made a brilliant play and Loaiza helped himself on a liner DP. Another A got caught in the run-down. Chavez juuuuust mised a 3-run homer. In short, Loaiza looked BAD. I understand it happens, but it's still one of the reasons why Sox didn't "deserve" to win. 7) Yeah, cuz Shingo TOTALLY bailed his ass out. I do give Marte judos for pitching 2 scoreless innnings before. Obvisouly there were other reasons for losing as well.

A-Rod will get hot and will EASILY be the best 3B in AL by the time mid-July rolles around. Roidambi is a disgrace, I agree. Matsui? After a slow start, the dude is absolutely raking lately. Already up to 990 OPS and rising. Plays good LF and is a very smart baserunner. If he continues this in the next 5 weeks, he'll pass Manny by as far as the overall value in LF goes.

Considering how much money Sosa made and in a way keeps on making for the Cubs, not only are they NOT sick of him, they might erect a statue to him one day. Alou is having a super-year - possibly the most clutch player in NL this side of Bonds. Cubs will re-sign him after 2004 for much less (age and injuries will lower value). They'll get Maggs to play CF for them - if 40yo Biggio, Finley and Garret Anderson can, so can Maggs - with those short gaps, there isn't that much room to cover. Then when either Sosa or Alou bow out in a year, Maggs moves over into the corner spot. KNowing how much Maggs means to the Sox and SouthSide, if I am Cubs I jummp on the opportunity to sign him.

No, he isn't.

What about Willie, Marte and Olivo? I also think Politte will be ok in the long run. When he had his slider earlier in the year, he made the batters look foolish.

Yeah, I heard Jennifer Jason Leigh is particularly fond of that part of the Movie

YES!! Jonas Lithgow =

Oh no no, he and Koch won't get off that easily. They lead the Sox to ALCS in 2004, then they are forgiven for essencially killing our chances in 2003. But Paulie is doing his job so far and it's great to see. His GIDP are down, his clutch hitting is WAAAAY up (.440 with RISP? Wow) and his defense has improved dramatically. He even scored a few times from 1st on a double down the line. Now call the Dodgers and offer them Konerko + prsopect for Perez. Then use the 3 Mill saved (12 Mill if you count 2005) and go after Palmeiro or Finley - and another cheap 1B type who can spell against LHP.

Clutch pitching (and defense) are often overlook in favor of clutch hitting. I remember Tom Gordon falling behind AJ Pirzinki 3-1 with bases juiced and a winning run at 3rd in the bottom of the 9th in Metrodome last year. He calmly threw a 97mph fastball belt high than AJP couldn't handle, foulding it off. 3-2 count. Then Uncle Tom uncorked a gorgeous curve that froze the s*** out of the Pirzinski. Inning over. That kind of pitching wins championships. Smoltz, Gagne, Rivera...they got it. Again, Shingo will get beat but he won't beat himself. So far this season, Koch, Politte, Marte and Cotts have been their own worst enemies.

You're right. Cotts came up aces a lot earlier in the year. But in the last 3 weeks, he's just become so one-dimensional. Cost a few games. He'll be more than fine in the future, but I can see where some people can be super-pissed, myself included.

Yes, but all playoffs team seem to be able to rattle off 5-6 game winning streaks and "paint over" some of the game they let slip by earlier in the year. Look at the Giants winning 10 straight on nothing more than Bonds, Schmidt and Feliz. Sox have not been able to gain a serious momentum since June of 2000. There is always a f***ing excuse.....oh we never faced this pitcher before.....oh this guy throws to many breaking pitches away.....oh we don't play well on the Left Coast.....oh this is a when we have to forfeit due to our lack of 5th starter......oh Buerhle and Garland were killed by bloopers.......oh Esteban Loaiza hasn't regained velocity.....oh, Cliff Politte is not confortable with his slider.....oh Neal Cotts accidentally sped Phelps's bat up with a change-up........oh Marte is not feelin' it with his slurve......oh, our base-runners are too stupid/cocky to get a big lead and a good jump while attepting to steal in a key situation.....oh, Roger Bassard has never seen more rain in May and April......og the umpires are irresponsible ( ).......etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, ec, etc....ad nauseum. I bet if this team had as many key injuries as Twins and Cubs, we'd be 12 games back. Sox are losers and will be until proven otherwise. Where's the mad desire to succeed? Where's the World Series-worthy KILLER INSTINCT? West Coast is just a boogie man created to cover up for our choke-happy failures.

Take about CLUTCH f***ing pitching - this guy can pitch on my playoff team anyday. When he gets beat, it's because the batter is better, NOT because he chokes his arm slot and release point away when the going gets tough.... Shingo, Lee, Konerko, Thomas, Uribe, Marte and Thomas showed up. Everybody else can suck a nut, including the Great Oz.