BrandoFan

Manos may be slow as molasses but by god the man can take an extra base with the best of them...Huge.

Ok, so we take away Miguel's double as punishment...

And Uribe for messing up the tag. Give them both errors - and one to Garland for throwing a meat-ball while we're at it.

You mean like sending Olivo HOME from 2nd on a bunt single by Willie, a move that even the 'Stache rarely attempts - with NO outs and Sox down by a run? And what the f*** is Uribe bunting for? He has the ability to tie the game with one swing...Yeah, keep on wasting outs, Ozzie.

Jose takes out Ekstein's feet at 2nd, so Rowand is safe on a would-be DP. Inning alive. Rowand then swipes 2nd. 2 outs. That's where good teams make them pay.

He's not Sox the best all-around player. Too weak against LHP, too many avoidable fielding mistakes and a lame hamstring are reasons why. Ozzie is prone to say all sorts of, um, stuff.

Before 30? One of the worst position players in baseball. After 30? Awesome. I have a feeling that whatever caused this magical transformation is the secret to success not only in baseball but in any endeavor. Makes me want to be more patient with Borchard and Crede, that's for sure.

Willie's 1 for 17 against lefties, with a single. Even though Jose's timing is not even CLOSE to being good, he's had quite a few long drives off southpaws - 2 long loud strikes against Cliff Lee; a drive off the wall against KC and against NY (triple); a hard line-out to Sweeney off Affeldt and to Cuddayer off Fultz; a long drive off Santana and Romero both hitting the RF wall in Sunday's game; and a few singles and walks sprinked in between.....And of course in spring training he has NO problem with lefties whatsoever. Yes, he still needs to learn to stop pulling off the ball so damn much and to stay back longer so crafty pitchers like Rogers can't exploit him with cheap tricks such as a sweeper 2 feet outside......But he's looked infinitely better against LHP even when making outs than Willie did, ever. It's a no brainer.

Last 300-game winner? No way. Pitchers are capable of mantaining good form deep into 30s and some have gone over into 40's. There will be a phenom with a rubber arm who comes into the league at 20-21yo and will finish his career at 40yo and will have the talent to average 15 wins per season. Mark Prior will win 300 no prob. Hopefully not as a Cub.

Nope, Uribe is a slugger, a wild man, a Berroa/Tejada/Garciappara. He is aggressive and can hit a bad ball, so a line-up protection is not quite as big an issue with him. Reed on the other hand is more of an all-field mistake slap hitter now that his wrists may not allow him to drive the ball as much. His job would be to set the table, to be a high OBP guy who would benefit the most in front of Maggs and Frank. Against RHP 1.Harris 2 Reed Against LHP: 1. Uribe 2. Rowand

Aaron cannot hit RHP. Today he only got a double after Sox went up 8-0. You might not think it's a big deal, but consider this: OPS vs. RHP (2004): Perez: 625 Crede: 634 Konerko: 750 Ordonez: 812 Lee: 733 Gload: 627 Olivo: 509 Alomar: 691 Righties comprise 70% of all pitchers, so this is not a trivial matter. If not Finley, it's gotta be Jeremy Reed or Joe Borchard. Reed brings OBP in the 2-hole. Borchard brings power in the 7-hole, in front of Konerko and behind Lee. Reed might nt be healthy and JoBo has the recent momentum his side.

Corky.Rectum is a raging moron, I don't know why you bother with him. As far as "celebrating", you don't see me opening threads about Valentin after 1 good game. Why? Because I know the season is young and that he has A LOT to improve upon, especially against LHP and on routine plays defensively. Same with Mark. Him and Loaiza are earning that paycheck and then some. But they can definately get better - Buerhle's backdoor curveball and slider are still a bit erratic. Once he gets them going, he'll have a wholalot of new ways to set the hitter up. Also Ozzie must absolutely stop allowing these pitchers to top the 100-pitch mark in blow outs. It's beyond stupid and unneccesary.

If I were you, I'd take the gloating down a peg or two. Bad karma/luck is bound to rear its ugly head. Last time Sox fans gloated, both Thomas and Jose pulled up lame in same game. Mark is looking good, but let's be honest - he is still giving up too many hits. Tonight Soriano just caught the ball off the end of the bat, just missing a 3-run homer in the 1st. Texas threatened in a few more innings - who knows how things unfold if Sox didn't stake out to a quick 4-run lead? In fact, they've been giving Mark UNBELIEVABLE run support in many of his wins which is a big psychological boost. If I am you, I enjoy the hell out of his 5-1 record and good ERA, but remember his 2-year trend is still a little disturbing and that it's only MAY. We all know (read my reply earlier in this thread) that Mark is capable of a 3.75 ERA, which makes him a #2 on an average team. It remains to be seen if Mark can return to his 2001 ace form. I hope he does - should Sox reach postseason, he'll be starting against Vasquez or Shilling, and this back-to-back basehits s*** won't fly against the Red Sox and Yankees.

Rowand is excellen against LHP, and his defense is anything if not solid. But he's never shown an ability to hit RHP. Sox as a whole have that problem, so Aaron can't be hidden in the line-up. It looks like Steve Finley is not coming, so while the iron is hot, call Borchard up. Maybe he can line a couple of scary frozen ropes into upper deck like he did in Toronto last year

There is no such thing as "expendable" when it comes to small payroll'd teams like the Sox and/or hitters with as much power potential and as good a work ethic as JoBo LTP Bottomline: Borchard's value is still way too low, and other players you mentioned are far from ML-ready, weither because of raw-ness or less than perfect health. Trade for Randy Johnson or Jason Schmidt? Of course, but for Kris Benson or Matt Clement? Not a chance.

Thu GoG: Lee Hon ment: Crede had a couple of nice plays as well as did Valentin.

How about comparing their career steroid intake?

Steve "LaLoosh" Dalkowski. No contest. Estimated to be anywhere from 103 to 110 mph occasionally while in the minors. Ryan Express against the White Sox. Sam McDowell might have topped 100 on a few occaisions. Sandy Koufax. Walter Johnson. Mark Wholers is said to have reached 103 during a ST game. Bunch of relievers topped 99-100 at least once, including Wagner, Koch, Farnsworth and Anderson. People don't realize that speed tests have been around since 1913 - starting from the suprisingly reliable "motorcycle" test. Waaay before the radar gun they could gauge speeds fairly accurately.

Graffanino, the guy who has a distinction of not only having a lousy fielding % but also a weak arm and no range....at 2B!

. It took me about a week to learn all the "complexities" and "vastness" of baseball. Hawk's tirade was pure nonsense - the kind of irrelevant jock tripe you hear in those circles. Calling Boers and Mariotti out? Petty and unprofessional - it was cool during Soxfest, now it's just creepy. "There's nobody that knows the game of baseball no matter how long you've been in the game" Whoa, deeeep.....

Hawk admitted to being addicted to O'Reilly Factor Game. Set. Match.....as far as "right mindset" and "intelligence" go.

He has since backtracked and said that by "people" he meant "Boers, Bernstein and Mariotti". Hawk is seriously losing it.

Luckily for Hawk Bernstein wasn't around because he would have have effortlessly destroyed Hawk - Boers is a weakaroo.

Hawk: Me and you go way back [and you still don't know jack s***] Boers: Yeah, all the way back to your GM days... Hawk: {preetends he didn't hear the last part]