BrandoFan

As long as he stays on and off the DL til the All-Star Break, and as long as both Prio and Wood don't reain velocity..... Now we just need Ramirez to go into a Patterson-type identity crisis funk and Alou to start feeling his age (38), Sox will be on good shape.

Start counting. Just be sure to remember how he dashed so many hopes in 2003.

Well then it changes everything

When I saw him in the bigs, he was fundamentally flawed -- reads, set-ups on were lousy, didn't put his entire body into the throws, etc But you could also see that his arm was stronger than Rowand's. I figured he'd get a better throwing technique to better utilize that sheer strenght....oh well. It's funny seeing Ichiro and Lew Ford gunning the ball all the way from the fence and Joe is much stronger than either of them, lol

I know what I saw: -Pitch recognition that leaves MUCH to be desired -A slow loopy swing that manages to foul off the ball even when it's on the T Note I said "....to be a superstar" - watch McGwire or Thome hit sometimes and then compare their eye, HEC and batspeed to JoBo's.... And of course psychological aspect is often what separates the ML stars from the mortals. Most people can't even watch the game on TV at crucial moments without choking up, so it takes a special kind of mentality to actually STAND right there in the batter's box with a game on the line... Unfortunately, mental problems are extremely difficult to fix. Just ask Knoblauch and Ankiel, formerly dominant ML'gers who just lost it. Borchard is 26. The odds are very much against him -- and I am one of the few folks who doesn't want him traded, mind you.

-Magglio -Caballo -Garland (Sox got a damaged good from Flubs and made a pitcher out of him) -Buerhle -K.Wells -Olivo (A-ball catcher with no stick with Oakland) -Cotts (got an A-ball pitcher with no control and molded him...he's ours) -Bajenaru -Rauch (he dominated the Twins in 2002, but he was better before injury and would have been Sox' second best starter in 2001 if healthy) -Diaz (will be good ML reliever if anything else) -Crede -Durham -Sirotka -Barcelo (would have been a stud reliever had he stayed healthy in 2001) Then you got Honel, Reed, Sweeney, Yofu, Munoz, Anderson. Good (if labrum-challenged) farm system if you ask me. If Sox had Top 3 picks like the Cubs, you'd see more Kerry Woods and Mark Priors, I am sure.

Yeah, an 86-year drought would do that to you.... :headshake

It's ridiculous that you even had to spell that out for people. -ERA has to be under 4.00 (which is equivalent to 4.50 for starters) -Peripherals like OPS-against, WHIP, etc have to be decent. -Inherited Runners Factor has to be above the league average -Win-Loss record and Save Conversion Rate have to be above average Billy Goat is pitching better than he did last year. BUT considering how lucky he's been in some of the saves (pitched out of bases loaded with 1 out against TB, was lucky Tejeda's shot was right at Uribe in Baltimore, etc), he still has ways to go. With a sharp velocity drop and a lousy control, he cannot afford to be a four-seamer/slider pitcher anymore. Now he needs a sinker or a cutter and that curve of his to be effective as out-pitch. Easier said than done. He gets a C- but I am glad it's not all lost for him. Getting Koch on track would be absolutely HUGE.

Ok I will: Sam McDowell once threw 275 pitches in a single game. What made it even more impressive is that he did it on a 3-day rest and many of the pitches were 93-95+ mph heaters and sharp breakers.

He threw 144 pitches. As the innings went on he went from 93-94 to 95-97 in the latter innnings. That's the kind of a pitcher Sox could use in the playoffs.

Improvement #1: Lee's 2004-2005 salary: 15 Mill SlowBattin' Joe: 650 K Improvement #2: Lee: girlie arm SlowBattin' Joe: cannon Having said that, I have nothing but a homer's hope Joe becomes Adam Dunn 2.0. He just doesn't have the eye, hand-eye coordination, batspeed OR confidence in himself to be a star in the majors. Or so it seems.

Barret hit a weak chopper to 3B. 3 years ago Alfonzo throws him out, but he's just safe. On the same night as Unit Perfection....Mercy!

Mon GoG: Konerko (changed) Tue GoG: Uribe

Your sarcasm is as toothless as your understanding of baseball - simpletonish.

Wow.....Deepest condolences and prayers to you and your loved ones, Mike.

That's how you run bases. Valentin scores from 2nd on an infield single off the pitcher by Olivo. Reminds me how he scored from 3rd on Borchard's pop-up to the tarp here in Cleveland last year.

Nope. This run is on Willie even though there was no error - the "double" was Wilie's f***-up. Jose erased his own error on an unassisted DP. Sorry to burst your bubble. BTW....Vizquel should have an error as well. Don't believe the official scorer hype.

I wanted Wright out last May. Since the NYC start, I didn't care if it's Diaz, Cotts, whomever. So I don't question the Diaz move at all. He's just not ready mentally. As far as Harris.....For every Harris, there are 5 Greg Nortons. Freddy Garcia would be nice. The problem? Seattle wouldn't take Konerko or Koch or Valentin. Sox can't take on salary, nor will they ever give up Sweeney, Reed, Anderson or Honel.

I'll say. His sluggin is, what, 350 -- which is pretty pathetic for such an "advanced" hitter hitting against AAA pitching in a hitter's park. Not only that, but there are persistent rumors that his wrist(s) is still bothering him. I doubt he'll out-hit Willie Harris at this point - and he sure as hell wouldn't challenge Rowand for the right to hit against LHP because Aaron is by FAR the best option against lefties Sox have in CF.

Grilli?! The guy has been pretty worthless in AAA, while Rauch is actually having a solid season. Cotts is not stretched out, he is needed in the pen. The only reason why Rauch may never get a shot is becasue, well, this organization is and has always been run by f***ing idiots. Wright is not it. Diaz is not it (yet). Rauch needs to be tested for a couple of starts to see if he's got it. If he pulls a Diaz and chokes, then Cotts willl be the emergency starter.

Shall we say one more start? If he can't produce a quality start against the Twins, you can't trot him out there anymore. Rauch is next in line.

ss2k4, bridgeport_joe, PA, LSD and boug_alou and others will attest to the fact that you were very much Pro-Invasion circa early 2002. In fact, you were giddy as a school-girl when Baghdad was getting shelled during S&A and received a lot of flak for it from the ESPN posters. [/setting the record straight]

Sure they do. They tell plenty. I also saw him pitch. Batting practice city.

He has an ERA of 11.00. How f***ing more "terrible" can you get?! Fuerhermore, his stuff was not very Pedro-esque as advertised, either, so it's not as if he ran into bad luck. He was awful. I am not even sure if he deserves another start.

Remember that Manuel had a Dusty Baker rep of knowing how to relate to and motivate players....Manager of the Year in 2000 and personal hero of every Sox fan circa that era. Combination of key injuries and KW's idiotic decisions did the 2001-2002 teams in. Manuel had NO chance. Piniella wouldn't have saved those train-wrecks. 2003 is squarely on JR and on the players' conscience. I don't care if you suck because you're trying too hard or not enough; go tell your excuses on the mountain. Season was lost in the 1st half. White, Koch, Konerko, Wright, Rios, Daubach, Konerko, Crede, Buerhle, Rowand, Colon - all severely underperformed their career averages in the first half. Thomas, Ordonez, Valentin didn't get hot until June, either. In essence, Loaiza and Jimenez were carrying the team in April and May. 2 f***in' players! The team briefly showed what it could do when everyone is clickng and feeding off one another in August. But obviously it was too late. It's always easy to blame the manager. It's silly but nonetheless convenient. I was guilty of that myself.