AirScott

I don't think Pods ever recovered from his injuries in 2005. after going 44-for-53 on stolen base attempts in the first half of 2005, he stole 15 and was caught stealing 14 times in the second half of the season. watching him this past season, when he'd attempt to steal, it seemed his first two steps took him nowhere, like he was running in place. I want to see if he can come back healthy after a full offseason, and if he can't, try out Owens, Sweeney or Fields in LF, or even Ozuna, and see what we can do. if we must make a move, it better be Crawford or bust.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 2, 2006 -> 05:26 PM) The GG, like the Heisman and most other media-voted awards, is absolute garbage. There is no correlation between winning it and being what the winner was intended to be. and oh yeah, don't coaches and players vote on the Gold Glove? QUOTE(knightni @ Nov 4, 2006 -> 01:09 PM) Buster Olney has an Insider article on how the gold gloves are a joke. Anyone a member that can verify whether or not he talks about Crede/Uribe in it? nope.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 2, 2006 -> 05:26 PM) The GG, like the Heisman and most other media-voted awards, is absolute garbage. There is no correlation between winning it and being what the winner was intended to be. dont ex-Heisman winners vote for the Heisman?

is it any surprise how bad the Tigers are playing? hello? 36-38 after the All-Star break. they're only in because we didn't win ANY of the games we needed to win...Sox were 12-17 in September. ouch.

I was recently thinking about last postseason, and think about it. it was as drama-filled and exciting as an 11-1 run can get. every game was close, and all season, we beat times like the Red Sox, Yankees and Astros in the same fashion as the Royals or Devil Rays. here's to the 2005 Sox!

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 10:41 PM) The Cardinals have already surpassed all of the expectations I had for them in this series. I can't believe they've won 2 games. like I said, this should be a good, close series. the Cardinals stink, and the Tigers stunk in the 2nd half (36-38 after the All-Star break!). possibly the worst World Series of all-time in terms of talent, but it should be somewhat riveting baseball. QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 08:20 AM) So much for the NL being a complete joke. Cards looking solid so far. like I just said, the Tigers aren't that good. 36-38 after the All-Star break? c'mon, we blew it, plain and simple. this could've been another year for the Sox. Bonderman will shut down the Cards tonight or Suppan will get knocked around, then Verlander will rebound like he always does after getting rocked and Rogers will clinch game 6.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 09:08 PM) I love how everybody is doing the whole "hey, he washed his hands off, what's the big deal?" with all of this! The announcers before the Series were ridiculous. So, Sosa didn't actually get a hit with the corked bat, so what is the big deal? According to these bafoons, it's no big deal and baseball has other problems to worry about! Like cheating in the game...oh...ummmm...but that is with drugs. it's not the same thing as Sosa's cork. but if it were, look at Sosa's numbers before and after the incident. he didn't hit 50 homeruns again, did he? although that may be attributed to those "other problems to worry about."

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 04:33 PM) Yeah, it does seem like the only thing I have ever seen on there is boxing. but not nearly enough Muhammed Ali. they don't have enough of the other greats, either. my idea is ESPN Classic should have 2-3 hours set aside per day for Michael, Bird, Magic, Gretzky, Rice, the '85 Bears, Payton, Barry Sanders, Brett Favre and perfect games/no-hitters. and a lot less 2-year-old college football games.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ Oct 24, 2006 -> 06:39 PM) Josh Fields can play LF. He is not the caliber of thirdbaseman that Joe Crede is. I would not want to trade Joe Crede. He can be signed for less than A-Rod is making plus if we did make a trade for A-Rod then the Rod could play SS. The only reason A-Rod is at third for the yankmees is because of Jeter. Uribe to the Yankmees or keep him as the super sub. New York needs pitching. don't even consider trading Crede...it's not like back problems are recurring or anything. he may or may not have surgery...I want to see how this turns out before we entertain any ideas involving trading Crede. remember, Crede wasn't that highly touted as a fielder coming up, so who's to say Fields couldn't turn out to be at least above average? don't get me wrong though, Crede was Brooks Robinson-esque for us last October.

it doesn't look like dirt, but I think it still could be, depending on how sweaty he is. plus he said he puts other, non-foreign substances on the balls before every start.

QUOTE(joemg311 @ Oct 22, 2006 -> 09:20 PM) ok, what was on kenny rogers hand, it really didnt look like pine tar. it looked like pooh from a pre game dump making it perhaps one of the most embarassing moments in baseball history. I wish somebody would ask this. a s***ball would be innovative, and this World Series would be a good time to implement it. and so you know what I said that's censored, here's a hint: rhymes with spitball. or replace the "p" with an "h," in case you don't follow. take that, Soxtalk censors! This post has been edited by the Soxtalk staff to remove objectionable material. Soxtalk encourages a free discussion between its members, but does not allow personal attacks, threats, graphic sexual material, nudity, or any other materials judged offensive by the Administrators and Moderators. Thank you.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Oct 22, 2006 -> 07:55 PM) I understand the context, I was just explaining what someone could see as "insensitive". Whether it's reasonable or not, I dunno. I've gone back and forth on it. Though, personally, I don't think there's anything even slightly wrong with the "habla-ing" comment. oh, there's nothing wrong with the "habla-ing" comment, aside from the fact that Lyons is an idiot. I think that's where our hypersensitve society took it the wrong way, and it made for bad timing with the wallet comment.

hey everybody, guess who went 36-38 after the All-Star break this year? that's right, the AL Champion Detroit Tigers! man, we blew it big-time this year. but with the Tigers' mediocre second half record and the Cardinals' mediocre team, this makes for a close and hard-fought World Series that will fall on rightfully deaf ears.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Oct 20, 2006 -> 12:27 PM) I tell ya, this is the silliest thing I have seen in a long time. I'm still a bit confused on how anybody can see this as "racist". Lyon's comments are more confusing than anything else. they're not confusing. think of it this way: Piniella made an odd reference, saying Scutaro's success it like finding a wallet. not a diamond in the rough, or a needle in a haystack, or even finding a $100 bill. rather, he said a WALLET. Lyons made a crack at this reference, saying he still can't find his wallet and he doesn't want to sit too close to Piniella. he was calling Piniella a thief because of the wallet comment, not because of his ethnicity. it might've seemed that way to people who like to blow these things out of proportions because he butchered the Spanish language before that. now that was just stupid.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Oct 22, 2006 -> 03:29 PM) When did he do that?? sorry, that was with Kansas City.

his stock is high, yes, but the career numbers are misleading. he had a run of bad luck and was injured when he was hitting .220 or so. now he's back to form, the same Jermaine Dye that put up MVP-caliber numbers in Oakland. we better be getting a Cy Young quality starters and a good rightfielder in return if he's dealt.

QUOTE(Wealz @ Oct 13, 2006 -> 06:48 PM) If he wants to, and that's a really big if, Ventura will be added to the coaching staff. I miss Robin. I want him back in some extent; coach, announcer...I guess that's all.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Oct 14, 2006 -> 04:09 PM) It's the wallet comment, confirmed by the 'don't want to sit too close bit'. Implying Spanish speakers are thieves. I guess I watched the wrong two games. I hate it when I miss the fireworks. it wasn't that bad. Piniella compared Scutaro's success to finding a wallet. Lyons responded "I still can't find my wallet...I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit too close to him now.'' the "habla-ing espanol" thing was a little insensitive, but he was joking about the comparison Piniella made. QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 16, 2006 -> 02:46 PM) For those tossing Lyon's name out there with our radio job, I'd just like to point out that Lyon's does a good chunk of work with the Dodgers on TV. Scully only does a few innings a game. To be honest I'm not quite sure how the Dodgers booth works, but you have Scully at times and at other times you have Lyon's and a former ESPN guy (whose name escapes me at the second). doesn't Scully do a few innings on TV, and do the rest for the radio broadcast?

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Oct 19, 2006 -> 05:25 PM) Ichiro's obp the last 2 seasons have been .350 and .370. They have been higher than Pierre's obviously, but not that much higher. I don't see where it makes too much sense to pay Ichiro what you would have to pay him and give up the talent it would take to acquire him, when you could get a guy like Pierre for about half the salary and not give up talent. I understand Ichiro is head and shoulder better with the glove, but he doesn't walk much either. with that train of thought, why not just hold off on that move and keep Pods? maybe he can regain the magic he had through the first half of 2005.

QUOTE(WHITESOXRANDY @ Oct 13, 2006 -> 09:43 AM) A lights out bullpen would be a major help. After that, maybe getting younger would help - I would look to trade Contreras for young pitching. yes, I'd love one of those. but I bet a lot of teams would, and I bet the Yankees thought they were getting one when they signed Octavio Dotel. doesn't always work out like you plan, however.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Oct 11, 2006 -> 03:33 AM) Florida Marlins, 2003 - 4.29 New York Yankees, 2000 - 4.52 The DBacks(3.84) and Red Sox(3.87) weren't much better. However, not many teams win with a team ERA of 4.41. The playoffs are all about starting pitching and having about 3-4 relievers you can count upon. The regular season is largely dependent upon having a good bullpen and having respectable starters. There's a pretty good reason as to why Oakland and Detroit are in the ALCS right now instead of Minnesota and New York, and it's all about starting pitching. You think the Sox would have won it last year without good starting pitching? I didn't feel like getting into starters' ERAs as well. going into the playoffs, the Yankees had two quality starters with mid-3's ERAs (Mussina and Wang), and Wang won their only game. Johnson's over-the-hill and injured, so there was no telling what to expect with him. the worst relievers for the Yankees this series were their 4 and 5 starters. all that matters is Torre had no reliable pitcher not named Mariano Rivera, and that sunk the Yankees. it's hard to compete when your pitchers (starters or relievers) can't hold a so-so offense to under 6 runs. and don't ask me if the Sox would have won it last year without our starters...obviously throwing 5 consecutive complete games says it all...I need to buy the box-set, to need to relive Cotts being our workhorse out of the bullpen between ALCS Game 1 and WS Game 2, when he had been the only reliever used and threw 2/3 of an inning in Game 1 of the ALCS.

ooh, ooh, I got one...but it's really not very original. subtract Garcia or Vazquez, plug in McCarthy. and what do you get? BOOM! instant upgrade. now who do you trade, Garcia or Vazquez? ...wait, don't we have a 40-page thread dedicated to that, under the name "Official Off-season idea and prediction thread?" or has that moved on to A-Rod talk? but seriously, Buehrle's had this kind of year and bounced back before, Contreras should get healthy and he was a Cy Young contender before that injury, Garland had a strong second half and apparently got over supposed arm troubles. now for the odd men out, Garcia's developed a splitter that he's dominated with and Vazquez is a modern-day Nolan Ryan in innings one through five.

if you're going to steer this thread to the obscure, here's a good one: link

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Oct 10, 2006 -> 11:01 AM) Not many teams lose in 4 in the playoffs with a team OBP of .363, which has to be one of the highest, if not THE highest, team OBP of all time. For simple comparison's sake, the White Sox's offense, which was the best in the majors in the first half, had 5 players - 2 of whom were bench players - with an OBP over .363. not many teams win in the playoffs with a 4.18 bullpen ERA either. the 2005 World Series Champion White Sox certainly didn't have a team OBP of .363 (it was .322, good for 24th in the majors). we did, however, have a 3.23 bullpen ERA.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Oct 10, 2006 -> 09:23 AM) It was never believable until this year though. Title changed for now. why is it any more believable this year? so Torre only has one year left on his contract? last year it was two, and everyone was saying Steinbrenner can afford to pay two managers for a couple of years. the only difference with Steinbrenner now and Steinbrenner then is that in the 70's and 80's, he really did fire his managers. now he merely threatens it. maybe Torre will get canned, but I doubt it, given the history. but it'd be unfair to fire him without giving him a chance with a bullpen.