YASNY

I'm glad I could be of assistance.

Pastime, it's a simple business philosophy really. If you want more customers, put out a better product or better value. It's not, "If I get more customers, I will then improve my product." That's what he's trying to sell to Sox fans, and generally, we ain't buying it.

Yes, I have a thought. How damn long is it going to take them to fix these problems?

Forkit, you make some very good points. In fact, I can not only understand Reinsdorf running the team as a business first, but I expect it. He has to do so. However, he keeps undercutting his own product, i.e. the team. He also shot himself in the foot with his clientelle (sp?) by leading the way to work stoppage of '94 when his product was at it's peak. He runs this team like it was located in KC, Pittsburg or Nashville. He's in Chicago! If he'd give the city and the surrounding communities a product worthy of Chicago, then the fans would support it. I also think that Wrigley Field and the Luvable Losers can be overtaken, again, in the hearts of the area's baseball fans. It won't be easy and it will take some time, but it can be done. The problem is that he has himself to blame for this particular mess. When he pulled the Sox off of WGN and put them on Sportsvision, he really screwed the pooch with his clientelle again. He needs to market this team, the ballpark and the players aggressively. Yes, Jerry ...the players! I know you hate to do that because then they will be more popular and demand more money to stay, and you'll take a PR hit if they leave. BUT IF THE PLAYERS ARE MORE POPULAR, YOU"LL GET MORE BUTTS IN THE SEATS!!! Stop trying to put a "competitive" team on the field every year. Start trying to put a Championship caliber team on the field every year and you will see a world of difference.

Konerko very well may get back to the level of success he had before. The guy just had a bad year. It happpens. The reason I am calling for the Sox to trade PK has nothing to do with his bad year. I just think we need some power from the left side and I think moving PK would allow us to fill his spot with a good LH hitter.

I do not want to see Roger Cedeno on the Sox. Ever. He's terrible.

I don't think Roger's done yet. He filed for free agency recently. I think he's keeping his options open.

So much for Roger Clemens pitching for Team USA in the Olympics.

I work midnight shift. All these posts in here, I do while "working".

That fact that they thought to include Tanner Boyle in that list was great. Also, hilarious as hell.

The Padres new color scheme is supposed to represent the sand of the beaches, the blue sky and the ocean. If you notice, the verticle part of th "P" looks like a sail. I'd say that what they came up with is very representative of the city. I think they did a good job.

The way the Bulls have started this year, Cartwright may not be around very long. Oh wait ... I forgot who the owner was for a second there. Never mind.

Has anyone actually seen a copy of the offer that was made to Mark? I'd be curious to see it, since I missed it and am not EXACTLY sure what was offered and what was not. An actual copy, no. But it was widely reported that the deal was 3 years $11.5 mil guarenteed with upto 5 years $26 million possible if incentives and options were all met. IF that is exactly what the deal was, I believe that is fair. He would average almost 4 million per season and if he pitches well he will earn more in years 4 and 5. If not, then he is a free agent and can take his chances. The concept of a team HAVING to offer a 4-5 year contract that is 100% guaranteed is stupid. If teams want to do it, fine, but there is no obligation to do so. The Konerko contract is a perfect example. If MB would have flopped over the next two years, Sox fans would have been crowing about how dumb that contract was, had it been guaranteed money. It's a catch 22. Mark seemed to have gotten reasonable offer and turned it down. That is his prerogative. I don't think Sox fans should hold hostility against either party in this case. It was a business decision and I don't think either party is screwing the other. Posts like that are all too rare around here. Good job, Rex.

I'd say that's a fairly safe assumption.

I don't know where Damon Buford is right now, but if he's out of the game as a player you can add Don Buford to cw's mention of Sandy Alomar.

I think we can put that rumor in the "Ain't Happening" catagory.

Hiring Cora to coach 3rd Base is a very minor event. How someone could be happy, or get pissed about this is beyond me.

If we don't win, I'm sure they'll break this team up. Ah yes, another 5 year plan beginning next year. Being a Sox fan is like a little slice of heaven.

Hmmm ... we can use a good knuckleballer too. I wonder if Phil Niekro is available.

Sleep.

We didn't have rocks when I was kid. Pre-Stone Age, ya know. Thanks again, everybody.

Hey. This is cool

Those aren't Vikings. It's members of the Lewis and Clark expedition using sails and poles to push the boat UP the Missouri River.

He's actually a very smart business man. He also happens to be a tightwad baseball team owner.

I was making a simple point that Black Jack was the type of pitcher that would pitch well enough to win. Sure, every pitcher has a bad game occasionally, and sometimes his team will bail him out. It happens. BFD. I've seen McDowell win a 1-0 game in Minnesota when he had absolutely nothing. In a jam every inning it seemed. Yet, somehow, he would find a way to wiggle off the hook. Gutsiest pitching performance I have ever seen. I was offering McDowell as an example of this type of pitcher. They do exist. It doesn't not make your point invalid. It's just something to take into consideration before you completely blow off winning percentage as a standard to measure a pitcher. It is one of many stats used to establish a pitchers worth and effectiveness. Question for you. Would you consider career winning percentage or won-loss record an effective tool for judging a pitcher?