YASNY

I cannot believe the Twins have not put him in their starting rotation yet.

Santana is wicked. That might be all we get tonight.

That's good enough for me. If he does that, it's a good deal.

If Chicago fans can cheer Rodman we can forgive anyone and call him "ours" That statement puts things in the proper perspective. Good job.

I just hope Robbie leaves his "New York state of mind" behind.

With all the quality relievers we have in the system, this was a good gamble. If nothing else, it does improve our up the middle defense. And if Alomar continues to hit just .260, that's more than we've been getting from 2nd base for the past 6 weeks.

Now that Alomar's on a team that can actually win something, I think we'll see the Robbie Alomar of old.

I edited it to be more all-inclusive.

What do you think guys and gals.... Is Mark Buehrle back?

That's gonna leave a mark!

I'm willing (or rather, hoping?) to believe that his troubles were due to : 1. Changing leagues. 2. Playing in NY. 3. The fact the Mets have sucked the past two years, that he wasn't motivated to excell.

Jiminez would be the obvious choice, IMO. Cotts for Weaver?

OK... I know Almote has been struggling as of late. I'm not all that familiar with Ring. (and I always get him confused with Wing)... So, I'll defer to all you propspect experts as to whether or not we got reemed on this one.

I hope it's not Cotts.

Whoa Dude. Do NOT question my loyalty to the White Sox. I have been a Sox fan for as long as I can remenber. And I'm 45 years old. I'm also a somewhat savvy baseball fan. I do not blindly ignore what my intellect is telling me about the quality of a particular team at a particular time. Not questioning your loyalty, just tired of the liatany of excuses people have for not showing up. If the park was packed the team would get more good P.R. and the scrub fans would lose the only thing left they can rip us about. I'm 35 and I have seen my share of good and bad teams. I'm just trying to look at this from a realistic perspective. I wish the fans out there would anabshedly support the Sox. But, we aren't the Cubs. In order for this team to draw great crowds on a consistant basis, they are going to have to put a team on the field that the casual fan really believes can do it. They are going to have to convince the casual fan that are committed to winning a WS and not being competitive.

The big question is ... for who?

cw, I was very very hopeful in 2000. But I knew our staff was staying together by means of baling wire and duct tape. We had about .500 ball the last 4 to 6 weeks of the season. That is not the way to head into the playoffs and expect to win it all. There are no Detroit or Tampa Bay games during the playoffs. cmon this post is accurate and obvious guys. There isnt even a debate here. No, the debate is about people not showing up unless the team on the field will win the World Series without a doubt. Like the Yankees last year, they had the highest payroll and best players, they were a lock right? No ... you are missing my point. I am talking about the CASUAL fan here. The kind of fan that fills the stands when they think they are riding a winner to the finish line.

cw, I was very very hopeful in 2000. But I knew our staff was staying together by means of baling wire and duct tape. We had about .500 ball the last 4 to 6 weeks of the season. That is not the way to head into the playoffs and expect to win it all. There are no Detroit or Tampa Bay games during the playoffs. cmon this post is accurate and obvious guys. There isnt even a debate here. Thanks Bmr... I feel like I need to circle the wagons here.

Whoa Dude. Do NOT question my loyalty to the White Sox. I have been a Sox fan for as long as I can remenber. And I'm 45 years old. I'm also a somewhat savvy baseball fan. I do not blindly ignore what my intellect is telling me about the quality of a particular team at a particular time.

cw, I was very very hopeful in 2000. But I knew our staff was staying together by means of baling wire and duct tape. We had about .500 ball the last 4 to 6 weeks of the season. That is not the way to head into the playoffs and expect to win it all. There are no Detroit or Tampa Bay games during the playoffs.

Yes, the '83 team did flounder, but as they started winning they just looked stronger. Much stronger than the '00 team. As for it being time to believe, yes... it's possible with this team. I'm hopeful that they turn out to be a team you can believe in... regardless of the steepness of the upper deck.... Consistancy in the way they are currently playing over the next month or so will convince me that they can be a force to deal with in the post season.

They did actually perform above expectations against Seattle. But, did you really believe they had the pitching to win it all?

I'll give you this much on 2000. The team wasn't expected to do anything. That, in itself, contributed to the fans "expecting the inevitable". So, it took a while for them to truly believe. And, thet did after the NY/Cleve road trip we swept. But as the starting staff self destructed as the season progressed, they just knew......

The starting staff of the 2000 team was a patchwork. There was no way you could expect then to have any longterm success against playoff caliber teams. As the season went along you could see that happening. As I said , I belived in in '83 and '94... and you can add '93 to that. Those teams were solid. Unfortunately, the '94 team team was the last really solid team we had. We got out to such a big lead in 2000 that we couldn't lose it. But, there is no way in hell that team was going all the way with the starting staff in the condition it it was.

It's all about the quality of the team. I believed in '94.. and I believed in '83. It's all about having a firm solid foundation based on the belief that the team is actually capable. Sure, any team that make the playoffs can get hot at the right time and win it all. But did you really believe that the 2000 team was capable? I didn't. So far, this team has not shown that this year it is capable of winning it all. It has the potential to show that, and do so. But, they blew 3 months of the season as far as attendance goes by playing well below their capablilities.