YASNY

With all the big thumpers behind him in the line up, they may not run him very much. In that case, then the OBP will be the important stat for this guy. Any of the next 5 or 6 batters in the order can and should hit 20+ dingers. I agree....OBP is the only stat we should be paying attention to with respect to Jiminez...I don't care how the hell he gets on...hits, walks, errors, heck get yourself hit 30 times....I don't give a s***...all I know is that there are 125 runs sitting there waiting to be had at that spot, so whoever it is better damn well be patient and once they do get on base stay there for the big boys to knock you in.... JM said Jimenez has a patient approach at the plate. So that bodes well. However, I would consider running before the end of Maggs AB's to cut down on the DP possibilites.

We may be seeing someone very special in Mark Prior. It will surprise me if he flops, that's for sure. Someone, earlier in this thread, quoted Prior's K/IP. It is phenonemal, granted. However, MB is not a strikeput pitcher, but he most certainly is a "pitcher". If he can get a batter to hit a weak grounder to 2B on the second or third pitch of an at bat, then that's better than striking the guy out on the 5th or 6th pitch of an at bat. In fact, some baseball "experts" in the press have questioned the fact that Bartolo Colon's strikeouts were down last season. Yet, he won 20 games for the first time in his career (correct?). That tells me that Colon is now a pitcher, rather than a thrower. He can reach back and get it when he needs it, which is good, but he doesn't need it as much as he used too. Damn, I rambled off topic a bit. I've seen too many Van Poppel(s) and Clyde Wright(s) come and go over the years to take Prior over Buehrle at this point. Of course, I haven't seen Prior pitch in person yet. I do believe in wins vs potential wins, though.

With all the big thumpers behind him in the line up, they may not run him very much. In that case, then the OBP will be the important stat for this guy. Any of the next 5 or 6 batters in the order can and should hit 20+ dingers.

A difficult situation, but one any manager would love to have.... Yes, it could be a very nice problem to have. It would be interesting to see what the Sox do if Joey B does make the team. Would they trade Lee? Rowand? Thomas?

HSC .... we expect an honest evaluation of Olivo in ST from you. He's your boy, but if he is looking rough down there, we want to know about it. Fair enough?

Apparently, Joey B is trying to make it tough for JM to send him to AAA.

I've read a lot on this issue over the years. I've read various opinions and the reasons people expressed for those opinions. I have gradually come to the belief that Joe Jackson did, in fact, know what was going on, did take the money and did actually throw games. I also feel that Buck Weaver was innocent. This, of course, is just my personal opinion.

I wouldn't call it bias. Prior has a very good chance to become a very good major league pitcher. Buehrle is a very good major league pitcher. There is no reason to believe that Buehrle cannot continue to be a very good pitcher for years to come. Because he is a soft tosser/control type pitcher, he might even out last Prior over the long haul. Just saying that Mark Buehrle is a proven commodity and Mark Prior, at this point, is not.

Any series against the Twins.

Great pics! You need to mention Black Jack's Cy Young Award under his pic.

Prior is impressive, but baseball is a funny game. He certainly has the potential to be a star, but you never know.

Oops... my bad. Yep, that team was a major disappointment.

Why does MLB always have to schedule those on the same weekend? That would solve that problem. It would be cool for the rest of the US to watch us beat the Cubs and rock Wrigley!

Because he's Nader?

You never know if the girl has an STD or not. Wear protection or stay celibate.

That's for sure. All the other stuff is their to keep me occupied till baseball season arrives.

As often as I disagree with your views, this statement is one that I find very insightful and one that I wholeheartedly agree with you on.

Helluva post. I always thought those companies should pay me to wear their crap.

Miles just might end up beating out Harris.

Especially Munoz.... Though he'll probably get rocked. His big pitch is the curveball, and if it won't break in Arizona, he could be in for a rough spring.

That pitching line up is not exactly a Who's Who type list.

and I have heard rumors that it was what did in the 1984 Sox. Can you elaborate on that? Hoyt pitch game 1 of that ALCS and beat the O's if I remember correctly and was scheduled to pitch game 5 if the Sox would have given some support to Britt Burns in game 4. Damn, he pitched a helluva game.

It sounds like Milton is going to be out just long enough for Santana to establish himself in the Twinkie rotation. That really sucks. It could be worse, too. It's a good thing the Twins could not afford to draft Mark Prior. Add him to that staff and look out.

Hell yeah !! What Sox fan doesn't like to hear that sort of news?! You should temper your excitement some.... Garland was pitching to Sox batters.

I'm glad to see most of you realize that this game meant nothing. Our pitchers got rocked all of last ST, so this doesn't concern me. I have to admit, last year it did bother me. Live and learn.