Balta1701

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 27, 2013 -> 09:33 AM) Since we're rehashing, reports out of Cleveland were that the Bulls, by far, made the worst pitch to LeBron. They basically challenged him to be better than MJ, and only had two old white guys in the room. The Bulls also made it clear that they weren't going to baby him, that he was going to have to work just as hard as anyone else on the roster.

QUOTE (Cali @ Feb 27, 2013 -> 01:51 AM) With Granderson out I'm shocked the Yankees haven't already signed him. If he's got any pop left the short porch in right would be perfect for him. And no worries about the health issues, when he goes down with an injury maybe Granderson will be ready to go hah Why does no one read any other posts? The problem is...Sizemore isn't healthy right now. It will be midseason before he's ready to go, that's why he hasn't signed anywhere yet. The Yankees may as well say they're going to play ARod in CF to start the season; after all, he's just as useful as Sizemore would be out there right now.

QUOTE (Rex Hudler @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 08:17 PM) Minnesota can't hit the broad side of the arena they play in. And suddenly tied.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 06:55 PM) Could really help. If he were to remain healthy. There are great odds that he would not. I'm content with Wise and Danks Very good chance that Danks's roster spot belongs to Gillaspie.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 06:32 PM) Could it have hurt? The Bulls have a hard enough time getting any good FA signing, you don't need the star player already here telling the media that "he don't need no help". I don't know that it would have hurt, I just don't think blaming him for how that went down is the right path. If it was set up in 2008, and I think it was...then there's nothing that could have been done by him or anyone to change things. Maybe blaming him for not trying to recruit one of the injured big men (Howard Love) might make more sense.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 05:50 PM) Morel hits rocket liner off leg of Texas pitcher Ortega Phegley HR.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 05:35 PM) Then in that case he needs to STFU. He's the one who refuses to recruit, so he's the one who gets stuck with people like Boozer when we might have had a slightly better shot at Bosh/Wade/LBJ. He has 0 right to complain about things like that. Serious Q; do you really think "Rose Recruiting" was going to be enough to overwhelm the bargain with the devil those 3 struck at the olympics before DR1 was even drafted?

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 05:28 PM) Jeff Passan breaks down Loria's letter to the fans. I dunno, blaming Loria for a loan of $80 billion that will eventually cost $1.2 billion seems like the wrong place...that's the kind of thing you blame the thieving loan originator and politicians (who were probably quasi-legally-bribed to get highly bank-favorable terms) for.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 05:06 PM) Any word or tweets on how Nestor did? 2 scoreless innings, 1 hit, 0 strikeouts, 0 BB, 19 pitches, 12 for strikes. He would have faced their regulars mostly; Kinsler, ANdrus, Murphy, Pierzynski, Jeff Baker, Mitch Moreland, Aaron Cunningham.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 04:11 PM) Does anyone know if the offensive success that the Sox have seemingly had so far this spring has to do with anything in particular they are working on? Are they trying to hit the other way? Sacrificing power to make more contact? Taking more walks? etc... Are they just facing bad pitching? Just curious. At this point, don't take anything from anything. You've got all of the above and more so. You also have pitchers throwing a lot of extra fastballs to stretch themselves out, breaking balls that don't break normally thanks to the Arizona air (this seems to come up with Gavin Floyd every year in the spring), games that are full of minor league players and pitchers who commit errors or get killed much easier, on top of anything someone may genuinely be working on.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 04:42 PM) I wonder what happened in 2005. Pure luck? A little extra "oomph" on his pitches? He barely has another league average season. Worth noting is that he started getting hurt a lot more after 2005...culminating in the Tommy John surgery in 2009.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 02:02 PM) Carl, AJ, Uribe, Blum...seems like they had some genuine characters in the past and Paulie had no problem with that. If Swisher could've backed up his big personality with his play on the field, I think he would've been hugely popular, both with fans and players. For whatever reason, he just had a really bad year at the plate. Our bad luck. I think he was also a particularly bad matchup for the coaching staff, Walker in particular. We've heard stories about Walker basically giving up on even trying with Swisher, or something like that, after Swisher had refused his suggestions/help for so long.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 09:40 AM) It is a poor point to assume that the Sox will get zero contribution from their minor league players. Especially when the Sox got big contributions last year, and all indications are that the system has better quality in it that it has in a long time. Also worth pointing out again that the Sox have had success plucking guys out who were undervalued by other teams for whatever reason. 2 guys in our current lineup fit that description: De Aza and Ramirez. It doesn't matter where production comes from if it is production.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 09:41 AM) Also realize that just because positions don't match up exactly, doesn't preclude the farm system from bringing us the player that does fit the system in a trade. (noteable successful recent example of this = Carlos Quentin).

Joe Crede developed into a really solid bat by 2006, but then his back imploded.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Feb 26, 2013 -> 08:47 AM) I think that the Sox need at least one of their younger offensive players to step up and act like they belong as an integral part of a Major League lineup. Meaning that one of (preferably 2-3) Viciedo, Beckham, Morel, Sanchez, Flowers, Mitchell, Gillespie or maybe an "out of nowhere" minor leaguer need to prove that they can be a solid 1 - 5 place hitter. If this does not happen then between age and expiring contracts I think that we will have a struggling offense for several seasons to come. That is unless they spend a boatload of money on free agents, which isn't likely. JMHO. Depends on how you define a "Boatload". On paper, the Sox have Konerko, Dunn, Rios, and Peavy's contracts ending within the next 1-2 years. That clears $40 million on just the offensive guys, $54 million counting Jake.

Taj Gibson sprained MCL against OKC, will be out ~ 2 weeks.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 09:35 PM) It's kind of sad how badly they handled this. Though I guess it will all be forgotten once he sets foot on the court again. Doesn't he appear to be on schedule of the schedule that apparently doesn't exist? I didn't expect him back til sometime in March which seems to be in step with his progress from reports in the media. I was expecting February. By March, he's behind the pace of most Major League athletes who have the same surgery.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 01:29 PM) Anybody hear anything about Lindstrom feeling elbow pain? 2 batters, 2 k's for Lindstrom in the game today. Viciedo hbp and was taken out at the time. Septimo hurt his lower leg and was taken out.

Link

Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 09:13 AM) One thing I've heard about the comparisons between US and European doctors: yeah, Euro doctors earn less, but they also don't come out of college with several hundred thousand dollars of debt. So that's a factor in our healthcare costs, too. He does note that. One thing probably worth criticizing is that if he's going to spend 28 pages writing this article, he could take the time to work out the math of some of these things. How does the added income from US doctors compare to the average added debt? Is that a significant overpay? Not asked.

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 12:20 PM) The crowd wasn't any different. The only ex MLB person that I can remember drawing a crowd was Terry Bevington, but it was because I threw a Bevington party. How on Earth did you not call it a "Boom Boom" party?

JCPenney ran a long ad during the Oscars last night that closed with different messages for each state. I can't stand their new store, but i'll give them props for this one:

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 09:07 AM) Part of Kirks flaws is his inability to stay healthy. The Bulls counted on him to stay healthy when they should have known better. If Kirk had been able to stay healthy the last couple years, he probably wouldn't have been available for the taxed-MLE the Bulls were offering.