Balta1701

QUOTE (knightni @ May 24, 2012 -> 07:23 PM) Does playing third base cause back issues, or have the Sox just had bad luck getting 3B that have back issues? Well, that is a position where you're responding quickly, twisting a lot, and diving a fair amount if you're doing it right.

Nicely done Philip.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 24, 2012 -> 08:46 PM) What happened? Casilla stole second on a play that AJ might have gotten him had the pitch not been inside (tough to throw), then Jamey Carroll with a complete bloop single right on the first base line where no one could get to it, 30 feet in front of Rios, 30 feet behind Konerko.

Man, nice work Alejandro

That is a crappy/classic Sox/Twins way of giving up a run.

Nicely done Snoop Dogg.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 24, 2012 -> 05:57 PM) If Hudson isn't pathetic at the plate, I've honestly stomached enough of the Brent Morel experiment while we're in contention. How long are you allowed to have a player rehab in the minors? 20 days from the start of the rehab stint. I just wish people would stop pretending that "Brent Morel while suffering back problems" is "the true brent morel experiment".

QUOTE (Jake @ May 24, 2012 -> 05:43 PM) Not very versatile bench player and I feel like it has to be better for him to play everyday at a lower level. Hudson is your versatile bench player if Morel comes back.

There is now enough data out there to tell this as a consistent story. I'll use this particular poll as an example. Maryland will be having a referendum this fall on a new bill that legalized gay marriage. Polling on that issue 2 months ago gave a narrow lead to the pro-civil-rights side. That was before the President's announcement. In that polling, as with most polling data, African Americans were fairly strongly against Gay Marriage. Then, President Obama announced his support for Gay Marriage. In poll after poll for the last month, there has been a huge surge in support for gay marriage nationwide, most starkly amongst African Americans. In Maryland, for example, they've gone from opposing Gay Marriage to strongly supporting it. That is an enormous shift in the polling data for that group, and if that holds up, the Maryland amendment went from being a narrow contest to a blowout.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 24, 2012 -> 04:54 PM) Could this thread be closed or moved? I think it's disrespectful and petty of the Sox fan base to be critical of a legend like Hawk. I mean WTF? This would be like Cub fans blasting Harry or Sox fans blasting Harry since he was with the Sox so long as well. We're not talking about Steve Physioc here or some unknown. I repeat ... WTF? Dude, if Sox fans weren't allowed to blast Harry Carry in the 90's because he was with them 2 decades beforehand, then I crossed a whole lot of lines.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 24, 2012 -> 03:54 PM) Very similar positions to last year. Tribe was 7 games back at this time last year, now 6 this season. This doesn't seem right.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 24, 2012 -> 04:30 PM) The Sixers probably play the best defense in the league, because of that they are always in games just like the Bulls. Of course we have (had) D Rose which is the x factor. Ok, here's my suggestion. Let's say the Celtics finish off the 6ers in game 7...now hear me out... Can we loan them Thibs for the next series? I seriously wouldn't be mad.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 24, 2012 -> 04:40 PM) If Morel is healthy, I'd rather have him on the roster than Escobar. At the very least, Morel ought to get a rehab assignment in Charlotte before he gets a chance to work his way back into the big league rotation.

QUOTE (ptatc @ May 24, 2012 -> 03:37 PM) I realize that but like you said it's a good pitch but not something really special. I think Reed has shown he will be a good one with his mental makeup and and (so far) his ability to throw strikes. However, as far pure stuff goes he really isn't much different than a guy like Santiago. Santiago could have "Great" pure stuff but he needs to be able to be effective with that screwball. It's been a meatball so far, without very sharp break and not nearly high enough in the zone. His curveball was ok, not back breaking, and he's throwing 93-94 mph heat. He's not as deceptive as the good Matt Thornton...but 93+ heat thrown for strikes will get outs. For him to be great, he needs to be able to throw that offspeed stuff either for strikes at the knees or start it off as a strike and have it break out of the zone low, rather than having it come in waist high. If he could have all 3 pitches throwable for strikes, he could be bringing 93 mph heat, 84 mph screwball, and 77 mph curve, and the batter really wouldn't have a shot.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ May 24, 2012 -> 03:31 PM) If we were going to ease someone into the role wouldn't it make more sense to start the guy with 0 closing experience in the 7th or 8th innings instead of just throwing him in the closers role? You are right though, it's obviously not a 100 percent certainty that we would have won those games, far from it but everything about the decision to have Reed start in the "middle" innings and Santiago start as the closer made no sense. Just to be clear, I'm not saying the decision to go with someone other than Reed as the closer was sensible, I'm saying you can't strictly take those 3 games that Santiago blew and say "now those are wins and we'd be 3 games better in the standings", because you'd have taken Reed out of several high leverage situations to put him in the closer role.

QUOTE (Cali @ May 24, 2012 -> 03:28 PM) Yet does anyone think they're gonna stick up in contention? The fans sure don't. So, technically... The Sox are in first place haha If Detroit can't put together some serious wins, then yes, they'll stay in contention, as will the Sox. The only way that those 2 teams aren't in contention is if Detroit runs away with it. They're both ~.500 teams with some room for growth.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 24, 2012 -> 03:20 PM) "someone else" = Santiago? Or pretty much anyone else in that pen. Thornton's stuff is still the same but he's been "Iffy", Crain's been hurt, Jones has pitched his tail off but he's been worked more innings than anyone else in the pen already, Stewart has pitched like a rookie who needs experience, and Santiago is the guy who blew those games.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 24, 2012 -> 03:08 PM) Should of been from day 1 ....................Sox would have 3 more wins. Of course, how many games has Reed gotten a key hold that someone else might have blown?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 24, 2012 -> 01:17 PM) Both sides think its vulnerable? Yes. That was known the moment Lugar lost. Polling from just after the primary has it at 40/40.

QUOTE (Tex @ May 24, 2012 -> 01:57 PM) I agree. The biggest issue with alcohol is it takes away your decision making ability. Right when you need to make a good decision you are least likely to make it. If only more people knew that. Why not spend money in education programs and treatment programs funded by DUI fines? Oh wait, that is what most states do. So if people can't help driving drunk, what shoudl we do? Allow it? Ban alcohol? Close bars and restaurants? Making bars and restaurants and their employees more responsible for monitoring their customer's condition is a nice step in the right direction. It should be sober people serving them. If you increase an establishment's liability, you're just going to close down more establishments. Not even because they do something wrong, but because their insurance costs will skyrocket. If we want to have a society that is restaurant free, that's a way to get there. The alternative IMO is to be proactive with public and organized transit options. You could probably even get businesses involved in this if you could establish that it would help their bottom line (it would for me at least, I'd buy more alcohol on nights out if I knew I had a transit option to get home). And there are lots of ways to do it, even in smaller communities (Tipsy-tow programs, arranged drivers who can bike back to their location, etc.).

Phil her up! And not with whateva is on Snoops bus!

QUOTE (Tex @ May 24, 2012 -> 12:04 PM) There is no chance that a finding of innocent would be appealed or overturned (double jeopardy and all that) so we would have no objective evidence of how often one or two eyewitness cases result in the accused being found not guilty. However, you do have the ability to compare with cases that are based in part on physical evidence.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 24, 2012 -> 11:29 AM) 2012 Let's be honest. He's not the MVP if the season ended right now. If he'd hit 5 more home runs so far this year, he still wouldn't be the MVP right now.

QUOTE (Tex @ May 24, 2012 -> 11:23 AM) Doesn't that depend on what the eyewitness says? This case is loaded with multiple, contradictory eyewitness statements, which basically are on all sides of the fight. And yet, prosecutors were still able to bring charges. And this is a high profile case, where everyone is crossing their t's and dotting their i's. If the justice system worked well, then in every case like this, the eyewitness testimony would be ripped apart by both sides as inconsistent, and the story would be about how well the testimony of a few eyewitnesses fits with the hard evidence (timeline, physical evidence). However, the system rarely works like this when the eyes of the nation aren't on the case. Inadequate, poorly funded representation combined with the fact that police are the ones doing the interviews and finding the eyewitnesses makes them regularly be how the prosecution makes their case, and a generic public defender won't have the resources to put together their own "eyewitnesses" to make the counter-argument. There's a reason why the "one or two eyewitness" cases are the ones that give the worst rates of having major convictions overturned.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ May 24, 2012 -> 11:13 AM) What are the chances of him making the Hall without reaching 500 HRs? Say he retires with 460+? I understand the chances would probably be next to none, but it would be a shame as , like you said, he's been putting up legit numbers in the post-steroid era. No MVP awards, 1 top 5 MVP finish, no seasons leading the league in HR, .863 career OPS, 5 all star appearances. 1 ALCS MVP award, 1 WS ring. That's the definition of "hall of very good". He absolutely needs the milestone to get in.