Balta1701

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:53 PM) On the attendence thing, keep in mind the Sox will probably finish the season averaging 28k-ish, give or take. No way they're getting that high. They're at 26,400 right now. They'd have to average 31,500 to get to 28ish. There's still series at home against the Orioles and Royals coming up, along with 3 final games against the Indians.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:41 PM) I guess I'd rather see him out there than Kotsay or Jones, but I still don't think that's saying much. Maybe he'll embrace his first pennant race and get key hit after key hit, but I've always thought of him as blah, dating to his KC days. He has definitely been blah except for that one stretch in 2006. Blah remains better than "My God Kotsay is awful".

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:42 PM) Quentin must be hurt. No time of year to be "resting" him. Is he nicked again? He's been hit by 3 pitches in 2 days and has been struggling a lot with the bats lately.

Oh, and furthermore, in 2006, Senator Ensign, in a proposal I'm sure he'd now hate if it was made by the Obama administration, put forth a proposal for immigration reform whereby the amount that a formerly undocumented immigrant could collect from OASDI was a function of how long they worked in this country after becoming legalized, with it taking 30-40 years to earn full benefits. That remains a thorny issue because you don't get a lot of 70 year old illegal immigrants who have a lot of retirement savings, but there's zero reason why that issue can't be worked out to a limited cost with some sort of agreement once we accept the fact that what we're doing now isn't free.

For some actual numbers, I'm going to turn to the Social Security trustees report. What they calculate in terms of immigration numbers is...when you increase the number of legal immigrants, even if they are lower income folks, the fact that you're decreasing the ratio of retirees to total workers wins out substantially. The lower life expectancy (and life expectancy at age 65) of immigrants also kicks in there. Their numbers for legal immigration was 1-1.1 million for the last decade or so, with a drop over the last year or two because of the collapse. Bringing the working population into the legal fold significantly helps the ratio of workers to retirees.

Mark!

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:28 PM) That could be because Teahen's been gone for so long you forgot how mediocre a player he is. I think he should be grouped with Jones/Kotsay as blah, not emerging as a better option than those 2. Teahen against a RHP is about .075 points of OPS or more.

"Oh God, she peed on Southpaw!"

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:21 PM) Do I get to pretend we have an official unemployment rate of nearly 10%, and that people could actually use those jobs in this country? As has been said before, you don't have to have the Democrats best dream of round ups and detentions to stop illegal immigration. Ah there's the rub...the ideal Republican workforce...live on $6 an hour, no health benefits, everyone is daily/temporary help, and seasonal migrations based on the growing season. Sure I have a house in Florida that I can't sell because the mortgage is worth 27% more than the house, but hey, standing outside a home depot in California sounds like a stellar idea. You are right though, you don't have to have roundups and detentions to stop illegal immigration. You just have to stop pretending you can stop it and come up with a legal means.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:22 PM) At the same time? Depends on your velocity.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:20 PM) Lefty hitter wise we probably will Wise is coming back? Oh no...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:19 PM) The whole offense outside of one or two guys was horrible for the first couple months of the season. There was a point where we had more guys under .200 than over in our normal starting line up IIRC. 2-3 of which kept playing DH too.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:15 PM) There is plenty of information there you chose to ignore. There is even a basic breakdown of social security a few posts back. There are very basic facts about the tax code and where people fall into it. There is also the fact that we don't have to arrest and deport everyone like you keep pretending. And you get to pretend that when you open up jobs by sending people away...no one comes back in to take that spot. Basically, you get to pretend that there is no such thing as supply and demand. In that case...hooray, deportation is free!

Awesome ride.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:15 PM) Wait a minute, I thought there were several who said Jenks' blowing the save in Minnesota put us on a downward spiral we couldn't come back from. He's the reason we won't win it. I thought some said Peavy getting hurt was the reason we won't win it. Kotsay/Thome isn't the reason the team was pathetic the first 2 months. There are plenty of reasons we won't win the division. Well, lack of offense, including from the DH spot, was a big reason for our slump early in the season. You're right there's plenty of reasons. That doesn't mean we should ignore them all.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:10 PM) p.s. I'm sick of seeing Juan Pierre come up with men on base. Pierre is hitting .282 with RISP.

QUOTE (OilCan @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 01:19 PM) Maybe Morel can be our number 2 hitter next year? Especially since he hits on contact and if his glove is already mlb-caliber. Maybe if he keeps raking he earns a callup next September or if someone gets hurt before that. No way you pencil him in for a job going into ST, especially not if he has a surgery and rehab coming up.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:04 PM) Do you think even if we went the deporting route, it would cost anywhere near what a lifetime of social services would cost? I think the number for arresting and deporting them is in the trillions (I explained the logic behind that a page or two ago), and you haven't given a single actual number this entire thread despite repeated prodding from me or Rex. So yes. Either way, it's expensive, and it's a cost that only exists because we continue to pretend that the jobs will magically vanish if we arrest all the people who want to work there.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 02:46 PM) In other words, low earning immigrants are a clear loss of funds to the government today, and in the future. There is no question about it. Since money spent arresting them doesn't count.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 12:10 PM) How many times do we have to see another team push us around? We come off as a bunch of pansies. Most of the time, frankly, I'd rather not give up the free baserunner just to be that way. Last night, for example...the Twins had enough baserunners. Of course, if we could have done jack squat with the bases loaded...that wouldn't have mattered.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 11:53 AM) I didn't catch last night's game, thankfully. Did any of our pitchers throw at them or did we play with our tail between our legs again ala Jamie Burke style? The only HBP in the game were Quentin and Beckham. Ozzie of course made a deal of having another "I'm gonna throw at everyone!" press statement before not doing so.

QUOTE (IceCreamPants @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 11:51 AM) Well then you just dont know Da Bear fans then do yah ? They'll be angry at the coach for everything...but they'll shut up when the playoffs roll around if the team is there.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 11:43 AM) It doesn't help the team that our skipper has a hard on for the Twins. I'm getting a little tired of him praising them. Could you imagine how people would treat Lovie if he kept saying how awesome the Packers are? If he was keeping his promise to regularly beat them and win divisions...I doubt anyone would give a crap.

I find it offensive to have my deity portrayed on television like this! Futurama Thursdays 10pm / 9c Preview - Evolution Under Attack www.comedycentral.com Futurama New Episodes Roast of David Hasselhoff It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 10:47 AM) You could put this year's DH fiasco right up there with the year (maybe it was 2007) that we didn't have any veteran relievers (specifically loogies) and we auditioned about 13 of them in Spring Training. Even though it was the last position on the baseball team, the relief problems stuck around for most of that season, with the exception of Jenks being very good (I think that was the year he had his streak of innings without giving up a run, yes?) 2006 was when the LOOGY wildness started, they brought in a series of guys to compete for the spot in ST, most of them turned into Randy Williams and the one who pitched the best was Boone Logan. He was behind Cotts and Thornton, but Cotts started to implode that year also. 2007 Kenny tried a more through overhaul of the bullpen, bringing in heavy arms. He brought in MMac in mid 2006 and MacDougal had performed well, he brought in Sisco and AAardsma, to go along with Thornton, Jenks, Masset, and Logan...and that was the year that everyone except Jenks and Thornton imploded.