Balta1701

It's been a long time since Mike Sweeney beat us.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 06:09 PM) I remember when Jenks was one of the hardest pitchers in baseball to hit a home run against. Now, he's given up more homers than just about any reliever not named Kevin Gregg. I dunno, are you talking about 2007? Even in 2005-2006, it seemed like the one thing you could do against him was hit it out of the park, you just had to swing early and have the fastball happen to be where your bat was.

QUOTE (SHIPPS @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 06:01 PM) They should call it Walter Payton field. The stadium can still be called Soldier Field but the actual field can be called Walter Payton field. Sponsored by Citi.

Seriously Bobby?

QUOTE (The Critic @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 05:28 PM) Maybe the city would be more receptive to the idea if the Paytons promised to make the statue a hideous monstrosity that ruined the aesthetics of the original Soldier Field. They could deliver the statue from a space ship.

The Mariners have a Tuiasosopo? Any relation to the one that played for (IIRC) the KC Chiefs?

Sox get a runner home from 3rd with less than 2 outs. Strand another runner. 1-0 after the first.

Chipper talks about possibly retiring after 2010.

Indiana's voter ID law overturned.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 02:43 PM) Isn't that sarcasm though? Everything controversial he says is sarcasm once it gets noticed/published by someone.

Visclosky and Murtha for the PMA contractor scandal, Jackson -> Blago, Roland Burris -> yay, Rangel really has a mess of finance stuff on his hands.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 02:32 PM) Christ you are impossible. The cries of blood for oil were in the run up to the Iraq war, where people were protesting attacking Iraq with little connection to 9/11. Actually it was none at all. And then it turned out no WMDs. It was NOT a slogan over afghanistan. It was NOT against taking out top Al Qaida officials. A few people thought Afghanistan had to do with that, there was plans for an oil pipeline from Central Asia running through there that the really far left thought the Afghan war was all about. I believe Moore mentioned it in F911, which discredited him a fair amount in my mind. But yeah, Afghanistan has very little oil.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 02:17 PM) Also that 87% would reduce coverage if costs increased because of this plan. So presumably that means that over the next 5 years if nothing is done and costs continue rising at 8% a year, 87% of employers are going to reduce coverage anyway?

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 02:09 PM) Oh but when Bush killed people it wass "blood for oil". I see. Somehow, it's different? We said "Success".

It's not that I'm opposed or unopposed to bunting, I just like us being smart about it. I like the idea of smartball, even if it is poorly defined. If you're coming up and doing the exact same thing, formulaically, every time, it's not going to work. If Nix gets to 1b and Pods is up and everyone in the world knows he's going to put down a bunt, the odds of the guy getting thrown out at 2b are way too high for me. If Pods gets to 1b and everyone in the world knows he's off on the first pitch, he's going to get thrown out or picked off. If you bunt Pods to 2nd, take the bat out of Beckham's hands, and have JD coming up next, unless Pods can steal 3rd then we don't have the option of scoring a guy on a sac fly because JD's an automatic out. Mix it up. Instead of having Pods do a straight steal, have him bluff a move once or twice to keep the pitcher off guard then try a hit and run and he'll score when Beckham doubles. If they keep throwing over to 1b, bluff a move but then don't go. Keep them distracted. If the 1b and 3b are charging hard because they're expecting the bunt, pull the bunt back and slap the ball past them. If the 1b and 3b are playing back, then put down a bunt and make someone field it. If a very good fielding pitcher is on the mound, don't bunt. If you've got a catcher with a great throwing arm, Pods is on 1b with no outs, the guy up 3rd is smoking the ball, and it's a 1 run or tie game, then sure, bunt him over. Don't bunt him to 2nd and expect him to score from 2b when JD pops out to the 2nd baseman. How frustrated do we get when we take the bat out of Beckham's hand with the bunt to get JD up with the slump he's in? When a guy like Rios is in a slump, why don't we ever try a hit and run to open up a hole for him? Why do we only want to get the guy to 2nd base when it still takes a single or more to score him from there. Just play it smarter. If you're going to bunt, do it when it benefits us the most.

For anyone who wondered my my immediate reaction to the Bills/Patriots game last Monday night was "This is the first step in Dick Jauron's final season", give this a read. It's pretty much what I think.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 10:10 AM) Im about 90% sure that a September call up counts as service time. It does, but the rules get complicated because you're not on the roster for long enough for it to qualify as a whole year. So the arbitration clock only Kind of starts, and it depends on what happens to the person the next year and how much service time they wind up with compared with other people coming up at the same time.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 10:04 AM) I realize the AL is the AL, but the Rays excelled last year playing an NL style of ball and the Angels have dominated the West (albeit a poor West) for a number of years playing some of the best fundamental baseball and I've seen it all first hand so I'm incredibly biased in my desire for the Sox to become the Angels of the Midwest. We've seen lesser Twins squads beat us because of there fundamentals. So ya, I think its good, but I continue to point out that it needs to start at the ground level and I certainly hope Buddy Ball is focusing on these things!!! In 2008, the Rays had 23 Sacrifice Hits. That was the lowest total in MLB. The Angels were 22nd in MLB in SH, the Sox were 28th. I agree with you on the fundamentals, on doing more hitting and running, and I don't mind the occasional bunt. But I just feel like every time I've seen the bunt used this year it's been a bad time. Either it's someone who isn't good at bunting or someone who shouldn't be bunting (i.e. Beckham).

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 17, 2009 -> 04:52 AM) Yup, I think a deal with Fielder would start & end with Johnny Danks. They would want quality young pitching, that they could throw in the rotation today, cause they want to win now. All the trade talk with the Giants seems to center around Matt Cain. Give Hudson a few months next year and see what he's worth then.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 16, 2009 -> 08:41 PM) We played so well last night. Now this mediocre pitcher is blanking us. Wow. Is anybody a little concerned about Beckham? Think he's hit the wall after a long season? I certainly think there's some of that going on with him. It doesn't concern me ridiculously though, because he'll be in better shape next year.

Normally I try to avoid cheering for injury from anyone but Barry Bonds...

QUOTE (chunk23 @ Sep 16, 2009 -> 08:30 PM) RWA does correlate with racial attitudes pretty well though. RWA? Romance Writers of America?

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Sep 16, 2009 -> 08:26 PM) Where have I said that? I dunno, I'm a bit lost. Anyway, yeah, partial melting.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Sep 16, 2009 -> 08:24 PM) This is seriously laughable. And somewhat delusional. Again, go on thinking what you want to. I'm pretty sure you're arguing that none of them are.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 16, 2009 -> 08:22 PM) Do I need to post how many African Americans voted for Obama? Only if you want me to point out the rate at which they voted for Kerry.