Balta1701

QUOTE (JoeBatterz @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 10:40 AM) It's cool to see Tommy Lasorda still around. Who is the White Sox Tommy Lasorda? What player/coach has been with the team for the longest? Perhaps it is a Sox or a front office exec. Been with the team the longest no idea, but been a public symbol/fixture of the team for the longest, that's fairly easy, the Hawk.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 10:39 AM) Considering the offensive improvement (I believe) we'll be getting on the left side of the infield, but perhaps lowered defensive quality, I wouldn't mind going with best defense in 2b and Cf, but I feel that is not feasible, as that would truly leave us with no leadoff hitter. Nix certainly doesn't seem to fit that profile, Getz could. BA obviously doesn't. Nix could fit that profile along the Orlando Cabrera mold from last year, if his minor league numbers are any indication. Not a ton of speed, not a ton of walks, but also not a ton of strikeouts, decent enough speed to keep people honest, probably better slugging than Cabrera. The question is whether he can hit a reasonable average. He hits .280 or better and you can put him in that role and he'll perform like Cabrera did last year just with better slugging. It's again not exactly ideal, but at least he makes contact. No idea how he does on taking pitches.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 12:32 PM) Yep, there's a 99% chance Jaime Torres included a sign/release clause in both Alexei and Dayan's deals. Come 2011, if Alexei isn't re-signed by a certain date in November he'll become a free agent. There's also no free agent compensation for these players. Translation; if we have any money to spend this offseason after guys like Thome and Dye clear out, our first priority has to be extending the guys we already have (Alexei, Quentin, possibly Danks, Floyd, Jenks).

Looks like I'm not the only one with double-posting problems.

Since it might come up again in a few years when Mt. Rainier buries Seattle under a Lahar and some of us point out that we shouldn't have dismantled all of our volcano monitoring equipment, the President nominated a new FEMA director today. No word yet on whether or not he'll be able to improve our relationships with horse-trading associations.

Grape Genetics research is very useful in understanding and preventing disease outbreaks focusing on those particular fruits, in addition to improving crop yields, reducing need for fertilizer, etc.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 12:14 PM) You took his analogy too literally. I think it's an important point though. If you're rooting for the stimulus plan to fail because you're a Republican, then you're rooting for things that will hurt yourself as well. If the economy drags downwards for years, it's going to hurt everyone. In baseball, someone has to win. That doesn't have to happen in economics; everyone can lose (See: October 1929-March 4, 1933)

QUOTE (lostfan @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 11:36 AM) There are plenty of Republicans saying that though... but you know it's the bats*** outspoken types that get the attention. Slight disagreement. There are a decent number of Republicans contesting the "I hope he fails" point of view. The problem is, the day after they disagree with that point of view, they're calling in to Limbaugh's show to apologize.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 11:39 AM) Hoping something will fail because it doesn't jive with your beliefs is in my opinion almost the definition of counter productive. Rush Limbaugh and his friends hoping Obama will fail because they don't agree with his policies is like me hoping the White Sox are a mediocre, .500 team this year because that is what I think they are. Obviously the White Sox aren't as important as Obama or even close, but it's the same concept they are playing here. It's like cutting off your nose to spite your face, sometimes it's just better to be wrong. I'd rather be wrong about the White Sox and see them win the World Series, and although I don't agree with a lot of Obama's economic ideas, I'd rather see them work because it's better for the country. Not a hard concept to grasp. Disagreeing is ok, but hoping for failure is just stupid. The problem with that metaphor is...if the White Sox fail this season, it doesn't drag down the other 30 teams in MLB with them. If people lose their jobs, it drags other people down with them.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 09:46 AM) I don't think it has no effect on our atmosphere, I'm simply stating that not all science agrees. Science has been pretty clear that the Earth heats and cools with or without us here -- core samples have shown the Earths temp was higher and lower at points in the past, with or without industry, and it will be again. This is certainly true. The Earth does display variation on its own. But that does not imply that if humanity gives the earth's climate cycles a gigantic kick, it won't respond to what we've done. In the past 150 years we've taken CO2 vastly outside of the range that's been accessible for the last 2 million years, and very soon we'll be outside the range seen in the last 40 million years. The red line is humanity's contribution. The black line comes from the cores you speak of. And I think this graph is 2007 data, so we've already picked up another 5 ppm on the red line.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 09:34 AM) From an offensive standpoint, our best infield would be some combination of Ramirez/Beckham up the middle and PROBABLY Brian Anderson in CF, but that would almost force Beckham into the leadoff spot...that's a lot of pressure to put on Beckham, and he's never going to steal more than 10-15 bases, so the best strategy might be to keep looking for that CFer who can hit leadoff and use some of our depth and/or Konerko/Dye to get him. Beckham really shouldn't make the team out of ST this season regardless of what he does or what anyone else does. Take a little more time with him and buy us another year before he hits Arbitration.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 09:44 AM) No one older than me should be tweeting . . . I believe the world's oldest birds can live to somewhere on the order of 50 years.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 09:38 AM) There really isn't anything in the vicinity of "as much science debunking it as there is supporting it". Just a few months ago, someone in this very forum posted a super-study looking at peer reviewed scientific pieces. And there were thousands that supported not only the existence of global warming, but specifically at least some degree of human effect on it. The number of those articles saying there was none was some very tiny number, or zero. There is no split of the scientific community on this - it is a unison chorus with one or two hacks interrupting from the gallery. It actually came out nearly 5 years ago, and the number then was "zero". That study has also withstood a number of industry-funded attacks on it as well since then (although the counter-articles still get cited by folks like Sen. Inhofe and various other internet sources).

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 09:34 AM) you love him Of course the Democrats love him. He's winning us the 2010 elections.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 09:30 AM) I expected this sort of response. No, I wouldn't say the same thing about gravity so please refrain from using hysterical examples when trying to make a point. Gravity exists even if a politician wants to fund a study saying it doesn't. We already know it does. I'm not speaking about politicians or cheap party-aligned scientists who sell out for funding and will say anything to get that funding even if it throws logic and reason out the window. I'm speaking of the fact that the science community is divided right now about global warming/climate change and our effect on it. I can care less about the political community, I'm speaking strictly on science, and right now there is as much science debunking it as there is supporting it. The world is overpopulated. Just because it's possible we CAN do something, doesn't necessarily mean we SHOULD. IE, just because the Earth can sustain more human life than it does, doesn't mean we need to "do it and see!" Frankly, the divide in the Scientific community at this point is whether the total accumulated warming will be 3-5 degrees C (like the IPCC reports predicted, they tended to take the most conservative approach possible since they were in no small part politically driven) or something significantly sharper than that. The reality is...at virtually every point, the actual effects on the earth and the atmosphere have been beyond the worst case scenario so far presented. The divide you talk about between people who buy in to human-caused climate change and people who don't just doesn't exist. It's only there in the media and in the few people who get directly funded to say that there is a debate. So, what is your suggestion for the overpopulation problem? Given the energy input from the sun, I contend that the Earth can handle a load of humanity actually greater than what the earth is currently holding. You claim it cannot. Is your solution famine/war to cut down on the population?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 09:22 AM) I don't know. Jones did a good job when he was here and really, they'd have productive play out of there backs most of the decade. Maybe not star worthy but still solid enough. To get a franchise QB, that would be a significant step up. Whenever the Bears' O-Line has performed well, they've had a decent running game under the last couple coaching staffs by my recollection.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 09:07 AM) Nix seems like he has a lot more extra-base/gap power than either Getz or Lillibridge, also. From looking at his stats in the minors and watching him in limited action so far, Nix looks like he could be a version of Cabrera offensively with somewhat more pop in his bat. Neither one of them lit you on fire with walk totals, steals totals, average, etc. I'm not sure what we can get out of him based on his stats though, it looks like it takes him a long time to adapt every time he gets put in a new level, and that might have hurt him.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 08:53 AM) I'm lapping it up as a democrat,with Rush as their leader,they've given up the middle to us and as long as they listen to divisive idiots like Limbaugh,Hannity,Coulter,Malkin etc.,and nominate the likes of Palin,they're gonna keep on losing.There are a lot more votes in the middle than on the right or left fringe.I'm having a blast watching them self destruct,lol. http://www.imsorryrush.com

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 05:50 AM) It's possible the Earth is trying to tell us something through this "urgent problem", since it can't speak and all. Where most see the problem in "global climate change", I see the problem in the vast over population of the Earth itself, which is also accelerating...and even more alarming than rising temperatures as far as I'm concerned. The other problem is we simply don't know enough about this issue and of our contribution (if any) too this issue, but we have two camps claiming they know all the facts, when they clearly do not. And make no mistake, neither side knows enough about this yet so get off the high horses. All science agrees gravity exists. It's prooven, scientific fact. Not all science agrees human created climate change exists. Until this changes, this argument will go on...and on...and there will be no resolution, no matter how badly we'd like to think in our self-important way that we will solve this problem. I'm not sure we were meant to solve this one, either. If there was a very, very well funded group of people who's job it was to convince as many people and especially as many politicians as possible that gravity didn't exist, you'd be saying the same thing about gravity. The population of the earth certainly does play in to the matter, as it is strongly enabled by the consumption of fossil fuels (Fossil Fuels as fertilizers and harvesting agents and powering transportation, preservation, other processing techniques have made the population explosion possible). There are a couple ways to look at it though. If all there was in the world was the Western countries, and the big population centers in Asia and Africa weren't there, we'd still be running in to a problem because of how much carbon we generate per capita. Secondly, it's my opinion that there is easily enough energy coming in to the earth from sources above and below our heads to sustain a much greater population than what we currently have, we just need to focus on harvesting that energy.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 07:24 AM) If Beckham can play a solid SS, I hope he sticks there. This guy has a chance to be the complete package--productive hitter, team leader, good with the media and fans, and marketable. I don't want to see the Sox jack this guy around trying to find another position. They drafted him as a shortstop, and they should give him every opportunity to become the shortstop of the White Sox. Just my $0.02. If he can play a solid 2b, and the Sox can cover SS with Alexei for the next 5+ years (assuming an extension at some point), then I think Beckham's bat might actually be more valuable at 2b than at SS. It's a lot harder to find good offensive production at 2b than it is SS these days. Think about how valuable a guy like Utley is to the Phillies. They can have weakness at a number of other positions because they get so much additional production out of 2b.

Another way of looking at it...the NBA is surviving by marketing their stars. Would they really want to screw up DRose this much?

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 07:59 AM) Contrary to everything you may be hearing right about now, this is the BEST time to be investing in 401k's or stocks -- they're at 30+ year lows...which means that for the same amount of money you were putting in a year or two ago, you are getting MORE shares in exchange. Let this go on for a few years, stockpile the share counts in your 401k, and when it recovers you'll be loving it. And on the flip side of that coin, if it never recovers, it doesn't matter anyway. I recommend investing in an index fund at this point -- something like the S&P500 or Wilshire 5000, that way when the market recovers, you will recover directly inline with it, you will not over or under perform the market, which is perfect in a situation like this. If you have the guts to ride this out for the next 5-10 years, you'll be happy. This is an opportunity of a lifetime if you're smart enough to see it. That depends on if you think we're anywhere close to a bottom. There's an argument to be made that based on historic bear market P/E ratios, the stock market still has another 20% of so to go down before it hits the bottom, and that assumes no significant further erosion of earnings. Last November, my dad was telling me that it was a great opportunity to buy additional stocks, and I responded I didn't think we were anywhere close to the bottom. We're closer now. But I still think there's a ways to go. I do think we're ready for one of those late-October style big bounce upwards single days, but the bounces won't hold yet.

Mets pitching coach yesterday said Santana won't throw his first game for a couple weeks and will probably miss opening day. Santana fired back that he still wants to pitch opening day. Threw a bullpen session yesterday.

Have we gotten any hits from these BR sponsorships?

Glacier National Park no longer has to worry about being glacier free in 2030. Now, they have to worry about being glacier-free in 2020. Edit...wow...the system edited out the guy's name.