Balta1701

QUOTE(Jabroni @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 11:19 PM) I actually wouldn't mind seeing Ozuna start at SS tomorrow. Has there been any update on Uribe's slight injury today? Any idea if he'll be going tomorrow?

QUOTE(TheHammer @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 11:28 PM) HRs, btw, will win more ballgames than stolen bases for instance. If you get the pitching any style of offense can win ballgames. Carlos Lee produces more offense than Scott Podsednik and I think that is fairly obvious. If we had this pitching last season we almost certainly would have won the central and could have possibly won 100 games even with our inconsistent offense. Hell we won plenty of games earlier this season when our offense was consistently not very good. I think people look at Pods as kind of the poster boy for Ozzieball so the natural tendency would be to overrate his impact. He has been a good leadoff hitter, but is not the big difference in our team from last season to this season. See, now this is exactly why I did this post today. Yes, we are scoring less runs per game on average (although I bet a part of that will change with Frank back and summer arriving). But we are also far, FAR more consistent in our scoring. Instead of beating up on teams when we face poor pitching and being absolutely shut down by good pitching, we are able to keep the shutout and 1 run games to a minimum, and score at least 4 or 5 runs per game far more often. We are able to go up against good pitching and still push a few runs across the plate...and if our pitching keeps up we're going to win the game. If we scored 5 runs every game and had a good pitching staff, we'd win a lot more games than if we scored 9 runs in half our games and 1 run in the other half. One of these days...I want to take a moment and do the same sort of analysis with this year's Yankees. They remind me a lot of the Sox last year - they're capable of exploding for 13 runs in an inning twice against the Devil Rays, then the next 3 days they get beaten by being outscored or outpitched.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2005 @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 11:21 PM) I think they're the heavy favorite to win it al in 06. With Ginobili and Parker back and with another year's experience...yeah there's no reason at all why they shouldn't be the favorites. Then again, for all we know, Darko could go nuts and have an amazing year or something like that. Who could have predicted the Suns rise this year? And they may very well be better next year as well too. (Of course...the Bulls might be better too... )

QUOTE(Jabroni @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 11:19 PM) Jesus, D-Train just got his 12th win. His ERA is now 1.76. Just remember...the rule of thumb is you have to add roughly .9 to convert an ERA from NL values to AL values. No I can't find the article where that number came from...ESPN.com earlier this year. His numbers put him right in with the best guys in the AL - Buehrle and Rogers.

QUOTE(Rohan @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 11:06 PM) But lately he's been doing alright.. His ERA in the last 7 days is 27.00

On the other hand, Freddy's stats in day games... 2-1 record 3.07 ERA 37 hits 11 walks 41 innings pitched 4 home runs 21 strikeouts .240 BA You guys worried about him pitching on a hot day...well he's always been better in day games. And on top of that...he had the start at the Cell against the Dodgers, which ended up working out pretty well once he found his control.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 10:59 PM) The ball hit the yellow line. It was a homerun. Anybody else unable to stand how the rules vary from ballpark to ballpark as to whether or not the yellow line is a home run or is simply the top of the wall?

QUOTE(Rohan @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 09:51 PM) Umm don't you mean selfish? I always like El Caballo... I don't know why he's talking so much trash.. The only reason i can think of is that the media is getting to him about being traded from the best team in the majors... The guys on our end did talk a little bit of trash about him when he was leaving...the whole slide into 2nd base against the Twins, I doubt that went over well with him. Anywho...the Brewers got exactly what they needed in their lineup - some fairly cheap right handed power. The Sox got exactly what they needed - salary flexibility, speed, and a quality leadoff guy who just needs to learn how to get a good jump on a fly ball. Both of these teams are better because of that trade, and both stand a good shot at being playoff contenders because of it for a long time. Without that trade, both of them would stand a good chance at being average/mediocre for another few years.

QUOTE(ptatc @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 08:37 PM) i agree. This article makes CLee sound very selfess. I wasn't the man, I didn't get the RBI opportunities.....Maybe he complained to Ozzie about this and that's why Ozzie said he should be the one to go in a trade. Um, are you sure "Selfless" is the word you're looking for there? And not a different Suffix?

QUOTE(TheHammer @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 09:55 PM) Its also kind of pointless to add up all those winshares against Lee like we wouldn't have played with a catcher or 2B or another starter. We would have signed a 5th starter regardless and we would have probably picked up another reliever and starter at 2B or catcher. The idea that KW is willing right now to add payroll which I believe to be true also makes it seem very possible that we might have been able to grab all those players if he thought it would make us a playoff team. Of course if Pods would start hitting like he did two seasons ago, people really wouldn't complain about the trade. Yeah, we'd have played with a 2nd baseman and catcher. Willie Harris and Ben Davis. Exactly like we did last year. And you're saying we'd have signed a 5th starter...well, we basically ran all last year without a fifth starter, if we didn't have the salary room, who's to say we wouldn't have done the same thing? (Or started BMac as our 5th starter to open the season) We barely added salary in the offseason compared to last year. Our big changes were salary shifts - Ordonez to Dye and Garcia, Lee to Iguchi, Pods, Viz, and El Duque. Our salary adds were Contreras's salary and somewhat Hermanson, along with signing contracts with ARow, Timo, Ben Davis, etc. The reason we have room to add salary now is that we're a winning ballclub and that's drawing in more fans.

His best pitch was his changeup...as recently as Spring Training. He hasn't found it in the last few months, and it's shown. A lot. I don't think the shirt looks that wierd. Although...vertical stripes are supposed to make you look thin...and well, BMac already does that on his own.

It's not Kolb any more. I honestly don't have a clue who it is.

This is exactly the proof I've been saying we'd see that Baseball's steroid program has no teeth. Supposedly the idea was that once players were being named, other teams would be hesitant about signing those players. Instead, we get Felipe Alou figuring out some reason to say why he doesn't care whether or not he was caught using steroids, because, of all things, he wasn't the last? That doesn't even make sense! Alex Sanchez was caught using steroids illegally, substances that are both banned and capable of making him a better player. When a team goes out looking for players, they will only see the latter part. This is why we need the 2 month suspension. Don't give me this "10 days and we'll tell you who they are" B.S. Make it 2 months, and there won't be a person out there who seriously doesn't know exactly everything they're swallowing. Not a single person would be stupid enough to risk 2 months salary in baseball by not knowing what was in something - they'd all be hoping they could beat the system. Alex Sanchez, Juan Rincon, and the other couple of guys should have been suspended for 2 months or more. They should barely be coming back right now.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 09:45 PM) Brandon seems extremely mature for his age. I keep wishing we could say the same thing about his changeup.

Can somebody post a picture at some point?

QUOTE(KipWellsFan @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 06:56 PM) House Votes to Nix CPB Funding Cuts http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,160534,00.html CPB Names Ex-GOP Head as President http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,160509,00.html Okay so the President and Chairman are now Republicans if you're keeping score Just remember, as they themselves have said...they're not there to institute a right-wing bias or prevent any balanced reporting on PBS...they're only there to make sure that PBS reflects the values voted for by a majority of Americans. (Someone other than me better be smart enough to pick up the contradiction in those statements. Here's a source.)

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 09:36 PM) Tune into Comcast. Some of us are about 2000 miles outside the region where Comcast is available on basic cable/satellite. Don't tease me with this without some details.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 03:33 PM) What's the need? Pods is at 9, Caballo's at 13...I'd probably eat my shoe if like Pods and AJ werent more than Caballo, let alone Duque, Iguchi, and Viz(who has actually been mediocre in the month of June, instead of just awful) In terms of win shares also...something tells me that stat doesn't include something as subtle as sitting behind the plate for Garland, Buehrle, or Contreras and calling a great game. Hell, right now I'd take A.J.'s ability to call a great game behind the plate even if he was putting up numbers like Crede in May. That's been by far his biggest contribution to this team; he can handle that pitching staff.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 09:06 PM) It wasn't really a compliment. They did say we'd have the best record in the AL when it's all said and done, but they compared us to the 2001 Mariners. They both said we have no playoff experience, like them, and that will hurt us. I think they're both saying we'll go nowhere in the playoffs, but I'm picky about anything anyone on ESPN says. Aside from Pudge, the Florida Marlins didn't have jack in terms of playoff experience in 2003 either. The guys who won it for them were their pitchers - Beckett has seen a few less playoff games than say, Mariano Rivera, and yet they still pulled it out. You know what it may very well come down to? 3 things; how healthy is our pitching staff come October, how hot is our bullpen, and who is hitting. If only 2 guys hit in the playoffs, we won't have a shot. If one or two of our starting pitchers are hurt or worn down, we'll be in bad shape. If the guys in our bullpen who are on fire start to break down, then we'll be in deep dog doo. On the other hand...aside from Oakland, who exactly out there is it who you'd say can beat us in the playoffs? We've gone to both Baltimore and Anaheim and split series in their parks. We haven't played Boston or New York yet, but we've also beaten up on a few teams in the NL and successfully played NL style ball.

So is it just me, or was anyone else sitting there watching the last seconds of this game and imagining seeing the ChiSox running out to the pitcher's mound some time late this October?

When I think about worst athletes to play in chicago...David Wells immediately comes to mind.

There has been much discussion around here lately on the topic of whether or not the detainees at Guantanamo bay have any legal classification under the Geneva Conventions, and consequently whether or not the U.S. is permitted to torture those detainees for information. I believe part of this Media Matters piece gets to the heart of the issue. The key point here is that even if the detainees at Guantanamo are classified as something other than Prisoners of War, they are not fully removed from the protections of the Geneva Convention. The 4th Geneva Convention deals specifically with detainees who are not classified as POW's. They are explicitly given certain rights by the convention, and these rights cannot be abridged by attempting to create a new category of detainee not defined by the convention. The actual rights listed in the convention for these sorts of detainees may be a useful bit of info as well. They include such rights as the right to religious worship, clean facilities, showers, visits from the Red Cross, etc. These are spelled out under the rights of detainees starting at about article 80 of the 4th convention. The Geneva Conventions themselves spell out specific categories of people who can be detained by parties that are signatories to the convention. POW's, detainees, and spies. We have not granted POW status to the Al Qaeda detainees. This however, does not mean that they are granted no protection by Geneva. The rights of the 4th convention would still remain in effect, as these are the rights given by the signatories of the convention to all prisoners who are detained. Finally, it is also worth noting that the Geneva Conventions were signed by the President and ratified by the U.S. Senate. This gives these treaties the force of law. In other words, it is a violation of U.S. law to violate the Geneva conventions.

Freddie...it's not a noon game, but it's still afternoon, right? Let's take 5 of 6 from these guys and make it a 10 game streak! :fthecubs :sosasucks

I miss the taste...

QUOTE(CubsSuck1 @ Jun 23, 2005 -> 01:53 PM) LOL, he always mentions this, I think he even goes as far as keeping track of our record in those "42 games". You know...at the rate we're going, we're gonna wind up being 42-0 in those 42 games.