Balta1701

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jun 20, 2005 -> 05:24 AM) Lima has been lousy, but he can occasionally throw a gem. I hope we get the head case version of him tonight. I think he used up his gem of this month when he beat the Dodgers in his last start. Considering they were his former team, I ain't surprised he used it then. Considering that was his only win this season...and he's in our house...there's no good reason to expect him to be able to dominate. Hell, and if you think Zambrano gets bothered by people on first base...let's put Pods on Lima. Let's go BMac...let's get you the game ball to take home. First of say...320 or so. And 1 other little note in case you guys are interested...given the Offday on Thursday, Ozzie is still talking about having Garland move up a day to go against the Cubs, then bouncing BMac back to pitch against Detroit.

From ESPN.com's Daily Quickie

About 3 or 4 weeks ago, the Texas Rangers were absolutely on fire. They won like 8 in a row, beat up on us, and even tied the Angels. They've since regressed somewhat, and are now just a good team chasing Anaheim. About 2 weeks ago, the Cubs were the hottest team in baseball. Everything was clicking, and their young pitchers were filling in the holes for Prior and Wood. Now, they've lost like 5 or 6 in a row, and fallen nearly 10 games back of St. Louis. Cleveland is not a bad team. They're not going to finish with a winning percentage of .250. But even the worst teams get hot. Cleveland will need a couple more parts to make a run at us. They could still potentially do some damage, especially since I believe we have 10 more games left with them. But I'm still more scared of Minnesota. Minnesota still has a far better bullpen no matter what Cleveland's bullpen ERA tells you, and they have far better starting pitching. Cleveland has a shot at being there in the wild card race. But there's no good reason to think that they're good enough to win this division...with the pitching that the other 2 teams have.

Willie Harris proved on Saturday night why he needs to stay on this team instead of This Idiot Makes Outs...he did his best Dave Roberts impression. He came in to pinch run in the 9th, immediately took 2nd off Brazoban, and then scored the tying run on a single by ArRow. Ignore the fact that we have a backup outfielder already in Everett, and a 2nd backup in Ozuna, and hell even a third and fourth backup in Uribe and Harris, and just Harris's speed is reason enough to keep him around.

Didn't the Score just get the Sox radio deal? You think they'd have to have at least a little sanity to get that. Unless the guy's arguing that Ozzie can turn Cory Patterson into Scott Podsednik when no one else has been able to, this man deserves to have a chair broken over his head for sheer incompetence. I'm sure all Ozzie wants is another swing and miss guy who can't advance runners and swings for the fences every at bat.

In terms of Frank...I certainly don't mind seeing him out of the lineup every 3rd day or so. This guy simply is not at perfect health, and we should not treat him as such. He should be given as much time off as this team can afford. 1 game out of 3 sitting on the bench, plus added time off any day he actually doesn't feel well, certainly seems to me to seem like a reasonable precaution. We will want Frank's bat at the end of the season. We absolutely should treat him with kid gloves all year. And btw, this again, is another reason why Gload should get Timo's spot; Timo should never get at bats with these two. Never.

QUOTE(rangercal @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 09:27 PM) As long as he doesn't start center how the hell was he a center fielder anyway? :banghead Montreal. Expos.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 02:11 PM) Yeah, when Crede can put up those kinds of numbers he'll get his free pass as well. I'll give anyone on our team who hits 41 HR and drives in 120 a free pass. I promise. Swear to God.

Twinkies have an off-day tomorrow as well, so if we win 2 straight games, we'll be up a good 8 games on those boys.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 01:56 PM) However, Konerko definitely gets a huge pass on this board. 41 home runs and 120 RBI's in a season will do that.

QUOTE(Soxnbears01 @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 02:01 PM) plus having bmac pitch against the royals should help his confidence. he's used to pitching against minor leaguers I think the Royals are like 14-6 or something close to that since swapping managers. I don't like them that much as a team either, but don't underestimate them.

I'm forced to wonder how much of our current ranking might be due to 2 games at Coors field and 1 inning against the Diamondbacks. That's about 40 runs in those 3 games. Nonetheless...this offense isn't pretending that they can get by with 1 and 2 run games that often any more. If we're averaging 4 or 5 in most games...we're in good shape with that pitching staff.

Does anyone else think that Mark is primed for a monster second-half of this year? I think this might be the time when he pulls it all together. He's got everything working. He's got catchers he likes. He's got a good defense behind him. And the offense has finally gotten out of bed. I can see him getting some hardware this year for damn sure.

Jose...work fast and throw Strikes. That's all you need to focus on. Your best games this year have been when you worked fast and threw strikes. People might score a run or two off you, but if you're not giving up the walks, people will not beat you. Just trust A.J. and throw the ball to his glove.

And the Twinkies did officially lose. Cleveland is hot now, but this streak of theirs will be broken soon. All streaks always are.

There's always a chance that they're just moving BMac's start back entirely as a precaution...they'll see how El Duque feels tomorrow, and if he's not ready to go, they DL Him, pitch Garland, and tell BMac to get on a plane. Just because he's not pitching tonight doesn't mean for sure he's coming up. They might be just hedging their bets to make sure they don't get caught with Duque unable to go tomorrow and McCarthy on 1 day rest. I think it probably wouldn't hurt to give Garland the Monday start no matter what, so that he breaks up the 2 Cubans and gives El Duque the extra day of rest even if he is ready to go.

Ballgame. Padres 5, Twinkies 1. Great game by May for the Padres. Pads take 2 of 3 from the Twins in Minnesota...with a day off tomorrow. Twins I believe have lost their last 2 interleague series at home, and are in a fair bit of a slump right now.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 01:11 PM) I think the Twinkies will have to worry about them first. If the Twinkies lose this game, the Indians will only be one game behind them. I wouldn't mind seeing those 2 racing each other for a while. All things considered, I'd rather have the Indians behind me than the Twins behind me...with the pitching that the Twins have. Just remember 1 thing about the Indians though...every team can get hot. The Cubs had a big win streak earlier this year. The Yankees have had 2. A few weeks ago Texas was on fire and took 1st place in the West, but then they cooled off and Anaheim has moved back in front. Hell, even the D-Rays had a big win streak last year. You don't win divisions with 10 game win streaks in June. They don't hurt, but you need a lot more than that. They have an ERA of about 2.5 over their last 10 games. There's no way they're going to maintain that.

Since we're specifically discussing administrative costs, let me point this one out again... "This one will blow some minds. Despite being a bureaucratic leviathan or whatever, America's administrative costs are 300% greater per capita than Canada's."

I hope this is true...I've been hoping we'd find some more time for El Duque to sit out before the All Star Break, that way in late July and August when we actually need him, he'll be more refreshed. And if we're going to give BMac another shot, I can't think of a better team to throw him into the fire against than the Royals, even if they've been hot since switching managers.

How many Gold Gloves did Robin win in his first few years?

See, that's what happens when there's a New York/New York world series. No one outside of New York cares, no one watches, and when the people who live in New York make lists of sporting events or people...no one has a clue what they're talking about.

A.J. calling games is one of the big reasons our staff has been so good this year. Just bringing him in to do that has paid for his deal easily. If Mauer stays healthy, there's no reason he can't be a hall of famer at catcher. He's been Baseball America's #1 prospect in America for 2 years in a row for a reason. He was the #1 draft pick, over guys named Prior and Teixiera for a reason. This year, I'd still prefer A.J, because he's far more experienced, he can call a good game, and he's going wild now that he's hitting in the Cell instead of bouncing balls off of the baggie in Minnesota (Hopefully his average will recover at some point). In the future...if Joe Mauer is healthy, he'll be by far the better choice. But as with all prospects...the big question is his health. Mauer to A.J. can very easily be A.J. to Ben Davis. And besides, aren't the Twins due for some poor luck with someone from their minor leagues?

The saddest part if we do play the subs will be that it just might hurt Jose's chances of getting a win, again. He's been so much better than his record this year, but he's just not gotten any run support.

I will tell my dad to find a scalper who will sell him at least 1 ticket. I will then literally fly back to Chicago to attend 1 game, blowing probably $500 or more in the process. I will never enjoy spending money more at any point in my life. That is, of course, unless the Sox end up playing the Padres, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, or Giants. In that case, I'll hit up some of the away games out here. Either way...if the Sox make the W.S. at some point in my life...I will be there. Even if its just for one game. I don't care what it takes. I will not miss the first one.