clujer420

I wonder if we'll send him back to AA (where he was last year) or if we'll send him to AAA instead (so he can face better competition)? I would tend to think we'd get him to AAA ASAP to better hone his stuff. I think going back down to the minors will benefit Josh in the long term. He could use a little more seasoning down there, and will be a big part of the staff in '04 if Bartolo is not re-signed this off-season. All we can hope is that Danny will continue to be pain-free and that he can come back in a month or so and show us some of his greatness that he teased us with last year on a consistent basis. That would be a HUGE boost for the Sox, and bad news for the AL Central and the rest of baseball.

I think you're dead-on balls accurate (it's an industry term). Look at Colon Friday. He was throwing at around 92-94 for most of the game, and only heated it up to 97 1 time (that I saw). When Colon was with Cleveland, he was 95-98 pretty much on a regular basis. I think both Colon and Koch are trying to become better pitchers. IMO, I'd like to see that for the Sox sake. I'd much rather have a Koch throwing 92-94 with an assortment of pitches than a 98-100 fastball 90% of the time.

Given the situation, I agree. Frank was on deck, and the ball wasn't hit very deep at all, so D'Angelo should have faked to draw a throw and see what happens. Worst case scenario you've got Frank up there with 2 outs and a runner on 3rd. Maybe they walk him to get to Magglio -- who knows. Either way, it's better than having an ending-inning DP and Frank leading off the next inning. With that said, I DO like the aggressive baserunning of the Sox lately. That attempted tag up play, and the bloop hustle double that Olivo hit later in the game were a good sign. Our aggressive baserunning forced that fat slob Karim Garcia to throw the ball all over the field, and I was LOL the whole time. More of the same will lead to more wins for the Sox IMO. Just think...all this, and our offense is playing at about 50% of what its capable of.

That play by D'Angelo was kinda ill-advised I'll admit, but when it happened I thought he was safe, and DJ mentioned that on the replay it appeared that he got his hand in before the tag was applied. They didn't have an over-head shot of it, though, so I can't say for sure that he was safe. And I'm not sure what's up with Koch. They showed him warming up in the bullpen in the bottom of the 8th, and he threw a pitch and he was visibly upset. Not sure if he just couldn't get a pitch to work quite right, or if he's hurting somewhere. I hope it's just a pitch not working quite right, because that can be fixed. If he's injured, that doesn't help the Sox at all.

Range is something that you can't really improve. You can to a certain extent, but Carlos is doing all he can to make up for it by RUNNING to balls hit into the corner, and by CHARGING basehits and trying to prevent guys from scoring from 2nd on a single. He seems to be very proficient at making sliding/diving catches also. He's made 2 or 3 very nice ones already this year, and has seemed to get them with regularity throughout his career with the Sox. He ended today with a 3-run HR and a great catch...hopefully he will carry that momentum into tomorrow's game.

Today's game was enjoyable to watch. For once a team was making tons of errors, and it wasn't the Sox. I actually overslept, and when I woke up, it was 6-1, but I saw the rest of the game, and here's what I thought... - I read that Josh struggled early, and didn't really look all that great when I saw him, but the main thing is that even though he didn't have his A game (probably more like B- or C+), he hung in there and only allowed 1 ER in 6 IP. That is very encouraging. - D'Angelo is playing simply amazing right now. I would have liked to see him get a hit in his 5th AB, as it would have made him 5-5 with 5 RBI, but 4-5 with 3 RBI will do I guess. - Our defense looked very nice. PK made a very nice catch to save a run; Crede was solid as usual; and Carlos made 2 very nice plays (sliding catch to end the game and a play when he charged a single and held the runner at 3rd). 1 error, but I think I read it was made by Stewart -- so I can live with that. - Frank looked kinda crappy at the plate in his 1st 3 AB's, but he ended the game on 2 hits (one of which was a double that was completely misplayed by Milton Bradley, but Frank will take it). Hopefully he can build off of that and get his average going in the right direction. It's been long enough in the .200's Frank, let's show em what you've got left! - Lee homers for the 3rd straight game. He made a GREAT swing on it too. He kept his hands back just long enough to drive the ball and still keep it fair. More of the same would be just fine. - Glover and Wunsch looked solid. Overall, a very nice game, and the Sox will look to make it 5 in a row tomorrow. Hopefully MB can make it happen!

Did he write this poetry while in prison? Any degenerate who ends up in prison has made some drastically poor decisions in life, and when a person like that ends up getting wasted, I feel not one iota of sympathy for them. Everyone chooses the lifestyle they live, and when you choose one that puts you in a coffin in your early 20's, oh well.

Not only is his offense starting to come to life, he's playing very well in LF. I don't care what some of you say about his defense because no matter what he does, in your mind, he'll always suck. But today he made a VERY nice sliding catch to end the game, and earlier in the game he charged a ball hard and prevented a run from scoring on a single. And yesterday he made a very nice play and nearly got Omar on a ball that he hit down the line. Carlos' arm is very accurate and he is actually out there hustling. You can't fault a guy for that - and if you do, you're a fool.

Yeah, Carlos is starting to hit well -- let's trade him. What stupid logic. Why would you trade him if he starts doing well? And what do we need right now? A CF? I'm not willing to trade a guy with Carlos' talent for a CF when we've got a perfectly capable Aaron Rowand (who, with enough AB's, will be just fine) and Armando Rios as his backup. Unless someone is going to offer us a #3 or #4 pitcher for Carlos (which I don't see happening), we'd be better served to keep him and let him do his thing and help us win. He's starting to turn the corner.

Don't forget about Rowand Well, true. Rowand is doing pitiful as well. However, we can live with him struggling -- he's at the bottom of the order. Konerko and Lee get TONS of opps with men on base, and so far have done nothing. That said....it's pretty nice that we're 10-6. you should have said something like in spite of that we are 10-6. 6 of this, a half-dozen of that. However you want to say it, we're on pace for 100 wins, and 3 of our 4 big hitters are hitting under .225. Not too shabby.

HELL NO. Taking away the umpires would take away an integral part of the game. I'd be firmly against that. Just hold the umps accountable when they f*** up, and that will solve the problem real quick.

I'll second that. He's been incredible so far. The ball seems to jump off his bat like noone else on the team. BTW.... Jimenez OBP = .418 Frank OBP = .449

Not to defend the umpires, because lately they seem to be suffering from selective blindness when it involves the Sox, but umping in little league is nothing like umping in the majors. It's like comparing Pong (extremely slow) to a modern video game (very fast). And it's like having a very inexperienced player compared to a video game god. It may not be the same thing....but it should be damn close comparing how a little league umpire umps a little league game and how a big league umpire umps a big league game. These guys are pros for a reason. Oh, of course. They are missing far too many calls. Hopefully disciplinary actions are taken for excessive blown calls.

Don't forget about Rowand Well, true. Rowand is doing pitiful as well. However, we can live with him struggling -- he's at the bottom of the order. Konerko and Lee get TONS of opps with men on base, and so far have done nothing. That said....it's pretty nice that we're 10-6.

Konerko looks awful up there. I've seen about 13 of the 16 games, and he looks pathetic so far. And "the HR derby ruined his swing" is a lame excuse. If he didn't think he could handle it, he shouldn't have done it. Besides, that was months ago -- maybe that excuse would work the series after the AS break, but 8 months later it's a flimsy cop-out. He needs to get his act together soon -- especially since he's hitting behind Jimenez, Valentin, Frank, and Magglio, all of whom have a very good OBP. He's only got 5 RBI this season -- he should have at least 12-15.

Ya know what... Lee -- .208, 2, 7, .288 OBP, .321 SLG Konerko -- .173, 2, 5, .279 OBP, .308 SLG Konerko is having just as bad a season as Lee so far. Lay off of Carlos unless you're going to point out all of PK's f***ups.

We normally don't have a pitcher entering the 9th inning having only thrown 90-something pitches, either. Bartolo was never really in trouble Friday (except the 3rd inning), so why not let him go the distance? Saves the bullpen. And I'm not worried about Billy at all. He'll be fine -- early season jitters.

Not to defend the umpires, because lately they seem to be suffering from selective blindness when it involves the Sox, but umping in little league is nothing like umping in the majors. It's like comparing Pong (extremely slow) to a modern video game (very fast).

If it were Elvis being alive that we were talking about, I might actually care. A thug like Tupac being dead makes the world a better place.

Do you think Carlos doesn't already know that while he's on his way back to the dugout? He's a hell of a lot smarter than some of you give him credit for. He's a major league baseball player for a reason, and it's not luck.

He actually had 2 hits, and his average has climbed from under .100 to an even .200 in under a week. .200 sucks, yes, but it's a step in the right direction. Lay off of Carlos -- he'll be just fine.

Is that anything like passive-aggressive?

Hate to rain on your parade, but that was a lucky swing. He looked awful and lost, went all for it on 0-2 count and somehow connected on a shoe-string level pitch. Ugly. 9 out of 10 times he ends up with a pathetic strike-out on a pitch like that. it must be really sad to be you - can't enjoy a damn thing and fault-find everything nit nit nit pick pick pick I suppose if he was hitting .500 this season, hitting an 0-2 shoe-string pitch out of the park would be called "a great piece of hitting", but since he's hitting poorly, it's "a lucky piece of hitting". Such a shame.

NyQuil is some great s***. It just works. I take a couple of swigs of it, crash, and when I wake up, all is well.

You raise an interesting point, however, there is one thing wrong with the point you make. For instance, take the LA Lakers. Before they got Phil at the helm, Kobe and Shaq didn't win a damn thing. You could argue that they underachieved greatly, but it took great leadership to get them to the next level. Although the Sox will probably never reach that level of success, it is a valid argument that a good manager is needed to be successful. If you want to blame only the players, then why do we even have a manager? It's not all Manuel's fault, but since we can't fire Carlos Lee, someone has to take the fall. Unfortunately for JM, it could mean his job. Well, I think the NBA (and NFL for that matter) are a bit difficult to compare to MLB, but I agree with your main point. Both the Los Angeles Lakers ( KG) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers underwent coaching changes in recent history -- the Lakers, as you mentioned, were taken over by Phil Jackson, and the Buccaneers were taken over by Jon Gruden. Phil took over for Del Harris, and Jon Gruden took over for Tony Dungy. Both new coaches are fiery and energetic (Phil in his own unique way) and both old coaches were calm and quiet (much like Jerry Manuel). As soon as both were discarded, the winning came. The difference is that both Phil and Jon brought a completely different game plan to the table. With baseball, I suppose you could say there is a game plan (such as "NL style" vs. "AL style"). So I suppose the question is -- do the Sox need a style change? I say no -- they just need to start doing what they're capable of doing, and everyone will get off Jerry's ass. Winning heals all wounds. CARLOS LEE HITS THAT ONE DEEP, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY BACK.......(SOME SCRUB) LOOKS UP........YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDD, YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!