clujer420

Bottom 4 - Harvey grounds out to Jimenez on a 1-2 pitch. 1 away - Berroa flies weakly to Magglio on the 1st pitch. 2 down - Mayne hits one up the middle, Jose does a very nice job of getting to it, but there's no chance of throwing him out - Febles flies to the warning track in LF, caught by Lee to retire the side 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 left Through 4, the Sox still trail it 2-0

Top 4 - Thomas (1-1) nicely takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4 - Ordonez (0-1) stares at an 0-2 slider on the outside corner. 1 down - Konerko (0-1) with a basic 6-4-3 to end the inning 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 left Through 3 1/2, Sox down 2-0

Bottom 3 The game doesn't come back from commercial until 2 pitches have already been thrown. - Randa grounds wealky to Jose, and he boots it (ugh). E6 - Sweeney hits one DEEP to left center, but it's caught by Rowand. Hawk had me thinking that one was outta there. 1 down, Randa back to 1st - Ibanez flies out to Lee on a 1-1 pitch. 2 away, Randa still at 1st - Berger 1st pitch swinging, grounds to Crede who goes to 2nd for a force Lead-off error by Jose does no harm, and the Sox still trail it 2-0 after 3

Top 3 - Alomar hits one in the hole between 3rd and SS, but a nice play made by Berroa to get the slow-footed Alomar - Jimenez (0-1) grounds harmlessly to Berroa. 2 down - Valentin (0-1) hits a soft liner to Febles at 2B for the final out 1-2-3 go the Sox in their half of the 3rd, and they trail it 2-0

Bottom 2 - Berger (8 career HR, 4 of which are off Buehrle ) gets a 3-2 walk - Harvey ropes a 1-2 pitch down the LF line for a double. Nice play by Carlos to hold Berger at 3rd. 2nd and 3rd, 0 out - Berroa lines the first pitch to RF. 1-0 Royals, runners on 1st and 3rd - Mayne hits one to moderately deep CF. Caught by Rowand, but the runner scores on the Sac Fly. Runner holds at 1st. 2-0 Royals, 1 out - Febles hits a gapper to RF, and Rowand guns it in to D'Angelo, who guns it to Alomar, and Berroa is MEAT at home. VERY nicely done. Runner advances to 2nd on the throw, but there are now 2 out - Tucker flies out to Aaron to end the inning 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 walk, 1 left, 1 runner thrown out at home After 2, the Sox trail it 2-0

Top 2 I can't believe there are still tickets available for opening day. Shame on you Chicagoans! - Konerko has a pretty bad AB, as he fouls off 2 pitches then fans at a change - Lee swings at a ball in the dirt on a 2-2 count. 2nd out - Crede hits a bullet past Randa at 3rd and cruises into 2nd for a 2-out double on an 0-1 count - Rowand chops a ball to 2B for the final out of the inning 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 left (in scoring position)

Bottom 1 Mark Buehrle, of course, on the hill for the Sox - Tucker whiffs at a fastball on a 1-2 pitch - Randa 1st pitch swinging, grounds weakly to Jimenez. 2 away - Sweeney (he just kills the Sox) walks on a 3-2 pitch. That looked like a nice pitch to me, but the umpire disagrees. 1 on, 2 out "Minnesota thinks they can beat us, and we've got to change their minds." - Ibanez pops out to Crede on a 1-1 pitch (I think). Side retired 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 1 left After 1, no score

"Lethal blend of offense and pitching" -- Nice Hawkaroo lookin good! The line-up is what you would expect it to be.... Jimenez Valentin Thomas Magglio Konerko Lee Crede Rowand Alomar ----------- Top 1 - Jimenez pops out to RF on an 0-2 count - Valentin ropes a line drive right to SS on a 2-1 count. 2 away - Thomas (GREAT to see him in a Sox uniform) ropes a liner to RF () - Ordonez hits one deep to RF, and their RF'er makes a very nice running catch to save a run. Inning over 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 left Through a half inning, no score

Well, just want to get this thread going before the game starts. We're about 5 minutes away.

A lot of us noticed - and cared. The fact that the need to upgrade ledf to one of the more less-than-satisfying moves in WS history cannot be denied but neither can the desire for an upgrade after cringing all through the 2000 season. If JosE6 keeps it to 20 errors this year full time, I will be very grateful - if I have to keep recording E6 on my scorecards all season I will be very unhappy. Yep, the Sox "upgraded", and you see how it turned out. Pretty much everyone hated Clayton and it apparently was very bad for team chemistry. Now the Sox are back to what works -- Jose at SS (did you see their record with him at SS last season? Think that's just a coincidence?). And I don't care if he makes 50 errors as long as he's doing other things to help the team win and overcome those miscues.

Are you suggesting we bench or trade Jose in favor of Miles? If so, I think that's a big mistake, because Jose is one of our most important leaders -- not to mention his 25 HR and around 75 RBI. Valentin made nearly 40 errors in 2000, and nobody seemed to care very much because we were winning. Remember....Winning heals all wounds.

*Yawn* Rested, and ready to go. Wouldn't it suck if it got rained out? Heh, I don't think that'll happen though. Time to kick some ass!

As usual, I completely agree. Miles was great the first 2 weeks of ST, but in the last 2 weeks, his average dropped about 80 points. And logic would tell you that he faced scrubbier pitching in the 1st part of ST than in the 2nd part. His final numbers were better than D'Angelo, but not by enough to warrent taking the starting 2B job away from him. Let Aaron start off in AAA, and if he's playing well, possibly bring him up sometime in the summer and let him be a back-up. But, hitting .380 in 10 spring training games doesn't mean much of anything.

Well, we've all been waiting seemingly forever, but we're now just hours away from the first pitch of the 2003 Sox season. We all know we have the talent to make some SERIOUS noise, but the only question remaining is whether or not we can make it all come together like we did in 2000. That was an extremely special year, but I truly believe that 2003 can dwarf it if things go right for us. Don't worry about what the "experts" are saying. They are entitled to their opinions, regardless of how silly they may seem at times. Just remember what these guys say, though, because if the Sox prove them all wrong, they will more than likely hop on the bandwagon. :fyou bandwagon fans. There are a few of you that I haven't exactly gotten along with recently, but what it's all about now is that we're all Sox fans, and we all want them to succeed in 2003. Let's hope our guys can make this a season we'll all never forget! PS -- Do any of you want me to do my play-by-play during tomorrow's game? It's on WGN, and I'm sure most of you will be watching it, but if there are a few of you that want me to do the PBP, I can do it (the computer is 15 feet away from the TV ). Just let me know -- otherwise I won't do it.

Yes, HOF for sure -- assuming, of course, Nardi "the executioner" Contreras doesn't get a hold of him.

I might agree with that. They were already going to be a .500 at best team, then they lost Nevin and Hoffman for the season, and there's not much hope for them to get better anytime soon. I think the D'Rays will actually be respectable considering their amount of talent (either that, or Lou will be dead by the AS break). The only team I could see being worse than the Padres would be the Tigers.

I remember that game vividly. If I'm not mistaking, it was Miguel's major league debut, and he threw 16 straight balls to open the inning (the game was already a blow-out), and they took him out of the game. I felt very bad for him, and I thought he would kill himself that night. I'm glad he's still in the majors, though -- that's the kind of game that can kill a young guy's career.

That's a silly comment. If you said "I'd take him over Clayton anyday", I would agree completely since Jose brings much more offensively and much more in the team leader department. But to say Clayton's defense is inferior to Jose's is very inaccurate IMO.

Absolutely. Respect isn't given -- it's earned, and since 2000, the Sox haven't earned s***. Also, why did whitesoxfan crucify the entire ESPN staff because of Gammons and Harold Reynolds? Linda Cohn, Stewart Scott, Dan Patrick, and Kenny Mayne are exceptional on SportsCenter, and Dan is equally as good in his radio show on ESPN Radio. Also, their Sunday Night Baseball crew (Morgan and Miller) are pretty darned good too IMO. Anyway, don't blame the whole staff for a couple of moronic comments made by 2 people. And let's be real -- who's going to give the Sox credit? Even in 2000 when we were rolling over everybody, everyone in the national sports media was just counting down the seconds until we imploded. We never did, and I don't think 2003 will be any different.

Those of you that live in and around Chicago are very lucky. I live out in So Cal, so it's a little bit harder for me to make it to Comiskey/Cellular (I've never gone), but I try to go when they play the Angels in Anaheim. I went to a game in 2001 (15-1 victory), and a game in 2000 when the Sox got killed. This season, the Sox come to Dodger Stadium, and I plan on going to all 3 of those games, and I'm gonna try to go to 2 of the 4 games in Anaheim. And if things are going good and we're playing well this summer, I'll consider making a trip to Chicago and catching a couple of games.

I didn't buy it. I was LOOKING at it.

Top 3, up 1-0 Some guy named Jeremy Robertson replaces Tim Redding for the Astros - Alomar hits a grounder, very nice play made by the infielder, Alomar out at 1st - Jimenez flyball into left center goes to the wall, and D'Angelo in to 2nd with a 1-out double - Graffanino up. Jimenez steals 3rd without a throw. Bouncer up the middle past the pitcher, Graffanino in to first and Jimenez scores. 2-0 Sox, Graffy on 1st - Thomas (double, run scored in 1st) works an 0-2 count to a walk. Shades of the days of the old. 2 on, 1 out for Magglio - Ordonez (single, RBI in 1st). Graffanino steals 3rd without a throw. That one hit deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, O-E-O, MAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGLIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. 5-zip Soxaroos - Konerko grounds one to 3rd (I think) for out #2 - Lee grounds out to SS to end the inning Sox put up a 4-spot, and after 2 1/2, they lead it 5-0 Gotta go guys...someone else take over!

I would hope so, but after what I've seen over the past couple of weeks in, I would assume nothing.

Bottom 2 - Kent grounds out to Crede for out #1 - Hidalgo grounds out hard to Graffy at SS. 2 away - Ausmus hits it hard back to Loaiza, who picks it and throws out Brad. Side retired Through 2, Sox lead it 1-0

Top 2 - Lee basehit down the 3rd base line, Merced guns him out going for 2. 1 away - Crede whiffs at a 3-2 pitch out of the zone. 2 down - Rowand grounds out to 1st to end the inning Sox get a hit, but still go 1-2-3 Through 1 1/2, 1-0 good guys