Milkman delivers

QUOTE (striker @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 03:16 PM) 1. Kenny Williams job is to field a good team. After that it's up to the team to win. I don't fault Kenny for this team not winning. Do you think Theo Epstein or Terry Francona are at risk at losing their jobs? No. 2. Baseball is a game of peaks and valleys. It's the only sport where losing 62 games is awesome. We have to cope with the losses. This team still has a ability to win. 3. All you have to do first is win the division. The Cardinals won the central in 2006(?) with like 83 wins and won the world series. We suck right now but this division is still winnable. UGH.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 03:03 PM) That team exists with Bigfoot and the Tooth Fairy, or a couple of hunderd million dollars. Seriously White Sox fans are starting to sound like Red Sox fans with their "demands". Haha, whatever. I can think of quite a few teams that make the playoffs consistently and not all of them have payrolls of "a couple of hundred million dollars." All of these teams have made the playoffs more than the Sox in the last 10 years: Angels Athletics Twins Yankees Red Sox Braves Phillies Cardinals Cubs Astros Diamondbacks Dodgers Giants Hell, even the Indians, Rays, Rockies, and Padres have made the playoffs as many times as the Sox over the last 10 years. Now I might be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure the Sox have had the highest or second-highest payroll in the division in each of those 10 years. That is not good. And I hardly think it Red Sox-ian to expect better results. I fear you and others just have such low standards that anything other than a last place finish is acceptable.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 02:59 PM) It's disappointing to see but thus far Humber has done just fine. Peavy is coming back from a major injury and it's fun to pull for him the entire way - through ups and downs. It's a great story... Of course, it's hard at times but I'll take it on and keep pulling for him. I just hope that the bullpen finds it's legs / Ozzie makes the right calls down there. I think our offense will be fine and our starting pitching as well... So, I'm not ready to call this year over and start calling for peoples heads. We've got like 150 games left. Get ready for a nice win streak and for posters to start phrasing players It happens Yeah, it's a blast

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 02:11 PM) And how many times did we hear "The Cardinals only won 83 games and won the World Series" when we suck?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 02:52 PM) Haven't had him all year, so what's the big deal? We've been lucky to have gotten out of Humber what we have. You're crazy if you think he can continue what he's doing.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 02:47 PM) I'm not normally the guy to do this, but this is absolutely the stupidest f***ing thread I have ever seen in my life. First of all, the initial post mentioned that this team has the same offensive problems that were only solved briefly in 2005. The 2005 offense was terrible. So what problems were solved? Will you go into detail? Were they not dependent upon the home run that year? I'd say 200 home runs for an offense that scored 741 runs says that they were extremely dependent upon the home run. In 2006, they scored 120+ more runs and hit 36 more home runs, but that's the team that had offensive problems. Get real. I'd say the defense will end up being, at the very worst, middle of the pack. Making generalizations 16 games into the season about how the entirety of a season will go is f***ing absurd. Alexei Ramirez is the best defensive SS in the AL, Gordon Beckham is solid, Morel has always been described as solid and 16 games isn't going to make my mind on that, Juan Pierre was great last year and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, Alex Rios is average to above average defensively, and Paul Konerko can pick it with the best. Konerko has no range, and both Quentin and Pierzynski are pretty bad, but that's about it. Enough has been said about the bullpen? Go into detail. You really think the bullpen is going to put up a a 5.21 ERA all year? I think Tony Pena MIGHT put that up, but I would bet considerable money that the bullpen's ERA is closer to a full run less than that at the very worst and wouldn't be surprised in the least if it ends up closer to the rotation's current ERA of 3.75. If you think that the bullpen is going to be bad all year based on the first 16 games of the year, then you don't understand that slumps and streaks occur in baseball. Oh, and if you are making conclusions about how the bullpen will end up based on these 16 games, then luck of the draw itself will even out and the Sox will win a ton of games with that 3.75 starter's ERA. If there is any team in the Central that needs to be panicking, it's the Twins. Their $180 million player is showing signs of becoming injury prone and perhaps already breaking down, their rotation is extremely mediocre, and the two relievers they thought were going to be good for them have shown huge signs of vulnerability - Capps gave up a home run in his appearance last night too. So what will happen? The Sox will probably end up going 4-7 on this road trip - which will put them at 11-15 on the year - and you will continue to freak out about the White Sox and you would have sworn that a swarm of locusts came over you and that you saw a few alien ships fly over head when nobody else has seen any other type of thing. The team will be torn down, tired, and ready for a break, and then they have 6 more games before they do finally get a day off. You will continue to exclaim these end of the world prophecies, even as the White Sox start winning games and move ahead of the sliding Royals. The end of the world is nigh! as the Sox continue to win games and move ahead of the fading Indians into 2nd place. And then sometime in mid to late June, the Sox will move into 1st place for the first time and people will remember this thread and several others like it and laugh and laugh. And then the second half of the season will be fun and entertaining and a bigger roller coaster than this. I think they'll end up winning the division, but if they don't, so what? It's baseball. Settle down. You missed the final part. The Sox take first place into August/September and the Twins, in spite of their injuries and less-talented team, end up winning the division again. I mean, if you're going to assume that the same things that have normally happened for the Sox will recur, you can't forget that part.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 02:08 PM) There are a ton of White Sox discount codes out there. Hell they are all posted here. Next excuse... Put a consistent winner out there. Problem solved. Not a team that consistently plays just well enough to stay relevant until the final month, but a team that makes a playoff appearance at a decent clip.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 02:05 PM) Because they are a game up on their toughest competition and a half game back of the next toughest team. I won't worry about CLE & KC til June & July come around and they are still up there. We've seen this song and dance before. It's always too early to worry around here for a million different reasons. It usually ends the same, though.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 02:03 PM) If we are in this state at the end of May, early June, I agree. On April 18th this is just a waste of e-space. Three weeks into the season is too early to declare it over, but it certainly isn't too early to begin to wonder.

I find it funny that, almost immediately after a thread was created saying that things can't get worse, they got worse.

No matter what anyone says, the thread title is a very real possibility given the current state of this team.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 12:27 PM) Well those people aren't wrong as he still hasn't pitched. When you're talking about a pitcher who keeps hurting some area of his pitching arm, it's pretty impossible to be optimistic on the outlook of said pitcher. This team overall is going to be just fine but I have no confidence in saying the same about Jake Peavy. I don't know, man. That really depends on your definition of fine. I can still see them winning the division, but I don't think even that will pull the type of attendance that the team needs to cover its payroll as the divisional race will likely be one between a bunch of gimps just hobbling to the finish line. They can take the division, but they'll get rolled in the playoffs like 2008.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 12:17 PM) I haven't seen this movie and never will. The Scream franchise, and most horror movies in general, just doesn't do it for me. But, it is possible to get stabbed in the brain and continue to function. I think it has to be a perfect scenario, but I know I've seen news stories about things like that happening.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 12:07 PM) HE STARTED IT! QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 12:09 PM) Right. I'm all about the Bulls winning, but this is a Sox thread. I'm a little overloaded with the Bulls right now with the wall to wall discussions on both of the radio stations. I've waited all winter for Sox stuff and I don't need it tainted with Bull/Bears talk. Well, I didn't mean it quite so seriously as Chet

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 12:04 PM) This season. You are declaring setbacks before they even occur. Might as well wait a little bit before we decide he's not going to pitch this season. The guy had a serious surgery in the offseason and we're b****ing that he's not pitching 3 weeks into the season. No matter how you spin it, leaving a rehab start with discomfort much earlier than planned is a setback.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 12:01 PM) What on Earth are you arguing then? You admit Rose > Paul (yay, you DO have eyes!). The birth certificates do not lie... the player values are WAY different, yet I'm a homer? It makes no sense. Please relegate discussion of winning Chicago sports teams to their proper venues.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 08:54 AM) He is Mike Ditka. He had one fantastic season followed by several years of disappointing teams. He needs to go. 2005 is long gone. That's a perfect analogy. A relatively crappy coach/manager who has reached god-like status to moronic fans based on a single championship that was earned off of the fruits of another coach's labor. The Bears had the defense of Buddy Ryan and the Sox had the pitching staff of Don Cooper. The Bears defense and the Sox pitching were 90% of the reason that those teams won. You could probably have switched Ditka and Guillen, neither guy having anything but a rudimentary knowledge of the others' sport, and the results would likely have been the same due to the play of the 1985 defense and the 2005 pitching.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 08:06 AM) They woke up last year without a new manager. Let's just be honest...we all know it's the division or bust here. Talk to me about a new manager late in the season. Maybe we'll get lucky and we can "Trade" Ozzie to some other team at the end of the year. The only thing that keeps me relatively happy about this team being the same old garbage we see every year is that fact that I know it means Ozzie is gone in the end.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 11:42 AM) First it was a shoulder and everyone was sure he was done, now its his lat and everyone is sure he is done. How about waiting for some actual information? And yet, here were are, still waiting for this guy to throw a meaningful pitch for the Chicago White Sox.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 09:56 AM) Sucks, but its still mid-April. The posts ready to write him off for the year or the whole contract already are hilarious. Why, exactly? Please explain why it's hilarious to not expect this guy to pitch [well] this season or next season after which he walks. He has not been healthy for this club at all. We could sign Mark Prior and when he eventually gets hurt, someone will still say that we shouldn't overreact until the facts are in because he could still conceivably, by some strike of luck, not have a "serious" injury.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 09:30 AM) I'll wait and see what the news is before throwing more dirt on Peavy's grave. The last time he had a setback it was nothing, and he was throwing within days. It's still another setback which will likely cause him to miss at least another month. And then during the remaining portion of his rehab, he'll probably have another setback. I don't understand the optimism with Jake Peavy. He's been a member of this club for almost 2 years and he's been healthy for a total of about 3 months. He has been an absolute bust. If he ever does get healthy, he really ought to sign the most extremely owner-friendly contract in the history of baseball since he's been paid like a top 5 pitcher in baseball for doing absolutely nothing.

QUOTE (klaus kinski @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 07:59 AM) This team has got to be considered underachieving again, seemingly a trademark of Guillen managed teams.

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 07:53 AM) Agreed! Hell, at the beginning of the season, I'd be happy with a .500 record for April the way they seem to start slowly. I am not giving up on this team yet, I just may have to look away at times because it is too painful to watch. Fans have a right to boo the Sox. I have a right to boo the fans. BOOO! Well, then they better have a ridiculous May, June and July since they always seem to end slowly, too.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 18, 2011 -> 11:41 PM) Somehow, someway Humber just has to keep pitching decent(which I have no faith that he will) but ya, I'm pretty much done with Peavy. Good thing is that we gave up nothing, bad thing is that we're obviously strapped with his contract now. Also, absolutely no reason to give up on this season, this division is still ours for the taking but this seriously puts a damper on some things. Yeah, we're good enough to win this division. That's not saying much, though, as about 7 other non-Central, AL teams could.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 18, 2011 -> 11:27 PM) Personally, with the amount of cash he's cost me only recently, if I was Reinsdorf KW would be gone. Manny, Peavy, Griffey... it's over man. You are burning cash now. Especially after this season and the turnout they will get for the season (bad). Hell, I'm probably not gonna go to many games this year. This team doesn't deserve my money and I'm going to do my part to ensure that as many members of this club are gone next year as possible. I'll probably just go to games that I get free tickets for, which usually ends up being about five.