IlliniKrush

Adrian Beltre could be one of the biggest busts in the past 10 years...the hype around that guy was (is) ridiculous...Dodgers signed him when he was what, 16?

I wouldn't say Harris is amazing. He's only patrolling til Borchard is ready anyway, he probably won't be a major league starter during his career. Of course, that's just my opinion. He'll fit into the mold of a late inning defensive replacement/pinch runner type deal and will be very valuable there.

Nobody said that...

I would say that remains to be seen..

A guy at my dad's work made something for me right after it happened, he's also a Sox fan He had a sammy sosa action bobble head doll where he's swinging a bat...well, he took out the bat, fit a grouping of toothpicks between his hands and put a big fat old cork on the end of it...it's now sitting on my dashboard.

Bobby Hill anyone

Ya...in no way will the stadium make Pujols put up big numbers...but i think it will be interesting to watch what the park dimensions are...and i predict a very favorable left to left center area.

Ya, i just mean, a top 10 guy to be overrated? I think that's a tad drastic. I guess i don't think he's overrated because i know what to expect from him and don't take his one big year to be the template for what we should expect from him.

Good point, but a contending team would take on salary for the end of the year to make a run at a championship, that's why i think the Cards are a solid option if Vina doesn't return to form.

Lewis looked crappy after round 2 IMO. He's so damn arrogant too...anyone who heard him after the found knows that he sounded like a guy who knew he lost. I can't wait for the rematch.

Ive gotta agree with Rex here! BTW, Koch This, Castillo isnt going anywhere. The Sox need to add a CF (Pierre) The Sox need to add a 2B/SS (Sanchez) The Sox need to add a RP/SP The Sox need to lose Rowand The Sox need to lose Valentin The Sox need to lose Jimenez The Sox need to get some good players for Colon (From the Yanks or BoSox) My Idea: Sox trade: Rowand Valentin Lee Colon BoSox Trade: Sanchez Shiell Nixon Cash Castillo certainly could go somewhere, unless you have info i don't know about...or the Marlins start contending. That's like saying Mike Lowell isn't going anywhere. Why do you think that's the case?

I don't know how much i agree with Erstad being overrated that much. He had one big year..however i believe most people know it was an aberration anyway. He hits decent, runs well, and plays ridiculously solid defense. He's not even talked about that much for anything other than defense.

I just thought of this...kind of random but could play a definite role in the rest of his career. Assuming the cards keep em, i wonder what kind of new ballpark the Cards will have...i have to assume it'd have some sort of left field porch.

I was gonna say the frontrunners were Cards and A's. I am basing my Cards call on a hunch that Vina won't be himself after he gets back from this injury anyway...and i don't think he does a good enough job at the top of that order. The reds were rumored to be after Alomar i believe...but i just don't think that deal would make much sense from where they are as a franchise. Besides, pitching is their overwhelming #1 need I think Alomar would produce decent numbers if he gets out of Shea and that situation with the Mets...but i wouldn't overpay for the guy, he's definitely on the way down.

For the most part i agree with that and i see no reason for the national media to bash the sox...baseball tonight analysts have always left the door open for a sox run at the division and stuff and don't really bash em more than any other team.

Comparing numbers to the generation they played in, certainly Ruth. You could argue Williams was a better hitter than Bonds also. Also, i don't see anyone challenging 500/500 for a long time. That's a really tough milestone to get. I mean, Sosa stole bases for a while, then he turned into a strictly power hitter. And certainly with today's game and the diminished importance and emphasis on the stolen base...who knows if anyone will even get close to that mark.

Where do you think Luis Castillo will be headed?

A few things: Cwsox, i score every game i got to, i have a nice collection (certainly nothing compared to yours) and i keep every ticket with the scorecard...i didn't know if people were going to thikn i was a bit nuts for ranking scorecards, but it's definitely something that i felt necessary to cover. And chisoxfn, lol, it's not hard to score a game and watch it, contrary to what people think. It keeps you much more involved and sharp. I think i was the only one that cared about the worthless double switches by the cubs when they were down 9 in the 8th inning on Friday vs the Sox...kind of funny Sox heads...ya, at the Gap there is a lot of bland concrete behind the outfield concourse and stuff...they should look into doing something with that...Pittsburgh does a good job with that. Oh, and my biggest flaw with PIttsburgh was the green wall of a backdrop. It sticks out like a sore thumb...it's something that is easily fixable but is just out of place. Oh, and heather, do they teach geography at ISU?

Definitely got a little teary eyed during the sunday conversation and when it was over just shook my head and said "wow"

Ranking the parks overall: Fenway Camden Yards PNC Great American Ballpark Yankee Stadium The Vet Shea Seats: Fenway - Centerfield Camden - 1st base line box seats, real nice PNC - Right behin the plate about 25 rows up, pretty good seats GAP - 2nd deck down the 3rd base line, nice view of the river and backdrop Yankee - way down the 1st base line, upper deck, by the pole Vet - Bought 700 tickets and snuck into seats 30 rows up halfway down the 3rd base line Shea - Bought upper deck tickets then snuck into second level behind the plate, slightly towards 3rd. Food: Fenway - Had some clam chowder, it was pretty good but you can find better in the city. Still unique to have chowder at a game. Excellent dogs/brats/sausages outside the park on Yawkey way. Limited variety instide the park. Of note: No beer vendors anywhere to be found. Camden - Had a dog outside the park, pretty good. Yawkey way like situation. Seemed to have a decent variety. PNC - Tons of variety, and some of the small restaurant type deals can be accessed from outside the ballpark...kind of unique. I had a chili dog and some other stuff, it was really good. Almost as many specialty foods as the cell. GAP - Again, lots of specialty foods and variety. I think i had 3-4 dogs because i hadn't eaten all day long, and they were of average quality. Of note: Tons of snowcones on a rainy day. Didn't make much sense Yankee - Mediocre food at best. Had a footlong hot dog, but nothign to write home about. Had some of my friend's fries...just average. Food selection is real bland and way overpriced. Pretty disappointed. Vet - Kind of the same as Yankee stadium, although the cheesesteak wasn't bad. I recommend going with that, but try to have a real philly cheesesteak somewhere downtown also like we did. Shea - Had only a pop here because we were eating all night to stay up (night game in pitt, day game at shea next day). Boatloads of cotton candy was around for the little kids, but other than that, not much selection. In general, the newer parks had a ton of selection and specialty foods...the older parks, your basic stuff, which was of average quality, except for Fenway, which had some chowder. Kind of cool eatin some "chowda" at a baseball game. And i'm gonna rank the scorecards, because i score every game i go to, and i find the differences in scorecards drastic and sometimes disappointing: Fenway - Have to buy program with scorecard in it, which i think is bulls***, and the scorecard is on one of those shiny plastic like sheets...hard to write on, small...very poor PNC - Most detailed scorecard i've ever seen. Excellent. Took 10 minutes to total up, at least...has room for putouts, assists, sac flys, sac bunts, k's, bb's, hp's...alll for the batters. It was nuts Camden - Another bulls*** 5 dollar program to get the scorecard, and it was the last sheet in the back of the program. Pretty low quality scorecard...tack on the 5 buck effort for it and i was pretty pissed GAP - Everything you would want in a scorecard, only a buck, all the room you need and a nice layout Yankee - yet another bulls*** 5 dollar program for scorecard, though the scorecard inside was of good quality. Of note: We were the only people i saw scoring the game - and it was Clemens 300 try! I was going to laminate, if not frame the scorecard if he won. The crowd just wasn't into it at all. Goes along with how they are arrogant bastards that expect to win and aren't really that good of fans. Philly - Hard to score a game while it's raining, but i made due. Average scorecard. Vet - In program scorecard...what is this bulls***? Never thought i'd buy something that had anythign to do with Clifford Floyd (on the cover). Very small places to write in also, poor scorecard. In general i am disappointed with scorecards these days, especially when you have to buy a program to get it for 5 bucks. You are only screwing over avid fans who want to score and enjoy the game. Now, you'll say i should just buy my own scorebook...i thought of that. However, for this trip, buyin each park's scorecard is a nice souvenir to go along with the ticket i have from each game (and the numerous souvenir cups we collected)

That's where i disagree. First K - high cheese. second K - slight lower. 3rd K - even lower. 4th K - knee high....because he was tired. You can get bonds up high, but bring it below the belt and you are screwed. Plus, he had seen Colon 3 times already.

Thanks for posting that Rich Harden might be in the A's rotation by the time he pitches in this game. He's pretty nasty from what i've read about him over the past year, can't wait to see him pitch.

Philly Fanatic is definitely the king of mascots, it's not even close. Usually i hate that extra stuff at a ballgame, but he even had me laughing. On that same note, Mr. Met absolutely sucks

not that it matters now, but i was ok with the decision. marte's gotta get the job done. how soon we forget what happened in the giants game when he left colon in to face bonds....

Olivo should be catching 5 games a week if he can handle it. With each passing day i love this kid more and more. I'll give Sandy 3 weeks til he's hurt again