Balance

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jul 22, 2005 -> 01:08 PM) Yeah, I was right, you pussied out. Why I oughta.... (I keed, I keed.)

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jul 22, 2005 -> 01:04 PM) AKA you pussied out. Remember how we, as White Sox fans, are trying to overcome the stereotype of drunken idiots who attack coaches, umpires, and players? Don't be that guy.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jul 22, 2005 -> 12:29 PM) Balance, if you'll notice, anytime Steff has something to say, its a rip. She has obviously never heard "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Just ignore her, that's what most people here do nowadays, anway. I see. I'm still meeting all the "personalities" here.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jul 22, 2005 -> 11:12 AM) And I said "almost". Read much... OK, then, what was the point of your original post?

QUOTE(Steff @ Jul 22, 2005 -> 11:01 AM) You almost got into a fight.. with another fan.. over a baseball game..?? Well, he was trying to provoke it. I, of course, took the high road and did not take the bait. I said I was close, remember....

We're White Sox fans. Nothing good happens to us. Our team has thrown a World Series more recently than they've won one! The north siders get all the press! Just when we think it's safe to believe, our hearts get ripped out! Our park sucks! Our offense sucks! AIIIIIIIGHHHH!!! (The green portion of that paragraph should not be taken too seriously.) I think we all just need to vent a little. Things are going to be all right. Aren't they? Aren't they??? :uhoh

The only time I've ever been close to getting into a fight at a Sox game is when the Red Sox were in town. (This was in 2000 or 2001.) They have the biggest mouths, by far, of any MLB team's fans.

Last night's loss felt so bad because we beat ourselves. Here we are, trying to show that the Sox are for real against the champs, and we spit the bit. Our Sox need to show more focus and mental toughness if they're going to make a splash in the playoffs. It was very disheartening to see them play as poorly as they did last night. A couple good games this weekend and I think we'll all feel better.

I've read the bat-girl blog, and while it's not very friendly to the Sox, it's rather entertaining. Especially now, since the Sox are making the lives of Twins fans very frustrating.

Brinkley used to me married to Billy Joel. He's not much of a looker, either.

I'm just worried that Evil Contreras will show up instead of Good Contreras. We can't beat the Red Sox if Evil Contreras shows up.

The battle of the laundry starts tonight! I'll feel better if we can "hold serve" and get wins in the games that Buehrle and Garland start.

I'll have to jump on the no-wave bandwagon, too. I don't like it, and I never participate.

Can Gload play third base at all? Especially in light of Crede's sore back?

Unfortunately for Shingo, he had trouble this year getting the curve ball over for strikes. When that happened, opposing teams would just sit on that "fast"ball of his. So he got knocked around. While I'm not entirely sold on Vizcaino, he's proven more than Jenks has. I hope Shingo finds success at his next stop. I wonder who (if anyone) we'll get back in return.

That, and every hitter they faced was an all-star....

Abreu was putting some beautiful swings on those pitches last night. He was just locked in. Did you see the graphic for the final round, where they plotted out the flight paths of his homers in that round? They all went to basically the same place. He was being very, very consistent. I don't see any reason to place steroid suspicion on Abreu based on one good night of home run derby.

QUOTE(retro1983hat @ Jul 12, 2005 -> 09:59 AM) We definitely need to dominate the Twins when we play them. If they are as close to 6 back before we play them, they will have added incentive knowing they could sweep our ass and be in first. We play the Twinkies 13 more times. While I agree that it's important to play well against the Twinkies, let's look at it this way- We now have a 9-game lead on the Twins. When I say "all else being equal," I mean let's say the Sox and Twins win and lose the same number of games as each other in the second half (excluding their head-to-head matchups). All else being equal, if we beat them 7 times and they beat us 6 times, we would have a 10 game lead. All else being equal, if we go 6-7 against the Twins, we still have a 8 game lead. All else being equal, if we go 5-8 against the Twins, we still have a 6 game lead. All else being equal, if we go 4-9 against the Twins, we still have a 4 game lead. All else being equal, if we go 3-10 against the Twins, we still have a 2 game lead. All else being equal, if we go 2-11 against the Twins, we are tied with them. I don't see the Sox faring that poorly against the Twins head-to-head, so really, the season is going to come down to how each team plays the rest of their schedules. Overall, the Twins are going to have to play at least 9.5 games better than the Sox in the second half. So if the Sox can manage to play .500 ball or better in the second half, the Twins are going to have a very tough hill to climb. I think the Sox will play somewhat better than .500 ball in the second half.

QUOTE(Middle Buffalo @ Jul 11, 2005 -> 10:52 PM) Simmons is yet another ESPN guy who roots for either BoSox or NYY. His opinion on this matter means nothing to me. I'm a fan of Bill Simmons. He's a sports/humor/pop culture columnist, and he rarely does serious baseball analysis. His columns on Vegas and on sports gambling are great reads. I don't think he's being unfair. I don't think anyone, even the most die-hard ChiSox fan among us, would have seriously predicted us to be this far in front of the league. And as for Garland, well, Simmons is basing his thoughts on Garland's career up to this season. While I hope Garland proves him (and most of the rest of the nation) wrong, Garland needs to keep proving himself this year. He has to prove that he's figured it out, and that he's a top-flight pitcher. I think he will. One thing, though. He originally started out as the Boston Sports Guy. He wouldn't be caught dead rooting for the Yankees.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Jul 12, 2005 -> 12:35 PM) How cool would it be to own the 'Official White Sox World Series Video'? I would love to be able to relive this season over and over again. That would be fantastic! It would be on continuous play for a couple months....

Watching a game called by Hawk is, for me, like watching a game with my grandpa (which I never got to do, as both of my grandfathers passed away before I was old enough to really get into baseball). He brings a good sense of history into the game. He's a colorful, engaging personality. He will give praise where praise is due, and he will criticize those who deserve it (within reason, of course). I'm glad the Sox have an announcer like Hawk, and I hope he's around for a long time to come.

There would definitely be alcohol involved. And it would start with champagne. No rioting, though. Celebrate, don't break stuff.

I've got a 6-speed manual transmission, so I have to use the hands-free earpiece.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jul 11, 2005 -> 03:18 PM) You are looking too much at the numbers and not enough at the games in front of you. I would be willing to bet that there is a direct inverse correlation between Pods OBP% and Tadahito's BA. The more often that Pods is on base, the more often that Tads gives up an AB to move him over. Ever since Pods average has climbed closer and closer to .300 it seems like Tads is giving up at least an AB a game to move him over. If their were justice in MLB these would be deemed SACs just like a bunt would, as it has the same affect, but it is not, and counts as an out, just like when Willie failed to get Pods over. The difference being that Tads moved him over, and gave the middle of the order two chances to gets Pods in from 3rd. For Iguchi the least important stat out of everyone you can give me is his batting average, and it is just for the reason that I just outlined. That's it exactly. Tad has such value to this team because he's willing and able to move the runner over when the situation calls for it. He's adept at hitting the ball to the right side with a runner on first or second, and even though he doesn't get credit for a sacrifice when he does it, he's moved Pods over into scoring position a whole lot. That sort of thing doesn't show up in the batting average.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Jul 11, 2005 -> 03:34 PM) We'll f***in' scalp 'em... A nice 3 out of 4 would erase my memory of the A's. May it be so!