LVSoxFan

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 11:08 AM) Actually the offense sucked in 05. I think people forget how bad it was, and how people were worried that we would get to the playoffs and not be able to score runs. The offense was good for 2 months during the season, the 2 months that Thomas was in the lineup. Our offense was so bad, that they juggled the lineup right before the playoffs just to give it a spark. We hit home runs. Now I will give Pods a piece of credit, our offense was so rotten in the first 2 months that Pods stealing 2nd was the only way we did score a run. But this was not a small ball team or a team that hit to the opposite field. Just the opposite. Its a lift and pull team, it was a lift and pull team. The reason we won so many games in 05 was the fact that our pitching and our bullpen was filthy. And our defense was great. It wasnt the stolen bases that did it for us, it was the fact that we advanced the trailer on a throw into the plate, its that we ran from 1st to 3rd on a grounder through the infield. More smart running than speed or bunting. We won the world series that year because our team for a few weeks at the end decided to hit opposite field, and not just go for the dong. Those images on your DVD was not the norm for the offense for 05. That was a very pleasant surprise. Now THIS is much more like it. Yes there were jokes about the "hitless" wonders but we found ways to win. Hell, I remember a KC game that we won where we did not bat in a run, they managed to walk in two and we took the game. My POINT is: I've had enough of big sluggers that are feast-or-famine on the Sox, if that's the makeup. We can argue all day about what 2005 was or wasn't, but you can't deny that in 2004 it was 13-2 games or we'd get blanked. I reMEMBER it. EDIT: although once playoff time came along, all of a sudden our crappy offense disappeared and not only were we slugging HRs, but doing so just when NEEDED. It was like the perfect storm of offense. AND: coming from behind, something we haven't seen much of since '05.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 04:50 PM) Please, please, please, shut the hell up about this. If you're not doing this for flame bait, you're a fool because it's been debunked many, many times for you personally. Even your favorite player, Aaron Rowand, was a terrible bunter. The 2005 White Sox won because of pitching. The 2005 White Sox hit 200 homers The 2007 White Sox failed to hit 200 homers and had a "grinderball" mentality. How'd that work out again? Home runs > bunting Getting on base and not making an out >>bunting Strong Starting pitching >> Bunting Er no it has NOT been debunked just because you wish it so. 2005 Sox because of PITCHING, DEFENSE and SPEED. And I don't know what team you were watching but there were more games that I could count where we WON BY ONE RUN. Or threw the other team's rhythm off because of people like Pods on base. Or hit OPPOSITE FIELD. Or hit SITUATIONALLY. Or BUNTED. Yes we hit homers, so what? And nice strawman with the 2007 Sox being the kind of team I'm talking about. Pfft. I don't think so. That old, slow, station-to-station team had literally NOTHING to do with the kind of team I'm talking about, and you know it. My point was I'm tired of the feast-or-famine HR derby of 2004, redux, instead of playing smartball, Ozzieball, whatever it is. Sorry that you don't get that, but take your insults and shove 'em. Thanks.

I still don't get what kind of team we're supposed to have. It seems like we have a patchwork of slugging big names among no-name rookies or so-so, inconsistent players (Uribe). Sounds like... 2004. I like Swisher, but I agree with the guys up above that if you're going to rebuild, rebuild. But bringing us up to third place in the Central will be cold comfort. If you're going to compete ASAP you need to throw Boston-like dollars around, which we don't have. So... Plus I miss the smaller-ball 2005 philosophy. I'm tired of home runs. I'd rather see a bunt at this point. Not that we have anybody who could run it out...

All I know is that the one possible bright light in an off-season signing--the possibility of signing an iffy ace at a low price--is gone. But hey, don't worry! 2008 will be fan-freakin-tastic! Didn't ya hear? Kenny Wannestedt signed the Cuban Slugger ™!

Wow this is great. With all of Kenny Wannestedt's talk after the embarassing, pathetic 2006 season about being pissed off and going after the big fish, he not only doesn't come up with a medium fish, he doesn't come up with A fish. Had he gone after Rowand right away as a cheaper option (leave the Rowand arguments on other threads, I'm just saying) and not put all is eggs in Torii's basket only to be sniped by the Angels, he probably wouldn't that same egg all over his face now and helped drive Rowand's price up in the meantime. Oh, did I say Rowand? Don't worry: he won't be coming back now. Ever. Why bring back a guy from 2005--you do remember that year, don't you?--when instead you can bring back 2007 for a sequel: Corpseball II: No-Fundamentals Boogaloo. Mmm mmm. I can hardly wait. Fukudome? HAHAHHA. Yeah we were never even CONSIDERED by that guy because a) he could probably smell the stink over there and B) unlike us, the Cubs have a chance in 2008. We did, however, get a nice rental in Cabrera, who should have absolutely zero impact seeing that he's surrounded by the same aging, lumbering, station-to-station team that floundered through 2007, setting new lows and I believe having the worst batting average in the conference AT LEAST. Oh, but the good news doesn't stop there! To get our rental, we traded away one of our proven starting pitchers, who's now probably going to have a career year and remember once again what it was like to be something we won't be for years: a contender. Ho, ho, ho! Merrrry Christmas Sox fans! And to prove that he's on the ball and not in dreamland, he publicly stated that the Tigers, after their mega-trade, are merely now able to compete with us--LOL--when the reality is they're going to make us their prison b**** for all of 2008. And a Happy New Year! Usually when something's broke, you fix it. What you don't do is give it a new paint job and shove it right back in front of us and expect to be applauded. I've seen this movie before. In 2nd half of 2006. In all of 2007. Nobody asked for a 2008 sequel.

I'm tired of hearing Kenny Wannestedt's proclamations about how all the pieces are in place. He got away with it in '06 because they had a good first half and on paper, most people believed with the addition of Thome we were a better team. Last year however he seemed to be watching somebody else's team, as he'd confidently give us the Wannestedt schtick about how even though we sucked as... this team would... well I don' t know what he thought was going to change. What we got from KW was "stay the course." Well, we did and it resulted in the most crappy, dismal Sox season I can remember in recent history. Remember how he didn't pull any triggers at the ASB last year? Not that it would have saved us, but KW was all about how the talent is here, it just needs to like, happen or something. Then came the merciful end of the season and heading into December, all the bold talk about how 2006 was unacceptable and he was going to catch the big fish and turn the season around. He then proceeds to get sniped (for you Ebay users) by the Angels for Torii, after our deal was all over the media... which you should remember as he b****es about loose lips. From what I can see we traded away an elite (face it, in today's pitcher's market Garland is gold) starter for a rental player. Then he got zapped by Detroit--like we ever had a chance--for Cabrera AND Detroit gets Willis? Crap! And with a straight face he claims Detroit is now up to competing with our sorry-ass, fourth place team? Yeahright. They'll be looking at us in the rearview mirror as Kansas City leapfrogs us out of last place, like they almost did last year. KW should do what he never does: shut up already. Now it appears they're playing hardball with Rowand--way to alienate him, BTW--although even a Rowand fan like me believes he alone will hardly save this team. Yes, Soxfest ought to be a hoot. I might even go just to be there for the bloodshed.

I have no problem bringing A-Row back. Do it. I wouldn't worry about Kenny overpaying him either. When has THAT ever happened, LOL.

I see Fields as a solid LF but not third baseman.

Forget the Torii as DH idea. Forget it. We don't need another DH.

Crede AND Garland for Damon? No way. At first blush the idea of Damon seems cool but don't we have enough older guys on the team, on the brink of decline?

I personally don't mind Dye (although he's getting SLOW) and actually AJ's probably one of my favorite players. But I'm biased. Which is why I noted the ESPN comments. That said, you're right: nobody coming up through the system. Which is why I'm not icing any champagne for 2008.

I am hardly holding my breath after a season and a half of one of the worst Sox teams I've ever seen. And yes, watching Boston win again reminded me of how stinking horrible we were this year compared to their complete package of a team. For whatever it's worth, ESPN magazine did an "offseason" report on MLB teams and ranked us near the bottom, noting that while Ozzie says we'll be good in 2008--promise!--we keep resigning "old" players like Dye and A.J. Maybe that's a good thing, that nobody gives us a chance. Or maybe they're right.

Wow that was today? Jordan is right... I still can't describe that feeling. It still seems almost unreal. CHEERS! Here's to our 2005 team! Greatest sports moment of my life!

And there you have it. There's a personal thing between him and Oz and as long as Oz is running the team, Mariotti is persona non grata around the Cell. So of course he's going to hope for anybody else to be managing.

I don't think one play was gonna make it when the BoSox outscored them like 30-5 or something last three games. Everybody's right about their two aces not showing up, and this sure shows how important it is to put that team AWAY when you had them down 3-1. Now, THAT Ozzie sure made sure we did. And yes their two starters certainly didn't show up for EITHER of their games. Ours certainly did throughout the playoffs. Even our most famous former starter pitched the inning to end all innings--coincidentally--in Boston: El Duque. Plus last night, Boston was getting weird breaks (also reminiscent of us in 2005) like the Manny throwout from left that was a bad call, the weird bounce over the Cleveland shortstop's head and the stop at third base which then led to... a double play next batter. You could tell everything was just going Boston's way. So yes, a lot like us in 2005 in some respects. The big difference being that the BoSox are now heading to the Big Dance for the second time since breaking their curse, while our guys have been on the golf course for weeks. NEVER AGAIN! 2007: Not to be repeated!

My God please no more Owens in CF. Please. One 2007 is enough thank you.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Oct 10, 2007 -> 04:47 PM) You know, with our team, it's hard to coach third because everyone's so slow and we don't have a huge team of great hitters, so even as you start to go through the lineup, and you've got two outs, you've got to decide, Do you send the guy with concrete feet or hope that Juan Uribe can come through? It doesn't help that just about everybody on our team wears concrete shoes. This is an excellent point. Like: WOW, we REALLY need a first-rate third base coach for all those speedsters on our station-to-station Jurassic baserunning team. At this point the 3B coach should be handing out donuts and coffee to lead-footed Konerko, molasses A.J., creaky Dye, no-speed Thome, don't-slide-or-you'll-be-on-the-DL Erstad... while they wait for, as you say, Uribe to bat them in. And hoo boy: that's a long wait sometimes.

"Tubby McGoo" LMAO!

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Oct 5, 2007 -> 09:14 AM) Christ, have you ever been there? I saw Maddux versus Felix Diaz a couple of years ago and it started to rain.....my dad and I got wet in a rain delay despite sitting in a totally protected area. The I-Cubs park is nicer. C'mon now Wrigley Field is a Chicago landmark. The caveat about Wrigley is it's great if you have decent seats, or bleachers. In fact, the new bleachers are great. We stood on the wide-open fence on the concourse along Sheffield for all of the Sox/Cubs games this year. ANyhoo... whaaaat a blowup last night. Ouch. And I like Ted Lilly. That is the greatest reaction EVUH. But really: this team, this legend, this franchise just REEKS of futility. My God man it will be 100 years next year. Not that 1-for-88 is anything to scream about, but Jesus...

The Ozzie plan makes no sense to me anymore. You don't get playoff tix, and I think you get one Cubs game. Not worth it.

Kenny Wannestadt gets one more year from me. Then I joint the pitchfork-and-torch mob outside the cell.

QUOTE(Yossarian @ Oct 2, 2007 -> 09:42 AM) Like someone else said, perhaps 05 was the one in 90 year fluke. More than that, the Sox have been wretched for a year and a half now. Also, take away that "fluke" 05 year and the Sox average 82.5 wins under KW. Include 05, and it's a shade under 85. I can't disagree with this. The only thing different about the last year and a half is we're not even in the running near the end. I'm used to being in at least second, but these distant third/fourth place finishes are relatively new. But yes I'm starting to wonder if '05 was just a perfect storm that we won't see again necessarily in our lifetimes. And as much as I love some of the "core" (Buehrle, Konerko, Jenks, Crede) I fail to see how this older, slow team is going to turn it around in 2008. And also the seemingly paradoxical notion that: we won '05 with speed and defense and pitching and lots of smallball/clutch/situational hitting, stealing, bunting. There has been little to none of that for a year and a half year. HELLO? This ain't exactly a mystery, folks. Our win Saturday night was textbook smallball at the end and a sad reminder of what we once were.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Oct 1, 2007 -> 11:50 AM) Oxymoron. A bullpen can blow up in your face no matter if you go about it like the Sox did (stockpiling hard-throwing young guys) or like the Orioles did (trying to sign every good veteran reliever in fa). Only the Sox aren't paying $10+ mil a year for their bad luck. Question: so how exactly did San Diego do it? Don't they have a kickass bullpen? I remember reading earlier some interview with their pitching coach and his philosophy in maybe ESPN magazine or something.

I agree that one man does not a team make but OMG would that be electrifying if we ended up with him. We sure could use his bat. I think they'd make that money back in A-Rod jersey/merch sales alone, LOL. AND if it were long-term we could wait for A-Rod to break Bonds' record while in a Sox uniform. But I just don't see this happening. I could see the Cubs doing it but not JR.

QUOTE(klaus kinski @ Oct 1, 2007 -> 10:10 AM) Pods Bukvich Gonzalez Garland Contreras Hall Cintron MacDougal and Razor Shines Harold Baines Mark Salas LMAO Klaus at your sig. Love it.