LVSoxFan

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Aug 23, 2006 -> 10:24 AM) Could it be they want it just as much and are playing just as hard, but they just aren't as good (pitching)? Nah, they must not be trying. I'll answer this: no. They look like corpses on the field.

What I absolutely cannot handle is the lack of passion or intensity. It's like we drag our sorry asses through every loss, and if a team goes up by two, three, four runs, they know--and we do too--that they just have to coast the rest of the game because we'll never come back. Buehrle's had a bad year but I'm sorry: only giving up four runs--in the beginning--to the best team in baseball should not have spelled guaranteed loss for us. So for all the talk about the starters--which is of course problem #1--our offense has been dismal in the clutch. It's different when Jose gives up seven runs, but if I have to watch one more game when we can't climb over a 2-run deficit I'm going to scream. The only good news is we are still in it, wild-card wise, despite our crap second half. It can be salvaged. I will not give up until we are mathematically eliminated. But it's looking iffy. BTW how weird was it to hear somebody hear yesterday mention (for the first time I've heard) Detroit's "magic number"? Man.... 2005 seems so long ago, don't it?

Really? Man, I must have short term memory. But it sure doesn't seem like that's the case, does it? Maybe it's because every loss is hard when you know you're trying to catch up to Detroit--who knows? Hasn't been much fun this second half being a Sox fan! Although if we get to the playoffs, I'll be grateful just to be there.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 21, 2006 -> 04:50 PM) You might. When I go to a game, I go there expecting a win. I pay for X hours of entertainment when I go to Snakes on a Plane. I pay for wins when I go to baseball games. Don't you mean about 20 minutes of entertainment when you pay to see SOAP? Meaning: after the premise, which is thin to begin with, has worn itself out? Anyhoo, I agree with the argument that there is absolutely no reason why we shouldn't expect at least the playoffs this year based on the payroll and the acquisitions AND the management from last year being intact. The one thing everybody, however, I think has lost sight of is the bizareness of this year: we are more than 20 games over .500 and yet firmly in second place. In any other year, people would be doing cartwheels over a team with that record--especially the Sox. Yet as this year turned out Detroit apparently is out of their heads and even that 20 games over for us isn't enough to win a division. Sometimes I have to remind myself of that when we talk about what a "failure" this club has been thus far. In any other year we'd be giddy with playoff anticipation with this record but damn if that ain't just the rub this year. But yes, we also expect a lot because of last year. Nothing wrong with that. Hell, Boston fans must be out of their minds right now--being swept five games in a row by the Yanks? Ouch. And they are definitely no slouch of a team, talent or payroll-wise.

I've always been an advocate of two out of three is fine by me, but we haven't done that consistently either this year. Strange year with this team. You keep waiting for the trigger to be pulled but it never seems to happen. Know what I mean?

Here's what I've noticed about this year, particularly second half. Yes, this is a duh! insight, but: man, when was the last time (if ever) we put together a streak? What's been killin' me this year and really since the ASB is that we can't seem to put together more than a three game winning streak, maybe four. What has our longest been this year? I think we had a good one in the beginning, but since the ASB I can't think of any that were more than, say, four. It always seems that once we start rolling, just wait: we'll lose in the next game or two. Two out of three from the Yanks, sweep Detroit and then... bam! Lose to Anaheim. I feel like I've been watching .500 ball all year: one step forward, one step back. Like we're treading water. We narrow it down to 5-1/2, then back to 6-1/2. On another note, Javy's lights-out in Toronto, then goes five-and-dive next game. Jose shuts down the Yankees, then gets wailed on for seven runs. And so on, and so on. So am I the only one who gets the sense that this team has never really "clicked" this year? I'm not piling on, just making an observation. That to me is the big difference between last year and this: I feel like I've been waiting all season for that "click" to happen and it has yet to. I guess the good news, if there is any, is that if it happens in the next couple of weeks the timing is perfect for rolling into the playoffs.

Somehow I thought after a 12-2 drubbing there might be a letdown, and there surely was. I can't blame it all on Javy because we were down TWO RUNS, PEOPLE, with 3, 4 innings to go. If we can't make that up, we suck. I got the overwhelming impression last night that the Sox were sitting back waiting for the game to win itself instead of sticking the dagger in the worst team in the AL while roaring up in Detroit's rearview mirror. Instead we got a game so dull that I was flipping between it and seven other things, waiting for the big "statement" inning to come, and it never did. Yeah, Dye dropped an easy fly but I can't dump the loss on him. That fan interference thing BTW cost us. Why the f*** do Sox fans knowingly interfere with a play like that when they know runs are at stake? All for a freakin' baseball that you could buy on the concourse. I hope that guy was tossed. Anyway, three of four I can live with, so... pressure's on tonight. And as I've said, I truly believe: as Buehrle goes, so the Sox go. So tonight should be telling, seeing that now he supposedly has his confidence back.

To the tune of "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," by Meat Loaf: And all I can do is keep on telling you... I want you I need you But there ain't no way Detroit's gonna fall through So don't... be... sad 'Cause two out of three ain't bad So just... be... glad... 'Cause two out of three ain't bad Freddy, we can talk all night.... COUGH, ahem... Anyhoo, two out of three served us well last year and it will serve us well again this year. I'm always satsified with that result. Stay the course, baby, stay the course!

Agreed.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 04:06 PM) Doubt it. Moose will determine it. We generally cant hit him, and if he keeps it up, we are done. Yeah but supposedly their opening night pitcher was on a tear and we feasted on him. But I concur, we'll all feel a lot better if we take this series. I guess we'll post back here tomorrow then!

We beat them first game, Freddy shut them down pretty well, Konerko homers off their ace reliever to tie the game which we then win. Last night they probably thought they were sitting pretty being up 7-0 so late and we came screaming back. This IS the Yankees we're talking about, the virtual all-star team, and we got to two of their best pitchers in the last two games (granted it took forever with RJ but we did knock him out). I'd say this ain't a bad way to instill confidence, and maybe the timing is just about right, heading into the Detroit series. Granted, Detroit is the best team in baseball right now, but I think a lot of us (and probably some Sox) view this as almost a fluke season for them; plus, we've beat them more often than not thus far. I guess we'll see tonight, eh? I WILL say a win tonight, with a strong outing by Vasquez, could be just the tonic for us to go on a tear. FINALLY, that is.

Interesting. I was there last year when Ichiro went 5-for-5 against Buehrle (ace Buehrle, not The Thing Buehrle) and we gave him an "O" after he hit the fifth, out of sportsmanship. Plus, Ichiro's kind of hard to not like, even if he's not on your team.

Scarlett Johannson HOMELY? What... the... f....

Hey guys I'm all for this lineup idea. My take on it is that Mack is a much more aggressive baserunner than Pods has been all year so WTF not? BTW, isn't Mack, by trade, a LF? But this idea is fine with me. Just keep him out of center! Sheesh!

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 02:14 PM) While I agree that it will take a change to get into October, I think ANYTHING can happen once we get there. BINGO. Just get there. Once you're there, the playing field dramatically evens. FWIW I thought last night's loss was a heartbreaker but we showed real heart and we also showed the Yankees we don't frackin' kid around. 7-0 most teams roll over. We damn near stole it from them and that's a good sign. The bases loaded/no outs/but nobody got in inning IMO is what killed us. But we almost squeaked it out. If you're gonna lose, that's the way to do it. Just weeks ago I was b****ing about being down 4-2 in like the 4th and never being able to climb over that. Sheeet, down 7-0 that late and we got six runs? I'll take it.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 12:43 PM) Completely disagree. The pressure on this team is probably greater now than it has been this entire year. Perhaps I should rephrase then: the pressure SHOULD BE off. Because like it or not, we are a longshot right now. Maybe playing game to game without constantly thinking of 2005 is just what we need right now.

I saw this too and thought: hey, after how many innings of no-hit, OF COURSE fans are gonna cheer the first hit--they're almost doing in tongue-in-cheek. Kind of like when a pitcher being shelled (God knows we'd know about that) finally gets the third out. Although, the irony disappeared last night when that one hit turned into a romp which damn near won the game for us. This is the way I look at it: the pressure is OFF. We are in third place, people. In a division with one of the sickest teams in recent memory (40 games over .500? Inhuman!) and Minnesota playing great ball after a blip in 2005. Our wildcard chances are against teams like New York, Boston, Minnesota and God knows who else, and nobody has a commanding lead. Point being: for all intents and purposes, nobody is expecting us to win. So let's relax, play the game, and with that 2005 pressure off, let's see what happens. The Yankees are always supposed to win, so are the BoSox, the Twins are now without Liriano and who knows what will happen if Detroit suddenly finds itself on a losing streak after a year of invincibility? To that end, the press needs to STFU and start treating us like a day-in, day-out team and worry about the post-season if we get to it. The constant deathwatch and countdown-to-elimination is just defeatist.

Tad is my favorite player period. I would hold on to him as long as possible.

Has any journalist asked Freddy the $64,000 question about his velocity? The Sun-Times yesterday asked Buehrle a lot of pointed questions about his pitching and he answered them all. I would just like to hear what he has to say. That said, lest we forget, Freddy did pitch well two nights ago. I'm not exactly in full hate mode. Yet.

Of all time? That's almost too tough. But yes, the Iguchi play while diving earlier this year is one of the best I've ever seen in my life. The Fisk play may not have the "wow" value of that, but it was such an oddity that's why it's classic (and why they have it on the opening reel every game, I suspect).

Yeah, I'm a bit baffled too about why he would make these public comments at this time. Doesn't that amount to a distraction for the team at this point? I guess the only good thing is that he may pitch his ass off to drive up his value? Naaaa....

Well I guess my letter cc'd to Brooks hit home, because I got a call from somebody there on Monday referencing that letter and asking me to call back, so I did. That was Monday. I left a message. Thus far, nada. Um, cough, GO SOX?

He's hanging on the DL until September; although I can't see him ever coming back. Too bad. Hermy was a badass last year, first half.

TOP TEN THINGS THAT MAKE A GOOD SOXTALK.COM POSTER: 10. ABILITY TO POST "SEND [iNSERT STARTER'S NAME HERE] TO THE BULLPEN AND START B-MAC" THREAD EVERY WEEK 9. DEMONSTRATE CLINICAL SCHIZOPHRENIA, BETWEEN "WE'RE DOOMED" SCENARIOS AFTER A LOSS AND "ALL THE PIECES ARE IN PLACE!" AFTER A WIN 8. ENTER INTO LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIHP WITH JOHN GARLAND. FIRST HALF HE WAS "JUDY"; SECOND HALF HE'S OUR ONLY HOPE, OBI WAN, OUR ONLY HOPE (THE REVERSE BEING TRUE LAST YEAR) 7. ENJOY BEING PUT IN THE DAMNED-IF-YOU-DO SITUATION OF PICKING A CENTER FIELDER TO START ONCE AND FOR ALL: ANDERSON = GREAT GLOVE AND NOODLE BAT; MACkOWIAK = OKAY BAT BUT SPECIAL-OLYMPICS-LIKE CF ABILITY 6. SECOND-GUESS OZZIE WITHOUT "REALLY" SECOND-GUESSING HIM, BY PREFACING POSTS WITH DISCLAIMERS LIKE: "I'M NOT TRYING TO BE AN ARMCHAIR MANAGER, BUT...", WHILE PARKED FIRMLY IN YOUR LAY-Z-BOY 5. PISS EVERYBODY OFF BY STARTING AN ATTENDANCE THREAD 4. PULL "RANK" WITH A NEWBIE BY TIPPING YOUR AGE: "HEY, KID! I WAS THERE WHEN LUKE APPLING HIT FOR THE CYCLE. BACK WHEN CARS COULDN'T GO UP HILLS!" 3. REFER TO NOW-DEPARTED BACKUP CATCHER AS "THE WIDGENATOR" 2. KNOW TO INSTINCTIVELY MUTE TV PLAY-BY-PLAY WHEN HAWK UTTERS DEADLY PHRASE: "WELL, BACK WHEN I WAS A PLAYER..." 1. ACKNOWLEDGE THAT GREATEST BROADCAST MOMENT IN RECENT SOX HISTORY WASN'T HAWK'S "JOOOOE! CREEEEEDE!" BUT RATHER A BORED-OUT-OF-HIS-SKULL DJ SINGING "BILLY, DON'T BE A HERO" DURING THE BROADCAST OF AN AWAY GAME Yup, sounds good to me.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 02:15 PM) I'm glad it's on the DVD because it certainly deserves to be, but I was looking more along the lines of something free on the internet Oh definitely try youtube.com then.