LVSoxFan

Copy that. Yeah, I would have gotten my ass banned for that one in a FLASH. Ahhh... freedom of speech. It's a great thing, ain't it? When Javy pulls it together we can write a nice song about him. Or a really mean one about Freddy...

QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Jul 31, 2006 -> 04:23 PM) Very Clever, totally good for a laugh. Brother, I gotta tell you, if that was on any other site, the guy wouldve got reamed bigtime, heh heh. Well Done. All in fun; I totally want Javy and the team to succeed.

Well from what I saw yesterday I think Hawk & DJ were right on. Javy will throw a first-strike, then start tossing junk trying to bait hitters the rest of the count. He needs to attack the strike zone and let his pitches do their thing. B-Mac said once last year that he'd rather throw his hardest and get knocked for a homer than have it be off some crap pitch. I think that advice could be great for Javy too. It seemed like every second pitch yesterday was a breaking ball low and away, not even close. And I was really paying attention, as I hope Coop was.

Well Dan's right about Buehrle being the real problem here. No wonder we're paying so much attention to Javy when our usually reliable workhorse has been getting shelled his last five starts and appears to have disappeared completely. I'll agree with Dan without being too white-flag; if the Buehrle problem is not solved, we are doomed this year.

[to the tune of "Bohemian Rhapsody"] Is this 2005? Is this just fantasy? Detroit's in first place There goes our Central lead Open your eyes Adios to the prize, we'll see... My name is Vasquez, I have velocity Because I'm number five, that's my role, To re-create the '04 hole Anyway the pitch goes, doesn't really matter to me... to me... Ozzie, just killed a drive Left B-Mac in the pen, left my lame ass in instead Ozzie, we're not yet begun But now I've gone and thrown the sixth away... Ozzie, ooooo oooo oooo ooo, didn't mean to make Coop cry If I'm not going six again tomorrow, carry on, carry on... Nothing really matters Too late [the SIXTH, COUGH], my time has come Throw my sinker in the dirt, and my curveball where it hurts Goodbye, to our lead, it's got to go... Gotta get us well behind then take the bench Ozzie, oooo oooo ooo ooo, it's not that I don't try It's just that I am made out of tin foil.. carry on, carry on... [interlude] I see a steaming, Ken Williams of a man With a phone! With a phone! Paging Al Soriano July deadline is tightening, very very frightening me Soriano! [soriano] Soriano [soriano!] Soriano magnifico, er uh ohhhh ohhh ohhh ohhh... I'm just the new guy, my name is Riske He's just a pen guy, with so-so stuff we got out East Sparing poor Jenks from what was Cliff Politte Inning five, inning six, will you let me go? [Ozzie, unintelligble] We will not let you go! [Rest of the bench] Let him go! [Ozzie]: We will not let you go! [All of the fans]: Let him go! [Ozzie]: We will not let you go [God, the president of the U.S., even the leader of Hezbollah, rest of the world]: Let him go! [Ozzie]: We will not let you go! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no NO! Oh Tadahito Tatahito Tadahito let him go! The South Side club has a footnote put aside for me, for me, for ME>........ [head banging ensues] So you think you can throw slop and still get bye? So you think you can just do the five and dive? Oh, Javy, can't do this to me, Javy Just gotta get out of, just gotta get out of the sixth... Nothing really matters, Past the fifth you'll see... Nothing really maters--nothing really matters, you'll see

You're right about Javy staying away from the strike zone. It's like everytime he got ahead in the count, he'd start throwing low-and-away crap that nobody was going to swing at. Even Hawk & DJ were getting on him for it. Weird.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. After talking to a couple of Sox fans this weekend, the consensus was that it made perfect sense to move Vasquez to the pen as long relief and make McCarthy the fifth starter. This was discussed here a couple of weeks ago and some good objections were made, but it's getting late people--I don't think they hold up. Here they are: 1) Javy makes too much money to be a reliever. -At this point, this is irrelevant. Do we want to miss the playoffs because of accounting issues? 2) It would damage his already fragile psyche if you "demoted" him to the pen. -On the contrary, maybe it would do just the oppposite. He wouldn't have that "sixth inning" dangling over him every game. 3) McCarthy's not ready yet to go more than a few innings. -Well, neither obviously is Vasquez! And we're starting him! The other thing that's overlooked here is precedent. We did this very thing last year, with El Duque. And look what he did out of the pen. It's radical, sure, but the reality is that we will not be buying/trading for any starters because a) it's too late and B) there's none available. I think everybody admits we have the talent on paper, so maybe it's just a matter of re-arranging that talent to use it best, considering what we have. We need some sort of a shot, because this team looks tired. ESPECIALLY yesterday.

Maybe that was the key: I should have emailed instead of called.

Geez I'm a partial season ticket holder, attended TWO patio parties, and even had a skybox thus far. I got, like, quadruple-shafted!!! >

QUOTE(Steff @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 03:11 PM) Oye... LOL. Travis Bickle alert! Anyway, here is the letter: Ms. Christine O’Reilly Chicago White Sox U.S. Cellular Field 333 W. 35th St. Chicago, IL , 60616 Dear Ms. O’Reilly: I’m writing to you on the day I was invited to the “Grinder Party” at U.S. Cellular Field. When the invites arrived last month, I was more than thrilled as I have often wanted to see what the dugouts and bullpen looked like from a player’s perspective, and to stand in the outfield is a dream of mine. I’m a lifelong Sox fan who attended 40 games, both home and away, last year and am currently at 18 for 2006. I bleed White Sox black, even though I am a Northsider. Unfortunately, I will not be there tonight because, although I RSVP’d per the instructions, I never received the second set of tickets and after three attempts to call sales reps there, I was told the first time there was no record of me (YOU sent me the invites), then that there was no record of my RSVP (I did) and finally the rep did not return my phone messages. As an avid member of soxtalk.com, when I went online with my story I found that I was not alone. Others, too, had a similar experience—yet there were also stories of members receiving extra tickets that they did not even request. Overall the consensus was that the customer service was atrocious for this event, and some even recalled being there last night and watching fans be turned away because they did not realize the original passes—which state “Bring this card to the event for admittance” do not, in fact, get one admittance to the event. What is most troubling to me and other Sox fans isn’t simply that we can’t go, but that we would—your most loyal fan base—be treated like cattle. Or dismissed outright. One would think it would go without saying that if you’re going to have a thank-you event for the most loyal of the loyal, it would probably be best for the organization not to shaft them. I understand that demand—especially right now—outstrips supply (we all learned that when we made the playoffs last year) but this is entirely inexcusable and, quite frankly, insulting. Everything else about U.S. Cellular is superbly professional, why this event (and to another extent the SoxFest fiasco of overselling) was mishandled so badly is truly a mystery. The point is, you offered us a nice night at the park as a thank-you and some of us got kicked in the face. Hopefully, you will take my letter to heart because I do love the Sox and the park and I will always support the team. But when you do things like this it leaves a bitter taste because it is so unnecessary—so unnecessary to invite excited loyal fans to something like this and then have them disappointed. And, to boot, be not even acknowledged when they try—without any anger—to resolve the situation by calling repeatedly. A good rule of thumb is always: underpromise and overdeliver. I realize that overselling things is good profit-wise, but this was a free event. If there is a problem trying to plan things like this in the future, then let me seriously offer my services to take over this planning. I’m not kidding. I will fix it. That nothwithstanding, from myself and other loyal Sox fans, like the ones who won’t be there tonight, I think our sentiment is best summed up as: we’ve done our part all season, every season, and we’re disappointed the Sox didn’t do theirs with an event like this. I expect so much more from the Sox, and you should take that as a compliment. Hopefully this won’t happen again and please do not read undue anger into this letter. I just don’t want to hear any more stories about people showing up at the park and being turned away because of bad planning. That borders on heartless. Yes I’m disappointed, but I can only imagine how those people feel. Sincerely yours,

I'll post my letter for everybody here when I send it. You're right, DA: this is inexcusable. Hey, if it sold out or whatever, fine. Just tell me. But to kick me to the curb like that after YOU invited me, ugh. And I feel for those poor people showing up, only to get turned away. That is heartless.

Bedard is pitching for them?

I'm more worried about our "smallball" ranking, because lately that has been dismal. But no longer, people! Time to fry the birds and get back on track...

Before the ASB. Man, that seems like six months ago.

You are correct sir. Placards are soooo September 10th.

No kidding. What are we even doing IN the power rankings at all right now? Yeesh.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 01:28 PM) LV, I know you wont be this stupid. :rolleyes Send it to Christine with a CC to Brooks. That should get it to the right hands. See. I knew it. Ahh, Steff.. Ye of little faith! You've read me long enough by now to know I know better! I shall arrive at the Sox offices wearing a Haz-Mat suit and carrying a placard which states: "WHAT STINKS MORE THAN YOUR TEAM IN JULY? YOUR &^%!$%! SPECIAL EVENTS!" And I will be barking through a bullhorn, saying things like "Do I LOOK LIKE LANCE BASS? So WHY YOU TRYING TO BEND ME OVER?" I'm sure that will get me an audience with Jerry.

No that'll get it tossed into the circular file, pronto. We need to do this on the up n' up. But thanks for the suggestion!

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 12:15 PM) I went last night....and we had a good time. It would have been better if it had NOT rained, since that meant I did not get on the field. The sox guy signing was Carlos May...I didn't even bother since I did not know him. We waited on the food and there was no line. Had plenty of beer...had plenty of food...took some pictures. So if there is any chance of rain, and you want to walk on the field (dugout, bullpen, etc), head to the center field tunnel as soon as you get there. And be sure to turn in the raffle tickets you originally got, in the left field concourse area. And it was a real organized event until the rain caused them to move the trophy from the center field fan deck, and close the field...then it got a little messy...dogs and cats sleeping together, mass hysteria. LOL! It'll be ANARCHY!

Haw haw. Just a figure of speech, MSHAWKS.

QUOTE(champ @ Jul 27, 2006 -> 07:21 PM) Give me a break...collapse? He's in a funk, and it's not the first time he's been in one in his career. You just have to wait it out and hope he finds his groove sooner rather than later. Dude, five awful starts in a row is not a "funk." Maybe two. But five? Wake up. Especially when he's been our workhorse.

QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 11:55 AM) As Soon as I saw that Invitation which CLEARLY SAID - ADMIT ONE - then in fineprint, it says to RSVP for another ticket, I knew the SOX again dropped the ball on this. Its almost like the SOX purposely are trying to make things way more difficult than it needs to be. They should NEVER turn anyone away, anyone with a ticket .... SHOULD GET IN. What are they thinking? This wasnt some contest where "the first 1000 customers get in free". If theyre going to throw a ThankYou party for All of their Season Ticket Base, then plan for ALL of your Season Ticket Base to be there, not only 25% of them. Exactly! So am I writing the letter? I'm volunteering. I'm just confused as to whom to send it: Jerry, or Brooks? We have to go higher up than the woman who's aparently running this fiasco.

QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 11:32 AM) Shouldnt this be called the Fluffy Cloud Thread? Silver Cloud means Dark I believe Actually you're half right Hangar. I should have said silver "LINING." Oops. Mea culpa. I'm emotionally disturbed right now, can't.... think.... clearly...

Shady! Gosh. I'm starting to feel exploited!

Those of you who might remember me from last year would remember how I wished and wished that we could have a season like Cleveland's last year, without the ending. I was so emotionally drained from the September swoon that clinching in Detroit wasn't joyous, it was a relief. But back then, and before this season, I said many times I would gladly trade a wire-to-wire season with a near total collapse for a crappy first half but then second half explosion (but going all the way, unlike Cleveland last year). So what's the damn point, you ask? I have said many times, if we're gonna have a slump, please make it be earlier and not right at the do-or-die point in September. So, the GOOD NEWS? Well, we DEFINITELY GOT THE "SLUMP" PART DOWN, LMAO. Be careful what you ask for, right? It really can't get worse than this, so seeing that we've been in the ugliest slump imaginable, I'd say: Hell YEAH this is JUST HOW WE PLANNED IT. It is totally official: we are now UNDERDOGS. Seriously, maybe this is just all part of God's plan. Just even MAKING the playoffs at this point will be considered a victory, and isn't that just where you want everybody's head at? GO SOX!