LVSoxFan

Um, let's clear up a few things here. First of all, whoever said that WSI'ers coming here are "Eurotrash" now that EuroDisney has closed, guess what? That's where I came from. Am I trash? I suffered the same fate--without getting into it as I'm sure the moderators are watching--and was stunned that I got banned. But people welcomed me here with open arms and I've been here since. I would suggest we do the same for the people who come here from there--or should I say flee there for here. That's what made this place feel right. If you don't like Hangar's media threads, then don't read them. Maybe he can flag them as such so you won't waste your time. Otherwise I'd like to see a little more hospitality here for new posters and not the sort of secularism that makes places other than this such a drag. On to Hangar's point about Hawk trying to say how great Comiskey was before the renovations--you're right: he's full of s***. The park SUCKED until they fixed it up and put the roof on--I HATED it. It was sterile, faceless, ugly and even moreso considering that everybody else was building new "classic" type parks and we ended up with that monstronsity. That said, I love it now. Love the way it looks inside and out. Perfectly happy. And cheers to Reinsdorf for not being stubborn and realizing the original design was a mistake. How rare is it that somebody would spend the money (ok, U.S. Cellular's money) to simply make a change in aesthetics? Hawk will rarely criticize the organization, as anybody who's been to Soxfest knows, LMAO.

I still don't like how this happened at all. I know Ozzie's a ballbuster but the kid is a ROOKIE for God's sake making his third appearance. That was unnecessary. I think Ozzie's frustration with the umps--plus he hates Texas--boiled over and I think Tracey was the unlucky sap who took the brunt of it. He just happened to be the wrong guy at the wrong time. I didn't mind Ozzie laying into what's his face on the Cubs (after the AJ punching game) for being sent down and mouthing off before he was, but this is one of your guys. Think about it: this kid is psyched to be on the Sox, psyched to be brought up and wants to do well--and to get sent down for this? It just don't seem right...

As a general rule, you go hard on guys who should know what they're doing but you do not humiliate new guys in front of everybody like that. That event is so traumatic for them that they may never come back. The vets know that they can do better so they can take the dressing down (like when Uribe didn't run out that fly ball once). But to lay into that guy like that after asking him to bean a batter. Sorry, I love Ozzie but I thought this was out-of-control and wrong. I feel bad for Tracey. The one thing I will give us is that how is it we're getting warned after being hit a second time (same guy!) and we've hit no one? That's bulls***.

I liked your stats, Greg--they were cool to look at. It's just cool to see what the deal has been up to now--don't know why everybody's jumping on this. What would be interesting is to compare it to his full-season stats from last year, and see what pops.

I'd go if you're setting this up, Hangar.

My first thought was Vasquez. I'll stick with that. He gets in a lot of jams, but...

I love the polish, it's my "must have" thing there. Pizza's not bad either, for a ballpark. Brats are good. The only thing I think sucks (besides most of the stuff at the center field stand as somebody above said) is the steak pita. Bland.

I love Pods but agree that those catches could have been made. Dye made a bad misplay last night too.

I'm all for this. Of course it's early but it's fun to see where we're at. BTW my main concern throughout the season (worked last year!) without looking too far ahead is just: win the series. Take the two out of three or three out of four, whatever, but just win the series. That tends to keep things in perspective.

Seems like a lot, doesn't it? Man, yesterday, Crede hits that MONSTER homer and we're up 2-0... but not for long. I'd rather not have the lead then keep losing it like we seem to be doing.

I agree with your post Southsideirish--good points. And as for whoever was asking about were we better with or without Frank last year, my point was that without him most of the season (almost all of it), we were just fine. So not having a slugger didn't seem to hurt us. I'm not dissin' Thome, I'm just wondering if the jacked-up offense has somehow upset the chemistry that was there during our "Ozzie ball" last year. BTW when was the last time you heard anybody mention that phrase? Or small ball? Or use it to refer to the Sox this year? DING. Hmm...

At this point I would like to gloat for, say, 30 seconds because I posted last week about how we looked eerily like the 2004 team and people crucified me. Well, most anyway. Here's my take, forgive me for stating the obvious. -Yes we do not seem as hungry in the sense that if we get a lead (which we are consistently blowing this year) we just sort of wait for the game to end with us winning. -Obvious but true: our team was and is built around pitching and defense. When those falter, we are doomed. No matter how many HRs Thome pounds. Right now the pitching is--well, very 2004-like and the defense has been subpar. A lot of missed DPs, inexplicably booted balls, outfield misjudgments, and when was the last time you saw us throw out somebody coming home? -I've said it before, I'll say it again: where in the hell are the other people on the team stealing bases? It's Pods or nada apparently. What happened to stealing and bunting? The suicide squeeze? This won us games last year. Lots of 'em. Are we just waiting for Thome to get to the plate? -The bullpen is atrocious. Politte especially. Guys like Thorton and the new guy obviously have stuff, but they're not locating. Plus our starters seem to be maxing out at six innings, which means... more Politte. -Another shade of 2004. Does everybody remember that in 2005 Frank barely played? And yet, without his huge bat, we were killing. I wonder if introducing a slugger again (Thome) has somehow upset the chemistry resulting in yes, better averages but not the complete team concept we had in 2005. Just a thought. -The death sentence for us this year: average with RISP. Just like that other year... -And while there's not the dreaded "five hole" in the rotation like 2004 that was a guaranteed loss, it seems like each pitcher on his every other apperarance sort of creates that five-hole by having a bad game. Everybody's done it this year; Buehrle, Garland, Vasquez, Freddie. Contreras gets a pass because he's been so stellar. Having said all this the season is merely a third in, so I'm not pushing any panic buttons. But I would surely give up the long ball and the 11-2 blowouts for our 2-1 wins at any time. There were plenty of double-digit wins in 2004 but plenty of desert-like hitting droughts like yesterday. Please, please come back my little one-run win wonders.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jun 5, 2006 -> 10:56 AM) Most people do. Including Kenny and Ozzie. Well what do you want? Call me crazy, but I thought the whole point of the championship Sox was pitching and defense. We've got plenty of offense (well, potential at least) this year, way more so than last year. So if we have a great CF who just happens to suck at the plate, I'll take that tradeoff. C'mon, it's the same deal with Uribe. His average sucks, but would you want anybody but him at SS? Not me.

People have wanted to dump Anderson for a while now but I hope he goes nowhere. I don't care if he's batting .058, his defense is a game-saver, and my other Sox buddies agreed at the game yesterday. That game-winning double off of Jenks Friday night? We all agreed that Anderson would have probably caught that. Look, the Bulls in their last championship years had Rodman, who was almost a zero offensive threat. But his defense and rebounding were so good he made it work as a teammate. I look at BA the same way. The upside is if he ever starts hitting, watch out. Keep him.

FWIW I agree with the original post, our team looks lifeless. In fact, we kinda have since Toronto (save for the opening blowout at Jacobs). Just flat. Having said that, though, I'll say what I said at the beginning of this season: I'd rather slump now and have a rough first half, only to kill 2nd half heading into the playoffs, then ever go through another September swoon again. In other words, let's make all the mistakes now, work out the kinks, have the bad losses. Once the ASB hits IMO the race is on. So yeah it sucks to watch something like this, but man, after last year (although it turned out well), if it happens in June instead of September that's fine with me. Plus we have 100+ games to go, so panic is not an option. That said, yes: our bullpen is worrisome. Jose, on the other hand, was due for a bad game after an unbelievable streak--I cannot fault the man at all.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 04:27 PM) I get your point dude. Its just, maybe our offense is just better this year, and has won us several games that we may not have won last year. Especially with our pitching struggling a bit early in this season. If you took this rotation and paired it with those lineups Frank, Maggs, Lee, Konerko, im sure we would have been a better team. I have the utmost confidence that this team will be more consistently good than last years team. I know we'll come around, it's just painful to watch the... inconsistency right now. Maybe that's what I should have said, and spared myself all the "sky is falling," "Chicken Little" abuse.

If people don't like people posting about media coverage, attendance, whatsoever, then DON'T READ THE DAMN THREAD. Unless somebody's being obscene or trolling, I have a hard time dictating what they can or cannot post or whether it is sufficiently Sox-worthy. If you want that kind of despotism, I know another Sox site you can visit... I personally don't care about the media coverage (I thought the Sox got plenty of media coverage last year) but if that's what toasts Hangar's bagel, then rock on, brother.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jun 1, 2006 -> 03:11 PM) All the guy said was that we've looked like the 2004 for team for the past week. That's entirely true. Can't hold leads, score a bunch of runs one game, then scrape a few across for the next few. Thank YOU Milkman! Geez! I make one negative comment and people are spraining their knees, jerking them. What is this, WSI?

For the SECOND time, I was GENERALIZING. FORGET the part about "shutout." I meant: the whole feast or famine thing. !!!

I sent Hangar a PM but again: welcome! I remember him from WSI. Attendance? Yawn. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your research and your insight. But if anybody thinks the Sox will overtake the Cubs it just ain't gonna happen. Only because--it is no indicator of quality, obviously--Wrigley Field is a tourist destination and landmark. It will always draw people who don't even care about baseball. The sheer landscape and geography of the Cell will never compete. Granted, if the Cubs continue their slide for years who knows? People may walk away, but I doubt it, because they have a win/win setup: if they're good, "This is gonna be the year!" If they suck, they get to fall back on the "Loveable loser/woe is me" marketing. Like I've always said about Sox fans, if the Sox suck, we vote with our feet. I was there for the home closer in '04 and the park was half empty. I'd like to think our actions helped prod the team into what became 2005. On the other hand, if the area surrounding the Cell continues to undergo serious gentrification and commercialization (think: Wrigleyville South), that very well could be the tipping point. But as is? Forget it. Cubs will always outdraw us.

When I say shut out I am generalizing. Not literally, but you get the idea: we either rack 'em up or we're dismal. Think of it: two nights ago we were up 3-0 and they scored four runs. That was enough to beat us. Shutout, schmutout, you get the idea.

That right now we really remind me of the 2004 Sox? In other words: feast or famine. We either crush them or we get shut out. Of course I'm generalizing and no, I am not throwing in the towel or claiming the sky is falling, but this Cleveland series is bringing back some unpleasant memories of '04 and how we could alternate between awesome and flat-out crappy. Hey I know the season's young and I'm hardly going code blue on this, but just thought I'd see if anybody else felt the same way. (Although one difference is that we actually swept the Angels IN Anaheim and Oakland here, so some things have changed). But man I miss the one-run wins with low scores when our pitching and defense was killing everybody and not really our bats...

Well granted he's no Jimmy Piersall but I have also heard him on FOX and he's like a different man during those games. And Lord oh Lord do I love when they're bored--and DJ starts up with his non-sequitirs...

It does look great guys--love the standings/update on the right side. This site just gets better and better. I have to say: you're doin' a heckuva job... er, well... I mean...

I don't mind DJ at all. I don't know what the big deal with him is here.