LVSoxFan

And that is: It is time once and for all to get over this West Coast house of horrors bulls***. What better time than now to end that skid? Here's our record against Anaheim (from the Sun-Times) at their park: 2005: 2-2 2004: 1-2 2003: 1-3 2002: 0-3 2001: 1-5 The only team worse for us is Oakland. Plus, Garland's record against Anaheim is crap this year, while Lackey's against us is excellent. The only team I hate more than Anaheim is Oakland--I'd cringe watching us lose games there and listening to their dumbass fans with their airhorns. Now I have to watch Anaheim and their idiot fans with their thunder sticks. If we can pull this off against Anaheim, our second worst nightmare, I'd say the World Series is gonna look easy, comparatively. But what an added bonus if we manage to take a few there--especially when it counts like it does now. God, would I love to sweep them. TIME TO END THE WEST COAST CURSE!

LOL! My favorite saying making the rounds is this is the "Zapruder Film" of baseball...

That would be a slippery slope, if you pulled every ump who made a questionable call. Leave him in.

Didn't mean to make it impossible. The "Right Here Right Now" you would have only known had you been at Opening Day, so don't feel bad if you didn't know that one. However, the video one shouldn't have been too hard if you've watched it a few times. Or, in my case, 36 times, LOL (I still watch the whole thing; love it). Here's the answer key for those who were stuck on some (although most got most of them): 1) Man Soo Lee, the bullpen catcher, was once known as the "Korean Babe Ruth." I don't even know how I know that. He probably told me during BP, LOL. 2) Freddy Garcia is married to Ozzie's niece. 3) MOST OF THE TIME, if you hear "Elevation" by U2, Pods is coming up to bat (he plays another song once in a while) 4) "Go Go White Sox" was written for, well, the 1959 "Go-Go" White Sox. And it sounds like it. Note to Brooks: time to get a modern White Sox song! 5) The video montage shows Fisk making his famous double tag at home plate--versus the Yankees I believe. 6) The pitch speed readout is underneath the right field scoreboard (NOT the left!) 7) I believe there's a mural of Shoeless Joe in one of the UD concourses--I admit I was fishing with this one because I had heard that 8) AJ's walkoff homer, as everybody got, was against the Dodgers this summer. The Sox were wearing their '59 jerseys. 9) We beat the Royals early this year without batting in a run--they walked in two in a row (!!!) in the bottom of the 8th. Up to that point Greinke was shutting us down (he didn't walk in the runs though) 10) Carl Everett does not believe dinosaurs ever existed; hence the nickname "Jurassic" Carl. 11) According to the White Sox site, it is AARON ROWAND who ranks second behind Scotty for steals (16). Ozuna had 14, Iguchi 15. 12) Everybody got that Timo and Dye both played a game at 1st base. Dye looked good; Timo didn't. 13) On opening day "Thunderstruck" was replaced with "Right Here, Right Now." It didn't last long. 14) Shingo Takatsu's fate was sealed in the four-game series with Cleveland right after the ASB. He came in to close and instead put men on base. A visibly frustrated Don Cooper ended up pulling him. He never really came back after that. 15) Don Pall, Robin Ventura and Blackjack McDowell all did stints with DJ in Hawk's absence. IMO Blackjack was the best; although there was something disarming about Pall's not-ready-for-TV voice that made him good. 16) A-Rod said during the Yankees series (there) that Rowand was putting on a "clinic" in centerfield for all his great plays/catches 17) Hawk Harrelson went nuts about a few things this season, but none more than Mark Buehrle being tossed from a game for hitting a batter. 18) Jay Mariotti is persona non grata with most Sox fans and management 19) The "Baltimore chop" or bounce, or whatever it's called, is when an infield hit takes a huge first bounce--high enough so sometimes the runner can beat it to first base 20) Juan Uribe was the talk of the first crosstown series at Wrigley when he deked a rounding-second Derek Lee into slowing down by saying that the ball was foul. It wasn't. Hope this was fun!

I think John Cusack's a great actor who makes great movies. And LOL: why did he not ask his sister for tix? Surely she must get some. Having said all that: this is the most OBSCENE case of bandwagon-jumping I've seen. Except for maybe Ronnie Woo Woo showing up at the Cell all this month. Nice try, Cusack. We know you're a Cubs fan.

No, no no! I live on the Northside. The most Sox-friendly bar on the North side is the 710 Club (formerly Lucky Strike), on Lincoln just south of Diversey. They have nice TVs, too. Pretty much any sports bar is going to have the Sox on now, but the staff there are all Sox fans.

I wouldn't consider Cuscack b-list, but he's made no secret of the fact he's a Cubs fan. So when he comes to the games, he can pay like everybody else--especially since he can afford it more than anybody else. There aren't a lot of celebrity Sox fans, unfortunately. Or, fortunately--depending on how you look at it. Geez is Billy Corgan gonna ask next? At least Marty from Rock Star was there last week--he's a Southsider.

I live in Wrigleyville and by and large people here are wishing the Sox well, even cheering for them when the games are on at the bars. Those who are wishing otherwise--well, those are the tools that make you realize one reason why you're not a Cubs fan.

I'm not ready to panic about last night because it was just one of those games--full of miscues. The only thing that was right-on was--can you believe I'm saying this?--Contreras. He was rock-solid as our defense and offense bumbled around him. Oh well. I thought he should have gone to home on that come-backer but nobody else does, apparently. But talk about a sloppy game: -Crede's double-clutch missed out at first -A.J.'s double clutch on the PITCHOUT (!!!) and they steal a base -Dye bunting with no outs (!!!) -AJ stealing second... huh? -Pods unable to put down a bunt... -Rowand ALMOST fielding that bloop single -Tad's overthrow on the double play It was a comedy of errors. Best left forgotten. I think we were rusty and a bit apprehensive about playing Anaheim, whereas, as tired as they may be, they had no time to think about anything--they just had to play ball. There's a lesson to learn from there...

This quiz was pretty much based on this year. I know some Sox history, but am not the historian that many here are. But if you attended/watched a lot this year, this shouldn't be too hard.

My theory on why the crowd was so dead--I was at the Boston series last week and they were ON FIRE--is HELLO: WELCOME TO THE GAMES POPULATED BY ALL THE BANDWAGON JUMPERS. Reminds me of the Bulls' series back in the Jordan days when the announcers would comment on how quiet the crowd was. That's because they're all the rich people who scalped tix and probably never went to more than a couple of regular season games. They're there to be entertained. Geez. One home run was all it took to shut everybody up. I guess that's one downside when you've got everybody and their cousin now at a Sox game--they give up too easily. The crowd--at least on TV--was virtually silent from the one Sox rally until the final innings when they threatened. I hope they're a little more like last week tonight.

Oops that was a typo: I meant "Papercut" by Linkin Park. I believe the Paulie song is indeed Metallica.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 02:30 PM) Not a good question, because his first at bat is ALWAYS Dirty by Trick Daddy Well fine, the MAJORITY of at-bats this year. For Rowand it used to be "Paperclip," now it's "The Beautiful People." Perhaps I should have phrased it: "Who comes to bat when 'Elevation" by U2 is played beforehand?" Better?

QUOTE(ChiSoxFan @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 02:25 PM) I could be wrong (wouldn't be the 1st time ), but I think Hawk refers to the high bouncer as a "Baltimore Chop". I think you're right! I stand corrected. Judges: accept "chop" or "bounce"!

QUOTE(robinventura23 @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 02:18 PM) 1) Who in the Sox organization was once known as the "Korean Babe Ruth"? Man Soo Lee 2) Ozzie is indirectly related to one of his pitchers. To whom, and how? Freddy Garcia - Married to his niece 3) What song plays every time Podsednik comes to bat? ?? 4) The "Go Go, White Sox!" song was written for what team? 1959 Pennant Winning Team 5) During the opening video montage, one sequence goes like this: jets come screaming over the park, a flashback to an explosion on the field duirng "Disco Demolition," then Carlton Fisk making this famous play. What is it? 6) Where does one look at The Cell to see the pitch speed (radar)? Right Field Scoreboard 7) Can you find a mural of Shoeless Joe Jackson in the Cell? Where? 8) In one of the most memorable finishes of the season, A.J. Pierzinski hit a walk-off homer on the next pitch, after a seemingly for-sure foul-out. What team was it against? LA Dodgers of Yhency Brazoban 9) The White Sox beat a team this year without batting in one run. Who was it, and how did it happen? 10) Why is Carl Everett known as "Jurassic" Carl? He believed Dinosaurs didn't exist because they weren't mentioned in the Bible 11) Who has the most stolen bases on the Sox behind Podsednik? Pablo Ozuna 12) Konerko, Ross Gload and Blum have all played 1B for the Sox this year as starters or backups. However, two other outfielders played first base for the Sox this season, one successfully, one not so successfully. Who were they? Jermaine Dye and Timo Perez 13) On opening day, after the opening new video montage, the Sox had replaced AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" as the theme song with another rock song from the early 90s, to the horror of many of us. It was switched back after a few games. What did they try to replace it with? 14) This series spelled the end for previous season hero Shingo Takatsu. Who was it against, and roughly when? Cleveland, 1st series after the All-Star Break 15) When Hawk Harrelson was out for a few days because of eye surgery, a couple of former Sox players took turns in his place in the booth with DJ. Name one of them. My man, Robin Ventura 16) When Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez, during a Sox series there, said this Sox outfielder was "putting on a clinic," to whom was he referring? Aaron Roland 17) In one of Hawk Harrelson's most famous on-air tirades this season, he went nuts over a home plate umpire's decision to toss a Sox player from the game. Who was the player, and for what? Mark Buehrle being ejected for throwing at BJ Surhoff 18) Who is the most hated sports columnist among Sox organization and fans? Jay Mariotti 19) What's a Baltimore bounce? 20) Juan Uribe drew a lot of flack for a move that Ozzie approved of during a Cubs/Sox game at Wrigley. What was it? The deke of Derek Lee NICE JOB, RV!

3) "Elevation" by U2 9) We beat the Royals at home 1st half in a game where they walked in the only two runs we scored 13) On Opening Day, "Thunderstruck" had been replaced by "Right Here, Right Now" by Van Halen (yuck) 19) A "Baltimore Bounce", as Hawk often refers to it, is a high, high once bouncer to an infielder--high enough that sometimes the batter can beat it out to 1B.

Here's his: http://www.suntimes.com/output/roeper/cst-nws-roep11.html Here's mine (which I sent to him): 1) Who in the Sox organization was once known as the "Korean Babe Ruth"? 2) Ozzie is indirectly related to one of his pitchers. To whom, and how? 3) What song plays every time Podsednik comes to bat? 4) The "Go Go, White Sox!" song was written for what team? 5) During the opening video montage, one sequence goes like this: jets come screaming over the park, a flashback to an explosion on the field duirng "Disco Demolition," then Carlton Fisk making this famous play. What is it? 6) Where does one look at The Cell to see the pitch speed (radar)? 7) Can you find a mural of Shoeless Joe Jackson in the Cell? Where? 8) In one of the most memorable finishes of the season, A.J. Pierzinski hit a walk-off homer on the next pitch, after a seemingly for-sure foul-out. What team was it against? 9) The White Sox beat a team this year without batting in one run. Who was it, and how did it happen? 10) Why is Carl Everett known as "Jurassic" Carl? 11) Who has the most stolen bases on the Sox behind Podsednik? 12) Konerko, Ross Gload and Blum have all played 1B for the Sox this year as starters or backups. However, two other outfielders played first base for the Sox this season, one successfully, one not so successfully. Who were they? 13) On opening day, after the opening new video montage, the Sox had replaced AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" as the theme song with another rock song from the early 90s, to the horror of many of us. It was switched back after a few games. What did they try to replace it with? 14) This series spelled the end for previous season hero Shingo Takatsu. Who was it against, and roughly when? 15) When Hawk Harrelson was out for a few days because of eye surgery, a couple of former Sox players took turns in his place in the booth with DJ. Name one of them. 16) When Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez, during a Sox series there, said this Sox outfielder was "putting on a clinic," to whom was he referring? 17) In one of Hawk Harrelson's most famous on-air tirades this season, he went nuts over a home plate umpire's decision to toss a Sox player from the game. Who was the player, and for what? 18) Who is the most hated sports columnist among Sox organization and fans? 19) What's a Baltimore bounce? 20) Juan Uribe drew a lot of flack for a move that Ozzie approved of during a Cubs/Sox game at Wrigley. What was it? Have fun!

The thundersticks SUCK. They ARE lame. That's a total Dodgers/Anaheim thing and I couldn't believe they were here for the Boston game. I hope to never see them again. The white towels are fine, but those things are obnoxious. Somebody who sat in the upper deck told me how people never put them down and not only was the noise obnoxious, but it would obstruct their view. We can make enough noise without those stupid things. The only "thunder sticks" I want to see from here on out is the White Sox' bats.

I'd rather face the Yankees. Why? With Anaheim, there's: a) Our West Coast curse B) They're basically a better version of us, with better hitting c) Strong starters/great relievers d) They were better than us against us regular season (which I know doesn't count, like with Boston, but still...) e) Do YOU want to be watching those freakin' games that start at 9PM CT? At least the NYC ones get underway at 6 our time! Reasons for the Yankees: a) Nothing puts an "!" on a ALCS like beating the world-famous Yankees B) More people will be watching; even the more reason to spank them c) I hate them and their fans d) Their starters are on shaky, shaky ground e) We've beat them in their own house f) Sure Rivera's lights-out, but so what? g) Hey George: take a look at our $70MM payroll kicking your $200MM+ payroll ass! h) Just the cache of being able to say we beat the BoSox and the Yankees to win the AL! But that said, if we draw Anaheim, then so be it. The upside is that if we beat them, we bury that West Coast s*** once and for all. At least when it counted.

Welcome to the reality of a ticket monopoly and the unholy marriage from hell of two things: Ticketmaster and the Internet. I went through this whole drama last spring when U2 tickets went on sale. As a fan club member, we were given a "pre-sale" before tix were released to the general public. In years past, they'd have mail order forms and you always got tickets. This year, though, for the first time, we were to go to a Ticketmaster sub-site. That day came, and after hours of trying to get in, you could not get floor seats and the only thing available were a few seats in the rafters for $180. Yes, that's face value. Not a few hours into it, all of a sudden, all over Ebay and Craig's List there are hundreds upon hundreds of people selling... U2 tickets. Remember, this was supposed to be a closed sale to fan club members. Brokers had them, scalpers had them, regular people had them--and the only people who DIDN'T were us actual fan club members. How in the hell did that happen? The resulting uproar made it into all the major media--I was interviewed by the NYT, the L.A. Times, the Sun-Times and Trib. We made such a stink that U2 personally got involved. Ticketmaster offered the usual "demand exceeded supply" bulls***, but that's exactly what it was: bulls***. We were promised by U2 that for the fall leg, we'd be taken care of. True to their word, we were. I got tix this time. Saw 'em two weeks ago. But the reality is this: -Their are ticket brokers who have "insiders" at Ticketmaster who funnel to them huge chunks of tickets for a payoff, which the brokers then sell at scalped rates -I personally know a TM agent who will pull tix and get paid something like $50 per ticket from the scalpers. For something like this he probably gets $100. -When NY Attorney General Spitzer investigated the U2 fiasco in NY, they found that certain business would set up TM terminals not because they wanted to sell tickets, but because they wanted to pull hot tix and then scalp them -Brokers themselves have people who man the phones and Internet and flood TM with orders--even automated systems And let's not forget one of the most deadly threats to ticket availability introduced to man: the Internet and Ebay. With Ebay (or Craig's List or whatever) and the Internet, now any person in the United States is a virtual ticket scalper. You've got thousands upon thousands of people who don't even know the White Sox and don't care snatching up tickets to scalp them. A co-worker's friend got tickets yesterday for the ALCS and has already sold them--three of them--for $1,800. The reality is, today, that your chances of getting tickets legitimately are slim to none. You're lucky to get crumbs. There are so many already-tipped-off people in front of you, it's a miracle that anybody here got anything. And with the thousands fighting for those crumbs, this is what you get. What is so appalling about this is the example of the co-worker's friend: some asshole who took tickets out of our hands with no intention of ever going. And just like we all guessed: here we are, now all of a sudden the Sox are in demand. Could barely sell out most games this season, but now every bandwagon jumper in the city is either going to the games, or every Cub fan (think about that) is buying tickets and scalping them. Nothing will change until the gov't starts looking into the practice. They did in NY (Google Spitzer+u2+ticketmaster) and it was jaw-dropping. Until then, my advice to anybody who wants to be guaranteed postseason tickets is to get some sort of season ticket package, where you're guaranteed them. But understand that it's not set up to be fair.

I was at the game on the councourse in left field. We couldn't believe it. I literally high-fived so many people that my hand was numb. We were high-fiving the ushers, the cops, the beer men. And it continued when we put the game away. Everybody went nuts. Nobody was leaving, everybody was just running around screaming. You could hear people roaring from the Cell still a half hour after the game as they were filing out. Amazing. Couldn't even get in to Jimbo's--forget it. It was awesome. That ranks up there with AJ's Dodgers walkoff homer with one of the most unforgettable moments.

I have tix for the first series but somehow bungled getting them for the next two. So my question is this: do they sell SRO tix for playoffs? I remember going up to the window at probably the Red Sox and Cubs series the day of--when the games were long since announced as sold out--and finding out there were SRO tix available. Fine with me! I took 'em like that! And those would be fine with me for the ALCS and beyond if they have 'em. Anybody know?

I personally thought it was a classy thing for the Cubs to do. I was going by there the other day and saw that and stopped in my tracks. I couldn't believe it.

Shoeless Joe would be on the outfield wall were it not for that scandal. I think the jerseys are available not so much to honor that debacle but because aesthetically they're very unique (I have one of them) and sweeeet uniform shirts. If you want a great read, read Eight Men Out and you'll learn all about the Black Sox.

Hey be greatful that game blacked out last week. It sucked. You didn't miss anything.