NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(klaus kinski @ Mar 17, 2006 -> 11:50 AM) Joe just adds more versatility than Gload in that he can pinch run and steal a base, has an arm to play all 3 OF better, and the constant HR threat. I dont even know why its an issue. Actually, in ST at least, Gload has 1 SB, Borch none (very small sample size, of course). And Gload hasn't looked too bad out there this spring in the few games I have watched (though I have not yet seen his suspect arm tested yet). Borch has misplayed some flyballs. Ultimately, what will decide which one stays is some other team, probably. Which one gets traded? Whichever one some other team wants, probably with a prospect, in exchange for a reliever.

QUOTE(JenksForPrez45 @ Mar 17, 2006 -> 10:38 AM) What's up everyone, im new here to SoxTalk. I have been a loyal reader for a long time but my registration email had some problems. I have gotten it to work now and would like to say whats up to everyone. As for my prediction, im going to say that Freddy is going to have a huge year. A CY Young type year. Just a feeling that I got. Welcome to the board! And I hope you are right about Freddy.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Mar 17, 2006 -> 09:27 AM) McCain's fame is just about done, I think. Which begs this question for me: who, aside from McCain, can the GOP put up in 2008 who isn't part of this recent socially-conservative, fiscally reckless movement in that party? Who would they put on the ballot that might be considered at least somewhat moderate, or somewhat in the small government mold of the Republicans of old?

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Mar 17, 2006 -> 09:45 AM) I wouldn't be so sure about that. Timo's average last year was .218. Borchard's career BA is .191, and he batted .174 in the year in which he got his most AB's. Which is why I'd rather have Gload as the 25th man, since he has been able to hit major league pitching at .300+.

I root for Borch and Gload every time I watch/hear a game. I want them both to kick some butt, so that whichever one we trade (if not both) ends up netting us something shiny and cool for the bullpen. And then the other one fills in well for the team.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 06:08 PM) Bush announced his replacement for Norton today: Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. As usual, his environmental record is, shall we say, pro-business (Knight-Ridder piece hosted by Common Dreams) Interesting press release from the League of Conservation Voters. http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...ic=47451&st=0 No surprise there.

QUOTE(V for Venereal @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 11:39 PM) I am not new, nor do I care. Islam has sucked out fun out of religion, for me anyway. Yeah, those mormons (or insert any other religion here) were just a barrel full of monkeys until these damn muslims came along.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 05:19 PM) unlikely, i'm sure political correctness in the newsroom had a lot to do with the story getting ignored. if some white guy ran over a bunch of arabs somewhere on a college campus this would have been the biggest news story for weeks. it would have been on 20/20, dateline, front page of the NY Times, ect. I disagree. The key element to this in newsworthiness (if that is a word) in these deals is shock value, and that means gore and death. There is no video, no grieving parents to show. That is why it got little press, IMHO.

QUOTE(TLAK @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 08:13 PM) Its too early to tell. I want to see how they will play together as a team and I just can’t tell based on the early ST games. The team is so different I can’t use last year as a frame of reference, if Hermanson can’t go that will be 9 new guys since the WS. That’s a lot. If they can play like last years group, and I don’t mean statistics, but how the players, including the subs, all knew their role and did their jobs, they could be even better –I concede, except for the bottom of the pen, there is more raw talent. My fear is players going for homers instead of moving runners and trying to make the great play instead of basic baseball. While 7 of the 8 regular position players are back, there will be enough playing time from the new guys to spoil the mix. If they play together like the ’05 Sox, who played the game like the White Sox I grew up watching in the 50’s and 60’s I think they will be fine. If they play like the bopper teams of 2002-4 they will finish just like the bopper teams. If they play together like the ’05 Sox, I’ll be happy where ever they end up. I share some of your fears about their style of play. But this team is not really all that different from last year. 7 of 8 position players are the same, 4 of 5 starting pitchers are the same, closer and set up men are the same. The core is still mostly there (except Rowand).

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 03:52 PM) That you're supposed to meet some chick from E Harmony - buy her lots of Prada stuff and then take her to a London Hotel and live happily ever after. Even funnier, I have seen big ads for Cubs tickets in the ad ticker on here.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 03:34 PM) 1. Scott Podsednik - 140 G, .305 90 SB, 22 CS 2. Juan Uribe - .278 19 HR, 85 RBI 3. Jim Thome - 150 G, .270 40 HR, 105 RBI 4. Paul Konerko - .305 45 HR, 135 RBI, top 3 in MVP voting 5. Jermaine Dye - .265 27 HR, 85 RBI, at least 1 stint on the DL 6. Tadahito Iguchi - .280 20 HR, 80 RBI 7. AJ Pierzynski - .285 15 HR, 62 RBI 8. Joe Crede - .280 25 HR, 80 RBI 9. Brian Anderson - .265 17 HR, 52 RBI Mark Buehrle: 20-8 3.08 ERA Freddy Garcia: 14-10 4.05 ERA Jon Garland: 18-10 3.40 ERA Jose Contreras: 19-6 3.00 ERA Javier Vazquez: 13-10 4.40 ERA Brandon McCarthy: 8-3 3.55 ERA. Brandon makes at least 8 starts during the year. Bobby Jenks: 45 saves 2.30 ERA, in top 3 in AL in Saves. Dustin Hermanson: 0-1 5.75 ERA, only makes a few appearances during the year. Neal Cotts: 4-0, ERA under 2 again. Cliff Politte: 4-3, ERA 3.05 ERA. Sox break through and win 100 games or more, carried by the combination of quality starting pitching and an offense that finds itself in the top 5 in the AL. Konerko avoids the sluggish start of last year, listens to Thome, looks to drive the ball for the whole season, and has an absolute monster year. Mark Buehrle finally wins 20, and has one hell of a challenge for the Cy Young award from Jose Contreras and Santana. (A pitcher has won 20 games for the first time in like every year since the 80's. This is MB's year. He'd have been there last year had his mechanics not gone off for a month.) Javier Vazquez will be Jeckle and Hyde. He'll come out and have dynamite games, but then he'll have games where he can't keep anything in the park. Pitching in the Cell will hurt him as he gives up a lot of fly balls. Joe Crede will finally put the slumps to a rest, as his back will force him to keep his shoulders closed while swinging, much like last year. The Sox will continue to be a damn good team in 1 run games, which will help Bobby Jenks pile up the saves. Brian Anderson will show promise, and will be somewhere in the top 5 of the ROY voting, depending on how the other guys (Liriano, that Japanese catcher in Seattle, a couple of the Angels young guys) do. He will have a lower average than ARow, but hit more home runs. AJ's Average will go up by quite a bit from last year. Just as Garland won 12 games in a row for 3 years, he'll start winning 18 games each year. Rob Machowiak will get at least 350 at bats. Jim Thome plays like a man on a mission down the stretch. He winds up wearing a nice shiny ring next year. The White Sox rework his contract next offseason reducing his salary slightly in 2007 and 2008, but giving him a guaranteed 2009 year. Quite the optimist. I'd like to just say that I HOPE your predictions are right, because if they are, we're highly likely to repeat!

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 10:39 AM) I ain't scared though. I'm a badass. Reminds me of a sticker I saw in lots of pickups when I lived in Tennessee: "Aint Skeerd". I cringed every time I saw that.

I'll throw a bunch out there... Sox win between 95 and 100 games AL Central finish: CHW, CLE, KC, DET, MIN Jenks won't make it the entire season as closer Boone Logan makes the Opening Day 25 Pods hits at least one HR Sox will have one 20 game winner: JG Sox will finish in the top 5 of the AL in runs scored Team ERA will go up a little, but still be in the top 5 in AL Sox will have 2 Gold Gloves, but no MVP, Cy Young or ROY Brian Anderson will not be as good as Rowand was in the field OR at the plate Brandon McCarthy will be in the starting rotation by the All Star break I refuse to predict our post-season fortunes just yet.

QUOTE(juddling @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 11:24 PM) here's an update ....... 03/14/06 -- DURHAM) - The suspect in this month's attack on the UNC-CH campus has written a letter to ABC11 Eyewitness News Eyewitness News received the letter Monday, in response to our request for an interview. It was sent from Central Prison in Raleigh and dated Friday, March 10. Addressed to ABC11 Eyewitness News anchor Amber Rupinta, the two-page letter includes Taheri-azar's explanation of what he was trying to accomplish in the attack. "Allah gives permission in the Koran for the followers of Allah to attack those who have raged war against them, with the expectation of eternal paradise in case of martyrdom and/or living one's life in obedience of all of Allah's commandments found throughout the Koran's 114 chapters..." "The U.S. government is responsible for the deaths of and the torture of countless followers of Allah, my brothers and sisters. My attack on Americans at UNC-CH on March 3rd was in retaliation for similar attacks orchestrated by the U.S. government on my fellow followers of Allah in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and other Islamic territories. I did not act out of hatred for Americans, but out of love for Allah instead. " Taheri-azar is charged with nine counts of attempted murder in the March 3 attack. Police say the Iran native drove a rented SUV through the Pit, a common area on the Chapel Hill campus. Six people were hospitalized. Taheri-azar surrendered to police shortly after the attack. Investigators swarmed his apartment, where they discovered a letter, CDs and a handgun permit It amazes me how little press this story got or how the press stopped short of calling this a terrorist attack. :headshake :headshake I suspect that if there was a death, it would have gotten a lot more press.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 03:50 PM) And then he makes a horrible baserunning error. What happened?

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 03:12 PM) Damn that jet was loud... Air Force base nearby.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 02:38 PM) http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/L/boone-logan.shtml Looks like he suddenly figured something out in 2005. His WHIP and KK/B numbers improved dramatically. So the Trib was wrong too. Guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Probably another Gonzalez excerpt.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 02:26 PM) I think that writer was wrong. Certainly possible. But the Trib posted that info as well, today. And if he was signed in early 2003, and didn't show up in Pioneer League until 2005... where was he in 2003 and 2004?

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 02:05 PM) Well, my pecking order before Dean's collapse went Dean, Clark, Edwards, Kerry, others. That would be pretty much my order too, at the time. Dean is a weee bit mad, but I still like his ideas. Clark and Edwards were also better than Kerry. Heck, I actually kinda liked the Ohio vegetarian too, but he wasn't going anywhere (and he had a few whacked out ideas).

QUOTE(knightni @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 02:06 PM) A little something that I just threw together. I also like how the subtitle for the thread changed.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 01:49 PM) OBVIOUSLY Hindsight is 20/20, but I dont understand why surgery wasnt done the day after we won the Series. There were threads about this at that time. In short, from what I recall and know myself, back surgeries are dicey deals. They can fix all, or do worse damage, or something in between. With disc problems, surgery is seen as a last resort.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 01:16 PM) I hoped he wouldn't be in 04. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 01:09 PM) So, remember that "Big Dig" in Boston, the one that anyone concerned about government waste has bashed for running like $10 billion over cost? The guy in charge of it? Bush is bumping him up to head of the Federal Highway Administration. Actually, I think this is a John Kerry Bush-bashing expedition, with little foundation. For one thing, this guy came onto the Dig when it was already way-overbudget, and he was the ONLY chief executive on it to keep costs close to the same during his tenure. He made a questionable call on a few severance packages, but that is all he seemed to do wrong. And he actually met some dates, which is more than could be said elsewhere in the project history. I am starting to tire of Kerry's lack of material input in the political arena. I really hope he isn't the Dem nominee for Prez in '08.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 12:33 PM) What happens when you pull something apart slowly is that yes, you do get fracturing and the formation of basins as things pull apart. But if you're pulling it apart slowly enough, those basins are able to fill in with sediment. Yes you do get lakes, but lakes are basically just inland-sediment-traps. At some point, those lakes fill in, and you get some sort of equlibrium level. When things speed up, you get lakes like Jackson Hole. When things slow down, you get flatlands, like some of the Basins in Utah. I think this is a decent picture of how to think of areas like the western U.S. This is much easier when you have textbooks. Notice how the sediments shed off of the ranges wind up filling in the basins, to create a flat base level. Eventually, if you keep pulling apart slowly enough, you wind up just going through cycle after cycle of breaking apart the stuff which was already there and filling in the basins that form inbetween, while nothing ever localizes enough to form an acutal spreading center. OK. So in conclusion, there isn't likely to be any ocean-front property in New Mexico any time soon. Lake-front maybe. But accompanied by earthquakes and possibly volcanoes and fissures. Eh, maybe I'll pass on the real estate.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Mar 15, 2006 -> 12:26 PM) This might reduce our illegal immigration problem. They'd just use boats. Think Cuban refugees.