NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 09:35 AM) Was it over when Houston was 15-30? NO.... It's probably over though. That's why I said 1 in 50. Its not quite zero. But its such a long shot now, that it seems better to think about 2011. If you happen to catch some magical run somehow along the way, then great.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 09:31 AM) I think it's about the 'where' element. She's advocating relaxing regulation on where drilling should be allowed, ANWR for example. I actually can somewhat see her point, but for the record I don't agree with it. OK, so she is saying that because of this awful spill underwater, we should drill more on land? I suppose it would be easier to fix a blow-out on land. Except of course that ANWR is actually much more difficult to get equipment to than in the Gulf, since its so remote. But really, come on. Regardless of that reason, she is still saying more drilling is good BECAUSE of this accident. Its assinine.

Latest Tweet about the Gulf Oil Spill from Scary Sarah: W. T. F. Even if you believe that drilling for more oil is a good idea - which an argument can be made for - how can you possibly take this idiot and her views seriously? I mean, this is the kind of thing a 12 year old says. What possible twisted logic is she using to say that somehow this spill is justification for more drilling? My God, I don't know if there is a scarier thing in politics right now than the fact that some people actually support this woman.

Dubler has seen on and off play in Kanny behind, Gonzalez, but, he's played in almost every game (DH occasionally) since mid-May, and he's been heating up. Not sure if this is because Kevin is playing well and Gonzalez isn't, or what the thought process is. But after putting up a disturbingly bad .077/.172/.115/.288 line in April, his May line was .323/.500/.419/.919, and he walked 10 times against just 2 K's. He has 14 BB against just 10 K on the season. That high OBP, good contact ability is what he was billed to have when he was drafted, so this is nice to see. Given Gonzalez' struggles and Kevin's resurgance (and he's still only 23, so not exactly old yet), it is possible we will see the organization find a way to keep getting him regular AB's. This could mean Gonzalez goes to GF when they open play in June, or it could mean Dubler gets promoted to W-S (especially with Phegley out for an extended period of time). I don't think anyone is seeing him as a better prospect than Gonzalez at this point, but they may have decided that given Gonzalez' still very young age, he may need more seasoning at a lower level.

So I've been one of the people preaching patience. Too many hitters were hitting well below career norms, too many starters pitching well worse than expected, and now the weather is warming up and the schedule is getting easier for June. But, as of today, I am officially migrating to the its-over camp. Its a sad day. But the reality is that, even if TCQ, Beckham and others in the lineup get it back together, and even if Peavy and MB and Floyd get back to form... it just won't be enough. I think our chances of winning the Central at this point are about 1 in 50. And this division won't produce a wild card. I think this team will improve, and get back above .500, but ultimately fall short. Time to look for 2011 and beyond - trade some valuable pieces for prospects or young players, try to unload some expensive contracts if possible, bring up a few guys from the farm to look at, invest a little more in a few draft picks, fire Ozzie.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 2, 2010 -> 12:17 AM) I posted this in the gamethread, but it seems more appropiate here since this thread is on the subject... Really, is the only reason why Randy is on this team is because he is a lefty? That's the biggest f***ing BS I've ever seen. I understand you would prefer to have a lefty, but more importantly you would rather have someone who is good. And if we don't have a single f***ing pitcher in AAA outside of Hudson who is better than Randy Williams, our whole f***ing scouting department and Kenny should be fired this instant. Erik Threets is back off the DL in Charlotte, pitched last night. Don't be surprised if he gets a call-up soon.

So, not sure why, but it seems like Kevin Dubler has been getting most of the starts at C for Kanny the past week or so. Gonzalez has played only once since 5/26. Not sure if that's just because Gonzalez is struggling or what.

FDR seemed to know that an attack was coming at some point somewhere from Japan, but I don't believe for a nanosecond that he intentionally left the bulk of the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, knowing an attack would destroy a good portion of it and kill thousands of people.

I remember a similar article once, years ago, about a baseball Little League, where the league decided that they wouldn't keep score anymore. Some kid was asked what he thought about that, and his response was "it's stupid and dumb". Couldn't have said it better myself.

Charlie spent a brief 7-10 days on the DL in May, immediately after his first bad outing of the year (5 ER on 10 H in 3.2 IP on 5/19). He returned to the rotation and started on 5/30, where he got roughed up again (4 ER on 6 H in 2 IP, 1 BB and 0 K). Not sure if he was just out of practice or what. But despite the 2 bad outings, he was quite good before then, so his overall season numbers still look good: 9 G (all starts), 49.2 IP 2.36 ERA 1.21 WHIP .255 AvgA 1.88 GO/AO 12 BB (2.2 BB/9) 27 K (4.9 K/9) 0 HR Charlie's core results have been very good, and in fact have gotten regularly better the past few years of his career. He throws strikes, induces a lot of ground-outs, doesn't give up the long ball. But the one thing that still sticks out is that low K total - he still needs to miss more bats. That said, shorter term, the concern is his injury and his last couple outings. Hopefully he gets back on track quickly.

May has not been good to Garrett, who put up a 5.14 ERA. His peripherals have been OK - 13 K in 14 IP, 6 BB is a bit high, a ridiculous 5.75 GO/AO is encouraging. Still doesn't seem like he's more than org filler at this point though.

Cassel hit the DL in early May, don't know the reason why. No word on his return.

Lucy has been back in Charlotte, backing up Flowers and DH'ing here and there to get AB's. His line so far in AAA this year is a less than stellar .217/.254/.350/.604 in 60 AB. Still seems like he has a shot at backing up Flowers (or AJ or whomever) with the big club in 2011, but he needs to improve with the bat.

May update on Rem... Dan has struggled a bit this past month, giving up more hits and runs than usual, most of the damage in his last 3 outings. Walk totals are pretty in line with his norms, so are the K numbers though a bit lower. GO/AO continues to be better this year though - guys are making more contact, but many for ground outs. Not sure of the reasons. Here are his May numbers, which are not bad by any means, just aren't up to his usual dominance: 10 G, 16 IP 3.38 ERA 1.13 WHIP .246 AvgA 2.13 GO/AO 4 BB (2.3 BB/9) 22 K (12.4 K/9) 1 HR And totals for the season so far: 19 G, 28.2 IP 3.45 ERA 1.26 WHIP .252 AvgA 2.00 GO/AO 9 BB (2.8 BB/9) 40 K (12.6 K/9) 3 HR Dan doesn't seem too far off track - more bats are finding his pitches though, so it would be nice to see the core numbers come back in a bit.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 1, 2010 -> 04:05 PM) We can't call for stuffing, our outlet isn't large enough. However, if Brooks Boyer does it, it'll show results. Look what has happened in recent All Star years - when a Sox player is in the final vote, they have done far better than they should have. The fan base comes out, and I can honestly say I think that SoxTalk and WSI helped that along. Get a few thousand crazies voting a few thousand times, and telling their friends to do ths same, and it can make a difference.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 1, 2010 -> 03:57 PM) Lots of that is canceled out by giving up extra bases with a complete lack of an arm IMO. I'm not sure where you keep getting this defense thing. Other than Teahen, the defense has looked average or better to me. Alexei is his usual self, making spectacular plays and messing up easy ones. Beckham has been fine defensively. Konerko is above average, so are Rios and Pierre, thus far. Quentin not so good, I guess you can add him to the below average. Jones and Kotsay have been fine when playing. Vizquel is Vizquel. Overall, that's an average defense, maybe a little better than average if you take Teahen out of the equation.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 1, 2010 -> 02:43 PM) I actually wonder if some of the southern illinois politicians who cry foul realize that people don't ride free. Or that drivers on their highways do.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 1, 2010 -> 02:28 PM) There is zero chance any leader would have left his navy exposed in that way if he had an inkling of a time or a place.. Not the entire fleet. They knew that a Japanese first strike was a strong possibility. But that was why the fleet moved to Pearl; to respond to a potential first strike That sounds more likely.

Sems to me this is an example of both sides being intentionally stupid. You have this "peace flotilla", who decided to run the blockade, knowing full well they risked a conflict. You have the Israelis deciding to take poorly planned military action, knowing full well it would have consequences (negative ones) to their own standing and security situation.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 1, 2010 -> 01:39 PM) There is an enormous amount of beach cleanup and boom deployment that isn't being done right now that could be done. You need more than bodies to do that - you need equipment and ships. Hopefully they are enough fishing boats available to do so.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 1, 2010 -> 01:58 PM) I don't see it. Oh nevermind, its in the title, I see it now.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 1, 2010 -> 01:54 PM) http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/press...sp&c_id=cws Sox misspell their own player's name on the press release. I don't see it.

Fishing ban now covers fully one third of the Gulf of Mexico. Obama sending more bodies, but I'm not sure what they are going to do.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 1, 2010 -> 01:16 PM) Here comes the Keebler elf. Teahen on the 15 day DL. So I assume/hope this means Nix plays near full time at 3B, and Lillibridge plays only as often as Nix did previously.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 31, 2010 -> 10:07 PM) Where's the "American Revolution" option? Huh?