NorthSideSox72

According to weather.com, chance of precip for game time is only 10%.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 12:51 PM) looks like it could be a rain out, which will be good for randy williams, aka, the sacrificial lamb. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I guess I'd better check the movie listings for tonight as a backup plan.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 12:45 PM) As someone who is about to buy their first home (a process which was 10 times more frustrating and stressful and full of BS as I thought it would be), I'm incredibly worried about this. Seems to me that the baby boomers are either moving to new places or dying. In 5-10 years there's going to be a massive amount of empty homes out there on the market, and I dunno that there's going to be enough demand to match it. Ugh. So much uncertainty. Thank god Obama will pay off my mortgage if I can't afford it. Could be. But there are positives to this as well. For one, Baby Boomers retire but still spend money in the economy - that is good for the job market. Another thing, if the boomers to move, they tend to move to the south and west - places where the housing markets got hit hardest. So that could have a nice evening-out effect. The place that won't work well for though, is your suburban family home market, particularly the larger homes in those areas.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 11:39 AM) Thanks for the info. We're REALLY tempted to make the jump now, but I need to get my schooling in first. Florida was unusually strong boom and bust, as Balta pointed out. But the good news is, there are a LOT of homes to be had for cheap down there now, that are distressed or in foreclosure. Furthermore, FL's population continues to rise. So you may, in the long run, get a good rebound there. But don't expect any house anywhere to make big bucks in just a few years, as they did in the bubble of 2001-2007. Also, something else to keep in mind - one of the few bright spots in real estate has been open land, particularly recreation properties in the south and west. Baby Boomers are retiring and moving to the country, and further, the populations in those areas continue to grow faster than the rest of the country. So that's another path to consider - land is a lot cheaper to buy and cheaper to hold (property taxes) with no home on it. So you could perhaps buy a nice chunk of property for very little money now, and build on it later.

QUOTE (TitoMB @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 09:45 AM) The way Kenny put this team together has really made me appreciate Ted Thompson more. I used to not like him much, but he builds his team through solid drafting and scouting and not overpaying on free agents. So, thanks Kenny, for this! What free agents has this team signed that they overpaid for? Jones?

QUOTE (TitoMB @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 09:39 AM) Why can't more games just be on CSN? I don't get CSN+ or CSN+2 or WCIU and I feel over 50% of the games have been on those channels already! Bulls and Hawks in the post-season has that effect.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 09:29 AM) Chris Davis is still very young, trade for him? He's shown a horrendously high K rate in the majors. There are better options out there for a future 1B. I'd rather roll the dice with Viciedo, and/or trade for someone else.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 09:08 AM) It may be time fro Drew Garcia and Mollenhauer to swap places. Justin Fuller is even worse, .074. Fuller is just a utility guy anyway. Garcia has the hot hand and might actually bring something to the table. Really though, none of these guys we're talking about are likely to ever see the bigs.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 08:33 AM) I have sided with JR and understand his philosophy but I am tired of being told I need to support the s*** product if I want them to spend. I should not have to watch this team because it has a $100M payroll. This team is not worth watching as guillen trots out two guys that I would not want to see in the independent league. I know Lucy is not a long term option but when he was hitting the ball he should have played. Now he will rot away as we watch AJ look like s*** play on Sunday go 0-4 and not play again for a week as AJ swings at first pitch and the ball never leaves the infield. Lucy is my AAP, I've followed his career, and I'm as big an advocate for him as anyone. I'm very happy he is the backup C, and I think he can perform well in that role. But... that's all he is - a backup. He's not the future, and he's not a guy you play regularly, or he'll get exposed and hit .150. AJ will work through his slump, he needs time. Donny should play once a week max, unless AJ is nursing an injury of some kind.

QUOTE (kwolf68 @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 08:09 AM) -New league with more real hitters -Stadium where mistakes are badly exposed -He was never as good as many here thought The league differential tends to be exagerrated, and even then, it doesn't explain a mid-7's ERA. And I think he was, and probably still is, that good. Just needs to find what's wrong.

Sounds like (I didn't get to see the game) Peavy was trying some adjustments out. I suppose that's a good thing, and his increased velocity tells me its likely not an injury. But 7 walks? Yeah, that's a little scary from him or anyone.

QUOTE (TheMegalonDON @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 11:55 PM) I still believe deep down that this team has more talent than it has shown. I really do There really isn't any doubt about that. With the pitching staff the team has, and talent all around, even WITH the DH hole, this team should certainly be better than 5-11.

goddammit son of a b**** f*** me runnin'..... GO YOU WHITE SOX!!! Win a f***in' game. I'll be there tonight, freezing my ass off.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 02:01 AM) D2 is a fan of Frank Thomas Hall of Fame 2014 on Facebook. He is awesome. But does he know who Harold Baines is?

Talk about rough starts... Dale Mollenhauer is hitting .089 for B-Ham in his first 11 games. And none of his 4 hits are XBH.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 04:11 PM) Some writeup on Harper from BP. This paragraph caught my Eye. The problem with guys like that isn't, usually, how they act as stars. As they say, if he performs, some or all teams are willing to put up with it. The problem is that hugely talented players that already, at 17 or 18, have that elevated a sense of entitlement, are much more apt to not put in the work, not learn, and not be a student of the game. And that means they are more likely to not reach their potential. This becomes especially important at catcher, by far the most complex position in the game, and the one who needs to most often deal with teammate personalities. So in Harper, you are looking at a player with an enourmously high ceiling, but also a very real chance of failure. Showing once again that there is no such thing as a can't-miss prospect.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 12:44 PM) Pierre clearly showed that he can still play. He is certainly still one of the top table setters in all of baseball. For you fantasy fans it's important to realize that his lowest steal total in a season with 600+ plate appearances was 46, back in his first full year in 2001. Since then, he has stolen 55+ bases four times, coming in at over 60 twice. What's interesting here is the somewhat lateral move at the cost of the two prospects. The White Sox had the opportunity to keep Scott Podsednik in this spot and not give up Jon Link and John Ely who are now both projected to be contributors to the Dodgers in 2010 and certainly 2011. Let's look at last year's stats for Scott Podsednik and Juan Pierre. Podsednik (2009) 587 PA 39 BB 74K 7 HR 48 RBI 30 SB 75 RS .304 BA OBP .353 Pierre (2009) 425 PA 27 BB 27 K 0 HR 31 RBI 30 SB 57 RS .308 BA OBP .365 Podsednik has a career On-Base Percentage of .340, Pierre .348. Podsednik is 33 years old, Pierre 32. Podsednik is good at getting to the ball, but throws like Johnny Damon, Pierre.... same thing. Podsednik has a career stolen base success rate of 76.7%, Pierre.... 74.8% Is Juan Pierre worthy of hitting leadoff for your MLB team? Absolutely yes. But the truth here is that Pierre isn't really an upgrade over Podsednik. In making this trade the White Sox are saying no to Scott Podsednik's, $10-14 million demands in favor of a very similar player for $10 million for two season plus a pair of prospects. From where I sit they could have resigned Podsednik at approximately the same monetary cost without the waste of prospects. White Sox GM Kenny Williams has sure done some weird things lately. Last year he stalked an injured Jake Peavy and finally got the trade done through waivers only to basically have him not pitch until they were all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and then he assumed that huge Alex Rios contract from Toronto was perfectly willing to get out from the obligation of paying him with no compensation at all? The White Sox have some nice young players in Gordon Beckham and Alexei Ramirez, but I wouldn't exactly call them thumpers. Alex Rios is only a 20 HR guy, Paul Konerko isn't getting any younger and with Carlos Quentin's health always an issue, adding the totally punch-less Juan Pierre to the line-up is certainly a questionable move. At least Podsednik had 7 HR's last year; Pierre has hit 1 in the last three years combined! It's great if you have your table all set, but if no one shows up for dinner, setting the table was a waste of time. www.athbaseball.com So... Konerko's health is an issue (even though he's been highly reliable), but Pods' isn't? Pods and Pierre are roughly the same player, except Pods is older and has more injury history. You can't ignore that in the analysis of the decision.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 03:54 PM) It's interesting viewing the reaction to this lineup on all the White Sox forum. There's literally only one person I've seen who's defended it. I'll defend sitting Beckham for a game. Otherwise, no.

QUOTE (Chi Town Sox @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 03:50 PM) In other news, Willie Harris is batting 3rd for the Nats today All pimps hit the 3rd hole.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 02:45 PM) Yea they are doing the same with Infante, which I'm almost guaranteeing he'll be in the rotation next year. Going the "Nate Jones" route with these pitchers to find consistency and confidence. My team, W-S, having a great season so far. I told most of you they will probably be our best minor league affiliate. So much talent, though I like Charlotte alot too. (Ozzie Ball's team) I just like W-S more. Don't take this the wrong way, but, pretty much everyone saw that one coming as well. We'll see how Infante does in the pen. He hasn't pitched enough to judge by, yet, this year.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 02:43 PM) http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/...t-91819469.html Happy Earth Day! I always found it funny that his rant - intended to make fun of environmentalists - precisely makes the case why we SHOULD be environmentalists (or at least, conservationists). His whole schtick is about how silly it is for us to be worrying about the planet, as if we could destroy it or something. Well, duh - the planet will be fine. The planet also acts like a living thing, and it will be fine because it will defend itself. And its that defense of itself that threatens and kills people - not the planet itself. REAL environmentalism (not the buy-carbon-credits-against-my-SUV kind), is about survival. Its about reducing the risk of the inevitable, equal and opposite reaction the planet has against everything that we do to it.

QUOTE (Soxy @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 02:32 PM) There is a push up north here to recycle mattresses and box springs. Very cool. Also, I read today that climate change is linked to some problems for Moose and wolves on Isle Royale (a little island in Lake Superior). Hopefully I will get to visit there before they're all gone. As I recall, the Moose population problem in Northern MN and western Ontario is in great part due to a disease carried by ticks. BWCAW and QPP lost something like half their population because of it. And Isle Royale's populations are of course isolated, so any fluctuation is particularly dangerous. If the Moose die off rapidly, Wolves will die off as well, and other predators.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 02:27 PM) I'm sure you've seen my posts ridiculing this offense enough to know I'm not blaming the bullpen. All I'm saying is their numbers are deceiving due to superior performances during mop-up time. This entire team sucks basically, and makes winning look very difficult. This is where you leave logic behind. "The entire team" does not suck. The bullpen has been very good, except Williams. Rios has come back nicely, Teahen is hitting (though struggling defensively), and Jones has been a pleasant surprise. Konerko looks decent. Danks looks great, MB did until yesterday. So no, the entire team does not suck. 2/3 of the lineup is awful, clutch hitting has been basically non-existent, Williams looks awful, and Peavy is worrisome. To lesser degrees, Thornton had a couple bad outings, and the left side of the infield looks lost on D. Those are the bad areas, and that is where the team is failing.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 02:23 PM) Please explain...Matt Thornton blew 2 games in the first two weeks of the season, and so did Pena (though he didn't get the loss in one of them). Putz blew another game as well. Our bullpen has had no problem retiring guys in blowouts though up until last night. The Sox are scoring 2 or 3 runs most games. You cannot put that kind of pressure on the staff repeatedly and expect them to hold it. This is just not at all about the pen.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 02:20 PM) I knew someone would respond like this. We're just saying that the bullpen has really shined in the blowouts, but they've not performed in the clutch as well as the numbers would make you think. Except for Santos, of course, who I can't wait to see pitch in bigger situations. I've watched most of the games this year. And I seriously think you are way off base on this. It makes zero sense, and isn't reality.