NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 02:14 PM) Well said! For as good as the numbers look, we've lost a few games we should have won due to our bullpen (Thornton in particular). Oh come on fathom, you've seen enough baseball to know that is complete crap. Bullpens give up runs. The Sox pen is right now the best, or one of the best, in the game. I seriously feel like some of you guys are taking crazy pills. The team is hitting .217 - 2 1 7 - .176 w/RISP. The starting pitchers are in the bottom half in ERA. The defense is making blunders. Ozzie is running Kotsay out there as a 3-hole hitter. And you blame the bullpen? Absurd.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 02:13 PM) You quote bullpen ERA as a conclusive stat. Linebrink was a lockdown set-up man in 2008...he was nails until he got hurt. Of course, after he went down, the bullpen wasn't as effective. Everyone had clearly defined roles, even moreso than now. But it's when the starting pitching and bullpen were working in unison that we won the majority of our games and got the division lead. Then we just had to hold on and gut things out on a day by day basis for the final 4-6 weeks after Quentin and Crede went down and Linebrink couldn't get back to dominating form. What does Hawk always say? It's not what you do, it's WHEN you do it. We've had a number of close games this year that the bullpen gave up late runs under pressure/duress. I'm not blaming them completely, the offense is putting too much pressure on the pitching staff...every little mistake is magnified. But if our pen was so perfect in 2010, we'd be 8-7 or 9-6 right now. Seriously? You think the bullpen, leading the league in K's and near the league lead with a 2.42 ERA, is why we aren't 8-7 or 9-6? You have got to be joking. The bullpen is the LAST thing to worry about right now on this team.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 02:12 PM) If we're not going to play Nix, why did he make the team coming out of spring? Why not just do the 13-man pitching staff that Ozzie was tossing around? Bring Threets up here (prior to his DL stint) or Torres. at this point, I agree. Nix is barely playing, he serves little purpose when the team has extra OF's and Viz for the IF. Might as well bring up Torres for long relief.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 02:10 PM) Not that I want to parrot Ranger here, but I have a feeling tonight's game is not going to come down to Kotsay and Vizquel, but instead, whether or not Peavy can get it done again. I'd agree that the biggest thing to watch in this game is Peavy. If he blows up again, the worry meter goes up.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 01:46 PM) Yeah, but I posted that before his first game. He could be our #1 prospect a year from now. Hudson should be graduated by then, Flowers could be. I figure I would counter my previous negativity with an absurd amount of positivity in this post. Oh I didn't even realize the post was that old, sorry. I have to say, I didn't put Thompson as high on my prospect list as some others did, thinking his huge K rate and very, very raw baseball skills meant he had a long way to go. Looks like maybe I was wrong. We'll see if he keeps it up.

QUOTE (gordonventura38 @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 01:47 PM) First post here, hopefully no bad karma, but then again it can't get much worse than it has been lately. But switch-up in the lineup today, according to Mark Gonzalez twitter. Pierre lf Vizquel 2b Jones cf Konerko dh AJ c Quentin rf Kotsay 1b Teahen 3b Ramirez ss Peavy p Welcome to the board! I don't mind giving Beckham a day off, he isn't hitting for s*** anyway, it might help. But I'd much rather see Alexei in the 2 slot, and Vizquel 9th. Or better yet, Nix instead of Vizquel. Not sure why Rios isn't there though, he still looks OK at the plate to me.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 01:43 PM) Let's wait a whole year before we claim this bullpen is better. That bullpen was amazing during the first half of the year with Linebrink being untouchable. That's why I said at this point. Also, the 2008 pen had a 5.47 ERA 2nd half, and a much better 2.81 1st half. So this one, so far, is even better than that. Point is, to say the 2008 pen was "more effective" makes no sense.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 01:33 PM) Really wasn't that hard to understand for anyone with a reading comprehension level above the 10th grade. All I see here is the same crap I've seen throughout my life. Younger people growing into idealists that are going to solve all the worlds problems by worrying about everything, but doing almost nothing about it. History repeating itself all over again. What will it be in 10 years when this blows over, I wonder? 50's/60's - Fallout shelters? 70's - Global Cooling 80's - Nuclear War/WWIII 90's - Global Warming/Airborne AIDS Virus? 00's - Terrorists/Climate Change (Can't call it GW anymore)/Some sort of Flu/sickness (Swine, West Nile, Bird Flu, etc.) 10's - Absolute worldwide disaster of some sort/2012 20's - ??? Boring. You are pushing your luck with the bolded. Keep the attacks out of here. And as for "Global Cooling"... There was never any science to that whatsoever. None. It was a few weathermen screaming with no concept of reality.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 01:18 PM) Fair enough. I forgot about that stretch. Although I will respectfully disagree with you about the offense, because Quentin was the best hitter in baseball for five months. Alexei hit how many Grand Slams and carried the team on his back for 2-3 months in the middle of the season. Then you add in Thome, Dye, Konerko....I don't have the numbers in front of me for respective RPG, but I would be shocked if we match that offense unless Andruw Jones and Quentin both hit 30-40 homers. This bullpen is more talented, but that one was more effective to go along with the awesome starting pitching that carried the team through the offensive struggles in the first half. That bullpen was more effective? 2008 Bullpen ERA: 4.13 2010 Bullpen ERA: 2.42 This bullpen is flat out better, no contest, at this point in 2010. No idea where you get that the 2008 one was somehow "more effective".

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 12:42 PM) Except you left out the part where someone else pays for the policy... Maybe the best idea should have been that the fines paid in by people and businesses choosing not to insure, amount to a fund to cover the upfront cost of that type of event for people in that situation. Its almost like mandatory insurance, for not having insurance.

QUOTE (Tex @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 12:38 PM) I am still troubled by the no pre-existing clause. I see a potential for abuse. If someone decides to not have insurance, then is diagnosed with cancer, they can then buy insurance. Insurance is based in part by having the people that do not get sick pay for those that do. If people just wait until they have a major problem, it runs the cost way up. That was the thinking behind the mandate (right or wrong). The idea being, if everyone has to be insured or pay a fine, then that sort of instance would be very rare. Its a very complicated issue.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 12:21 PM) Obviously this is just one individual circumstance, but my mom had breast cancer 6 years ago (she's fine now) and Blue Cross Blue Shield was great. No hassles and very helpful, reimbursed/paid for pretty much everything. Glad to hear she made it through. So this might be unpopluar with both parties, but... I personally have no problem with insurance companies triggering fraud investigations when major diagnoses occur. I think its a natural part of their process to keep costs down. That isn't the problem. The problem is when they go cancelling based on basically nothing. I believe (but could be wrong) that the health care bill specifically looks to change the rescinding behavior of these companies, to try to keep them to real cases of fraud. So, the bill may suck overall, but that aspect is a good thing.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 05:05 PM) Suck it Phil Rogers. Thompson to Kanny only a week into the season. Link Odds are still pretty good that he goes to Great Falls once their season starts up. I forgot to post this link earlier, but a good update with video on Trayce. This guy seems to really like him. if he keeps hitting, he isn't going back down.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 12:20 PM) I see that Jimmy Ballinger was finally moved to the pen. Hopefully, this will help him focus on throwing strikes. 5 BB in 8 IP so far, so, not so much. But he's allowing a lot fewer hits, which is good.

The problem isn't negativity. The problem is thread-bombing PHT with daily threads that have different titles but offer the same meandering stream of consciousness that leads to bizarre comparisons that make no sense.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 11:40 AM) Who is Wickswat? Sounds like Sam's name from Transformers.... Hope Griffith can continue to make progress. We need 2-3 "DeLosSantos"-es to emerge from the Kannapolis and Winston-Salem rosters this year. Matt Wickswat, 2008 NDFA, 23 yo, put up very solid numbers with GF last year.

Charlotte @ Durham, 6:05pm CT, no pitcher announced yet but looks like Hudson's (2-0, 3.27) turn Jax @ B-Ham, 7:05pm CT, Cassel (0-0, 0.00) gets another start W-S @ MB, 6:05pm CT, Griffith (2-0, 1.38) starting Kanny @ Rome, 6:00pm CT, Wickswat (0-2, 10.57) starting

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 10:01 AM) It would be nice if Gilmore and Santos Rodriguez are for real. Death of a Salesman promotion, anyone? All salesmen/account reps get in free to see Loman play...haha. It would also be nice if Escobar wasn't at least three years away from replacing Ramirez and could put up a 775 OPS. But, from all reports, he's a special or "plus" defender, right? Escobar is indeed noted for his defensive skills. The question is his bat.

Spending your birthday in China? A night on the town in the far east could mean epic stories, Jas. Happy Birthday!

LOL, love the opening post. Trying to keep some sanity here, consider this. If the Sox win tonight, they will have won the series against what was, going into it, the hottest team in baseball. Go. f***ing. Sox.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Apr 22, 2010 -> 02:29 AM) Hmm, Ill have to keep that in mind, my friend was saying that atleast in Hong Kong everyone speaks english, Ill have to make sure where I go I either have a friend along to help or english is common. Yeah that's a big difference between India and China. In India I was fortunate in that everyone there (basically) speaks English. In fact, everyone there spoke at least three languages - Hindi, English, and their local dialect. China, I don't know how true that is. Meanwhile, a lot of kids here in the States can barely speak one language, but that's another discussion.

Winston-Salem tears it up again, won 11-4, and have won 8 straight games (currently 10-3 on the season). Leesman looked meh, relievers looked good. Short, Escobar, Gilmore, Loman, Bour and Sierra all with multi-hit games. In three games since being signed, Bour has a .545/.643/1.000/1.643 line. W-S is hitting .297 as a team, and lead their league in virtually every category offensively. And their pitchers have a 2.65 ERA thus far. That team is good.

Links added to original post for games.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Apr 21, 2010 -> 01:40 PM) Did you ever go out at night? As a 21 yr old at the time of the trip, Im going to be looking for some nightlife (which will be easy to find is my guess) to go along with the cultural experience, was it easy to go out and meet people? India is a place that I wouldnt mind spending a few nights, if not on this trip then in the future. I never, ever get drunk on overseas trips. Just too risky. But if you avoid that, you should be OK. Just ask some locals you get to know (and trust) what areas or behaviors to avoid. I did indeed go out at night in India, and it was fun, but pretty tame, where I was.

Everything we are seeing, not just his performance but some scouting reports as well, indicate that Trayce has made big strides. I would not discount the possibility of a promotion this year.