NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Chet Lemon @ Aug 14, 2009 -> 11:54 AM) I think that in the '70's many people in the south identified themselves as Democrats, while many northeastern and midwestern states had a lot more self-described Republicans. A lot of those same people and their children have switched their parties since. Those were farm democrats and small-government republicans. Both of which are now dying breeds. The new Republican party (the current core of it) is much less about small government and individual rights, still about big military infrastructure, and much more about social crusades and xenophobia. The democrats are now much less about rural communities and the common man, still a lot about subsidies and government involvement, and more about xenophilia. Neither are particularly interested in fiscal discipline or anything that could be remotely construed as governmental conservatism. Neither are particularly interested in individual rights, either. But this will change over time, as will the map, as history shows.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Aug 14, 2009 -> 10:27 AM) Who was this guy? I notice that he's already banned, so he must've been a former poster who returned. Brando version eight hundred and four.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 09:48 PM) I don't know if he would want to or not, but I would love to have Flowers mentor under AJ for a year. There aren't many better people to learn the mental game of baseball from. This is pretty much what I suggested in one of the other Flowers or AJ threads yesterday. But I also said that I wasn't sure AJ would be willing to be that guy. Would you want to train your own replacement, if you were still fairly young and good at your job? And remember, good or bad, we are talking about AJ here.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 09:49 PM) Post per day: Lostfan: 15.59 Balta1701: 24.84 2k5: 25.01 Fathom: 28.01 Wow, I thought I posted a lot. My 13 posts per day is about half of some of you folks.

Joseph Serafin. 37th round pick, no overpowering stuff, not a particularly big guy, fastball in the high 80's, lefty. Jumps to A ball in his first pro season. Somehow striking out more than a guy an inning, with excellent control (low walk rate), and good (but not spectacular) core numbers so far in Low A. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Aug 14, 2009 -> 12:48 AM) Why? Because it's not in line with your hyperbolic generalization that Wrigley Field is a giant bar and all their fans are complete morons. Calm the hell down dude, it's just baseball. Pretty sure he was being sarcastic. Anyway, no doubt it is more likely there than many other places, due to a number of circumstances. But yes, it COULD happen anywhere.

QUOTE (son of a rude @ Aug 14, 2009 -> 03:33 AM) illinois You cannot post in this forum until you have read, agreed to, and posted acknowledgement in the MUST READ Thread pinned at the top. Please do so. Thank you.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 03:36 PM) Christian Marrero. Can he catch too?

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 03:36 PM) Donny Lucy has actually been slipping defensively. Everything is slipping for Donny. He's pretty much toast at this point, and I am sure he knows that. I hate to say that, because I really wanted him to succeed, but he's an extreme long shot to see the majors now. He's hitting barely over .200, in AA, at 27, after having played that level 2 years ago. Plus his injury, and if his defense is slipping... his value is just gone. I hope I'm wrong.

Where the hell did the name Stone Pony come from anyway?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 03:21 PM) We're never DHing the backup catcher unless we carry 3 catchers. I have no real problem with Flowers getting 250-300 PA'ss next year with fairly generous use as a a platoon player behind AJ while he hopefully learns the staff and realizes his time is coming and his time there puts him a year closer to FA. Again, unless one of the bench guys can play catcher. Then you don't have to worry about it. Heck even if you don't have that, the once or twice a year it MIGHT come up that you need that 3rd guy AND Flowers happens to be at DH, its so rare, its not a huge worry.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 03:17 PM) I don't think there is any such thing as momentum, as this team has shown over and over. The exception being when they go to the Metrodome and admit they lost before they've played the game. Its not momentum - its mindset. What happened in the previous games, or other recent ones, absolutely has an effect. You just don't necessarily know what that effect is (positive or negative). Sometimes its clear - some games get everyone on the same page all of a sudden and spark a run, or start a freefall, others don't have as much effect. But I tend to be in the camp with Kyyyyyyyle on this one. I think the combined effects of the close games, getting Rios, getting Peavy soon, etc., are going to push this team into a nice little run. Which would be great, for the next week and a half, going into the nightmare 4-series abyss that awaits them after that.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 02:44 PM) Go to the trib and suntimes front pages. That guys face is all over the net It wont be long Yeah, that is actually where I got the picture (Trib). Probably someone will ID him. I hope.

Well that's pretty awesome. If Flowers can be even an average defensive catcher, with his bat, he is a real find. I had joked before that I wish we could combine Donny Lucy's defense and Tyler Flowers' offense into a single super-catcher, but this is getting close to that.

Also, here is the picture of the jackass (just trying to help the CPD):

LOL, in the Trib article, this quote from Crane Kenney kills me: No issues of any kind? I'm not going to be some doofus and say this a typical Cubs fan thing, but come on, this is NOT the only time something like this has happened there.

Does this guy dent the 40-man roster?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 12:17 PM) I wonder if Getz is headed to the DL? When did Getz get hurt? Did I miss something?

QUOTE (SoxFanForever @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 11:53 AM) No, if you move someone from the DH to a field position then the DH gets repalced by the pitcher. Yes. That is why I couched my statement to say that would only work if one of your bench guys could also play C. The Sox do have some guys in the minors who play C and other positions - Logan Johnson for example - but none that are near major league ready.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 11:06 AM) Yeap, you totally hit the heart of my point there. I think we're all a little unclear on what your point was supposed to be.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 11:02 AM) I definitely agree with bringing up Flowers as a backup next year. If both Dye and Thome are let go this winter (which seems possible, but unlikely), maybe signing A.J. to another 3-year deal and eventually moving him to 1B (and Paulie to DH) might be an option. That would eliminate the need for a backup catcher on the roster spot, and keep A.J.'s leadership and solid bat. I'm not sure about AJ at first. But, here is another thought. With Flowers' bat, if its as good as it appears it might be, it would be nice to get him some AB's at DH, perhaps to spell an aging Thome. But to do that, you need one of the bench guys to be capable of playing catcher, just in case. I don't think any of the current ones fit that category. But if you found one that did, then you could improve your lineups on off days for your main DH, and developer Flowers' bat faster.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 11:00 AM) Until I see him do that in the big leagues I'm not going to say "Is" a huge upgrade over AJ. He certainly could be. He puts up anything in the big leagues like what he's done in the minors this year and he can have a Mike Piazza like career. QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 10:54 AM) Flowers' bat is a huge upgrade over AJ, most likely. He raked in AA, putting up a ridiculous .302/.445/.548/.993 line. And now after 18 games in AAA, he seems to be figuring that out too - he's hitting .351 in his last 10 games, and has a .294/.333/.441/.775 line there so far in 68 AB. His High A line last year included a .921 OPS. The guy can rake. Did you miss the bolded? No such thing as a can't-miss prospect (despite what some think), but given his track record and the scouting reports I have seen, its reasonable to think he has a very good chance of being a better hitter than AJ in the long run.

QUOTE (G&T @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 10:37 AM) There's no question they have a lot of problems there. For the last couple years it's probably the most dangerous stadium to play in. I'm just saying it's a problem in other stadiums as well, and it's becoming more rampant. I agree. The combination of environment (much more bar-like than other places) and the current on-field results means that the Cubs will have this problem more than other teams. But it is just wishful schadenfreude to believe that its a Cubs-specific problem. Its becoming more of an issue all over. Ideally, the response should be for the Cubs to increase security presence in the actual bleachers, not just on the top aisle. But if I had to guess, you may also start to see more drastic measure imposed in certain stadiums - nets for example, or even alcohol bans at earlier innings or in certain areas of the park.

Flowers' bat is a huge upgrade over AJ, most likely. He raked in AA, putting up a ridiculous .302/.445/.548/.993 line. And now after 18 games in AAA, he seems to be figuring that out too - he's hitting .351 in his last 10 games, and has a .294/.333/.441/.775 line there so far in 68 AB. His High A line last year included a .921 OPS. The guy can rake. Flowers' defense has been questioned, though looking at the few numbers I can find, and listening to some folks who have seen him play, it sounds like that area of his game is improving and isn't too bad either. And its not as if AJ is a great defender. But that all said, AJ brings a lot more to the table than a bat and a glove. We don't know if Flowers will be able to provide that. But I like the idea of Flowers backing up AJ next year, hopefully to learn some of those more subtle but important aspects of catching - game calling, pitcher handling, etc. Flowers can also then take a year to adjust slowly to major league pitching as a hitter. This works well for Flowers to start in 2011. One potential wrench in the works though - I don't know how well AJ will react to, basically, training his replacement. Looking at the total package, AJ is still a darn good guy to have as your starting catcher, and he could start elsewhere. He may get pissed and want to leave, or he may just not want to be helpful with Flowers. Hopefully this is a non-issue, but let's be honest - how many of us would feel good about training our replacement when we still felt like we were good at our job? Its a good problem to have. We have one good catcher on the team, and another potentially very good one coming up.

QUOTE (Tex @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 09:05 AM) Not specific to the pick off at 3rd. When you only have a couple guys who can actually run, they need to be more aggressive. Getting picked off is a price to pay for that aggressive play. Aggressive play means occasionally being thrown out advancing, or trying to steal. Being picked off THIRD BASE WITH ONE OUT, is not aggressive, its a mental lapse.