NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (SI1020 @ Jul 27, 2009 -> 09:56 AM) Read the comments. Most of those replying to this awful article get it. I did, I was chuckling at the one who posted that he/she was disgusted by the article and would now stop subscribing to the Washington POST as a result. She said the POST, twice. The article is in the TIMES.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jul 27, 2009 -> 09:58 AM) Kind of late to the party on this one. Actually people's eating of meat does affect me, in a negative way. It's not a case of "I eat meat and you don't need to worry about it". Most of the meat eaten today comes from factory farms. These have severe effects on me and the rest of the world. Just look to the negative effects it has on the environment and things like Asian Bird Flu and Swine Flu. Sort of a tangent, but this leads to the next frontier in food. People have been so focused on nutrional value - calories, fat, minerals, etc. - and then the next big wave we're in now is organic or more natural foods. What this will lead to, and we already see signs of it, is people getting focused on food sources. Where their food really comes from, and how. I think that's the next big thing in how people go about buying foods.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 27, 2009 -> 10:05 AM) To be perfectly blunt, you don't understand the trading industry at all. The term for this is marketmaking, and it is done everywhere that there is a specialist based system. This actually saves the customers money in the long run because it narrows up the margins, and it makes for more efficient marketplaces. Pretty much every company out there internalizes order flow. The other part you left out is that the company is taking on risk in these trades and the spread is their rewards for assuming risk. Its not some horrible evil plot, it is the way that this stuff has been traded for hundreds of years now. Its complicated in its details, but simple in its role in the markets. Trading leads to inefficiency, inefficiency leads to arbitrage, arbitrage leads to technology, technology becomes widespread, the market is more efficient and can move onto the next inefficiency.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 27, 2009 -> 07:56 AM) Nix doesn't have much of a track record to speak of, except a couple of years of solid minor league play after 3 or so really disappointing years that skew his overall numbers down pretty hard. And those sorts of trends do make it difficult to know for sure what is going on. If you look at just that, but then his struggles offensively at the major league level, you have to wonder if he is just a late bloomer who needs time to pick things up, or what. But I've also seen him play now, and that combined with his numbers, I think the likelihood of him being a major league starter is slim, barring happenstance and injury to people above him.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 26, 2009 -> 06:53 PM) The NYT had an interesting piece that came out of the case of a programmer who left Goldman Sachs (and is being accused of Fraud by the company). It revolves around "High frequency trading operations". Basically, it seems like Goldman has put itself in the remarkable position of being able to see the future and profit from it. They simply have bigger servers, faster servers, and servers closer to the destination than a lot of the other traders out there. Thus, they basically allow a company to see the future; if they know the price one partner is willing to pay for a purchase, and they can find another partner willing to sell the same shares for a lower price, they can jump in and take the difference between the two prices as profit for themselves. Really, that shouldn't be legal. It is, and should be. The markets get healthier and more efficient, as the responses and price reactions go faster. The people scalping edge in between market-leading and broader market reaction are actually similar to chemical accelerants for the market, which will in time react and become better. Without them, the market never becomes more efficient, and that actually costs you, and anyone else who invests anything, money. I understand that you see this is as somehow evil, because someone is taking advantage of the situation. But taking advantage of a situation to better yourself financially isn't evil. In this case, it isn't even illegal. You should get more details from someone who works in these areas before assuming its a bad thing.

QUOTE (tommy @ Jul 26, 2009 -> 10:25 PM) I didn't even read the article but that writer is a f***ing idiot. The guy didn't catch the ball. I read a completely opposite article saying how the fan looked like he wanted to grab the ball but then retracted and it was a smart move. Guy gets ripped for nothing. This is pissing me off. LOL... as it happens, the article is indeed a piece of trash. But reading the bolded above, I hope no one in the press is reading this thread, because then the conclusion from the title may be the same.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 27, 2009 -> 12:01 AM) I'm saying Nix has a better shot because he has shown good fundamentals. I really don't care what Fields did in his first time around the league, he has much worse than flawed hitting mechanics, and if he hasn't already learned a good, fundamentally sound swing, why should we expect him developing one any time soon with the same hitting coaches? You seem to interperet "fundamentals" to mean having a less flawed swing. Kind of a narrow definition. Fields has a better shot at being a productive full time major leaguer than Nix does, IMO. His track record indicates this. And for that matter, Fields' major flaw is highly fixable (the swing hitch), so that flaw is in fact a reason to believe he's probably going to have more success than Nix, who seems to be at his maximum output. Nix is a better defensive player of course, and at multiple positions, which is very helpful. But I think Fields is a small swing change away from being a guy who can hit .250-.260 with 30+ jacks, which Nix will never come close to. I like Nix as a utility guy, and I have my doubts about Fields, but I'd put 2:1 odds in favor of Fields having a more prolific career as a starter than Nix.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 03:20 PM) Maybe it would have been more accurate to say "we'll never see the dominant Contreras" or a 17 game winning streak again out of Jose. We can't expect that, simply because that 94-97 MPH fastball is gone and will never be back at this point in his career. Historically, Jose has been better against the Tigers than he pitched today. Some of his most dominant outings have come against them, both at home and on the road. He's a 4th/5th starter now...maybe some of us were hoping he would have a much more extended run, where he put together a 10+ string of quality starts. All things considered, a 4.50-5.00 ERA out of Jose after the way he started is still a minor miracle. Maybe it's a little frustrating to see how well Vazquez and Aardsma are going, when a 4th/5th starter and RH bullpen arm are two huge issues for this team advancing. Remember all those threads about trading him at his peak value? Well, that window has been lost...just like it has to an extent with any deal centered around Poreda/Richard. You can't expect that, period, from any pitcher - it is a rare, rare thing. Jose is a 4th starter, and in that slot he's been darn good since his return. Jose did fine today.

I saw a lot of MB shirts and jerseys downtown today.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 03:28 PM) You're writing off Nix? Nix is a good option for a utility guy. Probably nothing more though, from everything I have seen.

I'm on the fence on a Thome extension. However, the analysis of how many times he scored from walks, or even helped runs score from walks, is an irrelevant measure to his future success. It is far too dependent on what other players do - in fact it is almost entirely dependent on what other players do. So this is just not a factor in my mind as to the value of his OBP, which is still quite good. Thome is a very effective presence at DH. If you move Dye to DH you can get similar or slightly better production, probably, but they you have an OF hole to fill. So what it really comes down to is, can the Sox find a major power bat for the OF in the offseason. If they can, Thome is expendable. If not, he is not. ETA: Also, there is a danger looking at the future that the lineup could become to righty-heavy, if it isn't already. Thome helps address that, potentially.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 02:58 PM) link Look for traffic problems in downtown Chicago in 2010. Not a complaint, BTW - I love these movies.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 01:02 PM) Can you imagine Beane with a team with money to support him. He might not be as good in those circumstances. Different type of scenario. Hard to say.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 09:47 AM) Oh look...another "White Sox are cheap/crying poor/won't spend money" thread. Seriously, this topic is so tired, and the idea that they are doing penny-ante stuff is just patently false. This is a team with a strong payroll. Also, the first post of the thread says more or less the opposite of what the title of the thread indicates, so maybe a title change is in order.

1. Game 2 of 2005 WS (the Konerko GS and Pods walk-off - doesn't get better than that) 2. Game 2 of 2005 ALCS - the AJ dropped 3rd strike game 3. Game 163, 2008 - the Blackout 4. Opening Day, 2006 - the WS banners and tribute 5. Game 1 of 2005 ALDS - beating Boston 14-3, or something like that 6. Sometime in the late 80's or so, it was seat cushion day, and the last one ever, due to what happened that night. After a bad call on the field, someone in the crowd chucked their square, white seat cushion onto the field like a frisbee. Others followed suit, until it was snowing seat cushions. The PA announcements said the Sox would have to forfeit if that continued, so the Sox almost lost by forfeit that game. Hilarious. 7. Also sometime in the late 80's or maybe early 90's, saw the Sox come back from down, I think, 10-6 in the 9th, to win 12-10 on a Gary Redus Grand Slam. 8. Similar timeframe, I saw three straight homeruns hit, two by unlikely sources - Rudy Law, Ozzie Guillen, Harold Baines.

Regardless of how prospecty you think Cook is, it seems pretty clear that he has gotten shafted the past couple years. Of course, there is also the possibility that something odd is going on that we don't know about - personal issues between him and the org, or who knows what. But the fact that he was 26 when he started getting screwed over, is not in itself enough of a reason for it to have happened. The AAA roster is filled with guys just as old or older and with apparently lower ceilings.

QUOTE (sweatpants @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 12:31 AM) He would've tracked it down, scaled the fence, have his glove up in preparation for a catch, and have it hit right off the top off his head to the 3rd row for a homer. Where is Capn12 and his avatar when we need it?

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Jul 24, 2009 -> 12:25 AM) Maybe he's always wanted to see Montana. Red October reference, check.

Well, after more than a month without giving up a run, Remenowsky shows he is in fact human. Gives up 1 run in 1 IP, blown save, Kanny now in a 2-2 tie.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 06:56 PM) It's Bush's fault, clearly. Its gotten to where your kaperbole isn't even related to the posts you reply to anymore.

The Catch.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 03:47 PM) The call by Hawk on the DWise catch and the last out may go down as my all time favorite white sox play-by-play calls. I would pay someone to clip those into audio files for iTunes for me.

I didn't get the see the catch by Wise. If anyone happens to find a video, please link it here.

I cannot find a video of THE CATCH. Anyone see it anywhere yet? I didn't get to see it!!!

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 01:25 PM) The CBO "score" of the updated bill is a lie anyway. But to you, it won't be. But the first "Score" was accurate, because it fits your belief?