NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 10:02 AM) I agree with this, it'd be nice to see. However, that will cost an already ailing industry even more revenue just based on how much it costs to fuel/maintain/fly those planes -- less seats = less money = less profit. Just as a person who takes care of themselves, when I pay for my seat I'm not a fan of sharing it with someone who doesn't. That is why they should charge more for the extra space, but not the differential cost of that added crap. Even if you do it on a cost-flat basis, they'd actually make MORE money, because they'd draw a new revenue base. It doesn't have to be a marketing cost.

QUOTE (shipps @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 09:52 AM) oh that was just me making a weird analogy cause I didnt know how to spell sardines This post is awesome.

I know a lot of people who like the idea of having the larger seats and leg room you get in business or first class, and could care less about all the fru-fru s*** ("fancy" food, fancy eating ware, hot towels, etc.). I am surprised that the airlines haven't yet employed a section in larger aircraft with business class seating and no other frills - and charge somewhere between coach and business class (since biz class is so much more expensive). I'd be all over that. I'm 6'3" and have broad shoulders - my ass fits fine in one seat thank you, but I could use the extra room.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 09:22 AM) The Twins will be a way better team with Baker and Mauer back. I think Mauer may be on and off this season, which is a huge blow to that team. And Liriano is just not himself anymore. I think this may finally be the Twins team that falls into the basement, or close to it.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 08:37 AM) Per the usual, I believe we'll be worrying about the Twins all year, and the Tribe once again will suck. Having watched these first couple weeks or so, I am starting to think the team that will cause us the most trouble may in fact be KC.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 07:55 AM) I wasn't really going for how they are elected, but more like how they should vote on the specific issues. Put on your "If I were the legislator" shoes. For example, this thought originated out of school district realignment talks in my hometown. They want to move many of the poorer (ie black) kids into the richer (ie white) schools and all of the parents in those areas are pissed. Should a person who is voting on this respect the wishes of the majority of the school district and vote against it, or should they vote for it, knowing it is better for the kids, and for the district in the long run (poor kids get better schooling opportunities being the biggest reason)? I think this is one of the reasons why a bicameral legislature is a good thing (I'm looking at you, Nebraska). The assembly of representatives (whatever that state may call it), should represent their district's best interests the great majority of the time. The senate on the other hand, with broader districts and a more senior position, should think in terms of the bigger picture. That is what I'd call the ideal balance. There are exceptions for both of course.

QUOTE (Seymizzle @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 08:22 AM) Cassel is on the Knights 7 day DL list. Welcome to the board! You don't by chance know the nature or extent of the injury, do you? Is it really a 7 day DL stay, or more?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 08:05 AM) I know I've read that US losses are estimated to be as high as 95% in the DMZ if NK ever decided to roll through full-force. They might not be able to take and hold SK, but they could put up a hell of a fight. And after NK rolled into SK, the NK army would be annihilated in SK and NK, we'd take over the government there with SK's help, and we'd get a unified Korea. Good end game, but it would cost tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of lives to achieve it.

Update: Cassel is not in B-Ham, he is with Charlotte as originally expected. BUT, he is on the DL - no idea why yet, but Chisoxfn is looking into it.

Another piece of circumstantial evidence I noted there a few years back... there was a series the Sox played there, in 2005 or 2006, I can't recall. Buehrle and another Sox starter (Garland maybe?) got absolutely shelled in two straight games. Then a third game came along, with a rookie pitcher (McCarthy), and a different catcher (Widger I suppose, if it was 2005) - the Rangers went from scoring double digits to being shut out or nearly so. Different catcher with different signs, pitcher with unknown stuff - nothing to reference. I'm not sayin'... I'm just sayin'.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 02:51 PM) If you need a motivational spotter I work out at the Elston X-Sport Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday nights and Saturday mid-day. I've only been to that one once so far - I will be using the one near my office in the CBOT (the XSport on South State) daily. But if I ever change it up or start going to the Elston one regularly, I'll definitely get in touch. It helps a lot to have someone else working out with you - I find I get more done.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 15, 2009 -> 06:27 AM) I think this is pure speculation, nobody really knows how that would've played out. Obama was showing well ahead of Ryan before that stuff even came out, so, the idea that Ryan was a "virtual lock" is kind of the opposite of true.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 05:34 PM) Jordan Danks has two walks tonight...raising his season total to 4, batting .261 overall. However, he does have an unacceptable 10 K's in just 23 AB's. No Barons game (playing Tennessee tmrw) and no White Sox game. Boring day/night. Look at the W-S lineup that Danks hits in. the rest of them are pretty bad. They are probably pitching around Danks, and he hasn't yet figured out how to lay off. That is, IMO, probably a main reason for his high walk and k totals (14 of his 27 PA).

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 04:15 PM) Yeah, North Korea is testing a country who can eradicate their entire regular army in about 9 hours. Also, what do you expect the UN to do? Come with their big bad UN army (which doesn't exist) and solve everything? NK is just being it's usual unreasonable self, if it ever starts to legitimately threaten SK or Japan then the hammer will come down but until then let them be. Bigger things to worry about in the international scene. So, are you just ignoring the nuclear issue, or do you not think they are capable of building more?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 04:06 PM) I don't know what you call it, but you certainly seem a lot more unhappy with the current policy than I am. Are you happy with it?

I'll throw something out there... North Korea is not run amok with religious extremists or anything like that, and I think they'd recover relatively quickly under decent leadership. So I'll say it. I think they are a good candidate for a CIA-assisted coup d'etat. Thoughts?

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 03:46 PM) Giving in to them has worked so well! So, that's obviously our only option. And again, you have to go to the extreme of absurdity, and offer no alternative. We all know this cycle isn't working, we also all know that invading does no good. No one is saying otherwise.

Garrett Johnson, LHP Born 9/2/1987 in Stillwater, OK 6’10", 205 according to MILB Throws: L Bats: L OVERVIEW Garrett is a young, tall (6’10”), lanky lefthander who was drafted out of high school at age 18. He put up some absurd numbers in high school, both pitching and hitting, and was seen as highly projectable with a consistent delivery. Not a lot of velocity, but it was thought he’d mature into that. He didn’t pitch in the org in 2006, due to a late signing. 2007 was pretty awful at Bristol in the bullpen, but when he repeated in 2008 as a 20 year old, he put up respectable numbers as a starter. He’s now in Kanny’s 2009 rotation. Other than his height and good K numbers so far, one other stat sticks out in his time in the minors – he had an excellent 2.79 GO/AO in 2008 with Bristol, and his first outing in 2009 rated him a 4.00 in that department. This is a good sign, especially in an organization where the major league ballpark is a homer haven. The big question I have, really, is about velocity – he was only hitting 85 in high school, no word on if he has improved on that. It seems he has all the other tools you would look for from someone who skipped college (frame, consistent delivery, good breaking stuff, induces lots of ground balls). PRE-COLLEGE NOTES Garrett attended Orme High School in Mayer, Arizona for his senior year (moved from Oklahoma when his father became the head of Orme high school). He played basketball and took his team to the state finals, but was seen as more of a baseball prospect because of his thin build. That senior year, he pitched 57.1 innings and had a 0.73 ERA, and allowed just 6 hits in those innings, so he averaged less than a hit allowed for every 9 innings pitched. He allowed 20 walks, but also struck out 126 – that gave him a 0.45 WHIP and an absurd 19.78 K/9. Since he wasn’t noted to have a lot of velocity yet, these are some impressive numbers. He also hit a bit that year, putting up a .553/.600/.851 line in 47 AB (60 PA). Garrett was #68 of the 2006 Team One Top 100 High School Seniors. COLLEGE Johnson did not play any college ball. SIGN/DRAFT Johnson was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 29th round (885th overall) of the 2006 June regular amateur draft. He signed a bit late, in August of 2006, which may explain why he didn’t pitch in the minors that year. MINORS Johnson did not pitch in his draft year due to that late signing. He opened 2007 in the bullpen with Bristol (short season Rookie ball), as a 19 year old. His numbers were pretty bad – in 15 games, 20 innings, he put up an 8.10 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, and managed to walk 12 batters. He did however have a good K rate, striking out 23 for a 10.4 K/9. In 2007 he repeated Bristol, but they moved him to the starting rotation, which seems an odd move for a pitcher with control problems – but it worked. He pitched 12 games (started 11), and over 52.1 IP, put up a 4.12 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, and still managed to improve his K rate a bit to 10.8. His GO/AO of 2.79 is also nice. Not spectacular numbers, but a big improvement over his first year. Here at the open of 2009, Johnson is in the starting rotation with Low A Kannapolis. His first start was a loss, but an OK outing – 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K - both runs on solo HR. Kanny doesn’t look to have a ton of hitting prospect talent, so he may have trouble getting much run support. SCOUTING BA had this to say when he was drafted: Rivals.com had this: PERSONAL/AWARDS/OTHER Johnson was named the APP league pitcher of the week, for the week of 6/23 in 2008. REFERENCE BASEBALL CUBE PAGE MILB PAGE High school pitching stats

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 08:02 AM) Anyone know anything about this Garrett Johnson guy, started last night for Kanny? Looks like 29th round 2006, the dude is listed at 6'10" and 205 pounds (skinny). Spent 2007 at Bristol in relief, did terrible, but at age 19. Then in 2008 at 20, repeated Bristol and did pretty well, but as a starter (not often you see the move that direction). Now he's at Kanny at age 21, startting again. Anyone have any knowledge on this guy, other than what I can get from baseball cube? I lost a couple AAP's this offseason (Sergio Miranda traded, Po-Yu Lin released), and another one is no longer a prospect (Wassermann). So I think I may pick this guy up, if no one else minds. Seems like a long shot guy with tools, but is raw, so he could be interesting.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 01:54 PM) I am sorry if this is a repeat and I SWEAR I saw it somewhere on here, but I couldnt find it... plus I thought it warranted special discussion. This was brought to my attention during a meeting today and finda pissed me off and I am curious as to what the American people can do as a recourse. Ginsburg: U.S. Judges Should Consider Foreign Law My understanding is that the Supreme Court is to enforce and interpret AMERICAN law, not foreign law. Under this idea, I guess torture isnt illegal because some countries allow it. Therefore, there is international president for it. I think this is VERY dangerous. I think you are missing her point here. SCOTUS will rule on existing US law and jurisprudence/precedence, when such exists and applies. But most cases that make it to SCOTUS do so because those references are not 100% clear - if they were, SCOTUS doesn't need to get involved. And with any reviewing judicial body, when the law is unclear or conflicting, you need to get guidance from lots of places. I have no issue with referencing international law in those circumstances to provide some possible directions to go - in fact I'd be disappointed if they refused to. This is only a bad thing if she votes or writes in contravention of US law or jurisprudence, in favor of international or foreign law - which I really doubt she would do.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 12:46 PM) For the 3rd time it's not racism. Wise/Getz was explained as people arent booing Getz because they are more patient about someone who has a higher ceiling. But if it's a booing of front office decisions (as some claim), they should still be unhappy with an unproven guy being put in there. After all, they had similar recent AAA numbers. Are we really to believe that those people booing in that stadium have this huge problem with Wise being 31? How much of the crowd knows his age? They want the Sox to win the game at hand. Dye/Crede I dont remember being shut down, but I'd agree it's more of a close call. Crede is more popular than Dye amongst the garden variety US Cellular attendee. There's no discernible difference in personality, and if anything one has just been noticeably better and more important to the team's success. Scalabrine simply brought up as the extreme of what we're talking about b/c of his unwarranted standing o's. You are saying its racism, without using that word. Racism, bias, prejudice... whatever, if its bias about race, its racism. And you have zero ammo to back up your claim.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 12:41 PM) That's my whole point though. No one touches the reason behind his popularity. He's a monumentally untalented basketball player who is cheered by the entire crowd every time he puts up a shot. It's really something to witness if yr ever flipping around and see the Celtics in garbage time. No one really touches on the reason for his popularity with a ten foot pole however. Thats where I wish we'd take the next step in discussion like this, nationwide that is. Talking more about what's unintentional but still a problem. Again this is something I see myself doing as well. So far, the examples I am seeing here about supposed racism among White Sox fans are... Wise/Getz (which we thoroughly explained), Dye/Crede (which is manifestly untrue), and some Celtics basketball player. That's it?

Blago pleads not guilty (so does his brother).

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 14, 2009 -> 12:21 PM) But sometimes there's no differentiating between a player's country/culture and the feelings that engenders. I mean, if a white player from rural Mississippi or West Viriginia did something, would we be describing those places as almost like 3rd world countries? People made fun of Boone Logan for his personality and accent, but not to the extent I've seen misconceptions about Latin America here. Cubano, of course, always raises this point...sometimes I agree with him, sometimes I don't. My point is, people are making comments about players AND countries without having a very deep understand of either. That's what bothers me more than anything. I've been to Mississippi, and West Virginia. I've also been to Haiti, and a few caribbean countries. And as bad as Mississippi is, no one in their right mind would think to describe it and Haiti (or the DR) in similar terms. OF course they are talked about differently - they are entirely different.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 12, 2009 -> 04:02 PM) There are levels of that though. Poreda has pitched well in AA, a big separator of prospects, and none of the guys you are referring to have yet. Unless we are talking about a first rounder or a guy with superior stuff, it's hard to assume they make it to the bigs before they show success above A ball. Cassel pitched AA last year and won the ERA crown. Unfortunately, he's on the Charlotte DL right now for reasons unknown.