NorthSideSox72

Not sure if this is the ideal place for this, but... Passenger Rail in the US continues to gain traction. Congress authorized $13B for Amtrak and other competitive city-to-city rails, to put in new routes and make more corridors capable of high speed trains. Also, money set aside for the faster trains themselves. Chicago seen as a major hub for such a network. Amtrak set a record for passengers in the past year, and increased ridership buy 11% YOY. Obama is a major supporter of increased rail service. McCain voted against the rail money in this case. Bush, who had been a big critic of Amtrak (and with some good reasons), actually signed this bill. Article in Crains.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 02:00 PM) The current libertarian candidate is proposing large cuts in defense. Almost $100 billion a year as a matter of a fact. http://www.ntu.org/main/page.php?PageID=141 That may be a result of calculating in an immediate, full on withdrawal from Iraq (whereas McCain and even Obama would do things in a much more gradual way).

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 01:00 PM) Unless Taveras could get his OBP back above .350, I'd rather have Weeks to be honest. I'd rather go with Owens than Taveras. But I'd REALLY rather do NEITHER.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 12:12 PM) He also had the 3rd worst RZR (revised zone rating) in the game and by far the least OOZ (plays out of zone) of any 2B in the game which lends credence to those who believe his range was actually mediocre for a player with his speed. (myself included) And not that the stat means anything but Alexei's FPct was the 12th best out of only 17 qualified 2B that puts him in the bottom 3rd. I hadn't see his OOZ or RZR (and where did you find those, BTW?). I still think that stats don't tell a great story on defense. Alexei made more simple mistakes than a 2B should, but overall, I still think he's above average there. And again, he was learning a new position. I'd suspect he'll make an overall average SS, especially once he can get some regular playing time there. Of course, with his arm, speed and instincts, I wonder how well he might be able to adapt to CF if given enough time there. I haven't seen him play there enough to feel confident one way or the other as to his ability to get good jumps and make good reads.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 01:27 PM) National defense is the reason I could never be a libertarian. I thought Libertarians felt that national defense was one of the few areas of that the federal government does indeed need to be strong.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 12:55 PM) I don't agree,if you can't debate with passion (not insults) it's not worth it...I ll be posting elsewhere Nowhere here or elsewhere did anyone say you can't debate with passion. Happens in here all the time. We're just trying to keep it semi-civil, and avoid the ad hominem stuff. But if that's not for you, that's fine. Feel free to come back if/when you feel you can agree to the guidelines.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 01:34 PM) A McCain pollster is on MSNBC right now. Here's what he's saying in regards to the polls. Basically, he says the "party identification" numbers used by most polls are way off. They believe the democrats have a 3-4% lead on party identification, while most pollsters say it's closer to 5-7%, if not higher. He said we have a "political structure" in America where party identification is nearly identical. (Roughly 33% Dem, Rep, and Ind/Other) Apparently they dont think the voter registration numbers in states that trace party affiliation are very wrong or something. I think he's very wrong on that. not this year. There are a LOT of people who are pissed of with not only Bush, but the Rep party. I think only a 3% difference is not accurite. Every poll I have seen of current party affiliation shows a 10-12-ish point lead right now for the Dems. So if anything, I'd say most polls are identifying far too many Republicans. This is just the McCain camp trying to get the base to show up at the polls, by illustrating they have a chance.

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 11:47 AM) His defense was brutal this season according to defensive statistics, and I thought he lacked concentration an awful lot during the 2nd half of the season. Ramirez is not efficient at diving for grounders, as he seems like he should have better range than he actually does. Ramirez's best asset at 2nd was his ability to turn the double play. His best assets are turning 2, tough turn and throw, and his arm in general. Yes, as I mentioned as well, he does make stupid mistakes. Those should fade over time. Stats wise, he wasn't "brutal" anyway. His FPct (.981) was 12th in baseball for 2B, RF (4.99) is 11th, ZR (.817) is 8th. But stats aren't a great measure for defense anyway, as evidenced in his case by his higher ranking in ZR than RF. I'd put Ramirez as an upper half defensive 2B. And as I said, that's at a position he was still learning, as he's a native SS.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 11:44 AM) while you scream that repubs rule,everyone else is trying to get off the sinking ship!! Please read, agree to and post in the MUST READ thread before posting in the Buster in the future. Thanks.

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 12:39 PM) The scary part is that Ramirez might be worse defensively at SS than Fields is at 3rd and Weeks is at 2nd. Wha??? Alexei played plus D at 2B this year, and SS is (as I recall) his native position. What makes you think he'd be worse at SS than two sub-standard defensive players at their positions?

If we're talking 3B, I still have a feeling that the Sox will make a play for Casey Blake. I have no evidence of it - just a weird feeling. Anyone know if the Rangers picked up Hank Blalock's option?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 11:04 AM) I think he "write"s all of the time Heh. Yeah, slip of the keyboard there.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 11:50 AM) he's not going to bring a whole lot with his salary. I'd say he'll bring a fair amount with his salary. For a mid-rotation starter with skills that could push him higher, he's not that expensive, and has 2 years locked in.

Can Nix and/or Getz play 3B?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 10:42 AM) http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...T-sox31.article it's from Cowley, so TIFWIW, but this doesn't surprise me in the least to be quite honest Not surprising, but Cowley is only write a fraction of the time on these sorts of things. That tells me he's apt to just fling s*** at the wall. Some of it will stick. Being a beat writer means walking the fine line between penetrating analysis, and friendly access to the team. I get the impression that Cowley has pissed off a few too many Sox folks, has lost a lot of access, and therefore doesn't hesitate to do this sort of thing.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 11:08 AM) Ted Stevens: I Haven't Been Convicted Yet ok, can a legal expert advise on this? Is he technically correct? I've always assumed once you were found guilty, you were guilty until someone else says otherwise. Is this just horribly misleading spin? As I understand it, he's been convicted. He's been found guilty. I think Mr. Stevens is in a bit of denial.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 10:15 AM) yup, also trying to increase Field's value at least a touch by saying he's a starter. With Fields and Lexi on the left side, our defense will be awful. Ramirez was above average overall at 2B, I thought. Mental mistakes, but also made a lot of plays that many others at that position do not. Not sure how that will translate to SS, but, that was his native position. I'd be he develops into a plus defender over there (thought he probably won't be right away). Fields is definitely a big downgrade defensively from Uribe or Crede (the uninjured version), and that would be tough to watch.

Fields is, I'm guessing, Plan B. Plan A is to go get someone KW wants.

We have a plasma (panasonic), great TV. Burn in isn't an issue on modern models. The picture on plasma is so similar in quality to LCD that the difference between brands/models of each is more important than the difference between LCD and plasma. Two things that I did find worth noting, though... 1. Plasma is superior in that you can see it from a wider angle. If you have a bunch of people watching something, this can be important. 2. Unfortunately, plasma TV's like mine use a lot more electricity than LCD's do. Take your pick as to what is most important to you.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Oct 31, 2008 -> 08:54 AM) Aren't you looking at the key not the tumbler? What you are making a copy of is a key. It seems possible to me to make a 3D model from the picture. The part I was sceptical of is the normalize the size part. There are numerous blanks out there, I don't see where there is one universal "size" to normalize to. Oh, well in that case, this is almost a "duh". If you have a decent picture of a key, reproducing it is easy. Nothing surprising there.

My feeling right now is that our 3B for 2009 will be someone not currently with the organization. I think Fields will get traded. For the future, depends on who we acquire. Our system is pretty shallow at that position. Retherford shows some signs he might be pretty good, but, he's still a couple years away from the majors, and is still a question mark. Matt Innouye plays the position and can hit, but, he's looking like a utility guy. I don't see anyone in the system other than Retherford who is even somewhat likely to start some day.

Second thought on this though... this may be the beginning of the end of hard keys.

Something seems not right about this. Most keys don't have tumblers that descend all the way from front to back - there are ups and downs as you go back through the chamber. So it follows that, you couldn't possibly see all the tumblers and their hanging bits, and therefore, this won't work. I am highly skeptical of this article.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 30, 2008 -> 03:13 PM) It wasn't all the catcher's fault about not throwing out runners. With few exceptions, the Sox pitching staff sucked at keeping runners close. Actually, of the starters... one was very good (MB), one was pretty good (Danks), one was mediocre (Vazquez), and one was terrible (Floyd). Contreras is terrible too, but, he was around only half the season. So while it does depend on the pitcher to a certain degree, I think that starting 4 are probably overall pretty average among teams in baseball.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 30, 2008 -> 02:35 PM) I reckon that Armstrong is impressing the hell out of the organization right now. And that prior to the AFL they would have never considered cutting ties with Hall. That being said, I think they'll still offer him a contract albeit much lower than his last. Armstrong is tempting, but, he hits lefty and has trouble with LHP. Not an ideal backup to AJ. Lucy would have been a good fit, and still may be, if he can show up in ST healthy. But that seems to be a long shot at this point.