NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jul 12, 2008 -> 03:28 PM) With whom? B'ham is off for three days after tonight, and Charlotte is off for three days after Sunday. It would have to be W-S since they already had their all-star break. Maybe they could just lend him to some NL team for a few days to rehab.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jul 12, 2008 -> 02:22 PM) Just got Twittered (not as dirty as it sounds). Cowley reporting Jenks is throwing without pain and will go on a rehab assignment tomorrow, and should be back by Friday. Sweet.

Anyone else getting annoyed about pouring money into their 401k's and seeing the value still drop? This has been a rough year. I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz... Its just a buying opportunity... its just a buying opportunity... its just a buying opportunity

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Jul 12, 2008 -> 01:33 PM) 22 year olds playng in short season rookie ball are the oldest players in the league. For a pitcher who is 22 to have 11 strikeouts in 18 innings doesn't get me much reason to get excited. it's the strikeouts per innings pitched total that make me shrug about the guy you mentioned. 24 year olds are old for High A ball. The strikeouts I agree on - not real overwhelming. On that note, interestingly, he had 6 K's in 4.1 IP last night, so he now has 17 in 22.2, which is starting to get closer to 1 K/9. But in doing so, he also gave up 3 ER in those 4.1 IP, so his ERA went up.

QUOTE (jackie hayes @ Jul 12, 2008 -> 09:47 AM) Solution: Sign a contract giving everything in excess of $1 mil to me. Pareto improvements as far as the eye can see... I suppose in truth, I could give all but $1M to various charities and non=profits. Maybe buy large shares in a few alternative energy companies. Or give my money to the poster known as jackie hayes. Whatever works. As long as the amount of money I ended up with was small enough that I wouldn't have the entire world looking for handouts.

Alright, I just cleaned a bunch of garbage out of this thread. FAIR WARNING - next insulting remark towards another poster will result in a suspension. If you have issues with other posters, take it to a Mod or Admin. Thank you for your support.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 08:12 PM) martinez doesn't look like much of a prosect to me. He's old -- 22 -- for rookie ball. only 11 Ks in 18 innings doesn't show much juice. Most of the players the Sox drafted are around 21. Some 22, some 20. And they are playing in Bristol and GF. Therefore, 22 is not "old" for rookie ball. Guys who are 24 playing rookie ball are "old".

No way I'd want to win 300M. Life = ruined. I'd honestly rather win 1 million. You could do that and move on with life, and it would be a good life.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 06:03 PM) If we were realistic, it would because we would stop using the Social Security trust fund to make our deficit less severe than it really is. I agree. That's why I have also been in favor of removing the SS income cap, to cover exactly that (and pass a law banning such use of those funds).

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 06:43 PM) The problem isn't the programs, most of the time, it's the debt. At the municipal and sometimes state level, yes. At the federal level, no.

This Joucer Martinez fellow has caught my eye. Put up very good numbers at DSL last year as a 21-year-old (2.38 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 73/23 K/BB). So far this year in 4 starts at Bristol, he's got a 1.47 ERA in 4 starts. Anyone have anything on him?

Charlotte jumps to an early 1st inning 3-1 lead against Richmond. Getz w/ a 2 run HR, scoring Bourgeois. Haeger pitching. Carolina @ B-Ham, just about to start. Poreda starting. W-S with an early 3-0 lead on Frederick, thanks to Shelby's 3-run HR. Long started. Kanny beating Rome, 2-1 in the 3rd. Socolovich pitching. Bristol @ Greeneville, scoreless in the 3rd. Martinez (1-0 with a 1.47 ERA in 4 starts so far) pitching for Bristol. Great Falls @ Orem, 8:05 CT, no starter announced yet.

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 03:37 PM) seriously, it would be nice to know if any progress is being made or if they're even in contact. Nothing has happened on the signings front for a while It was noted on here that after the CWS, Beckham was going on a long vacation, and nothing was going to happen until he got back. I assumed it would be sometime this month, but, patience my friend.

QUOTE (stretchstretch @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 04:38 PM) again.........we were doing fine w/o him, at least get through the 1st half strong instead of risking falling into second place before the ASB... would the extra week off have hurt his progress? it certainly wasn't going to hurt the Sox chances to extend the lead in the division before a nice team-wide rest (ex Carlos/Crede) Giving him another week off is pretty pointless. He's healthy, he's just not playing well. What does the week off do for him, other than make him get even more rusty? If you are going to play him, then he needs to get out there now and play, so that he can get back into the swing of things.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 12:51 PM) If by long night you mean long 4 hour game that we win, 12-11, OK. But even if he gets clobbered how do you know the Sox won't outslug them? So if Gavin has a bad outing we suddenly have 3 iffy starters in Jose, Javy and Gavin? How the heck do we have one of the best records in baseball? Dude, you kill me. If Gavin has A bad outing, we have 3 iffy starters? We have one of the best records in baseball because we have one of the best starting rotations in baseball, probably the best bullpen in baseball, and an offense that has been quite good since mid-May.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 03:14 PM) The one question I have on the election is is this election almost a default win for the democrats. Has the republican party lost by default because of the Bush administration. Meaning with very low approval ratings, the handling of IRAQ, katrina, etc....has this election already been decided. Basically meaning the republican party loses b/c its the same party that is so dissaproved of today. So the democrats, representing everything opposite of what we currently have win by defualt b/c they are different. Its kinda of situation where the current Republican party did so poorly the replacement is an automatic winner, kind of like replacing Dusty Baker or Dick Juaron. If this really is the case lets all go to vegas and bet the house on the Dems to win. Its waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too early to call it in the bag for the Dems. See: Hillary Clinton.

Ireland is awesome. Loved my time there. For currency, I did some research, and (at least a few years ago) the way to get the best rate is to use your credit card over there as much as possible. For cash, try to take some Euros out here, direct from your bank - that's better than the ATM rates you would get. One big, huge piece of advice - if you plan to go around Ireland outside the major cities at all (which you should do), HIRE A DRIVER. They will be local and know the sites, and know how to navigate the roads in Ireland, which is a true skill. I can't emphasize this one enough. For things to do, here are some points of enjoyment... --If in Dublin, do a lot of walking. Lots of cool stuff to see right in or near the center of town. --Musical Pub Crawl - this was top notch. Loved it. --Guiness museum/factory in Dublin --See some of the older church's - not just St Pat's, but some of the even older ones in Dublin. --My favorite town anywhere outside the US is Kenmare. Just the perfect little town. Quaint, charming, great food and drinks all over, set in a beautiful mountainous area. Stay at the Park Hotel in Kenmare if you can, which is my fave hotel evar. --Do a tour of the Dingle Penninsula. You can make it a circle tour type thing. Lots of neat little stuff to see along the way. --Try to stay in at least one castle if you can, or at least tour one. --Adair is a nice stop too, and its pretty near to Shannon, where you flight may be entering and/or exiting. Lots of nice shops and all that. --If you can, try to see some of the really old stuff. There are all kinds of historical sites that are way older than any of the big churches, and they are quite cool. They are mostly away from the large cities. Adair has a few. --If you have some Irish heritage, do some research, and find out where your clan is from. We did this, and saw the town where my family lived before the left in the early 19th century. This can be a lot of fun, even the research part - and you learn a lot. My family was from County Cavan, but also some in Fermanagh, both in the north of the republic. Have a blast! Its a great place to visit!

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 01:25 PM) okay, so Hagel agrees with Obama on one thing, the war, and is adverse to him on everything else. Find someone else please. I would actually applaud any cabinet OR VP choice that wasn't right in line with Obama on everything. One of the reasons I like Obama's plan for management in his office is that it includes people with different viewpoints. If you want a President who surrounds himself with think-alikes, you already have one in Bush.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 01:03 PM) Here's the problem. When you have a candidate who actually follows up on his promises to cut waste and make government "solvent" again, they're hated. Because either your pet project gets cut or your taxes go up, or both. And then you hate that governor who did exactly what you asked. If you don't believe me, look at New Jersey. No need for taxes to go up at all - not sure how that would happen with an efficiency program. And if it actually is done well, people can have MORE pet projects. I think when people are "hated" for cutting government waste, its because they really aren't cutting waste. They are just arbitrarily cutting budget. Big difference.

Great stuff, GP. In fact, I think when you write in this more journalistic format, you are an even better writer than your more clipped, sound byte style weekly pepper. This suits you better. Nice view into the "real" Jack McDowell.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 12:27 PM) What do we have to be positive about with Konerko? He hit AAA pitching? He's got an old body and he is going to deal with stiffness, soreness, nagging injuries and such for the rest of his career. No body is baseball is ever 100% healthy and guys like Konerko are especially prone to nagging little injuries because he is getting old and in just not athletic. Who cares what he has done in his career? He proved in April he was bad. Sorry this isn't the Konerko of the past, this is him now and he just doesn't have it. It would be one thing if he had solid bat speed and was just not right timing, but he has no bat speed at all and that doesn't just change in an instant. We are a better team offensively and defensively with current-Konerko out of the lineup. Now this is a more interesting argument - you think he has lost bat speed and timing. That may be true, though I don't feel that's the case. I think he's just fully out of sync right now, with no rhythm or feel with the bat (or with the glove, for that matter). I think he'll snap out of that. But to say "He proved in April he was bad" is kind of ridiculous. One month? From a guy who more often than not starts cold, AND was injured? I think if you re-tool that quickly with known commodity players, you end up screwing yourself in the end.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 11:56 AM) But more than the price of inflation. Oil is a pretty standard hedge against a weak dollar these days. My uneducated guess: Oil stays 130-150 in the near future. If Bernanke raises interest rates, oil starts to trend back down towards 100-110. It does go beyond inflation and valuation, yes. As you say, some use it as a hedge. But I think this needs some perspective here - the price of oil is not being driven primarily by the dollar. Its a factor.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 11:11 AM) For the record I just wanna say that Iam not saying the Sox should trade Konerko.But this mentality going around this team of totally dismissing bad performance because what they did two and three years ago drives me crazy.There should be some type of consequence for not doing your job,maybe you should sit for a game or a week.Put the players in that are going to get it done that day and stop nurturing their fragile egos. And for the record, I don't think anyone is saying that players should be kept in because of what they did "two or three years ago". When I say look at his career, I mean that its a good indicator that from now until the end of the season, there's a good chance that PK will hit very well. Therefore, he is the best option. I really don't think anyone is saying keep him in there as some sort of reward or something.

This thread is pretty hilarious. A guy who is a HUGE 2nd half hitter in his career, who is just coming off rehab, and was hampered by an injury and the first half... and you want to get rid of him NOW?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 10:14 AM) The weak $ may be the #1 reason the price of oil is so high right now (from the US perspective). Oil was in the 30's only a few years ago. So unless inflation has been about 400% since then, the weak dollar isn't the primary reason. A contributor no doubt - just not the majority of the price increase.