Jim Fainter

I know this is Hawk Harrelson's department, but maybe we can help and think of a few original nicknames. I mean, "The Big Hurt" is one of the all time best. Until I started reading the brilliant comments on this net, I didn't have particularly strong feelings about K-layton, but if the rumors about him are true, I would call him "The Tropic of Cancer." I always referred to our great rightfielder as "Maggie May" after that great song by Rod Stewart, but no one else has. Maybe if our organist would play that song when he comes to bat.

I was reading about some Sox oldtimers in another topic, so I thought I would start a new one on that subject. Regarding Aparicio, no one in my lifetime was ever better, including Ozzie. Tremendous range either way, shotgun arm, double play, coming in on grounders, going back for popups, they will never touch him. When Looey played in his early years, there was not instant replay, so you had to see it live or you missed it. I saw many of his great plays live. I can't prove it it, but they will never touch him, or at least no one has yet, in my opinion. The dumbest moves the Sox ever made were to trade him (twice). The ironic thing is that when he got old and his range decreased, and he decided to retire without fanfare, he had learned how to hit. Look it up. He was a .300 hitter his last two years. And another thing..........other players, mainly Maury Wills and Lou Brock, have been given the credit for reinventing the stolen base, but it was Aparicio. Regarding Lollar, he was solid behind the plate. I think the pitchers loved him. I met Early Wynn before he died, and he spoke very well of Sherm. Regardiing Landis, he was the best of his brief time as a centerfielder. He could not hit worth a lick when he came up, then around June of 1959 something clicked and he became a fine clutch hitter, and two years or so later he couldn't hit again. His star shined only for about two years or so, and it was very bright. In the Sox pennant year of 1959, he was tremendous. Nellie got the MVP, Landis should have been runner up.

Paul Konerko is still improving. He has not leveled out yet. DelGado probably has. I think Paul has another two years before he finds his skill level as a hitter.

Rick White, Heredia, Loaiza, and now Kenny Rogers, who is advised by the hated Scott Boros............... First of all, we have so many good, young pitchers, we should play them and see what cream rises to the top, just like we did with Mark B. Play them while they are still cheap. Those four guys mentioned above are just going to take up valuable innings, and we'll end up losing our own pitchers in a few years without ever finding out which ones are really good. By then those four guys will be out of baseball. Plus we will overpay for them, and they will probably stink up the joint with lousy performances. Rogers over Rauch??? White over Munoz???Heredia and Loaiza over Sanders and Diaz??? I just don't get it. Its money down the drain. And as a footnote, I don't want Kenny Williams and Scott Boros to even get in the same room together, unless it is an armed duel.

Help me out. Who is he?

Cub fans should be gelded.

If we get Rollins, how do we keep him away from Frank's ex-wife and girlfriend du jour? PS. I don't like the trade. We have to throw guys like Rauch into the fire to see what they have before we trade them. Every team in the bigs would love to have Rauch. We should get something more than a shortstop with Royce Klayton numbers.

Rex: Miles' stats speak for themselves. How about his intangibles? Speed, arm, range, hustle, attitude, intincts, etc.

Biggest impact, either good or bad, will be Frank. If he hits, we'll be tough to beat. If he falls apart like a 29 cent mop, we have problems.

As much as I love Maggs, he is no Centerfielder. He did play it in a pinch 2-3 years ago, and he was not very good. He plays so deep, he has no chance on most balls hit in front of him. He is strictly a corner outfielder.

Our season will depend on how we do in head to head games with the Twinkies. If the Twinkies beat us like a drum again, the season will be just like bad whiskey. I think our players realize that. And I would rather have Rauch on the mound than Kenny Rogers. If we can afford Rogers, give the money to Mark Buerhle.

TO: LDF. Right on. Where do we put them? That's why we should not be in the market for more slugs like Rick White. (I do not put the Flasher in that category)

Thanks. Your link said that Great Falls was in Montreal--Assume they meant Montana.

I noticed on the White Sox Web Page that we are showing a Class A Rookie League team in Great Falls. Is this a replacement for Bristol, or an additional team?

For whatever reason, Sandy always seems to start fast--he hits well in April. I'll take all the hits I can get in the first month. That will give Olivo time to get his bearings, get adjusted to life in the bigs, find a girlfriend in Chicago, etc. By mid May we'll have a pretty good idea if he is ready.

I'm pulling for Jason Stumm also. I was just surprised that he was in somebody's top 3. I saw him interviewed by the Hawk right after he signed, and he seemed like a great kid. Now he seems like a great competitor. I hope he gets healthy enough to have a decent year at a high enough classification this year, because I think he has to be promoted to the 40 man roster at the end of this year or be vulnerable to the draft. TO Jim Bullard: I know Jason pitched an inning vs the Rockies in the Hall of Fame game last summer, and he really got lit up. Was he hurt either before or during that one game?

TO: LDF. Your top three pitching prospects include Strumm?

I agree. And Cub fans are still stupid. I think it's genetic.

I prefer to compare Sox fans and Cub fans. I'll admit that for now, they outnumber us. I chalk it up to poor breeding habits combined with questionable media techniques. But for as long as I can remember, Cub fans are stupid. I am probably the oldest person on soxnet, so I go back a looooong ways. For generations now, if a Cubbie is at bat with men on and he pops up to short, the crowd cheers and then they groan in unison as the enemy shortstop settles under the pop up and catches it. As if they were robbed. If they are not stupid, then they don't understand baseball, which makes them stupid.

Two weeks to go to Spring Training as I write this. I don't like to recommend managing from a negative, but it might make some sense with the Sox in 2003. We have a lot going for us this year to maintain positive thinking, BUT.............. We (JM, KW, JR) have to avoid anyone on the Sox having a year like Todd Ritchie had last year. I said it before on some other post (I can't remember where) that if you plug Ritchie's performance into any of last year's playoff teams, they would not be a playoff team. End of story. I mean, he was 5-15, ERA over 6, 176 hits, 57 walks in 133 innings!!! That kind of performance was absolutely devastating to the Sox last year. It would be devastating to any team, including the 2003 White Sox. Why he was allowed to flounder for so long is beyond me, but all of that is ancient history. It can't happen again. If it does, we have no chance. We have so much depth that there is no excuse for it to happen this year. I can't stress this enough, and if I keep saying it, I would just be redundant, but if any Sox player approaches the performance of Todd Ritchie, whether it is caused by injury or not, set him down, please. Then we can win this thing.

Hell just take up roster space and cost money. Those innings can go to one of our kids. We have to find out which ones can pitch in the bigs.

You might have been thinking about Guillermo Reyes. Am I wrong but, it seems as if we have so many more legitimate, big time potential prospects than we did 2-3 years ago. It seems as if then we were reaching to say something good about our young guys. I remember when our two best pitching prospects were Aaron Myette and Kevin Bierne. I never thought either one had big league potential. Now we have a s***potful, including our own Mr. Bullard.

As things stand right now, almost on the eve of Spring Training, who does the Sox Brass rate higher as potential big league Center Fielders: Anthony Webster or Jeremy Reed?

TO: Molto: When do you plan on revising your top 25 list? I bet when you do it will include Anthony Webster and Jim Bullard. Speaking of which, I think it is tremendous that one of our minor league players (J. Bullard) took the time to correspond to all of us, and I hope you continue making comments in Spring Training and whereever you end up playing this year.

I liked his comment on the Royals.