FlaSoxxJim

Yeah but 600mL is pretty huge isn't it? C'mon, you know we don't go in fer that metrics stuff up top here.

I planned on closing out this self-serving (excuse to talk about beer) thread last night with the Philly beer and ballparks connection. Then we got rained out and I ended up doing real work instead. I wouldn't bother to add this now, except there's a (kind of) White Sox tie in that's pretty cool trivia – plus I have an excuse to talk about beer... At least until the closing of Connie Mack Stadium, the most visible beer in Philadelphia was not even brewed in Philadelphia. A 60-foot tall Ballantine (then brewed across the river in New Jersey) scoreboard in right-center field was a prominent feature of the park – so prominent that for a while the announcers referred to homeruns as "Ballantine Blasts." Balls hitting anywhere below the top of the sign were actually in play – very strrange. In fact, only two people ever hit long balls over the sign (here's the kind of Sox tie in): Dick Allen did it in 1965 as a Phillie, and Wes Covington did it in 1966 as a Cub. The scoreboard actually came from Yankee Stadium and was installed at Connie Mack in 1956. Like so many venerable old brands Ballantine Ale was sold from brewery to brewery and after the original Newark brewery folded, and it eventually pretty much disappeared. When getting the finishing touches on the new Citizens Bank Park together, the stadium operators thought it would be cool and nostalgic to bring back Ballantine. They tracked it down in the Miller portfolio, being produced in small volumes at their Ohio facility, and Miller agreed to ship bottles to Philadelphia for sale at the stadium. A pretty cool little touch I think, and a nod to tradition that the organizations and stadium managers rarely take the time to get right.

I think you hit it on the head. At the same time, how far do you think the goodwill is going to go if Putin does tthe right thing and ratifies Kyoto, bringing it into force and forcing compliance despite Bush's monumental efforts to crush it? Putin is under enormous pressure from us and from many powers in Russia NOT to sign, and that he is still considering signing on is to his credit, at least on this one issue.

I'll have my 4 year old boy and 6 year old girl (she's my diehard Sox buddy!) in tow as well that day. Grandma and Papa will also be there so hopefully they can do the potty shuttle and chase down the cotton candy guy so I can watch the game. Of course we are wisely leaving the kids home with Grandma for Cubs/Sox. I don't think their vocabulary needs to be expanded by taking in all the colorful language that will no doubt be flying around.

I understand your line of argument, but I don't ascribe to it. I've never personally claimed to have no interest in the Cubs. In fact I dislike them so much that it really warms my heart to see the Sox play them well and hopefully win the series' against them this year. Even though it's not an on-field rivalry with a long history, it is as intense as any in the game. off the field we all know the story. As far as paying a premium to see one game versus spending the same amount to see three or four other games, I again see your side of it but don't concur. I'll be at the Indians day game the day before the Friday Cobs/Sox and I'll have a ball, but it won't be the same as being at a sold out park with the kind of intensity. Sometimes you pay a premium for special events and it's cool if you're not willing to pay that too. Fortunately it's not the $1000 ticket broker insanity we saw at Wrigley last year for the Yankees games, and that is crazy. But for me, I only get to a handful of games a year, and I go into hock to fly my family in to do it. In the scheme of things, the price of a ballgame is, within reason, not going to be the deal breaker.

Your financial assessment is dead on, sadly. But those present realities can change – with the unlikely event combination of the Sox excelling on field and management doing all the right things off-field. Either one without the other will not get appreciably more people through the turnstyles. In the JR Bizzaro world of 'Come to the park first and then I'll spend more on the team,' our payroll situation will not improve without management doing the right things here and the team staying firmly in the hunt.

Well... damn. It's not fair for me to blast the org without knowing all the details I guess, but if a deal fell through because of deferred money BS I'll be really ticked off. As far as people getting mad at Cowley or any other local reporters for breaking the story, sometimes these guys can't win either way. The local media has been on the hot seat to either confirm or deny the substance of the New York piece, and now that someone of known credibility has cleared up at least soem of the story, people are going to be mad at him for that. I just know a future without Magglio is bleak prospect. If he was being remotely reasonable about money and years we should be building around him, not without him.

crap - back to 2nd place...

He was born into crushing poverty, watched his younger brother drown in the tub when he was 5, went blind for unexplained reasons when he was 7, was an orphan at 15 raised as a ward of the state in a school for the blind, had a serious heroin addiction from the 50s through the mid-60s... Yeah, good times...

And in all likelihood it will make a difference and need to be made up just before the divisional playoffs. Sox and/or Phillies should both be in it at the end, and unless they are both more than a game in back or in front of the next closest team in the standings (divisional races and WC), at least one meaningful outcome will depend on the game getting played. Did I make any sense...?

I got 6 in right field for 6/25 just right of the fan deck from stub hub for a little under $100 each. The fact that I needed more than 4 and the fact that I wasn't going to fly in with my family without tickets lined up meant I needed to pay a little more than I would have liked. No complaints, I'm getting jazzed already! Sox at Marlins one week from tonight! Tribe at Sox the week after! Scrubs at Sox the next day! Crap, the rest of the summer is gonna blow after that...

Really tragic - I can't even comprehend it. And sadly, unless it is ice-cold water and the thermal shock triggers a bradycardic (slowed metabolism) response, there is practically no chance of coming out without severe brain damage after more than 5 minutes. That said, WHAT THE f***!! The mother of the girl that the poor kid saved is mostly worried about 'getting her into counseling when this all dies down'??!! When exactly is it going to "die down" for the kid or the family of the kid that is the sole reason your daughter is alive?? Not that the boy's parents are much better (though no parent should have to go through this). Why does a 6, 5, and 4-year old have free reign in that apartment complex anyway? It's bulls*** latchkey non-parenting, and a 6 year old (who is very much a hero) is going to be brain-damaged, brain-dead, or worse because of it. My thoughts are with this boy.

Steff is wise and speaks the truth. My Bro has stayed calm and been able to snag single seat Cubs/Sox tickets for not much more than face at Jimbo's day of game for the last three years. He's also actually gotten a ticket for well under face in front of the park, but had to miss like an inning and a half before the guy budged on his price. It's a bit of a gamble to go and not have tickets, especially if you are road tripping, but it's doable if you only need singles and aren't picky about where you are sitting.

I don't use terms like 'American Institution' very often in referencing people, but if there is such a thing Ray was it. The man literally invented soul music. Brother Ray

I agree there is no basis for litigation – the finepring on your ticket tells you foul balls annd broken bats are a hazard of viewing the game. At the same time, I wonder if she had not been in legal attack mode in approaching Fenway and the organisation, maybe they would have been more sympathetic and helped with some of the expenses. If she had been hit by a markee player he might have paid for some of the expenses on his own – not out of legal obligation or even guilt necessarily (stuff happens), but out of compassion and because they would be in financial position to do so. In all honesty, the amount she was asking for was not frivolous lawsuit-typ money – 3 million dollars because I spilled hot coffee on my lap or I ignored 30 years of cigarette warnings and now I'm dying. $500K is a reasonable claim for medical expenses and lost wages, but again I agree the organisation should be under no legal obligation to pay anything. Being the litigous society we are, I doubt this is the end of this case.

You just gonna 'whip a little something up' for us all, huh?

One of those things my Grandpa used to say. Then he died before I could ask him what the hell he was smoking...

Or if Carlos connected with the bags loaded... If wishes were fishes, right?

Dang that was close. Nice play by Rollins.

Who said something about leaving with our dignity?!

Who the f*** wants extras??

OK! Now just... 7 more?

Last man standing...

Get her WHAT?

Holy crud - that's impressive. ...Unless you're a football coach and 'benching 300 lbs' refers to your handling of the second-string linebacker.