Drew

17/20. I can't believe I missed and , but who in the hell is , anyway?

QUOTE (earthshiner @ Sep 30, 2009 -> 07:18 PM) I believe parking at the metrodome is $8 bucks. I lived in Minneapolis in 2003. That price for Twins parking seems about right. Vikings was triple that. Dodger Stadium is $15, but in a stadium that seats over 50,000 in Los Angeles, that means that you have about 25,000 cars. Angel Stadium is $8. I don't know how Arte Moreno does it, but baseball would be a better place if more people followed his lead. Last summer when I was there I remember parking at Fenway running about $30-some. Staples Center for Kings games runs $20 as of last season. I don't give a damn about basketball but I'd imagine with an average ticket running a bill to see the Lakers, parking is marked up as well.

Carlos Quentin's trip and fall is a metaphor for the season in so many ways. Stupid decision-making. Sloppy play. Bad luck. We've got at least one run. On paper.

QUOTE (thedoctor @ Sep 15, 2009 -> 01:46 PM) gonzalez did acknowledge this was mostly baseless speculation on his part lest anyone get their hopes too high. Pun intended?

Ichiro makes $20MM per annum and the Mariners suck—if they're not selling tickets, Shakespeare still gotta get paid. Let's just say that most sports memorabilia just is not my taste. Double-matted glossy photos on wood plaques with engraved brass plates, Bradford Mint plates, and logo-shaped throw pillows don't play in my mid-century modern bachelor shoebox. I've got a vintage bobblehead doll from the 1950s (whose head has been repaired after an earthquake knocked it from where it sits), and the 'Believe It!' Tribune frontpage under glass. Then there are my ticket stubs, the cap I wore to the World Series, and my DVD sets from 05. I've also got a box full of sports pages and magazines. I'd spring for a vintage pennant from the early 80s or before, or if I could find a Winning Ugly tee from '83 I'd frame and hang it. (I've looked.)

QUOTE (oldsox @ Sep 6, 2009 -> 10:21 PM) Where does Figgins play if we sign him? I think that depends on what you do with Podsednik and the DH role. The only legitimate place I see for Figgins is left field, which means you get rid of Dye, move Quentin to right, and Rios in center. And that's an outfield that I think is a step up over the current one. Figgins is a better defender than Podsednik and can play almost anywhere. of course it presents a different set of circumstances. • How much more does Podsednik have in the tank? • Is Figgins at 4/40 worth that much more than Podsednik at what he'd command? • Ostensibly in such a scenario, Podsednik DHs. Is his offensive production worth a roster spot, as he isn't good enough to be a 4th OF? • What does run production look like?

There's a reason Kenny could acquire Rios for what he did. The guy is having a bad year, just like pretty much everyone else in the White Sox clubhouse. It happens.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Sep 2, 2009 -> 04:31 PM) hmmm...and what if the Sox face the Dodgers in the World Series? I have a friend who works for the League Office, so I'll have tickets, that's what. I'm walking distance from Dodger Stadium, and there's a stellar Chicago Pizza place on the way. Masa of Echo Park. Never mind the owners print 'Cubs in ’09' at the bottom of every receipt.

Kenny's gone out got a legitimate centerfielder in Alex Rios and an elite starting pitcher in Jake Peavy who is running into some bad luck getting healthy. Wilson Betemit, who made a career out of being a serviceable bench player was a miserable flop. But with a payroll the size of the White Sox, watching this team has been like driving an old jalopy. Players who cost the most amount of wins: José Contreras. Scott Linebrink. Alexei Ramirez. Bobby Jenks has had a few rough spots and health problems. Mark Buehrle has been horrid in the outings since his perfect game, but he's battled hard without his best stuff and given quality starts on at least a few—the offense simply didn't pick him up. You can't fault Carlos Quentin for his injuries, but the offense suffered without his production. For much of the season, Ozzie Guillen was forced to rely upon a cast of inexperienced players like Chris Getz or those who simply weren't very good—like Brent Lillibridge, DeWayne Wise and Brian Anderson. You don't pitch well and your defense gives away too many extra outs, your bats are cold, it's a miracle the White Sox are a .500 team.

With an effort like Floyd's, even with all four earned runs and an offense like we do, we should be winning a game like this.

My background is in graphic design and advertising and I still do some freelance work. Now I design and build the rooms you see in the IKEA Burbank showroom. Sometimes, I take my work home.

I've lived in Los Angeles for what will be five years this spring. 2 years in Burbank, one year in Koreatown and now I live in Echo Park, where I can walk to Dodger Stadium. This neighborhood is everything I want and was in a 2008 list of America's top neighborhoods put together by NPR. Long a haven for working-class families, artists, musicians, and activists, this hilly little enclave north of downtown and east of Hollywood fits me like a glove. It's not far from Downtown, which is enjoying a renaissance thanks to the art community and a lot of new bars and restaurants springing up in gutted old buildings. I could do without a lot of the rest of Los Angeles, personally. Hollywood's only worth Amoeba and the Sunday Farmer's Market. Some really beautiful gems of neighborhoods like West Adams and Hancock Park tucked in a bunch of tired been-there, done-that localities like West Hollywood and Beverly Hills that are cramped full of pricey plasticity. Beaches, I like Venice. Santa Monica is prettier and more posh, but just as pricey. Otherwise... San Francisco. A nice little weekend getaway with great food, amazing vibe that is nowhere else but there. Chicago. It's home. Boston. Was there last Summer for the Fenway series, lots of charm and character, beautiful and ancient. Need to go back. Austin. Was there for a wedding 3 weeks ago, very cool college town, good restaurant scene and full of people passionate about where they live. Love the 'Keep Austin Weird' support of local businesses. Nashville. I like visiting there a hell of a lot more than I did living there in '04. Honky tonking on Broadway and buying art at Hatch Show Print is not a bad way to spend a weekend. Minneapolis/St. Paul. I spent 2002-03 here, still have a few great friends in the area. Cosmopolitan and friendly, clean, beautiful with a quirky small-town vibe. Everyone is a big hockey fan, which I love. Washington, D.C.. I was there for Cherry Blossom season in 2002, and was floored with how beautiful it was. DuPont Circle, Foggy Bottom and Adams-Morgan are my favorite spots, and another place where I have friends that need visiting. I'll be in New Orleans this fall, which I am sure I can add when I get home. Honestly, I don't get all the hubbub over New York City. I've been once. It's an amazing place. But so many people I've met who are from or have lived there insist that if you're happy where you live, you would be happier in New York. If there's something cool or unique about your hometown, New York has one bigger, better, and had it first. God help you if you get in a conversation with more than one New Yorker, it is inevitable that the topics will default to this.

Underachievers. The '09 Sox are making mistakes and losing games that good teams don't. The Twinkies are overachievers because they play fundamentally-sound ball, are well-managed and as such, always seem to rise to the occasion. Alexei Ramirez is a perfect metaphor for this team—talented, capable, even likable—but oft-flaky and unfocused.

good teams don't play this way.

Podsednik better be buying a steak dinner for his pitchers. Quentin's sac fly scores him if he wasn't asleep on third.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 08:44 PM) Luck has f***ing nothing to do with it. I am going to sound like Hawk, but the strike zone is the size of Holy Name Cathedral and Alex Rios was called out on a a ball he didn't even swing at and Podsednik's hit last inning looked close enough to call fair. (I'm watching on a stream).

My advice? Get your hotel reservations like, four weeks ago. Around that time of year, hotels fill up fast with all the parents helping their kids move into the dorms. Several college campuses in a very small city/downtown area all starting session at roughly the same time. I was there for the White Sox series at Fenway and ended up staying with a friend of mine because we couldn't get a hotel anywhere. Do go have a meal at Il Trattoria Panino on Paramenter in the North End.

Kotsay is the guy I wish Kenny would have got last year instead of Griffey.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 28, 2009 -> 04:41 PM) Is he going to buy Jenks an expensive bottle of Pepsi instead?

QUOTE (whitesoxmanager @ Jul 25, 2009 -> 03:47 PM) soxfan1 watch the video....click on the raccoon....i became an overnight vegetarian. its ok not to like me soxfan1 but come on dude... http://www.peta.org/feat/ChineseFurFarms/index.asp PeTA thrives on sensationalism, give money to terrorist groups, and euthanizes animals they can't find homes for. They also employ diabetics who are kept alive by drugs tested on animals. I'd take anything on their site with a grain of salt. Penn & Teller did a funny exposé on them in their Bullshit! series. There's a lot that goes on in agribusiness that's not humane—but as Bittman says, let's get the numbers down first and then go forward. IMO, people tend to miss the forest for the trees—they outlaw things like foie gras, but pay little mind to the feed lots talked about in books like Fast Food Nation. Point being, foie gras production is not humane, but it's a luxury consumed very sparingly by a very small percentage of the population. The feed lots that supply most of the beef consumed...well, people don't want to give up their steaks and hamburgers, so outlawing foie gras makes them feel like they're doing something that matters. I don't hunt, but I'm not bothered by people who do (unless you pick off wolves from airplanes). It's far more humane and judicious use or resources to kill an animal quickly that would otherwise die off of disease in the wild, and use the meat for food. I am an avid cook, and I do eat meat—although less than I used to. This was my motivation. I usually only eat one meat-based meal per day, and cut back on the portion sizes.

good god.

QUOTE (dbaho @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 02:30 AM) Hey they've owned us at their park, but we've done a very good job against them so far this season, especially at our home ground, and that should be a positive, especially considering the Twinkies aren't going to be playing in that dome for much longer. The dome should have been the World Series MVP in 1987 and '91. Combined World Series record for those two seasons was 8-0 at home, 0-6 away. They benefitted from luck of the draw in alternating home field advantage in those years and that damned dome. Aside from the fact that the building looks like the Michelin man had a heart attack and collapsed dead in the middle of an otherwise very nice downtown, I don't know why they would ever want to move to a new park.

I like the Stone Pony nickname, but it's nowhere near as good as Tom 'Wimpy' Paciorek. Hawk's a homer, Stone is an honest and knowledgeable baseball man with lucid commentary. Finally we have someone good enough to parry Hawk.