WCSox

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Mar 26, 2008 -> 12:07 PM) Actually, I was quite high on the White Sox going into 2005 because of their pitching staff and the addition of a true leadoff hitter and a catcher who could actually hit. Do you remember before 05 when we had 5th starter woes? What do you think of 3rd, 4th, AND 5th starter woes? You were "high" on Jose Contreras after his disasterous stint in NY, an apparently washed-up El Duque, an injured Frank, a not-quite-there-yet Garland, Dustin Hermanson, and an aging/declining Shingo Takatsu? I wasn't. And I was pretty pissed that Maggs and Carlos Lee were gone. Agreed that I liked Freddy back then as a #2 more than I like Javy right now and that the rotation was stronger in '05. Then again, the '05 Sox were abysmal at the plate... only two starters had an OBP of .350 or higher. I still don't understand the complaining about Uribe. Yeah, he can't hit for crap, but he's still pretty good defensively and it's not like his supporting cast (Paulie, Thome, Dye, Swisher, Cabrera, Crede... and Fields, if needed) isn't going score runs.

Nice. Thanks for posting.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Mar 26, 2008 -> 11:42 AM) Keep drinking the Kool-Aid, dude. If you're ecstatic the Sox didn't cut ties with Uribe, good for you... me? I'm a realist pessimist. Edited for accuracy. The Sox didn't exactly look like world-beaters going into 2005, either. Be fair and wait until June or so before declaring the Sox a "joke."

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 26, 2008 -> 08:02 AM) Seriously. Not that there aren't problems, but, the way some people post, you'd think the 2008 Sox were a wreck. The lineup is far better, the bullpen is far better, the bench overall (except Hall) will be better, and the team has a depth of young talent it didn't have before. That is balanced against a starting rotation that might have gotten worse, though we don't know that yet... and some concerns over guys like Fields and Quentin having their development slowed a bit. Overall, this is a much improved team. No kidding. I'm not nearly as excited as I was in '06 (or '01, or '91, or '94, for that matter), but I'm pretty pleased overall with the moves that were made in the off-season (except for Garland/Cabrera) and think that these guys have a legitimate shot at the playoffs. I don't understand the rampant pessimism. Or perhaps my perspective is just different, having watched the trash that the Sox ran out onto the field in the late '80s and late '90s.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 25, 2008 -> 10:00 AM) Baines also had his number retired about 35 homers and 150 rbi short of those final totals. Why are you comparing what Baines did in the '80s and early '90s to what Paulie has done in a more hitter-friendly ballpark with double-lacquered bats and a more tightly-wound ball? Harold hit .312 with 25 HRs and a 135 OPS+ under those conditions at age 40.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 24, 2008 -> 04:36 PM) Harold Baines gets a statue, nobody is aruing, but Konerko's White Sox numbers are similar and if he gets to equal at bats will be better than Harold's AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG. OBP 6149 786 1773 320 44 221 981 .288 .346 HB 4886 727 1386 256 5 269 866 .284 .356 PK You're comparing two different eras. Not to take away from what Paulie did in the '05 playoffs, but Crede and Contreras were the real MVPs. It's unfortunate that neither were recognized. Harold played for about 20 years, has 384 career HRs, came relatively close to 3000 hits, and is a legitimate HOF candidate. And he did the majority of it prior to the steroids era. Paulie has put up some impressive numbers, but has only been playing for about half the time and is nowhere near HOF status. I understand that being the "all-time Sox leader in..." carries a significant amount of weight, but I don't see how that makes him more deserving than (or as deserving as) a HOFer who "only" played for the Sox for half of a 20+ year career. Paulie's a very good player, a great guy (from what I know), and does a fine job of representing the Sox. It'd be nice to see him recognized with a statue at some point, but I think that it's WAY too early to call him a "lock." I'd say that Mark (who is has been more dominant at his position) probably has a better chance. But, again, it's too early to call.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 24, 2008 -> 11:16 AM) I wouldn't write off Pauly so quickly. If he gets another contract extention, we could be talking about the all time leading home run hitter in Chicago White Sox history. That isn't a light statement to make. I'm making the assumption that Paulie won't be in Chicago past 2010. If he does get that extension, and is productive into his late 30s, I agree that he'd have a strong case. Otherwise, the '05 playoffs are the only thing that separates him from guys like Maggs and Robin Ventura.

QUOTE(RibbieRubarb @ Feb 2, 2008 -> 09:55 AM) Any bets on who runs faster? The statue of Paul or Paul? I don't think that Paulie will have a statue to race. Because if they erect one for him, they're going to need statues for Robin Ventura, Roberto Hernandez, Maggs, and every other really-good-but-not-HOF-caliber former Sox player.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 16, 2008 -> 02:36 PM) John Snyder was 9-12 with a 6.68 ERA in 1999. I think he started out 7-0. Yep. IIRC, he out-dueled an in-his-prime Pedro early that year. QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 17, 2008 -> 11:25 AM) Garland was incredibly streaky during the course of his seasons. He would get on incredible tears, and then there would be months where he just got killed. His first year in the majors looks like something out of Floyds stat line in 70 IP. True dat. Jon took forever to develop. People need to stop getting their nuts in a twist about Floyd having a bad ST game. Dude doesn't even have 180 innings of ML service yet. If he doesn't pan out this year, then I agree that it'll probably be time to look at other options. But at least give the guy a chance.

QUOTE(joesaiditstrue @ Mar 7, 2008 -> 02:20 PM) angels radio guys were taking potshots at the sox offense pretty much all game lol, you could tell they were happy that they were blown out. Rex Huddler was whining about Game 2 of the '05 ALCS yesterday.

QUOTE(peckerhead johnson @ Mar 6, 2008 -> 06:11 PM)

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Mar 7, 2008 -> 09:24 AM) For how bad people think the Sox are going to do Those people apparently didn't pay attention to what the Sox have done in the off-season. I don't think that they'll win the Central, but I'd say that they're probably 10th in the league in terms of overall talent and have a legitimate shot at the WC.

QUOTE(haroldbainesknees @ Mar 5, 2008 -> 03:31 PM) We really can't be surprised by this. Nor does this particularly bother me. I am a fan of the Chicago White Sox, not the Charlotte Knights or Birmingham Barons. Thus, I would rather have a strong MLB team than a stronger farm system. No kidding. The Sox had an outstanding farm system back in the late '80s under Larry Himes. How many post-season wins did they get out of that group? IIRC, the Sox also had a Top 10 farm system back in the late '90s under Schueler. How many post-season wins did James Baldwin, Mike Sirotka, Kip Wells, Maggs, Carlos Lee, Ray Durham, and Keith Foulke garner? Of course, I agree with the general sentiment that our farm system needs to be revamped and that Kenny is probably not the best person to do that. But remember that intelligently signing/trading for veteran talent (Contreras, Garcia, El Duque, Hermanson, Politte, Vizcaino, Dye, Tad, Uribe, Everett) is what put us over the top in '05. Ideally, one would want to completely build a championship team from the ground up for financial reasons, but it rarely works out that way. I'll take a ring any way I can get it.

News flash: Co-workers sometimes don't get along! More at 10.

Is it just me, or are they not hitting many homers at all? That seems somewhat strange, with all of the two-baggers into the gaps.

QUOTE(Pants Rowland @ Mar 4, 2008 -> 01:11 PM) That depends on your interpretation of the organization. I consider Dusty Baker, his players, and the current ownership group the people who forced Stone out. Dusty and the players in question are gone and the ownership group will be changed in due time. The wild card is Hendry, who was also part of the problem. If he is retained as GM after the sale, it could be a big enough obstacle to keep Stone away. Otherwise, it is an entirely clean slate. With the Cubs/WGN/Wrigley myth creation and false nostalgia, I can see one of the first priorities of a lot of ownership groups being bringing Stoney back "home". IIRC, Hendry and McFail were the ones who forced him out. I don't see Stone going back there if Hendry's still around. But if he's gone, I agree that there's a shot that he returns.

QUOTE(Pants Rowland @ Mar 4, 2008 -> 12:44 PM) until Stone heads to the Cubs front office Stone's going to return to the organization that forced him out?

QUOTE(spiderman @ Mar 4, 2008 -> 11:50 AM) That Baseball Tonight would want a guy who can't speak in complete sentences That didn't stop ESPN from hiring Michael Irvin.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 4, 2008 -> 10:27 AM) As a testiment to how good John Rooney was, he made Farmer tolerable, especially compared to the last few years. I always liked Farmer as a color guy. As the main play-by-play guy? Meh. But as annoying as they can be at times, I couldn't imagine White Sox baseball without Farmer or Hawk. This sounds like a win-win. Singleton has some talent, but I was never that fond of him. I'd rather listen to DJ's commentary. Glad to hear that he's taking a step up, though. And even with Farmer still being somewhat out of place, Stone is one of the best color guys in baseball.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Mar 3, 2008 -> 09:01 AM) It's an embarrassment that we actually have to discuss whether Jerry f***ing Owens is going to be starting. Yeah, because the rest of the lineup (Swisher, Dye, Konerko, Cabrera, Fields/Crede, Thome) really sucks. :oldrolleyes: While there's still a question mark in CF, let's not pretend that it's an "embarrassment."

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Feb 28, 2008 -> 03:24 PM) There is something else to kinda think about. Lets say there is a Cubs game at 1:05, and the Sox are playing at 7:05. How is it going to look when the Cubs draw 37,000 during the day, and the Sox have 25,000 in the park that night? I don't think it's a huge deal, but it's publicity the Sox don't really need. I'd rather have that than the 100 Years of Futility publicity.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 06:01 PM) And he is definately too young to remember some of the nasty crazy stuff that happened at the orginal Comiskey Park. The Picnic area was the bleacher bums before Wrigley was cool. Yep, the good old days of drunk, shirtless working-class dudes with feathered hair and Marlboros hanging our of their mouths. I remember hearing some absolutely vile stuff about Dave Winfield's mother while enjoying an ice cream cone in the old Picnic Area. The Cell is very suburban and tame in comparison to old CP. QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Feb 28, 2008 -> 05:48 AM) I believe its in their lease. I'm not sure how things work in MLB, but I would think that JR & Co. would have grounds to fight it if they wanted to. Then again, I think that they'd look like a bunch of jerks if they did (although I must admit that I'd get a kick out of it).

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 03:16 PM) Honestly, for a 1 year thing, I wouldn't mind this at all. This would be a great way to market the Sox to all the Cub fans who have never been anywhere but historic Wrigley Field. Some of them would come back. It'd be worth it to force their fans look at the 2005 World Champion banner every time they went to a Cubs game. "Who's your daddy?"

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Feb 18, 2008 -> 06:20 AM) It actually was exactly what McNamee testified . The 2 wives were discussing and showing their augmentations to each other with Canseco and Clemens present. Birds of a feather... Clemens is inhumanly stupid. I still can't believe that he got himself into this mess.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 26, 2008 -> 03:41 PM) Josh Fields at 3b and Carlos Quentin in LF, both making the league minimum, is more valuable, by a long shot, than Josh Fields in LF and Joe Crede at 3rd base with Joe making $10 mil a year. I absolutely agree. I wasn't advocating that the Sox give Crede and his chronic back problems a contract extension. My point was that Fields could probably play both corner infield and outfield positions, and that versatility is an asset for a guy with 30-HR power.