WCSox

QUOTE(Sox1422 @ Apr 17, 2006 -> 07:31 AM) Just said that JR told KW that AJ, Crede, Freddy, and Cotts need to get haircuts. He said JR "doesn't want to be like the Yankees, but he doesn't want to be the Red Sox either". While it would be an outright tragedy if of our players were to look like Red Sox-era Johnny Damon, cutting Crede's hair may result in a Samson-like slump. Agreed with KW about the tarp-sliding, though. It's only cute until somebody injures himself.

QUOTE(heirdog @ Apr 17, 2006 -> 07:48 AM) Give the guy a break...he's had less than 40 ABs this season and already he's the worst blah blah blah. Anderson is pressing right now and maybe we lost one game because of that...highly doubtful since we lost 13-7 and not 3-2. Sure we would have won 18-13 if Anderson had just homered in each of those at-bats when he left the men on base... Agreed. Rookies take time to catch up to major-league pitching. If he plays solid defense and hits 9th in the order, it's not a big deal. If he continues to hit below the Mendoza Line, we have Mackowiak.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 16, 2006 -> 07:15 PM) Iguchi is a big boy. I'm sure he understands that Garcia's frustration wasn't personal. Freddy probably just threw his hands up because he wanted it over and it was a natural reaction. I don't think anyone really thinks Garcia was trying to show Iguchi up. ^^^ Freddy gets emotional on the field and I'm sure that his teammates understand that. No big deal. Plus, nobody would intentionally rip Tad's defense after the play he made in the 9th yesterday.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Apr 16, 2006 -> 06:40 PM) Cleveland got worse, Detroit will be tucked away in 4th in about 2 weeks. Yeah, Cleveland may only win 90 games this year. Detroit is definitely better and may win 80, but it's difficult to imagine much more than that.

QUOTE(Wedge @ Apr 16, 2006 -> 04:46 PM) The bullpen really scares me. Hopefully it does not prove to be the Achilles Heel of an otherwise dominant team. Agreed. If Hermanson can't come back and pitch effectively by the break, KW's going to have to trade for another setup man. As many predicted, Politte isn't going to get the job done. Logan may or may not be trustworthy in big games later on and Thornton's track record suggests that he probably won't. On the bright side, our rotation alone will keep us in contention (even if Garland has a down year). The addition of future HOFer Thome and subtraction of Carl "No Plate Discipline" Everett is already paying off huge dividends. Our lineup will definitely take more pressure off of our pitching this year. Our bench is better than last year and we're top-notch defensively. Despite the slow start, 95 wins and another trip to the playoffs still look very probable.

Alright, I gave 2k6 a full week and finally gave up on it. I coulddn't stand when any pitch not right over the heart of the plate becoming a wild pitch when the CPU had runners on base. Even manually altering the pitching and hitting levels didn't help. No Brandon McCarthy on the roster pissed me off as well. You suck ass, 2k Sports. Read a very good review of The Show on the web and rented it. Liked it so much that I bought it the next day. It's a hundred times better. My only gripes are that the outfielders all play defense like Willie Mays and the players' current contracts/salaries are nowhere near reality. Other than that, there's little to complain about. Sony did a fantastic job.

I like, "Talk to me when you get a ring." If that doesn't work, you can always get in their face and yell, "NINETEEN-O-EIGHT!!! [clap, clap, clap-clap-clap]"

FWIW, Ventura charged the mound after Nolan Ryan plunked him and I wouldn't consider Robin a "hothead" at all.

QUOTE(Steff @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 09:43 AM) Maybe the same reason people put together sites for things they like.... Like say... a Sox website for Sox fans. :rolly There's a difference between putting up a site for fans of something and putting up a site to be against something or somebody. :rolly

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 10:26 AM) Yeah. We need photographical evidence! Forkball it over. Soliciting kiddie porn over the Internet isn't a good idea.

QUOTE(T R U @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 10:18 AM) You need to play MVP then, its better than Triple Play.. and way better than MLB 2k6 The graphics alone are so much better.. Have you noticed yet that the baserunners round first no matter where you hit it.. That was what pissed me off the most Yeah, that is kind of stupid. I'm pretty sure that there's a "hold all runners" button, though. If I end up no liking 2k6 after a month or two, I might pick up a used copy of MVP '05. Is MVP supposed to be some sort of a continuation of the Triple Play series? Both are made by EA, correct?

QUOTE(POPPY_HIDALGO @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 09:47 AM) I just hope Konerko doesn't spend too much time on the DL for receding hair line.

Thome will end up with more career homers than Lee.

Why anybody would spend that much time putting together an anti-Hawk web site is beyond me. And they have freaking message boards?! What a bunch of douche bags...

Thome will end up with more rings.

Haven't purchased a baseball game for several years (I'm more of a Madden guy) and haven't had time for games in general over the past few years, but I received a $40 gift certificate for Amazon.com and decided to give 2k6 a try. I've only played it for about 4 hours but, FWIW, here are my initial thoughts of the PS2 version... - I was somewhat disappointed in the graphics. They remind me of the crappy 2k1 game that came out on Dreamcast (the one with Pedro on the cover). Overall, I'd say that 2k Sports is about four years behind the curve. The graphics aren't BAD, mind you... just not as good as they could be. - The audio is better. Miller says some stuff that doesn't make much sense, but that actually adds to the realism IMO. I enjoyed Jeanne Zelasko making fun of the Cubs in the pre-game show. - I really like the pitching controls. The pitch selections seem to accurately match what the individual pitchers feature in real life. The hitting, on the other hand, is less spectacular. - No Brandon McCarthy on the Sox roster. Grrrrr! - On the other hand, the batting stances and pitching motions of the individual players are well-mimicked. The Cell is accurately-depicted as well. - Pitchers get overly-nervous is save situations. Yeah, I realize that they're trying to mimic reality, but they took it a bit too far. In the real world, Bobby Jenks has SOME command with a one-run lead in the 9th. - The one thing that really irritates me is the way that the CPU outright screws you once you take the lead. It seems that whenever I'm up by a couple runs in the 5th or 6th with an opponent on base, anything that I throw that's remotely out of the strike zone becomes a wild pitch. For some reason, I usually end up throwing multiple wild pitches in such innings. It's complete bulls***. After getting screwed by the CPU, I actually managed to pull back into the lead in one of the games. The CPU then forced four singles off of Jenks in the top of the 9th to tie. Thome hit what should've been a walk-off homer in the 13th, but the CF ran up the RCF wall and snagged it. Complete bulls***. I don't mind this kind of crap in the advanced modes, but all of what I described happend on the "Rookie" setting. Outside of that last point, it's a pretty decent game. I'd probably give it a 7/10. I'm still trying to get the hang of it and will probably enjoy it more after I learn all of the controls. Never had the opportunity to play MVP, but I was a big fan of the Triple Play series back in the '90s. I thought that TP was a more exciting game, but 2k6 is still much, much better than 2k1 for Dreamcast.

If the Cubs win the WS this year, I'll be at church every day begging for salvation. The end of the world will be upon us.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 04:14 PM) Which would be the longest contract the Sox have signed a pitcher for, at least in the JR reign. Face of the franchise? Not that important He could be gone, but I think he won't be gone until his usefullness to the team is over, then adios and who cares really where he goes? Buehrle will most likely get a four-year-deal. I think he'll be re-signed for two reasons: (1) His pitching style puts less wear and tear on one's elbow and shoulder than power pitchers and (2) his career and playoff numbers are good, but not great... meaning that they won't have to pay him an obnoxious Johnson- or Clemens-like salary.

QUOTE(Soxy @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 06:23 PM) Hey, I'll work 6 years for endless job security. . . QUOTE(Soxy @ Apr 7, 2006 -> 06:29 AM) Are you including grad school? I think it's partially the school and how much you publish and how widely your stuff is cited and used in the field. At a university that ranks in the Top 50 or so in your program, you're looking at 80-90 hours/week for five or six straight years. And that's after 5-6 years of grad school and 2-3 years of postdoctoral work. For a university that's less research-intensive and/or doesn't have a Ph.D. program, you're looking at about 60 hours/week after the 7-9 years of grad school/postdoc.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 04:27 PM) Um..The A's had a game that night. And he said the following: My mistake. That said, do you honestly think that he would've come back and shook hands with Kenny?

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 04:05 PM) Well, no, I think Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, Neal Cotts, Paul Konerko, etc etc brought us a championship -- and Frank was apart of that. Our offense was clearly better with Frank in the lineup than without him. Yeah, and Frank played for what - a month? He contributed, but a lot less than the guys you named. Paulie called him out a few years ago for showing up late and not being a leader. And he got into a well-documented piss fight with Manuel back in ST of 2000. Frank wasn't as big a douchebag as Sosa, but few players are. It's not that I view Frank as a negative, but I just grew tired of his bulls*** over the past five years. It became rather obvious to me that he has an ego the size of Montana and wasn't the best teammate in the world. That said, he's the greatest hitter in franchise history, was great to the fans when he was here, and I still respect him overall. Agreed that the comparison might not be fair overall, but the manner in which they left their respective teams is comparable. If Frank hadn't started a war-of-words with KW and attended the ring ceremony (like Rowand), a lot of people would've thought more highly of him.

QUOTE(Soxfest @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 03:40 PM) Garland, Contreras, Garcia one will go in trade, MB will sign longterm. I'd be surprised if Garcia was in a Sox uniform next April.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 03:35 PM) And yet, when Oakland visits the Sox on May 22nd, I'll bet that 90% of the stadium will be giving Thomas a standing ovation. IIRC, Ozzie Guillen didn't exactly leave the organization on great terms, yet ask the casual fan right now if he remembers that? Of course, Ozzie brought us a championship and Frank didn't. Big difference. Ozzie also didn't get into a childish war of words through the media with Ron Schueler after he left. Nor did he throw several fits about his contract through the media during the last six years of his tenure. If I had a chance of being in the stands on May 22nd, I'd be giving Frank a standing ovation as well. However, you can't deny that the way he exited the organization pissed off a lot of the fans. Frank could've been our version of Stan Musial or Ted Williams. Instead, he chose to be our version of Sammy Sosa. :headshake

Everett and Frank should've made note of the way that Rowand and Ventura left the White Sox. Whatever beef they had with JR, Kenny, or Scheuler, those guys realized that keeping their egos in check and exiting with class was incredibly important to the fans.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Apr 10, 2006 -> 12:41 PM) He does? Neal has looked absolutely fine to me. I'm not worried about him. He may not repeat his 60 innings of 2.00 ERA-quality pitching, but I like his chances of being a very effective lefty specialist again. I'm not even worried about Pods (although I'd like Ozzie to put him on the DL is he really is injured). On the other hand, Politte scares me. His age and career numbers strongly suggest that last year was a fluke. With Hermanson gone (possibly indefinitely), I don't want Politte being the "bridge" to the 9th inning.