WCSox

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Jan 3, 2006 -> 09:07 AM) And possibly if they made Jerusalem an international city. Originally they talked about that city being the head of the UN and belonging to no land. From what I've seen, that seems to be the biggest problem, as three major religions claim Jerusalem to be one of their major holy sites. By turning it completely over to the Israelis, the U.N. made a huge mistake.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 3, 2006 -> 08:31 AM) A little late, but a perfect gift for that liberal on your gift list.... http://www.cafepress.com/jeebub.39074345 Nice...

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Jan 3, 2006 -> 07:43 AM) WOR radio told me that it didn't look good. No signs of life found yet and a very high Carbon Monoxide content in the mine air after they finally broke through. I didn't feel optimistic last night after the crew they sent in had to turn back because the CO levels were too high. Unless CO is a lot less dense than air (I think it's just the opposite), they probably died from asphyxiation yesterday.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 06:11 PM) I was reading some other articles as well. Seems that the bids were sent out before the hurricane, the work was needed to meet safety codes. There was some concern that if they didn't go through with the work, the successful bidders could sue. That might've been a problem, although I can't see a judge ruling for the contractor, given the magnitude of the disaster. At the very least, I would've offered to "buy out" the contractor. If Katrina didn't kill Blanco's chances of re-election, this PR disaster most likely did.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 05:19 PM) It's hilarious that you're complaining about "cherry picking" when you're the one using 34 AB's to judge BA, and then you compare him to Joe Borchard (cherry picker.) You said "by definition" Taveras was a .291 hitter. I bring up Mike Caruso's name and you call me a cherry picker. Shouldn't the "definition" apply to all players? My view: Taveras hit .291, stole 34 bases, and played well defensively in CF last year. His bat is nothing special and his OBP isn't that impressive, but he's shown that he can handle major-league pitching and is far from a liability at the plate. His base-running and fielding skills fit well within Ozzie's paradigm of speed- and defense-based baseball and make him an attractive candidate to play CF for the Sox. At the very least, he could bat 9th (which is where Anderson would hit). If his OBP improves, he'd be a good candidate for the #2 spot. Anderson has had very limited MLB experience and did nothing special over those 34 plate appearances. Through no fault of his own, he hasn't proven anything yet at the major-league level and nobody knows if he'll be able to adjust to major-league pitching this year. If he could be acquired cheaply, a trade for Taveras could be beneficial for the Sox. Ozzie could platoon Taveras and Anderson, taking pressure off of Anderson and allowing him to develop slowly. Anderson is the projected long-term Sox CF. If he pans out as expected, Taveras could be traded. If Anderson turns out to be a bust, Taveras would provide the Sox with another (inexpensive) option. Your view: Anderson should be handed the starting CF gig this year, despite the fact that his experience against major-league pitching is extremely limited. Despite the fact that Taveras hit .291 last year, he hasn't proven anything at the major league level because he could easily fall into a Mike Caruso-like slump that ends his career. They're only "annoying" to you because I won't let allow you to force your opinion down my throat. I've given you the option to "agree to disagree," but you declined. :headshake

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 04:41 PM) I don't think it is corruption to spend half a million on remodeling. It is stupid. Or maybe "unethical" would've been a better way to describe the appropriation of funds, given the circumstances.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 02:04 PM) What you're saying here is that Peyton Manning is not blessed with loads of natural talent to supplement his smarts. That's a load of crap. That guy's arm is golden. Name me one guy who is more accurate in the current NFL. And are you trying to tell me that he doesn't have outstanding arm strength? The dude was born to be a QB. Manning's arm strength is good, for sure, but not as good as Vick's (or Favre's or Elway's was, for that matter). Many scouts said that Ryan Leaf's was better prior to the '98 draft. And Manning's a freaking statue in the pocket. But he is much more accurate than average. Then again, accuracy has more to do with practice than God-given natural talent. If you don't like my argument, substitute Joe Montana for Manning. His arm strength was incredibly pedestrian. Then perhaps you should stop reading them. FWIW, you're cantankerous responses aren't exactly fun to read, either.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 01:57 PM) Are you kidding me? The best way to describe BA's 2005 season is "fluke?" :banghead He just got called up to the big leagues for God's sake. I certainly hope a .176 OBP is a fluke. He won't be playing in the majors for long if it isn't. IMO, he'll be pretty good eventually... but that might not be for a couple of years. Borchard was touted as better hitter than BA and, well, he still hasn't panned out. Your question about Caruso is weak and I won't bother answering it. You cherry-pick Caruso as an example of a player that had a promising beginning and then fell apart. Just as many players have done the opposite.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 01:39 PM) What don't you get? He ONLY hits at that ballpark. His road numbers are atrocious. You never explained WHY. (The answer is that there is no logical explaination.) Talk about dodging questions. :rolly And hopefully Anderson will prove that his .176 OBP in 2005 was a "fluke" as well. Never did I say that Taveras would be a "lock" to his .291 again. I simply said that he's done it before and that's more than anybody can say for Anderson at this point. How about we stop beating this dead horse?

QUOTE(IlliniBob72 @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 12:10 PM) Republicans don't whine and b**** as much as Dems do. We don't need to when we control both Congress and the White House.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 12:27 PM) My problem is that Blanco and Nagin didn't even wait for the rain to stop before blaming Bush for everything and anything that went wrong there. There was no accountability at the state and local level whatsoever for mistakes made. Agreed. Nagin and Blanco are both hacks.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 01:25 PM) He just doesn't have the baseball IQ of a player like Jeter. Physical superiority doesn't always translate into success on the field. Look at Michael Vick. He has all of the physical talent in the world, but is completely worthless when it comes to making decisions. On the other hand, Peyton Manning doesn't have the strongest arm ever and is a freaking statue in the pocket, but he knows a few things about reading defenses. I'm sure that Uribe has an appreciable "baseball IQ," but Jeter's knowledge of the game and quick decision-making go a long way towards setting him apart from his peers.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 01:16 PM) Hey, maybe you would be better served giving pointers on brain surgery, rocket science, super duper advanced calculus, etc. You know, stuff like that. This baseball thing clearly ain't working out for you. Sorry, but I won't dignify that with a response. Have a nice life. :headshake

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 01:07 PM) Jeter seems to be slowing a bit and most of his highlights this year would have been routine plays for younger shortstops. That's not surprising, as he's 31 now. He'll probably to make the transition to 3B a few years from now. While Jeter has never been the most physically-skilled SS, he's certainly been one of the smartest and has delivered most when it mattered. Uribe was off-the-hook good for much of this past season. I'm not trying to take anything away from him. But I'd like to see him do it for a number of years before I say that he's better than Jeter. Again, JMO.

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 12:24 PM) it would be pointless to keep him for an entire season and not get anything in return if he doesn't sign an extension. Unless, of course, he continues to pitch like he did during the latter half of last year. In that case, they'd be crazy to trade him.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 12:50 PM) I don't understand why people would say Jeter is bad defensively. That, to me, is so counter to what I've seen watching him for 10 years. Because it's cool to be "alternative" and dislike anything that's popular. It's even cooler to dislike Yankees.

QUOTE(Felix @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 12:48 PM) He does.. This year was the first year he was actually decent, but in past years, he's been one of the worst in the league. Just about any statistics will show you this, but stats the devil. Actually, he looked pretty good to me during all of those playoff games that took them to four WS titles.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 12:42 PM) I will go further, one of the 20 best all around SS of all time. But he sucks defensively. :rolly

QUOTE(JimH @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 12:38 PM) Intangibles maybe, or a history of making tough plays? Jeter has been doing it a lot longer and Juan really just came into his own this year. Yep. I'll be the first to admit that Juan played incredibly well at SS this year. But he has to play at a high level for more than one season for me to put him in the same realm as Jeter.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 12:32 PM) All this stuff is semantics and it's hard to argue about terms like "great" "better" etc. but I will weigh in on Jeter. There is a reason why NYY have had him as their anchor for 10 years, he's very good. Not just as a hitter, but defensively and with his smarts. Personally I would say Uribe has a better arm, but there are very few with a better arm than Uribe (Furcal). Range, I'd give the nod to Uribe. Raw power, probably Uribe because I think Uribe is physically stronger. But there is no way I would ever denegrate Jeter, he has been and still is a fantastic player and I think he'll eventually be in Cooperstown. If their hitting was equal, I'd still take Jeter in his prime (maybe four years ago) over Uribe. Jeter's the smarter player, IMO, and has made more clutch plays. We can agree to disagree. Agreed that Furcal is probably the best active player defensively. QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 12:34 PM) you will probably follow that with horrible stats to back that up as well. But he was not that good defensively, never has been. So, we've spanned the range of "great" to "very good" to "not that good" to "bad." Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but it seems to me that those calling Jeter a "not that good" or "bad" defensive player either hate the Yankees way too much or think it's really cool to hate all products that are popular and over-exposed.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 10:15 AM) Linkage Publicity stunt or civic duty? Trump do something simply for the sake of publicity? NO WAY!

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 11:37 AM) I think Uribe has a stronger arm, and probably a little more power. Jeter is not too quick defensively up the middle. Obviously Jeter is a better all around player, but certainly not as much as their salary differences would insinuate. Jeter's range isn't top-notch (especially now that he's in his 30's), I'll agree with that. I don't see much difference in arm strength and I've seen Jeter make a ton of tough plays at SS and has tons of intangibles. Haven't seen that from Uribe, although he doesn't have 10 years of SS experience under his belt and has been a utility player for a good chunk of his career. Agreed that Jeter's $19 mil/year salary is excessive.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 11:32 AM) Yeah, and it's a f***ing mystery as to why people are coming out of the woodwork to STOMP on your baseball thoughts. It's not enough that you're wrong about pretty much everything, but your posting style has JERKOFF written all over it. You're just some bitter dude from Oregon that got banned from WSI, correct? I'm not sure what you mean by that last part, but you sure sound like an intelligent adult by using words like "f***ing" and "jerkoff." And you're a real bubbly personality as well. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black... :rolly

QUOTE(Steve Bartman's my idol @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 11:18 AM) You cannot compare Jeter with Uribe. The only similarities between the two is that they both play SS. Jeter is a 5-tool shortstop, Uribe is a 2, maybe 3-tool shortstop! Despite what the Kool-Aid drinkers think, Jeter has always been a very good defensive SS. Certainly not on Ozzie Smith or Omar Vizquel's level, but still an excellent defensive player. The only thing that Uribe has over Jeter is youth.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Jan 2, 2006 -> 11:16 AM) Did this guy just say that Derek f***ing Jeter is a stellar defensive shortstop? He is as good as Uribe defensively, if not better? I suppose that he might actually have a baseball thought that is accurate one of these days, although I wouldn't bet on it. Wow, the piling-on continues. :rolly