Pants Rowland

QUOTE (YASNY @ Aug 21, 2008 -> 12:28 PM) And there's always the "Your GM wasn't smart enough to get a probable MVP for a Class A firstbaseman" option. He did get Harden for Gallagher and Patterson, though. ugh!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 21, 2008 -> 06:26 AM) I finally remembered the Deli I like... Finkle's right next to the CBOE. Is that still there? I remember a Finkle's that was up near the Sara Lee building further north on Halsted Street off the river. Pretty good sandwiches there. Sounds like you and I have traveled the same path over 10+ years in the loop. Since you mention Greektown, have you ever been to Nine Muses? A little pricey and definitely a destination lunch spot that requires well over an hour of time but great grilled meat platters and excellent iced coffee drinks called frappes. Also a few decent looking eastern European waitresses as well. I highly recommend it if you have time to venture out of the loop. The outdoor or window seating is so nice and relaxing if you have a slow day at work in the summer.

QUOTE (Rex Hudler @ Aug 15, 2008 -> 08:41 PM) Down three pounds in the last two weeks to 280. Eighteen pounds to the 100 pound plateau. Seems more and more real every day. Went shopping last night. Tried on suits and with a slight alteration, I am fitting into a 50R. I had them look up, out of curiosity, the size of a sport coat I bought a couple of years ago and it was a 60! I went home and tried it on last night and it is like a freakin dress! Problem is now I have zero pants that fit. The closest pair is a pair of jeans that 2-3 months ago was too small. Now they are awfully baggy. My khakis are way too baggy. All other khakis and jeans are long gone past trying. Still trying to hold off buying new clothes as long as possible. Took an old suit in today to be altered. Rex...you're awesome! I would hold off on the suits for now and start looking at a stop gap measure until you get to your goal weight. If you haven't been there in some time, I suggest a goodwill store. There are plenty of nice clothes that people gave away for one reason or another and they are way cheaper than comparable items go for at a retail shop. There is one just west of the loop as well as one not too far from Loyola Hospital in Maywood (I think).

QUOTE (oralsoxpodcast @ Aug 20, 2008 -> 09:19 PM) I like the sound of that, Pants. But doesn't that mean the same thing for the Twins? It's hard to imagine the Twins NOT doing well. Let's just hope that they do indeed struggle on the road like they're supposed to. No doubt, but they are not at 20 over yet. I think they will get there and possibly make the WC. IT was more of an indicator that the Sox are a strong enough team to keep up a good pace from here on out, hopefully outlasting the surging Twins.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Aug 20, 2008 -> 04:54 PM) Toby will in fact need surgery on that shoulder it seems. Done for the season and probably his career. Seriously? Where did you hear this?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 20, 2008 -> 03:08 PM) 73-53, still +1 over the farking Twins. 20 games over .500 for the first time this year. There was a ball player from the past whose name escapes me. Supposedly he had a great feel for the game and some litmus tests for great teams. One of them was that teams that make it to 20 games above .500 typically increase their spread rather than the other way around. He never researched the stuff but some announcer or expert did a quick look and noted that there is a lot of truth to it. I hope it works that way for the Sox as well.

Ahem... THIS.TEAM.IS.DEAD. Thank you, I am here all season.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 19, 2008 -> 11:16 AM) I get the half chicken meal which comes with a side (mashed potatos for me), bread, and a drink for $7.75. You can also get sauce on the side. I thought the half chicken meal was $6.25 total including tax. Does the drink really add $1.50? I think I always ask for a cup for water since I am so healthy. ;-)

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 19, 2008 -> 11:16 AM) I get the half chicken meal which comes with a side (mashed potatos for me), bread, and a drink for $7.75. You can also get sauce on the side. Jaffa and Planet? You and I are on the same track when it comes to lunch. I will have to try Pollito. I walked by there the other day and was wondering if it is any good. That spot used to be a Harold's Chicken, right? On the Haifa note, they have several loop locations now and they all do decent falafel, hummus, tabouleh, etc. as well as the whole roast turkey for sandwiches. It seems there is a middle east syndicate of sorts that have all employed this formula of grilled/skewered meat, pita, spreads and roast turkey (I guess for the less daring friend that tags along). There is a place called Taza next to Perry's on Franklin that does it as well. Their meat is a little dry to me but it is the closest of these options to my office so I go back sometimes. As far as Jaffa goes, I found a place that is virtually identical in their turkey sandwich bar setup. It is called Bonjour Cafe and it is inside the Thompson Center, but on the first floor near the CTA entrance, not on the lower level. Their setup mirrors Jaffa so closely that I asked if they were affiliated. They said no, Jaffa just copied them. Great sandwich plus a nice looking coffee selection from what I saw. Curious to where your office is SS2K. I thought I was the only guy willing to walk all over the city for a better lunch than Corner Bakery, Cosi and PotBelly.

QUOTE (Rex Hudler @ Aug 19, 2008 -> 04:52 PM) Finally made the switch to DirecTV last night. It took some work, but I got a helluva deal, I think. Right now, DTV is offering four months free of their Premier package (I call it the kitchen sink package) with purchase of NFL Sunday Ticket. Sunday Ticket costs $74.99/month during those 4 months. After surfing online and two phone calls, I finally worked them for a better deal. I got the premier package at no charge and they gave me Sunday Ticket for $52.99 for four months. Also, the Sunday Ticket games are not in HD unless you buy their Superfan package with it, which is an extra $24.95/month or $99 one time. I got them to give that to me at no charge as well. You do still have to pay the equipment fees and $9.99 for high definition access, but I still came out at about $75/month for four months for everything they offer, including all movie channels and Sunday Ticket. After 4 months, I'll probably call in and downgrade the service to a more affordable level, but I am pretty happy with the deal. Also, got a great deal on a sexy TV. I went to 3 Best Buy's, Circuit City and HHGregg (twice) from Friday to Sunday this weekend. At first all the tv's looked close to the same, all looked good. But the more I watched I started to see differences. I narrowed it to Samsung, Panasonic and LG plasmas. I couldn't find the LG 50" 1080p plasma locally, and I wanted to go 50" so I eliminated LG. I finally picked a Panasonic 1080p that just has a remarkable picture. It was comparable to the Pioneer Kuro's that were close to $3,000. I did a little homework on PriceGrabber and ended up picking up the tv online for $1,488 with no sales tax and free shipping. Best Buy wanted $2099. HH Gregg wanted $1899. The TV shipped today and DirecTV is scheduled to be installed next Wednesday, just in time for Thursday night kickoff!!! Here is the TV. Panasonic Viera 50" Plasma Just bought the same TV, but in the 42" model. Switched to Dish Network from DirecTV due to great deal they were offering. Still getting used to the differences but what a great setup. The extra protective plastic screen on the 1080 Panasonic was key since I have 3 little guys who hang out in the basement where it is set up. I went with ABT electronics here locally and they set me up with a great deal beating the top competitor's price and threw in the wall mount I wanted for a song. The family is really loving the basement now and we finally have a living room for entertaining guests. Congratulations on your purchase.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 20, 2008 -> 02:20 PM) Don't you think lefties could feast off of that arm angle? It will be interesting to see what the Sox try to make of him. Sometimes he does so well out there I wonder if they could groom him for the role. I do not know the wear and tear on Jenks' arm, but with so much more time before FA, I would be curious to see the talent windfall the Sox might be able to get by trading Bobby in the offseason. I know, dumb idea ready to be panned, but this could very well be that year too soon to trade him as opposed to the year too late.

Anyone think Russell could be an effective major league closer?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 20, 2008 -> 12:08 PM) Which to me is silly because we eliminated the previous year's World Series winner in 3 games in the first round. Yeah, but without ex-Yankee El Duque, it was inevitable that Boston would have won Game 3 and gone on to take the next two games as well.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Aug 20, 2008 -> 12:54 PM) I can see it now "How will the Yanks and the Red Sox do in 2009!!!!" "Oh and the Chicago White Sox won the World Series today....." You're joking, but I distinctly remember watching Sportscenter the night the Sox polished off the WS victory. They had their live panel with Gammons & Co. reporting from Houston and after their obligatory discussion on the actual world series, they quickly looked forward to 2006 and noted who the oddsmakers were favoring and dickhead Berman noted when Yankees-Red Sox would be upon us. It was almost as if he was waiting for order to be restored and for people to focus on what is important.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 20, 2008 -> 01:42 PM) Nice AJ! I'd stop first pitch swinging up this big though. That can cause some teams to start throwing at you I thought it was the other way around. Up big, swing away to keep things moving. Odds are you will hit it at somebody more often than not. Bunting, walking, squeeze plays, etc. seem like more beanable offenses in a rout.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 20, 2008 -> 01:27 PM) Seattle wanted too much It seems like they are trying to make up for the Bedard deal by trying to find someone to overpay for a single player like they did. I would love to have Ibanez on the Sox, however.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Aug 20, 2008 -> 09:19 AM) When it comes to playoffs, I hate the theory of shying away from "better" competition in the hopes of an easier road to the World Series. Teams that learn to overcome adversity in both the season and playoffs win the World Series, plain and simple. Exactly. I was disappointed the Sox did not end up playing the Yankees (and Cardinals to a lesser extent) in 2005 postseason. It was a little muted but some outlets insinuated the Sox lucked out by the Angels taking care of the Yankees. I wanted the Sox to knock off all the so-called baseball royalty along the way.

QUOTE (scenario @ Aug 20, 2008 -> 09:37 AM) He is the most interesting man in the world... Stay thirsty my friends. Exactly what I was thinking.

Anyone get to listen to it? I had to go to work and could not listen in.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 20, 2008 -> 03:55 AM) It depends on what you mean by "Moneyball." If you mean OBP, SLG, OPS, then you are absolutely wrong; you would be suggesting that baseball has become more sabermetric than anything, and those are just the very basic sabermetric statistics. Moneyball is all about finding what teams do not value and loading your team up with that. The A's have had a good pitching staff for a number of years now and it hasn't had everything to do with the quality of their pitcher, as, instead, they've started to focus their game around defense and building the best defensive team they can. If you were wondering, the 2005 White Sox team was a "Moneyball" team in that it wasn't a big spender and instead focused it's financial resources on the entire team itself, rather than one or two players, and found what was being overlooked by the market - defense. The White Sox and A's were the 2 best defensive teams in the entire majors in 2005, and it's no wonder why both teams were in the top 4 in the AL in team ERA. The Twins also take a Moneyball approach and do have good scouting but also have fantastic coaching and a top 2 manager in all of baseball. That doesn't hurt. Rick Anderson is also one of the most underrated pitching coaches in the entire majors. One other thing the Twins really seem to enforce is pitchers throwing strikes. I think their strong defense helps pitchers put the ball over the plate and have confidence the guys behind them will finish the outs. What is more amazing is how they are able to consistently get all types of players to buy into their approach and rarely do the players do as well when they leave the Twins. I think Ortiz is one of the few I have seen perform better in a different uniform.

9:20 AM at 670 on your AM dial. Should be a fun interview.

QUOTE (TCQ @ Aug 19, 2008 -> 10:13 PM) Yea but didnt he just set the modern day record for most wild pitches in an inning? I thought Ricky Vaughn had that record secured for a long time.

Norberto Martin Sean Abner Mike Squires Bill Almon

QUOTE (YASNY @ Aug 18, 2008 -> 04:29 PM) As an example to emphasize your point, even though the Sox swept the Astros they only outscored them by a total of 6 runs in the 4 games, iirc. I think it was the smallest total run differential ever in a world series sweep.

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Aug 18, 2008 -> 04:10 PM) "Stat of the night Since the start of divisional play in 1969, the three teams with the best records in the postseason are the 1976 Reds (7-0, 1.000), the 1999 Yankees, (11-1, .917) and the 2005 White Sox (11-1, .917)." Ummm.... I wanted to forget about that sweep in 2000 as well, but that should read 11-4. But it's funny, I was dozing off today in class today thinking about how much fun 2005 was. I think it was for the specific postseason in question, not overall since divisional play began. If that were the case, the 3-2 loss to Baltimore in the '83 ALCS and the 4-2 loss the Toronto in the '93 ALCS would also be factored into the equation.