Pants Rowland

The Sox have plenty of backup CF and not enough starting CF. If you trade Mack, I would sooner package him with one other player of value such as one of the excess relief pitchers now on the roster to get something more formidable in return.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 09:59 AM) You know, I really enjoy the bottom of the ninth in game three in Houston. El Duque, again. Not as good as his Boston outing, but still, amazing. Bottom of the 14th (or whatever the last inning was) was also a good time with Buehrle getting the save although I am not sure it qualifies as a best pitched inning in WS history.

QUOTE(WSoxMatt @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 07:25 PM) I remember Burns giving up a single to California in the 1st and then retiring everyone else...it was 11-0...Back to back to back HRS for Fisk, Paciorek, and Luzinski in the 1st Inning off Tommy John http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores...id=198309090CHA You are correct sir. Don't why I thought it was 12-0 v. KC although I could not find confirmation of when the hit came. The box score shows Burns faced one over the minimum that game and the hit came from the number three hitter.

QUOTE(Brian26 @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 10:57 PM) If it's all about Sox history, there's no reason to promote your website on every post. There are people on WSI that have contributed a thousand times the amount of information you have over the years....for free and without trying to promote their own agenda. People here promote all kinds of crap in their signatures/avatars and it is their prerogative. Much of it is muted promotion of sex, tv shows, college teams, etc. and none of it has to do with the White Sox. Until you pointed it out, I did not even notice the link in his signature. I am not familiar with WSI but I do know I enjoy threads started by StatManDu far more than I like enduring one thread after another debating the OF and 5th starter. Please leave the man alone.

QUOTE(joeynach @ Mar 20, 2007 -> 03:28 PM) Sorry bud there just isn't that much boobie to see in April at wrigley when its 48 with 20 MPH winds and rain. There are a few bums though. But the boobie you do see sure can cut glass. Mmmm...boooooobies.

QUOTE(Middle Buffalo @ Mar 19, 2007 -> 11:46 AM) El Duque. Best game. Jack McDowell 1-0 against Seattle (I think it was Randy Johnson pitching for them). Ok, I'm officially old. I searched and can't find the best pitched game I remember. Never happened? Was I looking at BlackJack through goatee colored Sox shades? Closest thing to what I remember was 2-1 Sox over RJ. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SE...199406250.shtml Guess that makes me a fan. As far as best games pitched to reference, there are a lot. Britt Burns' heartbreaker in the 1983 playoffs first comes to mind. I also remember either Burns or Dotson pitched a 12-0 one-hitter against KC in 1983 where the Sox hit back to back to back home runs early in the game and the no-no was broken up with one or two down in the 9th. Alvarez pitched a game a season or two after his no-no against the Orioles. I do not recall the opponent but I know it was like a 2 or three hit shutout and he was as on as I have ever seen a Sox pitcher. Even he said it was the best stuff he ever had in a game, including the no-hitter. I also recall a tight game between the Sox and Blue Jays in either 1993 or 1994 where Alex Fernandez gutted out a 2-1 victory in a matchup between the two premier teams in the league at the time. I recall another game where Black Jack gave up a leadoff home run to Paul Molitor of the _____ (I think he was still in Milwaukee) and then proceeded to dominate with a one-hitter that the Sox won by a large margin. As far as recent dominant performances, Garcia in Houston first comes to mind as do a handful of Buehrle's hour plus gems, in particular opening day 2005 versus Cleveland. I also must say that Contreras and Javier Vasquez had a two week span or so in the first half last year where they both were as unhittable as I have seen a tandem of Sox pitchers in a long time. I think between the two of them, they both took no-hitters deep into two games. I believe Javy's were consecutive where Jose's were spaced a bit apart.

QUOTE(StatManDu @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 07:46 AM) Thanks, all. I appreciate the kind words and love doing the blog. It's all about Sox history, that's all. I never could really convince the fine folks at WSI that. O well. Other best pitched inning candidates that I will delve deeper into later: Bill Simas, Hollis Thurston, Scot Radinsky and Jack McDowell. That Foulke inning has a soft spot in my heart. It was intense and showcased all that was good about baseball. Was the Bill Simas inning against Cleveland in 1996 (I think that was the season although it could have been 1997)? Sox again clinging to a 4-2 lead and were in the midst of winning like 22 out of 24 games or something to that effect? I seem to remember Simas coming up huge and striking out one or two of their most feared hitters. I could swear Mr. Thome was one of them as well. FWIW, I recall that as the greatest regular season Sox run I had witnessed since the second half of 1983.

score?

QUOTE(shoota @ Mar 15, 2007 -> 11:43 PM) Exactly. Bartman cost the Cubs one out when they were five outs from the World Series. He deserves criticism for that. It's fitting that the Cubs, a team known for absent-minded fans who know little of the game of baseball, would have its World Series chances diminished by one of its own fans. At one point in the series they were up three games to one. In the game referenced, I believe they were leading 3-0 at the time of the alleged Bartman gaff. The play did not result in a run, hit, walk, error, or anything in between. It was simply a strike and there is still no guarantee Alou catches the ball. Maybe he catches it, they win the game and go on and win the series. However, for a whole team to get unraveled by a foul ball such that they lose 8-3 shows that they are probably not a championship ballclub. Champions take advantage of other teams mistakes and overcome adversity.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 14, 2007 -> 05:47 PM) When some of you people get a chance, read this game thread from the beginning. So much negativity, so much angst, an outside person wouldnt even know this is a White Sox FAN site. This is supposed to be a board of people who love this team and this organization. It started out negative, but it has been some really funny sh** for many pages now and great PBP, too. Very much in the spirit of Caray and Piersall if that rings a bell. I have mainly been observing but as a fan for the better part of 25 years, now, I think it is my duty as a fan to engage in debate and criticize the team much as it is our duty as Americans to question our government. If I don't do either, I am neither a true fan and this is not really a democracy.

I can't believe this thread is still alive. I did not think it would make it to 2 pages.

Work really has sucked today. This thread has been refreshingly funny with minimal arguing. Thanks for the good cheer.

QUOTE(joeynach @ Mar 13, 2007 -> 01:47 PM) Its not the price or payroll im arguing about. Its about denoting that Sea series as Prime as if due to the matchup being Seattle its a popular or crucial series, when obviously its not. If they want to charge more for it becuase its a weekend during Jun, Jul, or Aug fine by me, they should because those tickets are in higher demand (thats the way econ works, things in higher demand cost more), but dont label it a Prime because of the two teams matching up. That works for our rivals like Minny, Det, and also for the big boys like Yanks BoSox, but like I said dont pull a fast one on us by pooling lowly seattle as a "bigtime" series the way those others teams are. I and everyone else would rather enjoy the strait up its a weekend summer home series therefore it costs you more because of demand. Instead we are supposed to just blindly accept that its a prime matchup alright and is as popular and interesting as playing the Twins, Tigers, or Tribe. Thats just not reality. I think you are reading WAY too much into the whole Prime/Premier thing. No one is pulling a fast one. They do not say Seattle or any other team is the reason for the elevated pricing. They simply color code the entire schedule in a month-by-month layout that is easy to follow. The mid-summer weekend night is the reason for premier pricing, not the Seattle Mariners.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Mar 13, 2007 -> 12:15 PM) But we should have gotten more....if for no other reason than he is "the handsome" Neal Cotts! Great team marketing asset, right?

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 12, 2007 -> 04:14 PM) Thome just hit a 500 foot HR over the enormous batter's eye in CF. Farmio is freaking out. Farmer struggles. How I miss John Rooney

QUOTE(StatManDu @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 04:20 PM) Could DJ be more boring? ... He can stop saying "go ahead" any time now, too. Put Farmer and Harrelson together, simulcast it and send the other guys adrfit ... PLEASE! You can't be insinuating that Farmer is an enjoyable listen, can you? His amanlove for Dennis DeYoung alone is offensive enough. Add his arrogance and he is downright intolerable.

QUOTE(Scwible @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 03:24 PM) Good deal for both sides. I like it. Maybe it'll calm him down. Is this extension confirmed yet?

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 03:19 PM) he makes less than Gil Meche The Sox love 3-year deals with pitchers. At that level of bargain, can we trade him for some top prospects that will dazzle in 2009?

QUOTE(StatManDu @ Mar 5, 2007 -> 03:05 AM) MARCH 5TH WHERE’S MOE? 1926: Rookie shortstop Moe Berg was not at the White Sox spring training camp in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Sox explained that Berg was taking a law course at Columbia University in New York and won’t be available until May 15. Who knows where Berg actually was? Later in life, he spent time working for the O.S.S., the forerunner to the CIA. With Berg out of the picture (he actually didn’t play for the Sox in 1926), the Sox brought on Everett Scott, recently released by Washington, to play shortstop. Berg is one of the most interesting players in baseball history. His Society of American Baseball Research bio is worth a read at http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&am...756&pid=962 JORDAN’S FIRST START: 0-FOR-3, RUN, RBI 1994: In his first start, Michael Jordan went 0-for-3 with a run and an RBI in the White Sox 15-7 Grapefruit League win over the Texas Rangers in Port Charlotte, Fla. Jordan started in right field and batted sixth. The offensive hero of the day was Robin Ventura, who homered and drove in four runs in his only two at bats. For the rest of the day, visit www.whitesoxalmanac.com If my memory serves me right, I thought Berg was a catcher. Am I mistaken? On that note has anyone ever read his entertaining biography, The Catcher was a Spy? I read it a while back. Fascinating man on many levels.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 2, 2007 -> 04:48 PM) It took a while, but he was still fired. And still worshipped by too many fans.

QUOTE(FlaCWS @ Mar 2, 2007 -> 04:41 PM) At some point winning the World Series can't mean lifetime immunity from consequences. Tell that to Ditka.

QUOTE(HeGone33 @ Mar 2, 2007 -> 03:29 PM) When it comes to gameday, on the field, I highly doubt that any of our players are sitting there thinking about some off the wall comment made by Ozzie at one point another. I know many of us have played competitive sport in our lives and when you are playing games, nothing else matters and you get caught in the competition within the game. If anything, things that are said, should motivate people. The players who sucked last year didn't suck cause of what Ozzie said. Plain and simple when things are going good, he's a hero, we don't win last year, and he is an a@@. Im 26 years old and as far as im concerned, Ozzie was a big part of fulfilling a dream of mine, seeing the Sox win the World Series. I do financial analysis and Ozzie manages a baseball team. I won't tell him how to do his job, and I wouldn't listen to him tell me how to do my job. I see your point but a manager, whether it be in baseball or financial analysis is supposed to be something of a mentor to those that report to him or her. Part of being a mentor requires patience with younger, less experienced team members. Those guys are going to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but they are also going to make mistakes along the way. Some egos are more fragile than others. If the manager rides the young guy enough, he could break his spirit and mess up his confidence. Obviously, someone so fragile that they can't handle constructive criticism is not a guy you want on the team anyway. However, Ozzie is broadcasting shortcomings in a very public forum. I am not saying it is hurting morale of the team overall, but the potential is definitely there. FWIW, I have heard McCarthy was something of a sourpuss. Supposedly he was always debating politics and religion in the bullpen. I forgot where I read this, but I think it was in a profile of the bullpen last year in one of the papers. It was delivered in a fairly lighthearted tone but it was still mentioned by a teammate in the pen with him. Again, I do not know the situation behind the scenes, but guys like that can mess up clubhouse chemistry even if they are talented and work hard. McCarthy's comments after being traded also hinted at this where he notes they were always focused on the negative rather than the positive. Maybe that was his own perception and he was taking things too personally rather than taking it like a young professional that needs to improve his game.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Mar 2, 2007 -> 11:59 AM) Wrong, BA had already switched to 32 before Hall was signed. Must have been the last sticking point in Hall's negotiations.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Mar 1, 2007 -> 10:11 AM) Under the Radar. You have inspired me...."Can O' Konerko"

I do not necessarily put a lot of stock in preseason predictions, especially from ESPN, but I sure would like these predictions to be true.