Gregory Pratt

QUOTE(samclemens @ Mar 8, 2006 -> 05:01 PM) anybody seen how strong the language towards bonds is in the press? even at espn, there are mentions of a new invesitigation by selig and the MLB (one guy said selig "has to respond" to something like this). what does everybody think the chances of bonds being suspended or even banned are? Pete Rose was banned for less than this. Shoeless Joe was banned for less than this. Barry Bonds should be booted out of baseball and banned. I believe, on that note, that Selig will do it. I think he'll wait until the WBC is done with, though, and as soon as that ends, right before the Season Starts -- Barry Gone! At least, that's what I think should occur if Selig has a set of balls. I'm not sure he does, however, considering his refusal to reinstate Rose and the fact that he lied to him about that, but I think he'll take action here.

I love Borchard. It's an irrational, undeserved-in-a-lot-of-ways type love, but I love him just the same.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 7, 2006 -> 06:15 PM) Maybe the Sosa/McGwire phenomenon of 1998 triggered it? That's what the article says. That the silly bastard got "jealous." He should be banned from the Game and banned from the Hall. If Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe, men with equally great skills in some respects and who are equally if not more deserving than he is, can't be put into the Hall for doing less than he did, then he shouldn't be in, either, and he ought to be banned.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Mar 7, 2006 -> 08:00 AM) I have no clue how you could have more affection for a guy like Buchanon or Pierce or Hoover than Carter..... Herbert Hoover's post-Presidency was the greatest of any other President. He accomplished a lot and did much. He was wrong about the Economics of the Great Depression -- as was FDR -- but he gets blasted for not doing anything. It's not as bad as Carter trying to invade Iran with eight helicopters and, besides, Hoover didn't spend his post-Presidency at War with other Presidents even of his own party. Truman came to greatly admire him, and Kennedy called on him and all the others during the Missile Crisis. There are a ton of things to redeem poor Herbert Hoover. What's Jimmy Carter but a liar? When he ran for Governor of Georgia, he did it using racist tools and supporting Segregation, then, as soon as he was sworn in, said there was no room for racism in his state. Not only is his character seriously objectionable -- his character, of course, being what he and his supporters say "redeems him" from the miserable failure that was his Presidency -- but he's been sniping at other Presidents for decades, and not just in the public square but by trying to undermine their talks. His penchant for negotiating with other countries is Nixonian, and Kissingeresque, to say the least except that, unlike them, Jimmy Carter doesn't have the skills to sabotage a Clinton or a Bush proposal -- but it isn't for a lack of trying! Indeed, James Earl Carter is the Inspecter Clouseau of the Presidents. QUOTE(Heads22 @ Mar 7, 2006 -> 08:31 AM) Warren G. Harding was a son of a b****. Mmm hmm.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 04:10 PM) In Chicago? No In the AL Central? You bet your ass they would No, I don't bet my ass that they would. The winds wouldn't shift in the AL Central. We're a solid team without Thome. Oh, to have him and have him healthy is divine, but losing him isn't the worst that could happen.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 12:45 PM) Jenks needs better command of his breaking ball (or a changeup that he can locate). One hundred mph fastballs at the letters aren't going to work for an entire season. I'm not advocating a 100-MPH fastball to be thrown at every pitch. But that's a hard pitch to hit. Jenks has a couple of other pitches he can throw for variety. I'm not worried, though, partly because Guillen isn't going to go to him in every single game. We all know how much Guillen likes to mix it up. QUOTE(WCSox @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 01:01 PM) I have confidence in Cotts, who I think has turned a corner in his career. But outside of that, I agree that our bullpen isn't as strong as it should be. I'm still not sold on Jenks. And that's not really his fault... I just want to see what he can do over the course of a full season. I do feel better about him going into this season than I did about Shingo going into '05, mostly because of his age. I'm fond of Neal Cotts, too.

My favorite television shows that are dead are, Greg the Bunny. Rocko's Modern Life. The Critic. That's from least to greatest.

I don't like the Line Item Veto. If the regular veto was good enough for George Washington and Grover Cleveland, it's good enough for Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, I think. The President, any President, should just be man enough to veto an entire bill if he's opposed to something in it. That said, I don't think it'll be a bad thing for a Line Item Veto as Bush describes it, but that I think it's more dramatic and, frankly, better, to veto an entire bill or principal. Grover Cleveland was the man.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Mar 3, 2006 -> 10:27 PM) http://www.nysun.com/article/28484 Why is Carter promising ANYBODY ANYTHING? He 'promised' Cuba that the US wouldn't do something, when he knew damn well that the US was going to push for permanant seats for Security Council members? Boo f***ing ho, Mr. loser-ex-President. This man is pathetic in his attempts to leave a 'legacy' that is more favorable than his Presidential stint. It isn't just George W. Bush's Presidency that James Earl Carter sees fit to interfere with. For one thing, he's a very strange character. He went into hiding and moped and wrote silly books for years during the Reagan Presidency instead of attacking him, because -- well, I'm not sure, but he was inactive then and once Bush I came into office, he became an attack dog on behalf of the Third World. Maybe Reagan had successfully established his dominance over Jimmy Carter, and Carter acknowledged the better man? I too think Carter is the worst President in American History aside from Warren Harding. I've more affection for Herbert Hoover and James Buchanan than I do for Carter. Part of that is the fact that he was a weasel all his life, and no less dishonest than Gerald Ford or George H.W. Bush. Part of it might be the fact that he thought invading Iran with nine helicopters would be a good idea. And part of it is the fact that he's never met a Dictator whose stance on American foreign policy he didn't prefer to ours. Occasionally, of course, he's right about something -- but, hell, we all know that a broken clock's right two times a day. George H.W. Bush considered having Carter prosecuted under the Logan Act because Carter was lobbying the UN Security Council on behalf of Iraq before the Persian Gulf War. Bill Clinton was furious with Carter for flying to North Korea to negotiate on behalf of the United States with Kim Jung Il. (He just flew there and called Clinton on the way saying, "By the way, I might be in Pyongyang....") And now Jimmy Carter continues his vendetta against sitting Presidents and continues being an attack dog for dictators everywhere. I resent him, also, for setting the Democratic Party back twelve years with his incompetence and bumbling. Since I am a Democrat. But I think he's easily the worst President in modern times, and certainly the worst living ex-President.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 01:52 AM) Let's be honest. He was a 23 year old, who died having sex in a car. With a 17 year old. That wasn't his girlfriend. Even though it wasn't explicitly stated in the article, we can easily glean the following: This guy didn't have a car. (Why else was he borrowing his GF's car to pick up chicks) He was living in his mom's basement. (Step #1 to moving out of mom's basement is a car. Earl did not meet this prerequisite.) The girlfriend in question was also under the age of 18. (Her name was withheld) He had a mustache. He was a loser who was preying on the naivety of teenage girls. (There was a reason he wasn't seeing girls his own age. And it's not because 17 year old have perkier tits. 23 year tits are plenty perky.) The girl is better off without him. I didn't see anything to lead me to assume that his girlfriend was also underage. I do love your take on the story, mate. It makes me laugh and you're probably right. But loser or not, s***bag though he is, I'm sure the girlfriend's going to feel pretty awkward for awhile, to say the least! EDIT QUOTE(The Critic @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 02:05 AM) That may all be true, GHC, but the sad fact is that the girlfriend is most likely going to get messed up from this. She might blame herself for the death, such as "what was I not doing that made him look to cheat on me?" or she might have trouble trusting anyone again, which is understandable to me. It really is a sad story, as dumb as the deaths are on the surface. Yeah, that's the thing that made it sad for me, too.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 01:56 AM) Are you freaking kidding? Mackowiak would be a worse DH than Everett was for us last year. Look. I know everybody loves Mackowiak because he's a local kid a good story, but there's a reason he's a bench player. A .258/.328/.414 will NOT get it done, for any extended period of time. There's always Gload and the possibility of a trade. Mackowiak isn't perfect, as I've said, but he could get it done if the worst were to occur. My point has always been that Mackowiak's decent enough as to not cripple us if Thome died of carbon monoxide poisoning during a romantic rendezvous with an underage girl. Besides that, we could make a trade. Which brings us to, QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 01:58 AM) If Thome gets hurt, I guess the options would be... * Joe Borchard * Ross Gload * Bucky Jacobsen * trade for a bat (Carl Everett?) I'm assuming that both Borchard and Gload make the roster though. I'm sure we could pick up Everett. But Thome's going to be fine.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 01:37 AM) Garland and Vazquez are both young and locked up for the next 3 years. No way Kenny would consider trading either one of them. It would be Contreras. And I agree that Mack would be a decent replacement in the short term. But he's not even close to being a suitable long term solution. Let's just hope that Jim is healthy, smashes 40-45 bombs and knocks in 110 runs. That would make this conversation moot. Indeed, that would make this conversation moot and I join you in hoping that he's healthy and knocks the s*** out of US Cellular Park's Guests. However, I assure you that Mack would perform admirably if Jim Thome ever decided to take his wife's car and have sex in a garage with an underage girl but forget to turn the vehicle off and subsequently die.

I find these stories to be depressing, not for the stupidity of human beings, but because of the unnecessary deaths and the pain they bring, as well as for the pain that this will undoubtedly cause the guy's girlfriend. It's kind of silly, but whenever something like this happens my first reaction is to laugh and my first thought is of the family. How's his girlfriend going to feel? I'll bet she'll never drive that car again, or trust a boyfriend to take her car. Not that I don't think this story is funny -- it is -- but I like this kind of thing more in movies than in real life.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 01:27 AM) I'm not concerned with him, either. I have total faith and trust in Kenny and his people. They wouldn't even consider the trade if they didn't think he was 100% healthy. However, if something unfortunate were to happen, we'd be in deep dog s***. Mack is not an everyday player. And starting him everyday would considerably weaken the bench. Our best and only real trade chip would be Contreras. And quite honestly, I'm totally against trading a guy that could possibly win the CY-Young. I don't think we should trade possible Cy Young candidates willy nilly anymore than you do, but he's excellent trade bait, especially after last season. We could give up Garland, who I think is our weakest starter (except for possibly Vazquez) or we could trade Javy. There are a variety of possibilities. And, Mack might not be an everyday player, but playing the DH wouldn't be that bad for him. At other times, Gload or...heh, Borchard could spell him at DH so he could rest. But even if Thome were injured and all we did was make Mack into our DH, I don't think the winds would shift in Chicago.

QUOTE(TheBlackSox8 @ Mar 3, 2006 -> 07:03 PM) looks like it's bent or something.....I know mine doesn't bend that way. Yeah, seriously. I'd want to see the Doctor if my dick were bending like that, and I'd question my sexuality if I appeared to be mildly erect during a basketball game.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 01:13 AM) Trade what? We traded two of our top pitching prospects just to get Thome. We don't have anywhere near the same depth in the minors this year. Unless you're talking about trading a guy like Contreras. Yes, we very well could trade Contreras. But I'm nowhere near as concerned about Thome as so many others, since I take the position that Rob Mack could take over for him reasonably well, all things considered, and that the world wouldn't collapse.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 12:51 AM) If Thome puts up last years numbers this team will definately be in a hole. I wouldn't count them out because of our pitching staff. I'm still convinced we may be looking at acquiring a big time closer or reliever at the trade deadline and potentially a CF. Anderson has all the tools but his swing is freaking FUGLY. He just looks overmatched at the plate. He can definately improve though and it could be he's still pressing (I just remember how disgusting he looked last year with the big club). And your right this team could make a trade. That said if Thome bellies up, than financially (they may have a bit of room) it would have to be for a lesser paid guy. The team'll have problems, sure, if Thome puts up last year's numbers. Thome, however, only played a minimal number of games last year due to injury. I believe in him and the team when they say he's in good shape and ready to go, and a healthy Thome is a monster of a masher. But we've got guys who could fill in for him reasonably well. Who'd have thought that Carl Everett could replace Frank Thomas for a year and help lead the team to the Series? Rob Mack could be that man if Thome became suddenly injured.

QUOTE(My Dixie Normus @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 12:27 AM) You missed my point. It will be the Sox and As, just Frank will be sitting in the stands with a torn something or other. Maybe with a broken nail? QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 12:19 AM) If Thome doesn't produce, we're screwed. No way. There's always the option of trading. But we've got players that could supplement our offense adequately, if not exponentially.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 5, 2006 -> 11:54 PM) And if Jim Thome doesn't produce and Vazquez doesn't adjust well, the Sox are screwed. With Jim Thome's lack of production, the LH bat that was brought in is not effective, and it kills any advantage that gave the Sox before. With Vazquez's sucking, McCarthy is being put into the rotation Vazquez probably moving into McCarthy's spot, where he will be an incredibly expensive reliever. You also can't forget about Politte and Hermanson's career years either. If they should happen to revert to their career norms, the Sox pen then takes a hit as well. Regardless of any of the above happening, if Cleveland gets off to a good start this year(say a 23-17 start after 40 games, instead of the 17-23 they put up last year), they will cause troubles. If Minnesota does the same, they are going to be troublesome. Hell, the Tigers and Royals are in the same exact category. From everything I have read on here over the past month, the 1984 White Sox were the World Champs too - until the season started. That's what makes baseball great - last year, the Sox were a 4th place lock, looking at their first top 10 pick since 1990. As it turned out, they won the Series. Now, because of the s*** that happened last year, they are guaranteed to win 100 games? I don't think so. Nobody's guaranteed anything, of course, but the White Sox are in good shape this year. If Thome doesn't produce, he can be replaced by Mac, who of course isn't as good as a healthy, younger Thome but he wouldn't be the death of our team. I feel good about our team, and I don't think Cleveland's as strong as people make them out to be.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 5, 2006 -> 11:33 PM) Don't let the magic of 2005 wear into this year. The Sox are a good team, but they still have to beat Cleveland and Minnesota before they even have a chance at the playoffs. A year of experience and heartbreak is only going to mean Cleveland will be hungrier this year, and the Twins are still going to be scrappy as hell, cuz that's just who they are. If both stay healthy, they are 90 win teams. I'm not worried about Cleveland. They're a serious team, sure, but whereas they might be, on paper, a 90 win team, the Sox are a 100 win team, I believe. I agreed with Buehrle when he said that the Indians were a weaker team this year. I grew up hating the Cleveland Indians, though, even though I grew up playing with a Cleveland Indians glove that my Dad gave me. Funny how that works sometimes. As far as the Twins -- I can't see them doing better than last year. Our real threat comes from the Royals!

QUOTE(My Dixie Normus @ Mar 5, 2006 -> 11:11 PM) Good, then Fran Thomas can watch another Sox playoff victory... from the stands. No, to hell with that. I'd like it to be Sox v. A's in the Championship Series, and we can knock them out, too. Although a rematch from the 1990s with the Blue Jays wouldn't be bad.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Mar 5, 2006 -> 10:18 PM) The DL would not be good. I have a gut feeling (no pun intended) Jenks will not be a stud closer all season. I think the only thing stopping Jenks from being unhittable is his head. But he was fine last year, and so I'm not worried. Cooper's great at helping the kooky pitchers get their stuff together.

QUOTE(iWiN4PreP @ Mar 5, 2006 -> 09:42 PM) Good points. Pitching does win championships, but its not like yankees just throw out duds. They have a great bullpen, with pretty decent starters. Their hitting is out of this world tho, with a better option (damon) in centerfied it fix's their one problem on the offensive side, plus helps a Little on defense. I expect the yankees to make it to the ALCS, and would love to sweep them considering I dont like them. I don't know, man. I think the White Sox will be the Top Seed and the Yankees will be the Wild Card, so we'll knock them out in the ALDS. I think Oakland and the Blue Jays will be the other seeds. Of course, I'd rather the Indians make the Wild Card and then we can knock them out of the Playoffs, but I think the Yankees will.