Gregory Pratt

Well, I've completely changed my mind. Liberal Democrats

I don't think that's true. Not absolutely, anyway. I like Javy enough. I'm very skeptical, though. And I'd much prefer to have Chris Young. I've always been floored by the failure of our scouts with regard to BA, though.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 09:17 PM) So we just got our last electric bill for the month and its just under 70 bucks. The three us of are now trying to live in relative darkness, cause we're all cheap as f***. I hope your roommate doesn't try to recycle the condom your friend left in his bed because he's "cheap."

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 09:22 PM) To directly answer your question, which is an entirely different question/issue that I originally responded to ... my answer is this ... many many many of those kids at age 16 could turn out to be a star. Their philosophy is to sign lots of guys and develop them as best as possible. No they do not spend as much money as the Mets, the Yankees and a few other teams in paying out big bonus money but I would bet with their Dominican academy and scouting staff and two Dominican League teams their expenditures are on par with many of the aforementioned teams. No way to prove it though so it may be an offpoint statement. It requires a bigger picture view, which also seems to be a phrase I use a lot on this site. Would the Braves like to have Juan Moreno in their stable, yes they would. Would the White Sox want to have some of the Braves guys in the Appy League, of course they would. But again, the original point was they lack an international presence, and you have explained the deeper issue behind your statement to which I objected. The good news is, their international presence has increased, as had their financial commitment. It does seem they like bringing in proven players i.e. spending money that way, in the Far East. I don't know how true that is. I won't doubt you too much but we will have to wait and see. I hope it's true, though, and we soon start spending money on some of these young studs who will, at the least, serve as good trade chips. (Elvis Andrus has gone down and isn't quite what people thought he would be but the Braves used him to help land Teixeira.) I love far east players, but I'm big on the latin american countries and signing them, too. We need a Liriano or a Furcal -- before they cost millions and millions for several years. Maybe DLS can be that guy.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 09:11 PM) Here is an example of some of their womens rights. And this is why he doesn't believe that Iran has any gay people. I can't begin to express how much contempt I have for those who do such evil. Tyrants, ugh.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 08:19 PM) I don' have a problem with the Iranian leader speaking at Columbia. It's also great to see that we didn't have conservative students charging the stage, attacking the guy, and making fools out of themselves (like their liberal counterparts did during that speech for the guy with the minutemen). 1. I guess only conservatives hate dictators. 2. What are you implying -- that only liberals have ever charged a speaker? Give me a break. Everything isn't a political war between Democrats and Republicans or (western) conservative and (western) liberal. I'm just happy no White Sox fans charged Mahmoud Ahmaniac!

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 09:10 PM) But actually you mentioned lack of international presence, which is what I responded to. Not anything about how many productive major leaguers have happened. They actually keep their activities and signings fairly quiet, especially in the Dominican. There was no big press conference last winter when they signed Po Yu Lin, the pitcher. It was actually someone on one of the White Sox boards who dug up that info. Same is true for Anderson Gomes and Paulo Orlando out of Brazil, no press conferences for that either. They sign lots of Dominican guys. I have posted this before and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the Bristol roster shows it. The White Sox are in fact signing international free agents and I expect that to continue and/or increase as more emphasis has been placed on expanding the Dominican operation. Also as I mentioned before, Ruben Amaro Sr. is in charge now which is good. Iguchi, Shingo were two really good signings and watch for the Sox to be more active in the Pacific Rim this winter. I am not defending them believe me. But the statement of lack of international presence is not correct. When's the last time we spent significant money on a guy who could be a future star -- someone like Felix Hernandez or Rafael Furcal? We have a presence -- we just don't sign superstars. Probably because of money.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 03:49 PM) Well, I gotta say, Obama would be my choice between Girly Man, Mrs. b****, and Obama. Obama is the least electable of the three, IMO.

Sounds like you've got some serious computer problems.

Are we sure it's offensive player? I opened it, skimmed, saw Javier Vazquez was also considered for the award, closed it and then said, "Huh?"

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 08:23 PM) No doubt both Atlanta and Minnesota can identify talent but it's fair to note this question, and answer, from the Appalachian League chat from BA. John M from NYC asks: Was Danville and Elizabethton's dominantion of this year's list a product of two very strong teams or was it a result of the other teams in the league not offering much in terms of talent? A: Nathan Rode: Both. The Twins and Braves don't have a short-season team like many others. Basically, the Appy League is their advanced Rookie team where guys go if they're too good for GCL, but not quite Low A ready. The other teams have that advanced team to play with. That's why you see Elizabethton and Danville dominate so much. That doesn't take away from other prospects. It's just a matter of concentration of players in a league. Also, not sure what lack of international presence means regarding the White Sox. If you are talking about Australia and the Netherlands, it's true. However, few players thus far have come from those areas. White Sox have one of the most respected scouts in the game, Ray Poitevent, in the Pacific Rim and are well represented in the Dominican, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico, and Brazil. Two teams in the Dominican league as well, not many other teams do that. There is a frustration with the pipeline of players but they are well represented in the major talent producing countries. We might have people there but we definitely aren't producing much from those countries. We aren't signing many international free agents and when was the last time we had an impact player or even an average player that we picked up from the international market? It's all well and good to have baseball academies but if we aren't signing international free agents -- identifying and signing guys like Liriano, Felix Hernandez (who the Braves had their hands on but who went to Seattle because of Freddy Garcia), Rafael Furcal, Maggs/Lee so long ago -- we've been abysmal for quite awhile now. You hardly ever hear about our activity down there, about us signing people.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 08:04 PM) Mike Cameron is out for the year also. Please don't make the playoffs Padres. I can't believe how close the Rockies are to making it. It's incredible. Let's go, Rockies!

QUOTE(Wanne @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 07:50 PM) Dude...some old lady got what...$350K from McDonalds for spilling hot coffee on herself. Never underestimate the ineptitude of the judicial system. That's not what she got 350K for. I don't want to make it seem like I don't understand that the judicial system does make mistakes or does things to excess but Milton Bradley isn't going to sue the umpire and win. He might be able to sue his manager but I doubt that'll go too far, either. He should sue his mother and father. Or, perhaps, he should sue whatever it was that made his ACL so weak. I don't make any claim about Bradley + steroids, let's be clear. But with such a freak injury, and the percentage of steroid users in baseball as told by Jose Canseco, it wouldn't surprise me.

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 01:07 PM) kap, ss2k5 and I went to a Ranger's game once... THAT'S Iconic Kap, ss2k5 and I brought a championship to SoxTalk with Northside and Tito (Brian, as I call him). I don't know how many of those guys are icons, but we brought a championship to a championship-starved website -- it had been, after all, over a year since the last championship came to SoxTalk. And so we deserve jobs for life, even if we aren't all "icons." (Really, I use the term icon as a joke. Flash first used it to describe our meeting in the chatroom and I got a kick out of it. Kap, ss2k5 and Northside are staples and so they're icons.) I liked them. It was good to be teammates with them. I hope we do it again this year. I've been hounding Flash for awhile now that he's got to be on the team. And you know what? Assuming he has a clue how to swing a bat, he should be a masher because he's big and strong enough.

QUOTE(BHAMBARONS @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 07:40 PM) It amazes me that this trade is still being debated. As I have said before this trade has worked out well for both teams. Young has done more than anyone outhere in AZ ever expected and Javy has (outside of Mark B) been one of the most consistant and better pitchers for the Sox's. After nearly 2 years I wouldn't think this trade will still be debated the way it still is. I'm not even getting into the "should it be debated" or "CHRIS YOUNG!" portion. I just don't believe that we would be going, "HEY, KW SHUD HAVE TR8ED FOR JAVY!" if we hadn't traded for him. Why would we? People don't often do that, especially not coming off a Series with a "bright future" ahead of them and McCarthy waiting and all that. Especially since he wasn't THAT hot last year, in totality, and who knows what he would've done in another city if we hadn't gotten him. Seems like a huge stretch to say, "We'd be mad about not getting Javy!" Right.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 01:02 AM) If the Sox sucked this year with Young in CF and Floyd in Javy's spot, we'd constantly hear the "Kenny was stupid for not trading for Vazquez! How could he not make starting pitching a priority?!" crap here. Umm, why would we constantly talk about a trade he didn't make? that kind of thing doesn't happen all that often. I doubt people would be pining for Javier Vazquez if he hadn't been traded for. Not that he hasn't been good this season, but for you to say, "we'd constantly hear..." seems off.

QUOTE(Yossarian @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 07:15 PM) I look like Woody Allen if he had muscles. At least that's what I was told once. I think of an Amish man when I think of you. I don't know why. But an Amish man that I quite like. I mean, I like the Amish. Delightful, friendly people. And it doesn't hurt that you and I are often on the same page.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 01:14 PM) Jesus, the Braves have 7 of the top 11 on that list. Uh huh. Atlanta just has people who know how to gauge talent very, very well. I'm not sure how many scouts they have but I'm sure it's a lot and they're all very good. Minnesota is, I think, more impressive in that they scout every single player. Not all day every day, but they scout everyone to find hidden gems and make no bones about it. That's how they came upon Santana -- not by some stroke of "luck" like some would have you believe. It makes me sick to think about our scouts and our prospects and our lack of international presence.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 02:48 PM) It almost sounds like your computers security settings/firewall are blocking Mozilla from reaching the internet. That's what I thought.

He can't sue. I mean, he can, but I doubt he wins anything. Maybe he should see the people that made his body of glass.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 12:14 AM) Can someone teach me how to use Mozilla Firefox? I feel like I'm way behind in that I still use Internet Explorer. Getting started would be great. I tried to open Mozilla up and in that bottom 'tab', it says "Looking up en-us.start.mozilla.com...". Help, anyone? What's so difficult? Download it. Change your homepage to whatever. (Google is mine.) Use it like a normal browser. Instead of opening lots of windows, though, open them in tabs. The tabs of course are near the top below the URL thing. what d'you need to know?

I'm rooting for Cleveland and LA. Maybe the Padres, Rockies or Phillies.

I just wish we had made Tony Romo cry.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Sep 24, 2007 -> 11:10 AM) Moron shirt And so begins the flubby stupidity. The WS predictions are a riot, and I can't wait for the shots of the flubby fans praying, pointing to the sky, bringing goats into the game, reversing made up curses by silly mystical crap. Nice name kid. LOL It's not that bad. Better than Shaniqua or Gastrol or something. I just get a kick out of everyone going crazy now that the Cubs are going to the playoffs.