Dick Allen

He likes to hit homers on opening day. He's now tied for most homers hit on opening day in MLB history.

How about just walking Kinsler next time up? He kills Danks.

Contreras is the trivia answer. I had no idea he told KW that if Alexei didn't work out, he'd pay his salary. It would never have happened, but the Count is a huge reason the Sox signed Ramirez.

The bad news is the offense looks horrid. The good news is that its early and Dunn looked pretty good at the plate.

Home plate ump is having a bad day. If Danks gets the same calls it will be OK, but there were 2 pitches clearly not strikes called strikes.

Beckham's first complaint was unwarranted, but the strike out pitch was clearly not a strike.

The Sox are going to have to start hitting to keep up with last season's pace. They scored 15 runs on 18 hits opening day last year.

Clearly the first 2 innings of this season are on Jeff Manto. 2 strikeouts and 3 pop ups.

QUOTE (Real @ Apr 6, 2012 -> 03:20 AM) This is one of the rare times where I'm not excited for baseball to start. Knowing this team is gonna be mediocre to awful doesn't help The Sox could be projected to lose 100 games and I could think they should lose 120, I still would be excited on opening day. As Lloyd Christmas knows, even if its one in a million, there's still a chance, and some of the Sox best seasons have come when they were projected not to do so well. Sit back, relax and strap it down.

The only reason this garbage was even published is Cowley needs this feud to continue for anyone to care about anything he writes. It must really make him cry at night to know Ozzie's book is being written not by Cowley but by Rick Morrissey.

What's scary is Ozzie is programmed by his sons and they are some dumb motherf***ers. When KW mentioned that text story, and there is little doubt in my mind he mentioned it to try to make himself look good and to try to prove he and Ozzie had moved on, his sons went on twitter and said it was total BS, Ozzie never responded. When they found out Ozzie did respond like an adult, they both had a fit and actually Oney ripped Ozzie. What's new about this recycled story? Ozzie won't work for the Sox as long as KW is there? I'm pretty sure KW AND JR won't have Ozzie as long as KW is there. Nothing new, just Joe trying to start trouble watching his career melt like the Wicked Witch of the West.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 2, 2012 -> 07:15 PM) God how I hate A.J. batting 5th. There are really very few other options. Viciedo and Ramirez historically start out slowly. Rios has been crap since July 2010.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 2, 2012 -> 04:24 PM) Does a pitcher pointing up on pop-ups actually help the fielders? Sometimes. If you can't see the ball, anything may help.

Happy birthday. He is a great guy. Another great guy I am very worried about since he hasn't been seen, at least by me in over a year when it was reported he had cancer, is Moose Skowron.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 31, 2012 -> 01:20 PM) And with that said, Nate Jones is probably the most likely to be sent down first. Probably, but if they get him to throw strikes like they got Thornton to throw strikes, he could be dominant for a while.

Charlotte fans will be happy. If he's awful, its no skin off the Sox back. Risk free. This guy used to be pretty good. What happened? Did he get hurt or did he stop taking vitamins?

I just wonder why it was a fireable offense for Cooper and not Guilen and why Cowley waited until March 2012 to write it. Isn't the Peavy ankle injury old news? I guess Joe's agenda for baseball season this year is to rip KW and Cooper any chance he can get and mention Ozzie as much as possible. His meal ticket is in Miami. That must really suck for him.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Mar 29, 2012 -> 05:32 PM) Delwyn Young or Christian Marrero > Greg Golson Maybe, but none of them are even average major leaguers.

Anyone see the story on Fox yesterday about DePaul possibly building an arena on the NW corner of Fullerton and Sheffield? I don't know where they would put the cars, but I'd go to games.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 07:06 PM) Not sure what he inherited. The guy left for Bryant because it was his hometown I believe He's 20-99 at Bryant. 2-28 this year. He probably left for the job security.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 06:44 PM) Fwiw, Groce didn't inherit a mess. He inherited a program that won 80 games the previous four years(he's improved on that, but just saying) What kind of roster did he inherit? Where there still starters from the teams that won games the previous years? One reason coaches bolt, especially to places like Bryant University, is the future doesn't look so great where they are at. I have no idea about Ohio's rosters FWIW. I do know this guy has got that school in the tournament 2 out of the last 3 years and has won 3 games. He also recruited a lot of Ohio State's top players when he was an assitant there. He's certainly not the sexy hire, but probably the most competent at this point, but if I was him, I wonder how much Illinois really wants me. This is a crazy situation. I can't remember a school having such a hard time, especially with the money they have been willing to throw out there.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 06:42 PM) I wont comment on why he was fired, but its simply more than a blanket statement like recruiting or coaching. As for Jerrance, he's 29. That's why. 29 year olds get jobs, especially if they show they are outstanding as assistants at major schools. Maybe he doesn't want to, I obviously don't know, but IMO, Weber got fired because the AD is new and he wanted to be a tough guy, and probably thought he'd have no problem landing a guy like Smart, but that new AD has a reputation that is scaring away a lot of people. If the Illini get Groce, it will still be OK, I don't see how he could be a disaster, although the longer it takes if the reports were true and it was a done deal already, the better the odds Groce tells Illinois to go scratch. If they named Howard or Theus the new head coach, it would mean they will still be paying Weber while paying an inferior coach as well. If I'm a trustee, I'd be wondering about the new AD.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 06:28 PM) First his recruiting sucked. Then once he got that turned around, his coaching suddenly went to s***. . I think he's probably a better option than the candidates being considered, although I don't think Groce is a bad choice. I think he may be better than Shaka and Stevens. He can recruit, and knows the Big Ten. People are too hung up on his record. If you inherit a mess, it takes a while to clean up especially at a school like Ohio where 4 star recruits aren't going to be lining up to attend no matter who the coach is. I don't think Weber forgot how to coach. If this assistant is as good of a recruiter as some claim, the Illini would have been just fine without making a change.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 06:02 PM) Howard has a great basketball mind. He surpassed the other two assistants very quickly when it came to game prep. What happened with Illinois goes beyond that. So he's a great basketball mind and a great recruiter, how come no other schools are interviewing him for a head job? I think his popularity is back up QB syndrome. Why did Weber get fired? Coaching? Recruiting?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 05:13 PM) Pfff. I hope to god nobody actually believes that. Some OSU fans actually believe that he's considering us too. In this case, $$ talks. I don't think so. Parker may be an exception. He comes from a solid family. But for Illinois and/or their fans to think he has to be an Illini for them to have much of a future, if he's anywhere near as good as expected, he's only going be playing for one or two years in college.