Dick Allen

I wonder if Ozzie would really say that if he thought there was the slightest possibility of it ever happening. The only way he gets canned is if he says something way too offensive.

Anyone have any reviews on the angled seats down the lines?

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Apr 3, 2007 -> 12:34 PM) No. Zell is the owner of both. Its like you having a Ford and Chevy. They don't own each other, you own them. I was once told the big shareholder with the White Sox was the Fanning Cadillac guy. Another interesting note is JR is saying it would be tough for Cuban to be approved as an owner. He also said his vote for approval to buy the Mavericks was 29-1. He was the one against, and if he doesn't want someone to own a MLB team, chances are they won't.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Apr 2, 2007 -> 08:23 PM) Looks like I didn't miss much. Were they hittin' ropes all over the place? Any bad breaks for Jose? Also, how did Masset look? How was the velocity/stuff? Contreras got shelled. They hit him hard. Masset was throwing 92 on the USCF gun, didn't have much control, and was not impressive. Maybe the nerves got to both of them. Maybe they just had bad days. I hope thats it.

QUOTE(Brian @ Apr 2, 2007 -> 08:13 PM) How did Stone sound? Someone told me Singleton did all the play by play. Hope that didn't take Stone down at all. I looked over in the booth today and Stone was doing a lot of talking. Mac, Jurko and Harry were kind of ripping on Singleton's work today. They said he needs to relax, before going on some tastless bit about wondering if Farmer's daughter signed her donor card, since Farmer is such a supporter and has benefitted from organ donation. It was pretty sick.

The next 5 games will most likely be played with temperatures below 40 degrees. (I bet the Sox open on the road next season) I don't think there will be much offense with these conditions. The pitchers need to step it up. Just write today off. Only a couple of people had the Sox going undefeated this year anyway.

Yet some Iowa fans will moan about the hiring of the national Coach of the Year.

I like this better than Altman. I like this better than Alford. I like this better than Majerus. Nice hire by Balta. Supposedly they offered Stallings the job but he said no.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Apr 2, 2007 -> 04:15 PM) Nice to see that Jenks was hitting 96-97 regularly on the "official" gun. Looks like his arm strength has increased sine ST. It was 93 on the USCF gun.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 2, 2007 -> 08:38 AM) Here is the specific article on the Cubs' eventual sale. Two interesting bits from this one... He says that as if its a good thing. Then there is this, involving the Sox.. Apparently Zell, a corporate financier extraordinaire, feels his investment in the Sox is better for him than the one in the Cubs. He knows the Cubs will be sold for far more than they are worth. I wonder if this means the Tribune will end its Ligue updates.

There definitely is a new grass pattern in the outfield, you will see the difference today. I don't think its a big deal, I just hope there's a new pattern when some of the pitchers take the hill in 2007.

Thank God, Ozzie decided Pods will ride pine against Sabbathia tomorrow.

Iowa might not be the premier job right now, but it is a pretty good job. They pay well, play in the Big Ten, rank pretty high in tournament appearances. In fact, when Alford took over the program, Iowa was second in the Big Ten in all time tournament appearances. Its not the second class job Alford made it out to be as he walked out the door. This program is a sleeping giant. Put a decent team out there and its a guaranteed sellout. Carver Hawkeye Arena is a crazy place to be when the Hawks have a decent team. When Lute Olson left, the hot coach on the move was George Raveling. Iowa got him. When Raveling left, they were able to lure Dr. Tom from Stanford, and when they decided not to extend Dr. Tom, Alford was the hot name. To me, Altman would be OK, a safe choice, but certainly not a home run. I'd rather have Lon Kruger myself. I don't know if he has any interest, but initially his name was the hot name.

The "major Sox announcement" is some sort of promotion with Walgreen's.

QUOTE(SoxPride56 @ Mar 31, 2007 -> 07:57 PM) My grandpa told me today that he said one of his friends was going to watch the sox work out tomorrow morning because it is open to the public... is this true? Has anyone heard of this before? Thanks in advance! I would really doubt it. I bet they don't want people in the concourses and seats because I'm sure they are getting the park all gussied up for the opener.

It started out bad, but Buerhle looked good tonight. I wish Jenks had a couple more MPH on the fastball, but he looked OK and Thornton was impressive.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 30, 2007 -> 06:52 PM) Good pitch. Hopefully he can take those one or two great abs, and one or two terrible abs location wise and get them down to solid location for pretty much every hitter. His control is even more important than the velocity he lost last year. Even at 87, if he gets the ball up and too much of the plate he will get hit hard. He's been able to paint for so many years, I just hope he can get back to that. When he's on a roll, its a 2 minute inning.

Hawk never says Buerhle reminds him of Catfish anymore.

Boy, Buerhle can't catch a break with that thin Atanta air.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Mar 30, 2007 -> 03:25 PM) I'm an Iowa fan, and I'm a Majerus fan -- You can dig through the archives here to find my story about watching the 2000 NCAA Championship with him -- but I don't want him coaching my basketball team. The Hawks are going to suck for a coupla few years once the dust settles and guys transfer out and decommitt. And once that happens, Majerus will either be dead or at the very least done coaching again, putting them back in the same position looking for a new head coach. I'm an Iowa alum and like Majerus a lot but I don't want him coaching the Hawkeyes either. I agree the next couple of seasons don't look too promising, but that could change quickly with some decent recruits. The problem I have is he quit Utah and had health problems there. He quit after 1 day USC saying he was physically unable to work the 16 hour days he works when coaching. His weight has been mentioned to be at least 370 but I have heard he has lost some. He's 59 years old, and I would be willing to bet his body is a very old 59. Giving him a coaching job may be doing him a disservice. Forget if he could last 4 or 5 years, He could have something serious happen to him at any moment. Keep him in his stress-free environment of color commentary. Hire Lon Kruger.

QUOTE(ScottyDo @ Mar 30, 2007 -> 11:52 AM) Where else are they supposed to hold auditions? Yeah, that's all fine but Floyd IS on the AAA team so clearly KW's biases didn't get in the way. If they made the right choice in the end, what's the problem? They didn't hold auditions for any starters in 2006. They were hoping Floyd would be what KW erroneously thought, and perhaps still thinks he is. If you can't, by what THEY say, evaluate pitching in AZ, then having a competition for a role makes little sense if you're basing it off of what they do in the environment where its supposedly impossible to evaluate them properly. As to the second part, KW traded one of his biggest chips to get Floyd, so like Sisco when he unbelievably was chosen over Logan (Sisco's numbers in 2006 were worse than Cotts' and he didn't exactly show he was improved in Tucson) Floyd, unless he is hurt or his ERA is 5 or 6 runs above everyone else, will most likely get the first crack when and if Danks needs more seasoning, or someone goes down. Remember, KW said his trades this offseason where going to help in 2007. Haeger should be the 5th starter, but that would make KW's trades look puzzling at the very least for this season.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Mar 30, 2007 -> 10:03 AM) So let him make excuses. Maybe he doesn't want to make Gavin think the organization has already given up on him after one spring training. That may be exactly what he's trying to do. Although I would say if Floyd is that fragile, its a longshot he's ever successful in the major leagues.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 30, 2007 -> 09:43 AM) I'm not seeing that anywhere in the story. Is there another article out there I missed? Yes. Just find any article that has KW talking about Floyd this spring. Its almost laughable the excuses he has for him.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Mar 30, 2007 -> 08:57 AM) If Tucson is so bad why are they staying in AZ? Why not move to Florida does it make sense to stay there if the conditions are not conducive to a successful spring training? JR lives in the Phoenix area in the winter. They have great facilities and they have a better $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ situation in AZ. The have also won more championships training in AZ than they have training in FL. I just don't understand if they claim they really can't evaluate there, why they set themselves up to have to evaluate there. I'm sorry KW fell in love with Floyd based a lot on his performance in the ARIZONA Fall League. Now he uses Arizona as an excuse for Floyd's failing. If its because of AZ that he blew this spring, why isn't he with the team? Maybe KW is trying to show confidence in Floyd, but the fact that he's in Charlotte shows that not all of his problems are AZ-related, as much as KW would like you to believe it.

Just a couple of days ago, Ozzie was concerned talking about how you can't just flip on a switch. Now he says the pitchers have looked good the past 2 weeks. The other puzzling thing to me is Cooper says you can't evaluate pitchers in Arizona. If that's the case why were the White Sox holding auditions for the 5th starter slot there this year, and for the bullpen with all those minor league busts last season? And if its so tough to pitch there, why is a guy who went through the entire spring unscathed opening the season in Charlotte? I am looking forward to the White Sox being 0-0 again, but nothing KW or Ozzie say will get me to stop worrying about the pitching.