Dick Allen

Today was the first day in 6 years I left the game early because of a power route. Cliff Po-meat needs to be waived. He can't even mop up blow outs.

Montero blows, but he's at least as good as Politte at this point. This seems like a convenient "injury" to Nelson. They need a right hander who can pitch to more than 1 or 2 batters in the bullpen.

QUOTE(Mansoo @ Jun 3, 2006 -> 08:19 PM) How about K. Griffey Jr. ?? I don't think its a question about money. I'm sure Cincinatti would pick up some of if not all post playing days obligation, but the deal last year included Chris Young. He gone, and the Reds are in a better position in the standings. The baseball people with Cincinatti probably would trade him in a heartbeat, but the business people aka ownership would be leary of letting him go, if he would even go. He would get hurt in no time though, and he can't get a breather at DH, so pass at this time.

Defense saved the Sox in the 8th, and Jenks didn't let the tea cup zone get into his head in the 9th. It should have been a laugher, but a win is a win.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Jun 3, 2006 -> 09:20 PM) I'm not excusing him, he sucks, but he's out there and Bmac wasn't avaible and Nelson blew last night. ANd I would love for KW to go get something but there won't be very much worth anything out there until the trade deadline so we'll have to go with a Montero or Farnsworth. As unattractive as those options are, and I agree they are probably the only ones, they are better options than Cliff. He looks like he's going to cry on the mound.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jun 3, 2006 -> 09:16 PM) Our bullpen is far from stellar right now. And if you run the pitchers into the ground that are decent, because you don't want to use someone, those decent pitchers will just get worse. There's absolutely nothing that can be done to change that until we get some new pitchers in that pen. We have nothing servicable in the farm, and trades won't exactly happen that soon for someone of actual value. Its an upset if Politte gets anybody out at this point. Any of the gas cans at Charlotte can be at least as good as him. I say give one of them a try.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Jun 3, 2006 -> 09:11 PM) Who else are we going to use? We can't use Bobby for 2 innings every night. We gotta hope Cliff finds it or something. Who cares about righty right lefty lefty match-ups with him. He's terrible. Use anybody. He should not be in a game that basically hasn't been decided yet. Even Hawk said if Matthews got a little under the only out Politte recorded it probably would have been on the concourse.

To me Jenks looked like he lost all the extra weight he came to spring training with and then some. But the last week or so, he looks gigantic again. Bigger than spring training.

Really, how many more times does Ozzie need to put Politte in the game to get it through his head he shouldn't be pitching unless the game is out of hand one way or the other?

Bullets dodged

Garland is beyond dreadful. There are currently 97 pitchers in MLB who have pitched enough innings to qualify for leading the league in ERA. Garland is ranked 92. Doesn't sound like a guy due $22 million total for 2007 and 2008. His numbers are Jaime Navarro-esque.

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Jun 3, 2006 -> 04:22 PM) I think Everett was about 50 pounds lighter in 2003 too. And he still had the range of the Bull.

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Jun 3, 2006 -> 04:17 PM) Lest we forget, Carl Everett was logged significan experience in CF. Think about how quickly Rowand built a reputation of being a great player. In the middle of 2003 KW had to get Everett, a DH basically, to play CF because Rowand wasn't getting the job done. Rowand came on in 2004, and in 2005 was average at best offensively, and played a decent CF, although he had a 2 or 3 week stretch of being awesome, even though his throwing was far more erratic than ever.

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Jun 3, 2006 -> 04:12 PM) Pods, LF Iguchi, 2B PK, DH Dye, RF AJ, C Crede, 3B Mack, CF Cintron, SS Gload, 1B With the exception of Gload in place of Konerko, this may be our best offensive lineup. Ozuna at SS is the only possible way to make it more offensively potent. If Javy K's a lot of Rangers, which is a possible, this is a good risk. Hopefully Thome can play soon, and Vazquez can keep the ball out of the gaps especially left center and deep CF. Also hopefully there's nothing too challenging hit towards SS.

When I was working on the elliptical this morning I was watching ESPN and they were going to have Brantley on to show everyone why the Big Unit was back to his dominant ways. I changed the channel because watching and listening to Brantley and working out at the same time would probably cause me to have a grabber even though I'm fairly young and in decent shape. Anyway, the Big Unit just gave up 3 in the 1st inning. Brantley is an idiot.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jun 3, 2006 -> 03:13 PM) He'll be a free agent in two years. I wonder what his relationship with Guillen is like. 2 years from now, maybe nobody will want him. Last year wasn't all that great for him, and the Phillies aren't really getting their money's worth this year either. He's got decent stats, nothing eye-popping for a guy making his type of money.

If Philadelphia is trying to improve their rotation, why would they want Jon Garland? The Sox and half this board get excited when he only gives up 3 gopher balls in 6 innings. Garland can be traded, he just has to approve it. I don't see this trade happening however. I would think if Garland and Rowand were traded for each other there would be several other players switching teams as well. If the Phillies had no use for Thome, they certainly don't need Rogo. If KW could get something useful for Haeger, they should name the Executive of the Year award after him.

QUOTE(Ndgt10 @ Jun 3, 2006 -> 12:27 PM) Jon pitched a hell of a game last night. He looked fantastic and was dominating. I definitely like him better than Garcia and Buerhle. Yeah, they better get his plaque in Cooperstown ready.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Jun 3, 2006 -> 08:46 AM) We went to a restaurant called the Atlantic Fish Company on Boylston St. It was very nice and the food was good. Actor Mark Walberg (sp?) was eating a couple of tables away, for whatever that is worth. Legal Sea Foods is a restaurant well known for its clam chowder. Definitely try some Boston clam chowdah while you are there. I had some lobster at the Atlantic Fish Company. It was a nice place.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jun 3, 2006 -> 08:40 AM) I'll be at the game, sitting during the wave. What's next, are you going to refuse to throw opponents home run balls back?

QUOTE(beck72 @ Jun 2, 2006 -> 07:47 PM) I'd be all ears for any bullpen guys out there who could help. But the asking price will be steep for even a mediocre late inning guy, esp. with all the injuries around baseball. If the sox 'pen can hold their own until the playoffs, the sox add Garland to the mix. That should be in green. I agree the bullpen needs to be tweaked, but I am now coming around on CF. Anderson needs to start hitting. As much as I have criticized Ozzie in the past, you can't blame him for PH Mackowiak, but Mack cannot play CF for any length of time. I was at a Patio Party last night and sat in the OF. Make no mistake about it, Matthews double is more than likely caught by Anderson. I would say Anderson's chances of making that play are at least 95%, its a play Rowand, with as deep as he plays and his total disregard for the wall would make at least 99% of the time. So that's at least 4 times this past week that having Mack in CF has cost the White Sox runs. That's not going to work, and neither is Anderson hitting .160. The rest of the guys except Uribe and occassionally Pods have been hitting out of their minds. It can't continue. Production is needed in CF as well as defense. If Anderson can't hit, Mackowiak isn't the solution.

I liked Boston. Stay in the Back Bay, Copley Place. You most likely can get a 4 star hotel for $120 a night or less on priceline.com. Check www.biddingfortravel.com for help with priceline bidding. The priceline 4 star hotels at Copley are the Marriott, the Westin (where the Sox stay) and Sheraton primarily. We stayed at the Sheraton. It really was a nice hotel, and probably had the nicest fastest service of any hotel I have ever stayed. They all are right next to the Prudential building, and are all accessable to each other without going outside. The Back Bay is pretty nice. There are a lot of restaurants and bars. We went to some fancy restaurant for my birthday, and I didn't see any rats, although I probably wasn't in condition to notice. I wore a White Sox windbreaker to the games, and had no problems. One thing you may try if you don't have tickets, is the Red Sox release seats day of game. When I went in 2003 I didn't have seats to the Saturday night game. We took a walk to Fenway just so I could be sure of the way, and when we got there there was a line a couple blocks long. It was September so I figured some playoff tickets must be going on sale, but a guy in line said standing room and extras for that night's game were going to be made available. So we got in line. I had called the Red Sox box office the day before, so I still had the number on my cell phone, and dialed them while in line. I got 2 in the front row by Pesky's Pole. We did the tourist thing and went on a duck tour, which was interesting. Anytime you drive past a church financed by George Washington, it gets your attention. You are within walking distance to Fenway. I didn't mind Fenway, but I really didn't check it out much. I pretty much got to the game, sat in my seat, and never left. I also was in the front row for the 2 games I saw, so my experience was pretty positive.

When we got our little guy our decision was between him and his sister, the only female in a 6 puppy litter. We played with both of them, it was evident neither cared much for the other. They were 3 months old, so we picked the boy. He's never been aggressive towards anyone. He's a Cavalier King Charles/ Lhasa mix (exotic mix my wife likes to call it). He was so sweet before the fix, and we were sort of dreading it because we heard about the personality change. We were told he probably wouldn't be as lively, but after the procedure, he has been exactly the same, and even though he's fixed he is occassionally found humping a pillow that my wife has that is like a little poodle. He was between 6 and 9 months old when he was fixed. Maybe he's different because he's small, I don't know. I'm also pretty sure he's gay from watching the interaction with other male dogs. We've had him for 3 years, and the only aggressive behavior I've ever seen was with his sister. He loves kids, he licks everybody. He really wanted us to pick him. I couldn't imagine there being a better dog.

I am an advocate of fixing the bullpen first, but CF is becoming an increasing problem, and will only become bigger once the inevitable happens and Dye, Konerko, Crede, Thome, and AJ start their descent toward career norms offensively. When that happens, you are going to have to get some production out of CF. The problem is if you use Mackowiak, the ball is going to find him out there. It has at least 4 times in the last week. Anderson needs to get out of his funk pretty quickly or a replacement has to be brought in. Jeff Nelson has shown why he was broadcasting, it was a nice try, but its not going to work out.

Frank's replacement has done OK.