Dick Allen

Macha could piss a lot of people off and keep Frank's butt on the bench tonight, but I think he matches up well with Garland.

Is Frank definitely playing tonight?

Lidge, IMO, if he's 100% healthy, would make AL hitters look silly. Jenks would be a set-up guy, and get an occassional chance at a save. It would make the bullpen very strong, very quickly. I just don't think the Sox have great enough prospects to get him, if Houston would even trade him.

If Shields ever became available.......he's such a rubber arm I can't see the Angels ever dealing him, especially since they aren't going into rebuilding mode any time soon. I still think Lidge may become available especially if Clemens comes back to the Astros. They may look for some salary relief, but Lidge probably would cost more than the Sox have to offer, at least prospects wise.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 22, 2006 -> 01:56 PM) You don't trade Josh Fields for a middle reliever, plain and simple. It depends on who it is. Most of the teams willing to trade guys have bad teams because their players suck. It obviously would have to be a pretty good pitcher you would get back to trade Fields, although I'm not sold on Fields being a good major league player.

QUOTE(bogie @ May 22, 2006 -> 01:37 PM) Trust me, the Sox brass is far from thinking Nelson is an option. That's saying something especially if they think Montero or Logan were/are major league pitchers. The bullpen needs help. Rogo, Owens, Gload, everyone on Charlotte's pitching staff, maybe even Fields depending on how interested Crede would be in signing a reasonable extension, should be used as bait. Its obviously not the most attractive bait, but if the Sox are willing to take on some money, its possible they may land a good reliever.

I'll tell you one thing about Jacque Jones, he may have set a record in quickness of a home run trot yesterday. I bet he got around the bases faster than a few guys who hit inside-the-park homers did.

QUOTE(rudylaw @ May 22, 2006 -> 09:56 AM) Just coming off of the DL does not matter. He had two side sessions during his stint on the DL. The last one he had last Tuesday he threw 98 pitches. Mark had 105 pitches and Freddy had 107 in the past 2 games so yes Ozzie does let his guys go over 100. He does a lot. And I don't think that things were getting rough out there for Jose. An infield single and a bloop hit to right. That is not exactly being roughed up. Side sessions and games aren't equal. I'm sure Contreras could have continued, but Ozzie decided not to push it. Cotts was fresh, Walker is up, and he gets a DP ball. Inning should be over. The defense was not stellar yesterday.

Cotts wasn't good, but he did get Walker to hit into a DP until Uribe threw it away. That would have given the Sox at least a 2 run lead going into the ninth. I can't fault Ozzie for bring in Cotts. Contreras hadn't pitched in a while, and while the 2 hits he gave up in the 8th weren't exactly rockets, there's no telling what was coming. Ozzie should have put BA in though as Mack probably wasn't going to bat again, especially if the Sox didn't hit in the 9th. I still have doubts whether BA would have caught Barrett's triple. Maybe if he took the perfect route and got a great jump, but even Willie Mays didn't do that every single time. Its tough catching a ball slicing away from you running full speed.

I think its BS because isn't the league office which from where these suspensions are handed down closed on the weekends? Why would they have suspensions for 1 team figured out, but not both?

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ May 22, 2006 -> 07:52 AM) Just one observation, and I don't know if anyone else thinks this or not... But if Brian Anderson is in CF, he makes that catch slowing down, and we get out of the inning... Mack took a Carl Everett route to the ball. He is awful in CF. I was at the game, and was wondering if it would have made a difference. It seemed like maybe BA might have been able to make a play, but it was pretty hard to tell. Every swing Barrett took before the triple he seemed overmatched.

I have no idea if the info on the first post is true, but if it is I wouldn't be surprised. With teams always looking for bullpen help, if it was a pretty sure thing Nelson could be an effective reliever he probably wouldn't have been broadcasting in Seattle.

Another difference between Frank and Thome was that Frank was booed when he played here. I'll be there tomorrow and will clap respectfully, like a golf tournament clap, if they have a ceremony and before his first at bat. After that I will be silent. Some of his parting comments touched a nerve with me, and frankly at this point I see him as a selfish egotistical washed up jerk.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ May 21, 2006 -> 10:04 AM) What does it matter if Boone Logan or Augustin Montero get suspended? They are useless as relievers, might as well use them for something. And they both throw hard enough to cause damage. As much as I would like to see a little retaliation, I hope they take the high road and do nothing, unless of course Zambrano does something stupid today. Let the Cubs and their fans continue to be the longest running joke of professional sports.

The kid pitches like a pussy, and obviously is one. If I'm Hendry reading his pussy quotes, I'm sending him to Iowa. He doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to pitch at the major league level. If the catcher is blocking the plate on what should be a close play even with the puss arm of Murton, he's going to get hit. The baseline belongs to the runner.

OK, A.J., I'll tell you. You're an instigator, an agitator, a troublemaker, a wise guy. The above quote is from Mariotti's article. I really believe Mariotti is jealous of AJ. Mariotti wants to be the world's, or at least this town's, instigator, agitator, troublemaker and wise guy. If his column had any truth in it, he could surely understand why Hawk or JR would walk up behind him, grab him, turn him around and punch him in the face. The bottom line is Mariotti's trying to cause trouble with his writings again, and he's become so insignificant, it won't work. If there is no retribution today, he will be the most disappointed person in this city. He probably already has tomorrow's column written with blanks to fill in names.

The picture on the front of chicagotribune.com suggests AJ needs to work on his jowls.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ May 20, 2006 -> 06:24 PM) Comlimenting the opponent and burying your teammate are two different things. I think both Dusty and Barrett want the league to know he feels remorse and knows he was wrong so his suspension won't be as long.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ May 20, 2006 -> 06:17 PM) I agree with the end of that statement completely, and its just another example of Dusty being a horrible manager. It tells the player that Dusty Baker doesn't give a s*** about them, only himself looking good. Even if he doesn't believe it, a good manager backs up his players in a situation like that. Instead Dusty just threw his best hitter under the bus. I don't like Dusty, but I really don't know what else he's supposed to say. Everyone who saw the play knows Barrett was out of line. Did anyone accuse Ozzie of throwing his team under a bus when he complimented Hunter for going out of his way to nail Burke?

I wonder if Frank's batting average will be higher than Brian Anderson's when he steps to the plate at USCF for the first time in Oakland colors.

Thornton hit 99 on the USCF gun 3 times today.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ May 20, 2006 -> 04:08 PM) I forget, how long does the MLB front office take to deliver suspensions and fines in situations like this? It will be a couple of days, and then the routine appeal.

If AJ gets suspended it will be one of the biggest jokes ever. Anderson is looking at a few games IMO. I still can't believe it took the umpires so long to tell Barrett to get off the field. A riot could have started.

I just got back and have a couple observations. First, Barrett is blocking the plate, if its going to be a close play he should expect to get hit. Secondly, the umpires were fools not to immediately eject Barrett, letting him do a tough guy walk around the infield, and letting him catch Hill's warm-up tosses. If the exact opposite happened at the dump on the Northside, and AJ threw the punch and was able to stick around for a while, the idiots would have littered the field with garbage. Finally, Anderson's involvement was nice to see. Hopefully this with be a springboard for him. I'm sure he feels he belongs now more than ever before, and as a Pod's basher, I was quite impressed with his efforts getting right in the middle of everything. Barrett is a punk.

The Cubs fans behind me actually had a conversation about the White Sox having a lot of adrenalin flowing today, and that they won't be up for the rest of the series, so the Cubs should take the next 2. Do they sell quaaludes and mushrooms at Wrigley?