CSF

There's ground to be made up today. The Tribe lost 2-1, & the Sox can go back to 9 games up with a victory tonight.

Oh yeah, next time, you should post this in the Around the Horn forum. But the important thing is the magic number is 27! Hopefully, Contreras can lower it to 26 after tonight!

BALLGAME! Jays win 2-1!

From Chicagosports.com:

Maybe all hope isn't lost on Baj having a 2nd go round with the Sox in September.

It's official. B&B headed to the afternoons.

"See then I whirled Stan around and raised my knee......"

Link I'm sorry, but that's hillarious!

Happy as hell that the Sox won today....................because the D-Rays are the major suck. Cleveland leading big right now. :fyou

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 23, 2005 -> 09:53 PM) I think it's funny how Hawk tried to say this wasn't like other games we tanked vs the Twins. I think this was the prototype game that sums up the futility we've had vs the Twins in previous seasons. Great defense by the Twins, terrible execution by the Sox, and that timely homer by the Twins. Futility is going in to the bottom of the 9th with a 3 run lead and watching Foulke give up 4 (f***ing Denny Hocking). Futility is an easy inning ending DP and watching Valentin throw the ball into the f***ing dugout. Futility is an 18-3 beatdown. This was just bad luck.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 23, 2005 -> 09:38 PM) Hey buddy, don't let the door hit you on the way out. I don't care if Sox lose the rest of their games this season....I'll still always root for them. This is fathom talking? Sweet Jesus, what has this board come to. Who else besides me found a silver lining to this loss? **peeks over wall** Garcia pitched in the house of horrors and matched a reigning Cy Young winner pitch for f***ing pitch. If not for web-gemlike plays from Stewart and Jones, the Sox may have had a run or two. And the Sox played *gasp* DEFENSE! In the dome no less! Obviously, this loss hurts like s***. But this was a playoff type game, and with healthy personnel back in a week or so, I still like the Sox odds. Now, fire away.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Aug 21, 2005 -> 05:42 PM) Harris -- After Charlotte's season is over Gload -- "" BMac -- "" Adkins -- Is there such thing as a september demotion? Walker (though I wouldn't have a problem if they didn't) -- Aw, hell no Baj (long, long, loooong overdue) -- After Charlotte's season is over Anderson (only if he's sent back down prior to 9/1) -- He's up for good. I wonder if any AA guys like Young or Owens will get a nod? -- No Oops, I forgot Adkins was already with the club.

If I'm not mistaken, the roster gets expanded to 40. Whose got the best chance at being brought up on 9/1. Harris Gload BMac Adkins Walker (though I wouldn't have a problem if they didn't) Baj (long, long, loooong overdue) Anderson (only if he's sent back down prior to 9/1) I wonder if any AA guys like Young or Owens will get a nod?

Warm days, sunny rays, & Nuke is telling another opponent to EAT s***. Ahhh, good times, good times.

I'm listening right now, and he has taken calls from Boers, Dan Zampillo (I still miss the Me & Z show ) and some others saying goodbye to him? Where is he headed?

I was one of those down on Garland last year when he put that game on Konerko and the error. It's been great to see that he's has put more of the responsibilty on his own shoulders. That's what a money game pitcher does. Kudos, Big Jon!

Jason Kendall on 3rd, Bobby Crosby on 1st, Eric Chavez at the plate with K-Rod pitching. Crosby steals 2nd, the ump calls a ball, K-Rod looks on in disbelief. As Bengie Molina tosses the ball back to K-Rod, the ball deflects off his mitt. Kendall dashes for home, and beats the throw for the A's win. Unbelievable. :headshake BTW, it was a 4-4 tie bottom of the 9th.

QUOTE(Soxnbears01 @ Aug 8, 2005 -> 11:11 PM) if the cy young is based on attractiveness, then he wins hands down

Wow, Owens has been on fire as of late.

Yes, the Bob Wickman according to Dave Revsine on Sportscenter. He gave that list to Harold Reynolds. Nevermind that Buehrle fellow, or even that dude who broke his leg (Halladay or somethin'). :rolly BTW, Harold didn't disappoint and picked Rivera. :headshake

Greasy! One of the most positive Sox fans on this board. Congrats.

He was definitely the best anchor of the Big 3. It's a shame he died so soon. R.I.P. Mr. Jennings.

According to the Arizona Republic, Gretzky will be announced tomorrow.

"He got frustrated at times, but the attitude change has helped him. Instead of internalizing, he's having fun even on bad days, which is hard to do in this league." Walker jokes Crede fell into the "cave dweller" category of players who stay in their hotel rooms from one road game to the next and don't enjoy the cities or their teammates' company. "Last year on a road trip he never got out of his room," Walker says. "We never saw him eat lunch." Rowand has known Crede since Double A and has roomed with him in spring training. He doesn't mind taking a little credit for pulling him out. "I'd like to think some of us had something to do with it," Rowand says. "But ultimately it was his decision to open up and become more outgoing." Walker says he understands Crede, having come from a small town himself. "It's just not in our nature to be real vocal," he says. But Douglas, Ga., Walker boasts, is "a lot bigger" than Westphalia, Mo. (pop. 320). "We have a McDonald's, his doesn't." Family pastime They pronounce it Crady in Westphalia, and it is a name that has produced several generations of ballplayers in a place that worships the game. One cousin, Dennis Higgins, pitched for four big-league teams, including the White Sox, from 1966 to 1972. Out of high school, Joe's father Dave played on an Air Force baseball team, the Weisbaden (Germany) Flyers, for three years. When he returned home he tried out for the Dodgers, but they told him he was too old at 24, so he turned to fastpitch softball. When the Crede kids were young they would travel the state on weekends to see their father's team play until the boys' baseball schedules got too busy. The Crede's house sat on a hillside on about 30 acres, where a favorite pastime of the boys—Brad is five years older than Joe and Josh is five years younger—was to hit rocks with sticks. "I guess that's why they were such good ballplayers," Debbie Crede says. "They'd see who could hit it the farthest down from the house into the field. The farmers probably didn't appreciate that too much." Brad and Joe were drafted on the same day—Brad, a shortstop, by the Phillies out of Central Missouri State and Joe by the White Sox out of Fatima High School. "That was pretty exciting," Debbie Crede recalls. "The whole town was in an uproar." The buzz was that young Josh, a pitcher who entered high school the year after Joe graduated, might be the most talented Crede. He looked to be following in his brothers' footsteps until one morning in December of his junior year. Driving to school, Josh veered off the road and his car crashed into a gully, leaving him with a severe brain injury. Joe, home during the off-season, was the first family member on the scene. "He gets there and sees all the blood and the helicopter's on the way," older sister Leigh Ann recalls. "It wasn't anything he really talked about beyond describing what he saw. It's not like Joe to describe his feelings." Josh Crede spent two weeks in a coma and three months in the hospital before entering rehab. "When Josh was in the hospital, it was hard for me to get Joe to leave," Debbie Crede says. "It was tough on Joe and it still is." Josh would be back in high school for his senior year, graduate with his class in '01 and spend a year in junior college before returning home. Slowly he recovered, but he never regained his baseball skills. Now 22, he works two part-time jobs and has dreams of acting, having recently taken some classes in New York. "I've asked 'What if' so many times," Josh says. "I've cried myself to sleep over it. But I'm as happy as I can be for Joe. He's an absolute god to me in baseball. "Last week was my birthday and we went to see him play in Kansas City and he hit a home run," Josh says. "He kind of knew where I was sitting. I don't know if the home run was for me or not, but at home plate he pointed over to us. It's still amazing to me what he's doing." Lofty goals A league MVP at the Class-A and Double-A levels, Crede is used to high expectations, and he has them for himself. In years past, it was believed the pressure he put on himself kept him from achieving his potential. "You always want to go out and perform, and any time you don't you get down on yourself," Crede says. "That's the worst thing you can do because it just makes it worse for the next opportunity. You have to learn from your mistakes and go from there." Marriage, to Lisa, and fatherhood—daughter Anna will be 2 in November and the couple is expecting a second child in October—no doubt have helped the maturing process. Mother and daughter rarely miss a game. Last year, as part of a commissioner's project to enhance baseball broadcasts, the White Sox were one of six teams asked to "mike" certain players during games. When it was Crede's turn, the producer had a slight problem: There was no sound the entire game. It was not a technical problem. Crede cringes at the "quiet man" characterization, but it's a common one. "I'm the same person I was last year," he insists. "It's just a different team, a lot more guys to get along with and you're going to have more fun. Last year there weren't many guys I really hung out with—Rowand was pretty much it. But this year there's Rowand, A.J. [Pierzynski], Jermaine [Dye] … just more guys on the team I have in more common with." Can it help Crede's play? "You have to believe his attitude has been a positive for him," Walker says. "I've tried to tell him, 'Hey, you don't want to look back one day and say I played in the big leagues for 10 years and I wish I would've enjoyed it more.' "He has been more of an influence on our team now. He has turned into one of our more vocal players and he has added a lot to the chemistry." The back, Crede says, is not a problem as long as he stretches it. The Sox are giving him periodic days off to rest. "I'm pleased with where he's at right now—he has made some big strides," Walker says. "But there's more upside there. I know we keep saying that about him, but it's true, especially if you watch him take BP every day. He pounds the ball all over the field." Sox manager Ozzie Guillen says Crede is doing everything asked of him. "A lot of people think he has the tools to be batting third, fourth or fifth, but when you're batting ninth, you can't expect nothing better," Guillen says. "He had [69] RBIs with 20-something home runs last year. When you're batting ninth, that's a lot. "We've waited for him to break out and have a career year. Everybody loves him and so do I. He's real special." [email protected]

Link Crede sheds shell, raises game White Sox third baseman Joe Crede's decision to relax and have more fun this season has given him more confidence at the plate By Melissa Isaacson Tribune staff reporter August 6, 2005, 4:14 PM CDT It was country boy vs. city kid on a recent off day for the White Sox when Joe Crede took Aaron Rowand turkey hunting on Crede's property in Central Missouri. For the purposes of the story, it doesn't matter that Rowand doesn't consider himself a city boy in the truest sense of the word or that he had been hunting before. The fact is he never had hunted turkey. And he had never gone with Crede. And, well, he was not very good at it, Crede says. "A turkey can see anything out of the ordinary," the White Sox third baseman explained. "It can detect any movement, so you have to stay completely still. [Aaron] talks too much." In other words, it seems the perfect pastime for Crede. You can call him a country bumpkin. At least Rowand can and get away with it. But tell Crede that his coaches and teammates believe he finally has come out of his shell and he gets a little testy. "I don't get where they're coming from," Crede says. "I'm the same person I was last year and the year before. I always hear that I'm a totally different person this year, like I didn't say a word last year." All four of Debbie Crede's children—Leigh Ann, Brad, Joe and Josh—were shy kids "until they got warmed up," she says, laughing. "And then, God help you." Joe Crede, it appears is just getting warmed up. He hit .304 (21-for-69) with four home runs, 12 RBIs and 10 runs scored in July despite being bothered since early in the month by two herniated discs in his lower back. He is batting .251 overall with 15 home runs and 47 RBIs, which projects as an improvement over last year, when he hit .239 with 21 homers and 69 RBIs. But is it good enough? That always seems to be the question for a player who came through the organization with great expectations. "Here's what's good enough," Sox general manager Ken Williams says. "He's the starting third baseman for the team with the best record in baseball, so he must be all right. Joe Crede goes out there on a daily basis and his glove alone helps us win ballgames." Defensively, Crede is having what the Sox consider a Gold-Glove-caliber season, though the award often goes to the best all-around player at each position. He ranks tied for second among American League third basemen in fielding percentage (.972), seventh in assists (180), seventh in putouts (64) and is tied for 11th in errors (seven). He is also tied for fifth with 15 home runs. But another pretty fair White Sox third baseman, Bill Melton, says fielding percentage is not what makes Crede great. "You can't get much better than what Joe does in the field," Melton says. "If you look at the mistakes he makes, he very rarely makes one with his glove. [Thursday's throwing error] was because he first thought double play and he lost vision to first base. "His concentration defensively against any trouble he may be having offensively is remarkable. It tells you he's a player who is focused every game. He fights his offensive demons like a lot of players do, but Joe doesn't take it on the field, and that's a very hard separation." Crede's ability to shrug off a bad hitting day is a big part of his evolution as a big-leaguer, Sox hitting coach Greg Walker says, and it may explain why those around him see a difference in Crede this season. "I think a light bulb went off this winter as far as how he was going to approach the game," Walker says. "He was going to have more fun, he was going to be aggressive, he was going to come up with an approach and stick with it. He really got off to a good start, and then got back down to .230, .240, but he stuck with it and he came out of it and now he has been a really good hitter for the last month or so.