CSF

I didn't listen to North's show, I heard it on their overnight update.

Valentin is batting lefty against Joe Kennedy. We'll be able to find out how he hacks it.

Doesn't start until 2:00pm CST. So the game's not for another half hour.

No picture is safe from NFL-Fans.

Saw on ESPN Bottomline ticker that Sheffield will play with the injury and return later this week.

Apparently, Valentin said this on Mike North's show yesterday. That's probably a good thing, since he couldn't hit his weight on the right side. Sorry if this has already been reported.

Rauch and Grilli. If Grilli doesn't make the club, the Sox have to return him to the Marlins. Unless he totally bombs in spring training, I don't think KW will want to do that.

Take some cough medicine man! Those germs will spread.

On their Sportsnation poll, they asked how should they deal with the Sheff loss: These are the results at this time: 18.2% are in favor of bringing back Paul O'Neill 7.7% are in favor of moving ARod to RF 19% are in favor of reacquiring Soriano to play RF 54.9% are in favor of acquiring Shammy to play RF

Willie lined a single into center, and got robbed of another hit by a play by either the 2nd or 1st basemen.

Farmer just said Politte's fastball was at 96 mph. Great news! :

CREDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Indeed!

I couldn't get the broadcast. Who has been doing well?

And he was 260 when he pitched for the Sox last year. Hell, he should go for the gold and pick up another 20 to be the 1st 300 pounder in MLB.

I know no one gets cut the 2nd day. I was just simply saying that he'll need to make a better impression if he expects to go to Chicago. From what I've heard on the radio telecasts, guys like Bobby Smith are making plays. I for one, hope Uribe does well so a trade made by KW looks good instead of him always getting slammed.

I don't know. The 0-4 could easily be forgiven if not for his last at-bat. With runners on 1st and 2nd, his job was to advance those runners to 2nd and 3rd, and the 1st pitch he sees, he pops up the bunt and fails to get the job done. The only saving grace was the fact that Aquino threw a wild pitch a couple of pitches later. Those little things, I believe will be the difference between Charlotte and Chicago, at least in Ozzie's eyes.

The only player who really hurt his cause today was Uribe. He DH'ed, finished 0-4, and failed to move over runners at 1st & 2nd. If he's not careful, he'll start the year in Charlotte and a guy like Bobby Smith will go north with the club.

That's alot of ifs, you schmo! The Royals can't even decide if Affeldt is better suited for the rotation or the 'pen. My goodness, he went to the Jay Mariotti school of journalism.

Geez, looks like Bartolo put on a couple more pounds. Slow down, big man!

Athletics 26, Angels 3 March 6, 2004 PHOENIX (AP) -- Bartolo Colon was pulled six batters into his Anaheim debut and the Oakland Athletics broke loose after he left, routing the Angels 26-3 Saturday. Mike Rose hit a grand slam and drove in five runs. The A's homered six times and had 27 hits. It was Oakland's highest-scoring spring training game since records were kept beginning in 1986. The A's scored 25 runs in an exhibition game against Seattle Mariners last year. ``Twenty-six runs -- I've never seen that kind of offensive display before,'' A's manager Ken Macha said. Colon, signed to a $51 million, four-year contract as a free agent, walked Mark Kotsay to start the first inning and gave up a single to Billy McMillon. Eric Chavez then hit a two-run double and Jermaine Dye walked. After Colon struck out Erubiel Durazo and got Scott Hatteberg to ground out, Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia made a change. Scioscia later said Colon just didn't have command. The A's led 5-0 before scoring six runs in the fifth inning and eight more in sixth. Mark Ellis, Nick Swisher, Jason Grabowski, Eric Byrnes and Graham Koonce also homered for Oakland. Nine players had two hits each for the Athletics, and Chavez drove in four runs. Joe Blanton (1-0) earned the win with two scoreless innings in his first start of the spring. Keep in mind that it's only spring training, but 6 batters? Yikes. Reminds me of the game he pitched after the ASB in the game that started at 10:00pm. He didn't have his command then, either.

Koch leaving '03 behind Koch leaving '03 behind Closer fans 2 in 1-2-3 inning of spring debut By Bob Foltman Tribune staff reporter March 5, 2004, 10:49 PM CST TUCSON, Ariz. -- One inning of one game in spring training will not erase Billy Koch's 2003 season in the minds of White Sox fans. But you have to start somewhere and for Koch that was the seventh inning Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Koch did what the Sox are hoping he does on a consistent basis this season—face three hitters and get them all out. "That's my first 1-2-3 since [2002]," Koch said. "I was just going to try to go out and hit spots. Then after that I said, 'Forget that, I'm going to go out there and blow it by those guys.'" The Sox liked the results, but they don't care whether Koch gets people out throwing 99 m.p.h. or 89. In fact, they don't want Koch to worry about his velocity at all as long as he's getting people out. The Sox had Koch throwing consistently between 90-93 m.p.h. Friday and he touched 94 a couple of times. After getting the first hitter to fly out to left, Koch struck out the last two. Koch said he just wants to know if his velocity picks up as the spring continues. When he went to Oakland in 2002, he threw in the low 90s early in the spring, which prompted a visit from A's general manager Billy Beane. "Beane was like, 'Why did I trade for you? You're only throwing 92,'" Koch recalled. "I said, 'All right, watch me the next time out.' I threw 94, then 96, then 98, then 100." Koch saved 44 games that season for the A's. That's fine as long as it's 100 m.p.h. and strikes. That wasn't the case last season, when Koch was 5-5 with a 5.77 ERA and lost his closer's job to Tom Gordon. In August, he went on the disabled list with inflammation in his right elbow. Koch spent the off-season going over what went wrong, and then wiped the slate clean. "I took two weeks off and thought about everything and went through it in my head and just forgot about it," he said when camp opened. "I hit the weights hard and got on a good throwing program, and I looked forward to getting out there." Despite the disaster last season, Koch has been told he's the closer to start this season. "I think it's important for a closer to know that the rug isn't going to be pulled out from under his feet if he fails," Sox pitching coach Don Cooper said. "There are going to be some days when you don't get it done." Sox manager Ozzie Guillen hurried back Friday from watching some of his team across town to see Koch throw. "I don't want him to throw 98-99, I want him to throw strikes," Guillen said. "If his velocity comes back, it's a plus. I like what I see right now." Considering his track record of more than 30 saves for four straight seasons, last year's 11 saves could be viewed as an aberration. "Coming in, my confidence [is] high," Koch said. "Obviously, people are still going to think about what happened [last season], but I just leave it in the past." Copyright © 2004, The Chicago Tribune I don't care if Koch can't throw 97-100 anymore. As long as he doesn't walk 5 batters in an inning and can improve his control, 94-95mph should be enough.

Sox see Alomar as boss material Catcher likely to manage in future By Bob Foltman Tribune staff reporter March 6, 2004, 1:43 PM CST TUCSON, Ariz. -- It has been mentioned so many times it almost has become part of his name. "It'll be a scenario for the future, but right now I'm just concentrating on playing ball," said Sandy Alomar Jr., "future manager." There it is again. Among those who have spent time with Alomar, there is little doubt he is destined one day to lead a team, but these days he has more pressing matters. Alomar's main task this season is making sure Miguel Olivo, whom the Sox project as their regular catcher, is ready to handle the responsibilities. "He's the right guy to help me," Olivo said. It only looks like Alomar, 37, has been playing forever. The San Diego Padres signed him in 1983, and he is entering his 15th full major-league season. Alomar joked the first day of spring training he hopes Olivo plays 130 games this season so he can just sit and watch. Even if that were the case, Alomar would be valuable to the Sox. "He's the type of a guy who has been on winning teams and with his attitude a lot of players look up to him and respect him," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "The way he handles himself on the field and off is something a lot of kids should look up to." He has many attributes besides playing ability. "He's one of the smartest players I've ever been around," Sox general manager Ken Williams said. "He's very progressive in his thought process and very caring of his teammates." Alomar comes from a baseball family. His father, Sandy, was a major-league player and is a coach for the Colorado Rockies. His brother, Roberto, currently with Arizona after finishing 2003 with the Sox, is a second baseman many believe will be in the Hall of Fame some day. Alomar said his leadership qualities basically "fell in my lap. I can't explain it." "Being a leader isn't being a loud guy," Alomar said. "It's a guy who gets the best out of his teammates. I feel like I can. I root for them and I'm here for them." Getting players to meet their potential is one of the requirements for being a manager. "I can see him being a manager," Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle said. "He treats guys—no matter if you're one year in the big leagues or 20 years—the same way. He respects everyone in the clubhouse; he helps out everybody." Alomar's most productive seasons—from a statistical standpoint—came when he was with Cleveland from 1990 to 2000 when the Indians won two American League pennants. Then Cleveland teammate Mike Jackson, who is trying to make the Sox bullpen this season as a non-roster invitee, said Alomar was the best catcher with whom he ever worked. "He would demand you be focused and make pitches," Jackson said. "There weren't too many times that I shook him off and when I did, he came out and asked what I was thinking in that situation." It's that kind of knowledge of hitters, and how to set them up and get them out, that is Alomar's greatest strength. Buehrle is so confident in what pitches Alomar will call, many times he doesn't even bother to look. "I'm starting to go into my windup before he even puts the sign down because I'm anticipating what he's going to call," Buehrle said. Alomar has become Buehrle's personal catcher, and the two seem to be of one mind when they are together. That kind of attention to detail is what Alomar is trying to pass along to Olivo. "As a catcher, you have to worry about your [pitching] staff," Alomar said. "If you go 0-for-4 and you can contribute defensively, that's big. You're going to win a lot of games behind the plate even if you don't hit." Alomar admitted that's a hard concept for a young catcher to grasp. Alomar never will be confused with Mike Piazza when it comes to hitting—he has a respectable .275 lifetime average with only 109 home runs. But then Piazza won't be confused with Alomar when it comes to fielding or handling a pitching staff. "Our staff is pretty young and I think it's a lot easier having Sandy around," Guillen said. How much longer Alomar will be around—as a player that is—is not known. For the last couple of years he has been taking it on a year-to-year basis. "I'll come back until they kick me out," he said. He won't be kicked out of the organization. Williams said Alomar will have a place somewhere with the Sox when he's done playing. "Sandy is going to be a major-league manager one day—if he wants it," Williams said. There it is again. No matter how much he wants to avoid it, Alomar knows he's destined to lead a team from inside the dugout instead of from behind the plate. Copyright © 2004, The Chicago Tribune I heard Sandy on JHood's show earlier this week, and he said he has no problems whatsoever letting Miguel handle the lion's share of catching duties. He said once he retires, he'll take about a year off to be with his family, then will probably return to baseball. I hope KW holds a spot in the organization for him. He seems to be a big plus for the Sox.

Rauch's performance today has gotta put him in the lead.

Politte did give up a hit and a wild pitch in the 9th, but Rooney praised him on his heater. I just wish they had the radar gun going to see if his velocity is back up again.